A Circus Ticket Earned Under the Big Tent

My very first job was working at a circus that set up in Moline. I was around twelve or thirteen, and asked them if I could help. I helped set up the big tent. They used elephants to pull the big tent poles up with the canvas attached. I was very impressed with that. My pay was a free ticket. Of course, we did work around home as soon as we were old enough. Mostly orchard and garden stuff. With five sisters, I don’t think I did dishes very often. The big orchard and gardens needed all our help. Plowing and planting the garden was always a big event. I think Mom and Grandpa did most of the work. Planting the pea seeds in a row, planting baby tomatoes plants in a small hole, planting cucumber and melon seeds in mounds, the green pepper plants and the cabbage plants all had to go in by hand, and each plant had to be watered. I remember Dad bought a contraption that you put corn seeds in, pushed it in the ground, and squeezed a lever to release seeds. It was a real time saver. Bernie and I also used it to plant a field of popcorn. The neighbors loaned us some land and Dad said we could sell the popcorn and keep the money. It was bunch of work but we sold several hundred pounds at ten cents per pound. We were real entrepreneurs. My first job in the real world was at the Kay Bee Clothing store in Moline in 1953. I started there as a stock boy when I was fifteen. Bernie had the job before me. It was a credit clothing store in the days before credit cards. One of my jobs there was to go to people’s homes and repossess stuff they didn’t pay for. I met some real characters that way.