Carnie Bob
By webeishere
@webeishere (36313)
United States
March 13, 2007 4:59pm CST
Another addition to my life in the carnival/circus. Thanks to all who have loved the past 2 discussions along this line. This one will deal with one days activity. Sit back, relax, and please enjoy this time of my life as a child/adult carnie.
After I had got everything cleaned & set up to start the days fun I had an hour till opening. As usual carnies aren’t the greatest of people in aspects of being legal as far as the law is concerned. We never have very good clothes to wear. What I mean is we don’t have a wide selection to wear. A few of us decided to go shopping at the store where we had set up at for a 4 day run. We had bathed & shaved so we looked “normal”. LOL Now what we as carnies did way back then was find what we liked, try it on, then we’d leave the clothes on, placing ours over the “new” outfit. I can’t recall how many different outfits we had “bought” this way. But I do recall one city where I had “purchased” 3 new outfits in an hours time. This included shirt, pants, socks, even shoes at times. Yes it was wrong but the pay was bad & I was a kid & didn’t know any better yet cared at the time. As years went on I bought my clothes with cash as I knew it was wrong & felt the guilt from previous, “purchases”. There were also times us carnies did our grocery shopping in the same manner. I recall having a package of T bone steaks down my pants waiting for a fellow carnie to “buy” his dinner. I felt this wetness. LOL Blood was starting to drip down my pants onto my leg. That was strange feeling to say the least. We would build a bonfire usually inside a 55 gallon barrel & cook it that way if we didn’t find another carnie with room on their grill or fire pit. We would sit around singing songs as the food cooked. Nighttime after closing/cleaning up was kind of like a huge campout scout session with the songs, jokes, and camaraderie. That’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed it & I’ll have another one forthcoming.
HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA (carnie) BOB!! lol
4 people like this
7 responses
@rainbow (6761)
•
14 Mar 07
I'm glad you realised that borrowing things in that was was wrong although it does sound an exciting and romantic way of life I'm sure it was difficult and hard a lot more often than it was fun.
Thank-you for provinding these insights into how life was for you back then and how muchyou have learned and changed, well done Grandpa Bob!
2 people like this
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
15 Mar 07
Thanks for the kind words and mostly thanks for enjoying reading about my life. I love sharing it. Especially if it's of help or interest to others here.
HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!
2 people like this
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
19 Mar 07
It's very interesting to learn about others here. Thanks again
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
15 Mar 07
Blood down your pants! Wow, I bet you got scared then.
I guess you did what you had to do then in terms of getting clothes & food, especially being a child/ young teenager. Obviously the circus owners didn't have a care of their employess, looking after them, feeding them properly, and buying their clothes.
I hope/ believe things have changed for circus employess nowadays.
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
15 Mar 07
Oh they've changed a lot. Now most make hirees fill out applications etc. The blood scared me when I first saw what it was. LOL
1 person likes this
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
21 Mar 07
You've brought up some memories I hardly ever think of these days.. I worked for a county fair for two summers, with a friend, when I was 18 and 19.. It was great! We never traveled very far, it was just an hour or two trip for our outfit.. But I think I got a little of the flavor of it. There were other outfits which ran the rides and games, which did a lot more of the traveling I think. We were a cooking outfit, with three or four cook tents. There were folks watching out for us young gals. Once someone invited me to earn money serving drinks at their poker games, but then someone else told me I didn't want to do that.. so I didn't!
Two things stand out in my mind, once collecting money from a nice smiling customer with kids, I saw a ten in with his ones he was paying with, I didn't tell him the difference but kept the $9. but felt like a cad ever since! [In my other outlaw portfolio, hubby and I did "dine and dash" two or three times when we were about 19, when we were out in California, and traveling on a shoestring. Yes, I remember running, jumping fences and hiding out in someone's backyard! Wow, don't tell our kids!!] My other memory is some lady looking real disgusted at me, and whispering to someone "look at her feet" - I was wearing sandals, and yes, even though I'd showered (including my feet) that morning, just a couple of hours shuffling around in the dusty cook shelter, did do a number on my feet. But the way she acted, I'm sure she felt I was cooking her food, but hadn't bothered to bathe for about a month or so! This always rankled me. Maybe it was payback for the $9.00!
1 person likes this
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
21 Mar 07
Ahhh the olod dine n dash. I did that many a times in my days as a carnie. I worked rides and games and was with many county fairs and a few State Fairs also. It was a fun hard life for a child but I never regretted it. Not even today. Thanks for a great response also.
HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!
@CatEyes (2448)
• United States
14 Mar 07
When the goin get tough the though get goin. I just watched "Ever after" about cinderella and this reminded me of the part where Danielle said that if you were raised to be a theif and did not know any better, then punished them like a theif for being the theif you created, you are no better than them. So true, so true. When you are young AND strapped for money it can be very very hard.
2 people like this
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
22 Mar 07
Very hard. I'd never think of doing the same now.
Even after a few months of doing it the guilt was hard to bear.
Thanks for the response also.
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
19 Mar 07
Ok, I have to know...you obviously lived a bit outside of the law. How did thethings you did affect the way you raised your kids?
Do you think that you were tougher on them or you understood them better?
Your stories are so great, it amazes me that I think of the 60's as being not too long ago, after all I remember them! and this did happen in the 60's. When I think of things like this, I think of a James Michener book - the title slips my mind about an amusement park, not sure of the time frame, but it was before the 60's.
2 people like this
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
20 Mar 07
I was very tough on my kids raiging them. I didn't want them growing up as I did. Especially the running away part. Hahahaha. Yeah the 60's don't seem too far away now do they? When an era feels long ago that's when I'll feel old. Hahahaha! Thanks for the response also.
HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!
1 person likes this
@susieq223 (3742)
• United States
15 Mar 07
More great stories, Grandpa Bob. I really love the picture you added too.
2 people like this
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
16 Mar 07
Thanks a lot also. Hope ya enjoy all my discussions. Now pay me or get outta here!!! HAHAHAHA! J/K
HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!
1 person likes this
@rx4life (1930)
• United States
5 Apr 07
Great shopping tips...LOL..only kidding.. not promoting grandpa bob's five finger discount!LOL My real question for you is how long did you do the circus stint? I met a woman once who had travelled with the circus for 10 years...I thought that was amazing..she had just left it and was trying to "reonnect" with real life or so she called it!.
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
8 Apr 07
Yes when with the carnival youre life changes
drastically till you leave it. it is your life then.
Happy Postings From Grandpa Bob !!~
