David Tanguay

My First Job



Posted: Sunday, November 20, 2011

by David Tanguay

My first full time job after leaving school was working for a phonograph record distributing company. We would order records from the companies that made them then distribute them to stores all over the state.

It was an interesting job and I surely was able to keep up with the latest hit songs of that era. Being a Johnny Cash fan in those days I was able to get all the records he ever recorded including the ones he began his career with which were on the sun label.

When the records came in my job was to put them all together in bins that were easy to get to when we needed to ship them out. Also putting price tags on them and filling orders that came in from stores all over the state.

The name of the company was Portland records the location of the company was in Portland Maine. We would distribute records all over the state and some out of state.

I started at $1.25 an hour the minimum wage. Yes in a 40-hour workweek, my paycheck was $50.00 dollars a week before taking out for taxes and social security.

Although the pay wasn’t so great, I enjoyed working there. It was my first job after leaving school at 16 years old. Would I do it today? Well they don’t make phonograph records anymore the place I use to work for no longer exists.

However, in all it was a great experience for me as a teenager to learn responsibility and earn a living. I worked there until I went in the service in June of1967.

“People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get” Frederick Douglass

                              



  
Dave Tanguay was born on November 8,1948 in Westbrook, Maine. The 10th. child of a family of eleven children. Served in Vietnam in the 60s, he became active with the youth movement of that day on completion of military duty. Now retired and living in Florida. (still believes in the young)

First Job
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Jean Horst
 180 days 15 hours ago.
178 fans.
Vinyl albums are making a comeback, David. Target now sells turntables again and I know several 20-something guys who love to go to thrift stores and look for vintage records for their collections. Thanks for the memories!
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» left by David Tanguay 180 days 2 hours ago.
189 fans.
Do they still carry record players? I've never seen any in stores today.
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» left by Jean Horst 179 days 14 hours ago.
178 fans.
Yes, Target sells a turntable/CD player combo stereo that looks like an old time wooden box stereo. If you go to their website and search for "turntable" a bunch of other choices come up as well! I think they are available in the stores too.
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