8. War and Changes

Byron and Esther had imagined their peaceful future in Massachusetts, enjoying their beautiful old home and making a good living with their artwork. But, along with millions of other United States citizens, they did not reckon with that shameful black Sunday of December 7th, 1940, when shuddering news exploded into their midst. The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. Their country held its breath. Lives stood still. And their grandchildren never did slide down Brickwood's polished banister or play in the orchards. Byron lost his business because rubber was so badly needed for the war effort. He himself was put on deferment because of his two young girls.

So Byron went into defense work, finding a position as stock chaser at the LaPointe Machine Tool Company. LaPointe manufactured broaches (metal working tools) and broaching machines. It was Byron's job to trace orders and follow products up to the shipping stage to ensure customer satisfaction.

The wartime economy had its effect on the Bristols. Suddenly everything was rationed. The family could no longer relax by taking long weekends to drive up and down the East Coast, picnicking and enjoying a little something out of the ordinary. Things were harder to buy, harder to find, and life became more of a blur, but they decided to cope with it and be positive. They had a lot to be thankful for and they would get through this.

But the LaPointe Machine Tool Company was 13 months behind schedule, and Byron soon found himself coming under attack from the irate colonels and generals who weren't getting their broaches. He went through something of a mental breakdown but was afraid that if he resigned he might be drafted into the army. When he found out that he could quit his job without any penalties if he moved too far away to make the daily commute to work, he decided to resettle his family in West Redding, Connecticut. They purchased a house next to Esther's sister and brother-in-law, Ruth and Ev Tewkesbury. 

Byron soon found work at Chance Vought Aircraft where he was an engineering illustrator. He and his superior, Ray Quigley, were two people in the company who were adventurous and ready to try new things, even when they went against company policy. For example, even though they hadn't been authorized to, Ray and Byron created a quarter-size model of the leading edge of an airplane wing and a mannequin to show that the wing was impossible to assemble. Thus they eliminated a complex problem that could have sunk Chance Vought into a mire of wasted money and time. But both Ray and Byron considered the job unrewarding, and on the day that the Armistice was declared they both gave their notice.

Now that the war was over Neil Tillotson was back in the rubber business, and he hadn't forgotten the talented young sculptor who had once worked for him. He and Mr. Bristol got together again and soon Byron was working over in Needham, Massachusetts for his old employer. 

But Esther was still living in West Redding with Sue and Norma. Houses were hard to find just after the war, but the determined Bristols found a lovely 112 acres in Medfield, Massachusetts with the perfect site for a house on a gentle knoll with a pond nearby. Byron built a comfortable seven-room ranch style house from pieces of old army barracks. They had to move into the basement before the upstairs was finished; packing boxes became their partitions and a hot plate their kitchen. Finally, the new home was ready to move into, and they appreciated it all the more for having waited so long. This experience started Byron on a business of building houses for resale which became his sole source of income after he left the Tillotson Rubber Company.

Suzanne and Norma enjoyed their new home in Medfield. Suzanne spent time roaming the woods, pretending that she was either a queen or a horse depending upon her mood at the moment. Norma was more content playing at home. But though nicely settled in their new house, the Bristols were restless with that strange and inexplicable affliction: boat fever.