My first job was delivering the morning news paper on my bike to residents on the westside of the small farming town of Willows, in northern California. I may have been seven years old during the years of 1951-52.
Early each morning a truck would come by our house on the edge of town and drop off a bundle of papers. Each paper had to be rolled and wrapped with a rubber band. The Sunday edition was triple in size with the comics and pages of advertisements. I was provided with a pack holding the papers that hung over my shoulders as I peddled the streets in the early morning hours throwing papers on or near the front doors. Carrying the Sunday edition made me feel top heavy and fearful of falling off my bike. The big challenge was learning the route and the addresses of the subscribers. There may have been 50 to 60 houses to deliver the papers to.
It took a good week to learn the route and if a customer did not get their paper they would call the news paper company that would in turn call me or my mom. Some of these people were not happy. Sometimes my mom would help me out, especially on rainy days by driving me around the route in the car. There were a few days my mom did it all if I was sick. Once a month I had to go around to each customer in the afternoon and collect the monthly subscription fee. Some would pay, some were not home and some would not answer their door. I could see them through their front screen doors on hot afternoons, but they would ignore me knowing I was there to collect money. This required follow-up visits to collect from those that had not been at home and those that ignored me. If I stopped delivering the paper they would complain to the company. My pay was a percentage of what I collected and I don't remember it being much for all the troubles my mom and I had to deal with. Then there was the neighborhood dogs to contend with as some would chase me on my bike wanting to do me harm. With time, I learned where to expect trouble and carried some rocks to throw at these dogs.
After 7 or 8 months my mom and I decided to give this job to another carrier. We had no regrets.
How rude .... the people and dogs!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Mike; it's good to remember what life was like back then. I just finished reading Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables, which were fascinating.
ReplyDeleteNowadays lose dogs chasing anyone down on their bikes, is a liability covered by a homeowner's policy. My 1985 bicycle head injury was caused by a pit bull chasing me down & causing me to fall back flat on my head & ending up unconscience.
ReplyDeleteDo kids even do this anymore???? My brother and I had to earn our money..hard work but we grew up with a better understanding of work, money and things we wanted.
ReplyDeleteAfter my son was born I did a newspaper route to get some extra money. I would get up at 3:30 to do the route. I would fold all the papers while picking up WCCO radio out of Minneapolis, we lived in Des Moines, IA at the time. I followed the Twins all season long during the championship season because I could listen to the WCCO early in the morning. I would get back to the house in time to shower and then get to my real job working at Sears regional credit center where I was a manager. I would go to my car and take a nap over lunch. Those were some long days.
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