Chapter 1 - EXPANSION
Isaac Steven Blount continues the tale:
I was mustered out of the Army Air Corps by Christmas and Poppa began turning management of Blount Farms over to me.
We had to play catch-up, most of our machinery was in bad shape, and our machine shop had done its best to keep everything running but after four years of plastering patches on top of more patches, most of the equipment was a breakdown just waiting to happen.
I hold a Family Meeting every month to determine what was most pressing, right off the bat we needed new combines. Even if the ones we had were repairable, parts were no longer available and Heinz was making most of the repair parts in our own shop.
Our own dealership was handling International Harvester Machinery and Caterpillar Tractors, my cousins' eyes lit up when we decided to order six self-propelled combines, six D-8 and four D-12 Caterpillar Tractors in September of 1946.
I looked at the condition of the flatbed trucks and shuddered, we added twelve Dodge Flatbed 12-ton trucks to the order!
Factories were a little slow gearing up for civilian production after the war, but we had all our equipment by the end of the year.
We didn't have any immediate problems with manpower, a lot of my old Army Air Corps buddies came knocking at our door, looking for work. They were all good fellows and we hired every one of them. Many of them had visited the Farm during their recuperation and were anxious to get back to us.
Poppa was pleased that so much work was getting done, stuff that had to be let go during the war was finally being accomplished. Even at that, it still took the wizards in the maintenance shops to keep us going. Even new equipment needs service and occasionally breaks down.
I had Blount House repainted and modernized; we all knew it was only a matter of time before it would be occupied again. We added a wing to the Retirement Home and fixed up the yard so they could play lawn bowls. The game room was redone, Roger Snake had asked for a billiard table and we bought two of them.
The old guys were delighted.
Towards the end of the year, Roberta told me that we were "expecting" again. How could life be any better?
We closed out the year, and despite the heavy expenditures for new equipment, the Corporation showed a profit of $26,968,000! Poppa was pleased, and, as far as I am concerned, that is all that matters!
We spent a quiet Christmas, there were horses tied to the railing for the twins. That was the last we saw of them until nearly dark, Roberta was fit to be tied; they had gone riding in their Sunday best clothes.
She was scandalized when I told her, "So what, their trousers are high water and they need new ones anyway!"
The extra work was too much for Cook, he had a mild heart attack and I told him that was enough, he had earned his retirement. He went grumbling back to the Retirement Home and his Grand Nephew, Carter, became Cook.
My stepbrother, Billy has turned 13 and asked me for a job. He wanted to work in sales, so I put him with Uncle Josiah, Billy is so mature, it is difficult to remember he is still a child. The two of them are planning a sales trip right after New Year's, I am hesitant to allow Billy to go with Josiah and miss the school time, but Josiah has convinced me that Billy is ready, so we will try it.
It sticks in my memory that Poppa got rid of a bunch of barrels of olives that way!
Some office in the War Department wrote me a letter asking if I would guarantee Danny Ito a job, then they would be allowed to leave the Internment Camp. I was furious. I dared not show Poppa the letter as he would have popped his cork!
I wrote back that MR. Danny Ito was considered FAMILY and he had a responsible job in the Management of Blount Farms Corporation, the sooner they returned Mr. Ito to us, the sooner we could get back to our business! I was so angry, the letter had to be retyped because I had jammed my ink pen through the paper!
Two weeks later, Roberta and I drove down to Sacramento to retrieve Danny and Yoshi Ito, along with their two sons, Carl and Albert, from the train station.
Danny's Mom, Isabel, had died in that awful place, but we were sure glad to have them back home with us.
I hugged Danny and Roberta did the same with Yoshi, we were all in tears.
The boys had grown into young men, I asked them what did they want to do and they both replied, "Go Home!"
Carl was a budding machinist and Albert had been studying accounting, so I told Carl he could work with Heinz in the Machine Shop and Albert could work with Tobias in Accounting.
I had another project in mind for Albert Ito, but it would have to wait until I had a little time to think it over.
Danny looked a bit bewildered, so I said, "And you, Mr. Danny, already have a job, Head Orchardist of Blount Farms!"
Roberta and I took them all back to Blount's Bluff and stopped in front of a brand-new house on the property. Danny asked, "What about our little cottage that Mr. Steven gave us?"
I replied, "No Way, Mr. Danny, Our Head Orchardist lives in a Manager's House as befits his position in our corporation."
Both he and Yoshi were in tears as we led them up the walk to their new home. After we had gotten them in the house and Roberta and I were getting ready to get back in the car, both boys came running out and they held my hand, "Mr. Isaac, may God Bless you for what you have done for Mamma and Poppa, they are both smiling for the first time since we went to that terrible place, God Bless you both!"
As spring began to take hold, the winter wheat started to show tassels and we began to ready the machinery for the annual mad rush to get seed in the ground.
I put my "new" Brother-in-law, Jonathon, in charge of Crop Accounting. His missing hand and arm didn't slow him down any from accounting for acres planted and tons of seed consumed.
I am pretty sure my twin, Maria, is helping him a bit, but who cares? Besides, things were beginning to accelerate and we needed every one of us to pull together. Demand for agricultural products was surging beyond all our expectations!
Between planting and bringing in the feeder beeves and swine, I was seriously considering putting traffic control lights in the main yard. From first light in the morning until past dark, tractors, trailers, trucks and machines were crisscrossing the area.
It was worth your life to walk from the house to the Machine Shop or worse, try to get to the Home Dairy! I had to use the telephone to get the morning production report from the dairies!
I decided I needed to speed up my plans for young Albert Ito, I called Tobias and asked him if he absolutely needed Albert and he replied, "Cousin, I suspect you have plans for that young man, when do you want him?"
I had two men standing in my doorway and the other telephone was ringing, I told Tobias, "Yesterday would be nice!"
A few minutes later, Albert Ito stuck his head in my office and said, "You needed me, Sir?"
I grabbed his arm and almost dragged him into the parlor, where Gina had set up a hot plate with coffee and hot water for tea on it. I grabbed a cup of coffee and Albert took some tea as we sat down at the table.
I said, "Albert, do you have your heart set on being an accountant or, maybe, would you like a taste of management?"
Albert's eyes got big and asked, "Eeerra ahh, what do you have in mind, Sir?"
I replied, "First thing, my name is Isaac, not Sir. I would like you to be my Executive Assistant; I just can't be in more than one place at a time."
His hands were shaking and he set the teacup down carefully.
He asked, "Like Mr. John did for your Daddy?"
I told him, "Yes, kinda, I can't be in two places at the same time, there would be times that you would need to go somewhere and be me."
Albert thought for a bit and then said, "Mr. Isaac, I would love to do that, but, won't folks ignore me, I er aahh am kinda young and a ...."
I held up my hand to him, "Don't you dare tell me that because you are Japanese, you can't do the job! If someone doesn't want to do business with us because you are of Japanese ancestry, then we don't need their business, same if they think you are too young!"
Albert smiled and replied, "Well, I am the Grandson of Madam Le Grand Tigre, yes sir Mr. Isaac I will do the job for you!"
Thus began a relationship that was to last both our lifetimes.
Albert moved into Uncle John's old office next door to mine and, within days, my days were more orderly and I got a whole lot more work done! Every morning, there was a daily "Hot List" sitting on my desk when I got here and it was an unusual day, indeed, if that list had to be changed during the day!
Albert was as precise as an accountant and as formidable as his Grandmother had been for Poppa!
We moved into summer, the Anchor Beer Rice Field was starting to head up; it would be next to harvest after we finished the winter wheat.
We had upped the rice to 18,000 acres in hopes of selling some of it on the open market, but Caleb's son, Garner, told me that Anchor was expanding and they wanted every grain of rice from the field. The Vance's were now part owners of Anchor Steam Beer Company and they were pushing expansion.
I have to agree with Poppa, somebody else can have my share of the beer. I won't ever tell him that I tried beer drinking out in Hawaii, when I was in the Air Corps. The next morning was the most awful thing I can ever remember. Once was enough for me!
We are planning on having 160,000 acres in grains and corn this summer, the market is high and, according to Uncle Kelly, exports to Europe are running at least 30% higher than last year!
Gustav came to see me, he was feeding an amazing number of feeder animals up at the dairy feedlot and he was working his little Ford Pickup Truck to death hauling greens from the Co-Op for the calves and dairy herd.
I suggested a 5-ton flatbed with cargo rails and he like the idea.
I raised my eyebrows and asked, "Well...."
Gustav smiled, "Yes sir, I will give Mr. Toby a purchase order before I go to lunch."
He left, whistling some tune to himself.
A couple of days later, Billy showed up, with an ear-to-ear grin, "Bro, Mama is taking me to Redding, Mr. Josiah says I need a new suit and shiny shoes for our sales trip."
I was surprised that Tillie Fiest was not in on that project, but I later learned she was; she had invited Mama to go along and the three of them were going to have lunch at the Cattlemen's Club. I suspect Billy was in for some training in fine dining!
Since it was summer, Billy would not miss any school, so Josiah planned a three-week trip, Trans World Airways had a daily flight out of San Francisco to Chicago and they planned on taking the Packet to San Francisco and catching the flight.
Billy was all excited, other than myself and some of my flight crew, nobody from Blount Farms had ever flown before.
Tillie and I saw them off, Roberta and Mama had breakfast with them, but 4 am was a bit early for them to go down to the Landing.
We didn't hear anything from them until the orders started to come in on the new teletype machine. I didn't know which one of them it was, but one of them was selling ice cubes to the Eskimos!
Josiah later told me that he hoped Billy never went into politics, that he could charm the shoes off a horse!
Robert is beginning to show her pregnancy now and everyone gives a smile, Doc Bonner says he can hear only one heartbeat, one is enough! We already have one set of twins.
Chapter 2 - ALBERT ITO AND THE DROUGHT
In July of 1947, I was called to an emergency session of the State Legislature, to deal with a drought that had started last spring.
There had been no spring rains to speak of and, already, farmers in the San Joaquin Valley were hurting for water.
We are still pumping from the river to keep our pastures green, but we don't irrigate any crops. The corn was the most sensitive to dry conditions, but so far, we were ok.
My only choice, with Josiah gone, was to have Albert Ito take over for me. Poppa said he would help him, but he agreed with me, it was Albert's job!
Albert was shaky and full of self-doubt when I told him he was going to be running the entire show while I was stuck in Sacramento.
I told him, "Poppa Isaac will be here to advise you, but, Albert, you are gonna be in charge. If push comes to shove, you can always telephone me at The River Hotel in Sacramento, but I don't expect to hear from you unless it is a life-or-death situation. You are smart and you know how this place is supposed to run, go with it!"
I could see a little pride peeking around his fears and I knew with Poppa as a safety valve, Albert would do just fine.
He did.
I took the packet to Sacramento and we were stuck arguing about water for three solid weeks!
The San Joaquin farmers wanted the whole of both the Sacramento AND the San Joaquin Rivers diverted to irrigate their crops. We couldn't agree to that, we formed a couple of irrigation districts and authorized funds for the Mendota Canal project. It would take three years to get the water to them, so we then added two dam projects, Dom Pedro and Merced Dams. Those could be completed before the canal could make it as far as Fresno.
It was the best we could do, the Shasta Dam would help keep water in the Sacramento River, hopefully, we could squeak by.
The drought would worsen, and would not end until 1954!
By that time, we would all be affected; even electricity would need to be cut back as we had only a few steam power plants. Most of our electricity came from hydro-electric plants along the rivers that flowed down the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Pacific Gas and Electric hurriedly constructed Contra Costa Steam Generator Plant at Antioch and also one down at Bakersfield at the south end of the San Joaquin Valley.
Before the drought was ended in 1954, electricity had to be cut back and everyone experienced "brownouts" and total "blackouts".
We had to put the emergency diesel generator back on the line to protect our dairy operations and pump water from our wells.
I came back from Sacramento tired and disgusted with my fellow legislators, they could argue just fine, but when it came to making a decision, they couldn't make up their minds.
I came home as soon as the last session closed; I had a business to run!
When I got home, Albert had everything done and up to date, he had compiled a daily log of everything that had happened and what they had done about it, Blount Farms was a going concern!
I could see that fuel for the generator was going to be a problem and getting electricity from PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric) was going to be "iffy".
We had to have water and power to stay in business, after conferring with Poppa, I asked Albert Ito to take over management of the power and water systems. He could choose as many employees as he needed to operate the water and power systems and keep them going.
The first person he chose was his brother, Carl to supervise the maintenance of the systems. He pulled Gustav out of the dairy to supervise the line crews and we were in the utility business.
Gustav was a bit sorry to leave his dairy, but he recognized the importance of keeping the water and electricity flowing. Like everything he did, he was precise and methodical, the lights rarely went out and they never stayed out for more than a few minutes.
He had a number of new wells drilled and he built a pumping station on the river, we never once went dry.
We were too far upriver to worry about saltwater intrusion from the bay, but, there were times when the pumps were pumping muddy water from the bottom of the channel.
By the end of the drought, Albert was managing a department of fifty men and an annual budget of $7.5 million!
They kept us going the entire period, never once did we have to cut back our farming or dairies and our homes always had electric lights! Those seven years made us all more self-reliant and were the making of Albert and Carl Ito.
Never again would they doubt themselves or their worth.
My Roberta started having pains right before Thanksgiving, I called Dr. Bonner and he came immediately. It seemed like he had only just arrived when he and Mama were shooing me out of the room. I had hardly sat down in the parlor when I heard Roberta scream and then a baby started crying.
I had a fine new baby son, we named him Joseph Steven Blount. He came equipped with flaming red hair and a set of lungs that would have put an air raid siren to shame!
When Maria and Jonathon came to see the new baby, she shyly told us that they were "expecting" and that Dr. Bonner told her the baby would be due in June of next year. Now I was going to be an Uncle as well as a father!
We closed 1947 with good profits in all departments and, after socking some cash away in case the drought got worse, we reported a net profit of $29,980,000.
At our annual meeting, Tillie asked to increase the number of Safe Food Stores; she wanted to expand down into the San Joaquin Valley with stores in Antioch, Manteca, Merced and Fresno. She also wanted to expand the Emporium in San Francisco with a branch in a new section on the west side of town and one each in Fresno and Bakersfield.
We gave her the "go-ahead" on all of it.
The Caterpillar and Dodge Truck dealerships were expanded and six more grain elevators were authorized.
The Elementary School needed expansion and a Middle School was authorized.
Albert told us of a need for management trainees, so we authorized a scholarship program for our employees to get the extra training they needed to become supervisors.
Gustav's younger brother, Josef was promoted to Dairy Manager and given all the dairy operations. I think Gustav was a little sad about that, but he was doing such a good job keeping our water and electricity flowing, we didn't dare change him to another position.
I mentioned that I still needed a "Right Hand Man" and Albert suggested Henry Yee's son, Todd. They were again living down at Shady Grove and Henry was the new Co-Op Manager.
We also continued our support for the Marysville and Redding Hospitals and added another wing to the Retirement Residence. Additional staff houses and another wing for the bunkhouse were authorized before the meeting was closed.
The next day, I drove down to Shady Grove, I had not been there since I returned from the war and I was surprised at how well they were doing.
We were still buying their green tops for the dairy and they were supplying our Safe Food Stores with fresh vegetables. The Co-op was a growing business and Henry was proud to show me around. They had 3,000 acres under cultivation and twenty owner-employees growing and harvesting the vegetables.
I asked Henry about his oldest son, Todd, and he told me that Todd would like to get out of the "dirt business".
I told him about my need for an assistant and he said he would send Todd up to see me the next day.
I took Henry out to lunch at the Cattleman's and we had a fine talk, I agreed to ask Tillie if she could feature some "Premium Fancy Vegetables" at the larger Safe Food Stores before we parted. When I suggested it to Tillie, she thought it was a good idea and I could see her planning a boutique vegetable market in our stores.
She did, and they were an instant success.
Todd came up to see me the next day and he was anxious to try out for the job, he fit in nearly as well as Albert had, and, after he got some pointers from Albert, he was every bit as good.
After his trial period, I named Todd Yee as my Executive Assistant and we were off to the races!
Every morning Todd was waiting for me, his "Hot List" in his hand and we would discuss the day's problems. Todd was a bundle of energy, after our morning meeting, he was rarely in the office again until just before lunch, he would visit with every supervisor and foreman at Blount Farms, and would frequently have a sheaf of notes to discuss with me.
There was not a single place he didn't have his nose into every single day, he headed off many more problems himself than he brought to my attention.
1948 opened dry and cold, the winter wheat was late heading up and we didn't get the corn or the rice planted until mid-April, it was going to be a late harvest season.
The red wheat was a little better; we had gone back to that rather than white wheat, the red was more drought resistant.
Todd told me that David Stallings was selling his property, he didn't have access to the river and had no water and there was no way he could manage by himself.
It was good land, about 8,000 acres of good bottom land and another 4,000 in rolling pasture. He had a small dairy and was running a herd of 125 milkers, all of which were registered Holsteins.
We had placed Gustav's brother, Josef, in charge of the dairy when we put Gustav to keeping the lights and water running, so I took Josef with me when Todd and I went up to talk with David.
Josef crawled all over that dairy, I could see he was drooling. The dairy was modern and up to date and Josef's eyes nearly bugged when he looked thru the milking records. When he saw the percent butterfat, he sidled over to me and whispered, "Mr. Isaac, if you don't buy this, I will get my Poppa to lend me the money and I will buy it!"
David Stallings was asking $100,000 for everything, Josef made signs like he was writing a check, so I offered him his asking price and we made the deal right then and there. That made five dairies now that Josef was managing, I told him to put a foreman in each dairy so he could be "out and about."
He was running now, nearly 1,100 milkers and 95 milking goats and I could almost count the number of cases of cheese he was planning on marketing!
Since we got David's marketing list along with his dairy, we didn't have to scurry up a bunch of new customers right away. Josef did buy six refrigerated trucks and designed a new label for his cheese, "Farm Gold California Cheese" and started distributing our cheese in the big cities.
We had always had a good market for our cheese, but Josef raised it to new heights. He held a wine and cheese party for our commercial customers in late March and, by Easter, Roberta told me that our cook, Mrs. Gates, had to go buy cheese in Redding for our Easter Dinner!
She was sure that Josef had sold even the smell of our cheese; there wasn't a speck for ourselves!
Chapter 3 - THE SUMMER OF OUR CONTENTION
Summer snuck up on us before we were ready, the winter wheat was pretty sparse and I could tell already that the corn crop was going to be light. Only the rice looked like it was going to be near normal and Garner Vance was cackling like a broody hen over the stand of rice we had for him. I swear he was sweeping up spilled grains from under the harvesters!
Despite a reduced crop, it looked like we were going to do pretty well this year; we had no serious breakdowns and all our customers were clamoring for grain. Rainbow Mills was so desperate that they sent trucks to retrieve sufficient tonnage to keep the mill running until the rail cars could get there.
Maria and Jonathon had their baby the day before the 4th of July, another boy was added to the Family, Michael Isaac Andrews and, as sure as chickens have feathers, Little Mike had red hair!
Between Michael Isaac and Joseph Steven, I am pretty sure the dead can be raised!
Those two boys would be close as brothers for their entire lives.
We were beginning to hear rumblings about the Union wanting to unionize our employees and there were a couple of times that organizers were out at the gate handing out leaflets.
Most of our employees were second and even third-generation employees and, like Tigh Gesthner told me, he wouldn't be able to look his Daddy in the eye if he joined a union!
It was the Union who had called for us to get rid of the "Dirty Germans" just a few years ago, so most of our employees had no use for them!
We pretty much ignored the organizing attempts until a brick was thrown in the window of the Retiree's Game Room. Nobody was hurt, but Cook was as mad as a wet hen!
Both Todd and I thought it best to be prepared, we kept the main gate closed and locked and, after a couple of strange happenings in the middle of the night, all the managers started carrying a pistol.
We didn't want any trouble, but we sure weren't going to let them burn the place down around our ears!
We ended the year with another good profit, after our usual "put aside" and the social projects that we had always maintained; we cleared $26,320,000 for 1948.
We were a year into the drought and we surely hoped it would not get worse. Unfortunately, that hope was in vain, it did get worse and showed no sign of letting go.
We had a slight scare just after Christmas, kids started getting sick and our first thought was the influenza was back, but it turned out to be a widespread epidemic of the chicken pox.
Most of the kids were over it before school restarted on January 12th.
At our annual meeting, we replaced some minor equipment and authorized purchase of a fleet of Ford pickup trucks, our old ones were about beat.
Josef asked for a distribution center to be built in Oakland for cheese and dairy products and he would keep it stocked if we would hire a supervisor and deliverymen to distribute the cheese and dairy products around Central California.
We told him we would look into it, but I knew in my heart that Josef had all the facts and figures ready for me to look at. So, we would just go through the motions.
The dairy and cheese business grew by leaps and bounds and was fast becoming a major profit center.
In a very short time, Josef had a fleet of twenty refrigerated delivery trucks delivering dairy products and cheese between Fresno and Redding. Farm Gold California Dairy Products and Cheese commanded a premium price in the markets and Josef even took some top awards at the State Fair.
TBC