My first paying job was for a local seed company detasseling corn. When I got my drivers license I worked weekends and holidays in a laundry department at a local hospital. I also worked full time during the summer on a mink ranch.

Pool construction through high school and college (trenching, digging, hauling, gunite, tile, deck prep, pouring concrete, equipment setup, hauling pipe and steel, etc).

My friend loured me away one summer to paint houses with his family. I had fun, but I spent all my money eating out with my friend. It was OK. Went back to building pools before switching to working at a power plant during college.

Worked for one day at one of the small carnivals that you see in parking lots and small fairs back in the 60's. Usually worked construction during the summer, but due to a strike those sites were down, so tried the carnival. One day was enough to convince me that this situation was an accident looking for space to happen, and being the outsider was putting me in the crosshairs for Murphy!
Heavy construction, road construction, etc. was much better for safety, pay, and the type of people I was used to.

quote:

What

One summer I worked at a bomb factory that made the casings for 500-lb. bombs. I swabbed the end of the 5-ft pipe with grease before it was pressed into cone shape. We made a lot of bomb casings in 1968!

Worked as a stagehand. Lights, sound, you name it.

Delivered papers.
Mucked out stalls and other horsy stuff.
Gas pumper.

mowed lawns
cured country hams. add the spice rub (salt, black pepper, paprika, brown sugar), wash it off in 2 weeks add the next spice rub again and again, then bag and hang the hams to cure
raised tomatoes and sold them
bag boy/produce clerk at Kroger
Christmas sales help at National Shirt Shops
door to door magazine sales
Kroger warehouse salvage crew cleaning semi trailers
inventoried and picked up garden seed racks for Northup King seed co
maintenance crew at a trailer park

1966 I had a newspaper route for a bi-weekly.
1967-1969, dog kennel attendant, later worked in a gas station, pump gas and light mechanical work.

Later in '69 the owner of the gas station had me running errands for him. He was going through a acrimonious divorce so he had me take money to his wife, take the kids to doctor appointments, etc. His wife ran a small nursing home facility. Had on a couple of occasions to pick his ex sister in law up on the east side and drive her out to his ex's house,coincidentally only a couple of miles from where we live now, about 30 miles from his station.

Best part, he always had fun cars to drive. 65 Biscayne two door, 396 ex police car. 66 El Camino, 327 4 speed, 69 El Camino SS396 4 speed. Last one was lame, 70 El Camino 350 automatic. Later that year he sold his station, that was the end of my job. Not bad for a 17-18 year old kid.

Janitor, at my high school
Helper to auto mechanics, brick layers, carpenters, surveyor
Car park attendant

Cutting grass in summer, shoveling snow in the winter. Stringing tennis rackets at a local sporting goods store, paid piece work. Wooden tennis rackets in those days, and no never played tennis. Park department, picking up trash and mowing parks, trimming trees.

I grew up in suburban Northern VA since I was 12 in the late 70s (military brat).

My Mom plays contract bridge and has several times a week for 40+ years. When I was 14 or so, my brother and I were "caddies" at Mom's local bridge game, which meant we helped set-up, clean-up, run errands, and pass card deck holders from table to table. It was a different time, and probably averaged 50% smokers. It was pretty nasty, and not healthy (I worry sometimes). Made like $5 or $10 for 3-4 hours of work, getting back late and reeking.

My parents owned a little country store out by where we lived. Mom ran it. Dad had a job in town. Worked at the little country store after school, weekends, holidays and summers. Pumped gas, washed windshields, greased cars and trucks, changed oil, stocked the store, bagged, ran errands etc.

Mowed yards, painted houses, and dipped ice cream...which is the worst.

Fast Food
Telemarketer
Roofer
Lawn Service God Bless

Paper delivery in the early am.
Cleaning/hosing down the Manly fish n chip shop after school.
Then going for a surf to get the mucky stuff off.
Never really thought about it, but I was chum.

7th & 8th grade summers worked with my grandfather who had a lawn mowing business.
Dunkin Dounts fall of 8th grade - fall of Sophomore year. Counter help/cash register then worked my way up to muffin maker, then donut finisher, then finally donut maker.
Gas station in NJ from Sophomore year - Senior year. Started out pumping gas then moved into the bays and was a Saturday mechanic. Light duty stuff...Oil changes, brakes, tires, alternators, etc...
Machinist Senior year. I was on the "work program". Had 4 classes, then went to work at the machine shop from 12 - 5. Started programming Mazak CNC equipment, but I left after 2 years. Worked back at the gas station while I went to college.

Farm and ranch work. My sister & I were the only “employees”.
Other kids thought it was weird that I was writing checks for my own clothes when I was 12-13 years old.
But I always had money.
A couple of summers I worked for my BIL’s heat &AC business.

The summer after we moved to Pennsylvania, I got a full time, live in job for the summer as handy man at a Girl Scout camp in the mountains. Only high school boy there. There was a permanent custodian and his family living nearby.

The following summer I got a job as a life guard and swim instructor at the community pool.

Baseball bat factory

Pre legal employment age, mowed lawns, bathed dogs, and raked leaves.

As soon as legal got a job at Micky D's. Then telemarketing, then electrical work. I continued the electrical work during the Summers and on winter break and worked as assistant manager at a Subway while in college.

Got out of college, worked in financial services for five years then went back to playing with electricity. Wasted four years on that finance degree I don't even use.