Your First Job

[tarkus]

Delivering the Eastside Shopper paper. Door to door every house. Walked the route with my Radio Flyer wagon. Delivered on Balfour, Berkshire Somerset, Buckingham Haverhill, and Devonshire. Always stopped at Rays Deli for a Coca-Cola in the summer and hot chocalate in the winter.
The Eastside Shopper became C&G newpapers

[littlebuddy]

Was a busboy at the Camelot Inn over in Allen Park, worked there for about a year. Worked afternoons Monday, friday and Sat. With part of the waitress tips they had to give us I could make close to $100 a week sometimes, this was back in 71 and I was still in school, so it was good money, plus we were allowed to have anything we wanted to eat and drink.

[jackie5275]

I was a Patient Account Processing Clerk I, or PAPCI, pronounced pap-see at Pontiac General Hospital working in the lab. I pretty much did billing for patients' lab tests, called lab results to the floors, & told the phelobotmists about stat blood orders that got called in. It paid $3.35/hr which was the minimum wage at the time, which turned out to be the longest running min. wage amt of recent history. I worked the afternoon shift. Looking back it's kind of funny because we had about 20 staff working in a hospital lab, & I was one of 3 people of staff that was a non-smoker. Everyone else was lighting up all the time in the lab. Boy how times have changed.

[65memories]

First job was at Pep Lines Trucking, on 3rd at Sears in Highland Park, just west of the large Sears store on Woodward. 1964...worked in the office during the summer, filing, billing, getting orders ready...$1.25 an hour...thought I was rich. continued to work there through college.

[EastsideQT]

Delivering the Eastside Shopper paper. Door to door every house. Walked the route with my Radio Flyer wagon. Delivered on Balfour, Berkshire Somerset, Buckingham Haverhill, and Devonshire. Always stopped at Rays Deli for a Coca-Cola in the summer and hot chocalate in the winter.
The Eastside Shopper became C&G newpapers

I remember the Eastside Shopper....my brother delivered it in our neighborhood.

[RedeemerKid]

First full-time job?

Killing people and blowing things up for the US Navy.

Well, thank you for your service. I think.

[belleislerunner]

First job was a paperboy for the Pt Huron Times Herald in Richmond in 1995. Early mornings, snowy walks - but good Christmas presents/tips. Helped developed a good work ethic for a teeanger.

[Trumpeteer]

Delivering The Detroit News. Winters were brutal, deadly.

My 1st job also delivering in SW, Vernor, Navy, Pearl, Wendell...don't recall how much I made per week but Christmas was a GOLDMINE! I recall one Christmas I made almost $100 in tips! But the downside was not being able to wear gloves due to having to use the coin chnager hanging on my belt. Plus if you used a ballpoint pen to mark a card paid, the ink would freeze!

[Blueidone]

Blueidone--the Gateway, at 1,400 seats would in no way be the largest theatre in Michigan in 1966. Almost every house downtown exceeded that number, as did several in the neighborhoods. The late, lamented Mai-Kai in Livonia [[1963) seated 1,700.

56packman...unfortunately my memory is not what it used to be. I am probably off on the number of seats. But I do remember that part of my job on Saturday mornings, when the theatre was still new, was to call random numbers from the phone book with a little shpiel [[sp?) about the "brand new Gateway Theatre...the largest single movie theatre in Michigan" and asking people to guess how many seats there were. Everyone who guessed won passes to the current movie. If they got close to the number, they got refreshments too, I think.

Whatever the actual number was, I recall people being very surprised at how high it was. I wish I could remember better.

I also remember having to clean the place between the Saturday and Sunday matinee shows [[which were designed for children) and the evening shows. The entire place was carpeted, and we had to sweep all the spilled popcorn down from the top row to the bottom row and then vacuum it up. The place seemed HUGE when we had to do that!! The good part was, after it was all clean, the boss would order pizza for everyone and we would have a little party before the doors opened for the evening show.

One very weird thing was that they did NOT allow patrons to take drinks to their seats [[because of the carpeting). So if you were thirsty, you had to stand up in the vestibule and drink your coke or whatever. One guy came up, bought two drinks...and got so upset when he was told he couldn't take it to the seat, he poured it right down the front of an usherette's uniform...ice and all.

The boss...protective as he was...walked down, grabbed the guy by the collar and threw him out of the theatre and told him to never darken the doorstep again.

[catch22]

First job was a Detroit News route I bought off my older brother when he got old enough to get a "real" job.

Second job was in the summer of 1969 as a gas-pump jockey at the Cherry Hill & Venoy Standard in Westland. Pumped gas, filled the vending machines, cleaned the rest rooms, provided the occasional extra pair of hands for the mechanic, all for a whopping $1.65/hour. Saved up enough cash to provide me spending money for my first year of college.

Summers during college I worked at the American-Standard plant on Tireman as a shear and punch press operator, mostly on the midnight shift.

After college, I took a job with the phone company while "exploring other opportunities" and never left until I retired from there almost 30 years later.

[jcole]

Gateway Theatre
Sterling Heights, MI
33870 Van Dyke, Sterling Heights, MI, United States [[map)
Status: Closed
Screens: Single Screen
Style: Unknown
Function: Unknown
Seats: 1434
Chain: Unknown
Architect: Unknown
Firm: Unknown
Opened in 1965 with the James Bond movie, "Thunderball", the Gateway was part of the Suburban Detroit Theatres chain, and could seat around 1430 in its auditorium.

Once the Showcase Cinemas opened nearby in 1974 with a then-rare five screens, business steadily fell off at the Gateway. It closed by the late 70s.

It was reopened in 1981 as a dance club called the Premiere Center, which has long since closed. Sometime after the club was closed, the entire building [[the marquee included) was painted black, for some unknown reason.

from cinematreasures.com

[eno]

Eno... did you verify that the sign in the lobby didn't include the balcony seating? The Theatre Historical Society booklet on Detroit Theatres mentions the Redford's original seating as 2,000.

But in recent years they may have redone the main floor seats to spread out the aisles somewhat, with fewer seats... so that 1571 may be correct now.

I went to the Redford Theatre for a screening of "Arsenic & Old Lace". There were about 400-500 people in attendance. In the outer lobby, there is a seating chart offering seats to be dedicated for $250 with a commemorative plate mounted onto the seat selected. The chart details seating available for dedication at 1571. This conforms with the Fire Marshall's sign designating capacity at 1571. On the Redford Theatre website, the advertisement for facility rental lists seating capacity at 1571. http://redfordtheatre.com/rental/

[Blueidone]

Thanks jcole...that answers that question!

[garyalex]

I worked there from 1966-67. As I recall those matinees were still running at that time.

[mikeinmotown]

I started baby sitting when I was 12 for 75 cents an hour. My first real job was in 1969 at the A&W Root Beer Stand on 12 mile in Berkley. It's still there. I worked the counter and even made tips. When I got paid, I'd walk to the Wayne Oakland Bank on 12 mile in Berkley and deposit $5.00 a week. Big money back then. Then stop at Kresges to sit at the counter and order an ice cream sundae. You would pick a balloon, pop it and pay the price that was inside. Good times.

[preserve]

Greenfield's on Griswold - $1.00 an hour

[Blueidone]

I worked there from 1966-67. As I recall those matinees were still running at that time.

Do you mean you worked at the Gateway? If so, we had to have worked together...I was there till August of 1967 when I left for college.

[Ray1936]

Lot of great posts and experiences in this thread! Thanks to all for posting; I've enjoyed reading every one. I think JohnnyFreddie had the most mysterious job; wonder what would have happened had he stayed at it? [[g)

[drjeff]

I grew up in Jackson. My first job [[part time) was giving piano lessons at a local music shop. At the time, minimum wage was $3.35/hour and I was making $12/hour so it was pretty sweet. My first full time job was at Wolverine industries, which makes vinyl siding. I worked in blending and also on the packing line for 2 summers in college.

[garyalex]

Do you mean you worked at the Gateway? If so, we had to have worked together...I was there till August of 1967 when I left for college.

No - I was replying to another post and forgot to quote. Sorry.

[Vic_doucette]

Thanks for the info...some friends just moved to Southfield...they have a 13 year old...I'll send them the link.

EastsideQT -- please check your inbox for a private message.

[EastsideQT]

Lot of great posts and experiences in this thread! Thanks to all for posting; I've enjoyed reading every one. I think JohnnyFreddie had the most mysterious job; wonder what would have happened had he stayed at it? [[g)

Ray I initiated this post because I felt it was a good way for us to get to know each other better. I'm glad you are enjoying it. Many of the posts brought back a lot of really good memories about Detroit.

[SMRJim]

Like many back in the day I had a Detroit News route, 1973-1975. Route was in Rosedale Park, right near the park itself, on Scarsdale, Avon and Puritan. The station was in the alley just off Grand River and west of Southfield, behind where the old Chinese restaurant [[name escapes me) and Cartwheel bar were. A good friend also had a route at that station, we used to stop at Biffs after finishing our routes on Saturday and Sunday mornings and have breakfast. Christmas tips were great! After that I worked for the Police Officers Association of Michigan selling tickets for their annual fundraiser shows, did that for about a year.

[Sandhouse]

My first job was in the summer of 1970 as a stockboy at the downtown J.L. Hudson's, arranged by my father. That summer was split between being an errand runner in their 7th floor interior-decorating department, helping two very earthy seamstresses from downriver and a dozen less-than-masculine decorators; and the lamp stockroom on the 20th floor, with a fantastic view up Woodward.

This job required a shirt and tie [[something my current "professional" job does not), and paid $1.35 an hour. A year later the wage had risen to $1.50, and I worked in the shoe, clothes, and mattress stockroom in the third basement, next to the vast electric substation and the [[disused) pneumatic-tube change desk. This occasionally required riding the truck-sized freight elevator up through the store in its window-lit shaft facing Farmer Street - the Ren Cen didn';t have Detroit's first glass elevator. I've still got the signs from my dad's office, a mirror from the cosmetics department, and a couple "Selling is the biggest job we do!" pencils, as well as memories of that fantastic building.

By the way, was that YMCA at Gratiot and Harper the one with the meeting room decorated like a log cabin? I remember that from a Cub Scout event, and wonder where it was, and if it still exists.

[FormerSpringGardener]

Starting working at the age of 15 at the Silver Dragon restaurant on Kelly in Harper Woods. Was a dishwasher making about $20 a week. Went by there recently and they don't even have seating and you have to pay in cash. How times have changed,