<Begin Segment 9>

MN: Then later on you got into photography. Can you share with us how you first got your camera?

BT: Yeah. The first camera I got was, my sister's husband to be, he was from Hawaii, he came over here to marry my sister and he gave me one camera. It was a little, like a toy, but I mean, it was a big thing for me. I guess that's the first, that was the first new toy I had, yeah, that camera. I forgot about that. And then later on I got another one where you went to the grocery store, and when you bought something you, they punched a, punched the amount you spent on a card, and when you completed the card you could turn it in for some prizes. And I got a camera with that. Nothing fancy, it was just, but for a kid that has nothing, I mean, it was a big thing. Yeah.

MN: What kind of photos did you take?

BT: Just of friends, you know. I didn't really go out taking a lot of pictures because I couldn't afford the film all the time.

MN: Now, were you able to process your own film?

BT: Yes. I bought a little kit, what they called a junior, Kodak junior darkroom kit, which just had three little trays to mix your chemicals and a little glass frame to hold your negative and paper to make prints. So I didn't have, I didn't have an enlarger or any of that fancy stuff, just, it was just a Mickey Mouse thing. But I enjoyed it.

MN: Where was your darkroom?

BT: This house, we had a basement. Yeah, so I would hang blankets -- it really wasn't a darkroom, there was a lot of light coming in. But as long as I got an image on the paper, I mean, I was happy. Yeah.

MN: So what happened to all these photos you took before the war?

BT: I don't know what happened. It, that's the sad part, you know? You don't think about those things. But I must've thrown 'em all away.

MN: Now, you mentioned you couldn't afford the film and so you didn't take too many photos, but by now, how were you able to afford some of this equipment and the kit?

BT: Yeah, like I said, I had a paper route, delivering paper.

MN: What kind of paper, newspaper were you delivering?

BT: It was a San Francisco paper. I don't remember if it was the Chronicle or the Examiner, but it was a big paper. Yeah, and we delivered on a bicycle.

MN: Was it seven days?

BT: Seven days. Seven days.

MN: How early in the morning did you have to start?

BT: Let's see, if I remember correctly, we got to the distributor place around, I think around 5:00, 5:30 in the morning, because we had to fold the papers so we can throw 'em.

MN: So how many customers did you have on average?

BT: I had about forty-five, fifty at the most. Yeah. The Sunday paper, I mean, it was so heavy. I couldn't -- 'cause we carried a paper in a bag that we put over our shoulder, but it was so heavy I couldn't do it. I had to make a rack on the back of my bicycle. Yeah, so it worked out.

MN: Now, were a lot of the delivery boys Japanese Americans?

BT: Not, not where I... in fact, I don't think, only other Japanese American delivered paper was for the Japanese paper. I forgot what name it was. Might've been Hokubei or something.

MN: Now, how much did you get paid a month?

BT: I got paid ten dollars a month, and if we didn't get any complaint we got another dollar. And if we collected from all the customers by the fifteenth, we got another dollar. So it was up to us. Twelve dollars was a lot of money. [Laughs]

MN: So you did you get twelve dollars most of the months, all of the months?

BT: Yes.

MN: Who were your customers?

BT: It was, they're, I think they were all white. It was around the better class area.

MN: There was this cafe you talked about where you had to slip a newspaper under the door.

BT: Yes, there was a little cafe there that, people steal newspapers, so I had to take the paper apart and stick, section by section, stick it under the door. That took time.

MN: Did you do that for their Sunday paper also?

BT: You know, I think... yes. I'm trying to think, it might've been just the Sunday paper that they took.

MN: So do they give you, did this cafe owner or your other customers give you tips for delivering papers?

BT: No, never got tipped. I think in those days I don't think they gave tips.

MN: Were you delivering the paper on your new bicycle?

BT: Uh-huh.

MN: I'm gonna change the subject now. I'm gonna ask you about this phonograph that your family had. Can you share a little bit about how your family got this phonograph?

BT: Yes. Someone gave my sister a phonograph. It was this old one where you wind it up with a crank. [Laughs] It was a Counsel model, but it was just a phonograph on top, and we were able to use a -- they had cactus needle instead, well, they had steel needles also, but I guess the cactus needle was cheaper. So of course, they wore out faster too. We, I know my sister used both the metal one and the cactus needle. They call it cactus needle, but I don't think, I don't think it was taken off the cactus plant. But it was wood.

MN: What kind of records did you play on this phonograph?

BT: Gee, I don't remember 'cause I wasn't really into music then. Yeah, 'cause that was early on, when I was about, I'd say ten or eleven years old.

MN: But did they play Japanese records or American records?

BT: American records.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.