Employment
The following employment entries are for Standard Steel Car Company (SSC). SSC was established in 1902 in Butler, Pennsylvania by John M. Hansen and "Diamond Jim" Brady. The company quickly became one of the largest builders of steel cars in the United States. Pullman Inc purchased control of SSC in 1929 and merged it with Pullman Car & Manufacturing in 1934 to form Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company.1
The employment cards below are for: Clarence R. Klugh (son of William F. Klugh and brother to Herman L. Klugh),
C. F. Klugh - may be Clyde F. Klugh (also son of William F. Klugh and brother to Herman), and two for Dewey T. Klugh (son of Samuel M.
Klugh son of John Klugh and Liz Hepler - Dewey was employed by Standard Steel twice).
I purchased copies of these employment cards from the Butler County Genealogical Society in Butler, Pennsylvania.
They're a bit difficult to read, but they still give us some interesting information. Note that the Manager of Works
for Clarence's first entry signed his name upside down. It looks like it says "John Kluman". Also note the Rate of "25".
I assume that was 25 cents/hour. The average pay in 1917 was $2.87/day.2 A loaf of bread was less than 1 cent ($0.09).3
Note also the actual signature of our relatives is on their cards.
Just click on each thumbnail image.
References:
1. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Steel_Car_Company.
2. NY Times Online: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40E10F6385A1B7A93C6AB178BD95F458285F9.
3. Answers.com: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_price_of_a_loaf_of_bread_in_1917.
(c) July 4, 2011: (All rights reserved)