[Buddy B]

Gee, in 1949 J.J. Newberry Co. [five & dime store] in my home-town paid the female sales-clerks 35 cents per hour. Being a store sales-clerk was not an easy job, either.

I was 19 and the store stock-clerk at 50 cents an hour.

[Buddy B]

Washington state's 2007 minimum wage is $7.93 per hour

The minimum wage is recalculated yearly based on a cost-of-living adjustment for workers age 16 and older.

14- and 15-year-olds may be paid 85 percent of the minimum wage ($7.93 x 85% = $6.74/hour).