The Shoebox

Working in the Heat (Unknown Date)

This employee is working outside on what appears to be a large transformer. Unless he happened to forget his shirt that day, we’re guessing it was pretty hot out.

And This is All My Pay (1947)

Here is an electric bill from April 1947. The customer used 190 kilowatt hours, which is about ⅓ the electricity that the average residential customer uses today. At $5.96, the bill may seem cheap, but it doesn’t compare to this one from 1897!

Most interesting is this little poem by Reddy Kilowatt, who appears to be stepping out of an electrical outlet:

One full month I’ve labored
And this is all my pay
Divide this sum by thirty—
See how cheap I worked each day.

Installing Underwater Cable (1927)

Workers install underwater electric cable next to the Amoskeag Hydro Station in Manchester. Date: June 8, 1927.

A Show of Hands (unknown date)

In this photo, PSNH employee Rudy Chouinard is cleaning and testing the rubber gloves that linemen use on the job. As a lineman’s last line of defense, sound rubber gloves are crucial when working on power lines. The ones pictured would protect a lineman on PSNH’s 7,200 volt system.

Though the technology is a little different, the process is more or less the same today as it was back when this photo was taken. Every month, used gloves are washed and then electrically tested for integrity. This involves immersing them in water and inserting an electrode charged with 20,000 volts of electricity.

This photo was taken at 1250 Hooksett Road, located in Hooksett, NH. Today, the rubber gloves are serviced at our Central Warehouse in Bow.

2012-06-11: Updated with the employee’s name. Thanks to Tim Roukey and Bob LaChance for the information.

Amoskeag Millyard (1976)

This is a view of Manchester’s Amoskeag millyard facing north-west. At the center of the photo is Amoskeag Hydro Station on the Merrimack River. Below that is the Manchester Steam Plant, which once powered the millyard. In 2002 the steam plant would be renovated into Energy Park, PSNH’s new corporate headquarters.

Doing the Books (1940)

View of Accounting Department showing employees at their stations. August 16, 1940.

Who Says Linemen Can’t Jump? (c. 1970s)

The PSNH employee basketball team poses for a group shot. Exact year unknown, but from those uniforms, we’re guessing sometime in the ’70s.

Top Row: Frank Swierz, Barry Dudka, Joe Stazowski, George St. John, Frank Manning.

Bottom Row: Tom Rasza, Tom Katsikas, Bob Heaton, Phil St. Laurent.

2012-05-30: According to Bob Heaton (#24), #25 is Joe Stazowski.

2012-05-25: #25 (middle of top row)was mistakenly reported as being Dana Flanders. (Sorry!) If you happen to know the name of player #25, please let us know using the link below.

42 Hanover St. (1897)

In side PSNH’s office at 42 Hanover St. in Manchester.

Cooling Off (1955)

An operator opens one of the condenser valves at Schiller Station in Portsmouth, NH. When the valve is open, river water is able to cool off the exhaust steam from the turbine—which sits above the condenser—thus squeezing the last bit of energy out of the steam to maximize unit efficiency. This completes the Rankine cycle, converting heat into energy. The same valves exist at Schiller today. 

PSNH Lineman (c. 1950s)

According to Linda Clark, the lineman in this photo is Roland Nichols.

He worked on the lines with my grandfather, Harry (Doc) Nelson. My grandfather worked from the 1920s throughout the late 50s. Nick gave our family a chocolate cake recipe which has been handed down through present generation.

2013-01-14: Updated with name of lineman.