Earl D. Allen, Kaysville, Utah: an interview by Winston P. Erickson, June 12, 2000: Saving the legacy tape no. 38

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EARL D. ALLEN J 12 2 0 EAR: I was only sixteen, yes. WIN: You hadn't finished high school? EAR: I had just started in September of 1932 into South High. I had screwed around and I only had two classes, and that was math and science. I got a letter later on, I guess around the latter part of October, that I was number one on the alternate waiting list. The recruiting area included Idaho and Montana. I was number one on the alternate waiting list. The recruiting area included Idaho, Montana, and part of Wyoming. There was just a chief or a medical men, and they'd ship the crew down here to Salt Lake, and they'd get a physical examination. Some of them wouldn't pass the physical. They needed dental work and they had an ingrown toenail or something. So I was the alternate. I was seventeen on the thirtieth of September. On the twentieth of October I passed and was enlisted in the U.S. Navy on my way to the San Diego training center. WIN: Before you became involved in the navy and the Depression was going and your father left Metropolitan life, what did he do after that? EAR: He started selling household furnishings-blankets, silverware-on installment. A dollar down and a dollar when you catch them, you know. He had a route that covered most of the area around, except Salt Lake City. He collected in Bingham Canyon, and Lark, and Park City, and Heber. He was selling blankets and things, and he would trade for anything. We were up there one time and he traded for a guy's wool from last year. We packed it in the back of the old Chevy and drove home. 8