He Always Had A Job
Beginning at the age of 7, if Bob wanted spending money, he had to earn it. He and his brother Leonard sold papers on O Street in downtown Lincoln. When the school day ended, they would run as fast as they could to the newspaper office on 9th and Que Streets. A batch of papers to sell was provided on a first-come, first-served basis. In those days, a paper boy would stand on a corner or walk up and down the street and holler, "Lincoln Journal Paper, get your Lincoln Journal Paper here." His earnings for the day usually amounted to about 55 cents which he took home to his mom. She would give him a nickel spending money.
The most exciting times selling papers were at the end of World War II. On VE Day (Victory in Europe) and VJ Day (Victory in Japan) Bob was uptown selling papers surrounded by people celebrating in the streets.
Bob's mom did give the boys 15 cents a week allowance to go to a show on Saturday. The show cost 9 cents and he could buy a penny jawbreaker to suck on during the show and have 5 cents for an ice cream cone to eat on the walk home.
Early Teens
Bob started working at Sherman Field Baseball Diamond after it opened in 1947. During the day he would help work on the field to get it ready for an evening game. At the games, one of his jobs was taking care of the scoreboard in the outfield. For those of you who have never seen the old-fashioned score board, it requires a person to post the balls, strikes, hits, errors and runs. The official scorekeeper in the Press Box would radio Bob what number to post.
Bob also worked in Concessions. He would carry a five gallon bucket filled with ice and pop hollering "Ice Cold Pop!" Other times he sold ice cream bars carrying a heavy metal case packed with dry ice.
Bob would earn as much as $33 for one month's work during baseball season. The first paycheck, he lost in a poker game. Hard lesson learned.
High School
After school Bob would work at a restaurant located close to Lincoln High called The Chat and Chew. He also had another job during high school working all night on Friday nights at The Beanery located on railroad property across from the old Roundhouse. One of the bosses from the Railroad was a customer and got to know Bob. He told him to come and see him after he graduated from high school if he wanted to work on the railroad. The dye was cast.
Railroad Career Begins
Bob graduated from Lincoln High School in 1953. A little over a month later he was exactly where he said he would be; working at the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad. Tired of walking the railroad tracks to and from work, Bob managed to buy a Put Put which is like a motorcycle. When it got cold and the cable froze up on the put put, he graduated to his first car, a 40 Ford Sedan. But the car Bob would talk about the most was the 40 Ford Coupe. For more horse power, he added an Oldsmobile motor. Bob swears, "That car could blow most other cars off the road in a drag race except Arty Roeckel's Studebaker." The drag racing Bob participated in was illegal drags down a side street somewhere late at night. About 1958, he purchased a car from his brother Leonard and upgraded to the 1957 Turnpike Cruiser,--what a ride! On October 12, 1959, he met this girl and thought she was cute. Her name was Mary Ann Weyand.
