In 1953, at the age of 24, Joe Neuhold immigrated to Canada. “Immigration Canada had set up near the factory where I worked. They were looking for tradesmen. I had found employment as a mechanic, truck driver and farm worker. So I filled out the forms and Canada paid for my trip.”
Joe was headed for a job at a camp in Ajax but when he arrived in Montreal he was told the Ajax jobs were cancelled. Instead he now headed for the tobacco fields in Woodstock. He was needed there. “I could drive a tractor, milk cows,” and he was much in demand. “At first a farmer said to go with him. I said OK but I need my suitcase.” While that farmer went off looking for the suitcase another approached Joe and said to go with him. “Don’t worry about your suitcase.” When a third farmer showed up, Joe’s suitcase in hand, off they went. “A suitcase in the hand is worth…”
Joe stayed there for less than a year. “The farmer’s wife was attracted to me and I told him I wasn’t that kind of a guy and I didn’t want to get into any trouble in Canada.” In parting the farmer said: “You’re a good man Joe. The best of luck.”
He and a buddy went to Chalk River to work in the bush using a cross cut saw to cut 4 foot logs that they skidded out of the bush. “We rented a horse to skid the logs. My friend would hook a log to the chain, the horse would drag it to me and I would unhook the chain. Then Joe would send the horse back to his buddy. And so on. “We made good money.”
Over Christmas Joe and his buddy stayed in camp and looked after the horse. Accidentally, they left the barn door open, the horse got into the oats, bloated and died. From there they went to Orillia and made 82 cents an hour which was good money for 1954/55, working in a factory making beds for boats. In Toronto a company needed someone in the lift truck business who could weld and use a milling machine. Joe was their man. At AVRO ??????The owner had some tractors that are used to pull the planes out to the runways and back and he was having a problem with one. “We were making wagons that you used to see for carrying luggage at airports and railway stations. When I looked at the tractor I could see all it needed was a clutch.”
Realizing that Joe repaired the tractor the owner showed up, in full dress suit, at Joe’s night shift. “He sat down beside me and said that he wanted me to repair the tractors. I told him that I had no tools and he said that he would provide them. I was to go home and report for the day shift.”
To top it off Joe got a raise to $1.20 an hour. “I thought I was a millionaire.” When the boss discovered that Joe was attending night school – to learn diesel mechanics and to improve his English – his boss told him that “if he quite school Joe would receive a raise to $1.40.” Joe accepted. “They wanted to keep me uneducated.”
After 9 years the boss was fired and Joe moved on to start his own lift truck company. That’s when he met Edith, his future wife. “Edith had been on a student exchange to England. She immigrated to Canada under a “Marriage Contract” agreement whereby she promised to marry within a prescribed time period. The man who sponsored her wanted to marry her.” However, Edith had other plans. Edith worked at Eaton’s as a sales lady. “We met at the Austrian Club. There wasn’t much to do for single people then. Edith’s time was running out and she was going to have to return to Austria so I stepped in and married her in 1955.” With her command of the English language Edith was able to help Joe with his business. “For fun we used to go to Wasaga Beach. It was very popular with the Germans.”