“Once I got to Glasgow,” wrote Edna Fern, “I went up and down one street after another, going into each business place seeking employment, but nothing was available. I had thought that any job would be better than washing dishes, but I was getting desperate because there was little money left from my dishwashing earnings and I was getting hungry. Finally, the Ford garage hired me to do filing, take dictation, and type. I liked the work, but from sitting so much my hips were spreading and there were few people to talk to so I soon became restless. One lunch hour I went down to the J.C. Penney’s department store and offered my services. I told the manager I would be willing to work for nothing to see if I could do the job. He was impressed with that offer and hired me.

“When I first started working at Penney’s I had little money left for food, and the day before payday I had none at all. I was famished, but luckily brother Bob happened along that day and invited me out to lunch. I was too proud to tell him of my empty purse and just let him feel good about being able to treat his big sister; he probably felt confident that his big sister would treat him next time. Never has a piece of pie tasted so good, not even the pineapple pie Dad had bought me when we stopped in Glasgow on our way north to Grandpa’s homestead when I was only six!

“Several times in my early efforts at becoming independent, I had been precariously weak from hunger but it never occurred to me to borrow, as I knew I had little chance of ever being in any better financial state to pay back a loan. At one point, I went into a restaurant and sat down to rest, just ordering a glass of water because it was free. Another time I had saved a whole quarter and was going to splurge it on a banana split—a Sister Butte classmate, Roy Pearson, had treated me to one several years before, and I thought it was the ultimate in eating enjoyment. I clenched the quarter in my fist while consuming the ice cream but when I stood up to go and pay for it, I absent-mindedly loosened my grip and the quarter fell on the floor. It rolled on the floor but I couldn’t find it; the waitress even brought the broom and swept but it was hidden well. The owner must have realized that my consternation was genuine because he simply asked me to come back and pay another time. I became a weekly customer once I started getting a regular paycheck.

“I enjoyed waiting on people, and it turned out that I was very successful at sales. With the Fort Peck Dam being built at that time, crowds would rush to shop in Glasgow on payday and many times I would sell $400.00 worth of goods in a single day. I was very proud the day the list of the Top-20 Penney’s clerks in a five-state district included my name, even though I was at the bottom of the list. It was an unexpected bonus as this was my first job in sales and I seemed to be a natural at it. This didn’t endear me to some of the other clerks who had been there much longer, but it did spur them on to make more effort and the boss loved me. Another bonus I got from working in a clothing store was that my closet was filling up with new dresses and sweaters; of course all of the clerks needed to look good on the sales floor so we got our purchases with a nice reduction.”