my grandfather's tools

[RCS]

A long time ago, I found a few of my grandfather's tools or should say a coal shovel and a
scrapper. Both had the branded W P A stamp from the late 1930's, I know he worked for
the WPA as well as my other grandfather

Photo shows the scrapperP1010039_0038.jpgP1010038_0037.jpgP1010037_0036.jpg

[bruce]

Programs like the WPA kept a lot of me employed during the Depression. Good. Sincerely. bruce.

[Johnny P]

I ended up with my grandfathers anvil, forge, and a few tools. Always intended to set them up, but another of those things I never got around to.

[dryheat]

I ended up with my grandfathers anvil, forge, and a few tools. Always intended to set them up, but another of those things I never got around to.

If you watch a Utube vid about blacksmithing you might get inspired. It's metal getting beaten into shape. It's the forge that creates the heat to do that. I don't like loud noise, so I would wear muffs if beating on metal. I don't know how forges hold up over the years.
Back in the day, as they say, we had sidewalks built by the WPA. They were in poor shape because the trees roots had pushed them up to the point of fracture. I expect they are all gone now.
Once in a while we all run across some old WPA or CCC stuff. Arizona has a lot of it. Can't imagine what they were thinking, coming out here.

[RED]

There is a TV series about blacksmiths who make knives. Forged By Fire can still be seen on a channel but I cannot remember the name. It is amazing what these guys can do to with a piece of scrap iron.

[jmm03]

I inherited a splitting wedge with WPA stamped on it. Several tunnels and roads up in the mountains around here were built by the WPA. I sometimes wonder if reviving some of those programs instead of just giving away money would be a better course of action today. Jim

[dryheat]

I inherited a splitting wedge with WPA stamped on it. Several tunnels and roads up in the mountains around here were built by the WPA. I sometimes wonder if reviving some of those programs instead of just giving away money would be a better course of action today. Jim

Good idea, except somehow it would be racist.

[kj47]

History channel plays vids of Forged by Fire.

[M1Tommy]

All my grandpas (one killed in WW2 , a step grandpa was my "Pa Buck" who had a huge impact on my upbringing) worked on WPA and CCC projects. Not all had high regards for the programs, though.
I have a many tools from them and their dads, one of my favorite being Pa Buck's 130 pound (or so, cannot recollect exactly) Peter Wright anvil. I learned many life lessons on and near it. I have some picture, somewhere, till post them later, if'n ya;; wish.
Tommy

[Vern Humphrey]

I graduated from Pleasant Plains High School in Arkansas. The school was built by the CCC in 1940. It was on a sloping lot, so there was a half basement in the back. That's where the bathrooms were. You had to go out the front door and around the building to go to the bathroom. And standing in the bathroom you could see that whoever did the plumbing had never seen a flush toilet before.

[Johnny P]

Another thing the WPA did was to build outhouses, or "privys". They poured a concrete base and build the outhouse. One of the bases was on some property we owned at one time.

[Major Tom]

Geode State Park in S.E. Iowa was built by WPA back in the '30's. Inmates from Fort Madison, Iowa prison had a large house in the park that housed trusted inmates to work keeping the park in shape. I used to fish there a lot in the big and would sometimes talk to the inmates. I don't remember seeing any prison guards around tho.