Xmas tips were great. One guy gave me a 99 cent Nestle bar.
Anyone know when paperboys ceased to exist?
- Thread starter 53' Stude
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I know the Columbus Dispatch quit using youth labor and you must be an adult. They now drop the paper bundles at a storage locker instead of your house.
I delivered the town gossip paper (one day a week).Xmas tips were great. One guy gave me a 99 cent Nestle bar.
I still remember when this one young lady gave me a home-baked cookie.
It was a good example of someone being nice to me.
In high school, my brother and I delivered Sunday papers. It was nice because it was only one day a week, but on the other hand, the papers were HUGE and only got bigger and bigger in the two months leading up to Christmas. The route required a car..... Actually it started with just my dad and I until I got my license. The best part was we didn't have to collect.... There was an "agency" that handled that. The worst part was as the route grew and we had more and more houses and the papers got big at Christmastime, we would totally overload the car. We'd start out each week with a couple bundles of papers on the hood of the car until we could make room for them inside or in the trunk!
And what about getting bitten by dogs while delivering.
For me .... 2x
1) German shepherd bit my hand
2) Very small dog would bite my ankle if I walked on 'his' sidewalk
For me .... 2x
1) German shepherd bit my hand
2) Very small dog would bite my ankle if I walked on 'his' sidewalk
I was going to ask "Paper boy vs. home delivery?" until I saw this.
Youth delivery probably ended around my area in the 80's. What delivery is left appears to be adults.
My dad did that one for awhile, it was either the WSJ or possibly the NYT, when he was between jobs. The rule was, he had to pull all the way into the driveway and drop the paper as close to the front door as possible. There'd be about one or two customers in every neighborhood; otherwise there was a lot of driving to get to the next neighborhood. I am sure he drove a lot of miles vs. how comparatively few papers he delivered. He might've even lost money on that job!
I had one about um...1985-1987 ish for a couple years. Once a week, took about 1.5 hours. I made $12 per week.
I had a huge route in my hometown, ~200. Local daily but took two paper bags filled with rolled papers. PITA to roll them, had to buy the rubber bands. Then try and collect once a week. Most were good but the deadbeats killed any profit. Or when they did pay came with a $20 bill and took all your change. Riding the bike in the ice was nice.
Once a year they gave away a paper to every household on your route, so you had to hand them out for free.
It was part of my early teenage Great Awakening.....
Once a year they gave away a paper to every household on your route, so you had to hand them out for free.
It was part of my early teenage Great Awakening.....
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I did it 10 years before you, for one month. It was like you say, New York Times and WSJ. If it wasn’t on time people were really abusive. Like you say we were just kids. I upgraded and got the job I deserved. Cleaning out poison sumac from the back of a car dealer.
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From about 1965 to 1972 I had an afternoon M-Saturday paper route. Afternoon papers have disappeared but they were a thing. The papers were on my driveway when I got home from school, I made them up putting the sport and circulars in the main section and then into the front bike basket and away I’d go. The Sunday edition was early morning delivery like the other papers were. I had 30-35 customers. I put the paper inside the front storm door so it would not get wet. My customers appreciated that and tips were great!
From the paper route earning I bought a sail boat and then a B&W darkroom enlarger for photo work and and later it helped costs when I took flying lessons. I was flying solo before I was driving, crazy laws but that’s how it was.
From the paper route earning I bought a sail boat and then a B&W darkroom enlarger for photo work and and later it helped costs when I took flying lessons. I was flying solo before I was driving, crazy laws but that’s how it was.
I wanted to be a paperboy as a kid in the 1970's but my mother wouldn't let me for some reason. After listening to some of these stories and the amount of anger and trauma you guys are still dealing with, I would like to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to my Mom. Thanks for sparing me !!
, I would like to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to my Mom. Thanks for sparing me !!
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This one old lady with clown-like makeup even hit me a few times. She enjoyed accosting me any day she could catch me.
She scared me so much I would change my route to make sure she wouldn’t be waiting for me, which caused the others to get upset about literally mere tens of minutes of inconsistency in delivery times. I was completely alone, doing it all myself, no parents, no car, no phone, and they knew it. There are some sick people in this world.
Did anyone get "The Grit" at home? Was any of you a delivery person for the "Grit".
Had a route that was almost entirely the apartment complex near my parent's house. Easy in that I'd drop a number of papers per stop, I just had to make sure that I had the right number for each of the two papers that were being delivered. The bad part was that all I could do was to drop the papers inside the lobby door. We couldn't get past the security door and deliver to each apartment. Money collection was by the agency that delivered the bulk papers to me. One of the customers didn't pay his bill and I got the notice to stop delivery, so I did. Day 2 of that, the guy was waiting to confront me and yell at me for forgetting him yesterday, and I told him he needed to call the agency because they told me to stop delivery. On Day 3 I found out that he took one of the papers meant for another tenant and via the nasty-gram from the agency that the tenant complained about not getting their paper and informing me that they would be docking my pay for that copy. Called the agency and asked how exactly I was supposed to ensure that the person got their paper when I can't do anything other then leave it in the lobby and the deadbeat was no doubt going to keep stealing papers and the answer was basically a "sucks to be you, kid," but in a nice way. I gave them notice right then.
The ironic twist to this is that during that last 2 weeks I had to deliver, the agency forwarded me a tip from a different customer in another building with a note that the person couldn't remember when the delivery was so good.
I was bit twice on the same leg delivering papers. GSD on the thigh and giant poodle same leg, on the calf. I like cats.
I learned about people moving out with no notice. G.A. men yelling at 11 yo boys just doing a job. Ladies with not much on answering doors. How not to get hit by cars with full load cloth paper bags. Hated folding, always got news ink on my lighter cords. Learned not to tip and throw, paper will go on roof. But I talked to some interesting fellows though about cars. One guy told me all about his TP Frantz filter.
But yeah paperboys were always shafted and the practice ended with the demise of slimy papers and G.A. men delivering from car widows for low a pay.
I learned about people moving out with no notice. G.A. men yelling at 11 yo boys just doing a job. Ladies with not much on answering doors. How not to get hit by cars with full load cloth paper bags. Hated folding, always got news ink on my lighter cords. Learned not to tip and throw, paper will go on roof. But I talked to some interesting fellows though about cars. One guy told me all about his TP Frantz filter.
But yeah paperboys were always shafted and the practice ended with the demise of slimy papers and G.A. men delivering from car widows for low a pay.
I live in a development where a handful of people still get an actual printed newspaper delivered to their door everyday. It is a retired lady that drives in to make the delivery. I would imagine she has other similar developments.
My Grandfather did and I use to read them when we went there on Sundays.
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