How much was Ernie really getting paid per hour in 1953 to build my 1953 Buick Skylark?

[1953mack]

I don't know for sure.....just some speculation.

Remember in your high school days when you had to go to school on a Saturday to take those many-hour long tests (aka SAT tests) with multiple choice questions? This thread should jog some memories.

I found Ernie’s paycheck stub from the Fisher Body Division, Flint’s Plant No. 1, hidden in the rear quarter window well in one of my 1953 Buick Skylarks that I bought some years ago. I blanked out his Social Security Number and last name for privacy reasons. My car supposedly rolled off the Flint assembly line in September of 1953.

Here are the GIVEN facts. Keep in mind that historical data for 1953 has the average yearly income pegged around $4,000, or approximately $2.00/hour for 2,000 hours/year worked.....

June 21, 1953 was on a Sunday.

Hours worked.................... * 3.80

Gross earnings (............. $83.64

Withholding taxes (MG)....... (10.16)

Retirement fund ®............. (0.10)

-----------------------------------

Take home pay................. $73.38

What’s your best guess?

A......Ernie was the top dog. Ernie’s base pay was $22.01 per hour ($83.64 ÷ 3.80 hrs.). June 21 was the end of the pay period.

B......Ernie’s base pay was $14.67 per hour. Working on Sunday, Ernie got paid time and a half or $22.01 per hour for 3.80 hrs.

C......Ernie’s base pay was $11.00 per hour. Working on Sunday, Ernie got paid double time or $22.01 per hour.

D......Ernie's base pay was $2.20 per hour. The payroll clerk misplaced the decimal point. Ernie worked 38.0 hours.

E......Ernie’s base pay was $1.83 per hour. Ernie worked a total of 43.80 hours. The asterisk (*) means 40 hours @ base pay + 3.80 hours of overtime @ time & a half.

F......Ernie’s base pay was $1.75 per hour. Ernie worked a total of 43.80 hours. The asterisk (*) means 40 hours @ base pay + 3.80 hours of overtime @ double time.

G......I don’t know. The batteries in my calculator are dead.

H......I don't have my cellphone with me. I need to call and talk to Ernie.

I......Who cares?

J......None of the above.

EXTRA CREDIT.....What does the "54-275" stand for? If "54" was for the production year of 1954 and Ernie's employee number was "275", how did this pay stub wind up in a 1953 Buick? Please explain yourself in <1,000 words.

Maybe some old timers on this forum worked with Ernie or for Buick back then and have all the answers. Roberta?

Thanks.

Al Malachowski

BCA #8965

"500 Miles West of Flint"

Edited January 26, 2013 by 1953mack (see edit history)

[Bleach]

Maybe it was Ernest A. Wornell?

[D Yaros]

EXTRA CREDIT.....What does the "54-275" stand for? If "54" was for the production year of 1954 and Ernie's employee number was "275", how did this pay stub wind up in a 1953 Buick? Please explain yourself in <1,000 words.

54-275 is Dept #-Payroll#

As the pay stub is for June of 1953, what is the mystery of "how?" Production of '54 Buicks would not have begun until August of '53, right? Alternatively, the pay stub was placed in the '53 at some point in time AFTER the car left the factory

[jscheib]

Bear in mind, I believe the '53 Skylarks were "hand crafted" separate from the production line, so I suspect "Ernie" was probably at the high end of the hourly employees in the shop.

John

[BUICK RACER]

There are no union dues taken out, so maybe Ernie was a supervisor and took the car home and cashed his check on the way home? He didn't want his wife to know how much he made. What's the date code on the Fisher Body tag on the car?

Google his last name and see if there is any ancestry history, maybe you find out what he did for a living.

and I'm not old enough to detect anymore info.

[Guest BJM]

I think Roberta is on to something. It would be pretty cool to see if Ernie or his family is still around.

[JohnD1956]

I think Earnie had some dirt on the manager of his shop and was collecting a paycheck in a no show job.

[5219]

According to Bloomberg Business Week, auto assembly line workers in 1950 earned an average of $1.58 per hour. My late father in law was a machinist at DuPont with ten years experience in 1950. His tax return for that year showed wages of a little more than $2500.00. That was considered a good job.

I believe that Ernie's 3.8 hours were his o/t hours. If you figure 43.8 hours with time and a half for over 40, it comes out to very close to the $73.00 Ernie made.

According to the Inflation Calculator website, $73.00 in 1953 is worth $605.24 in 2011. I think that it is safe to say that for many years, uaw wages rose faster than inflation.

Edited January 28, 2013 by 5219 (see edit history)

[hotrod1940]

I sure would like to talk to old Ernie.

[Guest Henry White]

I dont believe Ernie made $22 per hour in 1953. I dont think the president made that much.

[Thriller]

A bunch of wage information at automotive wage history - from both written sources and memory.

[hotrod1940]

If old Ernie worked on my Skylark, he probably passed from lead poisoning. I never so so much lead as in a Skylark.

[avgwarhawk]

I think Earnie had some dirt on the manager of his shop and was collecting a paycheck in a no show job.

Yep. Ernie had some very compromising pictures as well.

[lancemb]

According to Bloomberg Business Week, auto assembly line workers in 1950 earned an average of $1.58 per hour. My late father in law was a machinist at DuPont with ten years experience in 1950. His tax return for that year showed wages of a little more than $2500.00. That was considered a good job.

I believe that Ernie's 3.8 hours were his o/t hours. If you figure 43.8 hours with time and a half for over 40, it comes out to very close to the $73.00 Ernie made.

According to the Inflation Calculator website, $73.00 in 1953 is worth $605.24 in 2011. I think that it is safe to say that for many years, uaw wages rose faster than inflation.

That sounds about right. I'll bet F is the most accurate answer!

[Larry Schramm]

E......Ernie’s base pay was $1.83 per hour. Ernie worked a total of 43.80 hours. The asterisk (*) means 40 hours @ base pay + 3.80 hours of overtime @ time & a half.

EXTRA CREDIT.....What does the "54-275" stand for? If "54" was for the production year of 1954 and Ernie's employee number was "275", how did this pay stub wind up in a 1953 Buick? Please explain yourself in <1,000 words.

E I believe is the correct answer. He worked 40 yours, 3.8 hours of overtime at time and 1/2.

I am quite sure that 54-275 is the plant and department number. When I worked in the plant, all of the departments were two numbers - The first series of numbers indicated the GM plant which usually were two numbers. The second set of numbers was the department.

The skilled trade tool rooms usually ended in numbers like XX-62, 65, etc. Numbers in the 60 series because all similar operations in different would have the same last two numbers. I would guess that a tool room at the Fisher Body plant would be 54-62, or maybe 54-65.

Edited July 5, 2013 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[D Yaros]

The numbering system is fairly standard, and not only in the auto industry. When I worked for U.S. Steel my payroll number was 43-176. The 43 indicated I worked in the maintenance department. Now, as for the 176, I am pretty sure that was unique to me? The next guy hired in maintenance would have been issued a payroll # of 43-177.-