The Camps : THE MESS
The smells of roasting meat would waft over the camp, but loggers were not allowed to enter the dining hall, no matter how hungry, until the cook rang the guthammer. The ring of the guthammer was followed by the thunder of caulk boots on the wood sidewalks as the loggers converged on the camp dining hall.
Loggers would shed their boots before entering the building and then sit at one of the rows of long tables bursting with food. After a day in the woods the loggers had a hearty appetite and would consume as much as 9000 calories a day! The hierarchy in the camp extended to the cookhouse dining area. Newcomers were expected to sit at the end farthest from where the serving bowls were placed, and would sometimes be left with very little after the food went down the line! Friends often tried to sit in groups to chat in some of the camps, although others recall complete silence during mealtimes.
Flunkeys would hover around the men, ensuring that empty bowls were filled and bring out armfuls of breads and baked goods for the loggers. A flunkey would typically work from 4:30am to 9:30am preparing breakfast and plates of lunch fixings, then from 10:45am to 1:30pm getting ready for dinner and finally from 3:45pm until the crews were full and the work was finished. Prior to World War II men held these positions in the camp but after the war women began to work in the cookhouses, taking responsibly for feeding the hungry loggers.
