Toby and Susie
When I was a kid there was something each year that I looked forward to almost as much as Christmas; our school's annual visit from Toby and Susie. Once a year for the astronomical price of ten cents, we were entertained for about one hour by a traveling magician and his assistant. Dressed in gaudy clothes, a yellow and black polka dot tie and a campaign hat, the red headed Toby would perform a hilarious magic act that ranged from pulling quarters out of people's ears to sending a fake skunk down the aisle. Keep in mind we weren't a sophisticated audience. Truthfully, most of us could have been just as entertained with a shiny object.
About two weeks before they were scheduled to arrive, we were always alerted that Toby and Susie were coming and to remember to bring your dime so you could get in. If you didn't bring your dime, you wouldn't get to see the show. There were several folks that couldn't afford a dime for something like that. So the really poor kids spent a week or so thinking they were going to have to sit in a room alone, deprived of the only cultural event of the year. But that never happened. Everybody got to go because some good soul would pay their way.
Toby and Susie would perform in the auditorium of the grammar school. This was on the third floor of the school building and was rarely used for anything. I never liked going in the auditorium because I had to divide my attention between the show on the stage and the humongous concrete beams overhead that had large cracks midway between the supports. I might have been only eight years old but I recognized a safety hazard when I saw one! I was sure that one day during the roar of clapping, laughing and stomping feet one of those beams was going to crumble and crush us like ants. Luckily they didn't collapse until ten or fifteen years ago when someone burned the school down. Funny thing, there were many nights I prayed that the school would burn down. It just came a couple of decades too late to do me any good.
There was only one thing better than seeing Toby and Susie perform and that was being chosen as a volunteer. I would have done anything to be picked from the crowd. They could have skewered me with a sword or run a string of handkerchiefs in one ear and out the other if they had wanted. Anything would have been acceptable because when you were chosen, they gave you a Toby and Susie fake dollar bill. That was the top prize of all prizes a kid could receive. The coup de grace of awards. Everything else was worthless. Needless to say I never got one. And the magic phrase that made all the tricks work? "Hocus-pocus black eyed peas!" Looking back I guess it makes an episode of "Hee-Haw" seem like "La Boheme".
Thanks to the internet I now know that the name "Toby and Susie" was actually coined by the Schaffner Players company. "Toby and Susie" shows ran in the midwest through the 30's, 40's and 50's. Apparently the folks that we saw were keeping the tradition going through the 60's as well. The description of Toby that is given at (sorry, dead link) matches our "Toby" to a tee. The "Toby" shows were usually corny plays with a little magic thrown in between acts. The show we saw was all magic so it was quite different from the description given. However the Toby and Susie we saw were older individuals that I would venture to say could have easily been performing professionally in the 40's. I would speculate they were remnants of the early "Toby" shows that struck out on their own when the popularity of tent shows waned. I'm glad they kept doing it because it is truly a GOOD memory from grade school and Lord knows there weren't many of those!
About two weeks before they were scheduled to arrive, we were always alerted that Toby and Susie were coming and to remember to bring your dime so you could get in. If you didn't bring your dime, you wouldn't get to see the show. There were several folks that couldn't afford a dime for something like that. So the really poor kids spent a week or so thinking they were going to have to sit in a room alone, deprived of the only cultural event of the year. But that never happened. Everybody got to go because some good soul would pay their way.
Toby and Susie would perform in the auditorium of the grammar school. This was on the third floor of the school building and was rarely used for anything. I never liked going in the auditorium because I had to divide my attention between the show on the stage and the humongous concrete beams overhead that had large cracks midway between the supports. I might have been only eight years old but I recognized a safety hazard when I saw one! I was sure that one day during the roar of clapping, laughing and stomping feet one of those beams was going to crumble and crush us like ants. Luckily they didn't collapse until ten or fifteen years ago when someone burned the school down. Funny thing, there were many nights I prayed that the school would burn down. It just came a couple of decades too late to do me any good.
There was only one thing better than seeing Toby and Susie perform and that was being chosen as a volunteer. I would have done anything to be picked from the crowd. They could have skewered me with a sword or run a string of handkerchiefs in one ear and out the other if they had wanted. Anything would have been acceptable because when you were chosen, they gave you a Toby and Susie fake dollar bill. That was the top prize of all prizes a kid could receive. The coup de grace of awards. Everything else was worthless. Needless to say I never got one. And the magic phrase that made all the tricks work? "Hocus-pocus black eyed peas!" Looking back I guess it makes an episode of "Hee-Haw" seem like "La Boheme".
Thanks to the internet I now know that the name "Toby and Susie" was actually coined by the Schaffner Players company. "Toby and Susie" shows ran in the midwest through the 30's, 40's and 50's. Apparently the folks that we saw were keeping the tradition going through the 60's as well. The description of Toby that is given at (sorry, dead link) matches our "Toby" to a tee. The "Toby" shows were usually corny plays with a little magic thrown in between acts. The show we saw was all magic so it was quite different from the description given. However the Toby and Susie we saw were older individuals that I would venture to say could have easily been performing professionally in the 40's. I would speculate they were remnants of the early "Toby" shows that struck out on their own when the popularity of tent shows waned. I'm glad they kept doing it because it is truly a GOOD memory from grade school and Lord knows there weren't many of those!
I had no idea there were multiple Toby and Susie's. Jim said they came to his school in Arkansas, too. Wonder if it was the same team? When I remember our Toby and Susie, I picture Uncle Joe from Petticoat Junction and Mamie Eisenhower in a shirtwaist dress, stuffed with can-cans, whirling about the stage with such grandeur and elegance. Ahhh...wouldn't it be nice to be back in that old auditorium, with its creaking and swaying from the weight of us screaming, maniacal kids stomping our feet in appreciation of pure, raw talent? We were too naive to realize how corny it was and that was exactly how it should have been. Children today could use a good dose of Toby and Susie. I know one little girl who would scream like a banshee if somebody told her there was a skunk running up the aisle. She'd love it!!
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I remember every year Toby & Susie would visit my grade school in Dublin, Mississippi. It was such a wonderful show. What a great memory!
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I just said "Hocus Pocus Black Eyed Peas" and I got all giddy. Without a doubt, Toby and Susie were the highlight of my grade school years. Don't be offended but I'm guessing that in Dublin the odds of being chosen as a volunteer were pretty high. I'm guessing y'all didn't have a huge grade school considering you were smack dab between the bustling metropolitan areas of Clarksdale and Tutwiler.
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