When their company's owner died, Stumpy and Rita Sue began traveling with various carnival companies and were eventually joined by their two daughters in the late 1920s. Their fortunes steadily declined in the 1930s when more cootch family acts spawned in the difficult times.[47] The series mentions Stumpy and Rita Sue had three more children, one of whom was stillborn and two of whom died of influenza.[48] The Dreifuss family continues to face many personal and economic problems during the show's run. Dora Mae is murdered by an inhabitant of a haunted ghost town, the sexual relationships between Jonesy and Rita Sue, then Jonesy and Libby, cause much heartbreak, and Stumpy's affection for gambling almost ruins the family.[3]