I am Phil Camacho.

I was born here in Santa Cruz on this side of the freeway from the Salz Tannery. My dad used to work at the tannery years ago. He started there in 1933. So, naturally we lived next to the tannery. I started working in the summer of ’45 and I worked there until I went into the service which was in 1950.

My older sister was Mary. My second sister was Marg. My third sister was Elsie, and then I had a brother in between them; a brother Joe, and then it came to me, and then I had a younger sister Grace. A lot of girls.

My dad started working in the tannery in 1933. During the Depression he couldn’t find a job no place and the only job that I can remember – of course I was just a little baby then was up in Felton. That lime quarry up there in Felton was called Rincon Quarry. My dad used to walk – cause he probably lived up there off of Cottonwood Street off of River Street-- he used to walk up to Felton to see if he had a job that day. That’s a hell of a long way. He had to do something.

One lucky day he was walking by the tannery. One of the owners, Joe Bellows, saw my dad come by and he says, “Hey Loafer, I seen you walking by here every day. What are you doing? You looking for work?”

My dad says, “Yeah.”

He says, “Go down to the office down there and put your application in and you’ll start on Monday.”

That’s how my dad got his start there. He was very lucky. You can’t find a job no place and someone offers it to you? So, when I got in there they said, “Don’t you screw up!

They helped me out and you better not do anything to hurt anybody!” I had big pressure on me Oh yeah. My dad was very strict.

My brother worked there before I did. He was older. He worked there for a few years and he couldn’t handle the boss. My brother was just a cocky little man. Then when I went into the service I figured I’m out, I’m not going back.