I have in my possession a document which I have had for over 65 years. My first paycheck. How I managed to keep it for all of those years, I will never know.
Anyway, I used to make money by mowing lawns but, by the time I was fourteen, I figured that was kid’s stuff. On top of that, it was only cash in the spring and summer. I found a job.
In those days, people weren’t given a Social Security Number at birth. You had to apply for one after you turned fourteen. So, with Social Security Card in hand, I found a job.
I well remember standing on my front porch and talking to my father.
Daddy said, “Are you sure you want that job, Son?”
I answered, “Oh, yes. For sure.”
“Son, if you start working now, you will work the rest of your life.”
I ignored my father and took the job. By the way, Daddy was right.
There is something I should mention here. We didn’t have a lot of money and, in a way, Daddy wanted me to take the job because he really couldn’t afford to give me the few bucks a week I needed at that age. On the other hand, Daddy was very protective of his children and he knew that I would then have a job until I retired. Daddy understood it all very well because, in 1906, at the age of twelve, he went to work in a shoe factory. A fifty-five hour a week job.
My job allowed me to stay in school. It wasn’t so bad. Two hours before school, two hours after school, two hours on Saturday, and two hours on Sunday.
Ten Bucks a Week
I made ten bucks a week. The paycheck I am showing you is for two weeks. It is dated October 15, 1953. That’s getting to be a long time ago.
By the way, on the check stub is a deduction for “F.O.A.B.” which means “Federal Old Age Benefits” and is now called Social Security.
My job did have expenses involved. If you add it up, I went to work twelve times a week and I had to take a bus. That’s twenty-four bus tokens. If I remember correctly, I could buy three tokens for two bits (that’s 25 cents). In other words, it cost me two bucks a week for bus fare.
I will bore you with only one more memory.
The first bus downtown went by my house at 5:15 in the morning, which meant I had to be up nicely before five.
Being only fourteen, my mother never served me coffee.
Mama hated that I had to go out before school. When I walked into the kitchen, Mama poured a cup of coffee for me and said, “Honey, if you are old enough to go to work, you are old enough for coffee.”
Some things a man just doesn’t forget.
