On January 1, 1962, Pennsylvania raised the minimum wage for men, women and minors to $1 per hour. There were a few exceptions:
Learners made 85 cents an hour.
Employers could deduct 35 cents per hour if the employee got tips at least 75% of the working day which totaled at least 35 cents per hour. There was no such thing as a free meal; if the boss fed you on the job, he could deduct 50 cents per meal. If you received lodging from your employer, he could deduct $5 a week from your pay.
The new law replaced the 1937 Minimum Wage Law, which was on the books for 25 years.
How much did you make per hour at your first job? Click here to leave a comment.
Enjoy more unusual facts about Erie, PA at: Old Time Erie
$1.80 I swept up at Zinc cleaners
ReplyDeleteWhich location did you work at?
Delete1967: I earned $2.70/hour as a coil puller & insulator at Erie G.E. My flat on Dunn Blvd. cost $85./ month. My wife & I spent about $10./week for groceries.
ReplyDeleteWhat building were you in at GE?
DeleteIn the summer of '67 I made $1.50 an hour working for the City Of Clairton, PA.
ReplyDeleteIn the summer of '69 I made $3.10 an hour working for U.S. Steel. That was SO MUCH money at the time for a college student!!
I made $5.00 a week working at a summer camp during my summer breaks in the early 80's as a dishwasher and ranch hand. It included all meals and a bed. They were great times. Still keep in touch with a few of my co-workers. And it's still run by the same people to this day.
ReplyDeleteI earned $.85 an hour when I was 15 in my first job at Carl Meacham's Big Family Market grocery store which was located in the building that now houses Cleveland Plant and Supply on West 12th St.
ReplyDeleteWhat other stores were in that plaza when you worked there? It would be difficult to have a retail store there know because there is no access from West 12th St.
DeleteThe other store was a self serve shoe store advertising 2 pairs for $5.00.. While I was working there Elby's Big Boy opened in a new building to the immediate west. It's now pool supply store.
DeleteSerafini's was located at 12th and Delaware on the northwest corner.
Do you have any photos of the PRR Dock Junction Yard that ran between Greengarden Ave and Pittsburg Ave along the New York Central line you could post?
I made $.35 an hour working at a drug store in Lawrence Park stocking shelves and checking in orders.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember what the most common prescriptions were when you worked there?
ReplyDeleteI earned $1.80 an hour working for Howard Faulkner and Joe Gardocki at the newly opened Super Duper Market at 27th and Elm.
ReplyDeleteI started at $3.40 and hour at Super Duper West in 1978 when it opened.
DeleteI graduated from General McLane May 1965. A month later, I was making a whole 75 cents an hour doing administrative work for House of Edinboro, a furniture manufacturer by the golf course in Edinboro. I ended up bringing home about $33 a week. LOL
ReplyDelete