His first jobs included being a runner for the New York stock exchange, then working in offices at the Liverpool London Insurance Co. and the Standard Felt Co. With a colleague from the National Guard, he purchased a candy store across 14th Street, where
D.W. Griffith had his studio. When that business went bust, Van Enger was helped by another friend to get a position in a photographic laboratory, where film was washed, printed and perforated.