Flint Photos: Last Car Made at Buick City

The Inferno

Some comments deserve their own posts. Anonymous reflects on education and the assembly line:

Working my way through college (MSU), I would return to my Flint hometown after Spring Quarter. I'd immediately place job applications with all the GM productions in the hope of getting something paying union scale to fund the next year's tuition.

In the Summer of 62,I got a call from Fisher Body and was escorted to the fabled assembly line. The noise was incredible, sparks flew everywhere from welders attaching various metal parts into an auto frame. My reaction was "Dante's Inferno," and how could people possibly work here every day. I soon found out.

In a life chapter where I was devoted to education, working an automobile assembly line was one of the most profound educational experiences of my life. Co-workers were surprising cordial to the "college kid." They were very safety-conscious and had to be. It was quite dangerous. The monotony was indescribable. Coping techniques were seen with empty whiskey bottles in wheel wells and trunks of the auto bodies passing by.

After 3 months of that lifestyle, there was never any question in my mind that I'd finish my education and avoid ever having to return to Dante's Inferno.

Flint Photos: Buick Specials Roll Down the Line in 1949

40 Years of Fun!

After 40 years at Chrysler's Twinsburg Stamping Plant in Ohio, Bill Wetherholt has a few stories to tell. Now he's obviously not a Flintoid, but it's still worth reading his interview on allpar.com.

A brief sample...

Jessie: Can you tell me a little bit about your first experiences when you were hired at Chrysler?

Bill: Being afraid. (Laughing) When I first started working there, we really worked hard, but you didn’t think about working hard at that time. There were no filtration systems in the plant, there were no safety signs telling you to wear ear plugs and safety goggles. They didn’t have covers over the presses and the gears were exposed, I mean there were so many hazards that you worked around that you never thought about it.

Thanks to Kris Stableford for sending this my way.