After eleven years of working for the same company in Chicago, he had gotten up the courage to break out of the comfortable routine of his office position. With what was probably his life's savings, he joined with his brother-in-law Charles Goldman to buy the Raschka store in Ainsworth. He uprooted himself from his Chicago home and came to this tiny farming village to live and work — very nearly his own boss at last (for Charles was only his partner) — laying down his capital, his wits and his hard work on a bet that he could make his own fortune.
But he had an Achilles' heel: his fallen arches.
He'd probably never realized how fallen they were during those years in Chicago, sitting behind a desk. In Ainsworth he soon found out. The daily business of running the store required him to be on his feet hour after hour, day in and day out. After only seven months or so, he was in such pain that he couldn't hold out any longer. He raised the white flag — went to his old employer in Chicago to beg for his old job back: his old office, his old desk, and, most importantly, his old chair.
His former employer kindly took him back.
So Max sold out his share of the partnership to Charles and left Ainsworth to return to Chicago and the boring routine of the office, the limits of a set salary, and the humiliation of taking orders from a boss — but at least he could sit down!
The store was too busy for Charles to run by himself. As Max prepared to leave, Charles had to look about for an assistant, and found one in Claude Campbell. He hired Claude, and late in September Claude and Bertha announced that they intended to move to Ainsworth as soon as they could find a house — the Nolte family home still occupied by her brothers apparently not being eligible.
Sources:
♦ "Chas. Goldman Buys Out His Partner at Ainsworth." Hobart News 16 Sept. 1915.
♦ "Personal and Local Mention." Hobart News 23 Sept. 1915.
♦ "Raschka Sells Out to Goldman." Hobart Gazette 5 Mar. 1915.
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