What was your first paying "real" job growing up...

[Brian Elfert]

My first "real" job was working summers at the Minnesota State Fair cutting grass on the fairgrounds. I did this for seven years through high school and college. I started every year the Monday after school got out and worked until Labor day. The job was great as it was 8 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday with no weekends. We did have to work weekends the last half of August and I worked between 16 and 18 hours a day during the 12 days of the actual fair.

I have worked during the 12 days of the Minnesota State Fair every year ending last year. I had a conflict this year so I couldn't work at the Fair for the first time since I was 15.

[Rick Potter]

Cleveland Ohio, 1953 or 54, age 11. My parents managed a grocery store called Lawsons. It was a milk store that sold groceries, about three times the size of the average 7-11 store. I stocked shelves on the weekends. I think I got about 50 cents an hour.

El Monte CA., 1956, age 14. My parents moved to CA., bought a Tastee Freez store, and found out within a month or so, it could not support us. Dad got a job selling cars, and Mom and an employee ran the store. I worked there every day after school, and on weekends...$1.00 per hour. We had to stay open every day, including Christmas, per the franchise. I remember some days we only took in less than $4.

El Monte CA., 1958, age 15 1/2. I got my drivers license, my folks sold the store, and the owner of another store hired me on the spot. I started the first day opening, and closing the store on weekends, and basically running it myself after school. I was paid the minimum wage of the day...$1.15.

It goes on....cleaning carpets for my Dad's new business at age 17, for $1.50, going to Junior College and right to work at 2:00 for three years, till I got married at age 21, in 1964. At that point I was making $2.50 per hour, which was above the minimum wage of (?). If I got in my 40 hours a week it added up to $400 per month.

Ontario CA., 1964. A few months after getting married I started working for the Ontario Fire Dept. Pay was $440 a month, which was a 10% raise from my $400. Found out real quick that after paying retirement and union dues I was taking home less than before.

Los Angeles CA., 1966. Went to work for Los Angeles County Fire Dept. Hired at $617 a month. First day on the job was July 1. It was the first day of training for my class of 90 men, and they announced that our new pay scale had gone to $640
per month.

Rick Potter

[Rob Cunningham]

I started working when I was 13 at the used car dealer down the street. He started me at a whopping 75 cents/hour. My duties included scraping dog crap off the floor and sweeping the floor, mowing the 2 acre field next to the building with a 20" mower, tarring the flat roof on the building, raking leaves and cutting grass at his house, and detailing cars. There were some days when Joe would say "get in steak body truck, we're going to the junk yards today" We would spend the day driving around Philadelphia stopping at different junk yards to pick up car parts. I worked for Joe for five years (with annual increases and a full weeks pay for a Christmas bonus) and learned a lot, most importantly that hard work wasn't going to hurt you. A lesson that has stuck with me my whole life. He was a good-hearted man that only asked for an honest days work.

[Jerome Stanek]

actually mine was at my parents greenhouse. worked there fir 2 years before going into the service. Then I worked as a stripper for a printing company.

[Bill Edwards(2)]

Worked for my father at 14 and 15... free... which now doesn't seem
very fair. I did everything the paid help did.
station.jpg

But first paying job was at 16 as dish washer for a Denny's in Tucson, AZ

[Tom Winship]

Worked at 13 as a grocery store sacker and carry outer and stocker, etc. 7:00 AM in the morning to about 8:30 at nite on Saturdays. We stayed open until the local pulp wood magnate came in on Saturday nite. He was good for $100 of groceries so they didn't shut the door until "Mr. Leon" came in. $7.50 per day.

[Ben Hatcher]

My first official job was as a bus boy at MCL Cafeteria for $3.75 an hour. The best part was that I worked every Sunday which got me out of going to church...a habit I happily continue to this day.

[Tom Green]

16 years old pulling weeds in the rice paddies at the Rice Experiment station in northern California. I got paid whatever minimum wage was in 1975.

[Mike Wilkins]

After school job in high school as a busboy/dishwasher/mop pusher at Ron and Eddys Restaurant in downtown Forest City, North Carolina.

[Eddie Watkins]

My first job was hauling hay. I was 15 years old and got a penny a bale. We started at 7:00 and worked until all the hay was up in the field we were working. Usually sometime between 6 and 9pm. We could haul about 1600 bales a day with our max a little over 1900. Wages at that time was around $1.50/hour. We had a flatbed truck and 2 guys would walk along the side and throw the bales up to one guy stacking. The owner of the truck drove and got 2 cents a bale. We had to throw the bales as high as we could and the guy on top would reach downand snag the bale with a hay hook. Stacking the hay in the barns was the hard part. THe temperatur ein the barns would reach 140-150 degrees at time.

[Charlie Reals]

I worked for my Dad for my needs and change in my pocket on the family truck farm until I went in the service at 17. My first official civilian job was the Madsen ranch in New underwood S.D. for $300 a month and found. There for 1 1/2 yrs then to Homestake mine in Lead. S.D. for just under $20 a day. Stayed there 2 yrs. Great jobs both.

[charlie knighton]

Bill Edwards

you must be about my age, i was born in '50, i seem to remember gas at 28.9, those were the days

[Larry Browning]

Paper boy at 12. I delivered the afternoon paper every day and the Sunday morning paper. I remember waiting at the drop off spot with about 5 or 6 other boys. We could get into quite a bit of mischief in that 15-20 minutes before the papers arrived. We would then get busy folding the papers and loading up those huge bags that we carried on our shoulders while riding our bikes to throw those papers. I always hated collecting, except at Christmas time. I had a couple of customers that gave me a big bonus basket of homemade baked goodies and a five dollar bill! I was rolling in the dough!!!!!!
I only remember one time my dad drove me to help deliver the Sunday morning paper. It was about 5 below zero and about 10 inches of snow on the ground. (Mom made him do it, he wasn't real happy about it, but we made the best of it.)

[Charlie Reals]

Bill Edwards

you must be about my age, i was born in '50, i seem to remember gas at 28.9, those were the days

Born in 46, that seems about right for gas. I know we didn't struggle very much on the pay. Had fun.

[Jim O'Dell]

I'll have to read all of these later...should be fun. My first paying job was a paper route when I was 11 years old. I had my own checking account because my Mom didn't want me to carry cash to pay for the papers each week, so got me a checking account. I made enough to pay for my first 2 motorcycles, and a big portion of my first car, in less than a year. Jim.