See How Steep The Streets

Selling subscriptions was the only way to increase my revenue and pay. We were pretty much paid per newspaper we delivered. five cents for each paper, if I recall correctly. I had 35 on one round and 40 on the second. This would take around one and a half hours. So, by doing two rounds, I could take home about two dollars thirty five cents on a good day. And at five days a week (later they printed a Saturday paper), I could earn the princely sum of eleven dollars and seventy five cents. It was hard work. While a few houses were on the flat road of the main street in the valley, the rest of the houses were on the sides of the hills lining the valley. So it was, walk along the flat section, ‘lugging’ the very heavy canvas bag. Delivering to the one or two houses on that stretch who took the paper, then, bag down. Take out the half dozen or more papers and walk up the hill. Leaving the newspaper bag at the bottom of the street while I made the delivery, up one side and down the other. Up the steep street, and down the steep street. Every paper delivered into the subscribers mailbox.

Actually, also in the same valley where my paper round was, is a street that boasts the Guiness Book of Records title of the steepest street in the world. Baldwin Street. Parts of it are 35degrees angle or, more than double the recommended maximum angle 17 degrees for a road. Not even the Tour de France Mountain champions would want to ride it. The steepness has been put to good use in many community fundraising events. The most popular is the annual famous Cadbury ‘Jaffa’ lolly roll. The sweet/chocolate company, who produce the famous theatre lolly, ‘Jaffas’ (They are a chocolate ball with a crunchy hard candy orange flavoured exterior). The sweets for the event are specially produced and numbered as opposed to the normal smaller theatre ones. The sides of the streets are fenced in with temporary fencing and several thousand ‘numbered’ lollies are sent hurtling down the worlds steepest street. Hopefully the winner remains intact enough for the number to be read and identified.

I fortunately didn’t have that particular street on my rounds. The only way I could pick up extra money was to on-sell the five extra papers we were given to cover emergencies. Papers too wet, or such. This was before papers were wrapped in clingfilm or bagged. We could sell on, only after I completed the round, if those five papers were not needed. These were given to us free, so we potentially could make another dollar twenty five in earnings. This was the wages bonus. However, there were many mornings when I had finished the round, the phone would ring in our house and someone would be claiming I didn’t deliver to their house. Sure. Either they had a neighbour who had pinched their paper, or they wanted two. How could I not deliver a paper? Didn’t they trust me?

(Continued tomorrow)