"Holy macaroni, I am tired!”

Charles

Social history  is all about detailing the experiences of ordinary people. Bob Chandler shares some letters from from his personal collection, and some he found in the Archives, of Wells Fargo's working people. They describe their day at work, and it sounds an awful lot like yours.

An1890s railroader in upstate New York  wrote, "I am all alone. Have all the operating to do and all waybilling. It makes a fellow hustle to keep up and not get trains muddled up. This is double track."

In 1914 Detroit, a Wells Fargoan wrote that when one of his colleagues went on vacation, that man's work came to him, and "kept me pretty busy. The Boss did not handle much of the correspondence. He was in and out all the time, so that left it all to me, but I managed to keep it going, but it kept me going."

A classic account of working for Wells Fargo comes from Arcata, Calif., in 1909:

"This job of mine is a korker. I am here from 8 AM until 10 PM every night and sometimes later, but I have made good. Business is good and the Wells Fargo Auditors say that this office is in better shape than it was before, so the glory helps me some, but holy macarony, I am tired."

From a social history point of view, one gets a more accurate history from regular people, the opposite end of the scale from kings and generals. This is certainly true. But these letters prove another thing that is certainly true: The one constant that pervades social history is hard work and achin' feet.