The evolution of Bill Cotton multi-skill career
Long story about my electronic. We had a neighbor
who repaired radios when I was about 10. caught my interest. My mother died
when I was 15 and the a few of the teacher suggested that I go to a boarding
school that had radio repair. Daddy never came up with the funds. I took auto
repair at our school shop and a friend of daddy took me on as a helper while I
was still in high school. Had to drive his service car, and he let me keep a
car that I worked on, youngest poor guy with a car in high school.
Came to Philly the day after I graduated in
1950. I tried to get a job in a dealership but never did. a factory job and
the Korea war boom I was hire as a trainee machine operator at the Frankford
Arsenal. While working as a MO and waiting to be call for the machinist
apprenticeship program, I was drafted. I thought that it was because on my
scores in the aptitude test. but Later I learned that Radio Repairman was
being picked off big time on the hill tops of Korea. I was sent to radio
repair school for six month in a two year hitch. That plus two month of
military training didn't leave much time for service.
The war ended and I was sent to Germany operating
Germany made radio telephone equipment is the USAR headquarter in Frankford. I
took Army corresponded courses and My wife paid her way over. We lived on the
Germany eccomery.
When I was discharge, I was able to get the
apprenticeship. Had I not gone to the service I would've been laid off.
I answered a add for a TV repairman. I was the
street man and just changed tubes. The bench man didn't know much more and one
day the boss said for me to trash a bunch of tubes that were laying around
that he had tried and didn't put them back where they came from.
That was my grub stake. I began to repair on my
own with a supply of possible tubes to replace.
When I would go the tube Store I would see older
guys who were radio repairmen and didn't take the time to learn TV. The irony
is that when color and transistor came about I faded.
Motorola came out with the modular componets.
Before it was RCA, Philco, Admiral,
Sylvania and a few other who has distributor that stock parts. And Radio
Electric at 10 and Arch. Parts were easily available. With the Japanese set no
one carried parts.
I did this from 1955 to 1969. I left the Arsenal
in 1969 and work as a supervisor, (affirmative action) with a fortune 500
company PennWalt. They had bought part of Stokes, and Sharpless and their
centrifuge, for sewage and submarine. I work there on the night shift and
getting to TV customer was hard. But , I was ready to give TV repair up anyway.
I left Pennwalt and worked in a minority job shop,
then I decided to hell with principle, I better get a retirement first. 38
years old, so I applied and was hired at the US Mint. My supervisor stint at
Penn-Walt and Medley paid off and less than a year at the Mint I was promoted
to machine shop supervisor on the third shift. About four years later I was
made Coin Production General Foreman, with the highest grade on the third
shift, I was literally in charge of the Mint for my shift.
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