Circus City

Blues-082414
(Two magnificent machines at the Grissom Air Museum. Photo Socotra.)

I don’t like clowns. It is a professional thing. You know where I live, and that will have to suffice. But I was curious that the Circus City Best Western Motel was named that- which leads to a short tale of a visit to the real America, not the strange enclave where I hang my hat back in Northern Virginia.

This will have to be a two-parter, since I have travel today. This was a very emotional trip- the cars and the jets and the backdrop of this little American town is fascinating. The place is Peru, Indiana, pronounced just like the country in South America. Except, apparently, by some elderly residents who prefer the archaic “Peeee-Ru.”

downtown-peru-082414
(Rambler American in downtown Peru, Indiana. Photo Socotra).

It is a treat to visit a city that only has 11,000 year-round residents and yet is so palpably alive. The town dates back to the 1830s, and was home to a Caucasian woman who was returned to her family after nearly sixty years of captivity by a local band of Native Americans.

Peru had a car company that failed (most towns here did) and a huge flood of the Wabash and Mississinewa Rivers that wiped the town out in 1913.

Four or five traveling circuses made Peru their winter quarters, and hence the nickname “Circus City.” Part time residents here included the cast of The Greatest Show on Earth and Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. To this day, the young people of the city put on a week-long circus festival, and even if I don’t like clowns, I would consider coming back to see it.

We were here for the Annual Show that the Hoosier American Motors Owners Club puts on. The venue this year was the historical aircraft collection at the former Naval Air Station Bunker Hill/Grissom AFB.

It was beyond cool, and I will get to that in another story more tailored to the Car People theme. Very emotional and it was well worth the drive to get across the rolling green terrain and the languid brown rivers and all that corn.

After the meet was wrapped up and ahead of the gathering thunderclouds, the Senior Leadership of the Hoosier AMO- Debbie, Joe and Todd- took me into town to see the iconic Mr. Weenie Drive-In restaurant. “Turn on lights for service!”

cole-pic-082414

Sitting at the picnic table, I learned a lot about the history and context of this vibrant little town. Cole Porter, uber cool, uber sophisticated New York tunesmith was raised here. And he is buried here.

That isn’t all. There is a tradition of get-away cars, too.

Ace Criminal and domestic terrorist John Dillinger robbed the Peru Police armory, posing the rhetorical question “What better place to get such equipment than from the police themselves?”

Dillinger-082414

A week after Dillinger’s escape from the Lima, Ohio, jail, he and some confederates decided to hit the police arsenal in Circus City. A month earlier, Dillinger and Homer Van Meter had posed as tourists there and asked what the local policemen had in the way of fire power if the Dillinger Gang ever showed up in those parts. The officers proudly showed the two “tourists” the kinds of weapons they would use against the Terror Gang.

Late on the evening of October 20, 1933, Pierpont and Dillinger entered the arsenal, subdued three lawmen and made off with several loads of machine guns, sawed-off shotguns, ammunition and bullet-proof vests. Given the current discussion of the militarization of local police forces, it sort of puts things in context, you know?

When this loot was added to the guns and ammunition they had stolen earlier from an Auburn, Indiana, police station, they were ready for business.

Auburn was the site of last year’s AMO meet- coincidence? I don’t know.

IMG_0364-082414

Mr. Weenie is a classic Drive In. Good root beer. The dogs were more iconic than good, but the deep-fried mac and cheese made you think hard.

The leadership wanted to get their pristine 1968 AMX and 1964 American convertible up the road before the rains came. I wanted to get the pictures edited and posted on my Facebook page, but I asked Joe if I could follow him in his truck past the cemetery and see if I could find Cole Porter.

We found him.

Cole-porter-082414
(Panzer and composer’s resting place at Peru’s Mount Hope Cemetery. Photo Socotra).