At Utah State one of my Yellowstone companions re-entered my life. Joe McCracken the Yellowstone wit, was attending the Aggie school. For the six month period of 1934 Joe and I spent many joyous hours together. Joe’s aunt was financing Joes schooling. He had a two room apartment. We spent much of our free time in his apartment.
Home brew, an alcoholic beverage, had been made in homes during prohibition. Joe suggested we make some home brew. Joe said, “What we can’t drink we’ll sell.” We had both joined Phi-Kappa-Ita fraternity. His idea was to sell it to our fraternity brothers. We purchased a china crock, some bottles, bottle caps, yeast, malt and sugar. With water, malt, sugar and yeast fermentation with the proper heat would soon make home brew. It would take about two weeks per batch with an even room temperature. Our trouble was with coal stove heat we did not have even temperature. This meant we never knew when to bottle the brew. Sometimes it would be too soon and the brew would be wild; sometimes it would be too late and the brew would be stale and dead. Sometimes it would be just right.
We probably made three of four batches. We got wild, stale or the most frightful brew. We drank the just right brew. On a night of a fraternity party would sell the boys some stale or wild brew. They didn’t care what it was as long as it had alcohol in it.
It was a good thing the law never knew of our operation or we may have had a difficult time staying out of Jail. Joe McCracken went through Medical school and became a well qualified Physician.
Through my two years at Utah State were still four quarters short of graduation it was all that I would get. I never went back to school. However I think that the two quarters work was the key to my success in the field of business. Dr. Wanlass’s teaching of business cases that covered so many of all firms problems was printed in my mind. As problems came before me in actual practice, I was able to search my mind for the answer. The answers were not always right but enough of them were to help steer a business towards success.