The quarter was screwed to the floor The foreman had no humor x> As a tradesman in the 1950s the windshield caused the and '60s, Trudeau saw a lot of trailing truck to slow down. high jinks take place between Once again Acme Plumbing members of different trades. In and Heating had defeated the those days safety standards electricians and won the after- were almost non-existent and noon race back to the shop basic safety items such as hard from Prince Edward County. It hats were seldom used. plumbers is not advised to attempt this Trudeau recalls making miniature cannons kind of 'prank' today. with copper pipes, a cap and "For some reason, Picton acetylene gas. Some innocuous seemed to bring out the worst object like a milk carton would in tradesmen,11 says Joel be placed inside and then the Trudeau. Trudeau began work- plumber would ignite the gas ing for Acme Plumbing and with his torch and boom! Heating in 1956 and eventu"On today's job site you ally became a sheet metal couldn't even think of anything worker there. The company's like that," says Trudeau. roots go back to the early Each tradesman used his 1940s when Joe Raycroft started it. Henry Hatfield and knowledge to play his own Vincent Trudeau bought the unique joke on fellow workers. While working on another site company about 1960. in Picton, an electrician ran a antics could have gone awry, live wire under the dirt to a but feels the workplace is more pipe fitter's threading ma- serious and less enjoyable than chine. When the plumber's in the past. Even perfectly harmless helper, Gord Peavor, tried to use it, the electrician sent a jokes had their repercussions. small current through the Trudeau recalls that a forewire. The young apprentice man, who he describes as would complain to his foreman "very, very Scottish," worked -- that there was short but when at Acme in the early '60s. One the foreman tried the equip- morning the guys took a quarment the current was shut off. ter and screwed it to the conPeavor was left confused and crete floor. The foreman arready for another jolt while the rived, saw the quarter and foreman walked away shaking looked to see if anyone was his head. Peavor eventually watching. Then he tried to pick found the wire and exacted it up. It didn't move, so he vengeance by attaching it to kicked it with similar results. When the realization came to the electrician's scaffold. "There was always a lot of him, he cursed loudly atoul >fun-time wars between trades- walked away. But, says men. There was a lot of one up- Trudeau, he lacked a sense of manship." humor and "life was hell for Trudeau admits some of the the next two weeks." _ The Acme Plumbing and Heating truck and the electricians^ truck tore down the highway, engaged in their usual race to see which of the two would get back to the shop first. In the lead truck, Art Cogdale opened the back door and uncapped a shaken bottle of Pepsi. The spray covered the windshield of the other vehicle and before its occupants could clear the glass, Cogdale tossed several handfuls of cement powder as well. The drink and cement mixed and the goo on T Ju