Riggs Motors: a dream job for teens in the '30s, p. 2

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< recalled. "We didn't have turntables or anything like that at the garage. We'd take the car from the customer, back it into the building in a straight line." Sometimes, the customer came for their car in the morning would be somewhere in the middle. "We'd have to take out at least four to five cars out on the street to get to that car. "We had quite a job. I used to have a neck pain from looking behind backing those cars in." Aside from offering storage, the garage had a showroom where Riggs sold the automobiles of the day including Whippets, the WillysKnights, Plymouths, Nashes, Lafayettes, Packards and Fords. "You could get a Packard those days for $1,250. That was expensive. The Packard was a small car but well built. It was very popular," recalled Gauthier. The showroom could fit in about five cars and the back of the garage almost reached the Front Street, he added. Gauthier worked at the gas pumps that were located near the Pinnacle Street side and were open all night for service. Gas price those days, he said, were 16 cents a gallon. Staff working at the pumps wore a uniform of brown-coloured pants, shirt and a cap while on the job, he recalled. He was paid about $14 a week. In the '50s, Riggs Motors was still in operation but changed hands several times. It became Haig Motors owned by Mayor Maclean Haig before it was sold to Frank Murray, under whom it was renamed Murray Motors. Eventually, the garage was sold to the Belleville Parking Authority and was torn down at a later date. It currently remains a municipal parking lot. · You can reach Benzie Sangma with comments on or story ideas for Remember When at bsangma@cogeco.ca

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