Retirement bliss is exactly what I call that smile on my grandfather’s face as he holds his first retirement check from Maxwell House in his hands in the photo below.
I’m not sure of his exact retirement date, but I do know he put in over 45+ years at the Houston Plant. Below is a brief write-up about my grandfather’s work experience through the years at Maxwell House that I found with the photo above. When and where was this information published? I have no idea. But if I consider the number of years he worked at the plant, I would say his retirement occurred during the mid to late 1970’s. As I look at some of the information printed on the back of this clipping, it appears to have been cut out of a company publication.
[Transcription]
Retirement Bliss
Retired Plant Services Foreman Willie Taylor (l.) accepts his first retirement check from Houston Plant Mgr. Russ Cox. Willie began working in the R&S Dept. in 1930 for 35¢ an hour. He worked his way up to a shipper with a merit increase to 40¢ an hour, but a cost of living increase brought his salary to 45¢ an hour in 1941. Willie recalls that the wages were good for a job that was “all muscle and manpower.” Willie, like many other MH employees, worked his way through the Depression, a world war, recession and inflationary cycles. After all that, he feels retirement is a time to do “nothing — just nothing.”
After 45+ years of hard work at some of the pay rates listed above, I agree wholeheartedly . . . doing “nothing — just nothing” sounds mighty good to me too– LOL!
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After 45 years at Maxwell House I wonder how did he adjust to “doing just nothing” bet the transition wasnt easy. Just curious as to whether anyone in the family saved that can of Green Maxwell House Coffee?
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I can say with certainty that he adjusted to “doing just nothing” without any problems — LOL! I remember going over to grand-dad’s house with my father to find him kicked back in his favorite lounger watching a baseball game on TV. Come to think of it, every time I visited grand-dad, there was always a baseball game on TV!
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