7) Log Driver
When logging became big business in America and Europe lorries hadn’t been born yet, so they needed to get their chunks of wood around some other way. Log drivers would sit or stand on their trunks and drive them down waterways to their final destinations.
The log drivers (also called “river pigs”) would tie the trees together in huge rafts when the river ran wide and then break it up into single trunks for narrower stretches. Of all the jobs mentioned here I reckon this is the one that’s most chilled. Spending your days drifting down the river on a tree sounds fine to me.
Log drivers had to be strong and nimble so the types of men that were often employed in the job were, well, nutters. Because of the inherent instability of a log driver’s sensibilities they would employ an experienced boss who was often selected for his fighting ability. He would keep the boys in check with a swift punch to the face whenever necessary.
