Ralph Robert Wensinger

West Point, 1959

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Rosalyn Wensinger Sands on January 25, 2002:

REMEMBRANCES ABOUT MY BIG BROTHER, RALPH WENSINGER During the mid 1940's, Ralph wanted to become a paperboy for the San Mateo Times. I am not sure what the minimum age was for becoming a paperboy then, but Ralph was about 10 or 11 years old when he first contacted the circulation department. They turned him down and said that he was too young. That didn't discourage him. He went back every week to check to see if there could be a job for him at the newspaper. After about a year of this, the circulation manager made an exception and probably said, "OK, if you will just leave me alone, I will let you become a paperboy." My parents said they were told that the newspaper never saw a boy want to become a paperboy so badly. Because of this, the circulation manager felt that Ralph would do a good job, even though his starting age was still too young. Ralph would deliver the newspapers on his bicycle. He had a dual-compartmented canvas bag that he would hang over his handlebars, and it would drape on either side of his front tire. He would box (a special way of folding) each newspaper and tightly pack all of them in each compartment of the canvas bag. He sat me on his handlebars, and I would go with him to deliver the papers. He would pedal the bike around the neighborhood with the heavy load of papers over his front tire, made sure I stayed put on the handlebars, reached into the bag each time to get a paper then threw the paper onto each person's porch. Quite a balancing act, and he had a good throwing arm, except for a few times that the paper landed on the roof or in the bushes. I remember all this because I was his helper. When all the newspapers were gone from one side of the canvas bag, Ralph would stop, take me off the handlebars and put me in the empty side. My main purpose was to be the counterweight. Later when all the newspapers were delivered, I would sit back up on the handlebars and he would pedal back home. Ralph would show me how to box his papers. Each time I helped him I did my best, but my work was slow, was not as crisply folded or as tightly boxed as his. When he would throw the papers, sometimes they would land and unfold. I am sure those were the few that I folded. This would slow him up because he would have to get off his bike and re-box it. He never complained about me, and my work became better in time. I think he liked having me along, or maybe I was with him a lot because Mom would ask him to take me off her hands for a while. One of the perks of being a paperboy was getting to go to free movie matinees at the San Mateo Theater, which at that time was next door to the Ben Franklin Hotel on Third Avenue. Ralph always loved the movies and he always loved popcorn. One time he took me with him to the free movies on "paperboy day." In small town America, it was a big enough event for the San Mateo Times to take a photo of all the paperboys at the theater and publish it in the newspaper. There I was with Ralph in the center of the photo -- it was a big deal in our family to have such celebrities. We have the photo and article in our family scrapbook. Ralph always made me feel important. I loved him very much.

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