“I know, Hans is an A-Hole,” David continued, “but I feel a bit sorry for him. He was an apprentice tailor before his village got trashed, worked for his father. They get to the haven of Grantville, and find out that all the sewing machines are rented, and no one is hiring tailors. His dad is in a general labor gang, and Hans goes to school, and what is everyone in school talking about? A bunch of kids making sure that he will never be able to do the work his dad had taught him to do.
“Now that we’re up and running, housewives all over Germany will bless the name of Higgins, but tailors will hate our guts. I figure that there is about one tailor for every two hundred people in Germany, and right now, every one of them is needed. Once the sewing machine becomes common, it will be one tailor for every thousand or less. So, in towns where the tailors’ guild is strong, we’re liable to see laws against sewing machines.”
October 13, 1631: Delia Higgins’ House
Delia had talked to Dave Marcantonio and Fletcher Wendell, and been lectured by Quinton Underwood. The storage lot was a real waste of resources. Ray had insisted on shed-sized steel containers instead of sheds when they had set up the storage lot. They were more expensive, but with the thick enamel paint they were a maintenance dream. They were also made of great big corrugated steel plates an eighth-inch thick. Grantville needed the steel.
No one was going to just seize them, true. Quinton Underwood gave the impression he’d like to, but that was just Quinton being his usual bossy self. Delia would be paid, and paid a fair price—more than they had originally paid for them. Plenty to put in wooden sheds and make up for the lost rent. They wouldn’t force her to sell if she didn’t want to. But they were right, Grantville needed the metal.
They were right about something else, too. Grantville didn’t really need rows of little sheds for people to store their excess junk. What was really needed was industrial warehousing, big buildings, where raw materials could be stored for later use, and finished products for later sale. The amount of space that Dave and Fletcher were talking about would cost more than storage sheds to build, a lot more, but it would be worth more too. To her and to Grantville.
It meant the rest of the dolls, or at least most of them, and maybe a bank loan to cover the difference. Fletcher said she could probably get a bank loan to cover the whole thing, but the monthly payment would be a killer. She would be much more likely to go broke if anything went wrong. Besides, Dan Frost had talked to her about the danger of keeping her dolls in the house when everyone knew she had the collection.
Delia knew it was the best course, but the dolls were committed. She had promised them to the kids if they were needed, and they might be yet, in spite of the fact that they were in production now. She almost dropped the idea without mentioning it. But Fletcher Wendell would probably tell Sarah and Dave would tell Kent, who would tell Brent and Trent. She hadn’t asked anyone to keep the discussions secret. If she didn’t bring it up, the kids would worry about it.
* * *
“You’ve all heard about the storage containers?”
The kids nodded. Delia told them about the possible warehouse, and what it would cost to build. Significantly more than had been invested in the sewing machine company. How long it would take. The rest of the winter and most of the spring. Even if she got use of some of the construction equipment. She told them that she could probably get a loan to cover the whole amount, but the more she could put in up front, the better it would work. “But don’t worry, I won’t use the dolls, they are promised to you.”
Brent, Trent and David looked at Sarah. Sarah was the CFO, and incorporating was her plan.
“Dad likes to quote ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling,” Sarah said, “The line that goes: ‘If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it on one turn of pitch and toss.’ Then Mom says: ‘If you do that I’ll divorce you. Even if you win. Diversify!'”