John C. Pollie Papers, 1910-1969, and undated

Central Michigan University Clarke Historical Library

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Summary

Creator:: Pollie, John C.
Abstract:: Papers include personal and business correspondence and accounts of a Grand Rapids concessionaire.
Extent:: 17.5 cubic feet (in 35 boxes)
Language:: English
Authors:: Collection processed and finding aid created by Marian Matyn

Background

Scope and Content:

From the time of the Romans until the Great Depression, circuses were a major form of entertainment in the world. Much has been written about the more important circuses and their various owners and acts, such as Ringling Brothers of P.T. Barnum, but little has been written about smaller circuses and their cousins, traveling shows. In Michigan, the only major surviving collection in a historical research institution documenting a Michigan-based circus or carnival, or its owners, is this collection, the Pollie Family Papers. The collection documents the life and work of Henry J. Pollie, circus and showman, and his son, John C. Pollie, who began life working in his Dad’s circuses and eventually evolved from traveling showman to concessionaire. The collection documents them and their business associates and family members, and life for circus and carnival show people in Michigan during the 20th century. This is a fabulous collection for documenting the lives of show people during the early teens through the 1930s in Michigan. The collection is divided into the following series: Pollie Family Photographs and Obituaries (copies), 2 folders; Pollie, Henry J. Business Correspondence, 4 folders; Pollie, Janice, Correspondence (typed by John for her), 1 folder; Pollie, John C.-Account Books, 17 v. (in 10 folders); Accounts, 7 folders; Biographical [high school autographs], 1 folder; Business Correspondence, 3.5 cubic feet (in 7 boxes); Miscellaneous, 1 folder; Personal Correspondence, 8 cubic feet (in 16 boxes); and Subject Files, 5.5 cubic feet (in 11 boxes).

The Pollie Family Photographs (1 folder) and Obituaries (copies) (1 folder) includes what may be Henry and Elvira’s wedding photograph. It is unidentified, but the image of the man is very much like one of Henry in the ads for the Zeidman and Pollie circus. He is wearing a celluloid collar which would likely date it to the early 1900s. The obituaries from Grand Rapids newspapers (copies) are of 1937 (Henry J.); 1943 (Henry); 1957 (K. Bea); 1969 (John C.); and 1937 (Mrs. Maatje Pollie).

Henry J. Pollie’s Business Correspondence consists of 1 folder each from 1925 and 1927, and 1932-1933 (2 folders). The later folders include letters from many show people in the Cetlan and Wilson Shows, Inc. who had recently lost their jobs. In these folders are letters from two Hermaphrodites, “freaks”, palm readers, and members of various acts all desperately seeking employment. The Hermaphrodites are particularly interesting because the one is hired and then notifies a friend Hermaphrodite who also writes asking for employment, again demonstrating how show people, particularly those in the same type of work, stuck together. Some of these letters are to/from Ray M. Brydon, who was the Advance Man for Henry and John. Advance men went to a town before a circus or traveling show arrived and smoothed the way for the show by making sure the contracts were okay and, if necessary, bribing public officials. There is no documentation Henry and John ran a “dirty show” and resorted to bribery, but most show people apparently did. The letters in the series are those specifically addressed to Henry. It is apparent by other correspondence in both the Business and Personal Correspondence series that John typed and composed all of the letters for Henry when the two worked together. This is apparent when one compares letters typed and composed after Henry’s death by John. They are exactly the same as the typed ones Henry signed. This indicates either John typed and composed all the letters in the collection, or he adopted Henry’s style for his own. Since it appears John was the accounts man, it is more likely that he did all the typing and composition of correspondence for both his Dad and himself.

John C. Pollie’s Account Books (17 v.), include Business Accounts, 1926-1929, 1931-1932, 1941, 1950 1955, General Accounts, 1944, 1946, and Personal Accounts, 1942, 1958. The 1926-1927 Account Book is titled “Winter Quarters, Season 1926-1927, Savannah, Georgia” This v. dates to the Henry J. Pollie and Zeidman association. The Pollies, Zeidman, and E.C. Hall are all listed as receiving and holding cash. Cash received and paid is noted daily from Nov. 11, 1926 through April 24, 1927, including to whom, for what, and total amount. Food, equipment, travel, telegrams, fair fees, and other items are listed. This volume proves that the circus wintered down south, as did many circuses in the 1920s. The 1927-1929 volumes (7) are divided by type of activities, ball game, bingo, concessions, truck, trailer, etc. The 1931-1932 v. (2) document Concessions only, showing a huge shift in record keeping and business activity by John since the 1926-1927 volume.

The next series is John C. Pollie, Accounts. These are loose paper accounts of Carnival Games, April-October 1950. They are different in style and have an excessive amount of detail compared to the business accounts he kept for the I.R.S.(7 folders). They are organized by each day in each town of John’s circuit for 1950. He notes the weather, time they opened, free games, the number of games played, the number and types of prizes won, the total amount of money the prizes were worth, and amount of money his employees earned. Examples of prizes won include whistling teakettles, liquor dispenser, cardtable, coldpack canner, blanket, and a large glass lamp.

There is one John C. Pollie Biographical folder for John C. Pollie. It includes seven loose autograph pages entitled “Johnny Pollie’s Book.” It includes autographs and notes from senior high school students who graduated between 1920 and 1925. It probably dates from 1920.

John C. Pollie’s Business Correspondence is the third largest of the series in the collection, 3.5 cubic feet (in 7 boxes). It includes correspondence from the 1920s-1960s. Materials are filed alphabetically by the name of the company or institution (or person) with whom John conducted business. Whichever name John used for filing purposes has been used here. Those people or businesses with whom he corresponded once or a few times are filed alphabetically in the general folders “A”, “B”, etc. The majority of his business correspondence was with people and companies concerning his concession business and chance games. From these companies he ordered supplies for him, his workers, and concessions trailer, or prizes, such as the many he ordered from Wisconsin “Deluxe” Company (Ned Tortni), or with fairs and shows officials and organizations, such as the V.F.W. or Sigma Phi Gamma (Bluffton, Ind.), and the men who booked him with various fairs, such as John Mulder. Some of the correspondence is with people who regularly worked for John in some capacity, often as bingo operators. A small part of the correspondence is related to his car and trailer, and getting them repaired, licensed, or insured, and dealing with accidents, A small amount of the correspondence relates to family physicians, Grand Rapids organizations with whom John was associated, and other companies, like paint and hardware stores where John bought supplies, and advertising from the magazines Bill Board and Big Eli News. Two of the largest subseries in this series are Wisconsin “Deluxe” Company, 1936-1961 (1.5 cubic ft.), and the Fairs/Shows and V.F.W. folders, 1938-1960 [bulk after 1940] (.75 cubic foot). A number of the Business Correspondence folders include catalogs, samples, drawings, orders or receipts for items John needed to operate, such as awnings or painted signs. The folders note the company’s name, name of John’s main contact, what the company sold if it related to the carnival business, and names of his contact’s spouse and children. John maintained close correspondence with virtually all of his business associates, particularly Net Tortni, his booking agents, such as John Mulder, and his contacts for fairs. John regularly received birth announcements from his contacts and maintained a regular holiday card exchange with them and their families. With the Kardell family (Eaton County Fair, Mich.), with whom he and Bea maintained correspondence from 1939 through 1956, it is clear that they were much more than business associates: they were friends. It was to Mrs. Kardell (Karen) that Bea Pollie confided that her Father (Frank Culver) had left and returned to her Mother (letter from Karen to Bea, in Kardell folder, Dec. 16, 1952 (from Banglaore, India). This is not noted in any other correspondence. Mulder and Tortni also were devastated when Bea died, as noted in the biographical section, and sent gifts and food to John and his children for their first, terrible Christmas without her. Yet, they could still threaten John when he fell too far behind with his bills. Also of note is a 1949 thank you from then Representative Jerry Ford, thanking John for signing his nominating petition.

The Miscellaneous includes Bingo Numbers Set Up Diagram and Rules for Drivers, both undated (1 folder).

The largest series is the Personal Correspondence, 1910-1964, which totals 8 cubic feet (in 16 boxes). The Personal Correspondence is filed in alphabetical order by surname, then first name of correspondent. The names of spouses and children follow that of the correspondent. Relatives are noted and multiple surnames for those who married, or remarried multiple times, are also noted, as well as the dates of the correspondence, and their occupation or business if it relates to the circus or carnival business. Those with whom John had only a page or two of correspondence are filed alphabetically by surname in the general folders ‘A’, ‘B’, etc.

This series includes correspondence with John’s immediate family, parents, wife and children, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, as well as many of his friends. Some of these friends were obviously retired from the circus or carnie world, some even had worked for John and Henry in the past, but their correspondence is mainly of a familiar type now, interested in John’s work, but not dependent on him for employment. Also in this series are the letters of the LaVardo, Evans, and Ritter families, with whom John was very close, Elfie Ramsay, and his girlfriends before he married Bea, Phyllis Rae Comrie, and Marie Ritter, as well as two male friends of John’s who served time in the Jackson State Penitentiary, Harry C. Hart, and Al S. Wiser. John wrote to people of all ages. Some of the letters are clearly between him and young children, both cousins and children of friends.

Of special interest is the correspondence between John and his parents. He was obviously close to both of his parents and wrote them often, usually weekly. With his Dad he discusses business often. With his Mother, John noted his schedule, the activities and health of their family and friends, and inquired always about her health, which was never good, and her finances. His mother’s handwriting is quite difficult to read. Her letters always started with “My Dear Son” until he married and they were address to “My Dear Children”. It is easier to understand her writing when you read John’s response to her letters.

When apart, John and Bea wrote almost daily, sometimes several times a day. Bea often sent handwritten postcards detailing where they went, what they did, how the children and her parents were feeling, and what errands she had run, and prizes or equipment she had ordered, shipped, or picked up for John. It is very obvious how important she was to him both in caring for the children and in keeping his business going when he was on the road. The children, Bea, and her parents (Mother) always remembered John on his birthday and for Father’s Day. There are many sweet, adorable handmade cards from the children to their Daddy which are just precious. It is very obvious that John, Bea and the children loved each other very much.

The strength of the collection is the correspondence. John C. Pollie typed voluminous letters almost daily to many show friends and business associates. He appears to have typed these letters both as a necessity to keep in touch with business associates and friends and as a form of stress relief and communication. In one letter he noted that it was 3 a.m. and he was finishing at least his second letter while a third needed to be typed before he could even consider going to sleep. In his correspondence, he writes personally to the recipient of their life and his, mentioning people, events, acts, and places they know in common, the status of his current show, including its location, bills, problems, and acts, his and the show’s finances, debt, the breakdown of vehicles, holidays, and his emotions, family, and dreams. They are full of interesting reading topics, particularly regarding show life and show people. Often he talks about where the show has been, where it is going next, the weather, local people, and any problems they have experienced.

John saved virtually all the business and personal correspondence he received and copies of all the correspondence he typed, as well as receipts, bills, account books, promotional materials and supply catalogs related to his business interests. Some of the correspondence has beautiful letterhead and photographs or illustrations of various shows and show acts. There are also samples of paint colors, tent materials, designs for tents and vehicles, as well as related catalogs of business supplies, particularly prizes for people who won carnival games.

Physically, about half of the collection, mostly his copies of correspondence, in the collection is quite acidic and fragile. Materials that were falling apart or greatly damaged have been photocopied. John usually typed his correspondence on acidic paper, so while it is nicely legible, it is brittle and very brown. The physical state of the correspondence he received varies, but overall, aside from part of it being acidic, most of it is in good physical condition, on various types of paper, with the penmanship, vocabularies, and spelling abilities varying among the writers. Some of the letters and accounts written in pencil instead of ink have smeared.

Processing Notes: The following materials were removed from the collection during processing: miscellaneous Greeting Cards (5 cubic feet); Duplicates and Miscellaneous Materials such as empty envelopes, instructions to complete tax forms, miscellaneous receipts, undated financial notes, and very generic correspondence (3 cubic feet); and Out-of-state periodicals (1 cubic feet). Non-duplicate Michigan publications were added to the Clarke’s collections and individually cataloged (approximately 1 cubic foot).

Biographical / Historical:

Biography:

Henry J. Pollie, was born about 1872/1873, the son of John C. and Maude Pollie. The Pollies emigrated from the Netherlands to Grand Rapids, Michigan, in late December 1879, arriving in 1880. Henry joined the business due to Doc Frank Flack. According to John C. Pollie, “Doc Frank Flack…owner-manager of the old Northwestern Shows,…put my dad in the carnival business...in the winter seasons Flack came to Grand Rapids and pitched fountain pens in Herpolsheimers’ Dept. store, and often came…for Sunday dinners and brought his office boy, Johnny Reid with him. [This would have been about circa 1917-18. The occasion of this letter was the 1959 death of Reid, the owner of Happyland Shows. This information is from a letter of J. P. to Harley and Menette Mankin, dated October 18, 1959.]

Henry was a concessionaire and showman, working in and operating a number of traveling shows and circuses over a 38-year period. Shows Henry was involved with, as documented in the collection, include: Zeidman and Pollie Shows (William Zeidman and Henry J. Pollie) 1910/11-November 1937; J. Harry Six Shows, 1931; Pollie’s Shows, 1932 (Henry and John C. Pollie); Famous Pollie Shows, 1930s (Henry and John C. Pollie) They tried to book a sideshow with Cetlin and Wilson Shows; Pollie and Scully, 1934 (Henry and Mr. Scully); Pollie and Berger Exposition and Wild Animal Circus, 1935-1937? (Henry and Louis J. Berger); Pollie and Berger Shows, 1935-January 1936 (This is likely the same show as above, minus the wild animals.); Pollie and Latto Shows, [after February 1936-November 1937, Henry and Al Latto]; Pollie Brothers Circus (Henry and John C. Pollie); Pollie’s Greater Shows, undated (Henry and John C. Pollie); Polly and Kenosian Shows, 1937 (Henry and Robert M. “Bob” Kenosian).

Zeidman and Pollie carnival began in 1910/11, according to Z and P Exposition Shows route book for the 1923 season. In November of 1927, Henry split with his partner, William Zeidman. John later recalled in a December 12, 1930 letter to Frank K. Miller, attorney-at-law, that Henry, who had won a number of legal cases over the past twelve years and successfully operated an organization with over 400 employees, had lost only one legal case in his career, prior to dealing with Zeidman. Henry and John thought of Zeidman with the phrase “trusted friends will knife you in the back.” In 1927, Henry Pollie owed $10,000 to one creditor who sued him. It is likely from John’s letter that the creditor was in league with Zeidman to ruin Henry Pollie. The creditor demanded the sale of major show equipment to pay the debt. This included numerous railroad cars, rides, and a Wurlitzer organ, which limited the show’s crowd appeal and ability to make money. Prior to the sale, the Zeidman-Pollie carnival had been billed as the second largest circus on the road. It had traveled in 30 special railroad cars, had a band, wild animals, and numerous acts.

Also, by July 9, 1927, John accepted debt for equipment that he and his partner, Don Elliott, shared in a corn game partnership. The debt of $269.15 was owed to Direct Sale and Service Corp., a carnival equipment supplier. According to John’s letter to the company of July 9, 1927, Elliott walked out on John. One wonders if Elliott was part of the “clique” and the plan was to bring down both Pollies and take over their business circuit.

Sometime after his divorce, Henry married Ossie (nee Toothman) Littleman Pollie, who was a “show woman.” She was born around June 2, 1893 and died between April 31 and May 10, 1936.

Henry and John continued working together until Henry died suddenly on May 12, 1937 in Cassopolis, Michigan, as the result of a car accident. He was survived by his widow, Ossie, his son, John, his mother Mrs. Maude (Maaje) Pollie, three brothers, Alfred, James, and Mitchell, and a sister, Mrs. Joseph (Lizzie) Wieland, all of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

John’s Mother, Elvira “Vira” (Maas) Pollie was born east of Indianapolis on April 26, about 1878, the daughter of Andrew and Milly-Ann Henson. She also worked for years in the shows although exactly what she did is not documented in the collection. In November of 1927 Henry J. and Elvira divorced. At some point after the divorce, Elvira married a Mr. Mendiones. In November 1930, Elvira was arrested in Indianapolis, Indiana. Apparently, she left town while under bond to appear as a witness in a case. What the case was about is not documented in the collection. Lawyer Frank Miller helped her although, much to his frustration, both John and Henry were unable to reimburse him for his services. In his letter to the lawyer, John notes that his mother was easily led by others. This may indicate a level of simplicity of character or naiveté. During the later 1930s and 1940s, Elvira lived in Chicago, Illinois, where she rented a couple of rooms to boarders. Her finances were often limited and John often sent her money, particularly to pay for rented storage space where he stored his show equipment. By December 1943, Elvira apparently married a Mr. Miller. She died suddenly on September 30, 1944, and was survived by her son, John, granddaughter, Janice, and two brothers.

Despite his parents’ divorce, John had a good relationship with both parents. They wrote each other often, often weekly, and John sent his Mother money to help pay her bills whenever she needed help.

John C. “Johnnie” Pollie, was the adopted son of Henry J. and Elvira (Maas) Pollie, was born on April 28, 1905. The fact that he was adopted is noted in family papers which are not part of this collection. He attended schools in Grand Rapids and was a sophomore in Central High School in 1924 (according to the MichGenWebsite for Kent County, and is listed in the Central High School Helios yearbook of 1924 and appears in a 1924-1925 Sophomore Class Photograph.). It is highly likely that he graduated in 1926.

By 1926 John began to concentrate on concessions for himself while helping his Dad. In 1956 he stated in a letter to a potential customer that he had been in the business for 30 seasons.

John moved to Indiana in 1927. He was very close to his Evans relatives and other people from Acton, Indiana. His daughter, Janice, later called Rosa Mae Evans “Grandma Rosie.”

In the 1930s, John worked in and operated small circuses or traveling shows composed of various acts, rides, games of chance, wild animals, freak shows, and food (concessions). John operated bingo, poker, and other games, hired the various acts, booked their scheduled appearances, operated the concession stands, and kept meticulous accounts in a business where every cent mattered. John paid and fed people both during times when the show made money and when it did not, particularly during the Great Depression. If people were not fed, they would leave. Without acts and people to operate the rides and games, the show would collapse. With his Father and other associates, John C. Pollie co/operated a number of small shows that traveled, with the seasons, up and down the coast from Florida to Ontario, Canada, and, in the 1940s and 1950s through the Midwestern and Appalachian states.

John was involved with all of his Dad’s shows (see the list on p.1.). In 1937 he operated Carnival Concession in Acton, Indiana, while operating the Pollie and Kenosian Shows in Grand Rapids. He described his business to the Internal Revenue Service, the I.R.S., then as operating the corn-game, also known as bingo or beano, in Michigan carnivals and fairgrounds each summer.

After his Dad’s death in 1937, John co-operated the Zeigler and Pollie Shows, which was billed as “Michigan’s Modern Midway”, in 1939.

Most of John’s friends and associates were involved, as were their families, with some aspects of his or other traveling shows. Many of these people John corresponded with over the years were involved with family acts, such as high wire or aerialist ladder acts, clowns, dancers, and dancers/rollerskaters, and some of the freak acts, such as Alligator Boy, fire eaters, or hermaphrodites. Because they were all involved in traveling shows, they had similar problems, such as lack of funds, constantly moving, living hand to mouth, and being separated for long periods from their extended families and friends without knowing each others’ whereabouts or addresses. This was a time before computers and email, when phone calls were luxuries. Letters, postcards, and occasionally telegrams for emergencies were how people communicated. This lack of communication led to the abandonment of wives and children and divorces. There was no security in this type of life. People who were hurt were left in hospitals when the show left for another town or state. There was no disability or medical insurance for anyone. Most of the acts John booked were composed of two or three people. Thus, when one member of an act got hurt, ill, left town, was thrown in jail, or died, the act could not be performed. This resulted in act members being fired as a group. The newly unemployed then had to find a temporary job in another show in order to eat. Show people sent the few dollars they could afford to other show friends in need. At least among John’s many friends, there was a strong network of friends who genuinely cared for him and each other.

There were also cases of men who abandoned their families and never visited, communicated with, or financially supported their wives or children, like Henri LaVardo. In the collection there is also documentation of two men who corresponded with John from Jackson State Penitentiary. Henry C. Hart served time in prison from December 1932 through February 1933. He was sad and repentant about his incarceration, particularly noting its impact on his loyal wife, Ruth. His entire correspondence with John spans 1926 through 1938. Alfred S. Wiser, whose extended family corresponded with John, was in prison from May 1931 through May 1933. He was unrepentant and more of a philosopher. His complete correspondence with John spans 1927 through 1934. The reasons why they were imprisoned is not documented in the collection, but according to state records was armed breaking and entry.

There were also constant and continual financial problems with show life. John wrote often to his friends and family members of being in debt due to poor attendance at shows, the economic woes of the 1930s, the attitude of conservatives who limited his ability to run games of chance in their county, and having to get loans to pay to repair the show’s trailers or trucks. Just before May 27, 1933, John’s business associate, Al Wagner, stole all the money the Pollie’s Show had made so far in the season, approximately a month’s worth of income. What was really unconscionable was that Al also stole the contracts listing where the show was booked to perform next. At the time, John only knew the next three towns where his show was booked. As a result, the show was nearly forced to close. John wrote a flurry of letters to friends and associates trying to verify where the show was supposed to perform next, and other letters begging for funds and for extra acts. This situation nearly ruined his reputation as being a good showman to book, which would have bankrupted him and the show. (See letter from John to Cash Miller, May 27, 1933.) This occurred years before the idea of unemployment and four years before the advent of social security.

In another example of the tightness of their accounts, most show people bought their vehicle license plates in Georgia in 1934 and1935 as the state charged $3 for any vehicle plate, regardless of make, model, size, or use. This was the cheapest state in which a person could buy license plates, and residency for a year was waived, so everyone in the traveling show business bought plates there. This added to Georgia’s coffers. John was constantly behind in his payments for many bills, yet always tried to send at least a few dollars to friends and family whose financial situations were worse than his. He had to take advantage of any state or local tax break he could get.

Most of his correspondents were people who had either worked with or for him, or were related to someone who did. John also maintained years of extensive correspondence with certain business associates, either suppliers of equipment and prizes or men who booked dates at fairs and other events. For example, George Kurtz was Pollie’s bingo operator or “caller.” In 1936 he was engaged to Phyllis Comrie who, with her mother, worked the “penny pinch.” John Mulder, a concession-related dealer was married to Kate, who had been one of John’s bingo operator. In the early 1950s, Pollie employed his wife, Bea, and step-mother, Ossie, and prior to 1956 both of John’s children helped picked up balls thrown in at least one of the games. The DeMitchells also helped operate some of the games and King Baile wrote promotional ads. John’s Uncle Howard Henson, who was usually referred to simply as “Howard,” was involved with Zeidman and Pollie Shows in the 1920s. He was always fondly remembered by all the “old crowd” of friends who were in the shows in the 1920s and early 1930s. John and Howard worked together and wrote to each other well through the 1940s. In the 1950s John worked for Mulder. Mulder secured dates and contracts at various shows and events and then hired John to provide concessions, bingo and other games in various cities in Michigan. John’s letters to Mulder are always friendly and polite, but in his letters to relatives and friends John described Mulder as a man who made money and did not share his earnings with his help (i.e. John). By John’s workers, Mulder was sarcastically referred to in letters as the “Great Mulder” who apparently thought he knew everything and was never wrong.

By 1957 numerous laws restricted game concessions, as John noted to the I.R.S. At that time local organizations, often charities, hired John to bring his equipment to their venue where he would train local volunteers to work the games. Thus, John no longer needed to hire his own staff to work for him.

To help pay bills during the fall and winter when he was living in Grand Rapids and could not operate a traveling show or concession, John worked at Kelvinator, 1942-1944, 1947-1954, and then the American Seating Company, 1954-1961. In the 1950s the American Seating Company cut the employees’ pay and hours, which hurt John, and presumably a lot of other employees, financially.

John had several female friends as a young man, including Marie Ritter, his “Pal” and later his “Dearest Pal,” with whom he appeared to fall in love for awhile, especially in 1935 and 1936. Much to Marie’s disgust, she and John were no longer “an item” after 1936. The age difference between them may have had something to do with it. Marie was ten or twelve years younger than John. He may also have been in love with Elfie (Ramsay) Shepherd, with whom he corresponded heavily during the 1930s, particularly in 1936. John also was very good friends with Phyllis Rae Comrie, who graduated in 1936 from high school.

On July 1, 1938, John married K. Bea Culver, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Culver. Bea was not a show woman, so how and when they met is a mystery. Perhaps she bought food from him at a fair and they began to talk. Together they had two children: Janice (Pollie) Haralson was born on June 24, 1942, and Curtis J. Pollie on March 27, 1947). Their family life was a happy one. They attended Fountain Street Church each Sunday, where the children were enrolled in Sunday School. John was on the road from April through August usually, and working in town during the fall and winter.

The family lived in Grand Rapids. In 1940 they rented an apartment at 427 Bond Avenue NW and later they moved to an apartment at 437 Coit Avenue. Probably in order to make up for late rent, John rewired a 16-family apartment building for their landlord, Oscar Allen, in 1940. The family later purchased a house at 633 Fairview Avenue NE in 1946.

Bea’s younger brothers were Cole and Donald. The brothers both served in World War II and went to college afterwards, apparently on the G.I. Bill. Donald graduated from Mesick Consolidated Schools (high school) in 1940 and attended S.W. College in Winfield, Kansas in 1948. In 1957 Cole Culver was married to Alene, and they had two children, Colene and Calvin. Cole was the superintendent of Rose Hill Consolidated Schools in Rose Hill, Kansas. At the same time, Donald Culver was married to Joann and had a daughter, Denise. Donald was the superintendent of the Atlanta Community School, Atlanta, Michigan (through 1957), and later served as superintendent of the Montmorency County Board of Education (1958- ).

In the middle of November 1957, Bea was cleaning windows when she fell off a step stool and fell five feet to the ground. She broke her leg about the ankle joint and disconnected her ankle. Somehow, the broken bone went into the ground and she picked up tetanus. Within a few days she developed lockjaw, spasms, and throat paralysis. After two amputations of her leg and various medicines, she died at 9:12 a.m. on November 20, 1957 in Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids. John stayed with her at the hospital once she developed complications. He wrote numerous detailed letters to long-time friends about her suffering and how devastated the family was when she died. It is obvious that as much as he had enjoyed typing letters and the necessity of his doing so to promote his business and keep up his network of associates and friends in his business life, that typing letters for John was also a form of relaxation and a way to work out his stress and frustration. In the letters he typed about Bea, John extolled her virtues as a housemaker, dressmaker, baker, teacher and superintendent of Sunday school, President of the elementary and high school PTA, and chair of the neighborhood improvement association. He also noted that she had skillfully managed the concessions for him when he had to work at American Seating Company. Hundreds of people attended her funeral at Fountain Street Methodist Church and the florists were overwhelmed with requests for floral tributes. Bea was buried on Saturday, November 23, 1957 in Rosedale Memorial Park in Grand Rapids. She was survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Culver, her husband, children, two brothers, Cole L. and Donald L. Culver and their families, her maternal grandparents, two nieces and a nephew.

Janice was fifteen-years-old and Curtis was ten-years-old when their mother died. At the time, Janice attended Central High School and Curtis was in 5th grade at Coit School. It is another testament of John’s personality that two of his oldest business associates, Ned Torti of Wisconsin “Delux” Corporation and John Mulder of Mulder Concession Company of Deluxe Games were so shocked when they heard of Bea’s death that they sent Christmas care packages of gifts and food to him and his children along with heartfelt notes. Letters of good advice for the kids, encouraging them to do well in school and help their father, came regularly from both Alene and Joann Culver following Bea’s demise. A really good letter detailing John Pollie’s financial problems and living arrangements with the family following Bea’s death is in the Cole Culver folder, dated 1958.

Janice and John shared the housework after Bea died. The children were strongly encouraged by John to do the best they could in school and participate in extra-curricular activities, particularly Sunday school. Bea’s health care and funeral bills nearly impoverished the family. John bemoaned the fact that they had numerous bills they simply could not pay and that it would be June [1958] before he could earn more money through concessions. Besides his regular and concession job, John built concession stands for his business associate, Mulder, presumably to pay off some of his debt to Mulder. (A good letter John wrote in 1962 to his cousin, Inez Millspaugh, describes this activity as well as the situations of family and friends.)

After graduating from high school, Janice attended Grand Rapids Community College for two years and graduated from Michigan State University in 1964. She married a Mr. Quint who joined the Marines when they were engaged. Janice worked as a first grade teacher. Curtis Pollie married Marcia and had two children. In 2009, he lived in White Cloud.

During his life, John was generous to his friends, family, and workers with pay and emotional support. He also donated regularly to a wide variety of Christian, charitable, youth, and health research organizations, which is documented by his charitable contributions receipts. In 1946 he wrote to one friend that he had just run the funding campaign for the Grand Rapids Fraternal Order of Police, with whom he had a long positive relationship.

John saved everything documenting personal and business expenses. He had very organized accounts of his concessions by day, town, worker, games won, and supplies. John was a nightmare scenario for the I.R.S. He could prove everything.

John C. Pollie died on or shortly before May 29, 1979 and was buried in Rosedale Memorial Park, Grand Rapids.

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