A story about Tib when he was 18 years of age as recorded in the book "Pine, Potatoes, and People" by Helen Hamlin.
Written in 1948, it is a history of Aroostook County, Maine. I was telling someone Tib's account of this story and they said that it was written in a book. We determined the author and title and went to a used bookstore. The copy I purchased was $10, but the jacket said it originally sold for $3.00.
Chapter XII. "Bodadoes" Pages 143-144.
Everyone living in a one-crop county feels the effects of the success or failure of that one crop. The seasons of the year revolve around the planting, growing, and harvesting season.
Even the first date I ever had to go to the movies with a young gentleman was somewhat overshadowed by the all-important potato crop...
Larry Thibodeau is now a sales manager for the Maine Potato Growers in Presque Isle, which is a cooperative marketing orgaization for the farmers. He is still a young man and one of the best informed and most competent potato men in the industry. At the time he took me to the movies he was only eighteen and still in high schoool. I was quite thrilled about the "date," but we had no more than found seats in the theatre when he excused himself to make a phone call.
"Just bought five carloads of potatoes," he whispered excitedly when he came back and found his seat again in the dark, "for $2.10 a barrel. Not bad, eh?"
Ten minutes later he was paged for a phone call, and when he stumbled over the five seats on the outside aisle again, he said he had sold them for $2.75 a barrel. Then he sat and fidgeted, excused himslf again and rushed out.
"More potatoes?" I asked icily.
"Yeah," he said enthusiastically, "knew where I could get ten carloads at $2.35, so I grabbed them."
Half-way through the movies he departed again and sold those spuds. While we were leaving the theatre he met someone he knew and I stood around shifting from one foot to the other while they carried on an endless conversation concerning a potato house. Then Larry rushed me home, apologized profusely and explained something about a "big deal" he had just heard about. Anyway, it wasn't a very good movie.
Larry's first big deal is typical of Aroostook potato speculation. He had heard of a potato house at St. Francis, a little town above Fort Kent, with fourteen thousand barrels of potatoes in it that hadn't been sold. The price of potatoes was sky rocketing and Larry hot footed it for St. Francis before someone else found out about it. He bought the whole lot, loaded a potato grader on the train and shipped them out at a profit of almost ten thousand dollars.
Within a few days he lost most of the fabulous sum on another deal of four thousand barrels of potatoes which he bought at a high price and was stuck with them when the market dropped again.
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This story was told to me by Tib more than once, but his story was a little different. My recollection is this.
After Tib and Helen entered the theatre he asked if she would like some popcorn or candy. With an affirmative answer he headed for the popcorn stand. While standing in line he noticed a farmer walking by the theatre he had been looking for. Tib needed supply and this farmer had some unsold potatoes in Wallagrass a small town just south of Fort Kent. Tib ran out the door to catch the grower and negotiate a price. The grower said his potatoes were for sale, but he wanted Tib to see them first. He said the freight was about to leave the station and if he wanted them he had better come now. Tib looked at the theatre and then at the train. He never looked back at the theatre again. He said he bought the potatoes that night.
