Is Wm. Tallman connected somehow to the Tallman Ladders of Hood River?

Dogs and kids and an added bonus...a Guernsey? calf.

L.E. on 27th December 2016 @ 8:56am

Yep. Sounds like both Robert and brother Wm. Tallman were instrumental in manufacturing the ladders.

L.E. on 27th December 2016 @ 9:01am

Wow!! That little guy on the left, led quite an interesting life!! He met Amelia Earhart.

Hood River News Obituary, December 13, 2006
Robert O. TallmanRobert O. Tallman, 89, of Rogue River, Ore., died Dec. 1, 2006, in a Grants Pass care facility. He was born in Portland, Ore., March 19, 1917, the third of six children to William Henry and Katherine Worth Tallman.He graduated from Hood River High School in 1935. The following year he moved to Los Angeles, where he became a production engineer in the aircraft industry. He enlisted in the military service during World War II, but the military sent him back to Lockheed because of the wartime need for his expertise in aircraft construction.One of Bob’s most noteworthy jobs in southern California was the creation of a new instrument panel for Amelia Earhart’s plane. His memory of her when they met in his shop was that she was one of the roughest, toughest tomboys he had ever known.Returning to Hood River in 1947, he used his innovative skills to pioneer as a fruit orchardist. He designed the aluminum orchard ladder and started the manufacturing business of Tallman Ladders in 1954 with his brother, Bill. He designed the first grass cutter for use in orchards and initiated the practice of mowing the cover crop in orchards. He invented a semi-automatic loading dock, which transferred lug boxes of cherries, apples, or pears from orchard trailers to over-the-road trucks. Several hundred of these loading docks were installed in the Pacific Northwest by fruit growers.Community involvement was important to Bob. In 1949 he was elected first president at the organizational meeting of the West Side Rural Fire Protection District in Hood River. He was also a charter member of the West Side Fire Department.Bob led 4-H woodworking groups. He served on the boards of the Columbia Gorge Center and of the Diamond Fruit Growers, formerly the Apple Growers Association. He served several terms as president of the Hood River County Farm Bureau and was active in related legislative issues on the state level. His accomplishments earned him the title of Orchardist of the Year in the late 1950s.He married Harriett Miller in Hood River in 1985. In 1995 they retired to Rogue River, where he pursued his hobbies of woodworking, fishing, and reading.In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Robert, of Hood River; daughters Nancy Williams of Kent, Wash., and Susannah Tallman of Portland; stepson Steven Miller of Albany; sisters Fran Courtney of Alachua, Fla., and Jan Stanfield of Brooksville, Fla.; brother, Harold Tallman of Vancouver, Wash.; grandchildren David Tallman of Hood River, Tammy Strawn of Tumwater, Wash., and Brenda Kaiser of Tigard, Ore.; and three great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by one sister and one brother.A memorial service was held Dec. 3 at the Tallman home in Rogue River. Internment of ashes will take place both in Rogue River and Pine Grove Cemetery, Hood River, in the spring of 2007.

L.E. on 27th December 2016 @ 9:07am

Early in my "working days" for Hood River County there was a Herb Scobee that worked in the Law Enforcement Dept. I think he served papers etc.

Judy on 27th December 2016 @ 9:12am

Anyone in HR knows the location of Tallman Ladders.

Judy on 27th December 2016 @ 9:16am

It's on Tucker Road close to Barker Rd that turns to go to the dump. Close to the storage unit facility.

nels on 27th December 2016 @ 9:29am

Yes, these are my relatives. The child in front of Helen is no doubt Frances who is still alive and on a farm in Florida. The youngest girl, Violet, is also still alive and lives in Brooksville, FL

And yes, my father Bob met Amelia Earhart when he worked on her plane's instrument panel (re-configuring arrangement), when he worked for Lockheed Aircraft. It was just before her last voyage, and I teased him he must have gotten an instrument hooked up wrong.

Bob Tallman on 27th December 2016 @ 11:59am

I remember the early days when he started making the ladders in his garage on 9th Street, just south of May Street School.

Bill Seaton on 27th December 2016 @ 1:57pm

Bill Jr was making parts for the ladders in his garage south of May Street School. We assembled the ladders at the ranch on Country Club Rd where Ryan's Juice got started. I helped my dad assemble the first ladder on the shop floor on Country Club Rd and still have that ladder today. The second ladder is at the Hood River County Museum.
Mr Scobee sent my Grandfather from Parkdale to Redmond or Terrebone to manage a ranch that he owned in that area. Not sure how long they were there, but when they returned to Hood River, my Grandfather bought a ranch on Eastside Rd., South of Pine Grove Grade School and the Methodist Church. Keith and Edna Lage were their neighbors to the South.

Bob Tallman on 27th December 2016 @ 6:03pm

Where is this house? Since I have lived in Parkdale all my life I would like to know…

Beth on 27th December 2016 @ 6:56pm

If there is a Tallman ladder at the HR Museum, then I suspect Arthur knew all along, who the Tallman's were in this photo.

Any idea what Herbert Scobee is holding? The hill in the background seems identifiable, if you know the Parkdale area.

L.E. on 27th December 2016 @ 8:13pm

Perhaps he's holding an odd looking wooden bat of some type .... as an upper gable window pane appears broken. Note also the bare feet in the grass.

Stever on 27th December 2016 @ 9:05pm

L.E., I can never guess which direction people will go with a photo. This history of the Tallman family is great. I didn't know they used the old garage S of May Street school, which is now Sloan Medical Building. I also hadn't heard the Amelia Earhart story. It's a real treat to put up a simple photo every day and let you folks tell me stories about it!

Herb seems to be holding a homemade bat, as Stever surmised. I don't think the window is broken... yet.

Arthur on 27th December 2016 @ 9:47pm

It looks to me like the bat is actually a tie out stake for the calf. Looking closer I think I see the chain running through the grass and attaching to the stake.

Marilyn on 27th December 2016 @ 10:45pm

A self-fertilizing lawn mower.

Buzz on 28th December 2016 @ 5:41am

In the early days of ladder building, Bill Tallman used his oversized garage on the southeast corner of 9th and Pine. In that garage was a big yellow school bus that Bill drove for years. I'm thinking that at one time Bill may have driven a small public transportation bus in Hood River, maybe in the late forties to early fifties.

LMH on 28th December 2016 @ 10:09am

Bill had the school bus, and contracted with the county as well as Emmett (Speed) Hutson. Bill also had some public transportation buses both in Hood River and The Dalles.

Bob Tallman on 28th December 2016 @ 7:43pm

Thanks Bob Tallman for adding comments about your interesting family. I have enjoyed reading them.
Marilyn, I think you might be right about the stake and chain for the calf. The stake might be one that you step on to push it into the ground.

L.E. on 28th December 2016 @ 9:19pm

Who is the oldest boy in this photo? Hebert Scobee born 1911, William Tallman born 1913 and Robert Tallman born 1917 and Harold born 1920. I was born at Parkdale 1923.

Frances Tallman Courtney on 3rd January 2017 @ 12:40pm

Frances, Herb Scobee's notes on the back of the photo indicate he was the oldest boy.

Arthur on 4th January 2017 @ 11:28am

From the April 5, 1917 HR Glacier. page 4

"Bill Tallman moved his family to the Scobee place at Parkdale the last of the week, where he expects to stay this summer.

L.E. on 19th August 2018 @ 8:28pm

I built ladders on 9th street and the one by the cemetery. On trip I stopped at the current shop and they were still using the same green table I made from 1960 - 1963. At a motel in Florida I saw ladder and it had a Tallman sign.

Russell Hopkins on 6th December 2018 @ 8:06pm

I remember riding one of Mr. Tallman's buses a couple of times in the '40s, with my mom. The route was very long, from way down by the post office to clear up on the heights, I think. Running a bus through a town with two commercial centers must have been complex. Did he go on a fixed route every time, I wonder, or did he just ask people where they needed to go?

Barbara Parsons on 13th December 2020 @ 9:20am