I can see my father now on Saturday night mentioning in passing that he would help me to deliver the Sunday papers having heard of the difficulties I encountered on my first Sunday delivery the previous week. I did, however, need to be dressed, and the papers had to be sorted and assembled when our agreed upon time arrived.
“Jim, I’ll help you with the Sunday papers, but you have to be ready to go at seven a.m.” To this condition I gladly agreed.
“Thanks dad!”
Our station wagon had three seats with the rear seat facing backwards and a drop-down door, so I loaded all the assembled papers with The Sunday edition of The Daily News to the left and the New York Times to the right on the seat while I sat on the tailgate hopping off while my father drove slowly, and I let him know when each house was approaching. The 35 weekday papers could be packed in the large basket bolted to the front of my bicycle and the additional weight could be controlled as I made one pass through the neighborhood delivering each paper. However, the Sunday papers exploded in volume and weight with the Daily News growing from one and a half inches to three inches while the New York Times multiplied exponentially to five or six inches!
To the modern digital reader, it must be remembered that there were no computers or cell phones or Internet service so that most advertising was done on the radio or in the papers and with Sunday being the day when most people had a chance for leisure time the papers grew greatly.
Looking back now the sacrifice of my father's opportunity to sleep late taught me a number of important lessons with this simple act. Compassion, selflessness, punctuality, proper customer service and family togetherness. Dad passed away seven years ago, the house and car are long gone but the example he showed still lingers on.
Thank You Dad,
Happy Father’s Day!
Jim
June ‘24
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