I remember the old days, but I don't think I'd want to repeat much of it. Most of my youth was spent dreaming of the day when I would be old enough to do for myself and get out on my own. I got my learner's permit to drive when I was in the 9th grade and my driver's license after completing driver's ed in school in 1963. Before that, I walked everywhere or rode a bicycle. The one thing I remember the most about the time before having a driver's license was pushing the lawnmower my grandmother bought me around town to cut a few lawns. My gas can would barely hold $0.20 worth of fuel. I also took a job working at a grocery store just off the school ground. In those days, the school didn't have a closed campus, and kids could leave the grounds for lunch if they wanted. Heck, I even remember in elementary school that several kids walked home and back for lunch.
It was my first real job, and I worked about 45 minutes before the school day began and during my lunch time at this little store. In the morning before school, kids would come in for sodas, candy, gum, and donuts. For lunch, the owner cooked hamburgers and sold them to kids for $0.25 each. You could add a slice of cheese for 5 cents and a dime for a double patty burger. He would cook the burgers ahead of time, wrap them, and put them in a galvanized #2 washtub. That way he could pull out a burger and add the condiments you wanted in a hurry. I'd bet that he sold about 150 burgers every day at lunchtime along with sodas, chips, and candy. Of course, kids will be kids and they don't do a very good job of putting their trash into the trash cans. The owner would not charge kids a deposit on the soda bottles and lost some of them, but most were just dropped around the outside of the store or across the street. The way the owner kept peace with neighbors was that he sent me out a few minutes before school started in the morning and at lunchtime to pick up all the trash and bottles. I'm make the neighborhood spotless and then go to school. In the morning and lunchtime before picking up trash/bottles, I'd sell sodas behind one of those old water chiller coolers that just had refrigerated water circulating around bottles. The first thing you had to do with a bottle before removing the cap was to wipe the water off with a towel. Behind the cooler on the wall, all the candy was displayed. If somebody wanted candy or gum, they had to point it out and you got it for them before taking their money. I can remember that the aisles in the store were full of kids, maybe 30 kids at one time in the store. If the candy and soda had been self-service there would have been some shoplifting going on; however, with our methods, not much was ever taken.
For that job, I got paid $1 per day and one $0.25 hamburger. I probably spent 1-1/2 hours per day on that job and was very happy to have that extra cash in my pocket. Of course, I spent a bunch of that money on 1/4 pound Baby Ruth and Payday candy bars. The
Mallo Cups were also pretty tasty. I had a complete set of state capitols discs that came in each package.
As soon as I got my driver's license, I began to work on cars that I inherited from my brothers after they thoroughly thrashed them. My brother's '53 Ford had a primo body, but the flathed V8 had a cracked block from overheating. He bought the car with a cracked head and replaced the engine. He didn't do such a great job of getting the engine motor mounts attached, so one day when he did a panic stop, the engine slid forward just enough to squeeze the dual radiator hoses shut, but not puncture the radiator with the fan. The engine overheated again and the block cracked, so he parked it. That car smoked so much that it killed most every mosquito in our town. It looked like a forest fire going down the road.
After working for a week, I got it running and drove it to school about two days before my brother took it back and drove it to a junk yard. They paid $50 for a car if you drove them in and $25 for one that had to be towed. He wanted the extra money, and I don't think he ever even thanked me for getting it running.
The next old car he bought was a '47 Chevy from a neighbor. He drove that car until he hit a dip in the road and the left rear spring let loose. The body just sat down on the rear axle and flopped around when you hit a bump. The huge tirewell kept the wheel from rubbing, but the car sure looked goofy. When it developed starter and shifter linkage problems, he gave it up and bought another car. I kept working on that car and drove it some. I'd always park it where I could let it roll to start. Finally, it quit and we had to tow it to the junk yard. I think my brother was mad at me because I didn't drive it there when I could have.:laughing:
Those were just a couple of a long line of fixer-uppers I had as a kid. I got a full-time job at Texas Instruments in 1967 and bought my first new car in 1968. It was a '68 Malibu Sport Coupe, turquoise, with a white vinyl top and white interior, 275 hp 327 engine getting 10-12 mpg at best on premium gas only. I was just married and that's the car my wife wanted. The dealer sold it to me for $3,268 @ $100 over his cost, but I had to wait on him to special order it. Boy-oh-boy! I sure wish I had that car today. It would probably go for $20k or more.
