No, running coach, it was not.
The magazine caters to the homesteader. Sorta like “The Mother Earth News”.
The original paper did reach out to rural U.S., but had news that would be of interest to all rural people.
I had the bag and all. They furnished the forms, for their payment, with an addressed envelope with every batch of papers. I do not remember how the money was sent. I did not have a checking account. ?? I ain’t give a thought to this small chapter of my life since then. That was one of those useless thangs my step mother made me do. I wanted to be working with my Dad (mechanic) or fishing, or hunting with him.
Which reminds me that we were watching The Lego Movie the other night (oldest in-homer had not seen it), and I again thought that someone needs to capture that line of Emmet’s from near the beginning…
I sold in both places. In town, densely populated, on Thursdy night. In a rural area on Saturdy. After a short period of time there were folks I could count on to buy the paper every week.
I walked down the street in SOuth St Paul Minn in and out of businesses and sold the newspaper. One beauty shop I’d sell 3 or 4 to her various clients. I don’t remember the price or the content, except that I’d read it. My other exposure at 12 years old was the Wall Street Journal. I didn’t get a lot out of WSJ.
I got the same answer from my Dad when I asked about pay. My parents also paid what was left of my college tuition after scholarships and grants. Considering the amount of money they had that says a lot. I don’t know how they swung it for 3 kids.
When i was a kid about 12 , i went to live with my aunt and uncle for a year or so in Magee Mississippi , where my uncle worked at a dry cleaning store and my aunt worked at a " T.B. hospital , aka " Sanitorium .
While i was there i sold grit newspapers , mainly to the elderly , since they were the only ones who even heard Grit papers and up until i started selling them , my customers had thought they went out of business.
The town" Magee" wasnt that big and my uncle had lived there for many years and my aunt was a nurse at the hospital , so between the both of them and the people i had met prior to selling the papers , i had approx. 200 customers and was top" paperboy" , if you will, for a good year and as such , i had won fishing gear, camping equipment, bicycles, cameras, anything they gave away to their " paper boys" , and they offered alot , i pretty much had won. my uncle would take my customers papers to town to give to my town customers as well as collect my money and my aunt would take and deliver the hospital customers as well as collect the money.
Almost every patient in the hospital bought my paper , mainly because it was around when most of them were young. Back then , 1969 , the paper was a quarter , not sure now how much it is.
I did alright back then , selling papers , i made enough to save , had won almost everything else i wanted , except for a BB gun which my uncle gave me for xmas , and it was fun.
I hope that answered yours and anyone else questions.
I read comic books as a kid, and saw all the ads saying “Sell Grit to win neat prizes!” But I never responded to the ads (I DID try selling seeds once, and it was a fiasco!).
In fact, until a few weeks ago, I had never seen an actual copy of Grit magazine, and wasn’t entirely sure it really existed!
