Money was scarce and no one scorned pennies. Seeing the perspiring WA workers in the streets (created by presidential order in 1935, “Works Progress Administration” was the largest of FDR’s New Deal programs to provide useful work for the unemployed), I borrowed a nickel and bought a packet of Kool-Aid, from which I made six glasses that I sold to them for a penny each. I continued to do this and found that it took a lot of work to earn a few cents. But the next winter, when my father gave me a nickel to shovel the snow from our sidewalk, I hit a bonanza. I offered the same deal to our neighbors and, after an exhausting day of snow removal, returned home soaked in sweat and bearing the huge sum of a couple of dollars, almost half of what my father was paid per day. Soon lots of the kids were out following my lead and the bonanza ended-an early lesson in how competition can drive down profits.
Edward O. Thorp
A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market
The Waiter's Pad 