Can someone tell me if a worker could "opt out" of participating in the Social Security program when it went into effect in 1937? I wrote to Social Security Administration and sent check for $29.00 to obtain S5 application for my grand father. They came back with negative reply that no record could be found. Several relatives state that my gf worked for Sherwin Williams Company in Cleveland up to about a year before his death in 1942. I concluded that he must have been participating in Social Security since he worked for an employer. However, at a recent seminar I mentioned my case and was told by one of the participants that a person could choose to not pay into social security and therefore not have an account number. Can anyone confirm what the rules where back then?