Fifty Plus (50+) - Did you deliver newspapers by bicycle as a kid?

I did, and loved it. My first route was in the early 70's and netted me around $14 a week... many times more than my meager allowance. I was suddenly rich!

Mom had a 26 x 1 3/8 inch wheel "lightweight" Sears bike (single speed, coaster brake) with full size Wald baskets in back that I liked to use. Sometimes I used my Stingray instead, but then I needed to carry the papers in a bag. Mom's bike made the route easier and the larger wheels seemed faster. A few times while sitting on the kickstand the bike was blown over by the wind and papers blew all over the place! :cry: I had to collect payment from my customers and often got tips, especially at the holidays. :)

How about you?

I started when I was 10 years old with just some cheap beater bike. My first route had maybe 35 papers to deliver. I started delivering the Phoenix Gazette. When I was 12 I got a route for the Arizona Republic. By then I had a Schwinn Paperboy Special, a Stingray and a French 10 speed. Can't remember the name. I got up at 4:30 every morning and delivered from 100-120 papers. I loved the holiday tips. I took pride in buying my own Christmas presents for my family.

I got a crazy idea to braid a bunch of aluminum wires that the came bundled in and tossing it on top of a bunch of power lines beside our "Paper Station." There was a mighty flash and the power went off for blocks around. Every one in that part of town was late for work as the alarm clocks all were 30-40 minutes late. No one tell my mom, OK, she still thinks Ralphie Burke did it.

100+ papers on a Schwinn Heavy Duty 3 speed SA bike about 1954 or so. Got up at 4:30 to fold them on the corner with 3 other paper boys. Had some pretty steep hills. Every now and then I would roof a paper, and I "invented" two long poles hinged with a rope to operate the outward lever - like an old-fashioned crane and a sort of scoop on the end to retrieve the paper from the roof. Today, I would have been shot by someone.

Every now and then I would encounter someone coming home after a very late evening out - greeted by a paper boy!!

Sundays were the worst. I used a paper bag over a rear rack, as I recall. SOmetimes I would walk the route with the bag (hole in it for the head) over my shoulders. On wet days, we had to wrap wax paper around the paper. We used a REAL fold - the type that ends up looking a bit like a slanted house, all tucked in and nice. Papers were smaller then.

Got some tips, also - maybe a dime or a quarter was typical. The paper was maybe $2.00 per month.

I had a paper route. I delivered the Boston Herald-American, now known simply as the Boston Herald. In the late 60s and early 70s, they had merged with the old Record American, hence the name. Didn't make much money at it, but I cherished what I did earn. Had some great customers, and a few real Turkeys. I rode around on my old hi-riser-banana seat bike, and yeah, sometimes the weather did not cooperate.

They don't have paper boys around here anymore. Heck, very few people read newspapers at this point.

Heh, remember those ads in the back of "Boys Life" magazine, the ones that wanted you to sell a newspaper called "GRIT"? The ads always depicted
a smiling young male, wearing a GRIT newspaper bag, and grinning wildly as he held out a handful of cash. Wonder how many fell for that one?
The only thing I ever heard about the newspaper was that it was popular in the rural midwest.

Of course, used a reconditioned CCM coaster brake equiped clunker to deliver about 60 papers every morning six days a week (Sat. off") starting at 0500 rain or shine. Only got driven around the route once when my tire blew just as I was pushing it out the bas't door with no replacement on the claim.

1956. Had 28 customers. Made Honor carrier the first 6 weeks. Won a trophy, shoulder bag and a Chicken dinner with my dad. He died the following year.

Had one woman that came to the door with her boobs out each time I collected.

Sure did! Had 100 papers along Rt 31 in Aurora. From the old St Joes Hospital, to where Indian Trail is today. Man, was that a LONG route.

Started in the mid 50s, and carried for 6-8 years.

The Aurora BeConfused.....(The Aurora Beacon News)

paid me a dollar a day, spent about 8 hours collecting every week......... WOW!

On an old LaSalle with no padding on the steel seat, and no fenders......

I held a paper route for about 4 months when I was 13. It rained every...single...day. No, that's not true, one day it snowed. Then I quit the paper route and started delivering milk instead. The weather was no better but milk bottles, unlike newspapers, are waterproof.

The day I hated most of all was Friday, because in addition to the daily paper, everyone subscribed to the local weekly. I never did weigh the bag but I recall I had to complete about 1/3 of the route before I could balance on my bike again.

Yep, although I never did have a for real 'paper-boy bike' with the huge front basket and smaller front tire. My folks got me a beautiful used Roadmaster in green and ivory around 1958 (but the bike was probably a '49 or '50) so I could carry papers better. I've never seen another one like it. It had a twin-coil spring front end, but not 'knee-action'. The fork blades were solid forged steel with a spring perch on the front edge near the top, with another spring perch on the fork crown on each side. The blades were hinged with a 1/2" pin on each side and had stops to keep the fork blades from going back past the safe point. The fork crown was a massive piece, and the springs were large in the middle and small on each end - chromed, of course. Other than that, a typical American 'heavyweight 26" bicycle' with fenders, a 'tank', a heavy rear carrier and a 1" pitch chain. It wasn't long before it was stripped down, painted black, had a Bendix 'Automatic' two-speed rear and a 1/2" pitch front sprocket. The front wheel was 26x1.5 (middleweight) while I managed to find a big knobby for the rear (26x2.25). It also had a generator set from Western Auto that was actually very bright but burned out the tail light when changing from hi beam to low and vice-versa. Now I know I should have just left it one way or the other. The 'drag race' was king back then, and nobody on the planet could beat me in half a block with that Bendix low gear and speed shift to regular. The Bendix also had a tremendous coaster brake in it. I remember very well telling the guys it was like a power brake on a bicycle. Basically it was because the hub shell had a larger diameter than the regular brakes, and the Bendix engineers made full use of the greater 'swept area' by utilizing three large brake shoes driven by a wedge when you back-pedalled past the shifting point - so, every time you braked it would change to the other gear. Not really as much of a nuisance as it sounds.

Oh boy, here's some memories. I had a "suburban" route in Albany, NY delivering the Times Union. Had about 40 customers. Did it for 2 or 3 yrs in the late 50's.

I think my first bike was a 26" Schwinn something. After about a year in the route I bought a Monkey-Wards branded bike that has AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION! It was a 2 speed, and while it has coaster brakes, if you back pedaled just a bit it would shift gears. Worked pretty good, but it had a design flaw. Something in the design required that the rear axle had one point that was thinner than the rest. It broke. I got it replace under warranty, but he 2nd one eventually failed too, and the warranty had expired. :^(

About that time I was 15 or 16 and my interest in bikes changed to cars and girls. I kinda wish it has stayed with bikes....

Yeah. What great memories. I had my first route in 61 and walked and then rode my brothers single speed....later sold for bullets due to the heavy metal content. I didn't earn much but i saved to buy my first bike..... a simpsons(sears) red bike with sturmey archer 3 speed shifter. Wow....was that a great bike and a great time. It seemed rather simple but I had that bike for 7 or eight years until it was stolen. Gotta say I do miss those times.

I delivered the Hollywood Sun-Tattler on and off for about three years. it was a six day a week (no Sunday) afternoon paper, so I could deliver my route after school. Avg. routes (I had several over the years) were about 75 papers. I could make $10-15 a week, and $20-30 around Christmas. This was in the early to mid 70's. The first day I delivered was miserable, i used my banana seat bike with a saddle bag. I could never configure it properly, and it kept rubbing the rear wheel and getting stuck. It took me HOURS to deliver. II was about 12 years old and broke down crying in frustration. I didn't get home until about 8:00 at night (I probably should have been home by 4-4:30).

I wound up getting a larger 26" bike (probably a no name) and got the huge newspaper basket for it. I delivered in 8th grade, 10th and 11th grade, and then I got a job as a dishwasher at Sambo's. I quit Sambo's about midnight on a Friday night in the middle of a graveyard shift, and then got a job at one of the first Taco Bells to open in South Florida.

I started when I was 10 years old with just some cheap beater bike. My first route had maybe 35 papers to deliver. I started delivering the Phoenix Gazette. When I was 12 I got a route for the Arizona Republic. By then I had a Schwinn Paperboy Special, a Stingray and a French 10 speed. Can't remember the name. I got up at 4:30 every morning and delivered from 100-120 papers. I loved the holiday tips. I took pride in buying my own Christmas presents for my family.


It's a small world! I delivered the Arizona Republic from about 1958 to 1960 using a middleweight (1.5" tires ?) Schwinn Paperboy Special with a two speed Bendix coaster hub (high tech for the day). The low gear was handy with a hundred + papers in the bags. I remember an Easter Sunday paper that was over 400 pages.

Anyone else save a copy of a big headline from their paper boy days? The largest headline I delivered was the August 8th 1974 edition of the Daily Courier News with Nixon to quit just about filling the entire cover. I still have it!

Nope, my route had too many customers to carry the papers on a bike. They were aslo large papers, Detroit News. Started when I was 11 and was making $35 a week during the mid-fifties. I went through several routes and the last one was right around the paper station; no need for tranportation. When I was 16 I took over the "Station Captain" job which was an additional $35 a week. That was $70 a week in 1959 dollars. That job bought me my first car.It was good experience, useful for the rest of my working life.

I had a route delivering the local afternoon daily in '70. I got $0.51/house per month plus tips. The price was conveniently $2.75 which encouraged people to tip me a quarter. In '71 I got a morning S.F. Chronicle route. That was when I began to appreciate good humor; they had Art Hoppe on their editorial page. A friend's house was on my route. He would get up early and open his second-floor window so I could throw the paper through.

My older sister usually did half of the morning route. One morning she came home quite a bit after me and was extremely upset (screaming and crying). I remember my dad telling her to quit talking about the dog and tell him what had happened. He thought she had been attacked. It turns out the dog had been hit by a car. He survived with minor injuries. However, this was such an upsetting event that my parents asked us to quit the route, which we did.

I walked my 5 mi route. I never threw papers. I always placed the paper where the customer wanted it. Using a bicycle wasn't practical for that. I also had some short cuts that could not be negotiated on a bicycle.

I applied, but by the time they had an opening, I had lost interest and turned them down.

Delivered the Berkeley Daily Gazette when I was in 6th grade or so. Had a black Huffy with balloon tires and a big steel rack on the back, over which I would place the canvas "pannier" newspaper bags. You could also wear these bags like a poncho; there was a hole in the middle for your neck. Had about 60 papers that I delivered six days a week. We'd sit on the corner, the district manager would arrive in his beat-up Ford station wagon. We'd pull our bundles out of the back, cut the wire holding them with our little round wire cutters (looked like spoke wrenches), then count the papers. Most days the papers were thin enough we'd fold then in a "tomahawk fold" that made the papers easier to throw. Got quite good at hitting porches from a moving bike, but every now and then I'd roof the paper, so I'd get a complaint sheet the next day. Hey, just look up on the roof, dude!

The hardest part of the job was collecting each month from all the Berkeley deadbeats. Some subscribers required several visits before you'd catch them at home. But then you took the bag of cash to the American Trust Company downtown, and a gorgeous older woman teller would quickly count out the coins, holding a stack of quarters in her hand and manually rolling it into a sheet of paper. That just blew me away how skillful these tellers used to be!

Luis

Yes I did and I can't believe that today it's delivery by car. And people wonder why this nation has the highest rate of obesity. Go figure.

Yes, I delivered a morning paper and then an afternoon paper. I used a single speed with a wire basket up front until I could afford to buy a pair of wire baskets for the rear of the bike. I hated the part of the job where I had to collect payment every week from the customers. Later, as a kid when my family was struggling (which it seems we always were) my father got a second part-time job filling up the newspaper vending machines at 5 a.m. So, it was four of us (both of my brothers had paper routes too) getting up every morning (we also delivered the Sunday paper) to try and earn enough money to may the rent, keep coal in the furnace, shoes on our feet and food in our belly. At that time in my life, the bicycle was simply a tool and I wasn't eager to ride it at all.

Yes, the Toronto Telegram. It went out of business after I quit (not my fault).

Yes, the Toronto Telegram. It went out of business after I quit (not my fault).

So you claim :)

I had two afternoon routes: The Chicago Daily News and the Southtown Economist. The Economist was a coveted route. You only delivered twice a week but you collected fees every month. Collecting was a PITA but you got good tips. The News didn't involve collecting so tips were rare except at Christmas when we dropped off our Christmas cards (tip solicitations). The really serious guys had Tribune routes - you had to get up at 4:00 AM for that. IIRC, I folded the Economist rather than use rubber bands since it was thin and rolled and banded the News. I rode a balloon tire Schwinn with the paper bag on teh handle bars and tossed the papers onto door steps classic movie stile. These were city routes but to single family houses - no paper tossing in apartment complexes.

Not as a kid. I did fill in for my step daughter when she went on her senior class trip. It was hilarious to see me riding her bike, a sack of papers on the front and me holding a list of addresses in one hand. I think, I fell four or five times the first day, but got pretty good by the end of the week.

1956. Had 28 customers. Made Honor carrier the first 6 weeks. Won a trophy, shoulder bag and a Chicken dinner with my dad. He died the following year.

Had one woman that came to the door with her boobs out each time I collected.

You had one of those customers too eh? :D seems any young male that did this job had a "Mrs. Robinson". Mine simply wore very little when she came to the door. Yep, nothing wrong with appreciative customers. :innocent:

I had a morning route. The Columbus Citizen-Journal aka the CJ.

I rode a beatup Huffy Galaxie with every unneeded part removed, with upside down handlebars.

I carried the papers in a route bag and got paid 6 cents per paper and made about $2 bucks in tips per week. At the beginning of the route were two german shepards that laid in wait to chase me every damn day. I used to wish that a car would hit them some day.

I too, had a lady that came to the door when I collected, just about falling out of her gown. She was probably about 30, plump, always a mess, and other than the exposure issues, was not very appealing to my 14 year old eyes. But I did enjoy the cleavage.

I delivered the Waukegan News-Sun back in the 60's. Threw papers while riding on the sidewalk. I could hit the porch most everytime. Seems like I got paid about $20/month, but I didn't have to collect money.
One thing I do remember. I used to fold my papers and secure each one with a rubberband. When I was done my hands would be grey from ink, and I assume lead from the linotype. I wonder if that had any affect on me.

My Dad took this home movie of me delivering papers when I was a kid. We lived in an "interesting" neighborhood.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhO3pwHFhR0

Talk about old memories! I threw a route outside New Orleans delivering the Times Picayune. First time 1969-1971 and then again 1972-1973. I took a break because it was 7 days a week all the time, no holidays ever, and the subs I could hire were hard to get and cost more than I made per day.

I cleared about $120/month and it was fabulous money for a 14 year old in 1971!! I had a 26" Sears bike coaster brake single speed with the giant basket on the front. About 60 papers would fit in the basket, folded in thirds, so I would make two trips each morning. I became quite the student of the weather maps, watching the cold fronts coming down from Canada during the winter, and got very good at throwing papers. I could make those suckers curve around obstacles and hit the porch with high accuracy. Rain was frequent, and a real pain, since I had to plastic bag the papers, which cut into the profits and took a lot more time.

I haven't seen a kid throwing papers from a bike in decades...

1947, Detroit Times, did it for about a year. Used a Schwinn single speed.

1947, Detroit Times, did it for about a year. Used a Schwinn single speed.

Heck, ZT - I figured you probably delivered stone tablets :).

I delivered The Newark Evening News in Montclair, New Jersey. Once a month I had to collect the subscription fee. I had two convents on the route. One of the nuns, who I met several times, was Sister McAlister who was involved in the anti-war movement and associated with Daniel and Philip Berrigan. One day FBI agents came to my house and questioned me about Sister McAlister. I told them she was a very good tipper. I also recall that I had a woman on the route who was in the habit of answering the door in a see through negligee ... I was 15 at the time. No, her name was not Mrs. Robinson. ;)

I delivered the Chicago Tribune on my beautiful JC Higgins complete with a HUGE front basket. Delivery wasn't bad but I purely hated collection. Families in our affluent suburb had loads of money but not for the paper boy.

"Girls don't do that."

However, the kid across the street, a couple years older than I, had an afternoon route, and we all just *loved* helping him fold the papers. IIRC, it was the Garden Grove Daily News, and we folded the outer edges (the side fold and the outside edge) in to the halfway point, then folded in half. And secured with rubber bands. He had the canvas bags with the neckhole, along with the huge rear rack sized to hold the bags. Don't remember anything about Bonner's bike.

schwinn with the chopper forks the bannana seat and the high sissybar not to mention the bag wrapped around the chopper bars

My Dad took this home movie of me delivering papers when I was a kid. We lived in an "interesting" neighborhood.

I doubt 10 wheels would have made Honor Carrier in your neighborhood!

I started when I was about 11 years old. There were 3 of us paperboys in the small town where I lived (Goondiwindi). After about a year I started using the money $5 per week to buy new bits for my bike. I decided to get another bike which I customized specifically for my paper route. I had a lot of sand to go through so I fitted a huge back sprocket. I carried tools and had thorn-proof tubes and tires. Those were happy days.

No way. In the '50s my first route for the Miami News required 170 papers and covered a lot of miles. Took two trips on Sunday. I used a motor scooter which looked very similar to the present Vespa. I stacked then in the floor between the body and the front shield piled up to my chin. I threw all the papers and guaranteed doorstep delivery. I rarely had to dismount to correct for a bad throw.

If I remember correctly, very few papers in our district were delivered with bikes.

Al

Yep. I lived on top of Marshal Ridge Rd, in New Canaan, CT, it's a big hill to be riding an old Schwinn converted coaster bike (converted to look like a Stingray, with Ape hanger bars and a banana seat) with big old tires up with a load of papers, so I'd walk downtown, get the Advocate and trudge back home, where I'd get on the bike and deliver papers, I was 8 or 9, late 60s. We moved to Minneapolis in 69, and the neighborhood was covered, both morning and afternoon editions, one kid offered to let me have part of his route for a cut of my profits. F that, I got out of the business and started mowing lawns and shoveling sidewalks, better money.

Yep. I lived on top of Marshal Ridge Rd, in New Canaan, CT, it's a big hill to be riding an old Schwinn converted coaster bike (converted to look like a Stingray, with Ape hanger bars and a banana seat)It is funny how reading these anecdotes throws you back into a kid's mindset. Naisme is probably only a few years younger than me but when I read this description I think of some much younger, little kid down the block since we didn't have stingrays with banana seats in 1960-62 when I was delivering. Or did we and I just don't remember them?

Wow, what a great subject! 1956, San Fernando Valley CA GREEN SHEET. You know, I think how we are as adults is correlated to things like paper routes. Work ethics, math (remember how you had to do the monthly "collection" day?).
I remember my single speed Schwinn was so overloaded that I couldn't turn the thing and a few times when it fell over, I couldn't get it back up!

Bless my grandmothers heart (Nana), whe would get up at 4 am with me and help me fold and load the papers. Somehow it all culminates in who we are as adults today. Doyle

I started mine around 1952 or so and built my route up till I had to come home three times on Sundays to reload and twice on the daily route. I haven't thought of that in a long time. thanks for the post. Rain days were the worst. I had to put the papers in a bag before delivery. Those were the days.

As Doug64 said on page 1, our route was better done by walking. My brother and I started our route in 1953 carrying The Gary Post-Tribune. I graduated from high school in 1961 and Larry did the route alone for another 2 years. We carried the canvas bag over one shoulder and folded each paper into 5ths as we walked and tucked it in itself, so it would stay on the step and not get blown apart before our customer picked it up. If it was raining, we'd put it between the storm door and the front door.

My brother had a paper route for years. He paid me a "subcontractor" to help roll the papers up and put a rubber band around them.

Occasionally I would deliver the papers myself on a bike. What I remember is my arm being sore as heck after 2 or 3 days of that. Sheer pain.

Wow, what a great subject! 1956, San Fernando Valley CA GREEN SHEET. You know, I think how we are as adults is correlated to things like paper routes. Work ethics, math (remember how you had to do the monthly "collection" day?).
I remember my single speed Schwinn was so overloaded that I couldn't turn the thing and a few times when it fell over, I couldn't get it back up!

Bless my grandmothers heart (Nana), whe would get up at 4 am with me and help me fold and load the papers. Somehow it all culminates in who we are as adults today. Doyle

Lots of wisdom in your post, thanks. Yes, you do learn some "business basics". And you do learn a lot about "human nature", and people in general. Remember my posting about how I had some real turkeys for customers? On collection day, one would come to the door with a cigarette in one hand, and a can of beer in the other, and make some excuse as to why he couldn't pay. Of course, that leaves the delivery boy in the hole. His excuses always involved his wife in one form or another. "My wife if out, she didn't leave me any money". Uh-huh.

On the other hand, I had one customer who, no matter what time of day it was, be it morning delivery, or early evening collection, would be in his bathrobe. Great laugh on this guy though, and he tipped very well.

My Dad took this home movie of me delivering papers when I was a kid. We lived in an "interesting" neighborhood.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhO3pwHFhR0

Egads, I missed that a moment ago! That kid clearly does not know how to service his customers. A beautiful woman, in lingerie and stockings, should get that paper personally handed to her, with the biggest smile possible, and a tip of the hat. It's "Guy Law".

I started delivery of the Des Moines Tribune evening and Register Sunday papers when I was still 9 years old in January, 1947. I bought at least 1 Columbia bike and a Bulova gold watch for 50 weeks of $1 deductions from my pay which amounted to around $4 per week if you could collect from all of your customers. This was a large increase from the $.10 per week which I had received as an allowance. I switched to a better route with the Register morning paper when it became available.

If the snow or ice was too much for a bicycle, I walked the route, sometimes pulling a sled. When I first started, we had to go to the newspaper office and wait for delivery by truck, then fold the papers into squares on the folding benches.

I delivered the Omaha World Herald in the late 80's on a crappy k-mart bike.

I never had any Mrs. Robinsons. But we used to get up at 2am sometimes and ride through South Moutain Park at the end of S. Central in Phoenix. It was the preferred Makeout park for Phoenix. We would sneak up on cars and spy on the occupants. If things were just right we would yank open the doors and toss in a few water ballons or jump up and down on the bumpers. Remember when cars had steel bumpers?