> In the early 1970s, I was very poor, living paycheck to paycheck. I'm just curious, was an engineering job at HP in the 1970s not well paid?
Define "well paid". Entry-level (relative) wealth is a recent thing.
When I graduated with a B.S. in 1982 I had 4 offers, ranging from $22K to $28K. It was enough for the two of us -- our apt was $275/month. But there wasn't a lot left over.