Dirt, rock and debris; working with my dad.

When I was about eight years old I began to help my dad build homes. He built five homes in the Belleville area and I worked with him until I was about eighteen years old. My dad has some general knowledge about construction but most of his expertise was obtained by on site training. His dad, who was a signal maintainer on the Illinois Central Railroad, built his family home using a Sears Roebuck kit home. My dad grew up around tools and electrical equipment and he was trained for an electricians mate rank  in the Navy. However, he did get demoted for fighting and lost his stripes. He had a natural aptitude for anything mechanical and he was always curious how things worked. He spent many hours tinkering with old machinery and electrical equipment. After he returned home from the Navy he had a series of jobs that help him hone his mechanical skills. He eventually received an electricians apprenticeship at Scott Air force bace in Belleville and began his career. He had jobs at the Armour meatpacking plant and  Ober Nester Glass Company in East St. Louis where he worked in the electrical department. He ended up as an electrician foreman at Granite City steel blast furnace in the 1950’s.

My dad process for building a home was one dictated by the times. He bought the plans from a Pollman mail order catalog. I remember being fascinated with the catalog and blueprints and I spent hours trying to figure out the architectural symbols. Searching for a lot would be the next step. After purchasing the lot, he would use it for collateral to get materials on credit. Building loans were not readily available and this was a way of paying for materials as you built your home.   This was a common practice after the second world war. Although it took the world quite awhile to recover from the affects of World War II, the 1950’s were more of a prosperous time than in times past. Vast improvements in housing were made during this period and  a priority was placed on building homes for war veterans and their families..  Many young veterans started to move the suburbs near Belleville and build homes. When he finished building, he obtained a loan from the local building and loan and paid off his lumber bill. 

Construction began with roughing in the plumbing and pouring the house footing foundation and a concrete slab for the garage; he would then build the garage and install wiring and plumbing. We lived in the attached garage until the home was finished. My dad would work his regular job, as an electrician at Granite City Steel and work on the house when he got home from work. When I was young I got him water and tools and cleaned up the building debris. As I got older I started to doing framing and roofing. I also helped pull wires, tiled floors, hung drywall and I did some finish carpentry. 

Living in the cramped garage space was very difficult and challenging.  My dad would build a simple bathroom with a shower stall in one corner. Near the bathroom he would fashion a kitchen area with a  portable gas burner for cooking. My mom washed the dishes in porcelain pan that she filled in the makeshift  bathroom. She created rooms using furniture with passages between the furniture and moving boxes serving as as doorways. When my dad worked the midnight shift at the steel mill it was difficult to keep quiet while he slept. However, playing outside was great fun. The yard was  just dirt and rocks and the large piles of dirt from the foundation were great  for digging tunnels. I would burrow into the hills and create my own little world. My brother and I would spend hours playing in the dirt. There was also many building scrap and I would turn the odd pieces into forts, guns, wagons and all sorts of strange sculptural items. I also stepped on a few nails and had to get my annual tetanus shot.  I slept on an old army cot and my brother slept on a feather bed on the garage floor so he could easily get in and out of bed. This would be our home for about  six to eight months.The winter was particularly difficult because my dad did not insulate the garage. Only the sheathing and siding kept out the summer heat and winter cold.  He did leave the windows and garage door covered with siding until the house was finished.

Moving into the house  when it was finished was very exciting. Watching the house rise from the surrounding farm land was amazing. We saw an entire community spring up before our eyes. Those early days of construction and play were an important part of my early education. I became quite proficient in electrical wiring and plumbing. Between drinking binges and problems with anger and depression my dad managed to build some fine homes.  He was a stern and sometimes cruel man troubled by his fate. However, I do thank him for those early lessons and childhood adventures, played out in a wonderland of dirt, rock and debris.