By opening day, "Dooby" assigned me to run "Blue Beard's Palace" and he gave Gerry the task of running the "Tunnel of Love" - my job was to keep the "Palace" clean - inside and out - and to run or operate the switches to the solenoid valves which released compressed air to blow up the dresses of unsuspecting females -the "Palace" was U-shaped and the opening out on the paved midway afforded the large viewing crowd a thrill if I scored a bullseye. Of course the viewing public and the unsuspecting victim could not see me stationed in my control booth - there was one place along a wall which had a caption over a peep hole, "Look at the two-faced monkey" - which was actually two mirrors set at right angles - but, one of my air valves was at the bottom of the look-in window - I never released air on this valve unless my victim was wearing a stiff straw sailor hat - many times I was able to shoot such a hat up in to the wild blue yonder - quite naturally the victim might spend 30 minutes or so trying to see where I was secluded - probably wanting to wring my neck.

Two of my older sisters also got jobs at the park. Sister Ruth worked in the office and sister "Becky" sold tickets for admission to Blue Beard's Palace. The Palace required 3 employees - a "barker" out in front urging the park visitors to come in and witness all of the mysteries within, a cashier for selling tickets, and me to blow up skirts. During the four seasons of my employment, we had a couple of GOOD barkers. Both were as different as day and night, and both were law students. One, Lowell Sullivan, became a well known lawyer and the other, David Probstein, was a news item for several years.

The hours at the park were 11 am to 11 pm. There was a group of us that walked home each night after the 11 pm closing and the noise we made talking, it's a wonder the people living on our route home didn't prefer charges against us. First to arrive home was Matty Brown Howe, who lived on what is now called Broad Ripple Avenue, just west of the Flanner and Buchanan Funeral home. I was the only male in the group which included Matty, my two sisters, a friend, Susan Dugan, Cora Zazer, and Elizabeth Applegate. My sisters and I lived at 6136 College Avenue and the other three girls lived in the 6100 block of Broadway Street.

The four summers (1929-30-31 & 32) of my employment at Broad Ripple Park were those of the deep depression. The park charged a dime per person to enter the grounds and all the rides charged ten cents with the exception of the independently owned "Ski", the roller coaster, which charged 15 cents. The rides at this time were THE SEAPLANE, THE TUNNEL OF LOVE, THE DODGEM JUNIOR, THE BUG, BLUE BEARD'S PALACE (A Funhouse), THE CHUTE THE CHUTE, (the boats were cog chained to the top of steep incline and then came splashing down the chute into the pool of water), TRAIN, (ran on the tracks through the park), MINIATURE AUTO SPEEDWAY, (children could drive cars around track) and THE MERRY-GO-ROUND, (which is the same carousel that is presently housed at The Children's Museum in Indianapolis. It is in fine working order and delighting youngsters as it did back at the time of this story. The "merry-go-round" has quite a history - before World War I, a German family was in the business of making carousels. After the Armistice, two of the sons of this family came to America and brought this carousel with them. They settled in Indianapolis and soon sold their Merry-Go-Round to the owners of Broad Ripple Park. William Hubbs and his wife operated this amusement favorite for 10 or more years, which included the years of this story. She sold tickets and he operated and maintained the mechanical parts, including the organ with its player rolls and drums, bells and cymbals. I can still hear the sound coming from that air-driven organ playing those marches and the waltzes, with Mrs. Hubbs hawking ticket sales with, "Everybody rides the Flying Jenny!" "Grabbing the Brass Ring" was a feature of the Merry-Go-Round. A rider could stand at the outside edge of the floor of the revolving carousel, brace his chest against the upright brass pole which extended from the floor to the upper most part of the framework, to reach out and attempt to grab a 2 ½ inch diameter ring. Should the ring be brass, you received a free ride.

end of part three