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When I grew up in Devils Lake, one of my first ventures into capitalism came from the newspaper business. The Devils Lake Journal published Monday thru Friday afternoons. Some papers were delivered.
If you were not fortunate enough to have a paper route there was another moneymaking option. In mid afternoon, after school let out, one could buy fresh off the press newspapers at the price of two papers for a nickel. The paper resold for a nickel. The first boy in line at the Journal office got to buy papers first.
My school, St. Mary’s Academy, let out about 15 minutes before the public school. The paper office was about a mile from St. Mary’s and less than one half mile from Central. By running we could always beat the public school boys to the office. I would buy two, four, or six papers depending on how much money I had and where I was in line. I usually had only five or ten cents to buy with. Once the papers were purchased you flew out the door to the best selling grounds.
Where you went had a lot to do with what place in line you were. If you were first or second, you ran a block north then right thru an alley for half a block to the back door of the pool hall. There were men sitting in chairs along the wall watching the pool players and this represented the best selling spot in town.
If you made it out of there with any papers, it was next door or across the street to restaurants or around the corner to Ye Olde Tavern. If you were further back in line to buy papers you ran a different direction, maybe to the Great Northern Hotel or even the railroad depot.
Making change was often a problem. Math skills were not the problem. It was just that until you sold a few papers, there was nothing to make change with. If you had to go to a cash register to get change, it could be a disaster. While you waited, other boys could pass you and beat you to the next customer.
If you started with few papers and sold them quickly you could run back to the newspaper office and buy more papers with your profits. If you were ripe with the joy of having turned ten cents into twenty, you dreamed of turning the twenty to forty. Many a fortune was squandered by greed. After buying eight papers with the twenty cents you may well end up selling two and having six papers to take home.
Net result, ending up with the ten cents you started. On a couple of occasions I tried to sell leftovers the next day. There was not a big market for that except for Mr. Carlson at Carlson Bakery who would buy any paper from me just to give me a nickel.
It did not take too many times of coming home with papers to learn a bit about supply and demand. The supply isn’t worth much when the demand runs out. Eventually I got a paper route and no longer sold papers on the street. A paper route required one to be reliable. You had to be there every day. You had to collect from your customers. If they did not pay there was no one to appeal to. It was your business and you had to run it correctly to make money.
The paper business taught a lot of life lessons. The experience of running my own micro business made the mile runs to the Journal office worthwhile. You only made money when you worked hard.
It is a shame children today do not have some of the opportunities we had.
Robert Pfleiger,
Nashville, Tenn.
I was born at Mercy Hospital 4/10/1943. I spent my first 14 years in Devils Lake. I attended St Mary's Academy thru eight grade. My father, Casper Pfleiger, worked for Fairmont Foods and was transferred to Minneapolis in the summer of 1957. I attended high school and college in Minneapolis. After the University of Minnesota I was married to my wife Mary and worked for Honeywell. I was transferred to Nashville TN in 1967. In 1980 I left Honeywell and started Ener-Tech Industries which I have since sold. I am semi retired but still work part time at Ener-Tech.
Mary and I raised four daughters and have five grandchildren. We like to travel when possible.
When I grew up in Devils Lake, one of my first ventures into capitalism came from the newspaper business. The Devils Lake Journal published Monday thru Friday afternoons. Some papers were delivered.
If you were not fortunate enough to have a paper route there was another moneymaking option. In mid afternoon, after school let out, one could buy fresh off the press newspapers at the price of two papers for a nickel. The paper resold for a nickel. The first boy in line at the Journal office got to buy papers first.
My school, St. Mary’s Academy, let out about 15 minutes before the public school. The paper office was about a mile from St. Mary’s and less than one half mile from Central. By running we could always beat the public school boys to the office. I would buy two, four, or six papers depending on how much money I had and where I was in line. I usually had only five or ten cents to buy with. Once the papers were purchased you flew out the door to the best selling grounds.
Where you went had a lot to do with what place in line you were. If you were first or second, you ran a block north then right thru an alley for half a block to the back door of the pool hall. There were men sitting in chairs along the wall watching the pool players and this represented the best selling spot in town.
If you made it out of there with any papers, it was next door or across the street to restaurants or around the corner to Ye Olde Tavern. If you were further back in line to buy papers you ran a different direction, maybe to the Great Northern Hotel or even the railroad depot.
Making change was often a problem. Math skills were not the problem. It was just that until you sold a few papers, there was nothing to make change with. If you had to go to a cash register to get change, it could be a disaster. While you waited, other boys could pass you and beat you to the next customer.
If you started with few papers and sold them quickly you could run back to the newspaper office and buy more papers with your profits. If you were ripe with the joy of having turned ten cents into twenty, you dreamed of turning the twenty to forty. Many a fortune was squandered by greed. After buying eight papers with the twenty cents you may well end up selling two and having six papers to take home.
Net result, ending up with the ten cents you started. On a couple of occasions I tried to sell leftovers the next day. There was not a big market for that except for Mr. Carlson at Carlson Bakery who would buy any paper from me just to give me a nickel.
It did not take too many times of coming home with papers to learn a bit about supply and demand. The supply isn’t worth much when the demand runs out. Eventually I got a paper route and no longer sold papers on the street. A paper route required one to be reliable. You had to be there every day. You had to collect from your customers. If they did not pay there was no one to appeal to. It was your business and you had to run it correctly to make money.
The paper business taught a lot of life lessons. The experience of running my own micro business made the mile runs to the Journal office worthwhile. You only made money when you worked hard.
It is a shame children today do not have some of the opportunities we had.
Robert Pfleiger,
Nashville, Tenn.
I was born at Mercy Hospital 4/10/1943. I spent my first 14 years in Devils Lake. I attended St Mary's Academy thru eight grade. My father, Casper Pfleiger, worked for Fairmont Foods and was transferred to Minneapolis in the summer of 1957. I attended high school and college in Minneapolis. After the University of Minnesota I was married to my wife Mary and worked for Honeywell. I was transferred to Nashville TN in 1967. In 1980 I left Honeywell and started Ener-Tech Industries which I have since sold. I am semi retired but still work part time at Ener-Tech.
Mary and I raised four daughters and have five grandchildren. We like to travel when possible.
