Was your Grandpa cool ?

[leftywoody]

I thought it would be interesting to hear about your grandpa . What do you remember most about him , even if he is still with you or not . My grandpa was a blacksmith in the 20's . Cars and buggies and tractors and plows were repaired at his shop . Horses were becoming obsolete as a mode of transportation .And farming was shifting towards gas driven machinery .His income was dwindling because of that shift and then I think he was just getting tired of the worry of running a business . One day his shop caught on fire and burned down . He said it was the best thing that ever happened to him . Hope we get some more contributors

 

[bairdco]

my grandpa taught me how to shoot pool when i was 5. i could barely see over the table, but i'd beat all of his friends at the bowling alley. i found out later he used to make a lot of money off of me.

those skills came in handy in my early 20's. i used to do some small time hustling at the local bars. i'd make enough money to drink all night, and pay my rent...

 

[marts1]

Both my grandfathers died long ago when I was very young but I remember them. Grampa on my moms side was always happy and smiling. Pop on my dads side was almost the opposite. Not sure if words can describe what it would be like to see them now.

 

[2door]

Mine was a candy saleman. Now what kid wouldn't like to have a grandpa with a basement full of candy. He had an old Studebaker that he'd taken the back seat out of and opened up a passageway into the trunk which made it into a kind of closed pickup. He'd load the old Stude with candy and his customers were all the little mom & pop corner stores that every neighborhood used to have. If I wanted a candy bar he'd take one out of the box and put a nickel in its place so a customer wouldn't be shorted any merchandise. He taught me how to paint with a brush, how to use a hand plain to smooth wood and sort of resembled Santa Clause with no beard. He smoked a pipe and loved every child as if it was his own. One of his greatest pastimes was singing along with Mitch, when that show was on the air back in the 50s. He used to tell stories about being on Mississippi river boats when he was a young man. Grand old fella. I miss him.
Thanks for the thread, Lefty. This'll bring back some memories.
Tom

 

[hiker472]

I wish I could relate. Mine died long before I showed up. You guys are blessed to have known them.

My Grandma, on the other hand has just about outlived everyone. She'll be 105 this May. Listening to her is a real trip through time. When she was growing up, her father owned the apartment building they lived in and who do you think lived in that same apartment building? Eliot Ness. You know the guy that got Al Capone. She used to play with him when they were kids.

 

[leftywoody]

Elliot Ness how cool is that . Well here is one more story That has to do with my grandpa . He served in World War 1 in the Army . His job was to tend to the horses in his cavalry unit . The Army must have used his smithing training after growing up on a farm with plow horses . His aunt put on a benifit supper for Woodrow Wilson during election campaign . It was a huge event . Woodrow Wilson told grandpa's aunt that " If there is anything I can do to repay you for this wonderful benifit you organized , you let me know . " When my grandpa enlisted in the army he wanted to go overseas and fight . But every time his unit was called to action , he would be transferred to another cavalry unit still in the states . He never saw combat or left the states thanks to his aunt .You see , her request to Woodrow Wilson was that her nephew would never see war . My grandpa never knew about that payback until years later .

 

[fasteddy]

My, mom's father started his apprenticeship as a machinist in England at the age of 13 in 1898. He worked on the Titanic for his company installing the electric power systems.

Before they moved to Canada in 1929 he was with the same company and was head forman and plant manager with 350+ employees.
Mom said he went to night school to better himself up until the night before he was married.
A quiet and gentle man.

I did ask him about the Titanic once as a kid and the sad look he gave me said please don't ask and I never did again.

Steve.

 

[Pablo]

Neat stories.

My dad's father came over from Italy, by himself as a teenager. He didn't speak any English and ate bologna for a week is what we were told. Somehow he made a beeline for Cincinnati. He rapidly learned English and was quite the musician in more than one speakeasy. I guess he got a real job or two, all I know is he worked for Spalding - making baseballs, etc. I only saw him 3 times in my life as we grew up in California. The man was a great artist as well as musician, but nothing ever really came of it. My youngest daughter shows the art/music side, hugely

My mom's dad was my main Grandpa. He has an electric motor expert. He rebuilt HUGE motors and pump motors for most all the wells in Southern California before the water from aqueducts reached all the areas. He owned an appliance shop that sold washing machines, dryers, TV's, etc. He was a real tinkerer and had no time for art. He owned the last orange grove in Buena Park. My brother and I and all our friends rode bikes and minibikes all over the sandy soil. He was essentially tortured out of his land by property tax, and dwindling income. He sold to some Lipizanner horse show thing that lasted a year or two, then came the jousting restaurant thing. Across the street from the Movieland Wax museum. Anyway, he was a great man.

 

[oscsllc]

My Grandfather was a motorcycle man from day one.

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[leftywoody]

Come on members , post some more grandpa stories , they are far too interesting to stop now .

 

[D.J.]

My gram pa was a champion amateur boxer . He built the best arch top kites that you ever saw from grocery store paper bags . There was a buffalo skin rug on the floor (with head) and all of his treasures were stored in snuff boxes all over the house . Grandma didn't go in to the garage so that's where the risque calendars were hung on the wall . Gram pa played the accordion and the fiddle . He fought in the first world war and came to Canada just afterwards where he farmed until the late 60's . He was the only one that could stand up to my grandmas temper . I saw her flip over the card table a few times when things didn't go her way . I felt real love from him as did all of my cousins . I miss him . ...... D.J.

 

[the new ausped]

my grampa is haunted by his past it is very sad

he servd in the Afghanistan war as part of the ground force him and his 12 friends were on a truck to someware when they saw 2 bodies in the bush he and his friend were instructed t try to identify if the bodies were from his team the truck they were on went forward 5 metres and went on a land mine
when it blew up my grampa said he was thrown 5 metres when he went through the rubble once the dust had setled he could find less than 1 bodybag wotrh of human parts. he has been a wreck since

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

Neither of my grandpa's was a biker or a motor head.

One was a hard workin' son of a gun who held a record for the mile (state) for a couple of years, and lived the American dream with a new Buick every few years and a house in Chagrin Falls.

The other was a Little leauge coach with a field dedicated to him, where there is a giant granite rock about 5' tall and 10' wide with a bronze plaque. He fought and was wounded in France in WWI and worked through the depression as a farmer AND a machinist.

I am proud to contain their DNA.

 

[GearNut]

I never really knew my grandpa on my mom's side. He was a college dean for as long as I could rember. I only saw him during Christmas eve family get togethers, and a few Easter sundays. He was a recluse towards all his grandchildren.... Sad.
My grandpa on my dad's side was really cool to me. He used to be a billiards hustler and card shark in the 20's and 30's. He eventually married my grandma and bought a farm in Wisconsin. He always had a bit of a wild streak in him. He taught me how to shoot a rifle and how to sharpen a knife to a razor's edge.

 

[rbrtlndhl]

My Grandfather currently lives in the same home as I do. He is 80 years old, he's crotchety, grumpy, and stubborn, and I love him very much. In fact, I have just finished typing up the manuscript of his memoirs for him, and we will soon be published. This has been an ongoing project for 5 or 6 years. I would like to see it completely finished before he dies.

He has an engineering mind, which I must admit was passed along to myself. In his book, he describes a project similar to a MB that he built at 9 years old out of a Radio Flyer wagon, and a GE washing machine engine. Also, there is like 40 or 50 other inventions that he never thought to patent outlined. I find it amazing to take a tour through the mind of a very intuitive 1930's farm boy.

My grandfather has taken great interest in my upcoming first MB build. He will be giving me help with custom elements, as well as tuning advice, etc. I probably won't need most of the help, due to the wonderful content of this forum, but he'll really feel important. It should be an awful lot of fun. I would try to get him to post here, as he would love the chance to show people that he's smarter than most, but he can't (and won't learn to) use a computer.....

 

[tommyboy1442]

whats up fellas. my gramps- man, i never got to meet him. neither did my dad.he was in the military. seen a pic of him, looks exactly like my dad. my dad went to meet him one day, but his mom didnt let that happen.so, all i know is he is buried in a military graveyard somwhere in kentucky.wonder how my dad feels about the situation...the good thing is, i just had a son three months back, his name is james. at least he will get to meet his gramps....

 

[azbill]

in 15-20 yrs, I hope at least 1 of my granddaughters is making a post in this thread

 

[Nashville Kat]

The picture below says it all dosn't it?,


Grandpap was an immigrant from Poland and a WWI veteran who was a muleskinner in France.

then he was a coalminer in Cannonsburg PA who married several times and raised seven kids
He lost an eye in the coalmines, they say, and had a glass eye

He went on that big "forgotten Man' march to Washington in the 30's and caused a ruckus promoting the miner's union.

When I knew him, he had retired and still living on the house he built on the Cannonsburg hillside, with a big high porch along the back, over the garage basement below, and overlooking the town, where the Interstate finally was cut across the valley on the far hillsides.

He drove a Jeep pickup truck, that I was thrilled to ride down into town in the back of in the late 50's and early sixties. He later got a Wagoneer, and one time when we were staying there, he had gone to sleep in it out back, and had kicked off the parking brake and rolled down the hillside, into the ravine at the bottom of his cow pasture.. when they worried after him in the morning, they found him still asleep inside .

A fan of hard liquor, Grandma used to hide his "hooch" from him, cause he drinked a bit. He died in the late 70's when I was in college.

the photo's from about 1960 with my Aunt Edie from West Virginia- "Praise the lord, I saw the light!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glCwzsEiMEA

 

[Dan]

Choked up reading this. Great thread Lefty! They lived in tuff times and were tuffer

My Grandpa taught me how to eat with a fork and knife, tell time and how to drive. I try my best to live up to that man's teachings on how to be a good man. Don't lie or steal. Work harder then any one else in the crew. Not for the boss or the money but for my own piece of mind.

He emigrated from Ireland in 1912. Hated the boat ride. LOL, then took another to the south Pacific for WW2. Never talked about it but found out later he was a mechanic and worked on the Enola Gay Then He and his brothers opened a garage in the Bronx. After that they all became cops. They used to tease him for being wimpy. After he got his legs broken on a stairway, he unsnapped his holster when ever he walked in that building again. Tuff guys to be sure.

Truly the finest Man I have ever known.

There is a plaque on Ellis Island with his name on it.

 

[Buzzard]

My Grandfather on my Dad's side of the family came from Norway. He earned his passage to the US by shoveling coal for the boilers on a tramp steamer. Made it to Ellis Island in NY then migrated to southern MN, about a mile from the north Iowa line and homesteaded an 80 acre farm. My Dad handed down this story to me and told it 100s of times.
One night after supper he went down to the barn to check on the old milk cow when 4 riders coming from the south rode into the yard. Their horses were all lathered up and looked like they had been rode to death and they were all packing side arms. They wanted permission to spend the night in the barn. Grandpa didn't question it. Later on in the evening he took them down something to eat. Next morning they rode out before day break. About midafternoon 15 riders came in and asked him if he'd seen 4 others and he told them they'd spent the night in the barn. It was a sheriff's posse out of Coffeyville KS been chasing these riders for days. They asked if Grandpa knew who they were, they siad they were Frank and Jessie James and the Younger boys. The posse watered their horses and rode off. When Grandpa went to the barn after they left that morning there was $50 in gold pieces left on the stancheon by the old milk cow. He wasnt' about to tell that posse about the money. That was alot of money in those days. Later on the James Gang hit the bank in Richfield MN they got shot up pretty bad one gang member killed the other put in prison Frank and Jessie got away.