Workday Wednesday - Houston Compress Company

Sometimes it seems like all my ancestors were farmers, but the records tell me differently. Some of the occupations I've found: shoemaker, milliner, wheelwright, mine worker, preacher, and sawmill owner. I will be using the "Workday Wednesday" theme for sharing photos, stories, and records related to my ancestors' work lives. If you like, join me in posting on your own blog, or as a comment here, how your ancestors spent "Workday Wednesday!"

Last week I posted a copy of the SS-5 (Application for Social Security Number) filed by my father, Jasper Jackson "Jack" Spurlock on which he indicated he was employed by the Houston Compress Company.

This week I discovered that the Baker Library at Harvard Business School holds a circa 1920 photograph album from the Houston Compress Company in its collection. From the description, I learned that the company received cotton into its warehouse at Houston and compressed the bales prior to shipment. [Source: Harvard Business School, Baker Library Historical Collections, Photograph Albums (http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/pc/photo-albums.html : accessed 7 August 2011).]

From the railroad cars in the background, I believe this photograph of my dad (third from right) and his coworkers may have been taken at the Houston Compress Company:

Digital image. Original photograph circa 1936 in the possession of
Denise Spurlock, [ADDRESS WITHHELD], Lomita, CA. 2011.

© 2011 Denise Spurlock