Deciphering father's occupation on birth certificate

[kathleenwalker]

Hello everyone!

I've got quite the mystery going on in my genealogy search. My great-grandfather's father has been nearly impossible to track down. This birth certificate is one of our only leads. But no matter how hard we try, we can't seem to decipher the occupation. We all swear it looks a little like "trucker," but this is from 1905, so... surely not?

Thank you to anyone who can offer ideas!

[goldie61]

Welcome to Rootschat Kathleen! 

Possibly 'Printer'.

Comparing the letters with others on the form:
There would seem to be a 'dot' over a letter in the middle - making an 'i'.
If you look at the way the scribe forms an 'n' in the name 'Minnie' above, you'll see it's very loosely spaced out.
The second letter is an 'r' - compare it to the 'r' in 'Mrs' above.

[Gadget]

Welcome from me too

I'm seeing Trucker, with the dot just a mark 

[Neale1961]

I think “printer”

[GR2]

Have you found them on the 1910 US census? What occupation does he have there?

[Viktoria]

I wonder if Fruiter ,which ought to be Fruiterer really.
Ie Greengrocer.
Viktoria.

[arthurk]

It's a pity there aren't any other examples of upper-case T/P/F in the document.

I'd say it's Trucker - the Merriam-Webster dictionary says it's been in use since 1878, though of course in its early days there wouldn't have been motor trucks.

[Gadget]

I found this last night when I first deciphered it and was looking for refs to  the history of  trucking:

Trucking has been a part of the transportation industry since the late 1800's when the first internal combustion engine was put in a truck by Karl Benz. Prior to this date, steam engines drove the trucks. The change to an internal combustion engine made an improvement in trucks. These engines were much more powerful and could carry larger loads, greater distances, which made the trucks more efficient.

https://www.teletracnavman.com/gps-fleet-tracking-education/brief-history-of-the-trucking-industry

There were other refs too.

So, as Arthur suggests, it is quite possible that he could have been a trucker.

Gadget

[Viktoria]

I see it now, more like Trucker than Fruiter(er).
Viktoria.

P.S,There was the truck shop system whereby employers had shops and paid workers in tokens only redeemable at the employer’s shop where inflated prices were the norm.
In other words employees were not paid in coins of The Realm.
It was an iniquitous system, The oh so wonderful benefactors ,known to Dickens, The Grant Brothers whom he based The Cheeryble  Brothers on, were the major employers in Ramsbottom ,they had the truck system .
Viktoria.