Harold Schafer - Background

Background

Harold was born on a small farm near Stanton, North Dakota the second of three children born to Edward and Bertha Schafer. His brother Gordon was born in 1911, his sister Ethelwyn in 1916. Harold spoke only German at home until he went to elementary school. During Harold's school years the family moved repeatedly. In 1919, the Schafers moved from the farm near Stanton to another small farm near Hazen, then to Killdeer in 1920 and to Bismarck in 1922. Harold next spent a considerable period of time with his mother's family near Rosebud, South Dakota. In 1924, when Harold was 12 years old, his father left the family and Harold moved back to Bismarck to live with his mother. He and his mother subsequently moved to Jamestown, then to Glen Ullin and finally back to Bismarck in 1927. Harold graduated from Bismarck High School in 1929.

During this period in his life, Harold came to recognize the value of hard work - a principle that defined his personality throughout the remainder of his working life. He took his first paid job at the age of eight working in a butcher shop in Killdeer for $4 per week. When his family moved to Bismarck he worked as a newspaper boy, did janitorial work and was employed as a gas station attendant. In Jamestown he candled eggs, sold flowers and worked as a department store clerk. In Glen Ullin he worked on a threshing crew, and by the time he was back in Bismarck and graduating from high school, Harold was working two or three jobs at one time. He did odd jobs at the Dahl clothing store, was an usher at the Capitol Theater, a bellhop at the Patterson Hotel, and an attendant at the Standard Oil Service Station. He also delivered milk and shoveled snow. Finally he was offered a job as a salesman at Bergeson's clothing store, an experience which may have marked the real starting point of his career as a salesman.

In 1929, Harold enrolled at the North Dakota State Agricultural College (now NDSU) in Fargo. He continued to work at multiple jobs and once again his employment included work as a salesman, this time at the Globe Clothing Company. Harold left college after one year when he found his fraternity brothers fighting over the chance to become county agents at $75 per month. Already earning $200 per month while working part time and attending school, he hit the road as a traveling salesman, convinced that college was not the answer for him. By 1931, at the age of 19, he returned to Bismarck where once again he found work at the Dahl Clothing Store. Through an unfortunate set of circumstances Harold was forced to take a job at a clothing store in Glasgow, Montana, almost immediately after the wedding but, by January 1, 1936, he was back in Bismarck and working for Vantine's Paint and Glass. He switched to Fargo Glass and Paint in November 1936 and then worked for that company as a traveling salesman for several years.