When Vi and I look out of our living room at traffic on Highway 133 we often see a large truck carrying a big load of recently harvested logs. Sometimes the truck is also pulling a second large load on a trailer.
There is something about a large load of wood that catches my attention. I am not certain why, but the interest may be based on wood hauling I witnessed many years ago on the other side of the world.
Logs are an important part of Muscoda’s history. I recall seeing an old Sherwin Gillette photograph of a million yards of cut logs that were stored near a furniture factory that operated on the southeast side of the village.
There was a least one Muscoda Harvest Festival competition that pitted local loggers against each other in a race to determine who could load logs the fastest.
Another special day was when a television crew came to our village for the purpose of photographing a man shaving. They were at the Mathews Lumber Company yard and spent much of a day at their task while the model shaved his face over and over. The camera folks looked for just the right shot. If I remember correctly, the shots of the shaver were made through a small building window to give the resulting photographs a special “tough man” flavor.
The resulting television ads claimed that a certain brand of razor blades was made of the same type of steel as the big saws in the Mathews Yard. Thus, an easy and comfortable shave was going to be the result when the sponsor’s blades were used to cut even the toughest whiskers.
When I see a truck with a big load of logs, I sometimes think about the guys I often saw carrying big loads of brush-for-heat on their backs. That was while I was in the Army, stationed in Korea.
Not far from our “Mash-style tents“ was a trail leading into the nearby hills. Men, seemingly old men, (“pappasons”) with an “A-Frame” on their back, would walk by frequently, trying to keep their “home fires burning.”
There is something about a large load of wood that catches my attention. I am not certain why, but the interest may be based on wood hauling I witnessed many years ago on the other side of the world.
Logs are an important part of Muscoda’s history. I recall seeing an old Sherwin Gillette photograph of a million yards of cut logs that were stored near a furniture factory that operated on the southeast side of the village.
There was a least one Muscoda Harvest Festival competition that pitted local loggers against each other in a race to determine who could load logs the fastest.
Another special day was when a television crew came to our village for the purpose of photographing a man shaving. They were at the Mathews Lumber Company yard and spent much of a day at their task while the model shaved his face over and over. The camera folks looked for just the right shot. If I remember correctly, the shots of the shaver were made through a small building window to give the resulting photographs a special “tough man” flavor.
The resulting television ads claimed that a certain brand of razor blades was made of the same type of steel as the big saws in the Mathews Yard. Thus, an easy and comfortable shave was going to be the result when the sponsor’s blades were used to cut even the toughest whiskers.
When I see a truck with a big load of logs, I sometimes think about the guys I often saw carrying big loads of brush-for-heat on their backs. That was while I was in the Army, stationed in Korea.
Not far from our “Mash-style tents“ was a trail leading into the nearby hills. Men, seemingly old men, (“pappasons”) with an “A-Frame” on their back, would walk by frequently, trying to keep their “home fires burning.”
I don’t think about those friendly guys often, but once in a while, when I turn up our thermostat, I do wonder how they managed to carry the load and if their life ever got better
