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The past can teach us many things. We can see how unjust our society was to some people before major Supreme Court cases were decided. We can imagine how simple some aspects of life were before cell phones tethered us to work.
The past can teach us many things. We can see how unjust our society was to some people before major Supreme Court cases were decided. We can imagine how simple some aspects of life were before cell phones tethered us to work.
Got my first job 1 week after graduating from high school ( 1963 )
After 30 days, I got Union pay and full benefits.
Union pay was $1.97 an hour ( with lots of overtime ) and was considered a great wage back then.
I bought a brand new Chevy Malibu SS in spring of 64 and only took out 2 years payments.
Oh for the good days.
I was making $1.55 an hour as a single male living by myself in a one bedroom apartment complex. With overtime my take home pay averaged $80 per week.
Rent was $105 a month and this was Mountain View, California.
Levi's were made in San Francisco and sold for $3.75.
New 4 br 2 ba homes in Santa Clara were on the market for $29,900.00. The rich lived in Los Altos Hills where houses cost an amazing $40,000 which was for the super rich. Super rich was anyone make > $4 an hour.
Gasoline cost $0.32 a gallon in the bay area but during gas wars you could pick up a tankful for $0.22 a gallon.
I had a union job in 1960 and my week pay was $98.00 gross. I quit Dec 24th and went into business for myself. I made over $2000 in the 1st 2-1/2 weeks of working in my new business and never looked back over 36 yrs untill I retired.
I started and owned 5 businesses during those self employed yrs and if I were a bit younger and healthier would not hesitate to start another business.
Working for a paycheck every week like some do is not a cup of tea in my book. Look at the problems some are having today because they depended on that check every fri and spent more money then they made.
I had a house and family to support and that $98.00 every week was not going to cut it. Living paycheck to paycheck got tiresome real quick. I did have my degree but the money was not enough for me in that particular field so I decided to enter into another wide open area of my previous experience as a former supervisor in a field I excelled in. End of story.
That article is so poorly written. Every single one of those salary comparisons simply took the 1958 salary and multiplied it by 7.44. I doubt all jobs received an across the board identical increase in 50 years.
I had a union job in 1960 and my week pay was $98.00 gross. I quit Dec 24th and went into business for myself. I made over $2000 in the 1st 2-1/2 weeks of working in my new business and never looked back over 36 yrs untill I retired.
For most of my life I owned my own business and it enabled me to do things working paycheck to paycheck would never afforded. Sure, there were a few bad years (I qualified but did not apply for work income credit in 1991) but this was rare. You take the good with the bad and when evened it out I came out way ahead. Some of those years I made six figures but I worked twice as hard and twice as long as the average wage earner.
But mostly good times.
I decided to end it a few years ago because I am approaching retirement age and honestly don't want to work the business end of the business anymore. I also don't need the money and I am content to be a cog in a wheel. I get to do what's fun now.
But if I were 30 there would be no way I would work for someone else unless it was training in preparation to owning my own. When you train you strive to be the best you can be because you better be if you want to be successful in doing it on your own.
That article is so poorly written. Every single one of those salary comparisons simply took the 1958 salary and multiplied it by 7.44. I doubt all jobs received an across the board identical increase in 50 years.
I agree--flight attendent is a prime example.
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First job in 1969
