Alvin Brewer, former Ford autoworker (Detroit, MI)
I’m from Virginia. Gasburg, Virginia.
And I heard that the plants were hiring,
so what I did, I came up here
for a New Year’s party.
And after I went to the New Year’s party,
I didn’t ever go back.
I went to the Ford Motor Company
because they were hiring. That was
the 3rd of January, 1969.
My first job was working in the engine plant,
where they build the motors at.
I just came up here to a New Year’s party
and got this job and never go back.
They have the motors hanging on a line,
and they’d be passing through,
so one guy turns the crank,
one guy put a piston in,
then you turn the crank again,
and another guy put a piston in.
Yeah, they go on down the line
like that. Then when it get out
to another part of the line,
they lay the motor down,
they put the heads on,
spark plugs in.
they turn the motor over,
put the oil pan on,
keep on down the line.
When the motor get to the back,
they be ready to start it up.
They hook up the hoses
and the gas line, start it up
right there, less than half an hour.
When I would go on break, sometimes
I would go back there, watch them guys
hook the hoses up and start em up,
cause I used to like to hear them started up.
All that blue fire be shooting out of there
when the motor first started, cause they
ain’t got no pipes on it.
Sound real loud, that blue fire
from the exhaust system.
Once they put that carburetor on there,
they just pour the gas, hook the gas line up,
hit the accelerator a couple of times,
and there you go. Start right up.
They started it without the body.
The engine don’t be in the body yet.
I just came up here to a New Year’s party
and got this job and never go back.
Man they were having so much fun.
Back then, I didn’t want to go back.