If it weren’t for the rubber industry in Akron, Ohio, I would have never been born. My paternal grandparents are from Cherry Tree and Burnside, PA, neighboring towns supported by coal mining in the early 1900’s. My grandfather Otis said a coal miner nearly always had a scab on his back from scraping his back on the mine.  Miners rarely saw the light of day since they entered before sunrise and exited after dusk - a truly bleak existence that he chose to avoid. My grandparents, Otis Webster & Ruth Croasmun, married and left PA for Akron, Ohio in 1929. Akron's booming rubber industry in the 1920’s caused many to migrate to Akron for jobs in factories owned by Goodrich, Goodyear, Firestone, & General Tire.  My grandfather, Otis, labored at Goodrich for 38 yrs. Otis and Ruth survived the Depression on hard work and luck.  They did extra part-time jobs cleaning at Chestnut Ridge Dairy.  Luck arrived when Otis won a new car from a Golden Age bottle cap.  He sold the car and bought land which he sold gradually for income.  While factory work beat mining and farming, it still afforded a lean existence.   Another aspect of the Depression was S&H Green Stamps in grocery stores.  My grandmother, Ruth, traded S&H Green Stamps for Currier & Ives Winter Old Grist Mill dinnerware which I still use.  I inherited the Currier and Ives china and the dining room set which originated with my great-grandparents, David and Mae Sunderland Webster.  These keepsakes are meaningful and bring good memories.  I feel blessed to have them. 

– Michelle Webster

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant