TEENAGE YEARS - Part 5 - Working in Indianapolis

Alfred has left the farm life and is back in Indianapolis.

"The first job I got was at the Fairmont Glass Co.  I worked at nights – the work was hard and it was unbearable hot with all the furnaces and molten glass and the hot ovens in which the glass was baked.  I didn’t stay there very long." 

The Fairmont Glass Company had started in Fairmont, Indiana but moved to Indianapolis in 1889. The company had several law suits against them in 1908 concerning the use of underage employes (under 14). In 1911 the company was trying to stay non-union.  In 1918 the plant had a major fire. I think it was a good thing that Alfred only worked there a short time. 

"Then I got a job at the Sentinel Printing Co.  I was proof boy, taking a sample of the printing to the customer for an OK.  The pay was very little – 4⁰⁰ per week – room and board was 2⁵⁰.  Uncle Dietz came to the State Fair and talked me into coming back to Linton and go to High School, which I did."

"One little incident I will always remember happened during this stay in Indianapolis – my father was an ardent Keith Vaudeville fan and he would take me one night each week to see the show.  Dad chewed tobacco and always got his supply at Hooks Drug Store, corner of Pennsylvania & Washington streets.  This particular night was cold & rainy.  We were standing under the awning when an elderly gent asked me if I would crank his car.  I said I would try and went with him to the curb.  Evidently it was his daughter behind the wheel.  The crank was at the side of the car and turned real easy and after ten or twelve turns the engine started.  The Old Gentleman reached in his pocket and gave me a quarter – What a tip – Found out later it was Mr. Hook, the owner of the store and his daughter.  The make of the car I don’t know, but it had Brass Kerosene Head Lamps, was a 2 seater, no doors, had a windshield with a broad strap on either side fastened from the top of the windshield to the front end of the car, also the top had straps from the front corner to the font end.  There were a lot of electric cars on the streets of Indianapolis at this time and several different makes were made in the city.  They were built like a coupe, one seat, not very fast, had a bell for warning signal and were used mostly by women.

Well I went back to Linton.  I think this was about 1911.  From that time on I never saw my father very much.  And as hard as it is to say, he sort of was just another man in my life.  After I was sixteen he never helped me any more."

B.F. Keith brought vaudeville to Indianapolis in 1910 when he bought the Grand Opera House. In 1911 Houdini performed in in Keith's Opera house escaping form a tank of beer that was made at the Indianapolis Brewing Co.  Here is an ad from February 1911 showing that seats for the performances were just 10 cents.

The Indiana State Fair was held the first part of September in 1911. According to this article it was a huge success.

So Alfred went back to Linton in the fall of 1911.  He has said his room and board was $2.50 a week while he was in Indianapolis so he wasn't living with any of his relatives - father, grandparents, aunts or uncles who were living in Indianapolis. Actually, in 1910 Alfred's father, Frederick A., is living in the home of his father, Frederick W. on McCarthy St. Frederick Sr. is a widower, his wife dying within the past year, and also in the house is his daughter Mathilda, daughter-in-law Minnie, and grandson Carl so it's pretty crowded. Then in April 1911 Frederick Sr., Alfred's paternal grandfather dies. Again Alfred makes no mention of his death. However, there was a rather lengthy article in the Indianapolis paper about the death.

While he didn't see much of his father after the move back to Linton, at least he did see him on a weekly basis while in Indianapolis.