I got a job at a body shop downtown, on the corner of Maple and Church Streets, back in ’54. I’d been working at a plumbing shop. They laid everybody off in the winter time. I was just a kid in the backroom, putting stuff away, but they laid me off, too.
I started at the west end of town on the north side of the street, and I went to the other end of town [looking for work]. Well, this body shop was down there on Maple and Church. I went in there and asked for a job, and he didn’t know if he needed anybody. So, I went back to Main Street, again, and headed back the other way. I got back to the Sinclair station on the Main corner and I went in there. This was on a Saturday. I asked about a job and they said, "Sure, we could use you. Come in Monday after school." Well, I got up Monday morning and we had about 5 inches of snow. So I thought, "Well, they can probably use me to shovel snow". So I went down there. ‘Sure, grab a shovel’. We shoveled ’til 5 o’clock that afternoon, and I wasn’t used to that. I went home, and I was tired! I got up the next morning and we had about 3 inches of snow, again! Back down to the station I went. I figured it was my job to help. About 3 o’clock in the afternoon we got done. I thought, "Well, I’m going back over to the body shop to see if they could use me". I went back over there and he said, "Well, I’ve been thinking about it. If it’s alright with your dad, I think probably I could use you". I said, "Well, I’m pretty sure it’s alright with my dad, but I’ll go ask him. The next night I went to work there. “I started working on cars in March of ’54 and retired 45 years later.”– Jim Perry Today, Jim continues working on cars, like the ’31 Ford Model A street rod pictured here, in his workshop.
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