1924: My First Job In Riga

One day the old landlady said that the baker downstairs was looking for an apprentice. The work was only at night, starting at 4 PM and through the night until 8 AM (16 hours.) I worked with the baker making bread rolls. They were put in the oven in one end and taken out at the other end. The rolls were put on wooden platforms, covered with a linen fabric, and put near the ceiling to rise. My job was called “smuli.” I was in a rush most of the time: grab the platforms from the ceilings, then the baker puts them on slides like very long skis, then slides them in on the stone floor in the oven. The ovens were heated before use by wood to a temperature of 30 celsius. I slept and ate during the day in a little room above that I shared with another youth from the country. The food was very good but the wages were only 10 lati a month (approx. $10AUD) I wanted to explore Riga. After breakfast I would think to go on an hours’ walk, but often returned just in time for work at 4 PM. It was very hard. I was so sleepy that as soon as I stopped moving, I fell asleep. I struggled like this for 4-5 months. Spring was coming and I decided that being a baker was not for me.

I read in the paper that trainees were needed for milk production co-operatives. I went to Dzirnava street where the authority for this was. An elderly man, Mr. Kerselis received me kindly. He was a past manager of a milk co-operative. I told him all of my problems and that I was from the country. He told me the requirements for the job – I would have to work in the milk factory for six months on all the jobs, then three months theory in Riga that qualifies you to manage a milk co-operative. At that time, after the First World War, butter was in high demand overseas – in Germany and England – but only butter made under the state control. In every district the factories were organised but there was no qualified staff. Thus the managers were given crash courses in order to qualify. I was in the right place at the right time.