Ah, Fred Grampp—brings back memories. For several years Fred had an office next to mine in Building 7 @ Murray Hill. I used to come in early to share a pot of lapsang souchong tea and listen to Fred’s stories. I still retell some of them today. In 1981 Fred picked us up at Newark Airport when my wife and I returned from vacation. He told me my Department Head was perturbed that he couldn’t reach me while we were away (I hadn’t left a contact number). He then (while driving) opened two cans of beer to toast my promotion to supervisor which had been announced. I was duly surprised. Begin forwarded message: > From: Brian Walden > Date: January 6, 2024 at 6:25:28 PM EST > To: tuhs@tuhs.org > Subject: [TUHS] Re: Fred Grampp > > This isn't directly UNIX related, and yes, the thread is 3 years old. But since it made national news last night, probably due to its proximity to Newark Airport. The enormous fire in Elizabeth, NJ, I recognized in the local news as the old Singer factory. That factory was the catalyst that linked me into finding out more on Fred Grampp, and his ancestry. > > Here's a non-paywalled link that also mentions it is indeed the old Singer factory: https://newjersey.news12.com/elizabeth-nj-fire-industrial-building > > >> On Tue, Mar 16, 2021 at 11:12 AM M Douglas McIlroy wrote: >> >> Serendipitous find! I hadn't realized that Fred had been the third >> generation in the hardware store. >> His father ("Pops") retired to Drayton Island in the St Johns River >> about 60 miles south of Jacksonville. >> Fred often visited him, driving the 19-hour trip in one stint. >> >> Doug >> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2021 at 6:47 PM Brian Walden wrote: >>> >>> Amazing coincidences. A week prior I was researching Topper Toys >>> looking for their old factory ("largest toy factory in the world") >>> As there was litte on it's location and it lead me to find out >>> in 1961 it took over the old Singer Factory in Elizabeth, NJ. >>> So looking up the Singer factory led me to "Elizabeth, >>> New Jersey, Then and Now" by Robert J. Baptista >>> >>> https://ia801304.us.archive.org/11/items/ElizabethNewJerseyThenAndNowSecondEdition2015/ElizabethNewJerseyThenNowThirdEditionApril102018607Pages.pdf >>> >>> Which had no information on Topper, but had had this paragraph in it's Singer >>> section on page 28 -- >>> >>> Boys earned money "rushing the growler" at lunchtime at the Singer plant. >>> German workers lowered their covered beer pails, called growlers, on ropes >>> to the boys waiting below. They earned a nickel by filling them with beer >>> at Grampp's saloon on Trumbull St. One of these boys was Thomas Dunn who >>> later became a long term Mayor. In the early 1920s Frederick Grampp went >>> into the hardware business at the corner of Elizabeth Ave. and Reid St. >>> >>> >>> When I read it I thought funny, as I know the name Fred Grampp. But beleived >>> just a coincidenental same name. After reading the biography post, I went back >>> to the book as it turns out that Fred Grampp is your Fred Grampps's >>> grandfather. You can find more his family and the hardware store and >>> Grampp himself on pages 163-164, and 212. >>> >>> -Brian >>> >>