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FIRST JOBS In early 1961 when I was 14, my Uncle Don starting building his house. His lot adjoined our lot on the back corner. Uncle Don asked me to help him build the house. He gave me many things to do like move that wood over there, dig here, clean up that. Eventually I learned many carpentry skills that I retain today. Uncle Don told me to keep track of my hours and submit the list to him at the end of each week. He paid me 50¢ per hour and I was happy with my pay rate. That summer I turned 15 and worked with him until school started. On weekends I was back out there building his house. His best friend, Val Weineke, was also building a house over on Sherwood Drive, which is less than a ½ mile away. The two friends helped each other when much manpower was needed at one place or the other. The next year Val suddenly passed away at age 33 from heart failure. Val was a big, strong as a bull kind of a man with 5 kids. It was a shock to all. He worked at the same place as my dad. n Later on that year year, during the Christmas, I got my first actual job working for a company. I worked in the toy department of F.W. Woolworth's, a dime store in downtown Saginaw. I don't remember how I found out about the job, but it might have been through a club at high school. I was not yet old enough to drive. My parents drove me to and from my job. My pay rate was 85¢ per hour. There were toy cars and trains, but also Betsy Wetsie, a doll that wet her pants. Other than showing people how the toys worked, I had a more grown-up task of operating the shade cutting machine. That unit, for some reason, was in the corner of the toy department and I was taught how to run it. Did you know that you have to cut the vinyl ¼" shorter than the wood so that you will have room to put back on the metal cap? While in high school I joined a club named D.E.C.A.H. which was the Distributive Education Club of Arthur Hill. The main reason that I joined this club was that it allowed me to get out of school early. They helped me locate a job and then excused me to leave school early if I was going to my job. Many days I left high school at 11:00 a.m. The responsibility that I had was working in the shoe department of a large department store named Federal's which was located in Green Acres shopping center near my house. I sold shoes, moved stock around, ran the cash register and totally enjoyed the position. We sold men's, women's and children's shoes. We sold Hush Puppy shoes is large sizes like size 15. Those same shoes came in extra wide widths like EEEE. My favorite memory was when the boss, Mr. Day, asked me to go to the other side of town to pick up a display unit. He owned a red 1960 Buick convertible. He told me that if the box was too big to get in, then I might have to put down the top. Well you know that I just had to lower that top. Attached (above) is a pay stub from the Christmas season while school was out and I was at Federal's all of the time. Notice that I was paid some extra incentive for selling polish, shoe laces, handbags and other extras.
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