I worked for GESCO (General Electric Supply Company) prior to being employed by HWI (Hardware Wholesalers Inc.)
I had worked for a plumber just out of High School. When that work slowed down I went to work at the Southeast Missourian News Paper.
I was in the Missouri National Guard and when I went on active duty I was told that I would not have a job when I returned. I didn’t know that legally they had to take me back so I accepted the idea that I would not have a job when I returned.
I now know the newspaper did me a favor, as I went to work at GE Supply Co after returning from active duty.
I did all the manual labor at GE since it was a 3 person operation. There was a manager Paul Propst and an outside sales person Bill Casey. I did the front counter sales, unloading trucks, filling orders, adding and deleting inventory (we did not have computers in those days it was all on a card file system) and cleaning.
GE was located on a heavily traveled corner (Sprigg Street and Morgan Oak) and I hated washing the windows. I thought it was beneath me; a friend might see me washing those windows and I would no longer be cool. I worked at GE for about three years and as time passed I learned to enjoy getting outside and washing the windows.
I didn’t know it at the time but I was learning everything I would need to get a better paying job at HWI.
One of the local electricians was awarded the electrical contract for the new HWI building. I was able to stay informed of how the job was progressing since I had planned to apply when the time was right.
Finally the newspaper ran the ad; they were taking applications for employment at HWI. I was probably 50th in line and worried that they would fill all the spots before I could apply. I didn’t know how picky they would be.
I took the 10 minute test which basically verified that we could read and do general math. I remember there was a math problem where I had to divide. I could not remember how to divide!
Panic sits in; I decided to skip the problem and do the others. When I finished I had time to go back to the division problem and I remembered how to divide. I looked around the room and others were not finished, when the person call time. I felt good that I was finished.
Those who passed the test went on to talk to Jim Murphy. We later learned that he would be the manager at the Cape Center. He asked some general questions about my work back ground and those of us who got pass Murphy went on the talk to a man in one of the back offices.
There were a few of us applicants standing in line to talk to the next person. Ernie Collier was in front of me and we were assuming that we were among the top candidates. Later Ernie was hired as the maintenance person.
I don’t know this person’s name in the back office but I could tell he was important. He had more in depth questions about work history and he was very interested in what I owed. I explained that my car was paid for and I had no debt other than a house payment. I remember he asked several questions about what debt I had and he seemed impressed with the fact that I only had a house payment (we lived in a mobile home that we had purchased).
Don Ford
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