Camden County Vocational School - Vocationalist Yearbook (Pennsauken, NJ)

Page 105 text:

HOBBIES ANY people interest themselves in what are known as hobbies and such hobbies may be almost any form of activity interesting to the person concerned. lNfIany great men have had hobbies in which they were just as proficient as they were in their vocations. Charles G. Dawes, Vice-President of the United States in the Coolidge Administration, and a banker by profession was an accom- plished musician and composer, one of his compositions gaining nation-wide pop- ularity. Alex Bartha, employed in an Atlantic City Bank, for his hobby organized a small orchestra just for the enjoyment of its members, W'hen the depression closed his bank he capitalized upon his avocation and since that time his hobby orchestra has sky-rocketed to fame fand fortunej. VVhile the main purpose of the Vocational School is to give its students the trade skills and technical knowledge necessary to earn a living, there is another side of life which should not be left unforgotten, namely the enjoyment of life through interests not connected with the daily job. Not all your time is taken up by earning a living. You will have a considerable amount of free time and it is the use of this time which will largely determine whether your enjoyment of life is to be great or small. One of the large radio chains has presented a weekly program entitled Music is My Hobby. It is a musical feature of a high calibre and the artists have all been active business people who have chosen music as their form of relaxation from their daily toil. VVe are all familiar with the many prominent men who are stamp collectors. Miniature railways are usually considered the toys of childhood, but there are numerous groups of adults everywhere who build such railways and get a great amount of enjoyment operating a full railway system in miniature. We have a number of boys in school who are experiencing the joy of living all the more because of their hobbies. Harry NVhite and Robert Whitfield are excellent amateur photographers. Harold Sachleben can do an oil painting for which he need make no apologies. We have all enjoyed Leon Ellis and his accor- dion. Fred Ribchinsky can mount animals and birds satisfactorily enough to be paid for his work. These are but a few of the many examples of enjoying life through outside interests. VVhile he who hath a trade indeed hath an estate, yet he who hath both a trade and a hobby hath life itself. X 0 C .X 'l' l U N ,X I. S 1 Il U U l

Page 104 text:

CAMDEN COUNTY T IS only fitting that we should record the progress of Camden County as we mark the advancement of this school, because the need of this industrial area has been the reason this school was established ten years ago. Since the County incorporation in 1844 the population has increased more than tenfold, from 25,569 people in I8SO to 252,312 in 1930. The last thirty years have seen the population nearly triple itself. Little settlements of scattered houses soon began to take shape of enterprising communities. The City of Cam- den, keeping pace with the rest of the County, has increased in size until there is no doubt that it is destined to become Walt Whitman's city invincible . Geographically, Camden County consists of thirty-six municipalities cover- ing an area of 222 square miles. About 33,000 acres of this land are devoted to farming and agriculture. The rest of this area is taken up by more than 300 diversified industries and their employees. Although the County ranks only seventeenth in size in the state of New jersey, it is sixth in population, therefore it seems that homemaking is not the least of our industries. The County is well situated, being only a short distance from Philadelphia which is the center of all the great markets east of the Nlississippi. Fifty-two percent of the total population of the Nation live within three days transpor- tation distance of this center. The excellent location and transportation facilities have done much toward the rapid industrial development of this area. Industrialists were quick to realize that in the County was a fertile field for the establishment of their industries. This is what prompted the founding of about 309 establishments. The IQ3O census showed that there was an average of 33,952 workers employed in the County who in turn received S42,5I7,7S4 in wages. The valueofproducts they manufactured was estimated at S303,373,937. From a very humble beginning more than a century ago this small group of in- dustries has risen to attain renown in the markets of the world. Naturally as the County grew in size so has the City of Camden. During a short period of almost thirty years the manufacturing output has increased S2II,OO0,000. The 237 different industries of the city have gained the rank for Camden of the fifth greatest city in New jersey forits manufacturing output. It is truly New Jersey's most highly industrialized city and it leads the entire Nation in the proportion of its population engaged in industry. About 29,000 of its 118,700 inhabitants are engaged in some industry. Iron products, leather, fiint, glass and oilcloth were the early commodities associated with the name of Camden. These industries have been replaced by the newer commercial establishments such as: Esterbrook Steel Pen Company, Campbell Soup Company, Van Sciver Company, R. C. A. Manufacturing Com- pany, the New York Shipbuilding Company and the Armstrong Cork Company soon followed these others into prominence. Before the dawn of the Twentieth Century, Camden was already gaining an industrial reputation. From 1930 until today its rise has been meteoric. Situated in such a diversified industrial area, the graduate of the Vocational School has an excellent field in which to seek employment in the trade he hopes to make his life's work. C A M ll li N C 0 li N T X

Page 106 text:

I HEAR AMERICA SINGING I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,' Those of mechanics-each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong,- The carpenter singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves of workg The boatman .ringing what belongs to him in his boat-the deckhand singing on the steamboat deckg The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench-the hatter singing as he standsg The wood-eutter's song-the ploughboy's, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundowng The delicious singing of the mother--or of the young wife at work-or of the girl sewing or washing-Each sing- ing what belongs to her and to none else: The day what belongs to the day-JI! night, the party of youngfellows, robust,friendly, Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs. -WALT WHITMAN I X M D li N C 0 lf X l X