Question Answered: Why 44% don't have a clue....

[BobPalma]

Like you, I also worked at a bowling alley setting pins as a youth! I was pleasantly surprised to hear from someone else who did that. You don't hear much about THAT job anymore!

Did you guys ever get hit by any flying pins? I remember seeing pin spotters at work and wondered how they ever got out of the way when some really good bowlers sent the pins flying high with a good strike! BP

[skyway]

I worked above an automated pin setter once or twice as a 9 or 10 year old.
My recollection is that the last pin going home is what caused the machine to drop the rack down and release the pins for the next bowler.
Our local alley had one machine that had a habit of not properly dropping in that last pin.
As a result that lane was only used on "league nights", and they'd hire me or one of my friends to perch up above the machine and "help" that last pin go into position.
At the time we just thought it was noisy way to make a buck a night, but it was probably kinda dangerous too?

[Gunslinger]

About a mile from where I live is the remains of an old amusement park, trolley, and a building that had a dance pavilion upstairs and a bowling alley downstairs. The bowling alley used pinspotters until the place closed for good in the 1960s...it never did upgrade or modernize. In fact, my grandfather took my dad and siblings there in the 1920s as they lived not too terribly far away.

The place is quite derelict now...the pavilion burned (arson) about twenty-five years ago and much of the property has been sold off for homes but the main part of the park is off-limits now. Liability I guess.

[Commander Eddie]

Okay. Here is my list:

Had a Los Angeles Times paper route for 2 years as a 10 year old (the quarter is under the door mat)
Sold Christmas cards door-to-door during 2 summers as a 12-13 year old
Worked one summer at 16 years old at a local Jack 'n the Box Restaurant.
Washed dishes in an Italian retaurant at 14 years old.
Worked as a professional actor in Hollywood starting at age 14. (stage, TV, movie)

That's all I can remember. It was a while back.

[BobPalma]

Interesting, the number of respondents who sold Christmas cards door-to-door. I can't remember anyone doing that in our little town of Paris IL, but it sure must've been a profitable endeavor in other parts of the country.

Did anyone else sell the fund-raiser World's Finest Chocolate? It was sure a big deal in Paris to support the local Youth Center, known as The Hanger. In the early 60s (age 14-15), the bars were 50 cents each...but I learned early on that if you said they were "two for a dollar," you'd more often than not sell two of them. BP

[Blue 15G]

Did you guys ever get hit by any flying pins? I remember seeing pin spotters at work and wondered how they ever got out of the way when some really good bowlers sent the pins flying high with a good strike! BP

The place I did this was at an out of town resort, for lack of a better description, for H J Heinz workers in Pittsburgh to go to on weekends. They had a large gameroom area in this facility, and there were only two bowling lanes. Most of the clientele consisted of older women who couldn't throw the bowling ball very hard. After the second ball, I stepped on a steel pedal under the alley and steel pins would pop up through the floor to aid in resetting the pins in the correct spot. There was a sort of elevated bench behind the alley where I would jump up and sit out of the way while they threw the ball. I did this on Saturday and Sunday nights. I think I worked from 7 to 10 PM and if no one came down to bowl on a particular evening, I could sit around and watch tv, play pool or ping pong, etc. (There were always two of us on duty) Also, I could help myself to anything in the cooler. There were a lot of Heinz juice products there, of course. I think they paid me two dollars a night in cash at the end of the shift. This was when I was about 15 years old.

[BobPalma]

The place I did this was at an out of town resort, for lack of a better description, for H J Heinz workers in Pittsburgh to go to on weekends. They had a large gameroom area in this facility, and there were only two bowling lanes. Most of the clientele consisted of older women who couldn't throw the bowling ball very hard. After the second ball, I stepped on a steel pedal under the alley and steel pins would pop up through the floor to aid in resetting the pins in the correct spot. There was a sort of elevated bench behind the alley where I would jump up and sit out of the way while they threw the ball. I did this on Saturday and Sunday nights. I think I worked from 7 to 10 PM and if no one came down to bowl on a particular evening, I could sit around and watch tv, play pool or ping pong, etc. (There were always two of us on duty) Also, I could help myself to anything in the cooler. There were a lot of Heinz juice products there, of course. I think they paid me two dollars a night in cash at the end of the shift. This was when I was about 15 years old.

That's pretty interesting, Dave; thanks. Does the place still exist in any form or fashion?

'Sounds like a helluva gig on slow nights! BP

[rockne10]

Interesting, the number of respondents who sold Christmas cards door-to-door.

I wonder how many did it for Wallace Brown, as the ad appeared in Boys' Life, the magazine of the Boy Scouts of America.
I have two remnants of my stint with Wallace Brown. One is an item I was selling 60 years ago, a gold bookmark containing the Lord's Prayer I use in the bible I received upon my confirmation. The other is the ring bound book that contained all my card samples from 1963.
I removed all the cards and used it as a scrapbook of newspaper clippings beginning on November 23, 1963.

[Corvanti]

great thread! (except for a couple of dolts).

i started with Christmas Cards when i was 11, on to a paper route, Fuller Brush door to door, several fast food jobs and a disastrous job on the graveyard shift at a 7-11 full time while in college. it was in a bad area and was robbed 6 times in two months. i quit after the 6th robbery and went back to Fuller Brush.

anyway, i'm here to praise my 26 yr old "millennial" daughter. she started in food service in high school, was a manager during the summer years as a jr and senior in high school at a ice cream shop. during her college years at UNC Chapel Hill, she started as a server a Japanese Steakhouse and was promoted to manager. now she is in her 3rd year pursuing her Doctorate full time and working as a server part time at the Steakhouse and at a medical clinic. in the summer she worked full time at the clinic, more hours at the Steakhouse and another job. all this while rearing my 3 year old granddaughter as a (now) single mom!

i'd like to think my work ethic rubbed off on her, but she deserves all the credit!

[8E45E]

Interesting, the number of respondents who sold Christmas cards door-to-door. I can't remember anyone doing that in our little town of Paris IL, but it sure must've been a profitable endeavor in other parts of the country.

Did anyone else sell the fund-raiser World's Finest Chocolate? It was sure a big deal in Paris to support the local Youth Center, known as The Hanger. In the early 60s (age 14-15), the bars were 50 cents each...but I learned early on that if you said they were "two for a dollar," you'd more often than not sell two of them. BP

I was involved in selling neither. But my sister sold greeting cards door-to-door (Regal?) when she was around 14 or so. As I recall, she took over an established route from one of her friends who moved away, so she almost had a ready-made customer list.

As far as 'World's Finest' Chocolates, I had acquaintances in school sell them for fund raising for the school band, to offset the cost of a flight to the eastern part of the country one year.

Craig

[Blue 15G]

That's pretty interesting, Dave; thanks. Does the place still exist in any form or fashion?

'Sounds like a helluva gig on slow nights! BP

The place was called Eden Hall Farm. I'm not sure how to post a link, but if you Google it you can read about its history. It was taken over by Chatham College and I believe construction is going on there now for a suburban college campus. Not sure if the large house with the game area is still there. Come to think of it, it's less than 10 miles from me. Time to fire up the '54 and ride over for a look! And yes, slow nights there were fun, but I enjoyed it when it was busy there as well.

[dictator27]

There is a noticeable move away from hiring school age kids here. The majority of the staff at a lot of fast food restaurants here are not only adults, a surprising number are definitely past retirement age. I was recently in a local DQ and I think I can say with reasonable accuracy that none of the emplyees were under the age of 70. The cost of living in the Vancouver area - particularly the cost of housing - is outrageously high and seniors on fixed pensions are being forced to go back to work if they want to maintain their independence. (I may be joining them.) Many fast food establishments are opting for experience rather than hiring teenagers.

Terry

[j.byrd]

Guess I might as well get in on this, as I too worked a lot of different little jobs as a kid. Like others from the era most of us seem to be talking about, it was "just what we did" in my part of the country back then. (East Tennessee). I was a polio kid and had surgeries most summers from the 5th grade through my senior year, but always was looking for something to do or sell for cash. Shoot, when I was 12 I asked Mom and Dad when I could move out because I was making money they said, ha ! My jobs were all short-lived of course, because of surgeries and school, along with helping take care of 4 younger siblings as both parents worked, but I sure loved those days ! OK, enough explaining, now the "jobs" : mowing yards, selling Christmas cards, 3 different newspapers including The Grit, Clinton Courier, and the Knoxville News Sentinel, selling Cloverine brand salve, blackberries, (in season), painting fences and "bush-hogging" on Dad's employer's farm, typing for different customers that used the Credit Bureau that my parents had as just one of their many jobs, and finally, if we are using our school years as out "time" as a kid working, helping my Dad escorting wide loads in my own car that I bought with my own money ( a $325.00 56 Chevy wagon) around the Southeast before the Interstates were completed. ( I did this until I got married at 19, then worked at a "regular" job as a Flower shop delivery boy ) The escorting job has to be one of my favorite jobs ever, as it paid well, I was required to drive fast enough to flag narrow places then getting out of the rigs way, and getting to see the country ! Dang, I think I'll look for a job now, ha ! Thanks for starting this Bob Palma, it's all very interesting !

[BobPalma]

That's some serious variety, there, John; Post #58. As a "polio kid," did you have to spend much time on crutches? That would have been challenging with all those early jobs you had.

One of the first people to post condolences on the mortuary's website about my Dad's passing September 6, was a friend from Paris IL whom I've not seen or spoken to in probably 50 years! I was really surprised (and pleased) to have his condolences; he's a nice guy. "Jim" was a polio kid on crutches, the kind that gripped your lower arm midway, all the time we ran around together in the 50s and early 60s, before our family moved to Indianapolis. (In fact, I referenced Jim in my March 2014 Hemmings Classic Car column about Ford sixes; it was Jim's Dad who owned and operated the Dog & Suds Root Beer stand.)

Thanks for the contribution; interesting stuff here indeed. BP

[j.byrd]

Bob, the only times I was on crutches or in wheelchairs was after each of the surgeries. The rest of the time until the final surgery, I wore a brace. There were challenges, but I just "had to do it" if someone said I couldn't. My parents only threat was no bicycles, motor scooters or motorcycles, and they always encouraged me to do what I thought I could. So I waited until I moved out and got married to get my 1st motorized two wheeler, ha ! Thought Daddy was still gona whip me for "being so "damn stupid" as he said, ha ! My Grandad did go in halves with me (in secret) and buy my 1st bicycle, but it sure took a while to learn to ride. AND, my parents were pretty upset with him, but little blue-eyes here was just too excited for them to make us take it back ! While painting fences for the farm owner, I was set out of the car, got down on the ground and scooted along for the lower boards, and could stand on the other leg and hold on for the upper boards. Fun times to me tho', I was "earning" !