Son Jim and I were talking this past week about newspaper deliveries, which recalled the various paper routes he had while a student in Enterprise during the 1960s.

It was an upsetting time for us.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had seized our property in Trinity County and closed the gold dredge down leaving my late-husband George out of a job. We had to move with no place to go.

We followed George’s work with repeated moves and the inevitable result, one very undependable and tiny income that we stretched to cover the bare necessities. There was little or nothing extra for an allowance for our kids.

When the paper boy in our area gave up his route, Jim was happy to land the job.

He delivered the Redding Record Searchlight as an independent contractor which meant he paid for the papers that he received. He then sold subscriptions to people along his route whenever he had a chance.

The newspaper sold him rubber bands in bulk and furnished waterproof wrapping for deliveries on stormy days. Once he arrived at home from school, Jim busily wrapped and delivered his papers every afternoon whether the weather included rain, sunshine, snow or sleet.

The worst part of the job was collecting payments from subscribers each month.

Most customers were excellent, but part of Jim’s route included some ne’er-do-well customers from whom he never was able to collect, nor could his advisor when Jim asked for help. After a year or so of such frustrations, Jim quit.

Jim then substituted for another boy who had a Sacramento Bee delivery route before getting another route for himself delivering the San Francisco Chronicle, a much larger paper that required double bags to carry the papers.

Jim still has those bags although they are worn, soiled and torn. They are a souvenir of his paperboy days, of which he says, “These should be collector’s items by now.”

Collectors items they might be, but they represent much more besides, as well as serving as a souvenir of Jim’s past activities, which had a lot of influence on his growing up.

Working as a paper carrier helped Jim learn to talk to strangers and overcome his shyness. It also taught him responsibility, proper methods for handling money, how to be dependable and many other desirable traits.