First Memories

I am not a writer but I want to leave a record of my childhood for my children.  My Daddy was a "First Born" Russian Orthodox Jew from New York state and my Mother was an Irish and Cherokee Indian girl from Louisville, Kentucky.  For reasons never known to us, my  Daddy left home and joined a carnival much to the dismay of his family.  When he met my Mother he was still in contact with his family.  They met on the midway of the carnival when it came to Louisville, Kentucky, to play and got rained in on the grounds.  My Mom and some of her girlfriends had come to the carnival the first night and she later would tell us that when she saw my Dad on the bally she thought he was the most handsome man she had ever seen.  He was dressed in a suit and tie, had on a hat and was pitching with a cane for emphasis.  My Mom, I have been told, looked like a young Maureen O'Hara, who was a beautiful green-eyed, red-headed Movie Star and my Dad looked like Edward G. Robinson.  It was a mutual instantous attraction.  The carnival was rained in for several days and my Mom was there as often as she could sneak away.  When the carnival finally left, My Mom left with it and she and my Dad were married in the first town where that was possible.  They were married until he passed away in 1958 from a heart attack.

This is a picture of my dad, Louis C. Gordon, known as Lew.  He was dressed for the bally on the girl show, Broadway on review.  This is the only time that he wore a suit, a long sleeved shirt and a tie.  He looked and sounded just like Edward G. Robinson.  I loved him very much.

Hello, My name is Becky McKeehan.  My father owned two burlesque shows on a carnival, and my mother was the wardrobe mistress.  My father, mother, sister, brother and I lived in the back of the canvas truck.  When I was five we settled in Houston, Texas, on the grounds of Playland Park, in the shadow of the Roller Coaster.  My mother ran the "mug joint" on the midway, which was a "get em while you wait" photo joint where you could get a picture of yourself in jail, etc.. My father ran the concession stands, and over the years, became the concessionaire at all of the public venues in Houston, so I grew up attending Broadway shows, rodeos, baseball games, wrestling, car races, etc..  I lived the childhood that most kids dream of, and I knew it at the time I was living it.