Thatcher Adams.
Thatcher Adams and the Shark Oil.
Thatcher was the draftsman at SOFAR. This was before the days of CADD (Computer Aided Drafting and Design), Photoshop or Clipart, so any kind of diagrams that were to appear in any publications needed to be drawn by hand.
Thatcher put his heart and soul into it, and produced some quite amazing work. But his real passion lay in shark oil barometers. Whenever word got to Thatcher that the St. David’s Island fishermen had caught a shark, he would badger them for some of the oil from the liver to make another barometer. Over the years, he became quite the expert on shark oil barometers, in fact, he is mentioned as such on a display poster at the Aquarium (on the wall opposite the North Rock exhibit). I have not kept up with developments in this ‘technology’ since leaving SOFAR in 1969, perhaps more is now known about why the oil changes from cloudy to clear to swirly to whatever, and whether there is any correlation of this to the impending weather. But certainly, back then, there was a lot of speculation, and comments of ‘hocus pokus’ etc. were rife. But Thatcher stood by his theories, and had several barometers scattered around the grounds at SOFAR doing tests to find the ‘correct’ height above the ground, and the ‘correct’ location regarding sunlight and wind, etc.
He would check these several times a day, and became quite excited if there was any change in any one of the barometers.
All was well until …
But I will let Susan Kelley continue the story as she remembers her Father (Charlie Brown) telling her:-
“My Dad would come home and tell my mother & I about Thatcher Adams and his shark oil barometer. He apparently checked it on a more than regular basis, so one day, one of the guys went out and shook it up. When Thatcher checked it, he got so excited, he came running in to the shop (1400) and promptly fell and broke his leg. “
Susan continues that she knows who the culprit was, but may want to keep the information secret for the moment for use as blackmail later!
What is that saying about 'an ill wind blowing no good'? Normally, Thatcher rode an old beat-up red mobylette, but now with his leg in a cast to his hip, and a pair of crutches – well, not an option!! He bought a car – a red Volkswagon Beetle, plate number 0060 – and had the front passenger seat removed. He could then sit in the back seat with his leg straight forward to the front. But he needed a chauffeur.
He lived in a house (since demolished) opposite PW’s Marine on Serpentine Road, and I lived just around the corner on Woodlands Road. So I would walk over to his house in the morning, and drive him to work every day (sure beats riding a bike in the rain!!).
But all good things must end, and eventually the cast came off, the front seat was replaced, I dusted off my bike, and Thatcher started to learn to drive. For those of us who remember Thatcher, this would not have ended well!!
Fortunately Kevin Laudadio was, I guess, getting tired of riding to work in the rain, and bought the car off Thatcher.
(I hope Susan likes hearing about this sequel to her story.)
Posted 31st. Dec. 2013
Thatcher was the draftsman at SOFAR. This was before the days of CADD (Computer Aided Drafting and Design), Photoshop or Clipart, so any kind of diagrams that were to appear in any publications needed to be drawn by hand.
Thatcher put his heart and soul into it, and produced some quite amazing work. But his real passion lay in shark oil barometers. Whenever word got to Thatcher that the St. David’s Island fishermen had caught a shark, he would badger them for some of the oil from the liver to make another barometer. Over the years, he became quite the expert on shark oil barometers, in fact, he is mentioned as such on a display poster at the Aquarium (on the wall opposite the North Rock exhibit). I have not kept up with developments in this ‘technology’ since leaving SOFAR in 1969, perhaps more is now known about why the oil changes from cloudy to clear to swirly to whatever, and whether there is any correlation of this to the impending weather. But certainly, back then, there was a lot of speculation, and comments of ‘hocus pokus’ etc. were rife. But Thatcher stood by his theories, and had several barometers scattered around the grounds at SOFAR doing tests to find the ‘correct’ height above the ground, and the ‘correct’ location regarding sunlight and wind, etc.
He would check these several times a day, and became quite excited if there was any change in any one of the barometers.
All was well until …
But I will let Susan Kelley continue the story as she remembers her Father (Charlie Brown) telling her:-
“My Dad would come home and tell my mother & I about Thatcher Adams and his shark oil barometer. He apparently checked it on a more than regular basis, so one day, one of the guys went out and shook it up. When Thatcher checked it, he got so excited, he came running in to the shop (1400) and promptly fell and broke his leg. “
Susan continues that she knows who the culprit was, but may want to keep the information secret for the moment for use as blackmail later!
What is that saying about 'an ill wind blowing no good'? Normally, Thatcher rode an old beat-up red mobylette, but now with his leg in a cast to his hip, and a pair of crutches – well, not an option!! He bought a car – a red Volkswagon Beetle, plate number 0060 – and had the front passenger seat removed. He could then sit in the back seat with his leg straight forward to the front. But he needed a chauffeur.
He lived in a house (since demolished) opposite PW’s Marine on Serpentine Road, and I lived just around the corner on Woodlands Road. So I would walk over to his house in the morning, and drive him to work every day (sure beats riding a bike in the rain!!).
But all good things must end, and eventually the cast came off, the front seat was replaced, I dusted off my bike, and Thatcher started to learn to drive. For those of us who remember Thatcher, this would not have ended well!!
Fortunately Kevin Laudadio was, I guess, getting tired of riding to work in the rain, and bought the car off Thatcher.
(I hope Susan likes hearing about this sequel to her story.)
Posted 31st. Dec. 2013