Howard "Porky" Cutter shares how he arrived by his unique nickname.

When Ellis Cutter, my father, was very young, he decided to get a burr haircut. After that, his hair stood up like a porcupine. From that day until his passing, he was known as “Porky.” In Covington and Enid, Okla., Ellis Cutter, his wife Ethyl (my mother) and myself were known as Porky, Mrs. Porky and Little Porky.

Porky Sr. became a drilling supervisor — tool pusher — and traveled all over the eastern and central United States for many years. For myself, being the only child, traveling, moving and constantly changing schools were difficult for my education and friendships. Because of these hardships, Dad and Mom moved back to their hometown of Covington, Okla. They bought a home and gas station, later building a machine shop and naming it “Cutters Machine Shop.”

Several years later, some mail was sent to Ellis Cutter at the Covington Post Office. The people who worked in the Post Office had grown up with Porky Sr. but didn’t know the name Ellis Cutter. They knew that when Porky Sr. came in, he would know who Ellis Cutter was.

When I moved away from Covington and Enid, the name of Little Porky went away. Several years later when I returned to Covington and Enid, the friends who knew me called me Little Porky again. Since I now was an adult and my dad had passed, the Little Porky nickname gradually went away. Hence, I now am known as Porky, and my wife Bess is known as Mrs. Porky.

Both of our sons, Randall (Randy) and Chris have followed in my footsteps. While attending the South Atlantic Well Drillers Jubilee some years ago, someone called Chris, “Piglet,” and our older son, Randy, “the other son.” I think the nickname “Piglet” came from the National Driller people, hence, the name “Piglet” has stuck. At first, Chris didn’t like the nickname “Piglet,” however, he now is proud of his nickname and has it printed on his business cards. Today Porky, Mrs. Porky, Piglet and the other Cutter (Randy) are fairly well known in the ground water industry.

It appears that our grandchildren — Randy’s sons, Howard Anthony, Randy Jr. and Jonathan, and Piglet’s daughter, Tiffany, known as Pigletette — probably are going to follow in our footsteps as well.

Nicknames usually aren’t a bad thing, and most of them have a story behind them. People often remember a funny nickname easier than the formal name. When my dad and I started our drilling business, we called it “Cutter and Dad Drilling Company”. It was a novelty, but people never forgot it. They seldom got it right: They called it Cutter and Dodd; Cutter and Dade; Cutter and Dode; Cutter and Son; and usually thought Cutter and Dad was a misprint. Many people, however, still remember “Cutter and Dad Drilling Company.”