Minimum wage, just for fun
- jackknifeh
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Minimum wage, just for fun
What was minimum wage when you started working? Approximately what year was it? What job was it if you don't mind.
I was in high school. The best my memory can do is in 1975 or 6 I got a job at Hardee's and minimum wage was $2.00 an hour. I was on my way! :)
Jack
I was in high school. The best my memory can do is in 1975 or 6 I got a job at Hardee's and minimum wage was $2.00 an hour. I was on my way! :)
Jack
- jackknifeh
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- xceptnl
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Yeah, pretty sure. Family farms was over 160 acres of tobacco. I only got $40 on the days I drove the tractor and $50 on the days I packed the barns. All cash!jackknifeh wrote:I assume you were paid in cash in the tobacco fields? Are you sure it was tobacco? :eek:
*Landon*sal wrote: .... even today, we design a knife from the edge out!
I was 16, $4.25 in '95 as a grocery bag boy at the local grocery store was my first official payroll job. Before that I had several farm jobs that mostly paid by the job and not by minimum wage. The first job I can remember ever having been paid for, was to go around the front of our house and pick up cig butts for $.01 each, at about age 6 I think LOL. That was a big deal though because I got a Tootsie Roll for each of those pennies.
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~David
~David
- jackknifeh
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Did you ever smoke? I'm thinking a job of picking up cigarette butts might really put someone off the habit. I'm sure the smell wasn't pleasant. Just seems like a "nasty" job that could have lasting effects. Then again, as teenagers who start smoking the reason is usually peer pressure I think. I mean who starts smoking for any other reason? I smoked in high school but never got anything out of it. Actually got sick on the first Marlboro.Evil D wrote:I was 16, $4.25 in '95 as a grocery bag boy at the local grocery store was my first official payroll job. Before that I had several farm jobs that mostly paid by the job and not by minimum wage. The first job I can remember ever having been paid for, was to go around the front of our house and pick up cig butts for $.01 each, at about age 6 I think LOL. That was a big deal though because I got a Tootsie Roll for each of those pennies.
Nope never smoked. Lit a few for people over the years and just couldn't understand the appeal. There are other more fun ways to subtract years off my life lol.jackknifeh wrote:Did you ever smoke? I'm thinking a job of picking up cigarette butts might really put someone off the habit. I'm sure the smell wasn't pleasant. Just seems like a "nasty" job that could have lasting effects. Then again, as teenagers who start smoking the reason is usually peer pressure I think. I mean who starts smoking for any other reason? I smoked in high school but never got anything out of it. Actually got sick on the first Marlboro.
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~David
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- The Deacon
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$1.00 an hour, back in 1960 when I started working after school in a retail store. To put things in perspective, gas was 27 cents a gallon for regular, cigarettes were a quarter a pack or $2.00 a carton, Most name brand soft drinks were a dime from a vending machine as was a container of coffee from the deli. Most full size candy bars and daily newspapers were a nickel. As for automobiles, a brand new VW "Bug" sold for about $1500, a full size "no frills" Ford, Chevy, or Plymouth sedan for a around $2200, and a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud with all the bells and whistles, which was the only way they came, :D cost $12,500.
Paul
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So lets see...By today's standards with minimum wage being 7.25, with one hour of working wage you could buy:The Deacon wrote:$1.00 an hour, back in 1960 when I started working after school in a retail store. To put things in perspective, gas was 27 cents a gallon for regular, cigarettes were a quarter a pack or $2.00 a carton, Most name brand soft drinks were a dime from a vending machine as was a container of coffee from the deli. Most full size candy bars and daily newspapers were a nickel. As for automobiles, a brand new VW "Bug" sold for about $1500, a full size "no frills" Ford, Chevy, or Plymouth sedan for a around $2200, and a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud with all the bells and whistles, which was the only way they came, :D cost $12,500.
About 2 gallons of gas, whereas you could buy almost 4 gallons back then
Depending on where you live, you might get two packs of cigs, whereas you could get 4 packs
5 or so bottled soft drinks from a vending machine, whereas you could buy 10
Maybe 2-3 cups of coffee from Starbucks, whereas in your day you could buy 10
1 candy bar, you could buy 20
I don't even know what newspapers cost these days
I'm not even gonna try to do the math on the cars lol.
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~David
~David
Oh, I wasn't really doing math like inflation, just figuring out what you could buy today with 1 hour of pay vs. back then with 1 hour of pay. You might be able to buy an air freshener for a RR for $1 back then but you can't buy spark plug for one today with an hour's pay.xceptnl wrote:I tried to do the math on the RR Silver Cloud and came up with around $$90,625. The current RR Ghost is around $255,000 that is a 281% increase.
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- xceptnl
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True, maybe you could buy a months worth of air fresheners?Evil D wrote:Oh, I wasn't really doing math like inflation, just figuring out what you could buy today with 1 hour of pay vs. back then with 1 hour of pay. You might be able to buy an air freshener for a RR for $1 back then but you can't buy spark plug for one today with an hour's pay.
*Landon*sal wrote: .... even today, we design a knife from the edge out!
Now this is a blast from my past...The Deacon wrote:$1.00 an hour, back in 1960 when I started working after school in a retail store. To put things in perspective, gas was 27 cents a gallon for regular, cigarettes were a quarter a pack or $2.00 a carton, Most name brand soft drinks were a dime from a vending machine as was a container of coffee from the deli. Most full size candy bars and daily newspapers were a nickel. As for automobiles, a brand new VW "Bug" sold for about $1500, a full size "no frills" Ford, Chevy, or Plymouth sedan for a around $2200, and a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud with all the bells and whistles, which was the only way they came, :D cost $12,500.
ETA: I bought a Bug for not much more when I finished Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill in 1967.
-Marc (pocketing an M4 Sage5 today)
“When science changes its opinion, it didn’t lie to you. It learned more.”
“When science changes its opinion, it didn’t lie to you. It learned more.”
I don't think Peru even *had* a minimum wage when I was growing up (they probably still don't?) And their currency has changed units twice since I left (each time at 1,000 of the old monetary unit = 1 of the new) so they have literally had over 1,000,000 times inflation since I was a kid. But since coming to the US in '78 after high school, I think minimum wage was around 2.85?
Looking at the job listings for programmers, I *dreamed* of one day having such an exorbitant salary - and now I make over twice that figure and still have no money - but I have a lot of Spydies! :) I think my first Spyderco was an Economy model in the '80s, and I probably paid $39 or $49. I drooled over the Police models, but could not afford them, I think they were $79 or $99 (in a store in the mall, no internet shopping then!)
Kind of hard to compare wages and costs vs then, some items like gas have so much added taxes included in the "cost" of a gallon that wasn't included then! Raise the minimum wage, and small companies that depend on that type of labor have to raise the prices on what they charge so they can pay the higher rate, hard to find a nice solution without getting all political :) .
Looking at the job listings for programmers, I *dreamed* of one day having such an exorbitant salary - and now I make over twice that figure and still have no money - but I have a lot of Spydies! :) I think my first Spyderco was an Economy model in the '80s, and I probably paid $39 or $49. I drooled over the Police models, but could not afford them, I think they were $79 or $99 (in a store in the mall, no internet shopping then!)
Kind of hard to compare wages and costs vs then, some items like gas have so much added taxes included in the "cost" of a gallon that wasn't included then! Raise the minimum wage, and small companies that depend on that type of labor have to raise the prices on what they charge so they can pay the higher rate, hard to find a nice solution without getting all political :) .
Which Knife, A or B? get Both! (and C, D and E) :)
- The Mastiff
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I recall working for $1.30 per hour at some greenhouses doing labor work. Knowing the guy I was working for I doubt it was above minimum. I remember getting a raise up to $2.00 an hour after 2 years on the job only after 4 of us threatened to quit if we didn't get a raise. I was probably 14 at the time so early 70's.
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- SpyderNut
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Minimum wage? What's that? :rolleyes: You see, my folks were fairly strict and wouldn't allow my younger brother and me to accept ANY type of monetary compensation when we were working our first construction jobs in high school. (Dad reasoned that learning a trade was a far better reward than receiving cash ). However, we were allowed to accept things such as lawn mowers as a form of “payment” for our labor. By the time I was eighteen, my brother and I had accumulated 17 Lawn Boy push mowers and 3 lawn tractors. Although my brother and I may have been cash poor, we were certainly lawn mower rich. :D Kinda’ funny to think about nowadays.
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My first actual paycheck job was in 1985 as a busboy in a restaurant. I think minimum wage was $3.35 but we didn't make that because the waitresses had to give us a portion of their tips.
My first paying job, I think I was around 7 or 8, was shining my dad's shoes. I got 25 cents for a regular shine and 50 cents for a spit shine! When I was 12 I had two paper routes, a morning paper and an afternoon paper. Talk about a thankless job, any "pay" depended on tips you received when you went collecting the weekly fee from your customers. Never made a lot of money in tips but I did have one customer that gave me my two most memorable ones, a case of M&Ms and a puppy. :D My mother made me give the puppy back.
My first paying job, I think I was around 7 or 8, was shining my dad's shoes. I got 25 cents for a regular shine and 50 cents for a spit shine! When I was 12 I had two paper routes, a morning paper and an afternoon paper. Talk about a thankless job, any "pay" depended on tips you received when you went collecting the weekly fee from your customers. Never made a lot of money in tips but I did have one customer that gave me my two most memorable ones, a case of M&Ms and a puppy. :D My mother made me give the puppy back.
:spyder:
Dan
Dan