Mulvaney and Ives - Equilibrists

Date of Application: April 1, 1937
Name: Eric Mulvaney and Carlton Ives
Title of Act: Equilibrists

Description of Act:
We are worthy balancers and gymnasts. We have trained for our act since we were children. We throw ourselves and each other around in a whirlwind fashion and hold one another overhead using feet or hands in various feats of balance and strength. We have a Victrola that plays vigorous music as we perform.

Other Talents: We are talented mechanics and work on motorcars on our off time. We can help repair vehicles for the outfit if needed.

Notes: Mssrs. Mulvaney and Ives are indeed worthy balancers and gymnasts. Rarely have I seen two men fling each other with such reckless abandon. At times, their act bordered on the murderous - it appeared as if the duo were trying to kill one another. This would be thrilling for an audience, if a trifle roughshod for the sprats. Their appears to be genuine animosity between the two, for in the interview process, they constantly bickered and sniped at one another. It makes me fear for the longevity of the act. The Packard the two drove was in fine fettle and purred like a kitten and the boot was loaded with wrenches and other mechanical tools. The two would certainly make a fine addition to the outfit, but perhaps separate coaches might be suggested, to give the two some respite from the company of one another.

- Miller Hatsfield
Senior Roustabout
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review

Gretchen Mobley - Mystic

Date of Application: July 17, 1953
Name: Gretchen Anne Mobley
Title of Act: Mystic

Description of Act:
My mind is a window to the beyond and I am prone to the divine intuition. I can see into the future; not just broad strokes, but actual living specifics. I can read fortune, recite past events and divine illness and disease with the use of leaves, tarot and touch. This is no parlor trickery - I am a true mystic. I also have a tidy, appropriately-decorated caravan, a collection of sweet-smelling oils, candles for mood and brightly-colored robes that convey a sense of mystery and intrigue.

Other Talents: I am adept at the Gypsy Massage, am an able seamstress and not adverse to dancing the hootchie-cootch.

Notes: Miss Mobley seemed a very forthright and straightforward with a no-nonsense air about her. By no more than the touching of my arm with her fingertips, she was able to relate a story about my childhood in Thurmond and my Uncle Charles. It was not a pleasant story and I was shaken to have it brought to mind. She also informed me that my ultimate demise would come at the result of a tussle with a feisty pachyderm. This makes me question how much longer I will be able to muster this carnival life and the dangers that come with it. She seems to be a legitimate mystic and although her asking price is steep, her caravan is quite impressive, as is her array of costumery. If we can find a way to incorporate her Gypsy Massage and use her for the hootchie show, we will probably find the investment quite worthwhile.

-Miller Hatsfield
Senior Roustabout and Hiring Manager
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review

Everett Kilbane - Strongman

Date of Application: October 12, 1947
Name: Everett James Kilbane
Title of Act: Strongman

Description of Act:
I have been working on a strongman act since I got back from the European Conflict. I began a regimen of lifting iron weights and using pulley ropes while I was stationed in France and have since taught myself how to perform feats of strength like bending horseshoes and iron poles. I can snap medium-sized tree branches with my bare hands and have the ability to tear a phone book in half, if it's not too cumbersome. I have three leotard outfits that have a Tarzan-like tiger print to them and with my broad shoulders, small waist and arm musculature, I look more fit than most strongmen I have seen in the local traveling shows.

Other Talents: I can help shoe horses and lift trailers for hitching and repair. I am also a fair shot with a rifle, am versed in hand-to-hand combat and can cook a variety of foods over an open fire.

Notes: Mr. Kilbane suffers neither the skittishness I have observed in soldiers returning from combat duty, nor the aggressive surliness of most of the strongmen I have come across in my years of carny experience. In fact, he was quite soft-spoken, with an easy laugh and an appreciation for the small pleasures. As we held our talk, Kilbane wandered around my trailer, gently picking up various doo-dads I have accumulated over time and asked me for their history, nodding and smiling appreciatively at even the most mundane of stories. He was particularly taken with a small, carved wooden pony that was given to me by a blind Indian wood-carver named Shadrack that I had met in a small town in Iowa in 1937. I gave him the wooden pony as a token and near tears, he tried to refuse the gift, but I told him it was a requirement of his employment with the outfit to accept the wooden pony. He stuck the pony into his pocket with care and proceeded to bend a horseshoe with what appeared to be little effort and tore a local phonebook in half (population 3,200) with ease. I believe Mr. Kilbane will be a welcome addition to the company and his cooking ability may be an asset. His skills in hand-fighting will also likely come in handy when dealing with townie riff-raff, and he looks quite impressive in his leotards.

-Miller Hatsfield
Senior Roustabout and Hiring Manager
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review

Elwood Winslow Pierce - Mentalist

Date of Application: February 12th, 1946
Name: Elwood Winslow Pierce
Title of Act: Mentalist

Description of Act:
I can read minds with 80% accuracy. Audience-selected playing cards are identified without the use of sleight-of-hand. I can bend spoons and other flatware using my mental power and have on occasion moved a chair across the floor when the moon is right. I can cause children to faint using my mind and by utilizing powerful hypnosis, I have made grown men strut and cluck like chickens. I can also cure colds, grippe, croup, the dropsy, trench-mouth, rickets and pemphigus with the laying of hands.

Other Talents: I am a disease enthusiast and spend much of my spare time gathering plants, minerals, precious liquids and chemicals used in the preparation of healing unctions and poultices.

Notes: Mr. Pierce is an intense individual with a rather prickly disposition, as is the way with most mentalists. I imagine their brains are a little more tender and edgy than ours, due to the extra activity going on inside, so I have never held a sour mood against those of the mentalist ilk. He correctly identified cards I plucked from a deck without apparent trickery, but was unable to move a chair or bend a butter knife, as the moon wasn't "right". Mr. Pierce bristled when I suggested that any mentalist act I might employ would need to be able to perform consistently on a daily basis, rather than every fortnight, as allowed by lunar permissions. I asked if he could guess my weight and he testily replied, "If you're thinking it..." So I thought my weight and his guess was eight pounds high. Not entirely convinced of his mentalist abilities, I have nonetheless offered Mr. Elwood a position as a part-time mentalist (every fortnight). The rest of his time will be spent acting as a doctor for the troupe, who are always smashing their fingers, rolling their ankles or coming down with the croup or some such. We can always use a good poultice or unction. This contracted has been extended on a six-month trial basis, as we enter our heavy travel season.

-Miller Hatsfield
Senior Roustabout and Hiring Manager
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review

Etta Mae Flowers - Aerialist

Date of Application: May 17, 1939
Name: Etta Mae Flowers
Title of Act: Aerialist

Description of Act:
I am equally comfortable on a high wire or trapeze. I have no fear of heights and my balance is unequalled. I have an array of dazzling leotard which fit quite snuggly and double as a hootchie-kootchie outfits as needed. My extraordinary limberness makes my aerial acrobatics even more fetching and gives me a "leg up" in the hootchie-kootch.

Other Talents: I can cipher and do bookkeeping and mend all my own costumes, which can become ragged if not kept up.

Notes: Even as I explained to Miss Flowers that we are a carny outfit and not a circus and had no real place for an aerial act, she proceeded to scamper up a tent pole and perform a series of twists, turns and spins that were quite jaw-dropping. The fact that she did this in a dowdy skirt made the performance even more impressive, as the excited whistles and applause from the roustabouts in attendance proved. Miss Flowers is indeed very limber and I have hired her on as a hootchie girl. She will also help out with bookkeeping and costume repair. As she has no trailer of her own, she will bunk in my coach until other arrangements can be made. This is strictly on a temporary basis.

- Miller Hatsfield
Senior Roustabout
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review

Charlie Roundstreet - Geek

Date of Application: March 7th, 1942
Name: Charles Lee Roundstreet
Title of Act: Geek

Description of Act:
My wild man act is of the primitive nature. I stand in the middle of a ring and I chase chickens. When I catch a chicken, I bite the head off and I chew it and I swallow it. I can eat up to seven chicken heads per day. More than that and I flounder with a wet stomach. My act has very little overhead, as I supply the cookie with all the chicken they need to feed the outfit while I save them the trouble of the chasing of the chicken and the chopping off of the chicken heads. I can also eat live toads and lizards if they are small. I have eaten live gopher, rat and prairie dog, but my tender stomach doesn't agree with the meat.

Other Talents: I can find my way around a hammer and nail and I am able to do some wrenching on the mechanical units if the roustabouts need a hand. I cannot sew or draw. My painting skills are middling.

Notes: Mr. Roundstreet was an affable enough fellow, if a mite dim-witted, which is expected in the majority of the geek population. I am not certain that the geek act is as big of a draw as it was during the height of the depression, so I am hesitant to hire the young man, though he is willing to work for meager pay if I keep him supplied in gin. As I do not have a reliable supplier of gin at a cut-rate, I believe we will pass on Mr. Roundstreet. I gave him the name of a chicken farm in Alabama where he may be able to find reliable employment, if he should be unable to land a position geeking.

- Miller Hatsfield
Senior Roustabout and Hiring Manager
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review

Otis Pillsbury - Equilibrist

Date of Application: September 1, 1938
Name: Otis Wilson Pillsbury
Title of Act: Equilibrist

Summary of Act:
I can balance on any number of rolling objects, such as large balls, unicycles or the rola-bola, as well as sitting objects (high poles, stilts, ladders and other human beings). My specialty is sitting atop a high pole under strenuous circumstances. I set the record of high pole sitting in Yell County, Arkansas in 1926 by sitting comfortably atop a telegraph pole for seventeen days. I ate by having food hoisted up to me in a picnic hamper by a rope.

I can balance atop a horse or other sturdy beast running at a reasonable pace and can balance equally well on my hands as well. I currently have a unicycle and rola-bola, but my large ball was stolen while I was working as a street performer in Yonkers.

 Notes: Mr. Pillsbury seemed a very calm man, unperturbed by the sights and sometimes chaotic sounds of the outfit. While some interviewees are jumpy or on edge, Pillsbury showed no emotion at the occasional shout, roar or gunshot. I was struck by a certain melancholy in the man, especially noticeable when he spoke of his large ball being stolen by East Coast hooligans. It is likely Pillsbury would be a worthy addition to the carnival - we can always use a good balancing act and Pillsbury demonstrated his abilities on various sundry objects around the grounds. I was especially impressed with his one handed perching on a free-standing stout rod while consuming an apple to the core with his free hand. I also think that his sense of calm and true moral compass could prove useful with some of the younger, more impressionable acts and rousts.

-Miller Hatsfield, Senior Roustabout and Hiring Manager
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review

Cambridge Merriweather - Sad Clown

Date of Application: April 22, 1937
Name: Cambridge Ames Merriweather
Title of Act: Sad Clown

Summary of Act:
I was a sad clown with the Ringling outfit for three and a half years. Before that, I traveled extensively with an Indian circus in Europe that caught fire and managed to burn 14 simian and 3 big cats. A midget act also perished in the flames, which was unfortunate, because one of those was my wife and another my mistress. I didn't mind losing the tiny wife - she bordered on the shrewish and was free with my money - but the little mistress I still miss sometimes when I smell fry bread.

The Ringling Brothers let me go in New Jersey, when I was caught running a three-card Monte game on the boardwalk on my off-day. If the Ringlings weren't so tight with a dollar, I wouldn't have needed to run the game. I can apply various sad clown makeups and juggle with pins and small balls, if they are weighted properly and well-rounded. I can no longer do the pratfall, since I slipped a disc in Birmingham. I can run a profitable three-card Monte and am fair at close sleight-of-hand. I cannot fold balloon animals. I have tried, but they pop and make the sprats cry.

Notes: In these difficult times, it is my notion that happy clowns are better business for the carnival. We have Domino, the Sad Clown, who while often drunk, still seems plenty of sad clown for the time being. Plus, the Conjurer act and the Fortune Teller tend from the sullen to the morose. When approached with the option of perhaps being a happy clown, Mr. Merriweather went into a huff, snatched up his hat and left my coach. Somehow, he managed to obtain a roustie's whitewash brush and drew a giant white cock and balls on the side of the menagerie trailer. I have added him to the "Do Not Hire" list.

-Miller Hatsfield
Manager in Charge of Hiring and Senior Roustabout
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review
April the 22nd, 1937

Ernest Vernweiller - Fire Eater

Date of Application: April 9, 1952
Name: Ernest Seiwell Vernweiller
Title of Act: Fire Eater

Description of Act:
I can eat fire in the traditional manner and spit flames as well. I can also walk coals and if you are willing to pay for my wardrobe, you can set me on fire to great effect. I am impervious to flame. I am not injured by fire, nor does fire hurt my flesh. My hair does not burn. I cannot explain this, but my mother says I may have been spawned by the Devil, which would surely explain my resistance to fire. If you would like to advertise me as such, I would have no objection.

Other Talents: I can smoke up to eighteen cigarettes at a time, using my mouth, ears and nose. I would like to make this an even twenty, given practice. I can make the smoke come out of my eyeballs as well.

Notes: A true oddity, I believe Mr. Vernweiller would be a prime addition to our outfit, especially given our current financial maladies. Since our old fire-eater, Thomas burned his esophagus and can no longer speak, I have no hesitation to replacing him with Vernweiller. I personally attempted to burn the fellow by dunking him into boiling French fry oil and hoisting him into the blacksmith coals. I must admit he showed no damage from my abuse, which was robust. I am not certain that billing him as the Spawn of Satan would be a good marketing move, especially in the South, but it would be apt and should certainly be considered.

- Miller Hatsfield
Manager in Charge of Hiring and Senior Roustabout
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review
 April the 9th, 1952

Nettie Bingham - Bearded Lady

Date of Application: July 9, 1939
Name: Annette Rose Bingham
Title of Act: Nettie - The Bearded Lady

Description of Act:
I can grow a luxurious beard and mustaches and have my own trailer for travel and display. It is an elegant caravan and brightly-colored.

Other Talents: I can dance the bearded hoochie-coochie.

Comments:
Since "Glenda - The Bearded Lady" has taken the cancer, treatments for the disease have caused her hair to fall out. This includes her long beard. She has gone back to West Virginia to live with kin and left us with her caravan, which we have turned into a space for oddities. Miss Bingham has turned up at an opportune time and will join the group in Cincinnati, just in time for our Southern swing. Her beard is indeed luxurious and she has proven flexible in an exotic fashion and will do well for the late-nite hoochie cooch as well.

- Miller Hatsfield, Senior Roustabout
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review
July the 9th, 1939

Mae Scriven - Mrs. Buster Keaton

Date of Application: May 14, 1943
Name: Mae Elizabeth Scriven
Title of Act: Mrs. Buster Keaton

Description of Act:
I was married to silent film star Buster Keaton from 1932 to 1934. I can tell stories about Buster and me and our travels. I can sign autographs.

Other talents: I am a nurse and a hair-dresser.

Comments:
While it would be a novelty to have Mrs. Keaton as a marquee name for signing autographs and the like, the need for a new nurse may supersede thoughts of such a display. Ever since Nurse Myra was bitten by Philleus's ill-tempered monkey, she has taken to her bed with a fever. Since there has been no one to treat her, her state has not improved. Mrs. Keaton has proven flexible and is amenable to being our resident nurse until Myra recovers. She is also willing to cut the hair of the troupe, especially the rousts, who tend toward the unkempt. Since she has no trailer, Mrs. Keaton will travel in my caravan for the time-being. This is on a temporary basis only, until we can paint the old oddities trailer in brightly-colored letters reading "MRS. BUSTER KEATON". She can then use that trailer for travel and display.

- Miller Hatsfield, Senior Roustabout and Hiring Manager
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review

Sadie Burton - Bookkeeper

Date of Application: October 23rd, 1937
Name: Sadie Eloise Burton
Title of Act: Book-Keeper

Description of Act:
I do not have an act. I cipher and can keep books. Am looking for a full-time position and am available to travel.

Other Talents: I speak German.

Notes:
Miss Burton can cipher quickly and seems to have a knack for numbers. Her German is indeed fluent. She is a handsome woman and less mannish than most of the farm-girls we have seen in this part of Nebraska. She has all her teeth and a well-rounded figure. She has proven flexible and could possibly learn the Hoochie-Coochie given time and a patient mentor. I have hired her on to look after the books. She has no trailer at this time and as for now will share my caravan. This is strictly on a temporary basis.

- Miller Hatsfield
Senior Roustabout
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review
 October the 23rd, 1937

Anaru Anahara - Primitive

Date of Application: April 17th, 1941
Name: Anaru Anahara
Title of Act: Primitive

Description of Act:
I am of the Maori. My name means "Andrew the Angel". I dance in a primitive manner, wearing authentic Maori costumes fashioned by my wife Maata. I can swallow fire, tame serpentine and walk coals. I have eaten the human flesh and am a master of its preparation. I also sing the songs of the ancient Maori.

Other talents:I can sharpen knives to a keen edge and throw with accuracy. My wife Maata can dance the hoochy-coochy.


Notes:
While the land of New Zealand is known for being populated by savages, criminals and thieves, I found Mr. Anahara a very straightforward individual. In fact, I found his constant eye contact quite unnerving. We are currently in the market for a quality fire-eater, since the loss of Jorie the Flame to the Ringling outfit. Mr. Anahara may be able to fill the bill and dance the primitive on alternating days. He managed to hunt out a snake from the brush, then toyed with the serpent using a stick and his fingers, then bit its head off and prepared it over a flame of his making, behind the cook tent. We ate the snake, which was delightful, then Mr. Anahara strolled over the coals, showing no ill effects. His wife Maata, while silent, has proven to be flexible and can dance Hoochie and also repair costumes as needed. They have their own caravan and will start a week from Wednesday, after he finishes his current obligation of tracking a ne'er-do-well in Steubenville.

- Miller Hatsfield
Senior Roustabout
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review
 April the 17th, 1941

Thaddius Earp - Trick-Shot Artist

Date of Application: May 17th, 1938
Name: Thaddius Jacob Earp
Title of Act: Trick Shot Artist

Description of Act:
I am a third cousin of renowned Marshall and dead-eye Wyatt Earp, though his brother Virgil was a better shot with a pistol. Morgan was a shotgun man and not worth his salt with a rifle. I toured with the Barnum/Bailey outfit in '31 and '32, but was let go when I shot the ear-flap off a young boy whilst performing my blindfolded William Tell trick, which works over 80 percent of the time without a hitch. The lad lived but has a permanent ringing in the damaged ear, the likes of which I have never seen before. Aside from the William Tell trick, I also shoot plates thrown into the air, with or without the blindfold, and can shoot balloons attached to a rotating wheel. I only use a .22 caliber rifle so that in the event of an "accident", the damage is minimal.

Other Talents: I am also a quick-draw artist with a pistol and can spin two pistols in a colorful manner bordering on a juggle.

Notes:
I was not able to verify Mr. Earp's claim of wild-west Earp lineage and Barnum-Bailey has not responded to my request for reference. Mr. Earp demonstrated his shooting in the back lot and hit six out of ten plates thrown into the air. When it was suggested that this was less than impressive, Earp reddened in the face and dared me to do better. The rifle was casually pointed at my chest, so I declined. His pistol-twirling was also underwhelming and he blamed his clumsiness on the grippe, which he claims causes his hands to swell and his eyes to water, explaining his misses at the plates. While he seems quick to heat, an Earp in the show would surely draw the curious. I have offered him a position in the cook tent, where his surly disposition will not be an exception. We are short a man, since Cookie Phelps was stabbed by Cookie Taylor, so Earp can assist there until his grippe subsides and we can re-assess his shooting ability. On a side note, one of rousts was winged in a plate miss, but should fully recover without more than a day or two missed.

- Miller Hatsfield
Senior Roustabout
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review
 May the 17th, 1932

Doreen Larabie - Fortune Teller/Hoochie Coochie Girl

Date of Application: September 11, 1947
Name: Doreen Marie Larabie
Title of Act: Fortune Teller (Hoochie-Coochie Girl)

Description of Act:
I can read fortunes using the Tarot or Tea Leaves. I can use a crystal ball as well, but have found that the ball is not as reliable as the leaves, which are about half as reliable as the Tarot. I prefer the Tarot. I sew my own costumes, of which I have about six, one of these in tatters and yet to be repaired. I will supply my own Tarot and tea leaves, but if employed will need to have a new crystal ball furnished, if it is required for the position. My costumes range from fancy, high class fortune mistress to gypsy-in-distress. I prefer to call my act "The Mysterious Marie", but this can be negotiated.

Other Talents: I can dance the Hoochy-Cooch.

Notes:
We have an opening for a Hoochie-Coochie dancer and Miss Larabie has proven to be quite flexible. She can practice her fortune telling under the tutelage of The Amazing Gomorrah during the daytime when she is not helping mend other costumes, another auxiliary position for which Miss Larabie has volunteered. She does not have a trailer and since I have a spare space in my coach, she can travel there until other arrangements can be afforded. This is strictly on a temporary basis.

- Miller Hatsfield
Manager in Charge of Hiring and Senior Roustabout
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review
September the 11th, 1947

Phillius Dempsey - Lion Tamer

Date of Application: August 15, 1942
Name: Phillius Harmond Dempsey
Title of Act: Lion Tamer

Summary of Act:
I tamed lions with the Ringling company until 1938. I was let go after an unfortunate "accident" with one of the sad-clowns who was known as a heavy drinker. The cage was locked when I left and I am still uncertain how Jocco ended up in there with the cats. I was acquitted in a court of law, but have found employment scarce. I have never been mauled myself, though from what I have witnessed, it is very painful and sometimes fatal. Big cats can be fierce when riled. I recommend all wild beasts be kept fed.

Other Talents: I can also tame tigers and some monkeys, though I have found that most monkeys cannot be trusted.

Notes: Mr. Dempsey had a difficult time understanding that we are a carnival, not a circus and that we do not house any wild beasts, other than the conjurer's menagerie, which is a handful in itself. When I tried to explain this, he became somewhat riled and indignant, and stomped around the trailer exclaiming that we must be some kind of third-rate outfit if we didn't handle wild animals. He went on to explain that monkeys, while mostly untrustworthy, gave an outfit personality and that children found them a delight. I for one am fond of the simian and wouldn't mind having a couple of the little shavers around, providing the insurance rates are not too dear. Mr. Dempsey is a fiery sort and would be well-suited in the company of animals or cooks. I have offered him a position in the cook-tent, pending an inquiry into the acquisition of a couple of chimpanzees or squirrel monkeys, which Mr. Dempsey will do on his own time, for no extra pay.

- Miller Hatsfield, Senior Roustabout and Hiring Manager
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review

Grady Bainsbridge - Conjurer

Date of Application: October 15, 1937
Name: Grady Hammett Bainsbridge
Title of Act: Conjurer

Summary of Act:
My act is entitled "The Amazing Bainsbridge" and I am a master of illusion and the hypnotic arts. My eyes and well-spoken cadence will mesmerize the audience and females in attendance have been known to swoon. I have built my act around the well-respected and mysterious magical realm of the orient, where the secrets of illusions are passed down through generations of masters and die with the bloodline. My sleight of hand is unparalleled. I feature a great menagerie of small beasts, including rabbits, squirrels, doves and a brace of hedgehogs which are conjured from thin air in a dramatic fashion. I have performed for the crowned heads of Europe with my assistant, Golda, who can also act as a hoochy girl in the late-nite shows or after-hours.

Other Talents: I can juggle.

Notes:
Mr. Bainsbridge is a noted grifter and flim-flam man, known throughout the Midwest and south by his given name, Charles Reeger. Further research revealed that Reeger has been incarcerated in various jails and holding cells since 1927, when he first began fleecing carnival customers through magic "deceptions" and clumsy pickpocketing. His assistant Golda (Marjorie Haynes) has been arrested over a dozen times for prostitution and solicitation.

I suggest that we offer Bainsbridge a position as conjurer, since The Amazing Walter will be behind bars until at least June, 1938 in Rittman, Ohio. His particular talents may be useful, but I think offering a minimum wage would be our best course, so that when he is eventually arrested again, the loss will not be too dear.

Miller Hatsfield - Senior Roustabout
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review
October the 15th, 1937

Fay Randolph - Human Blockhead

Date of Application - July 14, 1938
Name: Fay Tanner Randolph
Title of Act: Human Blockhead

Summary of Act:
Driving railroad spikes into my ears and nose and other soft parts of my skull. Driving gutter spikes into the harder parts of my head. I hardly bleed at all. Don't like to drive the gutter spikes too deep because sometimes I get dizzy or have a little seizure. The ears are best for the railroad spikes, since I don't care about hearing much. Would hate to hammer anything into my eyeballs, but that is negotiable. Would probably need an assistant after that, so fee would have to cover assistant wages.

Other talents: I can shout really loud. Can help build stuff because I can hammer those little nails into almost anything.

Notes:
We already have a human blockhead, so unless Chalky and Mr. Randolph can figure out a way to nail their heads together with a long gutter spike, I can't see much point in hiring on Mr. Randolph at this time. Although his offer to drive nails into his eyeballs is intriguing, I cannot see offering him a higher wage to do so. This would most likely constitute a standard "one-time" fee and he would need to understand that he would only be paid for that single performance. There is no way we could pay for an assistant if he was blinded by the act; he would need to rely on his wife or children for assistance. Mr. Randolph seems an affable fellow, but I suspect he is a bit of a layabout, as are most blockheads. I was most impressed with his ability to smoke three cigarettes at a time, one in his mouth and one in each nostril and the fact that he claims he doesn't eat much.

I recommend that we pass on Mr. Randolph, as two blockheads is at least one and a half too many.

- Miller Hatsfield, Senior Roustabout
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review

Boscoe Merriweather - The Human Retard

Date of Application: May 7, 1942
Name: Boscoe Tremblay Merriweather
Title of Act: The Human Retard

Summary of Act:
I will put on a retard show that will not take up much space and amuse the children and their parents alike. I will eat chocolate with my fingers and make a mess and scoot around on my rear-end making pig noises. I can use a little wagon for this if there is space. As a human retard, I will clap and sing childrens songs and have the children sing along. In the late night hoochy-cooch, I will change the lyrics into bawdy ones and make wind.

Other Talents: I can also make mosaics using ceramic tiles and paint backdrops. I can make wind on cue. I can sprinkle sugar on the funnel cakes and fold simple balloon animals if needed

Notes:
I am not certain that hiring a Human Retard will be a sound fiscal move for the carnival. We have two geeks that sing bawdy songs and the pinhead family already eats chocolate in a messy fashion. While we have no-one that scoots on their rear-end making pig noises, I am not certain that this small addition is worth the addition of a full-on retard act. Neither does the Hoochy-Cooch need a retard - the squealing might distract from Meredith and her feather act.

Mr. Merriweather is an affable fellow and during his interview, he mussed his hair, demonstrated his pig-noises which he had dead-to-rights. He also broke the wind on cue. His balloon folding is abysmal, however, especially when compared to Deets, the Happy Clown. He did not bring any samples of his mosaic tiling work.

I recommend that we pass on Mr. Merriweather, but should keep his application on file in case we need a retard act the next time we past through Biloxi.

- Miller Hatsfield, Manager in Charge of Hiring and Senior Roustabout
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review

 May the 7th, 1942