father and son n
1 A children’s game; see quot.
1950 (1965) Richter Town 190 OH (as of c1900), [They were] playing Father and Son like simple-minded children. You played it in pairs, racing to a mark and back. Each had a switch. On the way over the son tried to birch the father and on the way back it was the father’s turn if he could reach the son.
2 attrib; Of a business enterprise: small.
1943 Korson Coal Dust 4, Some farmers, however, overcame this fear and operated small mines variously called “country banks,” “wagon mines,” “dog holes,” “gopher holes,” or “father-and-son” mines.