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ermaking in the railroad shops as a young man. When we lived there,
the locomotives typically burned coal, as did the homes. As a result,
within two or three days of snowfall, the top of the snow was sprinkled
with dots of coal soot. When we attended the University of Utah and
looked down at the city below from the University campus, there was
a black cloud over the city from early October until April the months
when people operated their heating stoves or furnaces. It was only af-
ter World War II that people converted to burning natural gas, thereby
nearly eliminating the blanket. The railroads also converted to diesel
engines.
Spring weather brought an end to the heating season. Every-
one then did what was called spring cleaning. Curtains and drapes
had to be taken down and washed or dry-cleaned. The wallpaper had
to be cleaned. We used what was called wallpaper cleaner which was
a pink, soft putty that you rubbed on the walls and it removed the dirt.
You then kneaded the material to bring fresh material to the surface and
rubbed another area. After a few years, it was necessary to install new
wallpaper. Mother would cut and apply the paste to the back of the wall-
paper and Dad would hang it. There was nothing easy about maintaining
a clean house or clean clothes in those days.
In our neighborhood, the railroads were the largest source of
employment. In those days, if a large company like a railroad employed
you, you never even considered voluntarily switching from one em-
ployer to another. There was a common expression Mr. _______ got on
with the railroad. Getting on didnt mean agreement with someone
it meant you had been employed and once you were employed you
normally worked there until you retired (typically at age 70).
Railroad employment was a mixed blessing which, as a young
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and conductor required absolute adherence to train schedules. These
men worked shifts that usually involved operating a train for several
hundred miles. They then usually slept in a bunkhouse and returned on
a shift on the following day. Shifts could be day or night, any day of the
week. The railroad employees were all unionized. Railroad operating
personnel were well paid (in our view), but their lives really belonged
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