[Misc] Paper rounds

[Sirnormangall]

Started my round at age 13 in the 1970s. Up at 6am in all weathers developed a strong work ethic and early interest in page 3 of the Sun.

 

[Dinner with Gotsmanov]

1978/79, pre Albion days, did an evening round off Jenners in Hove, on Kingsway. Did all the big blocks on the seafront as well as Grand Avenue. Do not recall the area good for tips.

Got the Spanish Archer for daring to be ill one day. Boycotted the shop after that. Jenners long gone, probably due to bankruptcy caused by my boycott…

 

[jcdenton08]

Worked for Lee at the newsagents in Seven Dials next to the laundrette in the mid-late 90’s. Mornings, seven days a week, £17 a week. Then I went on the tills at a supermarket after school, saved up and bought myself a top of the line MZ-RH1 minidisc player/recorder.

Sold it some years back for more than I paid for it, after many (many!) years of use. Boxed in good nick, they regularly go for £300 to as high as £600 if accessories included…

 

[Live by the sea]

Two of my kids have one. Takes on of them 45 mins and the other 50 mins. Get about 30 quid a week. They are 13 and 15 so learning about work.

13 - blimey you start them young . I got a part time sat job I remember but I was 17 I think .

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

13 - blimey you start them young . I got a part time sat job I remember but I was 17 I think .

Now I think about it, I was 13 or maybe 14 when I stared my paper round. At around 15 I started working in a kitchen.

 

[Live by the sea]

Now I think about it, I was 13 or maybe 14 when I stared my paper round. At around 15 I started working in a kitchen.

I don’t personally think children should be employed as such until 16 even part time . Let them be kids and enjoy themselves .

Especially nowdays with stories of killer dogs (xl bully’s etc ) etc it’s a potentially dangerous world out there especially when you’re still a child .

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I don’t personally think children should be employed as such until 16 even part time . Let them be kids and enjoy themselves .

Especially nowdays with stories of killer dogs (xl bully’s etc ) etc it’s a potentially dangerous world out there especially when you’re still a child .

I really liked my paper round. It gave me a bit of purpose, independence, some money I could spend on myself any way I chose. I used to like stitting on the old-people's home and reading for a bit, I used to call for a friend on the way and we'd walk to the shop together. The round itself was only 50 minutes and was before school. And the chance of getting eaten by a Bully XL are probably almost nil.

 

[Live by the sea]

I really liked my paper round. It gave me a bit of purpose, independence, some money I could spend on myself any way I chose. I used to like stitting on the old-people's home and reading for a bit, I used to call for a friend on the way and we'd walk to the shop together. The round itself was only 50 minutes and was before school. And the chance of getting eaten by a Bully XL are probably almost nil.

I think it was much safer 30-40 years ago , or at least it felt it , even in a big city like NY .

 

[tstanbur]

I did a round in Kemp Town and when we moved to Westdene I did 7 days a week there.
My later round was tough as Westdene is quite hilly and the round started a long way from the shop and all uphill with a bag that was really heavy.

On the subject of hills, one of my rounds took me down Millers Road then up The Drove, which surely must be the steepest road in Brighton?!

 

[NottinghamGull]

Started doing a paper round 7 days a week in Mill Hill, North London in 1973. Then found the local golf club was paying a lot more money for a single round of 4 hours. Soon got a regular who booked me every week for £5 a round. Relatively easy money for a single session instead of every day. Got me thinking as to what the value is now. Seems £50-70 depending on which measure used. I knew inflation was bad, but not that bad. Definitely a Four Yorkshireman moment but 25% back then puts the current whining in some perspective!!

Then when we moved to Eastbourne it was back to a paper round along Seaside and Langney. As I got into my mid teens it was the bright lights of the hotel trade. Kitchen porter, waiter, barman. Funded me through my University years with guaranteed holiday work Christmas, Easter and Summer. It was opposite the pier and the breakfast / lunch / dinner shift meant I could spend 5-6 hours a day on the beach on a work day

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Started doing a paper round 7 days a week in Mill Hill, North London in 1973. Then found the local golf club was paying a lot more money for a single round of 4 hours. Soon got a regular who booked me every week for £5 a round. Relatively easy money for a single session instead of every day. Got me thinking as to what the value is now. Seems £50-70 depending on which measure used. I knew inflation was bad, but not that bad. Definitely a Four Yorkshireman moment but 25% back then puts the current whining in some perspective!!

View attachment 167397
Then when we moved to Eastbourne it was back to a paper round along Seaside and Langney. As I got into my mid teens it was the bright lights of the hotel trade. Kitchen porter, waiter, barman. Funded me through my University years with guaranteed holiday work Christmas, Easter and Summer. It was opposite the pier and the breakfast / lunch / dinner shift meant I could spend 5-6 hours a day on the beach on a work day

This reminds me. As young kids we would often rummage around in the bushes of Peacehaven golf course for lost balls and sell them to golfers. It was quite lucrative.

 

[Zeberdi]

13 - blimey you start them young . I got a part time sat job I remember but I was 17 I think .

Quite normal for kids to do paper rounds at that age - (at least back in the 60s/70s when kids weren’t so soft and didn’t think everything grew on trees and when most of the population had a hard copy newspaper shoved through the door )

I also did a paper round starting at the age of 13. My round was 5 days a week for and hour before school around the Ditchling Rise area before dropping my newspaper sack back to the newsagent, picking up my school bag where I left it at the shop and getting a train from London Road Station to school. Doing a paper round at 7.00am in the depths of winter in the dark come snow and rain was a slog!

Also did housework and gardening to earn my sixpence pocket money so was rolling in it by the time I was 15

 

[Auckland seagull]

I started a paper round at about 14 in Burgess Hill. I remember I had 41 evening papers to deliver on a rural round in Keymer Road and the bloody bag weighed a ton. Some kids had small town based rounds with about 20 papers and got paid the same 14 shillings a week. I used a bike my Dad bought for 15 quid from a bloke he met on a street corner in the Chanctonbury Estate and the chain continually fell off. This meant I spent more time pushing the bloody thing than pedalling it and the papers were always covered in oily fingerprints. On the bright side, we always managed to liberate month old copies of Mayfair and Penthouse that didn't sell in the paper shop. They formed a key part in my education. We could also make off with the occasional box of No 6 when nobody was looking. And the good side of delivering to the big houses was the tips they gave out at Christmas. Great, character building stuff in the early 70s.

 

[Berty23]

Re whether 13 is too young. My daughter wanted one from the age of 11 but was not allowed until 13. She loves it. It gets her up in the morning. It means she has money that she can spend on whatever she wants without me peering over her shoulder. They both have some elderly folk on their round who are often waiting for them just to pass the time of day - it is great for them.

It has actually meant that they ask for less stuff. We went to Maccies on the way back from somewhere a few month ago and my lad said “that costs as much as I earn in a week. That’s ridiculous” and he doesn’t ask for takeaways nearly as much.

Re the safety. I am sure there were as many bad eggs about back in the day but it was more hidden. My worry is cars but generally not too bad at 6.30 as they go about on their bikes with lights and helmets etc. I always worry but they love it.

 

[Elbow750]

13 was a standard starting age for paper rounds in the 1970's. Most of us lied about our ages and started at 12 though, similarly for working in shops and cafes. I lied about my age to get a very lucrative job saturday and after school job at the International supermarket in Newhaven. I applied for and got my NI number a year early, no evidence required, just said I was 15 (or was it 16??) and said form was issued.

Far from being exploited, we were glad of the work and money. It was also good fun, apart from cleaning the freezers out, that was very cold on the hands and would not be tolerated nowadays.

I used to ask the store manager if he wanted his car washed, so I could warm my hands up in warm water afterwards. I can't remember the wages but it was very useful money indeed.

 

[nicko31]

Used to deliver the Argus, it paid quite well.

I had to collect the money weekly, I soon learnt it wasn't the big houses that gave decent tips.

Did the occasional Sunday fill it, but it was a killer. I could barely stand up for the first few Sunday Times, Telegraph and Observers!!!

 

[Spiros]

Morning round 7 days a week on Shoreham Beach from about 78 to 81. Didn't mind getting up in the morning then and my mum always had a cooked breakfast ready for me when I got home. Can't recall exactly how much I got paid but I think it was something like £2 a week

 

[Stumpy Tim]

I started paper rounds at 13, in 1989. By 15 I was clearing £100 a week sometimes, with a morning round, Argus round, Leader round and 1 or 2 Sunday rounds. That was a lot of money for a kid of that age