Jobs in the Old Neighborhood

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Jobs in the Old Neighborhood

Postby mike cronin » Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:24 am

Reading stories about the A&P reminded me of working in the old neighborhood.

It seems that you could always find some sort of job for a little extra $. I used to fill in for the regular delivery boy at Pleasant Foods on Archer. This store was run by Seymour & Bell ( I forget their last name). At the time, most of his business was run out of the basement of the store. He had a whole other store, shelves and all set up down there. This was for people that phoned in the order or dropped off a list. The order would be put together down stairs, sent up on a belt system to the street and off you would go. The orders were written on the insides of cigarette cartons that were ripped up. The order was sent in boxes - the same ones that the food came in.

I remember walking up to the 5th floor with multiple boxes of groceries. It seemed that nobody on the 1st floor needed delivery (duh!).

The one thing I hated was those people ( and you know who you are :evil: ) that instead of a tip, they would give you their empty deposit bottles, that you had to lug back to the store & cash in yourself!

As far as shopping at the store, when you were ready to check out, Seymour would take a paper bag and a wax pencil (the type with the string on it) and list all the prices on the bag, and add it up as fast as any calculator. You would then walk out with the paper bag - with the total on it!

A great way to "break in" to the working world!
Stratton Park - the best place to grow up!!!
mike cronin
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Postby bob5915 » Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:15 pm

Hi Mike:
Wow, You brought some memories back. My brother Charlie was the regular delivery guy for the pleasant and I used to help him out. Seymour and Bell were great. My parents were very good friends with them. Sadly Seymour passed away some 25 years ago and Bell moved to Florida about five years later. I remember the belt from the basement to get the groceries to the street and Seymour asking my brother if he could get a pint of scotch from Gordon's on Tremont Ave and give you a whole quarter as not to tell Bell. They were very nice people. When my brother Charlie was stabbed to death in 1969, they came to the house and gave my mother several hundred dollars as a donation which was alot of money back than. If we could only turn back time for those good memories!
Bobby Roth
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Postby Linda Hall » Thu Jul 05, 2007 8:19 am

Hello Mike glad to see you on!What a surprise for us!Well Mike as I had said before I myself worked in Johnny LEGGS laundry when I was just about twelve.I was in laundry heaven they were all soooo nice to me it was like home more than a job although I had a lot of work to do.I may have even done someones cloths.Well Johnny and Carmella were sooo nice to me they treated me like family.Not only good pay for that time as John was a very kind man.I got all sorts of fringe benefits like a free lunch and brake with snacks and of course the guys would stop by on a regular basis an tease me and sing that silly song "stinkies you work in stinkies you stink too" :roll: something like that.Well God love them and I hope Tony Ann Carmela's daughter would let us know how she is doing?Yes it is I Linda Hall back on again hahhahah. :wink:
Linda Hall
 
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