Dave, my very first job was catching crickets for my next door neighbor. Two crickets (bigger the better)
sold for .01 cent. He'd take them up to his cottage and use them for bluegill bait. I was rolling in the dough making as much as $1.00 per week. OK, for a 6 year old that was a lot. That would have been in the mid '50's.
We also worm hunted, but for personal use. Right after a rain, or sometimes if we got desperate, we'd water the lawn. We put red cellophane plastic over the flashlight lens so as not to spook them. We wore the can around our neck, tied with a string. My grandmother taught us how to net minnows using flour and water paste as bait. It's a wonder there are any fish left in Lake St Clair! Ah the good times!
Roger, I like the way you tied "worms" and "alcohol" together in your story. You covered all the bases. Smooth...
Tom