A cold Friday night. February 1959.
The old Jackson Municipal Auditorium at the corner of Congress and Pearl Street.
Just like all good dads did in the late 50s, my father did his best to introduce me to new experiences as an elementary school student. Trips to the zoo, to old Hawkins Field, an occasional football game at Memorial Stadium,
But my favorite---occasional Friday nights for wrestling matches---or “rasslin” as the fans would say.
The old auditorium smelled of a mixture of popcorn, parched peanuts, and cigarette smoke wafting in from forbidden smokers in the restrooms. Old style incandescent lights did their best to illuminate the brown wooden floor, still marked off from basketball games during past state tournaments.
The old stage with faded curtains served as a backdrop for the white canvas-floored wrestling rink, surrounded by three black ropes on all sides. We always sat in the balcony seats, not able to afford those at ringside occupied by the most ardent fans.
Suddenly, the clang of a bell broke the silence as the faded lights dimmed---save the single one over the rink. First, one door on stage left ceremoniously opened as the announcer shouted out---“from Culkin, Mississippi---Jack Curtis Jr.”
Jack Curtis was always our favorite. He was “the good guy.” He was local, living just north of Vicksburg. His father, Jack Curtis Sr., often wrestled alongside him in tag-team matches.
Then, to stage right, the old glass-paneled door with green tint swung open and strutting out, replete in a purple robe was “Sputnick” Monroe----out of Memphis, Tennessee. No doubt about it, Sputnick was “the bad guy.” Long grey hair, a scowl on his face, and taunting the crowd as he approached the ring to destroy our guy, Jack.
That’s when the show started. It is still embedded in my memories that the most vocal, screaming and shouting, cursing, and occasionally charging the ring were WOMEN! (I have done some extensive research for this article and was reminded that the late Dr, Van Quick, long time Dean of Students at Mississippi Christian University, had previously verified this observation.)
Another sign of the times was the fact that black people were only allowed to sit in the upper balcony area. Interestingly they always pulled for Sputnick. (As part of my research I found that Sputnick understood this and used it as a marketing advantage to appeal to not just blacks, but also the under trodden of the times. Remember, this was the 1950s and segregation was raging.)
As an eight-year-old, I actually did question whether this was staged—or real---but I never had the courage to ask my dad. Sort of like sensing Santa Claus wasn’t real---but you just weren’t ready to face the truth.
I found a resource to look up statistics on wrestlers---if you can believe that. Jack Curtis Jr.’s first match was in May of 1954. His last match was in 1979. He “fought” in a total of 1,418 matches---or should I say “shows.”
Jack Curtis later retired, became an entrepreneur in the Vicksburg area, and ran a place called “Captain Jack’s Scratch and Dent” which specialized in selling slightly damaged canned goods. He died at age 85 a couple of years ago.
I close with this---I know that there are some “Northsiders” who frequented Friday Night Matches in the 50s and 60s---but won’t admit it!
The question remains---IS RASSLIN REAL???
Kendall Smith is a Northsider.
