Mechanization and huge logging trucks have now rendered log drivers obsolete. Although birling or log rolling is no longer a profession, it still survives today as a competitive sport in lumberjack competitions.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
The Log Driver's Waltz
How could I discuss lumberjacks without also paying tribute to log drivers, those fabled men in plaid shirts who corralled the big log booms on Canada's rivers and rode them downstream to the lumber mills and pulp and paper mills? They spent their lives in a hazardous dance "birling down a-down white water."
Mechanization and huge logging trucks have now rendered log drivers obsolete. Although birling or log rolling is no longer a profession, it still survives today as a competitive sport in lumberjack competitions.
Mechanization and huge logging trucks have now rendered log drivers obsolete. Although birling or log rolling is no longer a profession, it still survives today as a competitive sport in lumberjack competitions.
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16 comments:
Tee hee, how COOL! And I was surprised to see your post title in my sidebar as I just finished using the word 'log jam' in my blog post. Love coming to your blog.
so courageous these men...and the women too who waited for their return, knowing how dangerous the tasks of their beloveds was. some awesome old footage! Wow!
I know a lot of loggers and they would all be thrilled to be given any recognition at all! They are the backbone of our country and too often politics tarnishes their reputation......
Great video! I think they should make it an Olympic sport.
That one is just too cute. Thanks for making my morning.
Mary
I remember seeing this as a kid on Saturday mornings while watching my cartoons. We used to have these little vignettes thrown in from time to time in lieu of commercials.
Thanks for the memories!
I can't even imagine life back then. Shoot...I can't imagine life without my dishwasher and microwave. Fun and interesting post. Thanks!
The Log Driver's waltz is a proud song, known by all Canadian children from my generation and I'm sure before, thanks to the CBC playing it every single morning! Whenever I get together with friends and someone mentions it, the whole room will break out into song! I love it!
amazing!
I used to watch a TV show about truck drivers that were log drivers up in your part of the country...for the life of me I can't remember what it was called..but I do know it was interesting.
Jo
Wow! Talk about a jolt down memory lane! I used to see that every once in a while on a kids show that I watched. .when I was a kid! lol
What a dangerous, dangerous job! But the one that I thought that you would be so good at, at the Lumberjack Games!
Thanks SO much for sharing this with us!
Loved this! What a an art it was! Imagine the skill involved in doing that for 8 hours a day.......a dance for sure!
Great post and let's hear it for the NFB!!!!
Thanks for that musical interlude...very nice...now tell the guys to sit down...I tired of dancing! ;-)
That was funny and sweet. another feather in Canada’s cap fer sure.
I have to steal this one for the 'Cave of Cool'. How many times did we see this one growing up. Everyone knows the words to the song. I will give you full credit of course.
espn has them on and I love it.sawing chopping, scaling trees, rolling logs..I fecking love it..I think I may have been a lumberjack in another life.
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