Jobs for a person with an eighth grade education
My dad always was a hard worker. He was a "do-it-yourself" guy to save money.
The first job of his that I remember was in Clifton Heights as a gas station
attendant at a Citgo Station. Later he was employed at Stefano Brothers
cigarette factory in Philadelphia, PA. My mother's cousin Harry B Burkholder
(Uncle Harvey) was head of maintenance there and he helped get my Dad hired to operate
cigarette machines used to make Marvel cigarettes. During the Second
World War, about age 30, he was a machinist at the Sun Ship Company in Chester,
PA so he was not eligible for the draft.
Bartender
He worked at a variety of taverns in Media, Springfield, and Nether Providence.
We depended on the tips he got. I came to see him at work on Christmas Eve
in the early 50's. He is wiping his head. That is my cheek and ear in the
right section of the picture on the left. We also have a picture
of him as he was about to start work on a New Years Eve. This job of dad's
was terrific. Dad made more job contacts for me than any employment agency.
It probably only cost his employer a free drink or extra "shot" to get me
a job lead. Dad would come home and tell me to go see a guy named Frank
or Joe at some construction site. No last names! That was challenging! I
got to be a caddy, a paperboy, a laborer, a trash guy, a carpenter's helper,
and a messman on a tanker. Notice the upward mobility! At Christmas time,
when I was in college, I always had a job waiting at the local post office
and I could sell Christmas trees after doing my mail route.
Supportive of hard workers
Dad would almost always pack a bag for me for lunch. He even got me a deal
on an old 1939 Dodge ($50) when I was 18 (in 1950) through his bartending
job.
Career changes
When I was at college (1950-1954) he had two jobs at once. He would tend
bar after dinner until after midnight and he was a school bus driver in
Springfield in the mornings and after school. After his divorce in 1960
he went to work at some point for the highway department of Pennsylvania.
He started as a laborer and studied to become an inspector. That was quite
an achievement because he had to learn to write and apply the requirements
and standards for highway construction. He worked on the new Route 1 by-pass.
When he was older he was a traffic flagman at highway construction sites
throughout Delaware County until 1977 when he was 66. |
