It's like these guys 130 years ago cutting down the Giant Sequoias in California.My Dad was sent from Alabama to Northern California to a CCC camp as a helper felling Sequoias. He and his buddies would make the springboards to allow the fellers to get high enough to cut through the trunk. They wore neckerchiefs like the Boy Scout uniforms.
That was a little less than 90 years ago.
Wow, in your and your dad's living memory! It's amazing how short a time 90 years is. Those fellers working from those springboard platforms -- talk about a risky, high testosterone job. 20 or 30 ft up in the air on a bouncy 10" or 12" wide board, swinging an axe or bucking a big hand saw. We all take for granted the hard work that goes into bringing us something as prosaic as a pine board.
For those who don't know what Higgmeister's dad did, here you go...
I worked in the Pacific Northwest a lot in the 70s and went to some Lumberjack Fairs. The first time I saw them scamper up a 90 ft pole, lop a couple inches off the top with a hand saw and get back on the ground -- in about 60 seconds! I was so blown away. Then watching the guys cut through a 12" diameter log with their axes in under 10 seconds! And the overhand axe throw to big bullseye targets. I'm still impressed over 50 years later!
My mom's family was in the lumber business in the 20s to 50s in Potlatch, Idaho and Fort Worth, Texas. My uncle in Fort Worth sold lumber for Weyerhaeuser. He really cleaned up in big tornado years!