Our restaurant was a family restaurant. Mom cooked and dad acted as host and a waiter. My brother was going to college nearby so he only worked on the weekends. Then he would go to college in Iowa in the fall of 1965. I worked for a couple of hours at dinner time and on weekends.

We needed more help at lunch time so we needed at least one additional waitress. In the 60s we only paid minimum wage which was about $2.65 per hour. But waitresses got to keep their own tips. Sometimes that would end up being pretty good money. It is a fact of life that better looking waitresses got better tips. One girl was a brunette until one day she came in as a beached blonde. She ended up getting better tips after that (I think that’s her in the cartoon).

In summer ’65 Linda Comfort was one of our waitresses (see her in this post) but she also went to college in the fall.  Her cousin would work for us the next summer. Most of the waitresses were good but seeing as wages weren’t the best they wouldn’t work that long. My dad did have to fire one waitress as she stole someone else’s tips.

Jeannine B. was in my high school class. A few years ago on Facebook she said that my dad was very nice to her as it was her first job. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I didn’t remember her working in the restaurant. Maybe she was not working the hours that I did.

Lunchtime was usually very hectic. Waitresses would take the order and get the drinks. Then start with another customer or two or three before serving the food to the first customer. That was confusing to some waitresses but most had no problem.

Very few waitresses knew how to use the cash register and make change. We didn’t have one of those modern registers that tell you how much change to give. Instead you need be able to make change if the order was $5.27 and someone gave you a $20. It’s easy when you know how. You count out 3 pennies, to get you to $5.30, Two dimes, then 2 quarters get you to $6. Four singles get you up to $10. Then another get you to $20. If you counted it out in a customer’s hand they would know they got the right change and you would never make a mistake.