Revisit to Dad's first job in Santa Monica

 This picture is from one of my first postings from March 2013 and has my dad Joe "JL" Kerr at the gas pumps of a service station in Redondo Beach, California in 1940.  While not part of his first job story, it is an interesting picture of the times.

Well, it seems like I left out an important part of the “Auto Laundry” story. My cousin Jim reminded  me about the story of what Dad went through to get his first job in California. I  looked in my OM Monk file and found his transcribed version of Dad's job hunt and added a rather long winded version of one of my job hunts.  Here it is as told by Dad's friend OM Monk:

"Seeing a Help Wanted sign at the Auto Laundry, JL inquired about the job. He was asked if he knew how to steam clean an engine? Of course he said yes, even though he had never steam cleaned anything. This answer seemed to satisfy the question and he was told to start the next morning. Now JL needed to figure out how to operate the steam cleaner. So he found another steam cleaning business and asked to watch the operation. A few hours of watching them fire up and use the kerosine burning steam cleaner and JL was ready for his first day of work."

And it seems that the apple does not fall far from the tree. I had a similar experience when I landed my first welding job. I returned from my job cooking hamburgers at Hamilton Stores in Canyon Village, Yellowstone Park in late September 1962. I had graduated the past June and returned to late to start at at our local Jr College, so I began to hunt for a job. My high school Mechanical Drawing teacher Irv Glushenko told me about a welding job with American Rolling that was run by a friend of his. I went for an interview and was hired. I knew how to arc weld and to gas weld, but he was looking for a Tig welder. I of course told him I could Tig weld even though at the time I did not know what Tig meant.

He surprised me by having me start that very moment by asking me to go with him to the welding supply house and help him purchase a Tig welder. Unknown to me was the fact that he had no welding equipment and one of my tasks would be to set up the welding shop. Luckily the salesperson was a hands on guy and he pretty much knew what was needed in the price range we gave him. He demonstrated the welder on some scrap aluminum and then handed me the torch. I was truly nervous but having seen that it was kind of like gas welding only with an arc, I proceeded to give it a try. After sticking the tungsten arc a couple of times I put down a short little bead and told my new boss that this piece should do the job.

I worked there until September 1963 when I enrolled in the Welding class at the Jr College so I could truly learn how to weld and prepare to get certified.

The Western Journey

OM cooking breakfast near Little Rock Arkansas

 A month after his 20th birthday, my dad JL Kerr set out on a life changing journey with his friend OM Monk.  OM was less than a month away from his 20th birthday.  They planned to drive their 1931 Chevrolet from Etowah Tennessee to California.  Along the way they would see those things in the West that came straight from their school books.

JL Kerr at the Grand Canyon

The site of Dad's first job after arriving in California.

Places like the Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, and the Mojave Desert.  OM took this picture of Dad standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon.  While not mentioned in his diary of the trip, OM loved to tell us about the fateful decision that was made while they were on the North Rim of the Canyon.  Looking at their map, they had a choice of roads to go Southwest to Los Angeles or due West towards San Francisco.  They agreed to let a coin flip decide -  Heads it is LA, Tails it is SF.  He always said that we were lucky that it was Heads.

On Sunday, April 2nd they were standing at the end of Wilshire Blvd looking out at the Pacific Ocean.  From his journal, OM wrote: "We drove hard all day today, Sunday, and came through Hollywood, down to the ocean front to watch the waves roll in.  The Oranges are very abundant and very cheap."  He continues: "Got a room at 711 Marine Street Sunday evening, and started looking for work Monday morning, April 3.  J. landed a job Thurs. and I try out for one on Friday."




This is the Santa Monica Auto Laundry that was JL's first job after arriving in Santa Monica.  It was a Mobil Oil gas station as well.  That is a new friend and OM talking as JL takes their photo.  The 1931 Chevrolet is also in the picture.

In less than a year, Dad and Mom would be married in Feb 1940 after meeting here at this service station.