I went to Minneapolis in 1944 to go to radio school and learn some things so I could get a better job. My Mother went with me and my friend Myrtle Olson came along and she was going to find a job and I also needed a job so that I could support myself and go to school.
We went up on the train and then I think my Mother rented a hotel room and the next day we went down to the radio school and paid them the rest of the money and then we went out for a job search. There were jobs all over town and my friend got a job at a defense plant running a machine and I go a job at at cafe located at 6th and Hennepin right down town. We then found a place to room at on the third floor of an apartment house.
The room had a bed and a closet and a hot plate. The bathroom was down on the second floor and the washing machine and iron was down in the basement. Myrtle's job was at night and we did not see each other very often. I went to radio school from 9 until 3 and then I came home and changed clothing and went to work at the cafe from 5 to 10 in the evening. I caught the street car home and the apartment was just a block from the street car line.
The cafe work was quite interesting as it was located in the entertainment dist of Minneapolis. There were movie theatres close and the men who ran the projectors would come in to get a bite to eat. Upstairs was a bowling alley and the guys would come down a get a cup of coffee and sometimes pie a la mode. I also had a couple of women who worked for the CNW railroad that would come in on their break and get a bite. There were also people that worked on the newspapers that would come in.
I had a bartender that came in every night and ordered a chicken sandwich. We always saved a piece of chicken for his sandwich. The cafe was also a tobacco store and outside the cafe was a newstand. I can still hear the man who owned the newstand saying Extra Extra Read All About It. He was of the Jewish faith and he ordered a milk shake with a raw egg in it.
The cafe was close to the street car line that went to St Paul and so would get some people waiting for the street car and they would come in for coffee or cherry cokes and we also had ice cream and I made sundaes and milk shakes. I also washed the dishes as they came off the counter.
I went to a movie one time with friends and Duke Ellington had a show there. Think it cost about 50 cents. Minimum wage at that time was 40 cents an hour. I could live on what I made at that part time job and was able to save about 40 collars in 9 weeks. We would some times get on the street car and go over to St Paul as it cost about 15 cents. We would get a transfer ticket and ride all over on Sunday afternoon and see the sights.
I left Minneapolis the first part of October as had secured a job on The Santa Fe Railroad. I had learned to type much better at the school and also learned how to use a teletype machine which came in hand on the railroad.
They also taught us radio theory and I got my amature radio licence. We had to go to St Paul to get that at a court house. Never did use it but that was one of the requirements and we had to pass that test.
Was an interesting time in my life and helped prepare me for the business world.
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