Page "Lineman (occupation)" Paragraph 6

In the United States, the rural electrification drive during the New Deal led to a wide expansion in the number of jobs in the electric power industry.

Many power linemen during that period traveled around the country following jobs as they became available in tower construction, substation construction, and wire stringing.

These roving workers or " boomers " as they were called, were known as rowdy risk-takers but also as hard workers with a strong sense of pride in their work.

They often lived in temporary camps set up near the project they were working on, or in boarding houses if the work was in a town or city.

The occupation was one of the most lucrative at the time, owing to the high level of skill needed and the hazardous nature of the work, but the hazards and the extensive travel limited the appeal of the work to only a hardy few.

Often a lineman would finish one job with enough money to live on for several weeks or months before they would " boom out " to another job somewhere else.