"Growing Up With G.I. Joe's" by Janna Orkney

G.I. Joe’s offered Christmas shoppers the largest toy selection in Portland in the late 1950s and 1960s.  Since this photo is marked 1958, the toy department must have been in the original store on Vancouver Avenue in North Portland.  In 1966, Dad opened Store 2 adjacent to the original store and moved Toyland there to coincide with that store opening.  When he opened Store 3 in 1968, he again moved the toys there.

Heading for Delta Park, elephants and their handlers trudge in front of the original expanded G.I. Joe’s store in 1956 or 1957.  They were part of a huge circus that put on shows for a few days.

I remember going to the circus site and watching the elephants help put up the tents!  It was almost a better show than seeing the actual performance in the three rings.  My brother Corky and I had mixed feelings about circuses anyway, because we had seen a few movies that I think had scary clown murderers in them.

I had thought that the circus was Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey, but on the internet, I found a list of cities they toured in those years and it did not include Portland.  Time for more research!

Mom snapped this photo.