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Page 3 of 28 |
Early Exploits: |
Life in Marceline |
Main Street in Marceline,
then called Kansas Avenue,
around 1906
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In fact, had Walt featured many of the stories of his
life on the farm in his films, critics would have accused them of
presenting an idealized version of life. As he remembered it, neighbors
pitched in, selflessly, to help one another at harvest time, as their
wives put out heaping meals of cornbread, chicken and pie. All his
life, Walt held the view that this was how people should work together;
a fantasy from which he was frequently awakened by the disillusioning
events of real life in the film business.Winters the children skated
on a nearby pond, and warmed their hands by a big bonfire. Summertime,
they'd go fishing for catfish and bowheads in a creek. If the day
got hot, they'd take off their clothes and swim. Meanwhile, Ruth was
always available for fun. She regarded Walt as the most fascinating
of companions -- even when he led her into trouble. There was,
for example, the time he persuaded Ruth that they could use a big
barrel of tar to paint the side of the house. Ruth did have the sense
to question -- at least briefly -- the wisdom of this act. "Will this
come off?" she wanted to know. |
Ever confident, even then, Walt assured her there would
be no problems. Soon thereafter, the two children discovered that
they had permanently marred the house with dry hard tar. For years,
Flora and Elias reminded the two children of the time they used tar
to paint the house. On other occasions, Walt and Ruth would cut through
the big bull pasture that separated the Disney house from the open
fields where they played. Before they were halfway to safety, the
children invariably heard the bull snorting. When they made it across,
Ruth collapsed in a panting heap -- safe, for the moment. On the way
home, she knew Walt would have her running from that bull again.
Through his life, Walt retained loving memories of the adults in
Marceline as well. His inquisitive nature and expressive brown
eyes attracted an unusual number of older friends. These were people
like Erastus Taylor, a civil war veteran who regaled Walt with dramatic
battle stories of Shiloh and Bull Run. Or L.I. Sherwood, a retired
doctor who enjoyed young Walt's company. They presented an odd couple,
as they walked the streets of Marceline; the elderly doctor in his
black Prince Albert frock coat, and the young boy bouncing by his
side. Doc Sherwood won Walt's everlasting gratitude by paying him
25 cents to draw a picture of his horse, Rupert. Family was ever-present.
Grandma Disney was energetic, even into her seventies. Walt always
had a fond memory of the time she encouraged him to sneak into a
neighbor's yard to filch some turnips. "She loved turnips," he said.
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Walt and his sister Ruth in
their Sunday best, around 1910
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Children witness the arrival of the Santa Fe at the
Marceline Depot. Seeing giant steam engines
close to his home began Walt's life-long love
affair with trains.
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His mother's brother-in-law, Mike Martin was a railroad
engineer. Walt happily anticipated his arrival behind the throttle
of the powerful locomotive when it came roaring into town. Sometimes,
Uncle Mike would even bring along a striped bag of candy for the children.
In this relationship was likely born Walt's life-long love of trains;
a love that, in part, led to the building of Disneyland. One of Elias'
brothers, Uncle Ed, was "a little slow," the relatives said. He would
just show up from time to time, and stay with the Disneys. His childlike
approach to life may have been the subject of whispers among family
members, but Walt loved this uncle who enjoyed playing children's
games.
Yet another brother of Elias' was Uncle Robert, a fastidiously
dressed man, who always had a cigar in his mouth. Robert did well
in business, and would be a source of cash to Walt into his early
years in the cartoon business. Robert's wife, Aunt Margaret,
had a special place in Walt's life. "When she'd come she loved us
kids, and she'd always bring something for my sister and me. And
she'd bring me big tablets -- Crayola things -- and I'd always draw
Aunt Margaret pictures and she'd always rave over them." Unfortunately,
paradise for Walt became a sort of purgatory for his oldest brothers,
Herb and Raymond. Their father paid them nothing for the back
breaking labor of the farm. In fact, even when they worked on neighboring
farms, to pick up a little extra cash, Elias had them add it to
the family's coffers to help pay debts. .
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In 1908, Herbert and Ray snuck out of the house, and
left for Chicago. Some writers have described them as "running away
from home." Of course, they were sixteen and eighteen years old; men
by the standards of the time. This was hardly running away, any more
than a 22-year-old could be said to run away from home in the 1990s!
Still, their departure was painful for Elias. Roy was his only farmhand.
Meanwhile, although Elias was a tough man by any standards, he had
to endure recurring bouts of chills and fever that stemmed from a
case of malaria in his twenties. The last straw came in 1910, when
he came down with typhoid fever. Flora was terrified. Typhoid fever
was a member of a hellish club whose roster also included tuberculosis,
cholera and diphtheria, and killed hundreds of thousands of adults
and children in those days.
Walt and Ruth were too young to be alarmed. Flora held orange slices
up to Elias' dry lips and the children regarded him jealously. "Those
orange slices looked so wonderful to me, I almost wished I was sick
so I could have some too," Ruth remembered. The family was fortunate.
Elias survived. But he knew that he could never again hope to make
a big success out of the farm. So, it was sold for $5,175, and Elias
invested in a newspaper route, delivering the Kansas City Star to
some two thousand customers.
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Walt's oldest brother Herbert
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