Wearing the Uniform

Mr. James AITKEN, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

This is a photo of my father with his cousin, Jim Aitken, who was a friend and business partner of my grandfather. My father said he was not related to his mother, Annie Aiken, but I have since proved that he was a distant relation. I think that my father thought so because of the extra "t" in his name.

This is a Kodachrome slide from my grandparent's collection taken somewhere near the Victor Cleansing Co. Plant.  When I looked at it, I suddenly realized that my father is NOT wearing his military uniform as I thought when I scanned it.

But, what kind of uniform is this? Another mystery...

Some days later, while working with the city directories, I found this mention of my father's occupation in 1952.

My father told me that when he came home from WWII, he stayed with his family in Westerly and after a time, he went to Providence to visit his sister. My aunt and uncle both worked at Victor. I think they must have convinced my father to apply for a job as a driver for the company, delivering the clean clothes and picking up bags of dirty clothes to be sent back to the plant to be cleaned.

I do know, that my mother left her job as a photographer in Hartford, CT to return home during the war. I think that this is how my parents met, in the Shipping Room. So, it was a shipping room romance. (grin)

My dad always looked good in a uniform whether it be a sports uniform or his military uniform or this "head shipper" uniform.