Any former paper boys (or girls) on this list?

[Patrick Moore]

Dave Moulton has an interesting little post on his blog today about
the disappearance of the paper boy. I don't recall ever having seen
one except (always!) in movies, but then we lived when I was a boy in
the US in what was still a semi rural area, and the rest of the time
overseas. All the newspaper deliverers I've seen have been middle aged
people in cars.

http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2021/9/6/the-newspaper-boy.html

I do recall working followup for the 1990 census on a bike! (I did
similar work for the 1980 census in my car in a very rural part of NW
Georgia; now that was interesting -- like Deliverance except that the
people were very nice, even though I was -- to them -- a Yankee
Oriental who was asking way too many personal questions.)



--

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Moore
Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Lucky Turnip]

I can't speak to the topic of paper boys, specifically, as ours have also been folks in cars, but the delivery-related thing I am starting to see in my neighborhood is Door Dash, Amazon, and other delivery folks on bicycles. I notice these people because they are not "bike messenger types" on fixies, they're typically people of all ages and body types riding regular mass produced mountain bike type things. The last guy I saw was wearing a construction hard hat in lieu of a helmet. He did have a good assortment of lights on his rig, an unremarkable modern Schwinn. 

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[David Hallerman]

Paper boy? That was me in NYC, the borough of Queens, delivering the long-dead “New York World-Telegram & Sun” to about 35 homes. This was a semi-suburban section of Queens, and most of my customers lived in single-family, or at least ground entrance, homes. And the afternoon paper had no Sunday edition, so that was my day off.

I cycled to each delivery on my black Rudge 3-speed and, after a time, on some anonymous single-speed with high handlebars that made it easy to tie on my white canvas paper bag. (Seems I always had multiple bikes.)

I never threw the paper towards anyone’s front door. Instead, I walked up and put each day’s paper inside the customers’ screen doors or any other places they asked the paper to be left in. My artisanal style of paper delivery increased the size of my tips.

Best bike memory associated with paper delivery: The gift my friends gave me for my bar-mitzvah was money to buy my first 10-speed bike, $55 back then. On the day I planned to buy the bike, I zoomed through my paper route and headed to the bike shop about 3 miles away on my blue single-speed.

I knew the bike I wanted, a gold English Racer (another name we used back then for 10-speed bikes), but I cannot remember the brand. At the shop, I was ready to nail down my purchase, but the owner said “Don’t you think your father should be here with you?”

My reply: “Why? I know more about it than he does.”

Dave

+ + + + + + + +

Hudson Valley NY

[Patrick Moore]

Dave: What year was this of paper delivery and new "English racer"? I remember "English racers" circa 1962 or 1963 because a friend's father had what must have been a Raleigh Sport, which to me at 7 or 8 was something unfathomably adult and exotic and far away; not even quite a bicycle in the regular meaning of the word, when he and my friend and I took little rides around our neighborhood.

My friend's father must have been an USA or USAAF serviceman who spent time in England (he also came back to Prince George's County, MD with an English wife).

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--

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Jeffrey Arita]

I had a paper route starting in 1976 to late 1977 (junior high school years).  Number of papers (The Ontario, CA-based Daily Report, long since swallowed up into another owner and name) varied between 25 to 27, IIRC.  It was $3.35 per month and it was many times a bear to collect those funds from some folks.  My buddy who gave me that part of the route simply advised me to "throw the paper on the roof - you can say you delivered it."  I never had the heart to do so - I guess in retrospect I should have thrown it on the roof!

 

So my route covered several very flat miles (rural housing with mild traffic) so I *inherited* my middle brother's Schwinn Varsity 10-speed (you know, the green one).  The bicycle obviously made deliveries easy and fast.  An interesting factoid: I don't think I ever got a flat tire on that bike(!).  In fact, I rode that darned thing sometimes to and from Junior High School.  Never carried a pump, tools or spares.  Sheesh!

Carried the papers in a canvas double-pouched bag (front and back).  Loaded up the papers to be balanced.  When the front pouch was empty I would rotate it around for the remaining batch of papers (all on the fly while rolling).  For this paper, it was 7 days per week and the Sunday Edition (typically dropped off Saturday evening) was extra thick and heavy, loaded with advertisements and coupons.  I disliked Sunday mornings, but it was what it was.  My route was in Southern California where it rarely rained, but when it did I had to place each paper in a plastic bag and wrap it with a rubber band.  Took extra time to obviously do that.  The Sunday edition would barely fit inside those plastic bags.

It was a daily chore (Monday through Friday was always after school) and because I threw relatively few papers, I ended up earning only about $1 per day.  I had to pay all costs (wholesale cost of papers, plastic bags, rubber bands, etc.) upfront.  After paying those bills and collecting what was owed me, I simply kept the surplus.  It ended up being about +$27 per month.  I do recall that the guy who delivered the bulk papers to me was an *older* college kid.  He was amazing as he would always deliver my bundle early - it would always be sitting outside our door when I got off the school bus or rode home (on my brother's Schwinn Varsity).

I can understand today why one has to do it in a vehicle: that person probably delivers hundreds, if not thousands per day, all over a large geographical region.

Jeff

Claremont, CA

[Steven Sweedler]

I delivered the New Haven Register, 7 days a week for a couple of years, also filled in for a friend who delivered the Journal Courier, 5 mornings/week. Used my Humber.  Steve

On Mon, Sep 6, 2021 at 12:11 PM Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:

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Plymouth, New Hampshire

[David Hallerman]

Yup Patrick, you’ve got it. I started as a paper boy in 1963 when I turned 12, the legal age for that kind of work in NYC at that time. So got my shiny gold English Racer in the spring of 1964.

I remember riding it on this wonderfully “hidden” road through park woods. That was actually the Vanderbilt Parkway, a private early 20th century road abandoned by the plutocrats who built it and back in my early 10-speed days truly off-the-grid. Now it’s a multiuser trail that lots of people use.

Dave, who notes that hidden roads trails and paths in big cities are very cool 

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[Jay Lonner]

I delivered the Bellingham Herald from 6th grade through 12th. On my first route I used my Nishiki Custom Sport, and put it to hard use. (My second, longer-lived route was a walking route.) Back then I used that Nishiki for trails, touring, and just getting around town - a true all-rounder. The archetypical UJB sport tourer really was a remarkably robust and versatile design.

Jay Lonner

Bellingham, WA

Sent from my Atari 400

On Sep 6, 2021, at 1:01 PM, David Hallerman <cycle...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[dougP]

I had a route from 1960 to around 64.  Usually about 35 papers in a hilly suburb of LA.  The route was mostly along 2 parallel roads that ascended ridges.  Growing up in the area, I knew there was a dirt trail that connected the ridges toward the top, so I only had to ride uphill for half distance.  I started out with a used Schwinn with 24" wheels that was a bear to get up the hill with the load of papers.  After a year or so I moved up to a new Indian 3 speed.  The bike shop knew the area & installed the largest rear cog for the Sturmey Archer hub.  It was still tough climbing, esp with ad day & Thanksgiving day size papers.  Never got a flat & only oiled the chain once in a while.  Rode that bike thru college.  By the late 60s, it was so scruffy looking I could park it anywhere on campus & not bother locking.

dougP 

[Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA]

I delivered papers in West-Central Wisconsin beginning in 1967. Brutal winters. My parents would drive me if the temps were below -20, (they softened up later and agreed to -10) but half the time the car would not start. Rode a heavy single speed bike - I think it was a Hiawatha from Gambles Hardware Store. Huge baskets out back. One windy day I ran into a parked car when the wind picked up and started blowing the papers out of the rear basket. I had turned around to calm things down back there and Whammo! Head first into a station wagon with those rear wind deflectors only a few of you may recall. 

Took six or seven stitches to my forehead before school that day. Coldest day I remember riding the route was -34. A couple of my customers lived in apts. up a flight of stairs, and they had radiator heaters inside the door that I would leave my mittens on while I ran the papers up a level. So nice to have them warmed a bit when I got down. My favorite customer was the local bakery. It was like walking into a blast furnace that smelled like glazed donuts. Delivered 7 days a week, and did collecting on Saturdays. No wonder they don't send kids out to do that at that age anymore. 

Marty

[Garth]

I delivered both weekly papers in Minnesota, the normal sized Post-Bulletins, and the HUGE Sunday Star & Tribune from the Twin Cities. I never used a bike though, it wasn't practical for my local route. The heavy Sunday route was done in the dark and the weekly after school. Most of the time I put the paper in their screen door, or any place out of the elements they had. Surely not the ol' chuck-it from the street at your house you see on non-reality TV or movies !  It's horrendous how tv warps your perspective on reality .....  Our local internet service was out for over a day a while ago. At first I missed it, then I just went outside and enjoyed watching the grass grow. Oh the sweet silent roar of simply Being. TV nor the web have a clue what reality is ......

[Will]

Yes. I had a paper route in Virginia Beach for about 5 or 6 years. It never got too cold and we were told to throw the papers in the driveway. I went through 3 bikes. All had the huge Wald front basket and the pannier baskets in back. So I could do about 60 papers. The route was in my neighborhood and the neighbor's dog always came along. I was usually done by 6:15 am, then went surfing in the summer and weekends. The bikes were always single speeds, coaster brakes, 26" wheels with fat tires. I borrowed a Raleigh 3 speed briefly, but the frame flexed too much. 

The job taught me about biking. In those days paperboys fixed their own bikes. I learned to take wheels apart to grease the bearings and so on. 

These days biking is a bit more upscale: Toyo built Atlantis. But the old days were fun. 

Will

[Joe Bernard]

This is mostly lifted from when I mentioned it on the "What made you a bikey" thread:

 My first job (like most boys then) was delivering newspapers on a Schwinn. Little kids at 4am wobbling down the street with huge heavy bags on the handlebars - crashing regularly, especially with Sunday papers - is unimaginable now, but we did it! I was 11, I delivered the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, CA. My trick was I was very good at sailing the paper between the plants and right onto the porch while pedaling by. 

Joe Bernard

On Monday, September 6, 2021 at 9:11:33 AM UTC-7 Patrick Moore wrote:

[Eric Floden]

I delivered the afternoon Vancouver Sun in the South Slope area of Burnaby, c.1962-66 on my single speed CCM bike with vee-bars. My parents insisted I get a front rim brake added once my new route included the steepest part of the south slope (Gilley and Carson). I had a big wrought-iron front rack and an over-the-shoulder newsie bag. I had around 70 papers/day, six days/week.

Biggest load ever was when Churchill died -- he was at death's doorstep for over a week, giving everyone time to write a tribute, sigh.

I learned three different ways to fold the paper, and we were told to get them within 2 feet of the front door, so no tossing from a bike-in-motion...

My recollection is that the two local bike shops gave us paper carriers premium service when we needed it, and for a minimal charge. Thanks, gents!

EricF

Who now has a hoity toity basket on his Bombadil

Vancouver BC

[David Sprunger]

I too came from a family of paper carriers. I threw the Newton Kansan, an afternoon paper, using my coppertone Schwinn Typhoon. My brother had the Wichita Eagle Beacon, which was a 5 am route. He had a red Typhoon. In hindsight, my parents were quite tolerant of our operation. We could rarely take family vacations, and even school activities outside of normal hours posed a challenge. 

I learned a lot about all-weather biking and the value of fenders from those years as a paper carrier. 

David Sprunger

Formerly of Fargo but now back in North Newton, Kansas

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[Johnny Alien]

I delivered papers as a young kid as well. I did not throw papers though I set them on the porch or by the front door. Because of that I always used a skateboard vs bike.  Too much stopping and getting off of the bike to walk the paper up.

[Robb]

I was a paper boy for three years starting in 1958. It was a weekly not a daily. My dad bought me an surplus Post Office bike (20" front wheel, 26" rear wheel with a large basket in the front). I was supposed to pay me back from my earnings but he never asked for it. Gave it up when I got to high school and got a job in the local grocery store.

[Ryan Nute]

I had a paper route from I think 1987 until 1993 in junior high and high school.  It was good money though I had to buy the papers and then go collect which was always interesting!

Ryan

On Monday, September 6, 2021 at 9:11:33 AM UTC-7 Patrick Moore wrote:

[J S]

I helped a friend for a couple of summers for 2-3 weeks when his family went on vacation.  I delivered Newsday in Far Rockaway Queens, had to use his too big for me bike as it had a basket.  I earned decent money but did hate collection day.  

[J S]

It would have been around 1963 or 1964 when I was 12 or 13.  

[lconley]

I was a paper boy in 7th through 9th grades for the Daytona Beach News-Journal.  Morning, Evening, Saturday and Sunday deliveries. We moved halfway through 8th grade and I was able to switch routes. I still remember the route numbers from 50 years ago. My 1st route, 39C5, had about 40 customers when I started and about 60 when I left due to the construction of a new apartment building. My 2nd route, 15A, had over 200 customers. I delivered off of my trusty Schwinn Sting-Ray, blue with two speed kickback Bendix coaster brake hub with front handbrake and cable driven speedometer. On my 1st route I used only a front canvas paper delivery bag. On the 2nd route, I added a set of wire baskets (probably Wald) slung over the banana seat. I wrapped the metal supports (intended for a rack) with rope to preserve the seat. That paper route paid for several bikes - Schwinn Suburban 10 speed (stolen), Schwinn Varsity Sport, Schwinn Super Sport (fillet brazed chrome-moly frame with aluminum rims - stolen) and a used Gitane Tour de France - Reynolds 531 frame, Campagnolo Tipo hubs, Campagnolo derailleurs and shifters, Vittoria silk sew-ups - I paid the "insane" price of $240 for it, but that included leather Rivat clip-on shoes that actually fit my wide feet, leather and mesh cycling gloves, and a silver, red & blue Zefal frame pump`held on with a Campagnolo peg clip - I still have the peg clip.

Laing

Delray Beach, FL

On Monday, September 6, 2021 at 9:11:33 AM UTC-7 Patrick Moore wrote:

[Philip Barrett]

I was a paperboy in the UK and the idea of doing it by car was as foreign to us as the moon. Since every paper had to be delivered through the "letterbox" (no throwing on pathways or lawns) you did this on foot in all weathers. Part of the job involved sorting the papers for each house before heading out too, Friday's were the worst as everyone took the local weekly as well as their regular. Helped me pay for my first "real" bike though, a beautiful Peugeot 10 speed.

My cat used to wait for me on the corner & then walk my route with me. He was quite a character.

[Ted Durant]

I inherited from an older brother a Boston Globe route (morning), and later added a Patriot Ledger (afternoon) route. This would have been early 1970's. I held the routes for several years. No paper-tossing on my route - houses were generally too far away from the street. Almost everyone got a neatly folded paper left behind the screen/storm door. I can't compete with MN/WI winter stories, but winter delivery was plenty challenging. My delivery vehicle was an inherited Robin Hood 3-speed (red, 26" wheels, curved top tube) with big Wald baskets out back. At some point I flipped the bars racer-style. I could usually do the entire route in one load except Sundays, which could take 3 or 4 loads. When I think back to the cash flow management that was required, it amazes me they let kids do that. I was probably 10 or so when I started. Collecting was intimidating, but most of my customers were good about it. My introduction to Indian food came when I walked into the house of an Indian family - hello curry! 

Ted Durant, formerly of Cohasset MA, now in Milwaukee WI USA

[Matt Beecher]

I would not classify myself as having been a paper boy, but I would cover for my friend when he was ill/traveling. It was a terrible job, compared to mowing lawns/shoveling snow, where I made far more money and did not have to get up super early or working in cold rain.  I remember that I had to get there early, to bundle be papers into those plastic sleeves, or they could get soaked.  It was an awful system.  

Best regards,

Matt in Peoria, IL at that time. 

[Drew Saunders]

Hartford Courant from 1979 to about 1984 or so. Didn't deliver on a bike, but my Dad fashioned a 2-wheeled cart that my dog would pull to carry the papers. He became quite the celebrity within that neighborhood, and often got better holiday tips than I did. If the temp was below 0 F, I could ask my Dad to drive me, and he drove us (my brothers were also paper boys, and I inherited this route from one of them) on Sundays when the papers were huge. 

My dog was a half Basenji half Beagle, and quite strong for a small-ish medium sized dog. In the '70's, Basenji's were larger than they've been bred to be now, they seem to be on their way to becoming toy dogs (aren't they all?). Basenjis are "primitive" dogs (sometimes called "Pariah Dogs" or basal breeds) and are known for not barking, as well as being almost cat-like in many ways. Beagles are known for not shutting up when they want to bark. Rex would try to bark, but end up in a yodel/howl that probably really freaked out the neighbors. He loved pulling the cart, and got rather pudgy after I quit the paper route and he retired. I can neither confirm nor deny any car dents from him allegedly bashing the cart into parked cars while he may or may not have been pulling the cart off leash...

I made enough from that job to pay for my own school-associated trip to France the summer after I graduated high school, so yay!

Drew

[John Hawrylak]

Pittsburgh Press (afternoon, Sunday AM, Sat night bulldog (Sun paper on Sat after 1800),  90 customers, 5Y  1962 (7th grade) through high school graduation, 6/67.    It was in the city and hilly.   Every block had a 'high' side (houses elevated above street level and 'low' side, houses at or below street level.  You had just about every house on a block or groups of houses separated by hills.

I tried a bike once or twice (Schwinn Spitfire, 26" balloon tires), but it did not work out, due to the hills and stopping for each house, and for houses on the 'high' you generally had short cuts eliminating the need to go down to the street on each house.   You might come 4 or 5 houses away from the bike.   It was easier to load 30, 40, 50 papers in the bag(s) and just go slowly up the hills.   After a short while, the weight worked off faster than you thought.  It also taught you patience.

I still remember the size of the headlines the Friday Kennedy was shot.  Sad day.  You got to see the headline many times delivering that day.

I'm happy to see the responses, ex-paper boys seem to be like a brotherhood. 

[Patrick Moore]

I'm surprised at the number of ex-paperboys and enjoyed the stories. I do remember the Sunday Washington Post from the 1980s; about 8 lb of needlessly pulped wood, about 1/2 of it advertising supplements. The present Albuquerque Journal Sunday edition is about as thick as a low-news weekday edition from 30 years ago.

--

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Joe Bernard]

I worked in the mailroom at a newspaper stuffing ad sheets. One day the publisher gave us a tour of the building and asked what a paper was in business to do. Everyone else offered stuff about journalism and I said "To sell advertising."

"Joe gets it." 

Joe Bernard

[Eric Marth]

This is a great thread! Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories, I've enjoyed reading. 

I myself was born after everyone here retired from their routes. I've never seen a kid deliver a paper in my life, always adults in cars.

[Scott Calhoun]

Thank you for starting this thread Patrick. I've enjoyed all the great stories. It reminded me that earlier this year I wrote a little essay about my years as a paperboy for the Arizona Republic. It's a bit too long for a comment here, but I published it on my blog here: http://www.thebeautifulbicycle.com/2021/09/courier-for-the-republic/

[Surlyprof]

Excuse the cross posting as I also posted this on the BOB list.  I spent 7 years (5th grade through high school) in Ohio with huge canvas saddlebags straddling the rear rack of my lemon yellow Schwinn Collegiate 5-speed that I received for my 10th birthday (circa 1973?) delivering the Akron Beacon Journal before school in the dark, in the humidity, in the rain, in the snow, etc.  About 100 papers.  Sundays required multiple reloads.  I got very good at hitting porches (or at least the front walk) across suburban yards from the road with rolled up papers, although most people had boxes attached to their mailboxes by the street.  Paid for a good chunk of my college tuition (and a $120 bike that was stolen freshman year) with the money I earned.  I can't imagine anyone being able to do that today (as if there was even a paper to deliver).

Fortunately, the college degree earned me enough to upgrade to a Rivendell (and a Ritchey and a Brompton)!

John

Niles, CA

[Lefebeaver]

I delivered papers 6 days a week for the Portsmouth (NH) Herald. I went by bicycle unless the snow was very, very deep. I think it's influenced my lifelong attitude, which jives with the Riv philosophy, that a bicycle should be outfitted to be as robust and useful as possible, and carry anything. And I could go right out this afternoon on my Atlantis and deliver papers - it's perfectly set up for it! 

On Monday, September 6, 2021 at 12:11:33 PM UTC-4 Patrick Moore wrote:

Dave Moulton has an interesting little post on his blog today about
the disappearance of the paper boy. I don't recall ever having seen
one except (always!) in movies, but then we lived when I was a boy in
the US in what was still a semi rural area, and the rest of the time
overseas. All the newspaper deliverers I've seen have been middle aged
people in cars.

http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2021/9/6/the-newspaper-boy.html

I do recall working followup for the 1990 census on a bike! (I did
similar work for the 1980 census in my car in a very rural part of NW
Georgia; now that was interesting -- like Deliverance except that the
people were very nice, even though I was -- to them -- a Yankee
Oriental who was asking way too many personal questions.)



--

[Jim M.]

Late 60s to early 70s in San Diego; very occasional rain in winter, but otherwise no weather problems. There was a Schwinn Paperboy bike that got sold as kids aged out of paper delivery. That was a stout bike with a big basket on front and a rack in back to hold the canvas panniers. On Sunday, I had to go back to my garage and load up again because of the size of the paper. Looking back, the fact that they had kids going around collecting at the end of the month seems ludicrous. Most people were nice, but there were always a few a-holes that treated you poorly or begrudged the subscription price ($1.50 per month, iirc). The route let me save up for my first 10-speed, a Schwinn Continental, which was used by me until it got stolen when I was a young adult.

jim m

walnut creek, ca

[Scott Calhoun]

It is interesting how varied the methods of carrying the papers are. I used canvas bags looped around the front of the wide steel cruiser bars not too dissimilar in shape from some of the recent Riv handlebar offerings. In the back, Wald baskets. On days with thick papers, I'd load both baskets, and the front bags, and then stack papers between the two baskets in back and throw those first. 

I never used the canvas bags that you wore over your head--mostly because the older kid I inherited the route from taught me his way and I just stayed with it. If I was doing a route now on a bike, I'd take the Quickbeam with front basket--I think the papers are so slim these days that I could fit twice or three times as many papers in the same space I used in the 70s-80s. 

On Wednesday, September 8, 2021 at 8:33:39 AM UTC-7 Lefebeaver wrote:

[John Hawrylak]

With the number of responses indicating carrying the papers in a front basket, or the bags slung over the bars, we should have been using the French style low trial  geometry like those guys delivering the papers to French news stands.   I'll like to see them deliver the Thursday afternoon editions, typically the day with the heaviest advertisements, other than Sunday and the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.   

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ

[ericyue...@gmail.com]

I delivered the San Mateo (California) Times as a preteen in the early 90s.  I started out on a shitty Schwinn BMX knockoff with coaster brakes and used my first few month's wages to buy a Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo on layaway.  I threw papers onto porches and driveways out of a bag that attached to my handlebars and delivered six days a week.  I'm glad to hear I wasn't the only sucker pulled into being an unwitting "independent contractor"; to this day I still think about the sort of shitbag you have to be to keep ducking a 12 year old looking for the $6 you owe him for your daily paper.  Somehow, this was about half the folks on my route. 

[Jeffrey Arita]

Yep, I had my fair share of folks claiming "they just didn't have the $3.35 this month" kind of game.  I believed them and I just kept returning.  As duly noted, my fellow paper-dude buddy (the one who gave me his part of the route) told me flatly "just throw the paper on the roof - they'll get the message."  It was almost a game.  I didn't know the rules.

Hopefully many here will recall this recurring scene from Better Off Dead:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iayLBI7nsE0

Jeff

[J S]

Jeff, never saw that before, thanks.  

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[Corwin]

Hey Patrick -

Great thread! I was a paper boy. I don't think this contributed to me being a "bikey" - but it definitely required some growing on my part. I was about 12 (circa 1971) when we started. The route was originally my brother's (13 months younger). I took over the route when he decided he no longer wanted it.

The paper was the Santa Monica Evening Outlook. It was a six-day-a-week, evening paper. The weekend edition came out on Saturday. In my neighborhood, the papers were dropped off about 3:30pm behnd the elementary school. Since we got out of [junior high] school at 1:30pm, this was not a problem. We had to fold, rubber band and load the papers into a "bag" - issued by the paper - for delivery. It has always amused me that after a week or two, you could grab a handful of rubber bands and have exactly the right number for your load of papers. The bag was actually two canvas bags connected via fabric in the middle which allowed you to drape it over a rear rack, and had a hole in the middle which allowed you to carry it on your shoulders with one bag in front, and the other on your back. My route varied from 40 to about 85 papers. When the papers were heavy (as on Saturdays), the bag could easily weigh more than fifty pounds. Since draping the bag over the rack caused the bike to fishtail constantly, I always carried the bag on my shoulders.

My paper was $2.25/month. Given I pay about $20/month for the San Francisco Chronicle (hardcopy on Sundays only) and $10/month for the NY Times (online edition only) today - this seems like it was an incredible deal. Especially since many of my customers got the paper for free. We were charged for the number of papers we were given each month. It was up to me to collect in order to make any money. This is probably why my brother pawned the route off on me. Frequently, you would knock on someone's door; you could hear people inside laughing and talking. But they never answered the door. In reality - this probably only happened 15 or 20% of the time. But it was always frustrating. Especially after daylight savings time ended and you were delivering papers in the dark.

It never got cold in Los Angeles, but it did rain occasionally. We got plastic bags to put the papers in on those days. The bike we started out with was supposedly a paper boy's bike. It had a stout (read HEAVY) steel frame, and an equally stout steel rack. The rack was further fortified with plywood on the top and sides to hold the "bag". This bike had one gear and a coaster brake. Since I never used the rack, I quickly switched to my Dad's Royce Union which was a litte bit lighter and also had a coaster brake. I only recall a couple of occasions where the bike got a flat and we had to get help from Mom to deliver the papers. Luckily, there were a copule family friends (one was our little league coach), and we could call for help.

One of the critical aspects of my route was knowing which customers wanted their paper delivered on the porch. We referred to this phenomenon as customers wanting their paper "porched". I never considered throwing any papers on a roof, since customers always called The Outlook and complained if they didn't get their paper. The Outlook would call the local distribution manager (my boss) and he would call me and tell me to get a paper to them. Many times, I would head to their house with another paper (we always got extras for such occasions) to discover the paper I delivered where I had thrown it on their yard or (worse) dropped it on their porch.

In addition to the Saturday paper, there was usually one day when the paper was particularly full of news (read HEAVY). As I recall, Tuesday was the heavy newsday. I was not terribly big at 12 years of age - and the bag hung down about eight or nine inches below my shoulders. Each time I got close to a customer's house, I would draw a paper from the front bag, and throw it on the yard or driveway (or drop it on the porch) of the customer's house. After removing about twenty or so papers from the bag, the bag would be choking me, since there were far more papers in the bag on my back than the bag on the front. I don't recall my paper route being physically demanding - but on those days when the papers were particularly heavy or when my route swelled beyond seventy customers - I slung the bag over my shoulders and looked forward to the point in the route where I had delivered a significant portion of the papers. And at the point where I had unloaded about twenty or so papers, and the bag was choking me, I would attempt to reach around behind my back with one arm, and pull the bag on my back around to my chest. I did this while in motion on the bike on the way to the next customer. I never [completely] lost control of the bike, but I frequently initiated a good wobble. I also rarely accomplished my goal of swapping the front and back bags, and had to stop in order to use both hands. In hindsight, if I had the coordination and confidence to ride no-hands, and use both hands to swap the bags - I probably would have had an easier time.

I never made more than about $50 in a given month. Since I had to work so hard, collecting from people who were either not home or pretended not to be, I came to dread collecting. I never dreaded delivering the papers. That was more of a challenge. Even when it was raining. Collecting was a drag. And tips were rare for me. Even from customers who demanded I "porch" their paper. I think one of the objectives of The Outlook (and likely many other papers then and now), was to develop their paper boys/girls into young businesspeople - what we refer to as entrepreneurs today. We were encouraged to canvas our route and try to sign up new subscribers. I was never very good at this and did not attempt it very often. Most of the time, I got new subscribers when my boss gave me a new address, and told me they had taken out a subscription. The Outlook had a sweet deal where you could get a month's (or two) subscription for free in an effort to expand their subscriber base. One of the main lessons I learned from my paper route was that I did not want to be in business for myself. I did eventually stumble onto a couple businesses, and did OK in each - but they never were my primary source of income. I did well selling women's shoes in college - but the customers came to me and handed over their money before I parted with the product(s).

Namaste,

Corwin

[Corwin]

Hi Matthew -

I was not in Santa Monica. Great area though. I lived in Westchester. My route was bordered on the west by Loyola Marymount, on the east by Sepulveda Boulevard, on the north by the bluffs overlooking the Hughes property. Most of my route was north of 80th street. I did have about a dozen customers south of 80th. Mostly at the start of the route. Since I picked up the papers on Dunbarton behind the elementarty school, I usually rode the route starting from the southwest corner, working my way east riding up one street and down another. Never made much money - but it was a lot of fun. Now all the houses there are zero-lot-line McMansions. Were it not for the street signs, you could never recognize the area.

Namaste,

Corwin

[brendonoid]

Never newspapers but my very first job was junk mail (pamphleteer?) delivery round which I did on my Repco (think Crust's Huffy Granite) out of a plastic milk crate strapped to a cheap rack.

Stuff has happened in between but the last 10 years I have been blessed to be a bicycling Postman. I get to ride all day and get paid for it. I can imagine a worse life.

[Patrick Moore]

Brendon: that's great. Is this in the US, or in another country?

I have never heard of bicycle postmen (or women) in the US.

On Tue, Sep 14, 2021 at 3:52 AM brendonoid <bre...@areyoualert.com> wrote:

Never newspapers but my very first job was junk mail (pamphleteer?) delivery round which I did on my Repco (think Crust's Huffy Granite) out of a plastic milk crate strapped to a cheap rack.

Stuff has happened in between but the last 10 years I have been blessed to be a bicycling Postman. I get to ride all day and get paid for it. I can imagine a worse life.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Patrick Moore]

Forgot to add: That's a huge drum on the front! Braking must be good ...?

[Patrick Moore]

Or, duh: Electric assist?

[Ray Varella]

Patrick,

I looked at that front wheel and wondered the same thing, drum or e assist?

I have a huge drum like that if you think you want to put it to use. Mine predates ebikes by a number of decades.

Ray

[brendonoid]

Patrick,

The single speed I started with had drum brakes in front and coaster in rear. That was a great bike.

This front hub is a 150watt (the most legally allowed here) e-assist. And now I have the luxury of 3 whole speeds in the rear Nexus!

This is Australia Post and they have been trying to get rid of us(bicycles) for a long time. Unfortunately for managment bicycles are just better at the inner suburbs than anything else they try!

[Patrick Moore]

Thanks very much, Ray, but I was merely curious about it, not really interested.

I did own a Worksman tricycle that had a sole front drum brake, much smaller, that worked acceptably if not excellently, and also a Sturmey Archer combined front drum brake and dyno hub that I'll bet weighed more than Brendon's front electric motor (but not as much as the combined 3 speed and dynamo rear hub. Neither were built into wheels.)

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[Patrick Moore]

Aha, I see. Thanks. I'll bet that such a front hub motor is one of the easiest ways of getting electrical assist.

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