Did you have a newspaper route when you were a kid? How far was your territory? Were you permitted to walk?

Question

I’ve only seen kids delivering papers on in and they are always on bikes, I wonder how it worked. Seems like a great job for the restless and in need of money 😅

I LOVE walking. I think I would’ve loved that kind of job as a kid where you move and make money, I’d like to have walked it, but I’m wondering:

What was the distance you covered per route, in miles?

How long did it take you?

Cohid you take on more routes if you wanted or was there a limit per kid?

How heavy were the papers?

How many days did you work?

How did you get paid?

Did you get tipped?

Thanks!!

Jamie05rhs · Accepted Answer

I delivered newspapers as one of my first jobs as an adult. (I had worked at several jobs before then as a child.). I had three routes. ... Unfortunately, they were not contiguous. :/. Though they were all in the same city; so I guess that was good.

I may have been technically ALLOWED to take on more routes, but I didn't want to. I wouldn't have been able to handle it.

I'm honestly not sure what the mileage was. But one route had 8 streets, another had 3 streets, and the last one had 3 streets as well.

I used my car to drive along my routes. Yes, I could have walked on several of my streets -- even ridden a bike -- but it would have taken MUCH longer. I wouldn't have had enough time. ... Also, the temperature was a factor. That early in the morning, one really needs a heated enclosed space in order to not catch a cold. (Even then, it can still be BRUTAL in the winter. Which is why I eventually quit. I wasn't going to risk my life for that job; sorry.)

(I DID use a hybrid method, though. If I had 2 or more houses grouped together, I would park the car at a central location, get out and run around and make the deliveries, and then get back in the car and move on to the next spot with the next batch.)

One thing I really didn't like was not being able to go to the bathroom and having to hold my urine in for so long.

In addition, I had to get up early a f in order to get all of the papers delivered by the deadline. I woke up at 3:30 and got to work by 4. Then I had to spend about 30 minutes to an hour just sitting in the car and rolling the papers (and putting them in bags) before even starting out on my route.

Due to the customer guarantee, we were required to be finished with all of our routes by 6:30 AM on weekdays and 7:00 AM on weekends. (And I usually just BARELY made it in time. Lol)

Another thing I didn't like was the pay. We didn't get paid worth sh*t. And they charged us for all of our required materials, like rubber bands and bags.
(And we only got paid bi-weekly, which kind of sucked as well.)

I worked every day of the week; there were no days off.

I didn't get "tipped" per se, but we got Christmas cards from some of the customers (with money).

Lliam · Accepted Answer

I never had my own route.

When I was young, maybe five years old, a neighborhood friend who was a couple years older than me had a job delivering what we called "throw away" papers, the ones that are full of ads for businesses. He asked me to help. We walked a route that was many blocks long. I think it was just once a week. It was an adventure when I was that young. I got to see neighborhoods that I wasn't familiar with.

When I was in grammar school, maybe 5th grade, a good friend at school had a regular paper route. He asked if I would help and he paid me part of his proceeds when he collected payment each month.

We had to get up really early, before dawn, ride our bikes to a pick up point where there were bound, 1' tall stacks of newspapers. We had to fold each one, put a rubber band on it, and pack them into the canvas saddle bag carriers that hung on the handlebars of our bikes. Then we rode the route and tossed the papers on people's porches as we rode by. We had to "porch" the papers, so we had to throw accurately. If we missed, we had to stop and go back to "porch" the paper.
The route was a few miles long but I have no idea how many. All in all, we rode quite a few miles because the doughnut shop, itself, was over two miles from my house.

It was a drag getting up that early and it was cold. But we actually had a good time. Afterwards, we would go to a particular doughnut shop for a snack. That shop, itself, was over two miles from my house, so I must have ridden at least six miles all together on those early mornings.

The saddle bags stuffed with papers were really heavy. We couldn't have delivered them on foot. The Sunday papers were particularly thick.
There were even times when a parent would drive us and we'd throw the papers from the car because it was imperative that people had their newspapers on time.

Once a month, we would make the rounds to each house to collect the monthly dues. And yes, some people gave us tips.

I can't remember how many days a week we did it. It might have been every day.

ShaTTeredMasterpeace · Accepted Answer

I didn't, but my dad did!! He did it as a side hustle on weekends. I remember him getting up at like 5am Saturday mornings and taking his bike out.

dustybiker · Accepted Answer

No. They had stopped it by the time I reached that age.

OlderAndWiser · Answer

I never had a paper route. My first job was at age 16, as a kitchen helper at a Kentucky Fried Chicken.

WindAtMyBack · Answer

I had a couple of different paper routes. One was a regular daily route and the other was once a week. I think both were about 3 miles round trip including getting there and back. I think I was 11 for the daily route, and a little older for the weekly route.

Paper routes back then were typically 30-35 customers. Unlike some other places, we delivered the papers to the customer's doors. We rode up each driveway, got off our bike, put the paper in the screen door, then on to the next house. Sometimes they had a special place to put the paper and we might have to go behind the house or something. I don't remember how long it took maybe 1.5 -2 hours?

Collecting once a week took longer. It wasn't pre-paid subscriptions then, so we had to go door to door trying to get them to pay. It was amazing how hard it was to get money out of some of those people. Collecting took a few hours, plus going back later to get all the ones I missed the first time. Sometimes it took three tries to get everyone. If it took more than three tries I'd let it carry over until the next week, which often caused arguments when they had to pay double. They'd swear they paid last week when they didn't.

We had to pay for the papers whether we got the money from the customer or not. So if we couldn't get the money it came out of our pocket.

The daily route was a morning route in the winter. I got up at 4:30AM and folded the papers which didn't take long. Then rode about a half mile to where the route started. It was a cold winter, so riding a bicycle into the wind at 5:00AM when it was 0 degrees F could get really cold. I I think I got 2.5 cents per paper. So 0.0025 * 35 * 7 was $6.12 per week, plus tips. I don't remember how much the tips were. Most customers didn't tip, but I think the ones who did usually tipped a nickle or a dime. Sometimes I'd get a quarter which was a huge tip. For Christmas I might get a dollar from some customers. That was like a stack of gold for a kid back then. I could buy a model airplane, a few comic books and a candy bar with that much money.

humanearth · Answer

I had a paper route when I was 14 or so

It was about 20 city blocks

I would steal a shopping cart/buggy (depending on where people live. People in the southern part of the states like to call them a buggy) and put my papers in them

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The newspaper was the lightest

Wednesday, Sunday and Thanksgiving day newspapers were always the biggest

Wednesday and Sunday it was for the coupons

Thanksgiving Day newspaper was the biggest of the whole year. It was like two Sundays newspapers put together to make one. It was the newspaper that had all the black Friday sales

I had about 100 or so customers. Thanksgiving papers sucked ass.

My sister wanted a paper route, she only lasted for a few months and I took it over. (What was I thinking)

I did that though most of high school. I was replaced with people with automobiles.

I was one of the last ones to be a paper boy in Milwaukee. Kids just didn't want to deliver newspapers anymore

Avicenna · Answer

No, but I helped out friends who did sometimes. I had too many things going on when I was in high school to have time for a paper route (which was a seven day a week responsibility). I did kind of envy the ones that had one because they always had money and could work two jobs in the summer.

MTC29 · Answer

No, I did not.

In the community where I grew up, paper routes were assigned by a sort of mafia. In order to get a route, your parents had to know or be connected to the Oz-like figures who controlled paper deliveries.

Papers were carried in sacks on bicycle handlebars. Each paper was hand tossed onto the porch by a fearless rider who rode in the early morning darkness with either no light, or a pathetic bicycle light which might put out 2 lumens with a fresh battery.

Once assigned a route, guys kept them for years, often to the point of their being drafted before someone would take it over. The routes would occasionally grow so large that they had to be split, but there was a long waiting list for those new openings.

I haven't thought about this in fifty years. Thanks for the question.

FunkyMonkee · Answer

Not when I was a kid. I wanted one but could never get one! I got mine in my mid 20''s. Just one, at first and it eventually became 8. One with one paper, 3 with another and 4 with another. I walked every one off them. The most I had to walk was on the weekly paper. I had to go 3 miles to START delivering and another 4 miles ON the actual route. I COULD take a bike or get a ride, if I wanted to but, I didn't mind walking. Those papers were supposed to be out by Wed. evening but, I'd get them Tuesday afternoon and would usually deliver them then!

The others were daily routes within my neighborhood so, I only had to walk 2 or 3 miles for that. They were supposed to be out by 7:30 a. m. but, I'd get them around 2:00 a. m. and have them delivered by 3:30!! My customers loved it!

ChiTown33 · Answer

Yeah. I had 2 of them. One was a morning paper. One was an evening paper. One paid me 60 bucks a month the other 20. The morning one took me about an hr and a half the evening about half as long. The morning one I had to open up each person's storm door, put it in and close it. And they were HEAVY ( I was only 11-12 so...). The evening one I could deliver on my bike and I could toss it on thier porch. I just did whatever route the gave me. I never tried to ask for more. The morning one was 7 days a week. The evening one was twice a week. The morning one depended whether they had a subscription. If they did I didn't have to collect, otherwise I did. Which sucked with the ones that didn't want to pay lol. The evening one I just got paid by the newspaper. I got a few tips. Usually like a Christmas thing. It wasn't a common thing.

Guy13 · Answer

At least 5 miles and when I was really young I rode bike. We then moved to driving at 3am during the night...

MrOracle · Answer

I had a paper route from 11 to 13. I had 70-100 customers, enough that I had to do Sunday deliveries in two trips. My neighborhood had some big, steep hills so I would have to walk my bike up the steeper hills. Still, I needed money to buy things - mostly music - so a paper route meant a reliable income, and one of the few available to a young kid.

Jerre · Answer

I voted B. I had a route with about 125 subscribers. Don’t remember hos much I was paid, but when collecting monthly the tips were good. My bike had a big basket on front, delivered 7 days a week.

exitseven · Answer

I used to buy 100 papers a day and stand in the town square and sell them to cars that went by. I had mostly the same people buy from me every day. A lot of people would give me a tip on Friday. One guy used to refold the papers and give them back to me at the end of the week so I could return them for credit.

genericname85 · Answer

i always did it by walking. because if i had taken the bike, i would have gone back and forth between the stash and the deliveries too much. walking, i could just pull a big cart with all the newspapers on it. im guessing 5 miles alltogether but no idea honestly.

hafinjun · Answer

Yes I had a paper route I think I was 12 maybe 13 we were in Anchorage Alaska so during the summer I had to drag him around I had 120 papers at the highest count I had to drag him around by wagon in the summer and then by sled and winter usually took me about 2 hours to get them all out and we had to do all the collecting back then too good for first job at 12:00

TonyMetal___86 · Answer

No paper route and we never had this job in my country, the ones who delivers the newspapers werw adults driving mini vans 😄

I only watched these stuff in movies were kids threw papers on the porch of every house riding their bikes, such things were found a lot in the 80's and 90's hehe

The skyscrapper girl can cover the whole country cause she's so tall and her head reaches the clouds haha

20yearsolder · Answer

I did, It was about 10 blocks I think. I always rode my bicycle with the newspaper bag strapped to the handlebars

Finchie40 · Answer

I use to be a paperboy as a kid and I mainly just covered my neighborhood , I enjoyed it actually cuz I rode my bike and got to know a lot of neighbors from it that tipped me well , I wish I was still a paperboy lol

Adam1978 · Answer

Yes I had many during my teenage years, I can't say how long they where but it was roughly 2 hours of biking and running. I wouldn't finish in time if I had walked. Besides work is over when you are done so you do it as fast as you can.

loveslongnails · Answer

I delivered newspapers as a kid AND as an adult. As a kid, it was in apartment complexes, so not much territory. As an adult, I covered about a 5 - 10 mile area, but in two different parts of the city.

Curmudgeon · Answer

In the land of suburbia, I became a lawn and garden guy. I ended up working a half dozen streets in my neighborhood, pushing my power mower and carrying my tools in a hand truck

Staximus · Answer

I had no paper route but the neighbor kid did. This was back in like 1986. I told my dad that I wanted to do it and he said something like "I'm not letting those lazy bastards use you for cheap labor" haha

Did you have a newspaper route when you were a kid? How far was your territory? Were you permitted to walk?

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