Jobs

Paper Routes

I had a paper route for three years delivering the Philadelphia Inquirer every day except Sunday. I think I was the only one in my senior class that had to deliver papers in the morning before school. The paper was always very heavy on Thursdays. That was the issue when all the ads were published for stores.

Normally I’d pick up my 52 papers at the paper office on Frack Street that was owned by Mr. Kalbach. But on Thursdays, we could only carry half because they were so thick with all of the ads. The other half on my route was dropped off next to the street corner of Oak and Fourth Streets. Papers were delivered as close to the door as possible. We did not just toss them on the ground outside the house. I got pretty good at throwing them so they made one complete revolution and slid, folded end first, up close to the front door. It was the same toss you make in playing horse shoes. It took about 45 to 50 minutes to complete my route and then it was time to get ready for school. The most famous person on my route were the parents of Ron Northey, a ball player for the Philadelphia Phillies.

I also delivered the Shenandoah Evening Herald in the evenings for a year. My route was across the railroad tracks North of Oak Street from Railroad Avenue to Spencer Street for a year. That was easier because it was a much smaller paper. The Inquirer had to be folded in a rectangle but you could fold the Herald in a triangle and throw it much farther.

Saturday was the best day of the week because after delivering the paper it was time to go back and collect money for the week’s deliveries. The paper was 5 cents and when I collected the thirty cents for the week I’d usually get a nickel or dime tip. That alone added up to a few dollars extra. I think we were only paid a penny a day to deliver each paper so tips were almost as much as my pay most weeks.

Anthony’s Grocery Store and "Store at Your Door"

Anthony’s store on Second Street was kitty-corner from our house. We did all of our shopping there. I think most people ran a tab because money was tight. My mother always said "tell them to put it on the book." When my parents had a few dollars I’d be asked to go and pay some of what was owed.

I worked in their little grocery store as a stock boy. You had to go outside and down the trap doors to get to the basement where all the stock was stored. I also worked on their "Store at Your Door" as a bagger and "totaler-upper." They used an old blue converted school bus. It was pretty neat. The back of it opened like today’s hatch backs, if I recall correctly, and that exposed the counter. We loaded the bus the night before because we got a very early start and didn’t get back until the late afternoon. Customers would line up and place their orders. George or Tommy Anthony sliced the meats and got the products from the shelves and gave them to me to bag. Each item’s price was recorded on the side of the bag in pencil. When the order was complete I was asked to total it up. Then Tommy or George rang it up on the old cash register and took the money.

The whole idea was to take the store to people in the surrounding patches that had nothing nearby. However, the first stop was always at the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church at Center and Frack Streets. We went right next door to the home where the nuns lived. They certainly could have come to town but they were always the first stop. Then the bus headed out of town and down the "Maizie." When we got to the bottom of the hill we headed for Shennandoah, Mahanoy City, and then back toward Girardville hitting every patch on the way.

Garden Theater
The Garden Theater was located on the corner of Oak Street (Rt. 61) and Lehigh Avenue, the main intersection in Frackville. The theater was one of the first businesses to have air conditioning. What a treat on a hot summer day. I remember going out the side exit doors after the movie. The afternoon sun was so bright it took a minute before you could see. The doors opened to the sidewalk along Oak Street just four blocks from my house. There were two small stores on either side of the ticket booth. The one on the left was Peanut’s Bender’s Cigar store. He sold tobacco, newspapers, and magazines. It was also the Greyhound stop and he sold tickets.

I was an usher at the Garden Theater for a few years. I wore a jacket and carried a flashlight. The light was used to show people to their seats after the movie started. It was also used to shine on noisy patrons.

The job involved much more than ushering. We rode around with the owner, Joe Snitzer, in his car every Saturday to deliver posters covering the next week’s movies to all the restaurants and bars within 10 miles of Frackville. Joe pinched pennies and saved every way he could. There was a back road out of Shenandoah that went to Mahanoy City. It must have been Rt. 54. It was downhill just about the whole way and Joe would get a head start, shut the engine off, and coast all the way to the bottom.

We helped in the audience when they played a game one night a week, I think on Wednesday, that was similar to Bingo, but it was called LUCKY. The rules were the same as Bingo, just using different letters.

We changed the marquee and posters three times a week. Each night for the last showing of a movie, we had to take the posters out of the windows in front of the theater and roll them up to be sent along with the two reels of film to the next theater showing them. Then we would put in the next show’s posters and change the marquee to the new show. There was a very tall ladder down by the stage. It took two people to handle it so we walked down an aisle to the stage during the movie and took the ladder out the side door. The letters were kept in the basement and we took only those needed for the next show that were not included in the name of the previous movie. They were heavy and had an angled slot to hang on the wire frame. More than once I wish I had kept one or two of the posters. They’d be worth a fortune today.

One of the benefits of working there was I got in free and I could bring my girl friends for nothing. The balcony about six rows of seats and some were double seats where you could cuddle close with your girl friend. I was attending a recent high school reunion that is held every three years for every class that graduated from Frackville. Each class sat at their own table. I was at the class of 1958 when someone tapped me on the shoulder from the class of 1959 table behind me. It was Ann Lapinski and after talking for a few minutes she asked if I remembered that I was her first date. It's embarrassing to say I didn’t. She went on to say I took her to the theater in 1953 and saw House of Wax staring Vincent Price. Wow, what a memorable evening it must have been for a first date! In my defense there was only one show playing each night in the one-screen theater.

Another side benefit of working there was getting to explore the building. The area where we kept a few things like the letters for the marquee was in the basement. There was a little door in the side of the men’s room that led to an area with a dirt floor. You couldn’t stand up so we more or less hunched over to get around. There was one part that had a trench where you could stand up. It led under the theater to a series of rooms underneath and behind the stage. I believe it was used as rooms for vaudeville entertainers at one time. We went behind the screen while a movie was playing. We goofed around a little dancing and acting as if we were in the movie. Everything was reversed and quite loud.

I think it was the Knights of Columbus lodge that was located above the theater. Once we managed to get upstairs and roam around looking at everything. There were knight’s armor, spears and shields. Cool!

I believe the theater was owned by Paul and Thomas Kerrigan. They also built the HiWay Drive in a few miles west of town in Fountain Springs. The drive in was completed in the spring of 1950. All three theaters are gone with the Garden being torn down in 1968 and a Hess gas station was opened on the corner. Now, the gas station is gone too.

Sheppo’s Furnace
I shoveled coal at the blond brick house owned by the Sheppo’s, out in the Altamont area of town. They had a stoker furnace and I had to keep the hopper full of coal. Man that was a dirty job. The coal dust in the coal bin was horrible. It took me about 15 minutes to fill the hopper but I was blowing black snot (excuse me) for hours. I did let the hopper get empty and the furnace went out once and caught hell for it. In the winter it meant three trips out there by foot. It was uphill both ways, oh wait, that’s the part I tell my kids!

I never talked to Mrs. Sheppo until Saturday, payday. I rang the bell and she buzzed me in. There was a long staircase and she stood at the top and tossed a fifty cent coin down to me, my week’s pay.