Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How much did you make at your first real job?

Grew up north of you in Greenville, Pa. Haven't seen a retread on a car or light truck in years.

Small town Pennsylvania was a good place to be back in the late 50's to early 70's

In 1971 started as a draftsman in an Architectural firm at $480.00/month and was quickly "promoted" within a few months to $520.00/month.

$2.10/hr stocking shelves at the grocery store part time.

When Carter upped our pay to $374.40/mon in 1977, and then I made E-2 and got a bump to $417.30/month, the NCOs said "He'll be nuthing but trouble with that kinda jack!"

And so I was.

Like I just posted in the rollercoaster thread, my first job was in 1962, where I was on the cleanup crew of the original Elitch Gardens in Denver where most days I pushed a broom for 8 hours a day at $1 an hour. At the end of that summer, I had saved enough money to pay cash for my first car, a 1955 Ford convertible.

$20/week dawn to dusk, 10 hour days, 5 days a week, some times 6 with no extra pay.Then I got job for $1 /hour, 8-5. I was rich. That was in 1961 and 1962. I bought a 49 Plymouth for $50

1.65/hr.

Some folks don’t know you always didn’t have to pump your own gasoline. Worked during HS for 1.00 a hour.
Hasbeen

1964 pay wage was $1.25 hr. Working at a grocery store after school and on weekends! Saved 500 dollars but it took a year and a half!

$1.00 an hour chopping cotton. 11 years old an thought I was rich.

Lotsa old bastards in here. Holy hell.

Had lots of summer jobs from 1964 until I got hired by a major deployed police force in 1971. I worked at the paper mil for 6 months. Money was good, but it was mindless work. My salary starting on the police force was $8,257.00 per year. There was not much overtime to be had because staffing levels were pretty high during a strong conservative government. I retired after 30 years with a full benefit package -- the same as if I was still working. Good job.Lots of interesting jobs to do.

In 1961-62 part time .50 cents per hour working in grocery store bagging and stocking shelves. In 1963 was raised to $1.00 per hour and worked 60 hours per week with no overtime pay. Mowed lawns and bucked bale hay .02 cents bale. GW

Mowed lawns from as far back as I can remember, don't remember what I made. Delivered news papers throughout my teens, about 85 papers a morning Monday thru Saturday for about 20 bucks a week.

Fall after graduation (1984) before I left for the military I picked potatoes for 2.00 an hour. Then went off to uncle Sam.

After 3 years unpaid apprenticeship during summer "vacation" , starting age 13 on my BIL ND farm, he gave me a 1952 Chevy that he paid $100 for. Does that count? The next year they moved to Wisconsin, and I worked on his brother's neighboring farm as a graduated HS senior. I think I got $500 a month for 6 day work weeks, can see to can't see. At college, I worked in the cafeteria, winters- I no longer remember the wage, Summers I worked USFS trail crew in Idaho starting in1967, then in Alaska, starting in 1969, the latter being about $4.50/hr IIRC. After college, my first full time job was teaching school in Pt. Hope, Alaska, at $15000 per year. The experience was worth it, maybe not so much the wages....which were good for the time and job.

I can't count trail crew as a "real job" tho. Too much fun.

$2.00 an hour and was tickled not to have to start at minimum wage .

First job away from home was 13 in 1956 - worked for school teacher and her husband on dairy farm.
5am- 7am 4pm-6 or 6:30 or when chores were done. Got $1 per day during week and $3 Sat plus
room , board and laundry . Then a ride home on Sat evening - Sunday off - Folks made me save
1/2 of the money.worked there during my 8th grade yr.
After the summer started my father and grandfather bot one of the first hay balers in our valley.
There were a lot of older farmers whose kids (their workforce) had moved away - the folks made
me an offer - stay home and work for us and you can use the baler and do the neighbors baling,
"you keep 40% of gross income and pay for the twine and fuel and upkeep on the baler and tractor.
Worked great for everyone.
When I went away to college I started another business other than time in service those were the last
time I had an hourly or weekly paycheck - self employed after that. Boss was kind of a jerk,
but there are not many things I would change.

Can't remember. It was picking strawberries when I was about 9 (maybe 10) and got paid by the flat. Only job, so far, that I've been fired from.

I started at .35 cents/hr... in 1958.

1968 $150.00 month living on the 6666 chuckwagon.in the saddle can to caint.

My first real job was mowing the yard,...about 3 acres,...with a 19" push mower.

My pay was the absence of getting my ass belt whupped when the old man got home.

You never really get finished mowing 3 acres with a 19" push mower. The end and the beginning are about 6 minutes apart.

I got very adept at calculating how much of it I had to mow each day in order to get "paid".