Less Than Truck Load History

There is a blog called LessThanTruckLoadHistory  https://lessthantruckloadhistory.wordpress.com/2016/07/24/victor-lynn-lines-protests-and-wins-time-after-many-times/
which deals with trucking history.  In one post they talk about the local trucking companies that applied for permission from the ICC to runs trucking lines in areas that Victor Lynn lines had authority.  Since some of the language and terms are not what you may be familar with so the blog may seem confusing to you.  However Frank W. Baker of Delmar was one of those people who tried to obtain authority to run a trucking line and was not granted permission to do so.

The Interstate Commerce Commission was created to regulate who could transport goods to where and at how much (rates) .  it first started out regulating railroads but expanded to telephone service, trucking, bus lines, airlines etc. It was abolished in 1995.

Mike's Clearence Center

Tear that school down - 2000

A few photos of the High School being torn down in 2000

Delmar 1885

A Look At an 1874 Description of Delmar

From the Delaware State Gazetteer 1874-1875

1935 Grads

The Federal Transient Bureau

In 1934 my uncle at 18 years of age and who was born in the Delmar-Laurel area decided to join the thousands of other unemployed young men and hit the road in search of a job and a little adventure.  As he traveled south thru Tennessee to New Orleans he mentioned he would register with the Federal Transient Bureau in those towns on the route to New Orleans.

The Federal Transient Bureau was a program that was part of the Federal Emergency Recovery Act (Roosevelt Administration).  Leading up to 1934 the nation had thousands of wandering young men and families seeking work.  The local governments and local relief organizations were over whelmed and begin to implement residency requirements before people could apply for help from them.  This left thousands unable to apply because they had left their homes in another state and were traveling thru that area.  Enter the federal government and their Federal Transient Bureau.  The Bureaus had at least one office/camp in every state.  The more agricultural states and states that required men power had many of them.  The Bureau had no residency requirement so those who could not get local relief could find help from the Bureau.  They had camps and frequently worked with the YMCA to house men (we are talking 200 to 800 men at a camp). 

The men would work 24 hours a week and were paid a small sum but got housing and meals. They had to live by the bureau's philosophy: "Give no handouts, they all have to work."  They were also offer help in joining the CCC.  They acted as a job clearing house for local jobs and they also acted as an early uber taxi service setting up rides with people traveling to different places that could give some else a lift there.

Because they were transient not all were honest and even the honest ones carried weapons to protect themselves from the others.  Numerous newspapers items appear in that time period of unauthorized police raids on the camps and arrest of criminals. The movie "Grapes of Wrath" portrayed the Transient Bureau program when the Joad family, on their last legs, come upon a camp which is shown as an island of safety in a hostile environment. Local law enforcement was allowed entry only with warrants and this tension becomes a very clearly drawn part of the plot, as local officers are portrayed as creatures of the local power dynamics (city, county, business owners) with the federal camps protecting the downtrodden.