Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Dean Gustafson of Mercer holds a tape measure he received from the Daily Globe when he was a paperboy in high school and living in Hurley. It is marked "Ironwood Daily Globe Christmas 1957."
By LARRY HOLCOMBE
lholcombe@yourdailyglobe.com
The Daily Globe's 100th anniversary special edition of Nov. 18 got Dean Gustafson of Mercer thinking about a memento of his youth.
He grew up in Hurley and was a paperboy for the Daily Globe for a few years including his freshman year in high school. That year for Christmas, the newspaper presented each of its carries with a six-foot tape measure. On Tuesday, Gustafson brought the tape measure to the Daily Globe's office, offering it to be put on display.
The two-inch square, shiny silver case with a white metal tape inside is marked "Ironwood Daily Globe Christmas 1957" on the front and "Made in USA" on the back.
Gustafson said the Daily Globe's circulation manager Arvid Pelto presented him with the gift. He said he had 65 to 70 papers on his route in Hurley.
"I rode my bike in the summer and was on foot in the winter," said Gustafson. "The snow was rough, especially when people wouldn't shovel their walks."
Gustafson collected 35 cents for the week each Friday from his customers. He recalled one customer who would turn his lights off and not answer the door on Fridays. So, he quit delivering there. The customer soon called the newspaper office to complain he wasn't getting the paper anymore.
"Arvid asked me about it and when I explained it, he went over there with me to collect," Gustafson said.
