In October 1953, Bidelman was hired as an assistant astronomer at Lick Observatory. This observatory of the University of California is located on Mount Hamilton (California). The Bidelman family lived on Mount Hamilton and the children attended a one-room school where it was an hour's drive to the nearest grocery store. According to Stanislaus Vasilevskis, due to the lack of a high school for children and other features, Bidelman moved from Mount Hamilton to San Jose, and commuted to work.