Ways the old timers make money

[David LaPell]

I was listening the other day to how back when it was more of a barter society before we are what we are now how some folks used to make money. It's a shame that we can't get back to where if you had a skill you could just do what you wanted, without the permits, licenses, fees, tests and degrees.
I recall one guy telling me how they if they saw a porcupine, alive or recently deceased, they would take a large towel and throw it on the porky and then pull it off and sell the quills for $1 to the taxidermist. I remember reading how a pair of teenagers who wanted to buy a Winchester rifle didn't have any money so they went out and made up some railroad ties because the general store also sold those to the local railroad.
I remember my grandparents neighbors when I was a kid selling all the extra eggs to all the folks who lived nearby because at that time they were all the same age and had all lived in that area their whole lives. As they all passed on newer folks moved in and prefer the more expensive storebought eggs from who knows where.
Every Christmas my grandfather would sell a few Christmas trees off a piece of property of his, he never made alot of money, but he made some doing this and they were always cheaper than anything else. I wonder how our society is going to survive when everything is tossed out and we do as little for ourselves as possible. I know less and less people that go get their own fish, or barter items or can make things for themselves. I think we have far too much technology, and unfortunately there are some who would rather have us dependent on others for what we do instead of each other and ourselves.

 

[feralmerril]

When I was a kid in the 40s my dad had a old chev pickup and we would pedal fruit and potatos. He would drive to northern wisconsin, buy potatoes, and then we would go to southern wisconsin and sell them house to house. My mother was born in the country store business, a very outgoing woman that seemed to know everybody, she drove a pickup to towns all over centeral wisconsin on town market days, sell vegatables, trade stuff etc. She did it still into her 70s. The oshkosh newspaper featuered a article on her once. I remember the folks would go out frogging. Catch frogs and sell to some medical outfit for pregnantcy tests. That was fun. I also sold worms and night crawlers as a 8 or 9 year boy. We lived in fishing country and I had a sign up in front of the house. Also I went with a uncle and we would trap minnows and sell them to bait shops. We grew sweet corn, watermellons, cantalope, raseberries, apples etc and sold them at moms fruit stand she had set up in front of the house. People nicknamed mom "apple mary".

 

[zoom6zoom]

...and now they are busting little girls for selling lemonade without permits.

 

[fem]

Ways the oldtimers make money.

As a 6-7 yr old in East Texas I would take care of my Granmaws chickens. Would rat-hole eggs till I got enough to pay for a box of .22 shells at the local store(2 miles away) Thought I was pretty slick till I was home from the AF and my Granmaw told me the woman I was selling the eggs to was her cousin...Way I got caught was my Granmaw was complaining to her relative that her hens were not laying as many "aigs" as they had in the past(before my caper) Try sending your young kid to the supermarket with eggs to trade for ca-trid-ges now Ha

Frank

 

[27145]

Wow, this is an awesome topic. I think this will be a rambling post nfor me. I have so many thoughts on the subject. To give some background, I am 48 and my Dad is 68 we all grew up in NYC.

Growing up, my Dad didn't pay to have anyone fix or do anything around the house. He did it himself and had me help. I became a jack of all trades and a master of none. When I was a kid, like 10 years old, I would hustle for a buck cutting lawns. When I was 13 I would work on the neighbors cars and my Dad's friends would drop off the cars for me to work on. My Dad had a vast collection of tools, that he would buy as projects came up. I could work on cars, do light construction and woodwork, plumbing and electrical. I spent some money on myself, I saved some and I used the money for Holiday gifts for my family. I was a Cop for 20 years, when I retired I became a Harley mechanic, due to the fact that my Dad taught me mechanics.

My kids are 20 and 21. I divorced their Mom when they were 5 and 6 years old. My kids can't even clear a stopped drain. Since I did not live with them, projects never came up when they were around. They never learned to work with their hands, because I was not around on a daily basis, only seeing them every weekend. As a matter of fact, they really have no work ethic.

When my Dad was a kid (born in '42) he lived in Queens, NY. His Dad delivered milk by horse and wagon. He helped him on that route as well as his Uncle's construction firm. His Dad taught him to work with his hands.

My Father in law (also born '42) grew up on his father's farm in Pa. They were poor, with the crops they grew, they sold it locally and once in a while traded off for beef. They had chickens also. His Mom died when he was an infant and had 2 brothers. The kids all ended up in foster care until the Father remarried a couple of years later and got the kids back. They hunted daily. If they didnt hunt, they didnt eat meat. My FIL had a tragic hunting accident, he accidentally shot his cousin. The sheriff told his father to give up his weapons or the kid goes to a home until court hearings were adjudicated. His father said, "take the boy". He spent a year there, keep in mind his father might sound harsh, but w/o weapons, the family would starve.

The difference between my father, my father in law and me is that my FIL is better conditioned to survive should the economy tank. He has survival skills. I have never hunted, so I would not even know how to dress a deer. My kids would never be able to make it on their own. It could happen that this economy totally shuts down, the way the US is going. Desperate times would be an understatement.

The people of the Great Depression are Survivors, getting through that then WWII. Nowadays people would lay down and die or just kill people to get what they want. It could be apocolyptic.

Damn, I need a drink, is it beer:30 yet?

 

[Fishslayer]

I used to sell bonito on Redondo pier. Sometimes I'd take 'em to Tony's fish market @ $.10/lb or sell 'em to tourists if it was night time.

$.25 each gutted, $.50 each fileted. They always wanted 'em fileted. After I was done fishing I'd tote the skeletons over to where the crabbers were & sell 'em for $.25 each.

 

[TheHobbyist]

While I am not an "old timer" by any means, I remember as a kid if I wanted something, clothes, what have you, you had to work for it.

Whether it was painting, mowing lawns, cleaning, "fix it" jobs, I realized as a kid that the harder I worked the better it was. If you didn't have an opportunity, you made an opportunity by working hard and being diligent.

 

[jimmyj]

Grew up in a rural area. Everyone had a garden. neighbors would trade
back and forth for what they needed. Milk, eggs, vegetables, etc. I would walk the roads picking up pop bottles to turn in to the country store for the $.02 deposit and use the money to purchase .22 shorts ammo.
Moving to the city I sold newspapers on a street corner, delivered newspapers on a route, and bagged groceries in the neighborhood store for tips. During high school worked in a department store putting up stock after school.

 

[captorquewrench]

I haven't had steady work in almost 3 years. I supplement my sporadic musician's income by canning and selling. I buy my friend's knitting and eggs and produce from local farms (OK, an hour or so's drive north) as often as I can for a lot of reasons including: It's better quality. it's better for the local economy. I hate wal mart.

My two oldest daughters babysit for their discretionary money. They are a lot more judicious with their spending than if I just gave it to them. They save for what they want, and the oldest will give me gas money fairly frequently because I drive her and her friends places when I don't have to and they know gas isn't free or cheap. Concert tickets or movies, she pays for herself. And the last two school years she paid for all her own school clothes and supplies, and it was her idea to do it. She made lists, and budgets, and stuck to them. She came out ahead so treated her sisters.

Now, I'm not saying that to brag on my own parenting skills but because I think many young people, her age, and even a bit older, have no concept of work ethic or "if you don't work you don't eat (or go to the movies or whatever)" and I am glad she knows and understands this. She also does all the oil changes and tire rotations to earn her car 'rights'. She handles her own laundry. She is very annoyed with her own generation lack of ambition and something-for-nothing attitude (and a lot of adults) Having said that, her room is ridiculous and I can't get her to do regular chores for anything.

Also, my husband does most of our home maintenance/repair and some auto repair and maintenance as side work in our driveway.

We don't do a lot of hunting or fishing, but we can and have the tools.

 

[SFCE7]

Growing up in the 50's taught me about work ethics. I bailed hay, milked the cows early in the morning, put them out in the pasture, collected the eggs, slop the pigs and fed the chickens. This for a 10 -12 hour day for a dollar a day. It was hard work but honest work, which kept with me throughout my life. Today that would be child abuse. which comes with an attitude and finally on to maybe a criminal life expecting to get something for nothing.

 

[pharmer]

I know a fellow locally that sharpens everything. Giant bandsaw blades for sawmills, industrial food processing machines, etc. Everything is cash (he even has a couple drunks helping out he pays cash). Clears $2-$3K a week, lives in a nice, paid for house. No bank accounts, although his wife has one that's fat. Only downside is retirement, no SS or 401K. Hasn't paid taxes in his life and nobody bothers him. Something to be said for living "off the grid." Joe

 

[Iggy]

I made pretty good money shooting and selling Jackrabbits to a feller for mink food. White tails went for $.75 and black tails went for $.50. Don't ask me why the difference. I could never find out either.

Nylon 66 with a scope. Long Rifles cost $.50 a box. I fed cattle in a pickup all winter. Rabbits would be sittin' in their hole weatherin' out the storm. They din't want to move. A feller could drive within 25 to 30 yards. Aim for the eye, one shot, one rabbit. I'd usually get half a dozen a day and sell them when I had a hundred.

Did the same kind of thing on Thurs afternoons during college. Kept me in beer money for four years.

 

[blujax01]

There are several Framer's Markets locally where folks sell not only produce but eggs and honey as well. While raising chickens might be a problem, one can keep bees in the 'burbs - or make candles, or knit, or dry herbs.

As long as you have old hippies (or folks who used to live the life), you will have barter and cottage industries.

 

[m657]

When about 10 in the first Eisenhower administration, I learned how to sell strawberries to the grocery store. And grampa & mom made me into a passable gardener....which has been a real survival skill many of these past years....perhaps even more in the years to come.

 

[26Ford]

I made pretty good money shooting and selling Jackrabbits to a feller for mink food. White tails went for $.75 and black tails went for $.50. Don't ask me why the difference. I could never find out either.

Nylon 66 with a scope. Long Rifles cost $.50 a box. I fed cattle in a pickup all winter. Rabbits would be sittin' in their hole weatherin' out the storm. They din't want to move. A feller could drive within 25 to 30 yards. Aim for the eye, one shot, one rabbit. I'd usually get half a dozen a day and sell them when I had a hundred.

Did the same kind of thing on Thurs afternoons during college. Kept me in beer money for four years.

Iggy, my family had a Mink Ranch many many years ago. Believe me when I tell you the little buggers are better than we did. In the feed room we had a 6 cylinder Studebaker truck engine and a 3 speed manual transmission that turned the giant food grinder. This was built off of a large frame bigger than the original truck frame. Food came in the form of 50-100 pound frozen blocks that were tossed into the hopper of this giant grinder. 3 times a day the mink ate a mixture of this ground fish, chicken, and red meat. 3 times a day in the frozen winters of upstate New York. Sometimes as fast as you slopped in on top of the cage, it froze. In one year, the market for U.S. grown Mink pelts dwindled to nothing, the Europeans basically put the Americans out of business. The Europeans showed up in N.Y.C. with superior pelts that sold for half the price as ours. 95% of all U.S. Mink ranches went out in that one year. 26

 

[Iggy]

26Ford,
Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting.
Yup, all of a sudden they quit buyin'. Din't know why, reckon that's why I had to go get a job as a cop. I was runnin' short on beer money.

 

[oldman45]

The old time methods are still being done out in the rural areas.

As example: My brother in law rasies chickens for the eggs. He sells the excess eggs his family does not use for .50 a dozen. He bales hay. He gives the land owners a percentage of the hay baled off their land and he sells the rest. The guy owning the farm next to him is a mechanic and keeps all BIL equipment running in exchange for free bushogging. In the spare time, BIL has a garden and sells off the crops that family members does not get for free. Last year he got over $1200 from a man that brought a truck in to get watermelons. The man loaded them and all BIL had to do was put the money in his pocket.

 

[quneur]

We used to return shopping carts for stamps. 1 stamp per cart and with enough stamps, you could turn it in for a buck. We would wait for people comming out of the store and ask if they needed help. Made pretty good money with the tips until the store manager decided it was bad publicity. We would also wash cars and collect cans.

 

[G-Mac]

See my sig line below....

 

[roarindan]

Anybody ever "peel pulpwood"??? got paid by the cord,this was before the mills put in auto pulpers
We used to walk along the road an pick up soda an beer bottles to turn in for ammo.