Nice idea, Yukoner! I was born in Australia, now in Toronto, Ontario.
Never had an allowance, but well remember babysitting for a buck an hour, that’s per hour, people! And if a free shot at the fridge wasn’t included, I was busy ;-)
Stayed with friends at a US army base in the ’70s while my parents were in Vietnam (entertaining the troops), they doled out 30 bucks a month to me and their two kids. Might as well have been 1000, I thought I was rich!
FYI: This is the same way the character (renamed Cutter John) was introduced in “Bloom County”. Replace the brunette with teacher Bobbi Harlow, and, I believe, the last line was, “Things are looking up.”, but I can’t find it in my archives to confirm.
You can stop now, Calvin, we’ve had enough here in Toronto, thanks! And I have to say, DesultoryPhillipic, I love your handle. From the Simon and Garfunkel song (“A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara’d Into Submission)”) I gather?
No clue on dates, but this one was definitely redone in Bloom County early in the run (minus the swearing, I believe).