Yep, and that was my other job as a teenager. We bought lots of mowers at garage sales as well, tuned them up, sharpened the blades, and resold them to neighbors. I did most of the minor engine repair on the neighborhood’s lawn hardware, although I always hated working on two-cycles.
Knife sharpening, too. Unfortunately, I know now that what I knew back then about knife sharpening wasn’t nearly enough, and I’m sure that I mangled the geometry on many a blade.
But I bought my first truck with money earned from all those little adventures. It wasn’t much, but it felt good at the time. I have good memories of those years, and those were useful skills to develop at a young age. Oddly, I haven’t done much of that work since I left home in my late teens, and I positively despise yard work now. Couldn’t care less about cars anymore, either. But I like boats!
I’ll add for those that can relate, one night we was walking behind the government lot in old town Gigging, this is in Fernandina Beach Fl, Pop and myself was walking the shoreline, pop points out a image on the bank looked like a frog LOL two bulging eyes poking out, the tide was out going which left this huge 4 or 5 lb flatty 4 or 5 inches out the water, only his gills was in the water at this point,as we got closer he flushed making a run for deep 6 to late Pop was on the Ball sticking him about 6 foot into the run, i still laugh today hearing Pop say You see that Boy ? It takes a Bawana to stick them on the run Bawana was a status in our hunting camp for great white hunter you had to kill 3 deer, three years in a row to make Bawana status and we was usen the same lantern posted by the OP we also used it at hunting
After lighting it ,you had to be careful about bumping it as the bags would break up! I’m referring to it sitting cold not in use
About 40 years ago, I toured a lighthouse in the Bahamas(Marsh Harbor?), and the light source in that 20 mile light was one mantle just like the Coleman! The fresnel lens magnified and focused the beam. The fresnel lens assembly weighed about 1500 pounds and rotated with a clockwork, powered by weights that were cranked to the top by the lighthouse keeper, at the start of the night. No bearings. The lens floated on liquid mercury! I assume they’re all LED’s and batteries now. Progress? TexasJim
I gigged thousands of flounder walking next to my father with one of those. I still have three single mantle Colemans with the floundering handle attachment.
In 1981 I got married and the wife and I bought some land near New Caney, TX. It was uncleared wilderness with a dirt road cut in; money was tight and we couldn’t afford to have it professionally cleared. Every weekend for several months she and I stayed on the property in a tent and worked our butts off. For a wedding gift she wanted a Coleman lantern, and that’s what she got. I even splurged and got the plastic case for it. She loved it. I still have that lantern in storage. I’d forgotten all about it until I read this thread. I’m betting not many guys could get their new bride a Coleman lantern and have a happy marriage…..
Somehow I lost my old Coleman’s with the Reflector handles attached for flounder gigging. Just sitting here thinking about it I can smell the fuel, hear the faint hiss and in my mind see the faint outline of a flounder all silted in with those 2 eyes giving it away…
i still laugh today hearing Pop say You see that Boy ? It takes a Bawana to stick them on the run 
Bawana was a status in our hunting camp for great white hunter 
you had to kill 3 deer, three years in a row to make Bawana status 
