The Good Old Days....Or How It Used to Be!!

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

From the pages of OUR CANADA - May/June 2005

The Rural Mailman: You could set your clock by him.

“The man who delivered the mail to our farm in eastern Ontario in the '20s & '30s was a perfect example of what we called a baling-wire mechanic—he figured anything that needed fixing could be mended by twisting mailing wire around it. And his approach to equipment maintenance was evident on the buggy in which he carried his mail.

We all knew him as the Mailman. His poor horse was no more than a bag of bones. I'm sure a real horse would have covered the route more quickly, but then his baling-wire maintenance might not have survived the ride over the roads of the day.

In any even, of this detracted from the Mailman's devotion ot the kind of mail service that made him a local institution.

Mail arrived in Lancaster by train from Cornwall and was taken to the post office, where it was sorted for either local pick up or rural delivery. But to send a letter from Lancaster to Bainsville, 6 miles farther east along the line, all you had to do was get to the railroad station before the eastbound train arrived. The letter would be put on the train, sorted and put off in Bainsvillle a few minutes later. The letter would be read in Bainsville 15 minutes after it was mailed in Lancaster.

The Mailman's route amounted to 20 miles of country road. His buggy had no top, so when it rained he got wet. How he kept the mail dry under these condition I never knew.

His worst times were in the spring and late fall, when he had to convert from runners to wheels or vice versa. On any given day, whichever decision he made seemed to be the wrong one.

And yet we could set our clock by his arrival at our mailbox—whether the roads were deep with mud or buried under fresh snow.

The rural population really took advantage of the Mailman's obligating nature. If you didn't have the necessary stamp for a letter, you just tossed three cents into the mailbox along with the letter. The mailman would buy a stamp, put it on the and mail the letter.

People ordering goods from a mail-order catalog would the money and the order in an unsealed envelop. The Mailman would buy the necessary money order, put it in the envelop with the order and send it off—and he'd bring back the change the next day.

The Mailman even carried messages from farm to farm. He was never paid for these extra services, nor did he ask to be.

I can still see the Mailman slouched in the corner of his old buggy, his shapeless had down over his eyes and his old horse jogging slowly along—ah, the good old days.”

Len Fourney, Cornwall, Ont

[cumos55]

At about 1965.... Lowest salary ... about $1.35, or $1.45 per hour.

University of Manitoba tuition.....  1965-66.... $400 per year

1971... gasoline at a low of about 45 cents per gallon... imperial gallon... in today's world  that is about 10 cents per liter.

In the 1950's and earlier.....milk was delivered to each residence in a city....  The buggy was pulled by a horse.....

The last streetcar in Winnipeg..... 1956....  My school had a competition to see which class would go to the corner of Euclid and Main Street  to see the last streetcar go by.   My class won! The tracks were not removed.  the streetcar rails were filled in to make the street flat for all vehicles.   The tracks were eventually removed in certain areas when  the street level was lowered below an underpass on Main Street.... or when the street was repaired.

My teacher in 1956  was Helen Norrie, her first year of teaching .  Her husband was an alderman in 1956, and eventually became a mayor of Winnipeg

The 1971 Datsun purchase price.... about $2,000

My parents bought their house... early 1950's..... about $5,000

early 1970's  .... hamburger, fries and milk shake at MacDonald's  for less than $1.00.

Received my first driver's license at age 21....  It was the last year for age 21....  was reduced to age 18..... now it is age 16

[reallynicestamps]

Thanks for including the minimum wage-- that's a very important part of the discussion.

Today the minimum wage here is 23c a minute.

As I recall my tuition in 1967 was $500 per course.

Considering I had been earning $3500 annually as a (very bad) bank teller, I was glad of the student loans.

[msmaggie060]

I just realized that our first house cost $36,000 in 1969 and this  year we have just spent $35,000+ to have our bathrooms renovated. The bathrooms cost more than our first home! I’d better not remind DH of that, I want to renovate my kitchen next!

We we’re really lucky back in the 70s. I remember pay raises of 10 and 11 percent. Sold our first home after 6 years for double what we paid for it and moved to the north end of the GTA. Paid this one off pretty fast too. I guess that’s why most seniors are fairly well off these days.

Of course, we did without until we could afford to buy something, no credit cards back then, you saved your money then spent it. Not like today, the kids want top of the line stuff only and they don’t want to wait. Mind you, they also make one heck of a lot more money at their jobs than we did and I think they have to work a lot harder too. 

[rcrawford34]

My First Full Time Job in 1973 was working with High Needs Children in a Residential Treatment Centre  for $5800.00 per year.   Even then it was below the standard of living.   Used to work  over one hundred hours per week. Don't even try to figure out what that was per hour.  Looking Back  I was either really dedicated or something else. I lean towards Something Else, but enjoyed it. Used to go into work at 5:30 am or 6 am and many days was still there at 11:00 PM  At times depending on how many staff were available  I had to stay over night.   Got to sleep on the couch but always had one ear open.  Sometimes did not get to go home for 3 or 4 days. 

A that point the kids did not go to an outside school so had a school program in the house. Only break I got was for an hour everyday at 11:00  The kids watched Sesame Street. I became an expert on that show.  Got to have favorite characters on that show and knew about them My favorite was Snuffleupagus.  The  kids  knew the couch was mine during that time.  Sometimes had a cat nap and woke up with 3 or 4 kidlets sitting on me. 

Rented a house with 2 other people for $135.00 a month plus heat hydro and phone.  Granted did not have high expenses for food. Ate at the Home I worked in.  Approx 12 staff and kids  our grocery bills were very high but we ate well.  They had 12 Homes in the area. The local Grocery stores loved us

Always seemed to have Money. Course with the hours  I worked not a lot of time to spend it.  . On days off we would travel out of the area. If not a good chance you could  be called back in that day.. 

Bought my first Car New for $2300.00. Had Cash in my Pocket to do so. First place I went to walked in the guy would not talk to me (I was a long Haired Hippy) and thought he was wasting his time with me. As I walked out Said "To Bad I was going to buy this one today" and brought out the Cash.  Walking away he chased me trying to get me to come back in

Next day went elsewhere and bought one from there. They did not care what I looked like 

Same at University in 1978.   Very little money had student Loans etc  but worked part time during the Academic Year and Full Time in the summer. Always got by but still always seemed to have Cash  but that was before the bills came in for doing so. Things changed after I graduated.  Took awhile to find a job in my field

One bonus was one of My Summer FT Job while at University. worked there for 4 Summers as the gardener. A Hospital. First year worked for $3.00 per hour In between the first and second yr the Work Crews  Cleaners etc went on strike When over they got a much needed adjustment in Pay. 

Second year started at $3.00 an hour but half way through my hourly rate was raised to $17.00 per hour plus back pay including the previous summer.  It was the second highest Student Job in the City.  My Student Loans (grants)  were readjusted because of this but did come out ahead

weavers

[femmefan1946]

The reason for payraises of 10-11% was that inflation was rampant.

My inlaws were investing in rural mortgages that paid 29% interest.

Pay $10,000 for a rural property and $2900 in interest every year.

Pay your mortgage faithfully every year and at the end of four years, you still owed $10,000, because the interest is paid first, then the capital.

We had a mortgage where the interest varied from month to month. The lowest interest was about 11% and was usually between 13% and 15% but one month, just before we paid it off, we paid 23% interest .

We bought the house, in downtown Ottawa, just as the neighbourhood gentrified, for $42,000 in 1974 and sold it for $172,000 in 1995.

We barely qualified for a mortgage in 1974 because only DH's wages were considered, not mine, although at the time I earned more than he did.