monkey board n. a small or narrow elevated platform on which a person stands (to operate a vehicle or machinery, or to perform other work). Editorial Note: While early in its history monkey board referred to a conductor’s place on wheeled vehicles such as buses, trams, and trolleys, it is now in common use on oil-drilling platforms and also appears in other industries. More or less synonymous terms, often used in a nautical context, include monkey bridge, monkey island, flying bridge, and flying gangway. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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My grandfather, Ether S. Moore, invented the monkey board for the oil derrick.. After his passing in 1998 at age 92, my dad gave each of us, his grand kids, a few of his business cards. Ether ( the E is short like Ed), grew up on a farm in Oklahoma, worked in the oil fields as a young man. He married the girl down the road and moved to S. Calif. as a newlywed.He owned and operated a successful garage door business with my dad.. “Papa” taught us the value of hard work, to be honest and to love unconditionally..