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I ain’t the plumber.
I’m the plumber’s son.
But I can do the plumbing,
Till the plumber comes!
My Dad passed on before I really got into carving. Not too long ago another carver, Bill Mims, posted a picture of a plumber that he carved on the Helvi Woodcarving Facebook page. That got my mind to thinking that I couldn’t remember ever carving anything dedicated to my Pop. He’d been a plumber all his life. He carried a Master Plumbing License for plumbing, steam fitting, and pipefitting until he moved to Florida. What would be more appropriate than a plumber caricature…. because anyone who remembers him will remember him as quite a character!
Just to show you how different a finished product can be from the original pattern, I used Dennie Stallings carving of Stan Laurel as my pattern.
This rendition of my Dad is a conglomerate of memories….worn shoes (his favorite shoe store was the Salvation Army Thrift Store); dirty hands and smudges on his face (you ain’t getting dirty if your not working); his Ridgid tools (he had Ridgid pipe wrenches, Ridgid pipe cutters, Ridgid pipe threaders, and Ridgid pipe stands, everything was a Ridgid); his black garrison belt with his Marine Corps discharge pin stuck in a belt hole on the strap ( I got my butt whipped one time and I swear that when he finished I had the US Marine Corps emblem embossed on my ***. Now you know why I joined the Navy!); the crack of his butt showing. (this is a plumber’s trait); his Bay Pines Plumbing Shop name tag; the half stewed stogie clenched between his teeth; (I don’t ever remember dad smoking them but he chewed the hell out of ‘em. You didn’t want to be sitting in the back seat of his car with the rear driver’s side window open when he was chewing!); and his favorite hat with the US Marine Corps 6TH Marine Division patch prominently displayed ( I don’t think that Pop went anywhere including church without his favorite hat. They say that “Once a Marine, always a Marine.” Even though my father did his three years during WWII and then left the Marine Corps as soon as he was returned to the states, he was 100% U.S. Marine all his life.).
Dad….If you’re up there following my Facebook Page I sure hope you like your carving. It’s was all done with love. Semper Fi Pop!
I’m the plumber’s son.
But I can do the plumbing,
Till the plumber comes!
My Dad passed on before I really got into carving. Not too long ago another carver, Bill Mims, posted a picture of a plumber that he carved on the Helvi Woodcarving Facebook page. That got my mind to thinking that I couldn’t remember ever carving anything dedicated to my Pop. He’d been a plumber all his life. He carried a Master Plumbing License for plumbing, steam fitting, and pipefitting until he moved to Florida. What would be more appropriate than a plumber caricature…. because anyone who remembers him will remember him as quite a character!
Just to show you how different a finished product can be from the original pattern, I used Dennie Stallings carving of Stan Laurel as my pattern.
This rendition of my Dad is a conglomerate of memories….worn shoes (his favorite shoe store was the Salvation Army Thrift Store); dirty hands and smudges on his face (you ain’t getting dirty if your not working); his Ridgid tools (he had Ridgid pipe wrenches, Ridgid pipe cutters, Ridgid pipe threaders, and Ridgid pipe stands, everything was a Ridgid); his black garrison belt with his Marine Corps discharge pin stuck in a belt hole on the strap ( I got my butt whipped one time and I swear that when he finished I had the US Marine Corps emblem embossed on my ***. Now you know why I joined the Navy!); the crack of his butt showing. (this is a plumber’s trait); his Bay Pines Plumbing Shop name tag; the half stewed stogie clenched between his teeth; (I don’t ever remember dad smoking them but he chewed the hell out of ‘em. You didn’t want to be sitting in the back seat of his car with the rear driver’s side window open when he was chewing!); and his favorite hat with the US Marine Corps 6TH Marine Division patch prominently displayed ( I don’t think that Pop went anywhere including church without his favorite hat. They say that “Once a Marine, always a Marine.” Even though my father did his three years during WWII and then left the Marine Corps as soon as he was returned to the states, he was 100% U.S. Marine all his life.).
Dad….If you’re up there following my Facebook Page I sure hope you like your carving. It’s was all done with love. Semper Fi Pop!
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