Remembering My First Wage Packets.

[Theland]

I did all sorts of jobs whilst still at school, picking beetroots on a farm, selling bleach soap and pine disinfectant door to door, and carrying coal on the wagons at the age of thirteen.
Left school at sixteen, and had six weeks to kill before starting my apprenticeship, so took a job in a cotton mill for £9/week. Started my apprenticeship six weeks later for £4/week.
But I felt so grown up, a real worker and the world was my oyster.
Wage paid in a brown envelope, along with my wage slip, and a staple through it.
Couldn't get home fast enough to show my mum!
I gave her £2 for housekeeping and the rest was mine.
Gosh I was so happy!
So what are your memories of your first wage packet?

[Theland]

Gosh we are living history lessons.
Not much money, but at least we didn't have to top up our phones :-)

[Caran]

I left school at 16 in 1958. Applied to post office for a job, turned me down. Got a job as office junior for a raincoat manufacturer at £3.50 per week. Post office then offered me a job at £3.00, turned it down as it was less. Had to hand my wage packet over to mum. She gave me 7/6 back and I had to pay my bus fare out of that.

[Arksided]

Age 16 working at Grattan, thumbing through all the cash in brown envelope before looking at pay slip... and exclaiming the tax man takes how-****ing-much!

[Buenchico]

My first job was working in a pork pie factory, at the age of 16 in 1969, between 5th form and 6th form. The basic pay was £6 per week but, when I started, I didn't know that we'd be given overtime and that there was a bonus payment on top of that too. So I was delighted when I found over £8 in my first pay packet ;-)

My next holiday job was two years later, between 6th form and college, working behind a bar. I was astounded to find that the pay, at £18 per week, was three times the basic rate that I'd been getting just two years before!

[tonyav]

Yep, apprentice a fiver a week for the 1st year, payed weekly on a Friday. Gave mom her board but usually skint by Monday so borrow board back from mom until Friday ( is that called a week in hand ), no wonder I was skint with those girls and the price of brandy and babyshams ( I could have had four pints for the price of one of those things, didn't work half the time either ).

[pastafreak]

My first job...weekends and summer holidays...was for a German baker. Can't remember the pay, but free buns and pastries at the end of the day made it worthwhile. First proper job in 1967, after art school, was a small ad agency. If I remember correctly, my salary was $85 per week...with 25 going to mum. My goal was $100 per week, reached that 2 years and 2 jobs later.

[tonyav]

My goal was $100 per week, reached that 2 years and 2 jobs later.

Wot !, no wonder you yanks where driving about in Cadillac's ;-)

[ferlew]

1962, £2.10..working as a telephone switchboard operator for a shipping company. Mam took the £2, and I had the ten bob - all to myself :)

[Thisoldbird]

£1/17/6 a week working in Woolworths.
Left school 1953 age 15.

I had worked there Saturday morning prior to leaving school.

[tonyav]

Hey Thisoldbird, some of those Wooly's Saturday girls where lookers I can tell you ( they were in the Walsall shop anyway, especially those on the record kiosk ) :-)

[Theland]

I remember the place to meet the shop girls was the park on a Wednesday afternoon - half day closing :-)

[tonyav]

Wednesday's Theland !, t'was Thursday afternoons in my neck of the woods.
Sheffield Wednesday eh, wonder why nobody started a Thursday Walsall footfall club back in the day.

[Theland]

Stanley Park in Liverpool, by the boating lake.
Half an hour on a boat, showing off to the girls :-)
(Got me nowhere :-(

[tonyav]

LOL, know what you mean, Theland ( bloody hard cases them woolies gals) even us he men Apprentices had no affect on them skinny dippy in the Walsall Arboretum lake on a Thursday lunch time ( summer time of course ) good gawd what did we have to do ;-)

[Theland]

It might have been 1967, the Summer Of Love, but where was it?
I didn't get any :-(

[tonyav]

LOL, I was just starting out then, Theland. You know 'Guess what I saw going on between Geoff and Sheila ( names changed for legal reasons ) behind the bike shed.

[Theland]

Days of, for the most part, innocence as far as I could tell.

[tonyav]

They were on the whole happy day's indeed, Theland.