THE OLD TOWN CRIER

                           THE  OLD  TOWN  CRIER

                                     NORMAN  V.  KELLY

 

Here in my eighth decade, I often think of old Peoria and all those people that lived here since 1845. I knew a few ‘characters’ that lived downtown when I ran around down there, in the 1940’s and 1950’s and beyond. I have shared some of them with you and often wonder if maybe fifty years from now some writer will write about me under that category. I want to bring to you a man that was known as Peoria’s Town Crier.  Before him we had a lot of men that lit our lamps in the evening and went about town singing, and calling out to everyone they met.  There was a warm, almost romantic mystique about them, but like everything else they faded away as we progressed to electric lights. Charles A. “Smuck” Baker took over and here in Peoria he was referred to as the ‘Old Town Crier.’  Funny thing, he certainly was not old, in fact he had the energy of ten people…or so it seemed.

 

He came to Peoria when he was a wee tot, just a few months after he was born March 31, 1889, and by age seven he was actually on the streets selling newspapers.  He ran errands, escorted people from the railroad station, and making himself useful. He was often busy dodging school, and dropped out by the seventh grade.  He was a fixture downtown and “Smuck” never met a person he didn’t like, and spoke to every person within shouting distance.  On October 31, 1900, he was busy picking up coal for his family’s stove along the railroad tracks. He hopped up on a freight car as it lumbered by and changed his life forever. A moment later he was screaming in pain as he slipped under the wheels losing his left leg just below the knee.  For a lot of kids that would have meant the end of any happy life from then on. But that attitude had no place in the life of our Charles Baker.  As soon as he learned to walk on crutches “Smuck” was back downtown, selling papers and scurrying along just as before. “All you got to do is try. You can do anything if you really try.”

 

Smuck went about his life with a smile on his face never asking nor expecting any special consideration due to his handicap. He worked on a farm and the rest of the time he shined shoes, sold papers and ran errands for the busy folks that worked in Downtown Peoria, Illinois.  He became a celebrity in town and as he hurried about he talked to reporters who took his picture.  “I may have one wooden leg,” he grinned, “but the other one has wings.” As an adult Charles traveled all over the country selling programs at every major sporting event that brought together a large crowd.  Above the crowd noise, Smuck’s voice could be heard as he called out…“Program…get your program.”  His good natured grin and witty banter brought wide grins from his eager customers and coins in his pocket.

 

Later, he added to his local fame by becoming Peoria’s only town Crier.  Megaphone to his lips, his booming voice echoed off the tall buildings downtown, reaching the ears of the folks hurrying by.  He advertised sporting events, specials sales and often breaking news as he walked about greeting every person he met.  Often folks gathered around him in the courthouse square as he entertained them with jokes, news and coming events. For twenty-three years he made his appointed rounds. He competed in dancing marathons and rarely was there a swimming event in town that did not include our local Town Crier, Smuck Baker.

When WW11 rolled around, Charles was among the first to volunteer.  He made it as far as Camp Wheeler before he was finally rejected. “I argued,” he said, “heck I could have been a truck driver, or a JEEP driver. I could have fought with the best of ‘em too if they’d let me.”  Charles loved to compete and even traveled from Peoria to enter hog calling events. “I could holler,” he joked, “but I just didn’t know enough about hogs.”

 

                                                       HIS  VOICE  IS  SILENCED

 

Local folks were stunned to here of the sudden and unexpected death of their favorite Town Crier.  Charles Baker was found dead at his brother’s home on Saturday, may 24, 1941.  An eerie silence seemed to dominate the downtown area as folks walked around almost whispering about the loss of Smuck Baker.  He left his mother, a sister and two brothers behind.  A huge crowd attended his funeral and service.  Charles A. “Smuck” Baker, Peoria’s Town Crier was laid to rest in Springdale cemetery. No one ever picked up his megaphone and attempted to replace the happy-go-lucky man that brought smiles to the folks that visited downtown Peoria, Illinois.  Gone all these many years, Smuck was fifty-years old when he died of natural causes.

Editor’s Note:   Norm is a local historical writer, he welcomes your questions:       norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net