Hello All

[Rank]

Originally Posted by flash

Im older than I care to think about .I always thought a grease monkey was the local mechanic ,we dont have them anymore .Im talking about the guy that could fix anything and didnt charge a war pension to do it .

Yes that is what the term evolved into but its origins are in the factories wa-a-a-y back in the industrial revolution...

The saws, lathes, drill presses etc were all powered by one huge belt that ran around the whole shop at cieling heigth and was held up by a pulleys. The belt was sometimes powered by a water wheel or a steam engine.

A guy or two was assigned the job of dancing from rafter to rafter with a oil can lubricating the pullys .... because of the appearance of monkeys jumbing from tree limb to tree limb they were given the term "grease money" .... it later applied to the oilers on the trains who kept the train lubed up .... and refers to a mechanic today.