{"id":23678,"date":"2023-03-24T18:38:52","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T22:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=23678"},"modified":"2023-03-24T18:50:16","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T22:50:16","slug":"epiode-745-paperboysadventures-1950s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=23678","title":{"rendered":"EPIODE 745 PAPERBOYS\u2026ADVENTURES 1950\u2019S"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPIODE 745     PAPERBOYS\u2026ADVENTURES 1950\u2019S..Toronto star sold for 3 cents, we got half a cent.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
March 24, 2023<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Eric and I had a small paper route on Fairview Avenue in 1950. There<\/div>\n
was nothing special about us.  Lots of other<\/div>\n
boys and girls had similar routes all across Toronto.  The Toronto Star sold for<\/div>\n
3 cents a copy of which we made half  cent.  That is meaningless today.  The<\/div>\n
cent no longer exists,   But in 1950 cents could accumulate if we were careful<\/div>\n
and eventually I was able to buy a Humber Sports racing bike with 3 speed Sturmey<\/div>\n
Archer gears.  Paid for by money saved  courtesy of the Toronto Star.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Today my brother Eric arrived and while we drank coffee and ate breakfast <\/div>\n
some of the stories spilled from our mouths.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Guest\"WHYA paperboy for the Toronto Star in Whitby, Ontario, Canada, 1940 \u2014 Public Domain<\/p>\n

” data-medium-file=”https:\/\/smallkitchenchronicles.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/10\/toronto_star_paperboy_whitby-edited.jpg?w=208″ data-large-file=”https:\/\/smallkitchenchronicles.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/10\/toronto_star_paperboy_whitby-edited.jpg?w=440″ class=”wp-image-1733″ src=”https:\/\/smallkitchenchronicles.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/10\/toronto_star_paperboy_whitby-edited.jpg?w=304&h=439″ alt=”A paperboy for the Toronto Star in Whitby, Ontario, Canada, 1940 — Public Domain” width=”304″ height=”439″ srcset=”https:\/\/smallkitchenchronicles.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/10\/toronto_star_paperboy_whitby-edited.jpg?w=304&h=439 304w, smallkitchenchronicles.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/10\/toronto_star_paperboy_whitby-edited.jpg?w=608&h=878<\/a> 608w, smallkitchenchronicles.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/10\/toronto_star_paperboy_whitby-edited.jpg?w=104&h=150<\/a> 104w, smallkitchenchronicles.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/10\/toronto_star_paperboy_whitby-edited.jpg?w=208&h=300<\/a> 208w” sizes=”(max-width: 304px) 100vw, 304px”><\/div>\n

Some pics\u2026.not Eric\u2026just 1950\u2019s paperboys<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
INCIDENTS THAT REMAIN MEMORABLE<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
1)  Our bundle of papers arrived bound together with wire. We snipped the<\/div>\n
wire and wrapped it around the lamppost.  Quite a pile of rusty wire built up.<\/div>\n
Ugly as sin but a marker for our time spent delivering papers on Fairview Avenue.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cBoys, you must stop wrapping that wire around the post.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cBecause it is costing me a fortune in nylons\u2026the wire  tears them.<\/div>\n
   (nice lady on Annette Street with torn nylons)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"16<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cAlan, have you noticed that our wire pile gives an electric jolt once in a while.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMust be some kind of leakage of electricity\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMay be we should stop piling up the wire.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cElectrically charged paper route\u2026.a one of a kind\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to start wearing gloves.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cBest to just snip the wire.and put it in the garbage.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAnother grand idea destroyed by nylon stockings”<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
2) \u201cAlan, I\u2019m in big trouble now.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHow so?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI winged a paper through a living room window.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGlass shattered?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWoman said she was having a bath when it happened\u2026\u2019could<\/div>\n
not go downstairs\u2026glass all over living room floor.\u2019  Angry<\/div>\n
as all get out.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We speeded up our delivery system by folding the star in such a way<\/div>\n
that it was possible to throw papers from our bikes.  Eric threw a<\/div>\n
perfect right handed copy as he sped down the list side of Fairview.<\/div>\n
Not lobbed.  Eric threw bullet like copies until that day.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We never knew how the situation was resolved because Dad<\/div>\n
went down to see the lady.  We paid for the window I think.<\/div>\n
But we did not lose a customer.  Sometimes, albeit rarely, dad<\/div>\n
could be charming.  Even at his best women seemed to like him.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
3)   \u201cEric, I\u2019ll give you a quarter if you grab that squirrel by the tail.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re on\u2026watch me.\u201d<\/div>\n
The squirrel nosed its way tentatively to his hand\u2026then he grabbed<\/div>\n
it by the tail\u2026.fast grab.<\/div>\n
\u201cYeeeowww!\u201d<\/div>\n
The squirrel turned around fast\u2026sunk its sickle like claws deep in<\/div>\n
Eric\u2019s arm\u2026.drew blood.<\/div>\n
\u201cGuess I owe you a quarter, Eric\u201d<\/div>\n
That happened on the lawn of the lady with the smashed window<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
4) There were some dark times on that paper route.  One hit hard.<\/div>\n
A girl in my class died.  I was only 12 years old in 1950.  Seemed <\/div>\n
impossible that a kid my age could die.  But the ominous cloud of<\/div>\n
polio militias hung over us.   I think that is how she died.  I never<\/div>\n
knew her name.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Polio hit closer to home in 1953 or 1954 when Jim G.<\/div>\n
was suddenly bed ridden with polio,  He was a classmate\u2026.friendly guy<\/div>\n
who seemed indestructible .  Then he was gone from Humberside and<\/div>\n
bed ridden.  Russ Vanstone, Jim Romaniuk and I bought him a gift.<\/div>\n
If he was bed ridden he needed some fine literature so we bought<\/div>\n
him a skin book\u2026may have been a copy of Playboy   Nice magazine\u2026we<\/div>\n
read it first. Not exactly reading material.  We gawked at it before <\/div>\n
giving the mag to Jim.  I remember his mother was unimpressed.<\/div>\n
If I remember correctly Jim never fully recovered froM polio.  Memory<\/div>\n
could be wrong.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Polio:<\/div>\n
THIS \"Polio:IS NOT JIM G\u2026polio victim though\"Amazon.com:<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Dr.<\/div>\n
Oct. 1954. Dr. Salk with the polio vaccine<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Where would he have got polio?   Perhaps just by going swimming<\/div>\n
at the Mineral Baths on Bloor Street.  At least that was the rumour.<\/div>\n
We spent some of our cash profits at Minnies.  Danger rumours were<\/div>\n
Not strong enough to stop us    If the rumour had been stronger then one dark event in my<\/div>\n
life might have been avoided\u2026my meeting with a police officer and<\/div>\n
being driven home in the back seat of a police car.  That\u2019s another story<\/div>\n
though.  I was really innocent but no one except my young brother<\/div>\n
would believe me.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"High\"The<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"High<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Minnies had a high triple height  tower from which could jump<\/div>\n
or dive.  Dangerous.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cDo not run and jump from the top platform?<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYou could miss the pool and impale yourself on the wire spiked <\/div>\n
fence on the other side of the pool\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAre you kidding?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo.  Some guy got killed doing a running jump.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNever knew but all the kids talk about it.\u201d  <\/div>\n
“Which means it never happened.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cPossibly. Why don\u2019t you take a running jump just to get<\/div>\n
your name in the Toronto Star.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
5) Even closer to us was the death of Windows Doyle\u2019s young <\/div>\n
brother.  The Doyles were our customers and schoolmates.<\/div>\n
When Windows Doyle\u2019s brother died the shock was electric\u2026numbing.<\/div>\n
How could a person die from peanut butter?  Die from an allergic<\/div>\n
reaction to peanuts?  Or was it walnuts? I still remember just how deep his death<\/div>\n
affected all of us but particularly Windows of course.  I even<\/div>\n
hesitate to note the event which happened 76 years ago.  That <\/div>\n
tragedy reminded us of our own mortality.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cSad\u2026tragic\u2026.but can I ask a question?<\/div>\n
\u201cSure\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy was Windows Doyle called \u2018Windows\u2019?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cEric, my brother , has always been good at nicknames.<\/div>\n
\u201cSo what?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSo when Bill Doyle suddenly had to wear glasses, Eric nick <\/div>\n
named him windows\u2026and the name stuck\u2026<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
How is all this connected to our paper route on Fairview Avenue?  Good question.<\/div>\n
Being paperboys made us deeply aware of our community\u2026all ages not just our<\/div>\n
peers.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Gone with the wind.  Paperboys and papergirls.  The newspapers themselves are<\/div>\n
in danger of disappearing as we punch our way into a digital age.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
alan<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPIODE 745     PAPERBOYS\u2026ADVENTURES 1950\u2019S..Toronto star sold for 3 cents, we got half a cent. alan skeoch March 24, 2023 Eric and I had a small paper route on Fairview Avenue in 1950. There was nothing special about us.  Lots of other boys and girls had similar routes all across Toronto.  The Toronto Star […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23678\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}