Days Being a Carny
On the road with the carnival. He learned how a carnival worked, as well as some of life.
Jack was walking down midway, looking for change under fences and close to rides, when the Jinny started playing music. He headed over to the tilt, or tilt-a-whirl, as those who are not 'with it' would say. Jack was the foreman of the tilt. He had three helpers, ride jocks they called them, three Indian kids, all younger than him, all in their late teens.
Jack called the oldest one 'Little Beaver' after a comic book character. This probably would be considered racist now days, but Jack had no feeling of superiority, or intent on belittling him. The other two were named 'Joe' and 'Arny'. Jack would call Joe, 'Indian Joe', once in a while, again having no intent of belittlement. He felt a bit like an older brother to them.
It was mid summer; Jack had joined up early that spring. The carnival had its initial loc, or location, in the parking lot of a shopping center, near where he lived. Before he had started with the carnival, every day he would come home from work coughing. He, working at a nearby factory; not being able to handle the poor lighting, not being able to handle the poor breathing conditions, wanted a different job, but didn't have time to look. He got a job helping set up the carnival, being close to where he lived. After it was set up, he asked Don, the ride foreman, if he could get a job with them.
Don said, "Well, I don't know. You would have to be on the road, and far away from here; and you would have to leave your car out at the winter quarters for the season. If that is OK with you, I'll give you a try. But you'll have to see the owner."
"Great," said Jack, "Where do I find the owner?"
"He's over in the pay wagon," said Don, "That is the camper trailer right behind the first of the game joints."
Jack was off like a flash, soon coming back, beaming, "The owner said I could have the job, if I wasn't a forty miler. What's a forty miler?"
Don laughed. "A forty miler is someone who gets out on the road a ways, then gets homesick. I don't think you are that type - but I could be wrong."
"Oh, I'm not," said Jack.
Don said, "By the way, do you have a chauffeur's license?"
"No," said Jack, "I only have a regular driver's license."
"That's OK," Don said, "just give Jowls a sawbuck, and he'll get you one from a southern state. Just do it right away; it takes several days for the license to get here."
"I don't know who Jowls is."
"Jowls is usually in the pay wagon, you didn't see him? He's almost as wide as he is tall, and he is TALL."
"Oh! Yes," said Jack, "He was there, couldn't be two people like that here."
"He's big enough alright; they say his heart is just as big. He is the advance agent, setting up gigs for us, his work is mostly done for this summer."
Jack went back to the pay wagon, asking Jowls to get him a license, giving him ten dollars.
But now, back at the tilt, Jack gave out orders: "OK, Little Beaver, Start'er up. Arney you can be the shepherd with Little Beaver. Indian Joe you can start out in the ticket booth."
Little Beaver went to start up the Alice Chalmers stationary engine attached to the ride, in the back of the tilt. The engine roared to life. Jack turned the ride lights on. Soon people were lining up getting their tickets from Joe. Little Beaver and Arney shepherding them to tubs on the ride; Jack standing by the control stick. They were there for three days. On the third day, about nine in the evening, Jack was walking back from a grab joint after eating supper there, when Shelly came up behind him, saying "would you like to ride the trooper with me?"
He had seen her many times before, of course; she was the daughter of the foreman of the show. She was no possum belly queen, not her; she had some class, expecting everyone to treat her as a lady, and boy, if someone insulted her in any way, daddy would have him gone in less than a day, packing out of there with no scratch at all. That one would be gone, just gone, and probably would not be able to get a job at another show at all, at least not having the same name. Jack felt honored at being asked by her, so they got in line at the paratrooper ride.
"What are you going to do at the end of the season?" Shelly asked.
"I might go out to the west coast, or I may just stay here and go to college," Jack said.
"Most people go down south; winter down there; maybe work on a show there," she said.
"Oh, I don't want to be a ride jockey all of my life. I'm just here now to see what it is like."
When the ride was over, Jack said, "I've got to get back to the tilt and see what my guys are up to."
Jack got back, took control from Little Beaver, telling him, "Go find some greenies to help slough."
To slough meant to tear down the ride, packing the tilt-a-whirl up onto its two trucks.
At the end of the third week that Jack had worked at the carnival, Don had woke him up in the middle of the night saying, "Someone is after me, and I have to vamoose. I'm leaving you in charge of the ride, but you are going to have to get some rousties to help, since I'm taking my other helpers with me. I've already notified Jowls that I'm leaving the ride to you; so at opening, you will have to start up. When they slough tomorrow night, you will have to do it, but you can handle it."
A light rain had started, and there was some lighting flashes in the West.
"If I had my druthers," Don had said, "I'd give you a few more weeks, but that's the breaks." And he was gone.
Little Beaver came back with a number of greenies. Jack said, "I will give you five dollars each, if you help tear down at closing time."
It was two in the morning before they were done sloughing. Little Beaver and his two buddies climbed into the tub truck; while Jack got into the plate truck. They got out on the highway, US highway 75, heading south, through Crookston. In those days, highway 75 had only two lanes going right though the middle of Crookston. There was a stop light at a top of a hill in Crookston that turned red just before he got there.
The truck had a manual five-speed transmission, and a three-speed rear end. To start, one would put the transmission into first, and the rear end in low. After shifting though all five transmission gears, the transmission would be shifted back to first, with the rear end being put into medium, shifting up again, and so on. But taking off on that hill, having a car with its nose right in the back end of the truck, made it almost impossible to get going. The left foot had to be slowly release the clutch pedal to get moving, the right foot had to be on the brake and on the gas pedal at the same time; releasing the brake while pushing the gas pedal down. If the gas pedal were not pressed fast enough, the engine would kill. If the gas pedal were pressed too fast the engine would race out of control. If the brake pedal or the clutch were released too fast, the engine would kill again. All had to be done in a synchronous manner.
The next setup was three hundred miles away. There was a light drizzle, with a breeze out of the south west, when they got there. The ride foreman told every one with low rides to start setting up; if it started to lightning then stop. The high rides would have to wait for a while. Jack started to set up, a greenie having come by to help. They had the frame all setup, the engine in place, ready to start putting the bull plates into place. Then the rain started to pour so hard one could not see the other side of the midway. Jack's crew got into their truck; Jack got into his with the greenie.
"Your last name is the same as my grandmother's maiden name," said Jack, "Have you any relatives in Rochester?"
"My grandfather came from there," said the greenie, "maybe we are related."
The sun started to peak through, the wind dying down. Everyone got out and started setting up again. The base plates for the tilt-a-whirl were put into place, then the tubs. After that, the engine was hooked up, then the rails, lights, and ticket booth. The jinny started playing its music about six o'clock that evening. After closing at one the next morning, Jack crawled into has truck sleeping until noon the next day. He had been up for over thirty hours.
The rest of the summer went much the same: move, setup, play for a day or so, slough, move again. Then there was just a week left. They had just set up in a park in south Minneapolis. Jake slept on the ground just off the sandy beach of a small lake in the park. He used his jacket as a pillow, his billfold was in one of its pockets. When he woke up, his bill fold was gone. "Sonabiskey," Jake said. Most carnies talked much more vulgar, but Jack had a milder vocabulary. As he was walking to the tilt, he was muttering under his breath. Little Beaver came up behind him, and said "Oh, you lost your billfold, huh?"
Jake stopped, turning around, looking at him, "WHAT?"
"I have your billfold, it was coming out of your pocket; and you were sleeping like a baby, so I figured I'd teach you a lesson for a change," Little Beaver said with a smirk on his face.
Soon it was the end of the season. All the rides having been put away into the winter quarters, everyone who was there got their bonus money, from a hundred dollars to over a thousand. His three helpers had gone, as most of the other carnies. He had taken a shower, now working on his car that had been sitting there all summer; Shelly came by.
"Hi, Jake," She said, "Well, what is it going to be? Are you going to come down to Florida, or what?"
Jake sat there for a moment, looking at her, "I'm not sure, why don't you come out with me to have some supper, being I got the car running . . . have to try it out anyway. Then we can talk."
They didn't stay at the restaurant real late; but while they were there they talked of many things.
"I always love the last slough of the season," Shelly said, "We are going to either go up North, or down South. Doesn't matter, I like the move."
"I always thought of traveling, but never did until I joined the carnival last spring," Jake said a bit pensively, "It does get in your blood though."
"I've grown up with it. I don't think that I could ever settle down and live like a normal person, whatever a normal person is," She said.
"What do you think of President Eisenhower?" he asked.
"Oh I don't think too much about politics," Shelly said, "Too much ikey heyman going on.
"Yeah, but he got us out of Korea, anyway," Jake said.
The waitress came by and said they were closing soon.
"I guess we'll have to leave and find someplace else to continue."
"I guess we will."
--------------------- glossary -------------------------------------------------------------------
Greenines - - -beginning helpers
Carnie - - - - - -someone who worked on the carnival
Donniker - - - -bathroom
Grab joint- - - -a booth that had food to grab(for sale)
Jinney - - - - -merry go round
Ikey heyman-a rigged game booth
Possum belly- -a compartment under a truck
Rousties- - - - -temporary or beginning helpers
Sawbuck - - - -ten dollars
Scratch- - - - -money
Slough- - - - - -tear down to move
Trooper - - - -Paratrooper ride
Tub- - - - - - -the 'car' on a ride
With it- - - - -someone with the show
Jack called the oldest one 'Little Beaver' after a comic book character. This probably would be considered racist now days, but Jack had no feeling of superiority, or intent on belittling him. The other two were named 'Joe' and 'Arny'. Jack would call Joe, 'Indian Joe', once in a while, again having no intent of belittlement. He felt a bit like an older brother to them.
It was mid summer; Jack had joined up early that spring. The carnival had its initial loc, or location, in the parking lot of a shopping center, near where he lived. Before he had started with the carnival, every day he would come home from work coughing. He, working at a nearby factory; not being able to handle the poor lighting, not being able to handle the poor breathing conditions, wanted a different job, but didn't have time to look. He got a job helping set up the carnival, being close to where he lived. After it was set up, he asked Don, the ride foreman, if he could get a job with them.
Don said, "Well, I don't know. You would have to be on the road, and far away from here; and you would have to leave your car out at the winter quarters for the season. If that is OK with you, I'll give you a try. But you'll have to see the owner."
"Great," said Jack, "Where do I find the owner?"
"He's over in the pay wagon," said Don, "That is the camper trailer right behind the first of the game joints."
Jack was off like a flash, soon coming back, beaming, "The owner said I could have the job, if I wasn't a forty miler. What's a forty miler?"
Don laughed. "A forty miler is someone who gets out on the road a ways, then gets homesick. I don't think you are that type - but I could be wrong."
"Oh, I'm not," said Jack.
Don said, "By the way, do you have a chauffeur's license?"
"No," said Jack, "I only have a regular driver's license."
"That's OK," Don said, "just give Jowls a sawbuck, and he'll get you one from a southern state. Just do it right away; it takes several days for the license to get here."
"I don't know who Jowls is."
"Jowls is usually in the pay wagon, you didn't see him? He's almost as wide as he is tall, and he is TALL."
"Oh! Yes," said Jack, "He was there, couldn't be two people like that here."
"He's big enough alright; they say his heart is just as big. He is the advance agent, setting up gigs for us, his work is mostly done for this summer."
Jack went back to the pay wagon, asking Jowls to get him a license, giving him ten dollars.
But now, back at the tilt, Jack gave out orders: "OK, Little Beaver, Start'er up. Arney you can be the shepherd with Little Beaver. Indian Joe you can start out in the ticket booth."
Little Beaver went to start up the Alice Chalmers stationary engine attached to the ride, in the back of the tilt. The engine roared to life. Jack turned the ride lights on. Soon people were lining up getting their tickets from Joe. Little Beaver and Arney shepherding them to tubs on the ride; Jack standing by the control stick. They were there for three days. On the third day, about nine in the evening, Jack was walking back from a grab joint after eating supper there, when Shelly came up behind him, saying "would you like to ride the trooper with me?"
He had seen her many times before, of course; she was the daughter of the foreman of the show. She was no possum belly queen, not her; she had some class, expecting everyone to treat her as a lady, and boy, if someone insulted her in any way, daddy would have him gone in less than a day, packing out of there with no scratch at all. That one would be gone, just gone, and probably would not be able to get a job at another show at all, at least not having the same name. Jack felt honored at being asked by her, so they got in line at the paratrooper ride.
"What are you going to do at the end of the season?" Shelly asked.
"I might go out to the west coast, or I may just stay here and go to college," Jack said.
"Most people go down south; winter down there; maybe work on a show there," she said.
"Oh, I don't want to be a ride jockey all of my life. I'm just here now to see what it is like."
When the ride was over, Jack said, "I've got to get back to the tilt and see what my guys are up to."
Jack got back, took control from Little Beaver, telling him, "Go find some greenies to help slough."
To slough meant to tear down the ride, packing the tilt-a-whirl up onto its two trucks.
At the end of the third week that Jack had worked at the carnival, Don had woke him up in the middle of the night saying, "Someone is after me, and I have to vamoose. I'm leaving you in charge of the ride, but you are going to have to get some rousties to help, since I'm taking my other helpers with me. I've already notified Jowls that I'm leaving the ride to you; so at opening, you will have to start up. When they slough tomorrow night, you will have to do it, but you can handle it."
A light rain had started, and there was some lighting flashes in the West.
"If I had my druthers," Don had said, "I'd give you a few more weeks, but that's the breaks." And he was gone.
Little Beaver came back with a number of greenies. Jack said, "I will give you five dollars each, if you help tear down at closing time."
It was two in the morning before they were done sloughing. Little Beaver and his two buddies climbed into the tub truck; while Jack got into the plate truck. They got out on the highway, US highway 75, heading south, through Crookston. In those days, highway 75 had only two lanes going right though the middle of Crookston. There was a stop light at a top of a hill in Crookston that turned red just before he got there.
The truck had a manual five-speed transmission, and a three-speed rear end. To start, one would put the transmission into first, and the rear end in low. After shifting though all five transmission gears, the transmission would be shifted back to first, with the rear end being put into medium, shifting up again, and so on. But taking off on that hill, having a car with its nose right in the back end of the truck, made it almost impossible to get going. The left foot had to be slowly release the clutch pedal to get moving, the right foot had to be on the brake and on the gas pedal at the same time; releasing the brake while pushing the gas pedal down. If the gas pedal were not pressed fast enough, the engine would kill. If the gas pedal were pressed too fast the engine would race out of control. If the brake pedal or the clutch were released too fast, the engine would kill again. All had to be done in a synchronous manner.
The next setup was three hundred miles away. There was a light drizzle, with a breeze out of the south west, when they got there. The ride foreman told every one with low rides to start setting up; if it started to lightning then stop. The high rides would have to wait for a while. Jack started to set up, a greenie having come by to help. They had the frame all setup, the engine in place, ready to start putting the bull plates into place. Then the rain started to pour so hard one could not see the other side of the midway. Jack's crew got into their truck; Jack got into his with the greenie.
"Your last name is the same as my grandmother's maiden name," said Jack, "Have you any relatives in Rochester?"
"My grandfather came from there," said the greenie, "maybe we are related."
The sun started to peak through, the wind dying down. Everyone got out and started setting up again. The base plates for the tilt-a-whirl were put into place, then the tubs. After that, the engine was hooked up, then the rails, lights, and ticket booth. The jinny started playing its music about six o'clock that evening. After closing at one the next morning, Jack crawled into has truck sleeping until noon the next day. He had been up for over thirty hours.
The rest of the summer went much the same: move, setup, play for a day or so, slough, move again. Then there was just a week left. They had just set up in a park in south Minneapolis. Jake slept on the ground just off the sandy beach of a small lake in the park. He used his jacket as a pillow, his billfold was in one of its pockets. When he woke up, his bill fold was gone. "Sonabiskey," Jake said. Most carnies talked much more vulgar, but Jack had a milder vocabulary. As he was walking to the tilt, he was muttering under his breath. Little Beaver came up behind him, and said "Oh, you lost your billfold, huh?"
Jake stopped, turning around, looking at him, "WHAT?"
"I have your billfold, it was coming out of your pocket; and you were sleeping like a baby, so I figured I'd teach you a lesson for a change," Little Beaver said with a smirk on his face.
Soon it was the end of the season. All the rides having been put away into the winter quarters, everyone who was there got their bonus money, from a hundred dollars to over a thousand. His three helpers had gone, as most of the other carnies. He had taken a shower, now working on his car that had been sitting there all summer; Shelly came by.
"Hi, Jake," She said, "Well, what is it going to be? Are you going to come down to Florida, or what?"
Jake sat there for a moment, looking at her, "I'm not sure, why don't you come out with me to have some supper, being I got the car running . . . have to try it out anyway. Then we can talk."
They didn't stay at the restaurant real late; but while they were there they talked of many things.
"I always love the last slough of the season," Shelly said, "We are going to either go up North, or down South. Doesn't matter, I like the move."
"I always thought of traveling, but never did until I joined the carnival last spring," Jake said a bit pensively, "It does get in your blood though."
"I've grown up with it. I don't think that I could ever settle down and live like a normal person, whatever a normal person is," She said.
"What do you think of President Eisenhower?" he asked.
"Oh I don't think too much about politics," Shelly said, "Too much ikey heyman going on.
"Yeah, but he got us out of Korea, anyway," Jake said.
The waitress came by and said they were closing soon.
"I guess we'll have to leave and find someplace else to continue."
"I guess we will."
--------------------- glossary -------------------------------------------------------------------
Greenines - - -beginning helpers
Carnie - - - - - -someone who worked on the carnival
Donniker - - - -bathroom
Grab joint- - - -a booth that had food to grab(for sale)
Jinney - - - - -merry go round
Ikey heyman-a rigged game booth
Possum belly- -a compartment under a truck
Rousties- - - - -temporary or beginning helpers
Sawbuck - - - -ten dollars
Scratch- - - - -money
Slough- - - - - -tear down to move
Trooper - - - -Paratrooper ride
Tub- - - - - - -the 'car' on a ride
With it- - - - -someone with the show
Post Comment | View Comments
