Good ol' Betsy: OSHA Wouldn't Like This Photo of a Forklift Driver

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Oaa 216 Hf 1982 Fork Lift Sm

Hard work builds character, which explains Valley Hardwood Flooring owner Tom Macedo. In 1954, at 14, Macedo started unloading 16-foot-long bundles of wood flooring from boxcars for his dad. Each boxcar took four days to unpack, all by hand. "Lots of splinters," Macedo says. "Gloves? Naw!" In 1956, major industry players changed bundle lengths to 7½ feet—pallet size. Goodbye, splinters, hello, Betsy: the company's forklift. Macedo jumped into the driver's seat and was able to unload a boxcar in six hours. Betsy went with him to Fresno Floor Co., Valley Hardwood's predecessor, and in 1980 someone took a photo of him at the wheel, mustache and all. "What a hoot," he recalls. "No helmet, no glove, just young blood and guts."

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