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Photographer: Mike Wintermantel
Taken: April 20, 2016
Caption: Three Generations - A Family's Tale
Additional Description: Steelmaking was often a family affair. Young men grew up expecting to join their fathers, brothers, and cousins in the mill. Ken Kobus (pictured bottom left) related the following story of his experience of going to work with his father. Ken was a third generation J&L man - his grandfather worked 47 years for the company; his father, John (pictured top left), started in 1937 and Ken in 1966.

"When I went into the Shop [for the first time with my dad], I found out that they were going to let me tap the furnace. A lot of guys started coming around and gathering and I sort of realized that this was not the way it was normally, but I didn't really care. I hit the button and it blew up and it made such a god-awful sound, and there was smoke and fire and sparks, and it was just everywhere! And then the steel started running into the spout, and there were flames shooting up out of the spout, and I must have jumped 3 or 4 feet in the air, I was so scared. And then I knew why all these guys were around. They started laughing because it was such a sight to see somebody be so scared. I was the show of the Open Hearth that day."
Submitted: April 22, 2016, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Database Locator Identification Number: p350333
File Size: 4.251 Megabytes

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