A Summer Job to Remember: A Glimpse into 1967 West Liberty

Long before big-box stores and online shopping changed the retail landscape, local businesses were the heartbeat of small-town America—and for one West Liberty teen in the summer of 1967, that heartbeat came with a cash register bell, cotton twine, and seventy-five cents an hour.

In a recent post shared by the West Liberty Historical Society, resident Phillip A. King reflects on his first job after high school—a summer spent working at Saltz Men’s Wear on the town’s main street. The job wasn’t just a paycheck; it was a rite of passage.

Like many local boys raised on farms, King was no stranger to hard work. But after graduation, the promise of steady pay and a chance to step off the farm—even briefly—offered an exciting new chapter. He explored opportunities at Ohio Caverns, Piatt Castles, and even the shop where he had just purchased his motorcycle, but it was Saltz Men’s Wear that gave him his first job.

Owned by a capable widow named Mrs. Saltz, the clothing shop offered men’s and boys’ apparel, family shoes, and women’s hosiery. With only King and Mrs. Saltz to run the store, he quickly learned the full operation—from opening the blinds and turning on the lights to helping customers find the perfect pair of shoes.

“I especially enjoyed fitting shoes on our customers,” King recalled. “I did my very best to help each choose the pair which pleased him or her.”

King fondly described the ornate cash register, the mirrored foot sizer, and the thrill of sidewalk sales during West Liberty’s annual August clearance event. He even got to plan one of those sales himself, choosing the items, arranging displays, and managing the cash box out front.

Outside of work, King commuted on his motorcycle—sometimes home for lunch, other times across the street to DaJoLee’s restaurant for a 79-cent lunch special. The server was cute, he admitted, though he was more interested in his new bike than any budding romance.

That summer job at Saltz Men’s Wear was just the beginning. In the following years, King took on painting barns across Champaign and Logan Counties for $2.00 an hour, a job he described as harder but equally rewarding.

His story, shared from the facebook group “Growing Up in West Liberty, Ohio”, is more than a trip down memory lane—it’s a window into a time when community, responsibility, and a little trust could turn a summer job into a lasting lesson in pride and purpose.

As West Liberty continues to honor its past, stories like King’s serve as a reminder of the small-town values that still shape lives today.