In the summer of 1936, my grandmother Evelyn Kerr worked as a cashier at Jefferson Beach Amusement Park in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. My mother, who was almost 14 years old then, wrote about her memory of that summer:
"I went along with her, and wandered around the park, trying out all the rides which were free to me. But each day I would go to the woman in charge and ask, "Mrs. Stevens, can I work today?" She pointed out that there was a law that I had to be 16 to work, and I would need working papers. I never gave up, and finally she relented and said I could be a check girl in the bath house on the beach."
At the end of the season, Mrs. J.C. Stevens wrote in my mother's autograph book:
Sept. 7, 1936
May success be yours, it should.
Mrs. Stevens - "Can I work today"
Mrs. J.C. Stevens
"Marge"
My mother got autographs from lots of the park workers, most of whom noted what their job was or what ride they worked at. Many of the autographs included little verses, but this one had heartfelt sentiment:
August 26, 1936
Dear Mary,
I will always remember you - the little girl whose many acts of kindness I will appreciate always after we are separated here at Jefferson Beach. May we meet again. Loads of health, luck & happiness in the future.
Mary Louise
(Coaster)
Mom's sister Bonnie, who was almost 17, wrote a short verse containing a grammatical error which belied her later command of the English language. She became
an eloquent poet.
Mrs. Carl Schulte also signed my mother's book. Some time ago the names of Carl and Blanche Schulte had come to my attention in another venue, and I had asked my cousin
Cheryl Schulte whether she knew how they were related to our family. I was going to look up her old email for the explanation, but Cheryl refreshed my memory this morning before I got around to it:
Now I can tell you quickly how Blanche & Carl (Chuck) Schulte are related to you or to your Mom and you won't even have to look up the old e-mail. In essence, in the land of DNA and blood and all that true genie stuff, they are NOT related at all to your Mom or to you. In a nutshell, this is how it goes (and I am mighty proud that I can rattle this off without looking anything up):
Carl or Chuck is the son of Elizabeth Feucht (my Julie's oldest sister) and Elizabeth's second husband Louis Pospishl. When Louis died and then my Julie died, Elizabeth persuaded Julie's husband, Rudolph Schulte, to marry her which Rudolph did 9 days after Julie died. Elizabeth came to the marriage with her son, Carl (Chuck) Pospishl, and her other 4 children from marriage #1 to her Storkel husband. Rudolph, of course, only had my grandpa, Elmer, to bring to the marriage. I even have the birth record for Carl Pospishl from South Dakota I believe.
For some reason that nobody could ever tell me, down the road, during the marriage of Elizabeth and Rudolph, Carl Pospishl 'took' the surname of Schulte. He was never legally adopted or anything like that. He just called himself Carl or Chuck Schulte and from then on, when he married, when he and Blanche had children, grandchildren, etc, it is Schulte.
Carl is, of course, related to me through the Feucht family. His mother and my great-grandmother were sisters. But he is not a true Schulte so he would not be related to your Evelyn, etc. But they were all good friends and partied together.
It's not clear whether Blanche and/or Bonnie worked at the amusement park. It's possible, but neither of them indicated a job when they signed my mother's autograph book.
A name index appears below. Click on the album cover to see the pages of the book.
Index to Mary Kerr's 1936 Autographs- Jimmy Rodda, Mary Kerr
- Betty Jane S., 14969 Coram Ave., Detroit, Mich.
- Wm Kureimi, Elsie Daniels, Meryle Downy, Lilla Hallison, Leone Hunt, Henry "Heinie" Walleman
- Doris Olsen, Mrs. C. [Carl] Schulte (Blanche)
- R. Patten (Ballroom), Bonnie [Kerr, Mary's sister]
- Mrs. Roy Patten (ballroom), Vivian Olsen
- Doris King (ballroom fountain), "Pickles"
- Al Sova ("Just a hashslinger), Lucille Goss (relief)
- Phyllys K., Joe Mazzella (plaster doll store)
- Red Alexander (bath house), Joe Fresard & Bernice MacMillan
- Helen Barkoot, Howard Carrier
- Richard Travis, Bob Steveling (candy kid)
- Donna Lordy (the root beer girl?)
- A. Beard, Norma
- Rose E. Dodd (courtesy)
- Artemis Kevas (beer garden), June (relief)
- Tommy (Dungeon Dipper)
- Maxine
- Irene (Sportland), Joseph Batty
- Mrs. J.C. "Marge" Stevens, "Beans" Callas (R.D. #7, Butler, Pa.)
- Mary Louise (Coaster)
- Geo Meldrum (Swooper), William Bartley (Aeroplane)
- G. Arnott, 21936 Rosedale, St. Clair Shores, Mich.
- Harry D. Perry, 21707 Ten Mile, St. Clair Shores
- Douglas Dickerson, Thomas Taubitz (bath house)
- Marion Gough, Stanley T. Dunk
- Stan
- Honey (dance hall), Shorty (Skooter)
- Clark K*t (High Striker), Rita (restaurant)
- Harry Millette (Speed Boats)
- Stubby, M. Shintel (dog stand)
- Edith Rodda
- Florance Urquhart, Walter James Urquhart, Bob Grossman
- J.F. Jones, Braham Barkoot (blanket store)
- Frank Daniels, 737 Briar Pl., Chicago, Ill. (cigarette store)
- B. Almany, Arthur Boyden (assistant doorman?)
- Alita Sayers, George Beyer
- Harry Bigres?, Roy Gayle?
- Bob Hoadley (Skee Ball), Dot Lucas ("I guess weights")
The St. Clair Shores Historical Commission has posted an excellent
history of Jefferson Beach Amusement Park, and if you scroll down that page you'll find lots of great old photos too.
family tree image by Bret Kerr
