It's high noon in Elberfeld, and Jeff Cravens and Eric Whitehead are leaning against a truck in front of Geiselman's Welding, Inc., waiting for the owner to return. Arthur Geiselman is on lunch break and his brother, Arnold, is at home recovering from an operation. An old round thermometer hangs above a pile of junk in front of the store that includes rusted shears and steel scraps.
Construction workers pull up in another truck and help themselves to supplies.
They figure they can pay later. Arthur appears down at the other end of the street, slowly walking back with Sue Karges, secretary and bookkeeper of the place for 29 years. Arthur just smiles from beneath his racing cap. They disappear into the aisles that wind around the piles of everything from small bolts to 40-foot steel beams. In one corner, old-fashioned plow points rest above an old forge.