I was just reminiscing with a co-worker about how I used to sell peanuts in Tiger Stadium when I was in high school, in order to get into the games. You would go to a spot beneath the Stadium and a man would sell you a sack with 10 bags of peanuts for $7.00. You would then go sell the peanuts for .75 cents per back (thus turning a .50 cent profit per sack). But the beauty of the whole thing was this: they would give you a Stadium Pass with which you could go all over Tiger Stadium and go out and come back in at will...and you could only sell peanuts before games and at halftime. Many was the night I'd make a beeline for the student section, sell my sack of peanuts (usually within about 15 minutes) and go find a seat and enjoy the game. Occasionally, I'd get ambitious and go back a few times to get more peanuts to sell and increase my profit margin...but that free ticket into the game was my true motivation. I spent the whole of Dalton Hilliard-Garry James freshman Orange Bowl year selling peanuts in the stands. What great memories.
I worked as a Boy Scout usher in the late 60's. My troop came down from north Louisiana once every season to work a game. It was an eye-opening experience for a bunch of country boys. We earned a nice LSU football patch for our uniforms and got to watch games sitting in the aisles or wherever we could find a seat. We were usually assigned to usher the visitors sections, so we were a LSU cheering bunch sitting around opponents fans. But they were all pretty cool. The Ole Miss fans kind of adopted us one year and almost had us cheering for them. The Tulane fans were the worst. Very rude and obnoxious. We were just north Louisiana redneck kids who knew nothing about Tulane. One drunk Greenie actually threatened a scout and drew back like he was going to slap him. The deputies appeared out of nowhere and dragged that guy right out of there. They take a dim view of old fat guys slapping boy scouts.
I sold Cokes and 7 Ups one season when I was 14 or 15. It was a much better deal than G_Man's peanuts because I didn't have to pay for the drinks up front and I made $20 to $30 per game which was great money in those days to be payed to spend a Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.
WORKING IN TIGER STADIUM I started as a Scout when I was 12 or 13 ushering in the north end zone. Of course by 10 minutes into the game, we all had a seat and watched the Tigers. After one year doing that, I sold cokes for the profit and the free entrance for 2 or 3 years. First saw Jim Taylor while selling Cokes. It was great for a country boy to see! This experience is what really caused me to love LSU football and I'm still an addict 47 years later. :geaux: :lsup: :lsug:
I started working in TS in 1961 in the North end zone selling hot dogs out of those old sterno boxes for .25 cents each. I would also get a big bag of peanuts containing 60 small bags and put about a dozen bags in with the 2 dozen hot dogs and sell hot peanuts. I walked up and down and back and forth across that ez for about 4 yrs. Then I did the dumbest thing I ever did. The guy who ran my wholesale stand wanted me and my buddy to come inside and help him there. We agreed to do it and I never got to see another game while I worked for him. We also worked a couple of Sugar Bowls with him. I stopped working there about 1968 and in 1971 I got my own hamburger-hot dog stand in the NEZ and worked it with my wife and some kids for about 5 yrs. til we got divorced and then I got a popcorn stand in the upper SEZ which I worked til 1977. After that I moved to NO and then here in Okla. I never reallly cared about making any money except when I first started and then I got to watching the games and that was all I cared about. I used to have enough people working the stand with me so I could go out and watch the games. That was a great way for a kid to make some money and get the experience of seeing one of the greatest spectacles on earth. Now I understand that the stands are run by churches or other entities and the money goes to the organization and the kids just get free drinks or whatever. That was one of the great experiences of my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Saw a lot of great games in that time. You go to SN in Tiger Stadium, especially as a kid, it's in your blood forever!
