[Closed] The simple pleasure of a Paper Round

There's a lad down the road that gets driven round by his dad when the weather's bad! I'm not sure if I'm more disappointed in the child (14 / 15) or the dad.

I loved being a paperboy. My kids can't believe I delivered morning and evening papers six days a week, plus the two bags on a Sunday round!

I was happy as Larry strutting about with my Walkman on. Simpler times 😊

I covered for a mate on his round once. Never again, it was crap; loads of papers, bugger all money.

I did a milk-round on Saturday mornings instead, that was great.

Loved my paper round, delivered to some nice houses so got great xmas tips, used the cash to get my raleigh dyna-tech mtb, loved that bike.

My round was the longest road in the village, with the houses spread out and on a hill.

Not very lucrative, but I like to think it got me started building these mighty oaks.

*slaps thighs heartily*

I wish I could earn a proper living by just being a paperboy.

I had this conversation with a colleague recently, but a postman instead of a paperboy.

Loved my paper round, delivered to some nice houses so got great xmas tips,

The cooncil hooses gave better tips than the posh hooses.

Similarly, those were great days, then I moved onto a milk round, which was chuffin horrible, 4am to 8am 6 days a week, collecting money on thu, fri evenings and a saturday morning. All for about 30 quid!. 🙂

Hated it. Bag too heavy, round too far, pay crap and the newsagent who made up my papers always got it wrong so I had to go back and get new ones for people all the time

There’s a lad down the road that gets driven round by his dad when the weather’s bad! I’m not sure if I’m more disappointed in the child (14 / 15) or the dad.

My dad did that for my older brother back on the 70s - and not just in bad weather! I did a joint one with a mate (who dropped out after about two weeks as he was Spoilt Kid and didn't need the money) but I carried on and did it for a few years (and never had my dad drive me either, WTF). It was great at Christmas with the extra tips I used to get.

Used to deliver the weekly free paper - the herald & post. 350 papers each week and would make £20-25 a week, cash in hand in the 90's.

That was a lot of spending money for when you're a teenager. Invariably spent it all down the pub from the ages of 16 onwards. Good times

I and mrs_oab both did paper rounds, then other Saturday jobs on so on, from age 13 through University. Our three have all passed on the same paper round for the last 7 years, youngest now does the round and the sort of the papers at a weekend. Like you, we and they enjoyed it.

And like you, they are surprisingly wedged. Youngest has just done the Christmas cards, hoping no.5 is as financially generous as she was last Christmas to him 😉

I enjoyed it, but it also instils a work ethic and determination early on IME to be out in the dark, wet and cold from an early alarm. The shop these days seems to have a high turnover, and like @Pieface says we see a couple driven alarmingly regularly.

It says a lot that the eldest two went on to work at hotel and then CV19 test centre, and continue to do so.

The cooncil hooses gave better tips than the posh hooses.

This is so true.

Worst job I ever had. I had to deliver 314 papers to every house in my area, and I got 2p for each one, in the early 90s. It took two entire evenings from home time to bedtime. I didn't have time or energy left to do homework which cocked things up quite a lot. It would nearly have paid for one full-price computer game per month, but it so wasn't worth it.

it also instils a work ethic and determination early on IME

Ooh, these words get me agitated, they really do. Instil a work ethic? IMO and IME you're either born that way or you're not. If you're happy to give your time to the man doing menial work for a pittance, then great, but I'm not, and I never have been. For me it's horribly oppressive and has a severely negative impact on my mental health.

I wanted a round but wasn't allowed by my mum in case I got pinched!

I also remember when the sunday papers started punting out magazines, I went from 2 bags to 4, a double run in effect, made you go quickly though just to get some of the weight off your shoulders!.

There’s a lad down the road that gets driven round by his dad when the weather’s bad! I’m not sure if I’m more disappointed in the child (14 / 15) or the dad.

Sounds like a well bonded family, willing to help each other out when needed. Rather than the f off and do your round, suffer for all the hell I care type. And heaven knows there seems to be a lot of that type of parenting going about these days.

I did 5 days a week for ten bob. That seemed like a lot of money in the late 60s. Very hilly round including a farm with nasty sheepdogs.

No it doesn't.

I loved mine.

Thursday was always the big shift as the North Devon Journal came out that day so I had to make a trip back to the shop to reload the bag.

My Muddy Fox Courier was my trusty steed, and when it was in the bike shop being repaired after enthusiastic weekend off road adventures I often ran round my paper round.

Good times indeed.

Well, that just escalated quickly.

I did the evening round 5 days a week for a year and loved/ hated it largely depending on what the weather was like and what I was missing out on. Used to enjoy the Kitkat from Mr Weekes and the Penguin from another house every couple of days though.

A great life lesson too - one house always had SCAN written next to it on the delivery list. I wondered what it meant but never asked and reliably delivered their paper. One day about 6 months in the shop owner did a count and I had one paper too many. He thought I was pinching a paper but I showed him that the paper count matched the list count.

Turned out that SCAN meant Subscription Cancelled and they'd had a free paper for months 😀

I had a 2 bag Sunday round, way too heavy to cycle with. The newsagent would give me a lift up the hill and hide one of the bags behind a wall to pick up later. Jacked it in to pump petrol because that paid enough to buy a Honda SS50 on the drip. Don't remember getting much pleasure from either.

had to deliver 314 papers to every house in my area, and I got 2p for each one, in the early 90s.

The free papers were a mugs game. I did it for a couple of months, hard graft with little reward.
Sunday rounds were where the big ££ was.

I used to deliver the local free paper.

At first, I delivered them with a deaf boy who we fostered. He was the son of a Saudi Princess. We used to run the whole round dragging the trolley behind us trying to set record times.

After a while, I realized I could optimise the process and do my bit for the environment by depositing all the papers straight to the recycling bank behind the pub at the end of the road.

Remarkably, I did that for a couple of years without getting caught. That must be a testament to how shit the paper was.

I enjoyed my round - most of the time. On cold, wet winter mornings in the dark, maybe not so much. I had the longest (and best paying) round in the shop, lots of big houses with long drives. It was a prosperous North London suburb with a lot of Jewish residents (you could tell by the mezuzahs on the doorframe), and in general they gave the biggest Christmas box tips. One year in the mid-70s I got well over £100 at Christmas. It kept me pretty fit too - win-win. It was before the days of the Walkman so I had a little transistor radio that just fitted in the chest pocket of my denim jacket - I acquired an encyclopaedic knowledge of mid-70s pop much of which still lingers 45 years later.

I had a paper round when I was about 13. In the week it was easy, a few magazines and lots of Manchester Evening News.

Sunday morning was hellish. The bag quadrupled in weight. It was the advent of the Sunday supplement and all those glossy colour pages weighed some. It was a real PITA as letter boxes weren't as generously sized back in the 80s. Having been designed for letters...

I remember having to kneel on frosty paths to strip the paper into its four sometimes five component parts and post them individually through those damn letter boxes at the BOTTOM of the door. Were they invented by osteopaths?

I did enjoy watching the seasons change and doing a bit of bird watching early Sunday. My trusty Raleigh Arena propelled me around the estate.

I did a round for a few years - six days a week with about 30 papers. When I started I was paid £1.75 a week which is less than 30 pence per day.

Despite that I have quite fond memories and think it did teach me some valuable life lessons. The ride to the shop was just over a mile and I remember slogging through deep snow to get there.

The Falklands war happened during the time I was doing it and I remember many of the headlines printed at the time.

I had 7 morning paper rounds and also put together all the rounds for the other 30+ lads. The boss of the paper shop would then drop my rounds off so I could do them in a loop rather than always returning to the shop.

Almost 300 papers a day, every day (except Christmas day) in all weathers, starting at 04:00 and finished by 08:00 then went to school.

I think I was making about £150 a week in 1992-5.

Loved mine.
Up at 0600, out the door at 0615, no lights on my chopper.
Home by 0700 most days. Saw some cracking boobies as your under the radar and people are still half asleep
£5.75 A week, but used to net over £100 at chrimbo. I was super reliable and did the same round for 3 years.
My dad helped on a Sunday. He would drive to the finish with 1 bag and i worked up the road towards him.
Then used to cycle to the pub to help bottle up, clean toilets and floors.
L

Optimal paper round for me - an evening round so straight off the school bus and into the shop, 40-45 papers from a larger round that was split in two (so one of the lighter rounds), occasional leaflet supplement and best of all the round started at the letter box of the house next to the shop. Other kids hauling their larger bags across the village had barely started before I was done and on my way home with my stinky newsprint fingers.

Morning and Sunday rounds looked horrid in comparison.

ISTR I got around £5.50 a week c. 1985-1988

My own money for the first time, albeit seven quid Monday to Saturday with a pound knocked off for any mistakes (1991). I had the worst round in the shop, all big fancy houses so lots of supplements and crap tips. Saturday had to be done in two trips due to weight of the bloody bag. I used to be worse off in winter due to constantly replacing the big C batteries in my rubbish Ever-Ready lights. I've had worse jobs TBF.

Daffy, pictured yesterday:

My trusty Raleigh Arena propelled me around the estate.

Let's share our paper round bikes, here's my Peugeot Equipe:

(that's someone else's, but mine was the same model)

I had a paper round in the 80's, Monday to Saturday for £2.50 a week. I figured I had to go out with my dog before school so I might as well get paid for it! Christmas tips was the bonus time, although with all that cash in my pocket, I was glad I had my dog with me on one of the estates!
Never fancied a milk round, that was for the bad lads! 😁
Edit: Bike was my BMX, originally with heavy magnesium wheels that gave loads of pinch punctures.

If we are on bikes... I started on the ubiquitous Raleigh folder:

Which then became the fast yet puncture prone:

Similarly, those were great days, then I moved onto a milk round, which was chuffin horrible, 4am to 8am 6 days a week, collecting money on thu, fri evenings and a saturday morning. All for about 30 quid!. 🙂

And factor in walking about with a leather satchel of money in the dark in a scheme you weren't from.

I had a paper round in the early '80s. I ****ing hated it, a miserable boss a couple of right miserable bastard customers, and one who insisted on letting her horrible shit of a dog out every time I entered the gate that went for you.

My highlight was getting my Christmas tips and then quitting on Christmas eve

Remarkably, I did that for a couple of years without getting caught. That must be a testament to how shit the paper was.

Once, as I was beginning to crack, I dumped some of the free papers as I was sure no-one read them. Next week one bloke met me at the gate, having been waiting, and he asked me what happened to last week's paper. I was that shocked I didn't even have a ready reply.

Hated it. Bag too heavy, round too far, pay crap and the newsagent who made up my papers always got it wrong so I had to go back and get new ones for people all the time

Which one did you have? I took over Paul's, started at the shop up and down every street on hayston park, then up school road and up quarry road.

One question on paper rounds why is it the bigger the paper the smaller and more awkward the letter box. I swear there was one house that it took 5minutes on a Saturday to separate and feed the sections individually and if it had rained there was no chance they were getting them readable.

I had one of these:

I remember spending a lot of time looking at that catalogue.

Absolutely despised my paper round. Too early, too cold, too long, too heavy, too badly paid... I mean I could go on.

Lasted about a week on the normal papers. But then got a round delivering those crap free papers. They were delivered to my house where they were promptly taken to the bridge down the road and chucked in the river. No one ever complained and that little racket lasted a good while as I remember.

Used to hate Thursdays when The Kilmarnock Standard was out for delivery. An absolute behemoth of a local newspaper. They were hellish on top of the normal deliveries

I remember having to make up your own paper round bag 6am and very occasionally a Mayfair magazine would slip from the top shelf landing in between a People's friend magazine and me luckily finding it before it could mistakingly be delivered to old Doris at number 51
Can't remember if I took it back to the manageress of the shop to be put back on the top shelf

I did the edinburgh herald and post, plus leaflets- you got paid extra per leaflet. Ideal for me because it didn't need an early start. Kept doing it right up til university, it was bloody hard when I first started as a little un but by the end I could carry pretty much the full route and smash out the loop, it was at least 15 years before i beat the hourly rate with a proper job.

Kid who lived about 3 miles from me when I did my paper round was abducted and murdered doing his paper round. He went to school with some of my mates. The murderer tried to grab my mate the week before... Irrational I know but my son is never doing a paper round.

My lad did the weekday deliveries from age 14-18. Paid really well, cleared £100 in tips every Christmas and left him free at weekends to do other stuff.

He was prepared to put up with the 6.15 alarm to fund his musical instrument addiction

I wish I could earn a proper living by just being a paperboy.

Best job I ever had bar none. Mon-Sat mornings and evenings and Sundays too. And I had all the hotels and guest houses in Whitley Bay on my rounds so Sunday was a bit of a schlep needing 4 bag loads...stoopid Sunday broadsheets and their 75 supplements. On the flip side, Xmas tips were amazing.

Agree - used to love my paper round. Did it for 4 years or so every morning Mon-Sat and sometimes chucked in a Sunday round. Sometimes cycled it, sometimes walked it. Always had my Walkman with me and a pocket full of tapes.

The area I lived in was all broadsheet though so it was a fair whack of papers but the round was nice and the tips always good at Christmas...

Did a round from 12 until leaving school at 18, 7 days a week and Thursday evenings. Long drives, very hilly and the area I lived in read The Guardian, Times, Financial Times and some houses had several papers. All very heavy in more ways than one, I snapped the seat tube on my sister’s bike and ended up on a Raleigh RSW donated by a friend of my mum. I wore the tyres to the canvas then patched the outside with large puncture patches. Life made even more interesting by a copper who was determined to catch me riding without lights - he was in a car and I knew all the cut throughs - he only caught me once but he put a lot of effort in! I explained if I bought batteries I’d have no money left but it didn’t work.
Then did a huge round collecting the money for papers on a Saturday at the same time as the weekly round (after the morning round and playing rugby) later followed by bottling up/cellar work at the local pub, all at the same time. Did it turn me into Alan Sugar? No, I’m still scratting about!
Most famous customer? John Lowe - pleasant chap and a good Christmas tip!

As for best job ever?

Nah House and flat clearances in maryhill and grass cutting were better.

There are a couple of roads near me where I have over 40+ years at some time delivered their papers, been their postman, done their recycling and collected their refuse. It's possible that their are people for who've lived there the whole time. Never delivered the milk though.

Paper round from 11-13 and Milk round 13-16. Look back at it fondly now, but remember hating the early mornings in pitch black freezing weather, getting chased by crazy dogs on rough estates and the last Milkman was a raving loony - once turned up so hammered from the previous night a 15 year old had to drive the van. Only in the 90s! Most Saturday’s pay day was blown on fags and a bottle of 20/20. Misspent!
RM.

I saved up for my first mtb, a Marin Palisades, doing a paper round. I remember the bags weighed a tonne. I knew it wasn't a forever job so attention to detail was low and some Mail readers may have received the Sport and some of the Sport not-exactly-readers may have received the Mail. Don't recall any Guardian takers on my route.

I wish I could earn a proper living by just being a paperboy.

A pal who couldn't stand working in an office quit and took a temporary job as a postman just to tide him over while he looked for something else. However he found he loved the postman job and ten years on he's still doing his rounds. And is fitter than ever.

I enjoyed the (financial) independence the job gave me. Early 70's and we got 50p a street - I did 4 streets. My dad got me some stout footwear for the job - turned out to be some genuine old miners hob-nail boots - so I must've woken everybody in the village clattering down the streets.

Eventually progressed to a bottling-up job in the pub before catching the bus to school.

I got a Monday-Saturday round aged 12 and did it for three years, until I became an underage barman... My round was in Branksome Park, Poole, so bloody massive houses with long drives. I got paid 7p per drop in the early 90s. I had a retirement home on the route, with about 20 papers. Newsagent counted it as one stop, 7p... Any mistake and the full cost of a replacement was taken out of my pay packet. I recall the tiny letterboxes with horror but am gutted to say I didn't get to gawp at any early morning boobies! An abiding memory, during the cold wet mornings, was getting a face full of cobwebs from people's shrubberies. I used to pore over the Cotswold Camping catalogue, and still have much of the kit I bought, I used my Berghaus Vulcan II earlier this year!

getting a face full of cobwebs from people’s shrubberies.

Made up for not getting a good look at their booobs then 👍

13-15 was my national paperboy service. Lasting memory was one Christmas a customer fed me some liquor chocolate and then me feeling pretty perculier for the rest of the round.
I was 18 when I next felt like that.

Yup, not much topiarying done in those far gone days!

Had 2 Sunday rounds at one point had to put up my own papers in the shop so possibly miscounted now and again had to collect money each week of the punters too then pay the shop and could charge punters for delivery the rest being my wages mostly enjoyed it apart from the weight of bags and the GSD that was always out and would leap up paws on my shoulders trying to eat my face they didn’t get too many paper after that. bastards pumping petrol (30p per gallon)after that was a lot better

I started mine with the bags slung over the bike but as others have noted this was the era of 8 million supplements on the weekend and eventually the frame bent. After that I pushed a full-to-the brim shopping trolley around (recently liberated from Sainsbury's) every saturday and sunday morning.

Can't say it was my favourite ever job but it was nice being up and about in the dead quiet first thing on a summer's morning. Those bastard papers were so heavy though.

The cooncil hooses gave better tips than the posh hooses.

Yup. I used to deliver to a private road and a council estate. The tips one year (1992) helped upgrade from my Raleigh Mustang to a GT Tequesta. I used to hand deliver Christmas cards in the evening and look suitably pathetic as they handed over the cash.

£7 a week Monday to Saturday.

I,m back on the papers 🙂 new  postal delivery round added to my original round has 6 papers included I get £10 for the pleasure so it keeps me in coffees for the week.

Rich

Used to love mine too. A round every morning then I’d go round and collect the paper money from all the houses on the round for the newsagent on a Saturday afternoon, which paid better than the paper round. I doubt you’d be allowed to have a 14/15 year old doing that nowadays

It paid for a Wilson Freestyler BMX with Skyways, Landing Gear and lots of nice kit on it. First bike I ever built

I loved being up and out at that time in the morning. Ever since doing it I find you can’t get out of the habit of being wide awake at 6 every morning. I was still like that as a student and still am now

Remarkably, I did that for a couple of years without getting caught. That must be a testament to how shit the paper was.

You are one of the predecessors of the little shits we employed until a couple of years ago when we went pickup only.
Nice. Your legacy lives on.

Yeah, a paper round was almost a rite of passage. Started off in October 1985 doing the evening round, delivering about 45-55 papers, plus a few weekly magazines. Saturday also delivered 3 Sunday paper magazines; Express, Mail on Sunday & News of the World, which was worth an extra 30p.

Did the same round on a Sunday, but because the papers were huge, you needed 2 bags, which weighed a ton.

About a month later I stood in for someone doing a morning round - and another round came up - so did that as well. I recall my weekly money was £8.50.......

Then came Christmas, and the tips, and I did both a small council estate, plus a couple of farms, and large houses. The tips from the estate were usually better. Bought a new Walkman, and a scientific calculator with the tips money.

It was interesting when the snow/ bad weather arrived; very often the suppliers were late - and the newsagents were getting calls from people wondering were the papers was. The morning rounds has a cut off; if the papers hadn't arrived by about 8:00, we could go home - as we'd be late for school.

I enjoyed it. 5miles in the morning, double round Sunday, 5miles in the afternoon mon-sat. Help set up the shop twice a week. For a kid from a poor-ish family It did me just fine. Allowed me to buy things like my first proper mtb, a Trek 830! I did it for probably 5yrs as I carried on in to sixth form.

I'm sure I win best paper round ever...

I was one of two who sold/delivered round our local hospital.

I would have to take two bags up with me each day. Dump one at home for later then wander round the wards selling to patients... This meant tips everyday...

We were the envy of the shop 😂

Some embarrassing moments wandering in on things I shouldn't but mostly folk were more than happy to see you...

I'll never forgot one guy though who told me if he was asleep just take the money from his wallet and leave his papers.
I dropped the wallet went to pick it up and knocked his piss bottle over that then soaked into my coat!
I went running out waving my piss soaked arm around shouting "errrr I've knocked his piss over" a kindly nurse heard then came to my rescue and washed my coat for me 😂

I'll never forget that...

I’m sure I win best paper round ever…

On Sundays I delivered to Ozzy Osbornes house...

It was 30p/day and double Sundays. Early 80s. I was an early riser and liked being out in all weathers. Back home by 7:30 and made my breakfast and coffee for my mother. Left for school at 8.

My sister did the Sunday round, but I did it for her most of the time.

And a free beano…

Used to deliver a freebie local paper/magazine which was basically just full of adverts.

They got delivered to my house then had to walk a mile to the start of my round with two bag fulls.

Hated it, the money was crap, the weather was awful. Similar to someone above I found the most effective way was to cut out the middle man and recycle them directly. Did that for a couple of rounds then just quit.

I was just talking about this at the running club the other night. Best job I ever had. Early 90s, started on free papers but realised that was slave labour and eventually managed to bag a proper round at the local newsagent. From the age of 14 to 18 went from one morning round, to three mornings, two Sundays and the odd evening. Peaked at earning about 85 quid a week, cash, and it paid for both of these… as well as lots of nights in the pub.

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Ah yes the 80’s paper round.

Had one of the plum routes, Friday was always a challenge with the Maidenhead advertiser, then the double bag Sunday.
Started on a Raleigh Winner, really wanted a pulsar/quasar though and finished on a Muddy Fox Courier, yellow stickers and pearly white paint what a beaut, all the while listening to TheThe, U2 Joshua Tree on a loop on the Panasonic Walkman… hard work but happy days with money to burn on throwing stars, fishing tackle and black widow catapults I seem to remember…

Chakaping stole my thunder ! Late 60s evening round £14/6d !,! As I recall slave labour 🙄 helped with a milk round on a Saturday eventually becoming a postie 430 starts for 20 odd years , must have liked the early starts because the last 3 years before I retired 2 weeks ago I started at 5 am stacking shelves for Sainsbury’s, one of those mornings was Sunday ! I was flattered I got the job at 63 but it didn’t take long to realise it was because no other numb nuts was stupid enough to do it ! 🙄

I did a Mon - Sat round from 13 to 16 years old, plus every other Sunday. Was a fair old cycle - 1 mile to the shop then 2-3miles around and back to house.

Have some fond memories of it but mostly it was bloody hard work for limited reward. Plus side of it was I probably met a few more interesting characters in the shop, good way to realise there's a world beyond the relatively sheltered world of school* and home. Downside was it was bloody hard work for £10 a week. Probably worked out about £1/hr. Less if factored in batteries for bike lights, bike etc.

*One of the other "paperboys" was in his 70s and spent 30 years of his life in jail for murder, before being cleared. It was a fairly well known miscarriage of justice in the 90s, because of the notoriety of the original crime and how long it took. He was a very curious character, can't imagine what he went through. Some of the ladies who worked in the shop were rough AF and would steal stuff and try and pin it on folk.

My cousin figured it out when I was too young to have my own round - she'd get 25 quid a week, and pay me a fiver to do her round.

Never had a paper round but this thread has reminded me that I must leave a decent tip for our paper boy.

I remember mate from school doing a paper round, and making (what seemed) a fortune at Christmas from all the tips. He was one of the first to have a Casio calculator watch, bought with the proceeds.

Did a round from age 10 upto 16. I needed a bike as it was the longest round and for this got an extra 10p. Think I got £3.50 a week in the 80's. Tips were quite good at Christmas, but did hate going round knocking on doors with a Christmas card.

Some strange sights over the years, block sleeping in doorway of house - had to lean over to deliver the paper, buckets of calculators found on the road (just been nabbed from the local school), but the worse was the local peado used to turn up early doors at the newsagents - I waited around the corner until the shop opened. Out in all weathers.

I earned my first MTB by cycling to college, my Mum agreed to let me keep the train fair they'd have spent. Did the first few terms on a crappy old Apollo road bike, then she realised I was serious and gave me credit so I could get the decent MTB I wanted.

I did my round on a Raleigh Area - mine was white and had full length mudguards though. Used to use 3 in1 oil which used to pick up lots of muck. If the chain slipped and I had to put it back the papers delivered from that point were a bit smudged.