Yup Patrick, you’ve got it. I started as a paper boy in 1963 when I turned 12, the legal age for that kind of work in NYC at that time. So got my shiny gold English Racer in the spring of 1964.
I remember riding it on this wonderfully “hidden” road through park woods. That was actually the Vanderbilt Parkway, a private early 20th century road abandoned by the plutocrats who built it and back in my early 10-speed days truly off-the-grid. Now it’s a multiuser trail that lots of people use. Dave, who notes that hidden roads trails and paths in big cities are very cool On Mon, Sep 6, 2021 at 1:33 PM Patrick Moore <bertin...@gmail.com> wrote: > Dave: What year was this of paper delivery and new "English racer"? I > remember "English racers" circa 1962 or 1963 because a friend's father had > what must have been a Raleigh Sport, which to me at 7 or 8 was something > unfathomably adult and exotic and far away; not even quite a bicycle in the > regular meaning of the word, when he and my friend and I took little rides > around our neighborhood. > > My friend's father must have been an USA or USAAF serviceman who spent > time in England (he also came back to Prince George's County, MD with an > English wife). > > On Mon, Sep 6, 2021 at 11:28 AM David Hallerman <cyclema...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Paper boy? That was me in NYC, the borough of Queens, delivering the >> long-dead “New York World-Telegram & Sun” to about 35 homes. This was a >> semi-suburban section of Queens, and most of my customers lived in >> single-family, or at least ground entrance, homes. And the afternoon paper >> had no Sunday edition, so that was my day off. >> >> >> I cycled to each delivery on my black Rudge 3-speed and, after a time, on >> some anonymous single-speed with high handlebars that made it easy to tie >> on my white canvas paper bag. (Seems I always had multiple bikes.) >> >> >> I never threw the paper towards anyone’s front door. Instead, I walked up >> and put each day’s paper inside the customers’ screen doors or any other >> places they asked the paper to be left in. My artisanal style of paper >> delivery increased the size of my tips. >> >> >> Best bike memory associated with paper delivery: The gift my friends gave >> me for my bar-mitzvah was money to buy my first 10-speed bike, $55 back >> then. On the day I planned to buy the bike, I zoomed through my paper route >> and headed to the bike shop about 3 miles away on my blue single-speed. >> >> >> I knew the bike I wanted, a gold English Racer (another name we used back >> then for 10-speed bikes), but I cannot remember the brand. At the shop, I >> was ready to nail down my purchase, but the owner said “Don’t you think >> your father should be here with you?” >> >> >> My reply: “Why? I know more about it than he does.” >> >> >> Dave >> >> + + + + + + + + >> >> Hudson Valley NY >> >> On Mon, Sep 6, 2021 at 12:11 PM Patrick Moore <bertin...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >>> Dave Moulton has an interesting little post on his blog today about >>> the disappearance of the paper boy. I don't recall ever having seen >>> one except (always!) in movies, but then we lived when I was a boy in >>> the US in what was still a semi rural area, and the rest of the time >>> overseas. All the newspaper deliverers I've seen have been middle aged >>> people in cars. >>> >>> http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2021/9/6/the-newspaper-boy.html >>> >>> I do recall working followup for the 1990 census on a bike! (I did >>> similar work for the 1980 census in my car in a very rural part of NW >>> Georgia; now that was interesting -- like Deliverance except that the >>> people were very nice, even though I was -- to them -- a Yankee >>> Oriental who was asking way too many personal questions.) >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> Patrick Moore >>> Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgssB3OC14TOq9C2n1rVGucMPA%2B79kkacBLTHsPPLw7Szg%40mail.gmail.com >>> . >>> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> > To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CANwgLojjBwoo2V3-L7yLoK2o30L%3DCu9J_nWZ-zavOFFfdz%3DdZw%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CANwgLojjBwoo2V3-L7yLoK2o30L%3DCu9J_nWZ-zavOFFfdz%3DdZw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > > > -- > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > Patrick Moore > Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgsryPNxuAKf5pKvo-G5msAm0zFVSD3SJ8zieWfn5%2BNDhw%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgsryPNxuAKf5pKvo-G5msAm0zFVSD3SJ8zieWfn5%2BNDhw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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