Elmer began exhibiting alongside his Mom in the late 1940's, early '50s. Like the wearing of her wedding ring, Grace was shown with her son as part of her act to help her audience to feel more at ease and to continue to ensure sales of her miniature bibles, after all as you can plainly see, she has a son to support. Elmer, most often though, was employed as one of the ticket sellers for his Mom's show.
Somewhere the story was spread that Elmer became a drug addict and used his Mother for personal gain. But this story, too, has the earmarks of a sympathy pitch. "Please help out poor Grace," the inside talker would plead, "her son was given over to vicious habits and has squandered all her money...." No doubt somebody heard the pitch and took it for fact.
Roberta Rylander, who has written up the history of Katy, Texas, has told this author that in the early 1930's "Grace and son Elmer came to Katy each winter. He would enter school until March or April. I remember he would enter the County Meet and part of the races. He fought many a school ground battle in the name of his Mother."
In fact, shortly following his mother's death, Elmer took out an ad in Billboard "In Loving Memory of Grace McDaniel .... We miss you, Mom."
The photo below and it's close-up are from Al Stencell's book "Seeing is Believing." It's the Pete Kortes show in Hawaii (1948?, 1958?). Grace is seated second from the right. Behind her is a young man Mr. Stencell identifies as "Don McDaniels". He's too young to be Elmer. Was this Grace's grand-son? |
