My First Day Working at Idora Park
Many of the people who worked at Idora Park got the job through someone they knew who was already working there. I got my job the same way.
My brother Tony had already been working on the games. One day, George Goodman, the manager of the games, ask around if anyone knew someone who would like to work there. Because the season was almost over, it would only be for about six or eight weeks. My brother said that he had a younger brother who would probably want a job, and he was right. Of course, I wanted to work at Idora Park. Who wouldn’t? My parents said it was okay as long as I rode with my brother to get there and back home.
The next day was a Friday, and I went to Idora Park with my brother to meet George Goodman. He seemed to like me at the interview. He took me to see Mr. Pat Duffy, who owned the park.
At that time I just had a growth spurt and I was five foot six. I talked to Mr. Duffy for a few minutes and he asked me how old I was. I said, “I'm 13. I'll be 14 the beginning of September.” He said at that age that I would need to get a work permit to work there. My mother took me to the school board on Monday to get it.
Although the park was closed on Mondays the office people were still there including Mr. Duffy. I called the park and told him that I could start tomorrow and that I had my work permit. He said that would be fine. He told me to just come in the office so I could fill out the paperwork, and then he would put me on a job.
First thing Tuesday morning, I went to Idora Park. They called George Goodman to the office to tell me where I'd be working.
I was very excited—my first real job, and it was at Idora Park. George Goodman came in the office and said, “Chuck, we're going to put you in the punk rack.” I wasn't really sure what that was, so I just said, “Great!”
The punk rack was a game where you throw a baseball at targets on a rack. At Idora Park, they kind of looked like kittens. I wasn't really sure because they were funny looking. The targets are thin and surrounded by lots of hair, which makes them hard to hit because they look bigger than they actually are. George introduce me to the other young man who was working there and said, “He’ll show you what to do.”
I wish I could remember his name, but I remember what he looked like: about 5’8” with brown hair, brown eyes, thin, older than me, like 15. He showed me how to use the clicker that keeps track of how many games have been played and how to use the cash register. He told me to remember to keep track of the change and to make sure that I always had change for the customers. He also said if we have any free time, we were supposed to practice playing the game. I asked him why.
He said that some people think the games are fixed, and that we practiced them to show that they can be won. He went behind the wall with a couple of baseballs, and tossed them at the targets. He knocked three down in a row and said, “See? It can be done.”
None of the games at Idora Park were fixed. Not one of them. Some were harder than others, but all the games could be won with a little skill and a little luck.
My first day in the park, when the doors opened, was magical. People came in happy and their children were filled with excitement. Who wouldn't be? When you walk into Idora Park, you're transported into a world of fun and excitement.
First, you smelled the food on the Midway. There was something for everybody: hot dogs and the famous Idora Park fries, cotton candy and candy apples, and ice cream, especially great for hot days, and snow cones of every flavor.
Then, you’d see all the games you could play and a lot of them had prizes you could win. And then you’d see the rides. The wildest high roller coaster, the Wildcat, was full of surprises at every turn. The Lost River boat ride had an elephant head on the top of it with a waterfall underneath that you could hear before you could see it. Most people remember the Jack Rabbit, AKA the Back Wabbit, and the enormous Ferris wheel where it look like you were almost to the clouds when you got to the top. The antique cars and bumper cars were just as popular as the Kooky Castle and Laffin’ Lena’s Funhouse and the bus-sized silver rocket ships. For the little ones, Kiddieland had smaller versions of the big rides, including a little train and the Little Wildcat.
It's been a long time, and I can't remember how much it cost to play the punk rack. But I remember my first customer. I pulled on the clicker chain, put the money in the cash register, and let him go. He hit the first one and missed the second one and hit the third one. “Sorry,” I said. “You didn't get a prize.”
He said, “One more time.”
I pulled on the clicker chain, put the money in the cash register, and he tried it again. He hit the first one, and hit the second one. I thought I was going to give away my first prize, but then he missed the third one.
Well, like most people, if you come that close, you got to try it one more time. I pulled on the clicker chain, put the money in the cash register, and he went for it again.
He reared back and he hit the first one down. He grabbed another ball and put the second one down.
Oh my gosh! I think. I'm going to give away my first prize on my first day to my first customer! Come on, buddy, you can do it!
Then he did it! He knocked the third one down! People were cheering, and his family was going crazy. I don’t remember what he won, but I remember the grin he gave me when I handed him his prize.
Later on that day, I went on my lunch break. I went across the way and got a hamburger from the food stand and went up the Midway to get some of those great Idora Park fries.
When I came back, I remarked to the other worker: “Hey, I don't think this is that hard. It's kind of fun.”
“Today is kind of a slow day, Chuck. Wait ‘til the company picnics start coming.”
I had never heard of company picnics. “Why are they so busy?”
“Because just about everyone in that company will come to Idora Park. Especially when one of the large steel mills came to the park. The Midway will be completely full of people.”
Before I knew it, it was 10 minutes to 11, and George was coming over.
“How'd you like your first day, chuck?” he asked me.
I said, “I liked it a lot. I thought it was fun.”
Then it was time to put the money all together in a sack and shut the doors on the game and go home. I really did think it was fun. Even after 12 hours of work, I still wasn't tired.