Here's an interesting factoid for ya...

[Al Agnew]

My first year of teaching (I became a professional artist after 7 years of teaching), I made a whopping $6500.  That was three years after that motor was made.

[jdmidwest]

I used to move Shelby Mustangs around my Great Uncle's used car lots in my teens in St. Louis.  He would buy them from Hertz and resell them for around $1500 and make a tidy profit. 

[dave potts]

On ‎12‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 11:12 AM, fishinwrench said:

The widow up the street used to give me 10.00 and a cup of hot chocolate to scoop snow off her sidewalk.   Took me all of about 25 minutes.  We could also go stack pallets of bricks for 5.00/hr. at that time.  Talk about a job that'll give you the Kung Fu grip !

Twenty years ago a brick skidder could make  $60,000 per year loading brick off the kiln cars onto shipping pallets at A.P. Green.  Back breaking work but great pay.

[Mitch f]

In 1979 I got hired by Emerson Electric on West Florissant as a machinist for $6.50 per hour. I worked one day and they sent me home because they found out I wasn’t 18 years old yet. One month later they brought me back. I left after 1.5 years and went to McDonnell Douglas as a machinist. Started at $10.25 an hour in Nov, 1980. Went out on my own in ‘95.

[fishinwrench]

My first good paying job was started in 1983 (Schatz Underground const.)  Started at 8.00/hr. and by the end of my second year with them I was at 14.50 plus perdeium.  They are a good company that really knows how to treat their employees that show up and care about the work they do. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

1985 hired into General Motors for around $27/hour.  Got tired of layoffs, relocations and night shift.  Left in 2000 after getting my degree.  Never looked back.