Further Adventures of the 'Gunnysack Kids' ~ When the ‘gunnysack kids’ needed movie money, they’d even load wood trucks
By Bob Tschida

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Bob Tschida continues his story of growing up poor and adventuresome in Depression-era Tacoma. He and his friends were called the "gunnysack kids" because that’s what they carried on their quests for small change and items to eat or sell.

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One particular job we shied away from when we were young kids was loading wood trucks. Of course, when we got to the point of desperation to see a particular movie downtown and couldn’t come up with any money, we were up against the prospect of loading wood trucks.

Back in the late ‘30s most of the independent wood truck drivers would congregate at two locations downtown. Market Street between South 17th and 19th on the east side of the street was a continuous line of wood trucks. Here motorists could creep along, sizing up particular loads. Or people on foot would check out the various species of wood and prices.

Nearly all the trucks had on their tailgates a sign indicating the price, such as $2.50, $3.00, $3.50; none was higher than $4.00. There were no new or late-model trucks, just older trucks, whose owners worked on the engines while awaiting customers. After all, in 1937, 1938, 1939 we were still in the Depression.

This was their only source of income -- selling loads of wood. They got the wood from the mills, which were only too glad to get rid of the nubbins and cutoffs. Tacoma had many mills big and small. The city was after all the lumber capital of the world. Even though a great amount of waste lumber went into the burners, which burned day and night, still a great deal of wood was diverted to the wood lots around the city.

Usually the mills had their own large trucks, which were backed up under the large holding bunkers where most of the smaller waste wood was stored. The trucks would be under the chute and were loaded by gravity. The big trucks would dump their loads in Market Street, and we would load up the smaller trucks. Sometimes it would take three of us just to lift the heavy butt ends, which contained a lot of pitch (no wonder we had so many chimney fires in those days).

After we had most of the wood ready to go, drivers often wanted us to top off a load. That meant one of us would have to climb up on the load while two of us had to lift up bigger pieces to the one up in the truck. A lesson learned the hard way.

Some days we would go down to see if the wood truck drivers needed us to do any loading. When there weren’t any trucks to load we would hang around listening and talking to them.

One time a driver pulled out his snuff can and offered his fellow drivers a pinch. Then he asked us: "Do you boys want a pinch? Well, it will grow hair on your chest." So yeah! We were all for that. He showed us how to take a pinch and put it in the sides of our mouths and chew it.

Good grief! We were poisoned, gagging, coughing, with tears rolling down our cheeks. We couldn’t keep it in a wad. We spat out what we could. While some of the drivers howled with laughter, we took off. We ran down Jefferson Avenue to a gas station by the bus turnaround. We grabbed the water hoses and tried to flush that foul matter out of our mouths.

We would gladly have taken castor oil, cod liver oil, anything to get rid of the residue and horrible taste. After that disaster no one ever had to lecture us about chewing snuff, snoose, and tobacco. Once was enough for me forever!

The other large staging area for wood trucks was below Jefferson Avenue at the sharp tip of South 17th up to Pacific Transport and Storage building on Jefferson and Commerce. During winter both locations had fires going in steel drums so drivers could warm themselves.

The trucks they drove were usually one ton or one and half. The fleet was made up of Fords, Chevys, Dodges, Whites, Diamond Ts, Internationals, Fageols, Macks, and a scattering of other makes.

Compared to the heavy nubbins. we actually enjoyed loading up planer ends. These lumber leftovers were nice and clean and very light and smooth. It did take a long time to load a truck with them because the pieces were small. They were trimmings off the ends of boards to make them the correct length. To load planer ends we usually had to go to the commercial wood lots on the City Fuel Co. grounds and on the northeast corner of Jefferson Avenue and South 21st.

Most householders would order their wood early in the spring and split and stack it to cure or dry all spring and summer and early fall. It was usually November when folks would start their furnaces, living-room heaters, and fireplaces for the winter months. But kitchen wood stoves were in use the year around.

Planer ends were good for starting a fire. So was kindling cut from older wood, which split easily. We kids were used to working with wood because we were the ones who most often had to carry it in for the stoves and basement furnaces. We also helped to split and stack wood. It was just part of growing up. Slivers came with the territory.

So, what were the wages of wood? For one load we earned 50 cents for all three of us, or about 17 cents apiece.

After resting awhile we would amble down to Pay Less Drug Store on Broadway, next to the Pythian Temple. We had to keep 30 cents so all three of us could get into the movie theater for a dime apiece. That left us with 20 cents, but usually we had some pennies so for 27 cents we were able to buy nine candy bars for 3 cents apiece at Pay Less.

Then it was on to the theater. With each of us fortified with three large candy bars, we would enjoy two features and a much-needed rest.

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Born in Tacoma on June 12, 1924, Bob Tschida is known among local history buffs as "Mr. Tacoma." He is is an active volunteer with the Working Waterfront Museum and the veterans hospital at American Lake. He was active in the Holy Rosary alumni group and is a member of the Tacoma Historical Writers Group. He is a charter member of the Tacoma Historical Society, which presented him its Murray Morgan Award in 1999.

From the City of Destiny Newsletter ~ Volume 9, Number 4, Summer 2003

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Rust Mansion Painting

Photos by Dale Wirsing

This painting of the Rust Mansion, one of Tacoma’s architectural icons, was recently donated to the Tacoma Historical Society by Donald Olson, the artist, and Pamelia Olson. The mansion, at 1001 North I St., was built for smelter magnate William R. Rust in 1904-05.

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Mysteries:

He can be contacted at 6285 Airport Way S., #104, Seattle, WA 98108.