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Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg
New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.
I'm D.J. Rasmussen, O.K.s friend since junior high, possibly your neighbor & this websites maintainer, whom strives to get each episode's show notes written, the transcript proofed and the audio posted to the internet within a few hours of that days KMMR air time. NOTE: recently been publishing most new releases by 4:30PM.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy the time we can spend together.
Want to again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break. I'll talk fast because I went overtime yesterday. Get your cup of coffee, mug of hot chocolate, bottle of water. Let's see what's happening.
OK Solberg:Spring wheat, what is it? $5.49 a bushel. 550lb steer calf $4.10 Butcher hog in Iowa 59ยข a pound, and a 100lb fat lamb in Billings $2.44 a pound. But guys, there's more, much more.
OK Solberg:In Ecclesiastes 7:10 it says, say not, why were the former days better than these? For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. The Bible tells us not to live in the past, but guys, did you know it also tells us to remember?
OK Solberg:God told his people to stack stones as a reminder of what he had done, not so that they could stay there, but so they'd trust him again. Now today, we're talking about looking back the right way. Not wishing for yesterday, but thanking God for it.
OK Solberg:So with that in mind, think of the things that used to be that are no longer. Alright. Do you hear that? Think of the things that used to be that are no longer. Now the purpose of this episode is to show you businesses that once thrived and are now are erased from existence.
OK Solberg:Listen to nine businesses that have evaporated or nearly evaporated. So I made up a fictitious fictitious story to walk you through our progress in the last 125 years. Pretend with me there's an old man that comes out of retirement just to seek a job so he has something to do. In his job seeking, he finds an up and coming computer software business and he applies there. Well, the boss asked him, does he have any experience?
OK Solberg:Well, the old man doesn't have a resume, but he recounts his experience through his words. So the potential employer asked, what experience have you had? We need someone with experience. Oh, the old timer smiles and said, well, glad you asked. I have had experience and I'll walk you through it right now.
OK Solberg:I was only 16 years old in 1908 and I started working for a land locator. See back then people still believed there was a corner of America left just for them. Yeah. I'd ride in a buggy with maps all rolled up and we'd head out of town helping people find their potential plot of ground under the Homestead Act. Then in 1916 things were changing so I got me a job at the telegraph office.
OK Solberg:I knew there were people faster than me, but believe me I could tap out their message faster than most. It was a fast paced world. Communication was fast as the speed of light. Now after the big war in 1920, I went to work for a typewriter business. We sold typewriters and they went out of the door like hotcakes.
OK Solberg:In 1929, a new and exciting job arose and it looked like it was on the cutting edge and I dove in for headfirst. It was a company that manufactured telephone booths. When I realized there was now telephones on every busy corner, I knew we had advanced as far as we could come. Now the 1930's were lean. I did what I could and I ended up back at the typewriter sales.
OK Solberg:Sales in front, repairs in the back. Time marches on and I stayed there for over a decade. Never called in sick, and I was never late for work. After the war in 1947, there was a new industry coming out and I knew this was a job for me.
OK Solberg:I secured the job as the vice president of a film developing lab. Oh, the fun I had. People would bring in their 35 millimeter film and I'd develop their pictures. It was a sacred job. One mistake on my part and their memory was erased from existence.
OK Solberg:1952, I felt like I needed to get outdoors, not be cooped up inside a room that was so dark. So I secured an early morning job as a milkman. I delivered fresh milk door to door. It was honest work and it taught me punctuality better than any clock. In 1958, after that tough winter, I was never so cold in my life.
OK Solberg:So in 1958, I worked as an elevator operator up and down. I learned how to read people in fifteen seconds and how a smooth ride on an elevator could make someone's whole day. 1961, I put on a headset and became a switchboard operator. In 1974, it was time to get outside again and I took a very lucrative job as a door to door encyclopedia salesman salesman. The market kind of dried up or I had saturated the land side so I got a job at a business I knew would last forever.
OK Solberg:Cutting edge for sure. It was a video rental store. Friday nights were chaos. Rewinding was like a religion, and nobody liked to pay the late fees. Well, that's my experience, I said.
OK Solberg:Is there anything within your company that can use those skills that I have acquired over the years? I want to tell you this my friend, my new future employer didn't say one single word. His mouth gaped open with wonderment in his eyes and you would have thought I had spoken in a foreign language. Thy end.
OK Solberg:This program was brought to you by, that's in the past now, but it sure is fun remembering remembering 9 businesses erased from the workplace.
OK Solberg:So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.