Civilization.ca - Christian Bennedsen - Scrapbook of a Life in Letters

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5
Work

Early Career:
Atlas Sheet Metal and
McEwen Sheet Metal

Chris's Unemployment Insurance Registration Card, ca 1958.
(CMC, Christian Bennedsen Collection, P45-3.1a)

We are very busy now. Everybody has to start getting their furnace in order for the winter. It is here quite a bit different than it is there at home. Most of them have the oil furnace down in the basement with a forced air fan and ductwork throughout the house. So they call that forced air heating. Here in the downtown area of the city it is mostly two and three story houses, and I'm both on service and also on new installation. I work mostly with the ductwork installation, and it is really busy this time of year. They seem to think that we can be in ten places all at once, but we had also a busy summer with air conditioning and such, so it's really not that much different. I'm sure I'm not getting any holidays this year, but it is much better to have an extra week's pay than go around and not work in the week.

Chris Bennedsen to Anna Bennedsen, September 21, 1956.
(CMC, Christian Bennedsen Collection, Correspondence series, Box P-29, 16th group, translated from Danish by Chris Bennedsen)

Early Career:
Atlas Sheet Metal and
McEwen Sheet Metal

In 1959, Gordon McEwen retired and Chris returned to Atlas. Now, he began servicing furnaces as well as installing them. His work load increased enormously: Chris remembers working fourteen or fifteen hours a day, doing installations during the day and service calls at night. He even kept a phone beside his bed in case of emergencies!

By the mid-1960s, Chris was a service manager at Atlas. He worked on homes large and small, from posh Forest Hill to the new subdivisions north and west of the city. He also began to install air-conditioning units.

We had a hard winter in December with lots of snow and hard frost, and it is very difficult for the traffic. Everything is fine at work. We have plenty to do as always, and Connie is sometimes upset when I don't return until the middle of the night, but it is better than being unemployed.

Chris Bennedsen to Frederik Bennedsen, January 6, 1964.
(CMC, Christian Bennedsen Collection, Correspondence series, Box P-29, 16th group, translated from Danish)

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