CONN Factory - Images of 1911

[nibirubrassband]

http://www.oberloh.com/gallery/Connfactoryimages.htm" target="_blank

[UDELBR]

I'm still astounded all those ceiling-mounted drive belt thingies work without lots of casualties.

[The Big Ben]

I'm still astounded all those ceiling-mounted drive belt thingies work without lots of casualties.

Who said there weren't a lot of casualties?

[UDELBR]

Well, I'm also astounded that folks don't seem to have to lift things anymore: there's always a crane or some contractually-dictated 'helper' convenience around to make sure folks don't heft anything heavier than 10 lbs.

Nah, my comment was more aimed at: "Gee, that belt looks like it could fly apart any minute".

[alfredr]

Would it be too political if I said something about job creation? Wow! Lots of people were employed there. Was there really that big a market for instruments then? Is there still that big, or more, a market?

alfredr

[Daniel C. Oberloh]

I'm still astounded all those ceiling-mounted drive belt thingies work without lots of casualties.

I worked in a silversmithing shop a while ago that had the line drive setup. The shops otto hammer, lathes, drop forge and scratch brushing machine in the plate shop were powered from the line. It did not turn as fast as some would imagine so it really was not that scarry (maybe thats a bad thing) but boy that sure eliminated the noise of a lot of motors. The shop was relatively quiet but those hammers, oh man,those hammers.

I do believe that the pre-television era, the pre-smoke-break era, the pre-breaks-anytime-no-one-is-looking era, the pre-blue-tooth-clipped-to-my-ear era, the pre-15-second-commercial era, and the reading-books-as-entertainment era encouraged more extended concentration, discipline, and awareness of one's surroundings.

I think you might have something there Joe.

Also, I just don't think there was much of anything such as a modern-day "ambulance chaser". If someone got hurt, (whether just or not) generally it was considered to be their fault.

Very glad those days are behind or mostly behind us. Not so much the idea of the "ambulance chaser" there still out there, but that last bit. I as many other men and women who sometime in our lives worked in industrial settings, know how dangerous things can get and when the guys with the clean shirts, shoes and ties start cutting corners on safety to save a buck, those of us on the shop floor or job site are the ones who pay for it with our hides. ''Oops, sorry'' from your employer or management just don't cut it when you are dead or maimed for life because of Corporate recklessness or a don't give a crap attitude.

The pics are cool and in a way demonstrate that this stuff does not just manifest itself from the ether, it was made by skilled and talented craftspersons. Much respect to my Grandparents and Great-Grandparents generation who worked that time in industry.

Daniel C. ''Glad my time in heavy industry was minimal and that we have a legal system that if even only now and then, still trys to protect and at times delivers a little justice for the working man'' Oberloh

[MartyNeilan]

A repeated theme is the use of daylight as the primary light source.

I remember Lee mentioning that at the Rudy factory, the foreman would go around mid-morning and turn all the lights off. Nothing beats natural sunlight.