• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
  • HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
    Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
    im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
    we are now using a backup solution

Saturday jobs

ade

ade

master brummie
Going back to our youth and school days what was your first Saturday job whilst growing up in our great city, I was 12 years old and got my first Saturday job working at Pomona fruits in Great Barr, it was hard work and a very early start but got paid well, I got 6 pounds which was 3 times the paper boys and girls got, and to be honest it set me up well for the future and made me appreciate the value of money, I'll never forget Christmas time though it was crazy, but looking back now I loved it and learnt alot from the experience. I was there 5 years and saved up to buy a "proper " Dawes racing bike to get to work in bissell street highgate to start my first full time job after leaving school
 
crikey ade 6 quid for a saturday job...what year was that...i got a quid for my sat job working in a drapers shop on lozells road...year would have been about 1967/8

lyn
 
Last edited:
Astoness said:
crikey ade 6 quid for a saturday job...what year was that...i got a quid for my sat job working in a drapers shop on lozells road...year would have been about 1967/8

lyn
Click to expand...
That was 1976 Lyn, I felt l'd won the pools when I had my first pay packet :) mind you it was hard work though, I eventually ended up doing 3 days a week after school aswel but it really gave me a sense of purpose plus all the fruit and veg I could eat :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
even for 76 that was a very good wage ade...glad the job stood you in good stead for the future plus you also had a healthy diet lol.... :)

lyn
 
ade said:
Going back to our youth and school days what was your first Saturday job whilst growing up in our great city, I was 12 years old and got my first Saturday job working at Pomona fruits in Great Barr, it was hard work and a very early start but got paid well, I got 6 pounds which was 3 times the paper boys and girls got, and to be honest it set me up well for the future and made me appreciate the value of money, I'll never forget Christmas time though it was crazy, but looking back now I loved it and learnt alot from the experience. I was there 5 years and saved up to buy a "proper " Dawes racing bike to get to work in bissell street highgate to start my first full time job after leaving school
Click to expand...

My first job was age 14 at a hairdressers in Hay Mills, friday nights and saturday mornings, washing hair, folding towels, sweeping up and making cuppa's.
 
  • Appreciate
Reactions: ade
My first job was as a Saturday girl in a small hairdressers on Jockey Rd Wylde Green. I got 10 shillings working 9-6. Washing hair,taking out rollers, sweeping up, .among tea etc. This was 1965 I was 14.
When I was 15 I worked at Gills toy shop on the Parade in Sutton. I got about £1-10 shillings. I made good friends there and loved the job. There were various departments as well as toys. Newsagents and stationery, prams and baby stuff, model trains and modelling over two floors. The Gill family were very good to their staff, many who worked for them for years.
Carolann
 
I would collect horse muck in a bucket, chop sticks for firewood & sell them. Also i had garden shears & would cut folks hedges, knock on doors & ask if they had waste paper for salvage which i would sell when i had sufficient quantity ( often got some good comics which i would sell after i`d read them of course ) Can`t think why i`m not a millionaire.:D
 
I was still at school, so probably about 1966 when I was 15. I worked Saturday at C&A in the city centre and got 17s 6d. Prior to that I used to work 8 hours a week at a local grocery shop and got 1s per hour. If I was lucky, when delivering groceries, I might have had a 6d tip off some customers!
 
Never had a Sat job but during the School holidays was picked up at the BSA Tile Cross and was taken to different Farms around the Coleshill area to pick Sugar Beet or Potatoes or anything
 
Milkmans lad,Butchers lad at Dewhurst on Washwoodheath road, then at Pitts the Butchers Stechford, then Fish Lad at Blackwells in old indoor market,all between 1969 and 1972 , but all jobs we worked in summer holidays, thts also when you could start work at about 12 cant remember wages but got cheaper meat and fish
 
Milkman's lad also, paper boy 77 papers morning and night Sundays was a killer as some folks had more than one paper took two trips to load up as my bag got to heavy, if you lived at 43 Ryde Park Road and missed you paper at night that was me, I will come clean sometimes I sold it, got to see some revealing things in the morning route
 
As some may know my mom owned a grocery shop so I had many jobs there come home from school empty the bins at the bacon slicer and the slicer for the ham etc stock shelves deliver groceries to poeples homes (that could be sad) go to the cash and carry with pop 2 nights a week the best part was to burn the boxes after stocking had a 55 gallon drum I would load up could get the flames to go higher than the shop had the fire department show up more than once must admit I was very proud of my burning box skills
 
reading this thread with great interest :) ...i am the eldest of 6 children so pocket money from my parents did not come easy hence we soon had to learn that if you wanted money then just like our dad who worked hard you went out and earned it...keep the posts coming folks

lyn
 
ade said:
Going back to our youth and school days what was your first Saturday job whilst growing up in our great city, I was 12 years old and got my first Saturday job working at Pomona fruits in Great Barr, it was hard work and a very early start but got paid well, I got 6 pounds which was 3 times the paper boys and girls got, and to be honest it set me up well for the future and made me appreciate the value of money, I'll never forget Christmas time though it was crazy, but looking back now I loved it and learnt alot from the experience. I was there 5 years and saved up to buy a "proper " Dawes racing bike to get to work in bissell street highgate to start my first full time job after leaving school
Click to expand...
My first Saturday job was in Henry’s in Union Street for about 16 shillings. It was 1964 and Cilla Black’s ‘Anyone who had a heart’ was played in the record department in the basement.
 
hi ade i meant to ask where exactly in gt barr was pomona fruit shop..it rings a bell with me..would it have been at the scott arms?

lyn
 
Just came to mind one of my Saturday jobs was to go get change for the shop mom would had me 20 pounds and send me off but not to the bank to a regular house the man was a rent collecter money every where unless you knew you had no idea
 
  • Appreciate
Reactions: ade
Never had a paper round or a Saturday job as such, but all my holidays were spent working for the plumber and builder next door, who also had a substantial workshop. Since his father had died, he was a one-man show and appreciated the help. I really enjoyed it and learned how to make zinc guttering - long before the plastic stuff came about - and how to make paint - when we had good oldfashioned drysalters that have long since disappeared. I also conquered my fear of heights and learned how to safely climb ladders. He also had a lathe and would turn bits and pieces of metal. Invaluable training.
 
Did a weekday paper round for about one month - not for me so I gave it up. I never did work on Saturdays for money although on a few occasions I helped my father at his business. Summer holidays were work times; it took the boredom off the six weeks. :D
Saturdays were usually my days for exploring the city or visiting relatives. Never had much of a desire for money, other than small amounts for small purchases and transport fares.
 
My first "proper" job was as a paperboy at Shakespeares on the Coventry Road, Sheldon. There were different rates, Solihull round and Birmingham round depending upon which side of the Coventry Road your round was. Solihull wage was higher because on Fridays you delivered the Solihull Times as well as the usual Birmingham Mail.
From there I went on to a milk round working with my uncle but that was Saturday and Sunday mornings. I then had a job at Fine Fare at the Yew Tree as a shelf filler. Really enjoyed that and that was when I had my first "Employment Cards" with my first National Insurance number which of course I still retain today.
From there I worked at Solihull Ice Rink in the skate hire which was great and then a friend asked me to come and work for him and his Dad in the Bull Ring outdoor market. This turned into a full time job whilst I was awaiting my GCE results and from there I went on to pastures new.
 
I never had what you would call a Saturday job as mine (and some school friends) involved working after school a couple of days a week. We worked for a tailor called Maurice Levine who had a workshop in Corporation Street where he took in clothing alterations for various Companies such as Burtons, Dunns and John Collier. It was our job to take the items that needed altering to out workers, the clothes would be put in a suitcase and off we would go to catch whichever bus we would need to get us to where they were needed, the furthest one being in Sutton Coldfield. We would then collect any clothes that were ready and bring them back to Maurice so they could be pressed and taken back to the shop. I cannot remember how much we got but if we worked on the Saturday morning Maurice would drop us home after we had finished

Reddi
 
jmadone said:
Wendy, will you say the name of the shop? Was it Annettes?
Click to expand...

Oh thats it.... I couldn't remember the name! They had 2 salons in Hay Mills a small one coming in from the Swan direction, the main one right in Hay Mills, however , I guess you may already know that, you have a great memory.:) I worked mostly in the larger one but occasionally worked in the small one when they were short.
Wendy
 
sospiri said:
Never had a paper round or a Saturday job as such, but all my holidays were spent working for the plumber and builder next door, who also had a substantial workshop. Since his father had died, he was a one-man show and appreciated the help. I really enjoyed it and learned how to make zinc guttering - long before the plastic stuff came about - and how to make paint - when we had good oldfashioned drysalters that have long since disappeared. I also conquered my fear of heights and learned how to safely climb ladders. He also had a lathe and would turn bits and pieces of metal. Invaluable training.
Click to expand...

Reading between the lines you both got more out of your saturday job rather than it just being a job. Lovely story, thanks for sharing it.
Wendy
 
Astoness said:
reading this thread with great interest :) ...i am the eldest of 6 children so pocket money from my parents did not come easy hence we soon had to learn that if you wanted money then just like our dad who worked hard you went out and earned it...keep the posts coming folks

lyn
Click to expand...
it was at the bottom of perrywood road Lyn, where perrywood road is split by booths farm road, there was a little row of shops there on the corner, it was between the chip shop and the wool shop. It was owned by Mr and Mrs Pitt, they opened another shop opposite the old horns pub on beacon road, they were a lovely family
 
Astoness said:
hi ade i meant to ask where exactly in gt barr was pomona fruit shop..it rings a bell with me..would it have been at the scott arms?

lyn
Click to expand...
( sorry Lyn put this reply on one of your other posts by mistake) it was at the bottom of perrywood road Lyn, where perrywood road is split by booths farm road, there was a little row of shops there on the corner, it was between the chip shop and the wool shop. It was owned by Mr and Mrs Pitt, they opened another shop opposite the old horns pub on beacon road, they were a lovely family. I think the one your thinking of at the Scott's was Meakins.
 
sospiri said:
Never had a paper round or a Saturday job as such, but all my holidays were spent working for the plumber and builder next door, who also had a substantial workshop. Since his father had died, he was a one-man show and appreciated the help. I really enjoyed it and learned how to make zinc guttering - long before the plastic stuff came about - and how to make paint - when we had good oldfashioned drysalters that have long since disappeared. I also conquered my fear of heights and learned how to safely climb ladders. He also had a lathe and would turn bits and pieces of metal. Invaluable training.
Click to expand...
Imagine doing that nowdays with all this health and safety business :(
 
cba said:
My first job was as a Saturday girl in a small hairdressers on Jockey Rd Wylde Green. I got 10 shillings working 9-6. Washing hair,taking out rollers, sweeping up, .among tea etc. This was 1965 I was 14.
When I was 15 I worked at Gills toy shop on the Parade in Sutton. I got about £1-10 shillings. I made good friends there and loved the job. There were various departments as well as toys. Newsagents and stationery, prams and baby stuff, model trains and modelling over two floors. The Gill family were very good to their staff, many who worked for them for years.
Carolann
Click to expand...
Every kids dream job I reckon that toy shop would have been
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top