By Thelma Taylor

Freddie Whalen wanted to live in Harrison County when he was released from the Navy after World War 11 but he found employment in a steek fabricating shop in Hamilton, Ohio. He watched tank orders being shipped to central and southern Kentucky. He thought there was enough of a demand for tanks in this area for one man to make a living so he started his own fabricating shop six miles north of Cynthiana on US 27.

He constructed an overhead track with chain hoist that could unload, convey and reload the metal without any extra help. He could pull on a chain and move a 300 pound sheet of steel to a roller, shape it into a tube, fit ends on the tube and have it ready to be loaded for shipment all by hiself.

One lady ordered a tank to be delivered to her cabin on the Kentucky River on July 4." I had company, so they went along for the ride," Whalen said. "The lady and her daughter met us with a boat.

"We loaded the tank on the boat and went down the river for a mile. When we came to the place where she lived, I looked straight up a cliff to her cabin. I thought, How in the world will we get the tank up there?'" There was a single railing beside steep steps to the cabin. Whalen and the men who had gone along for a joy-ride rolled the tank on the steep railing for 150 feet straight up to the cabin.

Whalen was not ready for that order but he was prepared for most orders that came into his shop. He kept 6x12 ft. sheets of steel and tank ends of various sizes on hand. When a company or individual placed an order, he was ready to put the tank into production. He would make over 100 tanks a year for any purpose. He made pontoons for a houseboat. He built flotation tanks for boat docks. Oil and water storage tanks were the most common requests. The smallest tank he made was a four-gallon pressure tank for a house water pump. The largest one he made was a 1,500 gallon water tank.

The steel strike in 1958 made it necessary for Whalen to get a job. "I hope I never get caught in a trap like that again." Whalen said. He explained that the small producer was the first to be cut off from supplies and the last to receive metal when the flow of materials started again.

Whalen's good reputation got him more business than he could handle alone. Garnett Franklin came in as a partner. He proved that you can operate a profitable business out in the country and away from the main steam of industry.