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Published on 11/24/1999 All articles from this issue

Driving at 14 and other jobs, after-school work in the '40s

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Voice of the Past

The hard work ethic was part of the lifestyle of the 11 Blach children. After-school and summer jobs in the '30s and '40s were part of Jim Blach's childhood memories of Los Altos. Jim Blach is still working as the owner of Clarke's Charcoal Broiler in Rancho Center, where he was interviewed earlier this year.

I went to Los Altos Grammar School in the '40s. After school I stocked shelves and delivered prescriptions for Larry Nelson at his pharmacy. Later, I worked at J&S Market where the Mandarin Classic Restaurant is located now. In the early days, J&S Market was called Whitecliff Market because the phone numbers in Los Altos started with the prefix "Whitecliff 8." They thought that would be easy to remember.

I don't recall my parents ever telling me to get a job, but my older brother had a job at J&S Market, so I assumed I would too. I stocked shelves and cleaned the wide wood plank floor with a big oiled dust mop. I even worked the cash register.

I got my driver's license when I was 14 and then drove the J&S delivery truck. Anyone living in "the country" could get a license, even at 14 years old. They just asked you, "Can you drive a car?" If you said you could, you got the license. Steve Biaginni was the J&S produce man. He went to the produce market at 4 o'clock in the morning and purchased the day's produce. We rotated so each of the stockers got experience setting up the produce stand. It was not as extensive as you see in the markets today, but it was fresh and nice.

Every J&S employee wore an apron, a starched white shirt and had to be clean shaven. The proprietor, Adam Hergert, often said that a good appearance was critical because it gave the market a strictly professional atmosphere. I learned a lot from Adam Hergert. He was an excellent merchandiser.

A family task was to harvest from our own orchard. We had about 120 apricot trees at our place and a couple of walnut and prune trees. Mother and grandmother wrapped the fruit into gift packages. A family friend would send us two crates of wonderful Bartlett pears from his orchards in Ukiah to be included in the baskets. Dad took the Christmas gift baskets to his employees and family friends in San Francisco where he worked. Those gift baskets were a real delicacy.

I think some of my philosophy in life evolved from experiences I had working here in Los Altos. I believe if you are not going forward, you are going backward. It's like the TV remote control. If you leave it in the pause position too long, the picture eventually turns off. I still enjoy working in Los Altos, and I'm still going forward.

- Adapted by Donna Shoemaker for History House of Los Altos. E-mail: LAHistoryHouse@aol.com.