click to enlarge Eddie Toney Eddie Toney s first job was at a shoe factory in Littleton, N.H., just over the border from his hometown of St. Johnsbury. It was well into the Great Depression, and Eddie had quit school after eighth grade to help his family; he d never much enjoyed classroom learning anyway. The teenager made $8.75 weekly, until one week when his pay envelope contained just 42 cents. As Eddie told the story, he returned it to his boss, saying, You can use it more than me and was summarily fired. Other than a stint in the army during World War II, Eddie, who died in September of natural causes just four months shy of his 100th birthday, never worked for anyone else again.