Interviewer: I don't even need to plug it in it works fine on battery so that's fine um where did I leave my well darn I must have carried it back outside 678: Dean seventeen year old {D: Sheriff} and and and uh Joe lived in this house with us for a good while Interviewer: {D: Dean Shannon} sure did aw well Joe I told you that Joe was uh is my mother's minister #1 There # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: And Marshall she just really likes it there um okay now I'll just start off with uh just asking you some questions well sort of about you and okay let me get your full name 678: Henry {B} Interviewer: Alright 678: And I have a nickname of Bert Interviewer: Bert 678: Mm-hmm That's what I go by Interviewer: Okay is it B E R T or 678: B E Interviewer: B E okay and then even though I know your last name uh 678: {X} Interviewer: There are a lot of questions I know but I need to have on tape too you know even though of course I know where about you okay let me get your address here 678: {X} {B} Interviewer: Okay and {B} {B} And the county 678: Craighead Interviewer: And the state 678: Arkansas Zip code Seven two four one one Interviewer: Okay and where were you born 678: {D: Bradley} Arkansas Interviewer: And do you mind asking your age 678: Ask for anything you want Interviewer: #1 okay # 678: #2 to # Interviewer: Your age 678: Sixty-eight Interviewer: Sixty-eight 678: {X} Interviewer: You're pulling my leg 678: No Sixty-eight Interviewer: I'm not sure I believe 678: Give me time I'll make it Interviewer: I'm not sure that I believe you that you're sixty-eight I think that you're adding a few years in there 678: #1 No I'm sixty-eight # Interviewer: #2 {X} # I didn't think you when I saw you I didn't think you were the right one because I thought didn't think you were sixty yet and the person has to be at least fifty and I thought you could I thought uh okay your occupation 678: Well I'm retired from an Regular work but I am mayor Of uh city of Bay Interviewer: Okay and your church 678: Methodist Interviewer: Uh now before before you retired what were you doing what work did you do 678: I was in uh {NW} Furniture {NS} Finishing department Interviewer: Oh and that was uh and that company was the company you were talking about 678: {NS} I re- I worked twenty-eight years for the Singer company Interviewer: For the Singer Company yeah 678: And uh that's is uh Singer we maybe sh- should put it to Singer sewing Machine company and Then I went to Memphis And worked three years {NS} After I left Singer For the Davis company Interviewer: Now other than that three years in Memphis have you always lived here 678: No I lived uh Ten years in Truman {X} Nineteen forty-eight to nineteen fifty-eight Interviewer: {X} 678: But I headed uh {D industry} that I was up here every day same I want to move for convenience sake Interviewer: Uh-huh is Truman what county is Trumann in 678: Poinsett Interviewer: Oh yeah yeah 678: Town of about six thousand people Just six miles down the road here Interviewer: And that was from nineteen forty-eight to nineteen fifty-eight 678: Yeah Interviewer: Uh now where did you go to school 678: {X} {X} {NW} Bay Bay and Brown it was co- Consolidated school Bay Brown Interviewer: Bay Brown 678: Where it listed Interviewer: Okay and so uh the last grade that you completed was 678: Eighth Took some special work in the ninth that a teacher graciously gave me but I didn't get credits for it Fact I Decided to get married soon after that Interviewer: Oh you did 678: Age eighteen Interviewer: Well now that school was it a uh people came from all around 678: Not at that time we'd have said Bay Brown {NW} Later Later when they consolidated it was known as Bay Brown then they finally dropped the Brown Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm well were the classes very large like when you were 678: Oh yes Yes I first started at a school here in Bay Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh {NS} Quite crowded it was There'd be as many as thirty or forty Kids to the class Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh And when I moved out to Brown my dad bought a farm out there and We only had two rooms {NW} So we had the eight grades in in the two rooms Interviewer: In the two rooms 678: In the two rooms Interviewer: Oh 678: And possibly Oh there was at least a hundred attended the school At least that many you know through the eight grades Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: Quite crowded Interviewer: Mm-hmm and so they would have just they'd have all those grades and just in two rooms 678: Two rooms they had a division in the {NS} The building and they they what was called a primary teacher she had the first four grades and the Professor had the next four Interviewer: Oh and that's the you had the one you called a primary teacher and then the one called the the professor 678: Yeah Interviewer: Oh I never heard that that's really interesting that that distinction there um now have you have you traveled much 678: Well not a great deal I {NW} Uh Since retiring I've I've traveled uh Quite a bit Around northeast Arkansas Interviewer: Okay 678: With the insurance company Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But most of my traveling was with the baseball club as a A guest of the Interviewer: Oh 678: Baseball club Interviewer: Oh where all did you go that way 678: I went to uh Los Angeles Cincinnati Interviewer: Oh 678: Chicago Pittsburgh Interviewer: Hmm 678: And uh Uh Saint Louis of course That's where Wally played Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: To begin with Interviewer: To begin with oh he started off with the cardinals then he went to the dodgers 678: And he attended college down at Texas A and M and I was down there a considerable And I've had relatives in uh Uh what was four is it Carolinas and uh Interviewer: Oh you have you've been 678: Uh-huh Over in the far east Interviewer: That far east 678: I've been uh Well through the southeastern states all except Florida Interviewer: Oh you've been through 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: All the diff- 678: Yeah and I've been to Well Quite extensively in Texas and Louisiana Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh Oklahoma had relatives in Oklahoma {NW} Have relatives in Northwest Missouri that's I'm going to a reunion up there next Saturday Interviewer: Oh that's right yeah uh-huh that's what you said 678: And uh Then uh {NW} Been to I've been to Chicago on business uh {NS} ventures for the Singer company too Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And South Bend Indiana So I've gone around a little bit Interviewer: Yeah you have and I so you've been through what you said the southeastern states what are the states you consider the southeastern states 678: Well the southeastern states Is uh {NS} Louisiana Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Mississippi Alabama Georgia And Florida Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh that's considered the southeastern Interviewer: #1 And you've said # 678: #2 States and # Interviewer: #1 You've been to all those except # 678: #2 Yeah # Except Florida Interviewer: #1 What is # 678: #2 My # Son has a baseball school down there but I just don't ever get down there I'm going this Interviewer: #1 Really # 678: #2 This # New Year's #1 I'm going down there # Interviewer: #2 Oh # What about do you think of Tennessee and Kentucky as southeastern states 678: No uh well I break them down as in football conferences Interviewer: I see 678: And uh Tennessee is uh Yes Tennessee is is in the southeastern #1 Conference so # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: We'll add that Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: I've been o- practically all over Tennessee my first wife had uh relatives All over west and middle Tennessee And uh And I've been in Kentucky and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: At the Churchill Downs at uh Interviewer: Oh at uh 678: {D: Braced races} Interviewer: What city is that in 678: Louisville Interviewer: Oh yeah the yeah yeah oh you have been around 678: Yeah and most of it Paid for {D: decided to go along} Interviewer: Yeah what so when you when you were um that track when you got to go on the baseball team you were their guest 678: That's right Interviewer: {X} 678: Had my Hotels paid for my lunches paid for Everything Couldn't beat it Interviewer: That's a great deal 678: Best ticket in the park you know Interviewer: #1 Oh really # 678: #2 Yeah # I'd sit right up in one of the box seats Interviewer: Oh that's great mm that's great well now um when you were living in Truman now were you working for the Singer company #1 Then # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Yes Interviewer: And uh you were living in Truman for convenience sake #1 {X} # 678: #2 That's right # I moved there the Singer company Used to be what we call a mill town and they owned all the houses Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh we'd rent them Real cheap So they decided they would sell the houses Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh They offered them to the employees Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And the reason I say convenience is why it was pretty convenient to buy a house Five room house for fourteen hundred dollars Interviewer: Oh that's 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 very # 678: #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 convenient aright # 678: {NW} And then sell it later for about seven thousand {NW} Interviewer: Oh that's pretty #1 convenient Mr. Moon # 678: #2 So that was that's # That's rather convenient I thought Interviewer: I think so too 678: We we had the limit of five years Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So we had it fixed up pretty good and We liked the people down there and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And we just stayed another five year and then my Dad and mother passed away and I came back and built a new home In Bay over on another street over here At their old home place Interviewer: Oh oh at their old home place 678: Their old home place Interviewer: Oh 678: I lost my wife and I {NW} I didn't want to stay there anymore so I Sold it That's when I got to Messing around with insurance Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 That was # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Between my hitch with Singer and between my hitch with Memphis Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Didn't really know what I wanted to do Interviewer: Mm-hmm That's when I did most of the traveling with the ball club 678: #1 Because I was # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Sort of unsettled #1 And # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Torn up and Once I settled down and decided to marry again why I wasn't didn't think I was old enough to retire and so Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Friend of mine asked me to come over and run a finishing department for him in Memphis Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So I did that until I hit sixty-five and Called it quits Interviewer: I promise you I would never have believed you could be sixty-eight years old 678: Well I feel Interviewer: I thought you were about fifty-eight 678: #1 I feel uh I feel good # Interviewer: #2 Honestly when you came before I thought you were the wrong # One 678: You know for get a little arthritis that bothers me once in a while but a lot of young people have that so Interviewer: #1 Yeah yes do you see this copper bracelet # 678: #2 {NW} # Uh-huh Interviewer: That's what it's 678: {NW} Well that's Interviewer: I have it 678: That'll give you problems Interviewer: You have such pretty eyes you have beautiful eyes 678: Well thank you But I I guess I'm fortunate I I can go fishing and Just outdo anyone I go with young or old So I feel pretty good Interviewer: Well that's great well um let me ask you about your parents about where they were born where was your mother born 678: My mother was born in uh {NS} Lowry City Missouri That's L O W R Y Lowry City Missouri Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Need to know the date of birth Interviewer: Mm-hmm that's yeah 678: Eighteen seventy-two Interviewer: Okay how about your father where was he 678: He was born in Johnson City Tennessee Interviewer: Oh 678: But he went to His mother moved to Lowry City Missouri when he was just a infant Interviewer: Oh I was gonna ask 678: {NW} #1 He was born eighteen # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: Sixty-five Interviewer: #1 Oh eighteen sixty-five # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: So then then he they both grew up in Lowry City 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Well how how did they come to be living here 678: {NW} Well that's quite a story if you want it Interviewer: Oh yeah I'd love to hear that 678: Well they First I'll give you a little history on my Father When he was a teenager He had what the old-timers called consumption Little later got down tuberculosis {NW} So his daddy his grand-daddy was a wealthy Rancher up there in Northwest Missouri Interviewer: Oh 678: And he just bought a large herd of horses And sent my dad and another man up through the Montana and all the Indian territories Trading horses And just working their way west to see if the Air would uh Cure my My dad #1 That's what they # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Used to think you know {NW} He made all those rounds {NW} Took him about I believe he told me twenty-one months to make the tour A man that he went with did die with Tuberculosis In Springfield #1 Missouri # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: On their way back #1 And my dad # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Gained weight Gained weight and grew up to be a strong man and didn't have anything wrong with him except the asthma Interviewer: Really 678: So we got married They my dad and mom married in uh Eighteen ninety Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh {NW} He came down to this country to To be a tie inspector for his grandfather His grandfather Had what he called the old sage time lumber company Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And had holdings from Springfield to Memphis just a just a timber rights So my dad came down to Inspect cross ties And he found so much good hunting and fishing And fertile Land That uh He went back and talked my mom into the notion of moving down here So they traveled overland in eighteen and Late Eighteen and ninety-seven And drove twenty-two days from Lowry City Missouri to To Bay And there was only about a hundred acres cleared up here at the time Interviewer: Oh you don't mean 678: All timber All timber Interviewer: You mean there was only about a 678: {NW} About a hundred acres right right in this #1 Vicinity there was farms # Interviewer: #2 Eighteen ninety-seven # 678: Scattered out you know out Around Lunsford and those places but right here in this vicinity Only about a hundred acres of cleared land So he settled down here Worked in timber Uh Most of his life uh and farmed too Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh Did quite well grew his family up here in Good style Made a made a comfortable living and Owned the third automobile that was bought in this town Interviewer: Oh really 678: Mm-hmm model T Interviewer: {NW} 678: #1 Nineteen # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Nineteen fifteen When he bought his first automobile Interviewer: Hmm 678: So that's about up to date on my dad and mama they remained here until They died Interviewer: Uh-huh so eighteen they came here then 678: #1 Eighteen ninety-seven # Interviewer: #2 Eighteen ninety-seven # 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Well um uh now they both went to school up in Missouri 678: Up in Missouri Interviewer: Do you know how far they went in school 678: Yes my dad went through third grade and my mom went through fourth Interviewer: Uh 678: My dad's one of the smartest men I ever Ever talked to Great memory #1 Course # Interviewer: #2 Oh re- # 678: He He pursued his education through books and newspapers #1 And anything he could # Interviewer: #2 Yeah uh-huh # 678: Get to improve his education Interviewer: Well now he farmed and worked in timber #1 then and what did # 678: #2 That's right # Interviewer: Your mother do she 678: Just a housewife Interviewer: Uh-huh and now where were your mother's parents from do you know where they came 678: Lowry City Interviewer: #1 They were from Lowry City # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: And how about your father's grand your father's 678: My father's Uh {NW} Grandparents on his mother's side Originated And are still at Lowry City Missouri Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But His mother married And uh Her husband Uh Well he was ci- he While he was in the civil war she went over to Johnson City Interviewer: Oh 678: He got wounded She went to Johnson City and that's Why I'm I say my dad was born in Johnson City #1 Tennessee # Interviewer: #2 I see # 678: My grandmother went to Johnson City to Help nurse my Grandfather back to health And while there why My dad was born Interviewer: {X} Um is where's Mrs. Moon from 678: My present #1 Wife # Interviewer: #2 Yeah well # Yeah first 678: #1 Well the first # Interviewer: #2 First and # 678: Mrs. Moon was from West Tennessee Around uh Dyersburg Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Actually it was uh uh Friendship was the name of #1 the town # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Friendship But Dyersburg is county seat Interviewer: Mm-hmm yeah uh and what about this Mrs. Moon 678: She's from uh Bona Interviewer: Bona {X} Now um in thinking about Bay as you've uh seen Bay over the years how would you say Bay has changed like from when you were a little boy growing up here and everything and uh how has it grown a lot does it how about the industry has it changed 678: Um {NW} Never Interviewer: And when you were little about what size was Bay 678: Bay was We always Claimed we had five hundred population Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: It stayed that way for years and years and years One to die one would be born Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: It's just the The Whole part of Bay here with a little bit across the track Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} And uh {NW} It went Through A transition from uh All after World War One We had uh sort of a Semi-depression And we begin to lose Businesses Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh then during the depression uh Everything closed except Uh the ones that could Barely barely make it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: From that point we've never had as many stores as uh we used to have When I was a kid This town was incorporated in nineteen thirteen Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh we had the old wooden stores I can think off-hand of twelve or fourteen What we called pretty nice stores then Interviewer: Mm-hmm oh that many 678: We had one large Real large Brick building with a masonic hole up Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Upstairs We had a nice Brick building uh the bank was housed in And then uh up Long about Sixteen seventeen somewhere along there there was another big brick store built This town was ravaged by far four different times Just #1 Almost # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Completely Wiped out from about nineteen and eighteen until about nineteen and thirty-two or three somewhere along there Four or five stores at a time would burn Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh I'd say that uh That's about the extent of the change until the Big farming tractors and everything is Trucks Bull automobiles Course transportation has uh Cut out the need for a lot of stores you can go to the other towns In five or ten #1 Minutes you know # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Yeah 678: #1 Jonesboro for instance # Interviewer: #2 Jonesboro # {X} 678: City limit's seven miles away and the heart of the city only eleven miles and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So automobiles Was one reason we didn't have any more stores built back Because you could go there and get What you wanted {NW} Probably cheap or cheaper And uh People just like to go to town anyhow you know Am I talking loud enough Interviewer: Oh yes mm-hmm it's fine it's great uh yes it's picking it up uh so most most of what this is mostly farming country around here 678: Yes Interviewer: Well what where are the uh main crops around here 678: Right now {NW} It's a Soy beans And cotton #1 Is the # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Main crop Now they grow they grow uh {NW} Well there's some Feed growing around here I don't even know the name of it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Being not being a farmer but Their principal crops {NW} Soy beans and cotton Right now And rice we get rye crowded Pretty close to the rice country we have rice Well about Four miles up the road here Interviewer: Oh 678: So You might say we have three Major crops here Interviewer: Uh can you remember the house that you lived in when you were a boy 678: Yes Interviewer: You remember much about it uh could you kind of draw me not a not the way the house looked but kind of a sketch of the rooms and show me the rooms what 678: I can I can #1 I can sketch you # Interviewer: #2 What the rooms were # 678: The one I lived in a four year old #1 Almost died there with a # Interviewer: #2 Okay # 678: Fever Interviewer: You did 678: Uh I tell you what {NW} {NS} I do if you want to I'll I'll give you Loan you a Copy of this that I have written up #1 For you to # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Take with you and Stud uh read Interviewer: #1 Okay # 678: #2 You can # You can return it to me Interviewer: Alright I'll give it back to I'll read it 678: And uh Interviewer: Uh overnight I'll give it back to you tomorrow 678: Yeah #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 {D: Right back} # 678: {NS} This is {NS} one of the last ones that uh Page twenty-four can be inserted in there somewhere this I think this is in order here Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And this will tell you Course some of this stuff won't interest you but it it did me and uh Interviewer: Oh this is great yeah I will uh and I'll give this I'll bring this back tomorrow when I #1 Come back tomorrow okay # 678: #2 That'd be fine # I'm gonna make copies for My relatives Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But the house I was born in was on uh Well the highway wasn't there then neither highway we didn't even have a #1 Highway of course # Interviewer: #2 Oh you didn't even have a highway # 678: I would say the On the railroad or just a Just a house Interviewer: Just the house 678: Just a house Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Okay {X} #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm that's what I want # 678: This was the one room here He used to build what I call block houses to block them out Interviewer: Block them out 678: And back here we had Three rooms Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Why they didn't come on out here I don't know but this is a room Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: This is a room And this is a this was the Living room Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We called them parlors back in those days Interviewer: Oh yeah you called those parlors 678: Can you read it Interviewer: Mm-hmm yeah 678: {NW} And uh This was the this was uh Kitchen and dining room Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Altogether #1 There and # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: These is bedrooms Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And we had an old cellar set right out here a wooden cellar Interviewer: Oh 678: And this of course had the Usual porch Interviewer: Oh it did 678: Oh yeah all porch And there was a porch here and back about Right here And about uh {NS} A quarter of a mile out here There's woods Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And I remember seeing a man named {B} Drive oxes Interviewer: {NS} You don't mean 678: #1 That's right # Interviewer: #2 it # 678: Driving ox we called him Jim {B} The ox driver Interviewer: You don't mean it 678: Where the old station is across town Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Well that's about where he the woods begin and I can hear those old oxen {D: bellowing} {D: In the evening one day to} Smell the water Interviewer: #1 You don't mean it # 678: #2 {NW} # And I'd Stand out to watch them Come in when I was four year old Interviewer: #1 Good grief # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: I can't believe that well did 678: I lived in a great period of time Interviewer: #1 You have you've seen # 678: #2 Really I I've # Interviewer: #1 You've seen all the # 678: #2 I've told someone that I lived from the # The day of the oxen until the day that they went to the moon And I don't believe you can beat that Interviewer: #1 I don't think you can either # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: I can't believe you've seen with the oxen #1 I didn't know # 678: #2 That's right # Interviewer: That they uh were still doing that 678: Why my brother and I have even worked them You know just Interviewer: Have you 678: Just for the fun of it #1 We'd # Interviewer: #2 Did # 678: Makes us yokes #1 You know and # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Get those bull calves and {NW} Hook them up Interviewer: What did they did they um did they have to use whips on them how did they 678: Oh yeah they {NW} They used whips {NW} What Interviewer: What could #1 Type of # 678: #2 They take the # Old oxens did you ever see an ox yoke Interviewer: I've seen pictures 678: Well they There's a big old wooden thing Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: That Hollowed out and fit across their neck and then they had a loop where you The U to hang it Come down and under their neck Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh there was holes in this thing come across their neck and {NW} And and it the U had holes in it and you could Lift it up or down to fit any size Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Ox And uh Put pegs in there to hold it And then there's just a Cord or a rope or chain whatever they use around in between them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} Hooked on that old yoke It looks like really it was a brutal way to Do but that's the only way they could do them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But they didn't get sores or anything Interviewer: They didn't 678: And they'd work as many as eight you know two to Tea- Team would be Four teams eight oxens Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they'd have a whip that'd reach The the front one I've seen them hop that thing it just sands the hair on them Interviewer: They have a whip that long 678: Yeah Yeah That and them guys use that whip just Har- hardest Interviewer: That is really something well they were uh they used them for plowing and everything 678: Oh yeah they plowed now I did I didn't see anyone plow with them around #1 Here # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: But they these were hauling Logs and #1 Hardwood called # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Blocks To make {D: handles} #1 From # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: And whiskey stage #1 Whiskey barrel stage # Interviewer: #2 Oh oh yeah # 678: #1 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # Barrel stage oh that's mm 678: But uh I don't remember really seeing anyone plow with them Interviewer: Uh-huh but you saw you saw them using them for hauling 678: #1 Yeah # Interviewer: #2 Stuff # 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Um well now this house now it it's it was there like you this was kind of an L shaped sort of #1 thing # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: In a #1 Way yeah # 678: #2 Of an L # Interviewer: Now the the parlor would that be your special 678: That's where the guests would sleep Interviewer: Uh-huh Or where the girls entertained their boyfriend Uh-huh #1 And the living room # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Would be just the where you 678: Oh where we all Shot the bull #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # Yeah 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Popped the corn #1 Then then # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Made the taffy candy you know #1 The molasses candy # Interviewer: #2 Oh yes # Oh 678: #1 That's where we'd # Interviewer: #2 Yes # 678: pull it you know it #1 You never did pull # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: #1 Any candy well we'd make # Interviewer: #2 Uh-uh # 678: Them my mom would make the candy and we'd get in the living room It was a great life really we had all our homegrown peanuts we'd put peanuts in our candy and we'd pop popcorn and Make popcorn balls from our sorghum you know #1 We grew ourself # Interviewer: #2 Oh yeah # 678: We we really Good times to live in Interviewer: Well now um did your father farm with the land he farmed around close to your house or 678: Not {NW} Not when we lived there Interviewer: #1 Not when you # 678: #2 He was a # He was strictly in the timber #1 Business # Interviewer: #2 He was just in timber then # Well now did he farm later 678: Yes But #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 You wasn't # Living there I mean you do remember farming when you were little 678: When I was five Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: The the year after I was four he bought a farm out Half a mile from town and Interviewer: I see 678: Then we started farming we children done most of the farming along with the hired labor Interviewer: I see 678: My dad was a man like I said he was a good manager and he managed to get out that fa- #1 Plowing see # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Oh he managed to 678: {NW} But Interviewer: He was that kind of #1 Manager # 678: #2 Well # He could make more money in timber #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: He he would buy timber and Have it logged off #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Naturally he had to have uh log teams Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Or hired the log haulers and He furnished log teams of his own so we had to have feed Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We grew more corn than we did cotton Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And corn and hay Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh The farm was just sort of a side business Interviewer: #1 Side business # 678: #2 For him # #1 Good place to live we had # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: #1 Good orchards and # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh uh-huh # 678: #1 Things like that # Interviewer: #2 Oh oh yeah # Well now would uh would a team a team would be two 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Horses or 678: #1 Mules # Interviewer: #2 Mules or # What 678: #1 Or one of each # Interviewer: #2 Mules # Or one okay that'd be a team um how like in a house like this how high were the ceilings in this house 678: Those houses were {NW} Ten foot ceilings Interviewer: Oh 678: Made out of Lumber most of it just lumber I can remember Very few houses when I was a small child that had weatherboarding on them Interviewer: Oh 678: In fact the house across here that I was born in was just an old Lumber Board house Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: #1 And now # Interviewer: #2 {D: And now} # 678: Now those boards are still there with the weatherboarding is put all over them Interviewer: The weatherboarding's been put 678: #1 Put all over them # Interviewer: #2 All over that # 678: #1 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: I'd say nine Oh twenty-four out of twenty-five houses in this town were originally built just out of lumber Interviewer: Just out of lumber 678: And later improved and weatherboarded Very few of them was weatherboarded to begin with Interviewer: Uh-huh well um how was the house heated 678: Pardon Interviewer: How was it heated 678: Wood Wood heat {NW} Cooked on wood Had one big old heater stove in the living room That was it the ones that wanted to get fancy might put one in the parlor for the girls to Interviewer: Oh they put a #1 Stove in there # 678: #2 Entertain their boy # Friend yeah But uh and we My dad would he had a stove in the parlor and Interviewer: Oh 678: And one in one of the bedrooms but that'd only be lit up when when it was needed Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But the one in the living room why It never went out during cold weather he'd get up and Feed it wood during the night Interviewer: Oh 678: No one suffered you didn't You never Interviewer: You never remember being #1 Cold or # 678: #2 Never # Or you'd get out the old {D: Floor would pop you drove it} You'd run the stove and get warm and Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Ready to eat {NW} Interviewer: That's great well now would um uh did people have did very many people have fireplaces in their homes 678: Not many around here uh And I really don't know why They a few of them built fireplaces out of uh Wood and limbs Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh And a few had brick but Oh I would say possibly One house out of fifty in this town in this area had Interviewer: #1 Would have # 678: #2 Fireplace # Interviewer: Hmm 678: It was sort of a Fad Or a Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: A luxury in one way #1 Because # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Really they wouldn't heat like the old stove would #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Oh they didn't 678: #1 No # Interviewer: #2 Heat as well # 678: Forty percent of your heat went up the flue you know Interviewer: Oh that's what #1 All that # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: #1 When you # 678: #2 {X} # Interviewer: Have a fireplace what that's what I was gonna in the next question I was gonna ask you what do you call the thing on the side of the house the smoke goes out of 678: That's the chimney Interviewer: And how about that open place on the front of the fireplace 678: Well that's where you received your heat from but So much of it went up the #1 Chimney # Interviewer: #2 Went up the chimney yeah # 678: And uh the old saying you know you'd uh You'd bake your shins and freeze your back Interviewer: {NW} 678: And then you'd turn around and you'd bake your back and freeze your shins Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Uh that's about where a fireplace It would It would put the heat Push some out in the other areas but mostly Those that sit around a fireplace they just sit in a semi-circle and there they had their card games and their Interviewer: Right around the #1 Fireplace # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # And lo- lots of them used them for lights to read by Interviewer: Oh yeah #1 The fireplace # 678: #2 Yes mm-hmm # Interviewer: Well now that you know sometimes if there was a maybe like a brick area in the front of the fireplace what would they call that or stone or something an area 678: Oh Not being familiar with them uh Interviewer: #1 Hearth # 678: #2 What is it a # Hearth #1 That's # Interviewer: #2 Oh yeah # 678: What I was trying to think #1 Of # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: Hearth Interviewer: And do you know what they in the fireplace those metal things that you lay the wood across you know what those are called 678: Some call them andirons Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Yeah they there's another name for them but uh Interviewer: See if you ever heard of uh either fire dogs or dog iron 678: Yeah But we back then we knew them as andirons A-N-D Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Dash I-R #1 O-N-S # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # And now that sort of a shelf up above the fire 678: Mantle Interviewer: And uh like a big piece of wood that might burn for several days 678: Backlog Interviewer: And um now if you were gonna start a fire in the stove or whatever the little pieces of wood you'd use 678: It'd be kindling or shavings Interviewer: Or shavings um now the black that forms inside of the stove 678: Soot Interviewer: And then now when you have to clean this I guess you have to clean your stoves out when you clean them out you had to clean out the 678: Ashes Uh The stove uh fireplaces you would have to burst down the soot that would accumulate on the sides Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But the stoves they'd they'd That didn't accumulate uh Soot It burned it all off Interviewer: Oh it burned it out 678: #1 It would get so hot # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: It'd burn it all up Interviewer: Oh 678: But you'd have to take the ashes out Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Why they'd build up Keep building up and building up until you would get no suction Interviewer: I see 678: Finally be able to talk and have no room for the wood but You learned about when to take them out #1 Know when to # Interviewer: #2 Oh yeah # 678: Give it good suction I can remember taking the ashes out Stove wouldn't be going good wouldn't be heating Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Too well and You'd take the ashes out and then it'd take off Then You could just See the blaze Flash you up and hear it you know Interviewer: Uh-huh um 678: {NW} Interviewer: Well what would you have what would you have to sit on in your house 678: Well you mean around the living #1 Well now # Interviewer: #2 Yeah the living room # 678: Well let's take the kitchen {NW} We I can remember my mama had the cane bottom chairs #1 These these # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Were cane bottom at one time Interviewer: Oh these were 678: These were two chairs that I bought when I first married Interviewer: Oh really 678: So in nineteen twenty-six Interviewer: Oh 678: And before I quit working over at the Plant down in Memphis I took them over and Cleaned them up and refinished them took the old cane out and put these Cushions in Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But my mama would have cane bottom chairs and uh then Next to the wall there would be a long bench Interviewer: #1 Uh-huh # 678: #2 Just an # Most everyone That had a large family in those days had a bench Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: That's where the kids and the Roughnecks eat you know #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Well now uh when did you first begin to use those long uh things long cushion things to sit on the uh 678: Sofas Or settees or Interviewer: Yeah that's what I what do they call them when they 678: Oh uh Interviewer: Would a sofa and a settee be the same thing or 678: No little little difference set a sofa had kind of a A r- Where you could recline kind of #1 On one end # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Uh-huh 678: And a settee was longer where it would seat Oh possibly three people or four But uh I was Probably The first one that I remember my mother Having I was ten year old Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: My dad bought her a She called it a sofa but later on I heard him call couches Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: See Cause she called it a sofa Interviewer: She called it a sofa 678: As far as our personal home that's a that's The first I remember but I remember seeing one in my grandmother's home with A few years before that Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But no one was allowed to sit on it #1 It was in the # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Parlor #1 No no one was allowed to sit on it # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} Oh that's 678: You'd only Peep in there #1 You know and # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: #1 It was forbidden territory # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: Until uh The daughter's boyfriend would come along #1 And then they could sit in there but # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: The the kids they didn't go in there #1 Except a # Interviewer: #2 That's great # 678: Peep of the door having to be open Interviewer: Oh that's funny 678: {NW} Interviewer: Oh oh yeah in the bedroom a piece of furniture with drawers in it that you would put things in 678: Bed dresser Called them dressers I remember Just a few years ago I got rid of the dresser that my mother had when I was four year old Interviewer: Oh 678: Why I got rid of it I don't know Interviewer: Oh 678: But they didn't sit down like the chest of drawers they always had legs little Carved legs or something about Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Tall Interviewer: #1 They didn't # 678: #2 They # Interviewer: They were up higher #1 Than the dresser # 678: #2 Uh-huh # Had to sweep under them Interviewer: Oh 678: {NW} Yeah that was the idea Interviewer: {NW} 678: And but the drawers were similar to the {NS} To the modern Chester drawers and and most And mostly prettier #1 They were more hand # Interviewer: #2 Oh they were # 678: There were a lot of hand carving put on them and And uh curved fronts and And actually it was prettier furniture than you see today unless you go into the real expensive #1 Furniture # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: I remember this particular dresser had some little brass knobs on it and My brother took a hammer and beat those #1 Knobs in # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: And then my mama took a switch and #1 Done done something to him # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: But those knobs remained on that thing until I got rid of that Old dresser about Oh Fifteen or twenty years ago I don't even remember Interviewer: Why 678: Why or #1 Who but # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: I let someone have it Interviewer: Now I bet you wish you still had 678: Oh yeah Had the Had the curved fronts you know out here real pretty #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh uh-huh # 678: Curved front and Curved doors real real good piece of furniture {NS} And I and I cut up her old organ and made some more furniture out of #1 It # Interviewer: #2 Oh you did # 678: What a tragedy Interviewer: You cut up her organ 678: She wanted me to wanted me to make her some {NS} She called it a sideboard wanted a sideboard Interviewer: #1 Sideboard # 678: #2 You know and I kept the # Mirror and really fixed her up some fancy furniture and then she let someone have that Later years Interviewer: Really 678: But this was a good organ perfectly good organ #1 Would be worth thousand # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Oh Three thousand dollars today Interviewer: How'd you learn to do furniture so well 678: Well you're going with it #1 Sorta # Interviewer: #2 You # Just #1 Talent # 678: #2 {NW} # #1 That's right it's a talent like a singer or # Interviewer: #2 Like a talent like a singer # Yes 678: You know If someone has a good voice and likes to sing they know it and they sing Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Like I always tried to and couldn't I done very well until later years and I You noticed I have a crackle and I sort of have some asthmatic problems and Can't sing anymore But Far as the woodworking my dad Done all of his woodworking on the the uh Well building a barn or whatever #1 We needed # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: To do Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And even do the blacksmithing Interviewer: Uh-huh oh 678: And as I went along why I like Uh some way I liked to work with wood and I can build anything I take a notion to build #1 No # Interviewer: #2 That # 678: Problem Interviewer: Oh and you just kind of just picked it up #1 Along # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Picked it up Interviewer: Well now um another piece of furniture that they used to have it would be like to hang your clothes in a big piece of furniture um 678: Wardrobe Interviewer: Yeah 678: {NW} #1 Wardrobe # Interviewer: #2 Wardrobe # 678: Yeah Interviewer: Yeah you remember seeing those 678: Yeah {D: Think} Uh there's a few right in this town there Oh some of them tall as that door rea- big old dark piece of furniture you know every one of them dark Interviewer: They're all dark 678: Yeah Interviewer: {X} 678: {NW} And Two doors Interviewer: Well now what was the reason that they used those did they 678: They really People hadn't got around the point where they knew the value of built in closets Interviewer: I #1 See # 678: #2 They were # I never {NS} Never lived in the house with my parents had had a built in clothes closet {NW} #1 We had a # Interviewer: #2 Oh really # 678: {NS} We got a little bit modern long about Nineteen Twenty And my mama had a Place built for her quilts Interviewer: Oh she #1 Did # 678: #2 To store her # Quilts in #1 The doors # Interviewer: #2 Stuff filled in # 678: Mm-hmm #1 Shelves # Interviewer: #2 Shelves # Uh-huh 678: But far as uh they just always cut a corner off with a Rod and put hangers in that and that's where you hung your clothes You just didn't have the variety of clothes you have now You'd have the man would have a suit he'd wear to church Possibly two suits but Never more than two And women didn't have all that many dresses Just didn't think they'd need them So you didn't need as much room but After I married And I don't know why I never did like to Hang my clothes and have to get under a Uh Cloth you know a curtain To get them And I just thought well that's That's the wrong way so I Over on the street Uh west of here where I Lived for a long period of time went back where I grew my family up I built Three closets in that house Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh tha- I must have that's in about nineteen and Thirty-four Interviewer: Oh that #1 Yeah # 678: #2 Yeah # And people began to put clothes now possibly in cities like Jonesboro maybe they started sooner {NW} But I know of old houses up there now Uh People that Live in those old houses and they tell me that uh They had to build closets Wasn't there one in it Twelve fourteen room houses not a closet in them until they #1 Later years they had them # Interviewer: #2 Twelve fourteen room houses # 678: #1 Yeah no closet # Interviewer: #2 And no closet # Huh 678: They'd keep their Clothes in In trunks Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And chests And only get the ones out that they wore uh Course you You may have seen this happen But during the spring {NW} They'd get out all their clothes and hang them out and air them Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And then they'd put them away in moth balls during the #1 Winter # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: And the summer clothes the same way Interviewer: {X} 678: And uh They'd only get out the clothes if they was gonna wear it for the next two or three #1 Weeks see # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: {X} And they put the others in moth balls It was just a way of life it satisfied them and No big uh fuss done #1 Over it everyone # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Happy Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they had all the clothes never all they want You know Interviewer: They have it all they needed 678: #1 All they needed # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Um well what do you call the things that people would pull down to keep the light out over the windows 678: Curtain blinds Blinds Interviewer: Blinds we got the ending now would those be on rollers 678: Yeah Interviewer: They'd be on rollers th- they would uh 678: Yup it's ups and downs Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Oh and they made them real fancy #1 Up here # Interviewer: #2 Oh they did # 678: These parlors would have some real fancy wooden tassels hanging on to pull with #1 You know yeah # Interviewer: #2 # Yeah they'd make the the parlor room real fancy 678: Uh-huh {NW} And Later on course uh venetian blinds came along Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh I was foolish enough to buy some one time until I had to clean them Interviewer: {NW} 678: Then then I got rid #1 Of them # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # And then you got rid of them {NW} 678: But When they had these old blinds they also had pretty Pretty window curtains uh lots of lots of the homes People had heavy felt Interviewer: Oh 678: Curtains you know and a lot of them Would uh Close {NW} On hinges You'd you'd just turn this thing all the back #1 See on either side # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Mm-hmm 678: And put the light in And then {X} night when you just close it seal it up {NS} It not only kept {NW} Peepers from coming by Which uh we never heard of then #1 But uh # Interviewer: #2 Never heard {X} # 678: Still you didn't want people looking in but it It uh helped keep the house warm some Interviewer: Oh sure 678: Those heavy curtains #1 That was # Interviewer: #2 Sure # 678: #1 Another reason for using them # Interviewer: #2 I didn't think about that # But that makes 678: They'd even blind those things Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Real heavy And they'd close them up why {NW} Cold wouldn't blow in the windows I lived in the house My dad after he sold the farm out from town here he bought a farm out in the Browns district and that's where I went to school #1 The last two years # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: He bought an old country home when we moved out there in January And it snowed in the house {NW} Two or three inches deep inside the windows They were so loose Snow would penetrate like sand Interviewer: I 678: It even froze my grandfather's ear to where it was #1 Purple and thick # Interviewer: #2 I don't believe that # 678: Thick Just Froze solid Interviewer: And you can remember that 678: Yeah I was prob- I was eleven year old when that happened {NW} But snow was banked up in these windows Course my dad got busy and made a beautiful farm home out of it #1 You know it took # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: Almost a year to do it and we built a Almost a mansion out there Three big barns and everything you know Interviewer: Three barns 678: Yeah three barns even had a Baseball diamond on our farm {X} Played baseball We did all that in five years we sold that of course at a big profit #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 Oh yeah oh # 678: But the when we moved into the house And to give you a little history That was in nineteen and January of nineteen nineteen Well nineteen eighteen was the Ending of world war #1 One # Interviewer: #2 Oh yes # 678: And the first flu epidemic We hear of flu now but we don't know what flu Today is #1 Compared to then # Interviewer: #2 Today to what it was # Was then 678: Uh there was Seven in our family and my dad and I were the only two that was able to {D: pick up} Interviewer: {NW} 678: I have known Whole families to die here At that time Interviewer: To d- to die 678: {NW} To die from the flu I remember two bo- two grown boys their dad and mother died Uh Lived up about a half a mile from town #1 Here # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: And we found them dead there no one people wasn't able to go around see about the other four Interviewer: Just from that flu they would die 678: It was awful And then {NW} That winter During Early December This town got under water And it froze over And the flu kind of subsided We #1 Skated # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: All o- all over town here Just #1 For for # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Days and days and days our ice was So thick that uh Why I guess you could have driven a team on it if you'd wanted to Interviewer: Oh 678: Then the water went down And left the ice suspended And then when it went to To begin to uh Thaw a little Moderate That ice began to break And you talk about noise it just sound like a train going through {X} A hundred yards of ice it'd collapse in the street you know Interviewer: Oh 678: So when the ice Fell now of course it had the melt run off And then we moved in the middle of January And the ground was so soft and so {D: marry} It took four Horse team to pull one load of furniture Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: That was in nineteen eighteen in the spri- uh #1 Winter of # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: Nineteen nineteen Pretty rough times #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 It sounds # Like it and the flu and all 678: #1 War's over you know the eleventh of November # Interviewer: #2 {X} # And 678: {NW} And right after that's when the rain set in and the freeze froze over No schools which I hated awful bad Interviewer: {NW} I'm sure #1 I'm sure you did # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 Couldn't go to school # Interviewer: #1 Couldn't go to school # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Oh well what was the um what was the house covered with what was 678: Wood shingles Interviewer: And so then 678: One Occasionally would have a Metal tin on it Interviewer: A tin 678: Tin roof Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Just occasionally Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: The objection was that when it rained it made too much #1 Noise # Interviewer: #2 Made too much noise # {NW} 678: Any excuse you know Interviewer: Well now the area between the roof and the and the uh ceiling of the house I guess the area between the 678: Rafters {NW} Interviewer: Yeah 678: {D: comb} of the house Interviewer: Yeah 678: {NW} Interviewer: And then there was the sometimes the 678: Attics Interviewer: #1 Yeah would have some # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Some of them were built Tall enough that they had enough stairs {NW} #1 Sleeping quarters for the # Interviewer: #2 Okay # 678: Hard hands and the Interviewer: Oh 678: For instance uh Just say they would build the wall as this one and that was ten foot Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Well they would maybe drop the ceiling down to here Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And then that'd give them that plus the Roof Interviewer: Oh I see 678: Or for bed- #1 Rooms # Interviewer: #2 Or for bedrooms # 678: And that's where the hard hands slept there wasn't no Some of them don't have stairs except just a straight ladder that you climb right straight up the wall and go through #1 A scuttle hole # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Oh and it did 678: Hole was hole was big enough to push bedding bedding up through and everything and we got it up there why Probably cut the hole down to so big then Interviewer: I but it was hot in the summertime 678: Hot as a dickens {D: wind on each end} {NW} #1 You better # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Believe it was hot Interviewer: Oh um what would they call it or if people ever had a little room all for the kitchen store extra canned goods and 678: Pantry Interviewer: Did you ever know of a piece of furniture called a safe 678: Oh gosh yes #1 My mother # Interviewer: #2 What # 678: Owned one that had The doors had uh Metal Interviewer: Panels 678: And Holes pecked #1 All in it # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: For ventilation Interviewer: Uh-huh what would they put in there 678: They'd put the dishes {NW} There and and then Food that didn't spoil that's why the ventilation was there Interviewer: Oh that's why the #1 Ventilation was there # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Food that wouldn't spoil which was very little Interviewer: Yeah 678: Uh women back then had to cook three meals a day Very seldom would they Get by their afternoon meal without warming up something Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But of course uh Uh like stew potatoes things like that would keep Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: An old man would want to eat them cold but most of us who can think course they want them #1 Hot you know # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: And the old stove the old cooking stove Uh they called them r- range cooking range they had a reservoir on the side and Uh there's where you heated part of your water It never got scalding it was just just right to wash dishes Interviewer: Oh 678: And you had your little tea kettle for your hot water Interviewer: Uh-huh oh so then you you'd use the tea kettle for the 678: Uh-huh scalding #1 Water mm-hmm # Interviewer: #2 Scalding water # And then just the reservoir would be 678: It'd hold about five gallons see and that #1 Was # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: That was what you would do for wash your dishes #1 With and # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: And when you got through uh Through why Uh kids said you had to pump the water to refill the Reservoir Interviewer: Why now how would would they take some of that water out to wash I mean how how did they get the soap off when they had one pan with soapy water then what did they 678: Yeah {NW} They would uh Uh My mama We always Called her a nasty clean she was so clean you know Aux: Oh uh Bert you're wanted on the phone 678: {X} Interviewer: Okay Oh oh now if you were ta- if you had a lot of old worthless things that you were about to throw away what would you call that 678: Burnt relics I suppose {NW} Or I don't know Interviewer: Or just junk maybe 678: Yeah Interviewer: Would you ever use that word 678: Well if I was going to throw it away it'd certainly be junk Interviewer: #1 It'd be junk # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: What would you call a room that was used to store odds and ends in 678: Well We'd call it a store room or a junk room Interviewer: Mm-hmm um now talking about the daily house work that a woman you know like #1 That your mother # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: Would have to do you'd say every day she has to not uh just in general to the house every day she'd have to do they say tidy up or clean up what do they usually say 678: You mean now or back #1 Then # Interviewer: #2 Back then # 678: Really I don't know what they called it except uh I got in on it I got to #1 Help on it # Interviewer: #2 You did help # 678: {NW} Uh I believe that {NW} My mama called it house cleaning Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh on Saturdays After school's out on Fridays Uh very few rugs on floors then The parlor had a Maybe a rug Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But the others were pine floors Uh Scrubbed with lye water Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they My brother and I Had the job before we got big enough to plow or anything My mother would get in there and mop this {NW} Or just scrub the floor just {D: whit it} Saturate it And it was our job to Take a rag and clean around the corners and be sure that everything was clean Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And that floor was bleached out white that lye would bleach it Interviewer: Mm 678: She was immaculately clean And uh the walls would be papered with newspapers Go to bed and read {NW} Same time Interviewer: Oh you'd read the wall 678: But she did yeah we called it reading the wall {NW} She did uh Call it house cleaning Interviewer: Well what would you use to sweep with 678: Well br- just since I can remember we've had factory-made brooms Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: We had a few of the old homemade ground brooms but uh that was the exception #1 Most of them were # Interviewer: #2 Is that # Most of them were #1 Factory made # 678: #2 Better brooms # I'd say better brooms than we get today Interviewer: Oh now talking about what women do to the clothes you'd say they had to do the 678: Washing Not laundry washing Interviewer: #1 They did it's that washing # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Now how about to get the wrinkles out 678: Iron Iron #1 Pressing # Interviewer: #2 Yup # 678: Very very Very little pressing Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Pressing was uh The special clothes or um maybe Trousers Some of the men never pressed their trousers But uh My mama would refer to it as iron day Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Wash day and iron day That's Interviewer: Uh now do if a person had a two story house to get from the first floor to the second floor they'd say they have to go up the 678: Stairway Interviewer: And now from now if you had a porch to get from the ground up to the porch you'd say you had to go up the 678: Steps Interviewer: Um what would you call the little things along the edges of roofs that carry the water out 678: Gutters Interviewer: And uh uh how 678: Very few of them back then though Interviewer: Oh they didn't have them 678: {X} I remember when I was kid seeing Uh one or two in Jonesboro Interviewer: Oh over in Jonesboro 678: But I don't remember one around here Interviewer: Uh-huh um now if you have a house a a place on the roof where you have a house an an L what do you call the place where the two come together 678: Valley Interviewer: Uh what would you call well what kinds of little buildings did you have you mentioned that you had a cellar out around your house 678: Oh we had the privy you know Interviewer: Oh The privy 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: #1 We can move on forget that # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # You call that the privy 678: Well we don't no we didn't call it the privy uh I don't remember what they called it but I I just heard the word privy after I got a little bit older Interviewer: Oh um what other little buildings like for example uh what about 678: #1 Uh # Interviewer: #2 Any place # For storing wood or 678: #1 Well # Interviewer: #2 Tools or # 678: We had toolsheds Interviewer: You had toolsheds 678: The wood was just Ricked up and {X} #1 We had toolsheds and # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: What we called cowsheds for the cows and Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh Stalls for the horses Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh And we had uh Hog pens {NW} With uh Hog houses To keeping them out of the way even the dog houses Everybody had a #1 Hound oh yeah # Interviewer: #2 Everybody yeah # A hound dog 678: Part of our living #1 Coon dogs you know # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Oh yeah 678: {NW} Interviewer: I guess so I didn't think of that 678: {D: All along was} The sport we got out of it well we sold the coon hides and Eat the coons #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Oh you do # 678: I never cared for coon but uh Well I went to a coon dinner up in Rector not long ago And everybody just Man they just {D: haven't found the life of me} just Forcing it down Interviewer: {NW} 678: Didn't care for it at all Interviewer: I don't think I care for it either doesn't sound very good oh what about to store corn where would you store 678: Crib Interviewer: How about to store grain 678: Bins Interviewer: Oh do did did you ever hear about people having a anything called a like for wheat what about wheat where would they put it 678: Uh {NW} We we grew some wheat when I was a kid But As I recall We'd thrash it And load it in wagons {NW} And haul it to Jonesboro we didn't store it Now they do store it but I don't know they We had uh {D: sallows} You know for {C: tape slows down} ground up food {NS} And uh bins for peas or seed #1 Peas # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: {NW} But I #1 I didn't we didn't # Interviewer: #2 Anything covered # 678: Store any any wheat so Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: I don't know what it would be called back then Interviewer: Okay have you ever heard of anything called a garner 678: No Interviewer: Okay um then the upper part of the barn would be called 678: The loft hay loft Interviewer: Now if if you had uh before they put hay in bales what would they do with it 678: They would They go to the field put on the wagons Drive in front of the hay loft One man would take a pitchfork and pitch it up in The hay loft and One or two or even three men if necessary would #1 Take it # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Start to the back hand with it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And just stack it full Interviewer: And then they'd stack 678: A few of the {NS} Modern farmers or the larger farmers had what {NW} What they call a Hay fork Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Run on a track and with pulleys And uh it had uh big tongs you know it'd Come down and it'd grab a a whole of a bunch of that hay and then By manual Rope pulleys You would pull it up and then until it hit the track and then run it back Down the The rafters the comb of the rafters and And dump it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But it wasn't much faster than hand so we never went that modern We figured we needed to exercise #1 I guess I hope # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Well now out in the field if uh or if it was or- that is if they had too much to put in the barn 678: Shock it Interviewer: Well they'd shock it 678: Put it in shocks Interviewer: #1 Would put it in shocks # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: Um now would that be covered or how did they 678: #1 Some of them # Interviewer: #2 Keep that from getting # 678: Covered it but uh most of the time My dad the practice he used he would We had what we called uh {NW} Whippoorwill pea hay Mostly And then we grew some millet Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And then uh we would cut crabgrass Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: We would store this uh these peas on shocks and then we would Cap it we called it capping it #1 That would # Interviewer: #2 Capping it # 678: The millet Or the crabgrass #1 And it'd just settle # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Down and it'd shed water Just almost like a canvas Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But Few people would put it in one enormous shock Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And take canvas and cover it Interviewer: Oh I see 678: But we didn't we put it in {NW} Small shocks and then When we did that we would Uh Usually go out in the field with a hay baler then and And uh draw the sho- Pull the shocks in with Teams and to where the baler was stationed and Bale it It had to cure out it had to go through what we called going through a sweat Interviewer: Oh 678: Then it would mold you know and run then We'd shock it put a s- Uh Hole in the ground with crosses #1 On it and we'd # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Start stacking and that'd the ventilation get up and under there and go up this pole And uh Get plenty of air and you'd have some pretty bright hay But if you didn't why you'd You lye would get a mold in it and #1 Ruin your hay # Interviewer: #2 And then ruin it # The hay yeah 678: Stock didn't like to eat molded hay #1 And when they did it'd give them a # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Cough #1 And just cough just like is yeah # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Yeah Interviewer: It would give them a cough 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Well I'll be darned didn't know that well now you mentioned this cow shed would that be where you would milk the #1 Cows # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # {NW} Well we'd milk them where they would put the night up for Bad weather {NW} Each one knew its own its own stall #1 Shed # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: We had uh We had cows named uh Spot And Beauty and Uh and Red and all that number {X} Names you know but Uh Uh old Rooney I remember one we had named old Rooney she {NW} She knew exactly where #1 Her stall was # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: And if one of the others would get in there she'd fight them away Interviewer: Oh 678: But each one Had a place All the younger calves we'd put them all in a Place together but Wherever we milked these cows that's where they bedded down for the night That's where they got their feed and bedded down and just turned out the next day to pasture Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Or if it was during the winter time just turned out to browse around whatever they wanted to do Interviewer: Mm-hmm what would you call the area right around the farm uh 678: Well we called it the horse lot Interviewer: Horse lot 678: And it'd be referred to as a cow lot or a horse lot but we referred to it as horse lot Interviewer: You always called it the horse lot 678: Because we had More horses than we did any other #1 Animals # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: We kept Most of our farming And logging teams were horses #1 We liked horses better # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm liked horses # 678: Than mules and we kept a lot of saddles stocked Interviewer: #1 Oh you did # 678: #2 {X} # Buggie Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Think we lived pretty good Interviewer: Uh it sounds like it sounds to me like it really I don't know it sounds like 678: Put our sisters On a wild little calf #1 Let her ride it # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: #1 No oh no did you do that # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Oh yeah throw her sky high you know Interviewer: #1 Oh # 678: #2 {NW} # She'd cry and we'd say well now if you're gonna be a crybaby go on in the house and leave us alone Interviewer: {NW} 678: And she'd limp around the hole in the {D: groove's} Places and wouldn't go in the #1 House # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} That's funny Where where would people keep their milk and before they had 678: Well Uh some of them had Cellars Which was damp and {NW} Even got snakes in them at times Just built out of the earth you know But my mama Interviewer: {NS} Now I was I never had heard of one of those things and I was just amazed 678: Are you ready Interviewer: Yeah 678: Well this uh {X} We were referring to Is simply Some uh Boards What we called one-by wides #1 Which might be # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: One-by-sixes one-by-eights one-by-twelves Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But they're made out of uh Strong {NS} Strong timbers Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh {NW} It has a pointed nose Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: It had what we called bunks across it To load the logs on bunks were probably eight nine ten inches high Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And you just simply roll logs on there and hook the team to the mud bolt Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And where this thing eh where the front buck is you saw across the mud bolt Probably A eighth or Three sixteenths of an inch Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And when the team hooks onto it that lets the nose of it bend up Interviewer: Oh I see 678: And uh you slide that through the water and across the ridges Well as you use it The ridge cuts down and makes a what we call a mud bolt run Interviewer: #1 Uh-huh uh-huh # 678: #2 See # Right through the woods you just go wherever you want it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: In s- In some of the woods around here you can still see signs of the old mud bolt run Interviewer: Oh 678: The slews the thing would more or less slowed or slide real easy But when you hit the ridges {X} Where they It had to wear out {D: its own rut} Wagons wouldn't stand up in it see Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Too marry too soft so they used mud bolts Interviewer: Oh I was just really amazed by that I #1 Never even heard of that # 678: #2 I wish I would have kept # Kept pictures #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: But we didn't make many pictures back then Interviewer: Oh yeah I guess you didn't course they didn't seem like it would be #1 That important # 678: #2 Not important # Interviewer: Then 678: Just like now uh I try to encourage young kids to make pictures of certain things #1 And keep them # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: That'd be so interesting you know {X} Interviewer: Well uh one of these too you know you had in there 678: {X} Interviewer: You had been telling me yesterday about your grandfather when when the snow was coming through uh On his ear And you said it but in there you said that it um not only did it it turn blue but I think you said that it uh 678: Bursted Interviewer: Yeah yeah that it uh 678: I don't know that you grew up on a farm or not but {NW} And uh That old roosters You know these you've seen roo- roosters uh and uh their gills hang down Interviewer: Yes uh-huh 678: Well it was uh nothing uncommon for them to freeze Those gills to freeze {NS} {X} And they would be Just like like one big mass of blood Interviewer: {NW} 678: #1 And sometimes it would # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Kill them and that's the way my grandfather's ear Interviewer: Oh 678: Blowed Interviewer: Oh well I just couldn't even imagine #1 that after you said that that was # 678: #2 {NW} # But now did we go to the doctor no Interviewer: #1 No {NW} # 678: #2 {NW} # I don't remember what What they did my mother probably put a post or something on it Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: We didn't go to the doctor Seldom Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I couldn't remember hardly ever being any medicine in our home Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Chill tonic Something like Interviewer: Oh yeah you might have some chill to- what was chill tonic made of 678: Quinine mostly {X} And had something to break it down to make Sweeten it up so it wouldn't taste so bad Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Take too much of it and your head would roar and you couldn't hear Interviewer: Oh really oh gosh um where did people keep their milk and butter mostly 678: Well I {X} Didn't we cover that Interviewer: #1 Yeah we covered it # 678: #2 Yesterday # Interviewer: But uh I was wondering if there was any it was right when we got to the end and I was wondering if there was anything we left out we #1 Talked about it # 678: #2 Uh # I don't believe so #1 We as like as I said # Interviewer: #2 Okay # 678: Some of them had Dirt cellars Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 And they would keep cool down there but # Interviewer: #2 Yeah mm-hmm # 678: Most of them Including my mama {NW} Kept it around the pump #1 The old pump # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm yeah # 678: And we built a Wooden Box around it #1 And # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: And uh Oh we had a hole around something like four or five or six or eight inches deep #1 And and that was # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Covered with bricks Floored with bricks And once the bricks got cool you know from the cool water then they'd stay that way in the house practically all day long Interviewer: Well now did everybody have their own uh cows for milk I mean everybody if you Wanted #1 Milk # 678: #2 Generally # Yes at uh {X} There was no such thing when I was a child growing up As going to the store and buying milk here here in the rural areas Interviewer: No 678: Certainly in the cities #1 Why they had the # Interviewer: #2 Oh in the cities # Did they have uh 678: Lot of people in the cities uh kept cows Interviewer: Oh they did 678: Lots of them Interviewer: Well now did they when did you remember when they would begin to have those plants that processed milk what did they call them 678: Well didn't they call it pasteurizing Interviewer: Uh-huh and and the plant was called the uh it's the same thing they call it now I didn't know Do you 678: #1 I don't really remember # Interviewer: #2 Remember when when they first # Began to have dairies 678: Yeah {X} I remember my first uh hearing of them {NW} Another thing that happened Well I believe you read that in my My Memoirs I call it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: My dad went to Mississippi to Look into the possibility of buying a dairy farm Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And that's my first #1 Experience # Interviewer: #2 That was the first # 678: To realize well there is such thing as a dairy farm Interviewer: #1 As a dairy farm yeah # 678: #2 We just yeah we # Just milked Two or three cows But uh There that was for sale #1 That was for the public # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} And I say two or three cows when you had uh four or five or six or seven in your family {NW} It would take more than one cow Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: See cows will only give milk so long between breeding times And We had to keep them Bred Or they would Aux: Hello I hate to interrupt you Interviewer: Oh 678: It's not always this way Interviewer: It's not always this way 678: Sometimes I slip off {D: while fishing} Interviewer: Oh you do 678: Are you ready Interviewer: Yeah 678: I was talking about the the cows #1 I believe # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} The only way we could perpetuate our milk and butter was to have these cows being bred at intervals to where they Interviewer: Oh I 678: #1 See # Interviewer: #2 See # So that there would always be one that was giving 678: It'd take nine months for the calf to be born Interviewer: Oh sure 678: And then the cow would give milk uh Well some of them a year and some of them was two years or even longer Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But you couldn't take a chance on one giving milk Two years Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: If you over accumulate on your cows by breeding well then you sold one See Interviewer: Oh 678: {X} Interviewer: So that's how it was all planned out 678: #1 Yeah you had to you had to # Interviewer: #2 I always wondered about that um # 678: Perpetuate it and Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Uh Oh I'd say ninety Five percent of the people in these rural areas owned a cow or #1 Cows # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: Now there was a few people then that uh Were ne'er-do-wells and Simply lived off of the land and people gave them milk Interviewer: Mm-hmm oh and people gave them milk 678: Yeah just yeah {X} Didn't sell it Interviewer: They didn't 678: #1 Sell it at all # Interviewer: #2 Give it away # They would give it away 678: {X} If you over accumulate you fed to your homes Interviewer: Oh you did 678: And they loved it Interviewer: Oh I didn't know that 678: Oh yes they'd fatten them up to fare you well Interviewer: Oh I didn't know that 678: Did you ever did you ever eat Clabbered milk Interviewer: No I haven't 678: Well cottage cheese you know is a #1 Replacement for it # Interviewer: #2 It's # 678: #1 {NW} Yeah # Interviewer: #2 Oh really for clabbered milk # 678: You let that milk uh Keep it until it went sour And boy that stuff would clabber just eat with a spoon like a {NW} Eating watermelon Interviewer: #1 Really # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: And it was like what cottage cheese it was it similar to what cottage cheese is like now 678: Yeah Excuse me just a {C: whispers} Interviewer: Oh sure 678: {NS} But you've missed something if you haven't got to eat #1 Clabbered milk # Interviewer: #2 No I never have I guess I have # 678: Clabbered milk onions and cornbread Interviewer: #1 Oh really # 678: #2 {NW} # What a what a meal Interviewer: And that would be a meal clabbered 678: {D: Tie lots of people} to make a meal Interviewer: Oh that's good um did you ever what did you do when you were raising cotton 678: What did I personally or Interviewer: Yeah what have you personally done 678: Well {NW} #1 From the from the # Interviewer: #2 Kind of work did you do # 678: From the time I was five year old I started picking cotton Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And that was a way of life #1 Back then # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Yeah 678: Everyone worked And uh {NS} I remember my first Sack To pick from was an old Gunny sack tow sack Interviewer: Oh really 678: And they hung that on men And uh {NW} Why the first thing I done was got it tangled up with cockle-burrs Interviewer: Oh 678: So many burs on it it'd just Tie the thing in a knot Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And I remember Wishing I was old enough to have a Regular cotton sack which is made out of ducking you know Interviewer: Oh 678: And I finally grew into that and Interviewer: {NW} 678: And uh of course as soon as I got old enough I {NW} I plowed Interviewer: #1 Oh you did # 678: #2 I pulled the # Plow Uh I may have referred in this {NW} Uh Things that you read uh I drove a log team I was ten year old My dad uh was timber man Interviewer: Was timber man yeah 678: And I He had hard hands and my brother and I had a team each that we drove Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh they had load the logs for me Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And I'd drive to town which is about four miles out of the country But my brother and I most of the time managed to unload those logs Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Wonder we hadn't got killed But uh We didn't #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: {NW} Oh we Cleared new ground That was part of your farming was Clearing up more land Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh We would uh {NW} Of course make the hay when hay time come We'd Gather the corn in when that time come We usually Planted peas uh mostly whippoorwill peas and uh corn For Two or three reasons One was to grow seed uh So for hay the next year that was a primary reason The next reason was to We'd pick a few of those things and the going got too rough in the winter we'd eat them We generally grew crowders and #1 Black eyes # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: For eating but Occasionally my mom would switch off and cook us some whippoorwills they pretty good people still eat a lot of them Interviewer: Oh really 678: Mm-hmm {NW} And then another thing the peas would uh {NW} Put back into the land something that #1 To tug away see # Interviewer: #2 Oh I see # Mm-hmm 678: The vines Is good fertilizer good land building Interviewer: Well was was cotton bad for the land 678: Cotton drained it pretty well they Right now if they would plant cotton in this country and and not use chemicals and fertilizers They wouldn't grow much cotton It'd get to the point to where the land would just wear out as far as cotton was concerned But people wised up and began to rotate it they'd plant in In hay Where they had cotton last year perhaps {NW} Plant in hay And then if they {NS} The grass would follow the hay And if they didn't need any of the grass for hay then they would plow that under see Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And rot and that would restore the land Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: If they got uh Sort of diversifying the thing before agriculture {X} Agencies come along and taught them a better way Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And that was about the routine on our farm Interviewer: Well now uh if you were talking about a field and a patch would those be the same thing to #1 You # 678: #2 Mm-mm # A field is uh Well you could re- Refer to your field as your whole acreage #1 So you owned # Interviewer: #2 I see # 678: the eighty acres well back when I was A Young feller {X} One family could cultivate forty acres of land Interviewer: Yeah 678: It'd take one good team Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh {NS} Four or five people to chop the cotton Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Pick the cotton Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: You'd put about twenty-five acres of that forty in cotton And the other fifteen had to go to feed your Stock Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Your hogs Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And your Cows #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Your horse your plowing stock Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And it uh it it Forty acres would make a full load for a family Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: And if you was a two teamed farmer #1 Why two crop # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Farmer You had to have your hard hand or two for an extremely large family Interviewer: Mm-hmm oh I see you were an extremely large #1 Family right # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: To get it all done 678: Where one man now can take four or five people and cultivate two or three thousand acres Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But it took a good sized family to cultivate forty acres and do it right Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And make a living off #1 Of it # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: But they did Interviewer: Um what one of the things I was really interested in in there was you said that in those days that the stock just went at at at will I mean it wasn't 678: Yeah we didn't have a stock loss Interviewer: Yeah you didn't #1 Yeah and no one # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: #1 Hears # 678: #2 During the # Interviewer: About that 678: During the summer Of course we would plow our stock {NW} But during the Well during this during the spring These uh Heifers that were supposed to drop calves later on Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they they what we called uh Cows that had gone dry Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} And maybe some Uh Bull yearlings Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Steers Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: or extra They just would run out into the woods Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Graze wild And we branded them #1 Kind of like they do out in the # Interviewer: #2 Oh yeah # 678: Did out west Interviewer: Uh-huh mm-hmm 678: My dad's uh brand was registered it was uh {NW} It was what we call a {NW} Uh Let me see if I can remember The left ear had a What they call a crop which is just the end of their ears cut off Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And the other two had a crop And uh it was what they called a swallow fork Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: That was his brand Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh then on their hip We had a round branding iron #1 A circle # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: With a M in it Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: And we called ours a circle M Interviewer: A circle M 678: M was for Moon Interviewer: M for Moon sure 678: And uh #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 That was # Really like out west 678: Yeah Interviewer: {X} 678: And and we'd brand them and that fall we'd put uh Well say we'd turn a Cow that we didn't need out with her little calf Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: And uh that fall why we'd get out in the woods everybody would round up for cattle Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh Maybe that old calf was about grown by then Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: See Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And the only way you could recognize him would be It was with its mother Interviewer: Oh really 678: A lot of cows would drop uh Calves during the Grazing period during the #1 Summer # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Mm-hmm 678: And the only way that people would know it belonged to them was because it would be with their cow Interviewer: Oh and that would be the only way they know 678: Yeah and that was kind of fun you know to get out with the grown-ups and help round up those cattle Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But we'd drive them in during the winter And uh My dad would call out what he didn't intend to keep and we'd sell them That way you got a little extra money All the feed was for free Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I don't know if the beef was as good as it is now because they'd eat Uh Wild grass and Leaves and whatever they could #1 Browse on # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} But anyhow that's the way we got some of our money Interviewer: Mm-hmm was yeah by getting the extra 678: We'd keep the milk cows that had the new calves and start milking them and And they Why the the male calves we would uh Maybe Butcher one or two and sell it peddled it out you know And the rest of them We'd make arrangements with the butcher shops in Jonesburg Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Deliver Interviewer: Oh 678: Calf or a hog to them #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: It was pretty well planned like it is today little bit slower Interviewer: {NW} Well did they use fences at all 678: #1 Yes # Interviewer: #2 Did they have # 678: Fences were all All our farms were all fenced in Interviewer: Oh they were 678: Had to be because Interviewer: {NW} 678: Lot of these cattle would get out of the Woods and come out and graze along the Roads {NW} Interviewer: #1 Oh I see # 678: #2 Eat eat your # Corn {X} Interviewer: I see 678: Everything had to be fenced and #1 Course we had # Interviewer: #2 W- # 678: Pastures {NS} Uh That we kept our milk cows in and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Our saddle stock We had Pastures sown down and The ones that run wild were those that we didn't need right then Interviewer: I see 678: Surplus stock Interviewer: Surplus stock well now what kinds of fences did they use 678: {NW} We used what we called Hog wire fence it was a woven wire Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: About thirty-six inches High and then on top of that we had anywhere from three to five strands of barbed wire Interviewer: I see uh-huh uh-huh well now this uh this hog wire was it what was it attached to 678: Posts There were posts at every Eight feet Interviewer: There would be a uh 678: Wooden post Interviewer: At every eight feet 678: And we made our own posts Interviewer: And you made your own posts oh I see 678: And we either set them in the ground by digging holes with the post hole digger Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Or we'd sharpen them and drive with a big woolen wooden mallet that would ma- put muscles like that on you #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Wow #1 {NW} Is that how you got that # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: {NW} Good grief #1 I can't believe that # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: #1 Wow # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: {NW} 678: But that's uh Interviewer: {NW} 678: That was part of it Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And the wire had to be stretched tight we had wire stretchers Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: The woven wire was to keep the Hogs in #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: Now if it had been cattle only we'd have used just barbed wire Interviewer: Just barbed wire 678: Yeah where we made a Temporary pasture just for our cattle why we'd throw up three strands of #1 Barbed wire on about # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: So high so high #1 So high # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} But for hogs you had to Have it low enough and sometimes buried in the ground or they'd #1 Move under see # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Well did people ever use uh like little wooden fences in their yards 678: Oh yes paling we'd call them palings or pickets Interviewer: Palings or #1 Pickets I see # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: Well now would palings and pickets be the same thing 678: Yeah #1 Same thing # Interviewer: #2 Just the same thing # A little little white 678: Anywhere from so high to So high depend on #1 How high # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: The kids could jump you know Interviewer: Uh-huh #1 Oh how high the kids could jump # 678: #2 {X} jumping over # Interviewer: Oh that was to keep the kids in or #1 Whatever # 678: #2 That's right # Interviewer: Oh I see um any other fences made out of wood 678: Yeah lots of uh {NW} Same style fences you see around people's home with the boards running Laterally you know Interviewer: Oh 678: #1 That was the # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Like 678: If they didn't use the paling or the picket fence Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Well then they used the the board fence faced about so far apart Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Sometimes it would have a board laid on top of the post likewise little angle made it look better Interviewer: W-w-would that be like what people call rail fences 678: No #1 Rail fences are just # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: Simply {NW} Railings split out of #1 Logs # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: And laid uh Uh You know how they #1 Lean # Interviewer: #2 Oh yes die # I know zig zag 678: There's board fence it's just a straight fence with boards Interviewer: I see 678: Nailed to the post Interviewer: I see 678: #1 We see them around people's homes # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: #1 A lot now # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # Oh yeah I know what you're talking about 678: I'm getting back now to {NW} Something on those hogs Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: One way we kept those hogs from rooting under the fence we would Put ringers in their nose Interviewer: Oh 678: And a little old copper Things uh {NW} Were sharp on each end and you'd {NW} Get that old hog #1 Down and you had some # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Ringers from kind of like pliers #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: And these rings fit right right in there Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And you'd get him down that his nose got Rough Snout that sticks #1 Out # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: And you'd put about three of those things in there And uh it didn't hurt him except when he'd go to root uh why it was a Perpetual sore on him see Interviewer: Oh 678: Not that it hurt his hurt him in any way except {NW} When he would root why that would irritate that place He wouldn't root Interviewer: Oh and that's how they keep them from #1 Going oh # 678: #2 Now they use electric # Fences #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Oh they use electric # 678: #1 Uh-huh # Interviewer: #2 Fences right # 678: #1 {NW} They never use the ringer # Interviewer: #2 They never # Use the ring anymore that's interesting um did you ever do you know what you'd call a fence or a wall made out of loose rock or loose stone 678: Well {NW} I didn't grow up in the mountains so I couldn't elaborate on that I I know what it is but Interviewer: What would you call if you saw one what would you call it 678: Oh I'd uh {NW} There's two things I would call it one of it I'd call it a {NW} Um A fence made out of rock But uh I understand the reason for that #1 My wife grew up down in # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: In them the #1 Mountains where # Interviewer: #2 ah # 678: {NW} And they would pick these rocks up out of the farm each year #1 And they had to # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Put them somewhere Interviewer: So they j- 678: So well sometime they'd just build a fence out Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Or sometimes they would uh {NW} Fill a Help stop up a gully #1 From washing # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: But each year you know the rain would come and wash out more rocks More rocks That's about all I could #1 Tell you # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: That's just what people's told me about the rocks Interviewer: Um if if you wanted a to make a hen keep laying in the same place what would they put in the nest to fool the hen what do they call 678: {NW} Well we had foolers but I always questioned whether it fooled them or not Interviewer: Oh really? 678: We had uh glass eggs Interviewer: Glass? 678: #1 Made out of glass # Interviewer: #2 Oh they were made out of glass # Glass 678: like an egg Interviewer: #1 Did you ever # 678: #2 But # Interviewer: See any made out of china 678: Oh yeah {NW} Yeah that was a the elaborate ones that Interviewer: Were they called uh 678: Uh I know what they called them Interviewer: #1 Did they call it # 678: #2 Nest eggs # Interviewer: Yeah did they ever call them china eggs 678: uh not that I know of Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Only ones that had the china eggs were those that had money enough to buy them Interviewer: Oh I see #1 Otherwise you used # 678: #2 Glass egg was # Interviewer: Glass they were cheaper 678: That's right and served a purpose Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: What we thought was the purpose but generally A hen will choose her own nest Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Now when you get two that choose the same one then you got to Probably take one out and cage her up for a while Interviewer: #1 Mm-hmm # 678: #2 See # Interviewer: I see 678: They they'll fuss and fight and quarrel over it {NW} But most of the time when they when they choose a nest that's the nest they lay in Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And That's the one they intend to sit on to hatch their Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Young chickens And some of them steal like to steal out you know and hide in bushes or weeds Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We'd {NW} Well we never did know how many chickens we'd own on our farm we'd have Two or three hundred chickens Interviewer: Mm 678: Roosters pullets All sizes and all colors My mother would grow Uh certain name brand but we'd always get some mixed up #1 You know and {D: so forth but} # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # 678: {NW} A lot of them would hide their nest out and we'd never know they'd hid out until they'd come marching out a bunch of #1 Cute little chickens # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Um what would you use to carry water in 678: Um to the house? Interviewer: #1 Mm-hmm # 678: #2 {NW} # Buckets {X} What we called water buckets Interviewer: #1 Mm-hmm # 678: #2 About # Two and a half gallon buckets some of them were granite Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And some were Pure old Tin zinc Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But {NW} People that Were a little bit uh Careful Would use granite because We were taught in school In our hygiene that Granite wouldn't uh Accumulate germs it wouldn't let germs hang on as well as The zinc and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Tin Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So {NW} Around our place we had Granite Water buckets and granite uh dippers Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: Course uh everyone drank out of the same dipper Interviewer: Mm-hmm #1 Oh yeah they did anyway # 678: #2 {NW} # We'd have more than one dipper but we'd have more than one bo- water bucket But uh {NW} We'd have we'd hang a dipper up the side of the water bucket #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Get you a drink of water or go out to pump pump you a fresh drink Interviewer: Mm-hmm would uh what about milk what would they carry milk in 678: Crocks and Churns and Well they originally they would milk in buckets we had regular buckets we milked took to milk the cow #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NS} We'd bring that in then we'd strain it into uh Crocks Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Mostly crocks because that's uh {NW} Was easily handled and they were thick and Would keep cool Interviewer: Mm-hmm Um how about to carry food to the hogs what would they 678: We had what are called slop bucket Interviewer: Oh 678: Yeah Set that {NW} Set that thing outside the house and your re- {D: refills} Went in it Put a lid over it you got it So full why And you'll feed them Interviewer: And go feed the hogs um 678: Getting back to these {NW} Crocks of milk {NW} The One of the big deals for people that love cream now I never did care for pure cow's cream Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But You could milk like this afternoon and And then cool that milk and by morning You would have cream on there a inch thick pure yellow Interviewer: Mm 678: Rich cream {NS} And people loved that you know but I didn't #1 Personally # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: I didn't #1 Like it # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} But then when you When you skimmed it that's what they call skimming the cream off that's where you got your butter see Interviewer: Oh you made the butter from #1 The cream # 678: #2 From the cream # {NW} When you skim that off you had a very Low grade of milk #1 What you call # Interviewer: #2 I see # 678: Skim milk Interviewer: And you call that skim milk 678: Lot of us called it blue john because Interviewer: #1 Blue john # 678: #2 Yeah it almost # Lost the color #1 Sometimes you'd see # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: More water than milk Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And {NW} Now you know they homogenize that stuff #1 And you get # Interviewer: #2 Mm # 678: The The cream That come from the cow you get the cream and the milk All together Interviewer: #1 Mm-hmm # 678: #2 That's why it # Tastes so much better #1 Than milk # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Did when I was a kid {NW} But We we didn't have no way of course homogenizing it And we had to save the cream for the butter Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So as a result uh we only drank the skim milk Interviewer: So that was all you ever drank was 678: We drank all we could hold of it and the rest of it went to the hogs or my mama let some of it Clabber To have clabbered milk Interviewer: Oh {NS} Oh so that was all so have have so you have always you had always drunk the uh the #1 Skim # 678: #2 Yeah milk yeah # {NW} It uh it just proves that uh You do whatever's necessary #1 To # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Exist #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: You do the best you can with what you have And if you're content with that that's the way you will do it a hundred years from now Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But if not why you'll improve Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I remember {NS} In nineteen thirty during the {NW} The The eve of the depression Interviewer: Mm 678: We bought a Delco-Light plant and had liquid lights in our farm home and Interviewer: Oh 678: Also a water pump electric water pump Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Run water to the kitchen and No bathroom no indoor bath but uh Run water to the kitchen and uh Also out to water our stock Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh We went one better my brother and I rigged up a barrel That {NW} We could pump the water into up tall high you know Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh we'd pump that full of water until the morning Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Then when the sun would hit it you'd almost have scalding water to Take a shower in Interviewer: Oh #1 Really # 678: #2 It it it # Really wasn't a shower just a {X} Interviewer: Oh 678: Faucet the best Way best thing we could get let the water come down on you but #1 In fact # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: It was a good bath see Interviewer: Well was the you mean uh and it would come down out of that 678: #1 Barrel # Interviewer: #2 Barrel # 678: Yeah Mm-hmm Interviewer: And you would open up a faucet #1 On the # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: Barrel 678: Un- 'un- Under the barrel and It'd come right down on your head and you'd start washing Interviewer: Oh 678: Pre-runner to the shower #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: {NW} Interviewer: That I never heard of that #1 That's really interesting # 678: #2 Well just # Very few people had #1 Those things # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: They just didn't think of them or #1 Didn't care # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Or wasn't didn't no ingenuity #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: But {NS} We like to call ourself progressive #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: On our farm we kept uh Our fences Clean We We would uh lay by our crops get through with them I would always plow these fence rows out real clean and nice And plant beans around #1 There # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: And we'd have more beans than we would need we'd invite the neighbors in to come pick up some Interviewer: #1 Mm-hmm # 678: #2 Beans # All dry beans then Interviewer: Mm-hmm oh I see 678: No canning Interviewer: #1 No canning # 678: #2 Just # Dry beans put them up in sacks and keep them {NW} All winter {NW} And then on the outside of the fence I'd take one of these old swinging scythes Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And cut the weeds Around {X} But uh {NW} Almost a mile of fence that I had along row Interviewer: Oh really that much 678: And we had little Lane led up to our house and I kept that groo- groomed just Uh like we would our yard Interviewer: Mm 678: And Very few farms back {X} Back then would uh Oh they might Sweep their yard uh no no lawnmowers Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: My mama Uh My mama's yard was as Clear of grass as this floor Interviewer: Oh 678: She just had her flowers or roses and everything around Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But she'd sweep that yard just like uh Instead of raking it up she'd just take her broom and sweep it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And {NW} We always fussed at her for sweeping it out into our horse lot see Interviewer: Oh uh-huh {NW} 678: Kind of a joke with us you know Interviewer: Yeah 678: But uh {D: Love} Someone said wasn't that a lot of work I said well not anymore than mowing grass Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: #1 I said well # Interviewer: #2 I guess not # 678: She could sweep the yard or we could #1 Help her # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NS} Uh time you could Mow the grass and if you didn't uh if you didn't do that you had weeds and grass come up in your yard and you had to cut them with a hole or #1 Something so # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # 678: She kept her yard swept clean {NW} Interviewer: Isn't that funny and now people trying to talk about #1 Grass and # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: #1 And they and she was # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: #1 Trying to keep it out # 678: #2 Sow it and put it out # Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 Yeah we we cut it up # Interviewer: And you cut it up uh what did she use to fry eggs in 678: The old orange skillet Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Cast-iron skillet Interviewer: Cast-iron skillet um how about to uh make biscuits in what would she 678: She had the uh Uh {NW} Well she had a great big huge uh Uh Pan that she kneaded the dough in mixed the dough in Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: I don't remember if it was an oval shape or seemed to me like it She used just a Small alum they just began to make #1 Aluminum # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: #1 So # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: What we would call a dish pan #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Seeming like she finally went to that she'd like Course she had to make up a lot of biscuits Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: There was Five of us children at home and my dad always had the one or two hard hats Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And we never knew how much company we'd have She'd make No telling how many biscuits My wife says that her mother would make as high as a hundred biscuits #1 {D: that'd be them} # Interviewer: #2 Mm # 678: {NW} My mama had these great Big pans you know she had some Made out of tin and she had a few made out of cast-iron Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: She'd make cornbread muffins in #1 That mostly # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # 678: But the biscuits mostly were cooked in These big pans and she'd make those biscuits real large biscuits that thick On a cold morning about daylight and boy them things were good Interviewer: Mm I bet 678: Oh we got up to eat in the lamp light you know Interviewer: Oh 678: Whether we were working or not Interviewer: Oh you did 678: Routine Interviewer: Mm-hmm every day 678: Yeah Interviewer: You ate you ate breakfast every day 678: That's right Every day three meals a day Interviewer: Oh you did you ate 678: Sometimes during the winter if we were snowed in {NW} We had a lot more snow as we do now Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: We'd get up a little bit later than usual and Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Wouldn't have but two meals {NW} And Course those kids would gripe about that Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: #1 Always hungry # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: But we'd uh Finally wind up uh popping some corn or Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Parching some Peanuts {NW} And it seemed like we would stay up late but Looking back Now with the kerosene lights and everything I know that In winter Uh It begins to get dark at five o clock #1 Or so # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: We probably went to bed at eight O clock Not never later than #1 Eight o clock # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} And as a result we got all the sleep we needed #1 My dad dad # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Would get us out #1 We'd be up at daylight # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: #1 Watching the sun come up # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Oh you'd be up at sun 678: Yeah Interviewer: #1 Oh # 678: #2 Yeah # We'd eat breakfast in the lamp light {NW} Most the time {NW} During the summer we wouldn't because Uh But We'd be up the same hour we'd #1 We would be # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: We would eat breakfast and be in the fields before six o clock Plow fourteen hours a day Interviewer: Before six o clock 678: That's right Interviewer: Mm 678: Walked behind the cultivator fourteen hours a day Interviewer: Mm 678: {NW} Interviewer: Goodness goodness well what did she use to heat water in if she just wanted some water 678: The tea kettles {NW} Interviewer: How about to cook potatoes in what would she use 678: She had a pot From the when she s- well when she fried them she fried them in the the old Uh On the skillet Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 Cast-iron skillet # Interviewer: #2 And if she boiled them # 678: She boiled them she had a one of those black pots Interviewer: Oh I see 678: Took the eye off of your stove Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And the pot had a Was made to where it fit right on the eye That she had a lid to Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {X} Put the wood to it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And get the Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Take a little longer than Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: The time was uh Wasn't important as it is #1 Now # Interviewer: #2 As it # Seems now 678: No Interviewer: Um what about the eating utensils that you would that you would eat with what would you have 678: Well {NW} We had uh In our home and it's something I've got to remember by that My dad and mother kept Good chinaware Good glassware and And good silverware Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: good uh as was available for our {NS} And probably better than Our income would afford but like I said my {NW} My dad's folk were sort of aristocratic #1 People # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: My mother's people were hustlers #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm {NW} # 678: #1 So we uh # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: We had better than Average Interviewer: Well uh now in the way of silverware and if they were setting the table what would they what would they put by each plate? 678: {NW} They'd uh {X} After After they got into that Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Why they would put knife fork and spoon Interviewer: Oh they did 678: But now when I was a small child And on up until My mama w- Would read and see how things was going {NW} They had what they called a spoon holder Interviewer: #1 Uh-huh # 678: #2 {X} # It was actually a spoon knife and fork holder Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh My daughter still has one that my mother used #1 It's a # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Very valuable Piece of glassware it's uh light blue in color Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But uh you just simply put the knives and the forks and spoons in there #1 When you sit down to # Interviewer: #2 I see # 678: Eat Your plate was there but you grabbed a If you needed just a fork that's what you grabbed Interviewer: I see 678: You needed a fork and knife well you grabbed them See Interviewer: Mm-hmm #1 Oh # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Well I didn't know that #1 Oh # 678: #2 Later on # She got to Went to go setting the table #1 You know the # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: S- similar to what they do now #1 Nothing fancy # Interviewer: #2 Um # Uh do they have a like a big knife for cutting meat what was that called 678: Butcher knife Carving knife Interviewer: Mm-hmm now we were talking about yesterday about that reservoir and you were saying that that they would usually take the water to wash the dishes #1 From that reservoir # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: Now they would put it what did they use in soap I mean how would they get them #1 Soapy # 678: #2 {X} # Interviewer: #1 Yeah # 678: #2 {NW} # Well They they had two dishpans Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: One of them was washed they just simply had a bar of soap Interviewer: Mm-hmm And they put the dishes in there and they just took their hands and #1 Yeah # 678: #2 Kinda like this # {NS} And rubbed enough soap off to accumulate a suds Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh Interviewer: The other pan then what did they #1 Do to the other one # 678: #2 The other # Pan they'd uh They When they got them washed Um my mom my mama she was a stickler for cleanliness #1 That's the # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Rule I've got to go by #1 She would # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} Rinse them #1 In this other pan # Interviewer: #2 I see # Mm-hmm 678: And uh She had uh she would stack them up #1 After she # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Rinsed them she'd stack them up and then she would dry them and put them in her Safe or her cupboard Where she kept them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And that was before you had rags to Dry them #1 In though # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: But she would wash them And rinse them And stack them and then dry them Interviewer: Um 678: And she made a lot of her own Soap to wash clothes what they called #1 Old lye soap # Interviewer: #2 Oh she # Oh 678: Boiled it outside in a big old kettle Interviewer: Oh 678: also 'n made our own hominy Interviewer: Oh you did and how did they make it outside too 678: Yeah you had to Had to take the corn I don't know how to make it #1 Except uh # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Vaguely uh We would select The center part of the ear of corn you know on the little the the {NW} Tip end the grains get small and on the butt end why they're kind of wrinkled up Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So we would uh shell that off Use it for the stock and in the center it had nice big flat grains Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And we'd Pick white corn to make our hominy out of #1 We'd # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Grow white and yellow both but the white corns why we would use for hominy and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: She she would use uh {NW} Lye merry wore lye #1 To # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Soak that corn in and and it would uh Take the husk off #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: You just have to Handle it Almost a grain at a time you might say but she'd get a handful and of course we'd help her and You just Thump those #1 Husks off # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: And I don't know other processes that she went through #1 But # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Making hominy was Was quite a job it took a good long while #1 More than # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: {NW} Oh that it had to go through a Curing process and also But it was good just as good as you would buy Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Sometimes it'd come out a little bit dark but #1 That didn't hurt # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Well um when they were uh back to washing the dishes when they were washing the dishes what would you call the cloth or the rag that you use in? 678: #1 We call it dish rag # Interviewer: #2 Washing # 678: {X} And drying cloth Interviewer: And the drying cloth mm-hmm uh now what about the thing that you would use to wash your face with 678: Wash rag {X} {NW} Interviewer: And after 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 You # After you uh uh washed what would you call what you dry off with 678: A towel Interviewer: Now you were talking about the faucet on the uh on the barrel you said now what about like after you began to have uh at your kitchen sink what the water would come out of What was that called 678: It was a faucet Interviewer: Faucet too now nowadays 678: Just a bi- just a {NW} Just one faucet no hot and cold water #1 Just cold and # Interviewer: #2 Nope just one # Mm-hmm 678: And uh wasn't even a place to attach a hose to it #1 Just a # Interviewer: #2 No # Oh #1 Well now what # 678: #2 {X} # Faucet Interviewer: When they began to have them on the side of a house what would it what did you call it 678: Still called that Interviewer: Still called the faucet on the side of the house um what would uh molasses if you bought molasses what did it come in 678: {NW} Tin {NW} Tin pails buckets Interviewer: Uh-huh how about lard if you bought 678: Well you could buy lard back then uh they'd it'd come in half gallons gallons or Ten gallons Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Containers {NS} #1 We # Interviewer: #2 Ah # 678: Called a ten gallon a stand that's what they #1 Called stand of lard # Interviewer: #2 Stand uh-huh # Stand of lard uh what would you call a metal frame like this that you would use to pour things through 678: It's all in a funnel as far as I'm {D: Concerned} Interviewer: Um now we were talking about the seeing those um oxen and everything did did they and you talked about that long whip that they would use with the oxen Uh did they use whips if they were driving horses or mules 678: Yeah {NW} Well {NW} Not everyone used them but uh Why you take the buggy {NW} And uh that's kind of like a car #1 If you if # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: You buy a car today {NW} Uh You would buy a radio probably Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: If you didn't it wasn't a complete car Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: The this buggy had uh what they call a dashboard in front You've seen buggies of course {NS} And on this dashboard is a little {NW} Thing about oh about so big around so long {NW} That you set your buggy whip down in Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Now the buggy whip {NW} Is a long {NS} Is a long just a long stem #1 Of a thing # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: With a cracker #1 On the end of it you # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Reach and peck him with Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Wasn't always necessary to have them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Some horses needed prodding they would never trot for you #1 Unless you # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Crack them with that #1 Whip # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} But Your buggy didn't look complete unless you had a whip #1 And and # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: You could buy a fancy whips #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: You just bought {NW} Wanted to make the old horse get it Or you could buy a real fancy one Interviewer: Oh 678: You could also so buy a With the buggies that had tops on them Tops would let down see kind of #1 Like a # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Convertible #1 Car # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: {NW} But if the weather threatened you why And you was lucky you You you'd get the top up in time to Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And put side curtains up and they also had one that hung down from the top Out over the dashboard with a little slot in for the Ho- Lines Interviewer: Oh 678: Horse lines Interviewer: #1 For the horse lines # 678: #2 Come through # Mm-hmm #1 And you could # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: And a little That's the first cellophane I ever saw Was in one of those things A little Hole about S- That wide and so forth that {NW} #1 Peep through and drive # Interviewer: #2 And you could look # 678: #1 That threw a horse # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: {D: get way see} Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: But {NW} Uh You know it's kind of like a #1 If you had you a buggy with a # Interviewer: #2 You're really good at describing # 678: Pardon Interviewer: You're good at describing things I can I think when you describe things I can see them though #1 I really it's you # 678: #2 Yeah the the # Interviewer: #1 You're good at that # 678: #2 The horse # The buggy whip the top and the side curtains and And the lap rope in front Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh Was sort of in the Cadillac style Interviewer: #1 Oh # 678: #2 See # Interviewer: Right like it being like 678: And you also had lap ropes uh very uh elaborate very fancy Uh Made out of heavy felt or heavy That you Placed over your feet in cold weather see And we even wised up in later years And found out that uh By putting this lap rope up over the Dashboard and over your Person {NW} Then you could set a lantern down in there And it would heat you up just like a car heats you up now see Interviewer: Oh 678: So they weren't too dumb back then you know #1 They was learning # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 Yeah they had # They had all the angles figured out 678: {NW} #1 Just as # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Modern as to- is today's airplane #1 For # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: For the time you know {X} Interviewer: Well uh like when you were a a child going to the store uh if you bought candy at the store what would the grocer probably put it in 678: Little brown paper sack and he had the Handed the candy out I remember the largest store we had he had his candy counter About as long as from here to that chair Interviewer: Uh-huh mm-hmm 678: And he had uh Pans Probably this wide And so deep And that long about as long as the old time counters Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they were set up on an angle you'd walk up here and look through this glass and pick out the candy you wanted Interviewer: Oh 678: And he'd ea- reach in there with his dirty hands #1 And pick a # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: #1 Pick up the candy you selected and # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: {X} You'd buy a nickel's worth of candy and you'd get Uh You'd get more candy than two people could eat Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: For a nickel Interviewer: For a nickel 678: Peppermint sticks Interviewer: Mm 678: Or these big old chocolate drops you know like {NW} They didn't have the variety I remember the first bar of candy #1 That I ever saw # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Um did you ever need a bag called a paper sack or paper tote 678: Oh yeah Lots of them called it that Just like when they say {NW} Lot of people uh when they refer to Picking up something and carrying it #1 They say # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: Tote it Interviewer: Oh 678: Especially out of Mississippi and Alabama and #1 Georgia # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Mm-hmm 678: Say tote Interviewer: Tote 678: I I use it a whole lot Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: {NW} Uh Because {NW} Well it gets the job done better Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Just like in In writing Uh You Highway you you abbreviate it H.I. Interviewer: #1 Mm-hmm # 678: #2 See # Interviewer: #1 Mm-hmm # 678: #2 Yeah # Tote It it gets to the point Interviewer: #1 To the point quicker # 678: #2 Quicker see # Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Say pick that up #1 Yonder see # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: {NW} And {NS} I found out that I use it a whole lot Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I don't know if it's correct or not uh there is a word tote in #1 The dictionary but # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm sure # 678: {NW} But uh We used to make uh sort of light of the Mississippians and Alabamans #1 And Georgians # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Who would say 678: Who have been here for You know for using that word Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they used thar Thar #1 For there # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: We still have people {NW} I had a man here this morning seventy-eight year old and he still says thar We have a lot of people Interviewer: Where is he from 678: {NW} He's from {NW} Either Georgia #1 Or Alabama # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: But uh we have people that moved in here from Mississippi years and years ago and Alabama especially Alabama Interviewer: Especially Alabama 678: Use the word thar Interviewer: Huh that's interesting #1 Um # 678: #2 And # You-ins Interviewer: And you-ins 678: "Wins" Interviewer: Oh 678: And "yens" Interviewer: Oh 678: Why don't yens go with us Interviewer: Why don't yens instead of why don't 678: You Interviewer: Instead of why don't you or why don't 678: #1 Or # Interviewer: #2 Y'all # 678: He was speaking in plural #1 Like # Interviewer: #2 In plural # 678: You and I Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh I might say why don't you guys or you fellas if I was from up north I would say yous Interviewer: #1 Yous # 678: #2 Guys # Interviewer: Guys 678: #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: I'd say why don't you folks go along with us Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And they would say "why don't yens go with us" Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And if they were speaking of more than two say what you-ins doing Interviewer: #1 Oh # 678: #2 See # And they'd even say we-ins Interviewer: Uh-huh oh we-ins 678: Yeah we-ins Interviewer: Huh 678: When we-ins Interviewer: #1 And you could always # 678: #2 {X} # Interviewer: Tell that that would be somebody from 678: {NW} Interviewer: Some other 678: Seldom did Arkansasers #1 Use it # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: It was uh {NW} Mississippians and like I said more Uh #1 I I feel like # Interviewer: #2 Alabama # 678: Mississippi was uh {NW} Farther advanced {X} That stage Than Alabama Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Undoubtedly {NW} This country was settled By {NW} Sort of like our our nation it was settled by foreigners far as we're #1 Concerned # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: There was Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Tennesseans and Mississippians and #1 Alabamans # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} And uh Georgians Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And of course a few from Texas and Missouri #1 Around but # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: You could tell the difference Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Distinct #1 Difference # Interviewer: #2 Hmm # That's really interesting 678: We had one old guy that We had a lot of people here from Sharp County Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh Interviewer: {D: running within} 678: And uh {NW} We had uh what we called a character every town has #1 Someone you know # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # {NW} 678: And he wouldn't want to offend anyone so he'd always put himself in when he was making light of Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh {NW} They used to call the church of Christ people Carmelites you know Interviewer: Oh I didn't know that 678: {NW} Yeah oh they resent it bitterly Interviewer: Oh 678: And we had a lot of bitterweeds in this country {NW} So this old guy that I'm referring to he'd stand out on the street one day and {NW} And uh He said well he said it looks like it uh Sharp Countians Carmelites bitterweeds are going to take this place yet Interviewer: Oh 678: That was about the time they built the church of Christ stirring up a big uh Well trying to get members you know And the bitterweeds all over our pasture out there and {NW} He's And he had the he had the Mississippians in there too but he had to put the Sharp Countians because that's where he #1 Was from see # Interviewer: #2 Because that's where he was uh-huh # 678: Keep someone from whipping him Interviewer: From whipping him {NW} that's funny {NW} 678: During the early part of this uh {NW} I may have referred to it in my writings here that {NW} They done a lot of uh moonshining down in Alabama Interviewer: Oh 678: And when they when prohibition came along and they {NS} Revenue men got after them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh rather than go to the penitentiary they'd just leave the state And Arkansas's where they would Interviewer: #1 Oh and they would come to Arkans- # 678: #2 They you know # If anyone had a relative here or a friend {NS} This is where they would go {NS} You know if they had a friend at Osceola that's where they would go see Interviewer: Oh 678: But if someone had a friend or a relative here {NW} This is where they'd go and lots of times {NS} They would wire ahead and when they'd get off of the train here the officers would arrest them Interviewer: Oh really 678: #1 And and I've even # Interviewer: #2 And they'd know that they were # Were coming 678: #1 Yeah I've even # Interviewer: #2 Here # 678: Seen them Jump them and run them just like rabbits dogs after rabbits {NW} They'd get off the train and {NW} At night {NS} And uh The officers would Be there and these fellas get off the train running in a strange town and a strange country they didn't know where they was Run over everything Interviewer: Oh 678: Lot of history went along back then Interviewer: Well I didn't and uh so they would just come here rather the moonshiners 678: Come here and start a new life Interviewer: Huh 678: And some of them uh You know turn in to be good people Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Good people {NW} Oh all was wrong with them really was they was making whiskey for a #1 Living # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: And they resented the U.S. government #1 Meddling just like uh # Interviewer: #2 T-telling # 678: Just like uh People resented the The bill of rights or the #1 The the # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Integration #1 Thing # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh uh-huh 678: Uh it it changed their way of life Interviewer: Uh-huh anything that would change I #1 See what you mean just # 678: #2 That's right # Interviewer: Changing their way #1 Of life # 678: #2 Their way of life and # {NW} Rather than to face a {NW} A term in a penitentiary they'd just get out Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And and come here and we've got people {NW} Uh Living all over this town now and country from Alabama and #1 Mississippi that # Interviewer: #2 Huh # 678: {NW} Uh Their forefathers weren't the best in the world in fact we've got a man on the school board right here that his daddy was {NW} Run out of Alabama for making whiskey #1 His granddaddy # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: #1 Not his daddy # Interviewer: #2 His granddaddy # 678: Granddaddy Interviewer: Yeah 678: And he's a and he's a very reputable citizen Interviewer: Hmm that is I am so interested in all of this you have really got a good memory for things um oh Back to the the sacks and things we were talking about before um what would flour come in when people bought 678: Flour sacks just uh {NW} Thin Cotton Fabric of a sort Interviewer: It was a c- fabric 678: And uh They {NW} There was several uses one one is uh someone would print a {NS} Pretty design Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: That was watered fast Interviewer: Oh it would do 678: And uh the women used those for Pillow cushion Covers Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Or or a lot of little ornamental things Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: When those that uh That didn't have the Flowers on them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: They used for their dish cloths {NW} Their their drying cloths Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And even their dish rags Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And baby diapers Interviewer: And baby #1 Diapers # 678: #2 Yeah # And and to make the little baby {NS} Clothes I remember when Wally here #1 Was born # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Yeah 678: It was in uh in nineteen thirty And uh All the little dresses he had was made out of flour sacks Interviewer: Really 678: But real fancied up #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Fancied up # 678: My wife would uh Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: What is called hem stitching Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: If you you I {X} They put a little hem around it and Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh {NW} Little work around the collar looked real pretty you know but it's made out of flour sacks Interviewer: Well isn't that 678: {X} Diapers {NS} Interviewer: Well what about meal what would #1 Meal come in # 678: #2 Same thing # Interviewer: Yeah #1 Same exact thing # 678: #2 Same thing # Interviewer: Well now did you have to carry corn to the 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: To the mill to get it #1 Ground # 678: #2 That's right # We did {NW} Interviewer: Did 678: We had uh {NW} {D: rest mills} Here and we We would take our {NW} You know what they called it Interviewer: Uh-uh 678: A turn of corn Interviewer: A turn of corn #1 Is that what they called it I was gonna ask you about that # 678: #2 Mm-hmm yeah it's a {X} # It's uh I've got to take a turn of Interviewer: Turn would be the amount you take at #1 One time # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Now why they call it that I don't #1 Know # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 That's funny # 678: But {NW} We even had a corn #1 Oh excuse me # Interviewer: #2 Oh that's okay it didn't # Oh you didn't hurt 678: We had a Interviewer: It's #1 It didn't do anything # 678: #2 We had a corn cellar # We was one of the modern boys we had a big old corn cellar that we could {NS} Turn a crank and Put these ears of corn in there and {NW} Uh we could shell our corn in Oh golly in Twenty or thirty minutes #1 All we needed # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: For Oh two or three weeks at a time Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And now when you had and sat the whole family down and shell that corn by hand {NW} #1 You'd have some blisters along here because that corn # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh oh yeah # 678: Was tough Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: A lot of families shelled it {NW} Why it'd take them hours #1 To shell # Interviewer: #2 Mm # 678: Enough corn #1 To # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Select good corn and shell enough {NW} To make enough meal to run them {NW} Well some of them went to the mill every week but some would go every two or three or four weeks {NW} And back Back then Uh most of the families you eat cornbread twice a day Interviewer: Oh 678: They'd eat biscuits for breakfast {NW} And uh I know I'd eat so much when I was a kid uh And I love biscuits #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} We could have afforded biscuits but it was a way of life That you ate biscuits for breakfast Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And cornbread for l- lunch and #1 Your afternoon # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Meal and {NW} My mama would make cornbread that thick Interviewer: Mm 678: Real good Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh then I went through a period that I didn't even want any cornbread #1 After that # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: #1 Uh it was a # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: #1 Transition you know I uh # Interviewer: #2 Right # 678: I think it was a little bit of a Uh I didn't look on it that way then but looking back now {X} It it was a little bit of a resentment {NW} Because I wanted to eat more biscuits Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Less cornbread Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And it's a little bit of a {NW} Like children do now #1 Resenting the # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: #1 Establishment you see # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: #1 The way the way that they do # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh uh-huh # The way that they 678: But I didn't realize it because I never {NW} I never sassed my daddy or mother the first time Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} And someone said well I don't see how you kept from it I said well there's several reasons {NW} One is {NS} They never put anything on me that I couldn't or shouldn't do Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: They never asked me to do anything that was unreasonable Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And I said I loved them too much to sass them and respected them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I said I held my daddy in awe he was a #1 Supreme # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} Ruler far as I was #1 Concerned # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} And I said my mother was my protection Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: I said she was the one that during I hurt my finger I went #1 To her and got up # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Against her apron and cried Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 And she'd pat my head and # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: {NW} Go doctor it {NS} And my dad was {D: tall work} And I looked onto him for the strong side Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And I said uh I never I never thought of sassing him Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I said there had been times when I would reach that uh Adolescent age that I didn't always agree with them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And and I would question in my own mind well {NW} Well for instance if I was going to one of these old square dances {X} And uh {NW} Had already been to about three that week my dad Said my son You better slow down now you you've gone too many I I'd ask him to say well why what Why What difference would it make Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But it did make a difference because He wanted to {NW} Let me know that there was rules and regulations Discipline In that house Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And that he was the one sets the rules Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Later on {NW} {X} This son here of mine he {NW} Uh when one of his children would ask him uh A question He would uh he would always get them around in front of him and Explain this #1 To them # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: And Asked them did they understand it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And as a result he he found out his whole k- all the kids would {D: gang around} Listening Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And they had an understanding Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: He'd tell them why Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Why you can't do this or why you shouldn't do that Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} Of course like he said the other day he's got one girl that hasn't uh {X} Strictly adhered to that she's kind of a wild one Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh I don't think anything unusual but Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Not the {NW} Uh {NW} Petite easy going #1 Kind that uh # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Some of the others #1 Are # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: And But uh the first thing that {NS} To make a home go good is that uh There must be some respect there Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And someone in anything you go has got to be the boss Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: If you want to use that #1 Word I # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NS} I supervised work {NS} Forty years in factories and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh people would call me boss or or refer to me as boss I said well I don't like to be called boss And well why I said because I That sound like that I've got the final say Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And and I said I I'm always open to suggestions And uh gripes and so forth and we'll talk about it and I'll think it over and {NW} I said I'd rather be Called your supervisor Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh {NW} Because I do supervise your work and {NS} And instruct you and I said I never did like the word boss Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: If I were to use it {NW} Uh {NS} You know in uh One sense like uh say well the boss uh won't allow me to do this out in the other that's different but Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Just to say hey boss how about so and so Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I never did like #1 That a # Interviewer: #2 Not too # 678: Lot of people would feel bigotry about it #1 Being called boss but # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # 678: {NW} {NW} It always made me feel like that Uh I was on one pedestal and #1 They were on another # Interviewer: #2 They were on another # Mm-hmm 678: In effect you are Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Except there's a leveling place to where you've got to understand your people and they've got to understand you {NS} Interviewer: Um 678: That's maybe off the subject Interviewer: Oh well it was interesting I I always get um did you have to carry wood into the house 678: Yeah #1 From the old wood box # Interviewer: #2 From the back # A wood box well now if you were talking about the amount of wood you could carry your arms at one time you'd say that'd be one arm 678: Arm load yeah Interviewer: An arm load uh how about uh did did you ever uh well talk about people who carried wood from one place to another who picked it up one place dropped it off at another place Uh how would they measure that how was m- wood measured 678: {NW} You mean if you was buying it #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 Yeah mm-hmm # 678: It was measured by {NW} Some of them called it a rick Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Some called it a rank Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: Uh which is right I don't know but a rick {NW} Is four foot When you put two posts eight foot apart {NS} Interviewer: #1 That's okay # 678: #2 And uh # {NS} {X} Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Layer it in there Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Four foot high {NW} That's uh four By eight now a cord Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: It's four by sixteen Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: See Interviewer: Well now if people were carrying wood from one place to another did they like in wagon did they speak of that as hauling wood 678: Yeah And and the #1 Reason # Interviewer: #2 They'd say # They'd say they were 678: Hauling wood Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And the reason for the size the four by eight Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Is because the average wagon bed Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well the average length wood uh what we call cooking wood Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Oh you could just throw it in there and one wagon bed would haul Would hold a four by eight Interviewer: {X} 678: So if Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: If the people you were selling wood to trusted you {NS} You could go up there and Say well I've got a load of wood here and they say well is there a rick yeah this bed holds a rick Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Someone would uh stack it up measure it on #1 You see # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Well if they found out that Of course I always wanted I always tried to give them full measure #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NS} I was selling wood and uh maybe they'd rick it up by they never pushed #1 It after that # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: They knew my wagon #1 They knew how # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Full it was Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: When I'd give out longer wood Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Then you've got to rick it into your wagon Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And get your wagon full Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And end up {NW} The heater wood was {NW} Would never Seldom exceed uh {NW} Thirty-two inches And you could get a rick of wood in your wagon bed by lay- by Layering it in #1 Ricking it in # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: {NW} But then when you get into what they call a cord of wood Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: You ever hear of that Interviewer: No I 678: That's what they burn in cotton gins Interviewer: Oh that's what they burn in cotton gins 678: And uh it was four foot long Interviewer: Uh-huh mm-hmm 678: And you would haul it on the {NW} You'd have a frame on your wagon with Two big standers on each end and {NW} You'd just rick it on that wagon until you've got it {X} All of the team could pull Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Take a chain bring back {NS} {D: boon it} Down Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Go the gin with it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And it was sold by cords #1 Of eight uh # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NS} Uh sixteen Cross and #1 Four high # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # 678: {NW} We got {NW} That's the way my dad and my brother and I would make a lot of money during the summer Was uh we would clear up land {NW} And we'd get twelve dollars and half an acre for clearing it and if you was to depend on that you'd starve to death Interviewer: {NW} 678: But out of that we would get {NW} Our winter's wood Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Both cooking and heating Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} We would sell a lot of wood uh Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh cooking wood and heater wood {NW} And we might sell A hundred ricks Or a hundred cords Of gin wood Uh which we would give three dollars a cord for that's three hundred dollars {NS} Lots of money back then between crops three hundred dollars worth Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Some people wouldn't make a hundred dollars between crops {NW} And then {NW} My dad was of the old school and he would make cross ties And sell to the railroad Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {X} Some of these things {NW} So we had seven several avenues of uh income of a acre of land Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We'd even have uh {D: We'd find some} {NW} Logs of course they'd this this land it had been timbered off Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {X} Occasion they would leave a nice tree Interviewer: #1 Mm-hmm # 678: #2 If they # Did we could saw logs out of that Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So we sold saw logs for lumber or we'd haul them to the mill {NW} Have the lumber cut {NS} And we'd store it at our home and sell people lumber that'd come by But we had the logs The gin wood the home wood the domestic wood And the cross ties Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: See #1 In the first post we'd make fifth post # Interviewer: #2 Oh you mean uh-huh and the fifth post too # 678: Right across from mulberry and sassafras Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Which doesn't rot soon #1 Or we would # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Make fence posts And we'd sell those and work ten to fifteen Cents a post Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And off of an acre of land we might make uh {NS} Five hundred dollars {NS} Instead of twelve an hour Interviewer: So right just from all those other 678: #1 A lot of people # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: That weren't good managers would take that acre of land and {NW} Cut their winter's wood and And cut all the rest of it and bring it up Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Stack it up in huge piles and try to burn it and would starve to death doing it Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: {NW} Interviewer: #1 They didn't know how to manage # 678: #2 {D: We were making more} # Didn't know how to manage {NW} Interviewer: Well 678: My dad was a manager and {NW} From the day I can remember when he'd tell my brother and I to Go out here and do some work {X} He didn't come out to see if we were doing that job right he knew we was Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Because he had taught us how to do this How to do that we would ask questions {NW} And uh {X} When he sent us to build a fence He'd say I want you to go build a fence in a certain place in a certain place Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We knew that he meant that fence would be built straight Just as straight as a rifle to shoot if possible Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And each post level Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We hadn't our farm was Surrounded with fence and every post at the same #1 Level # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Pastures the same way Interviewer: Mm-hmm hmm 678: Had to take it along and it did {X} Haphazard Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Um when they would carry the washing out to hang it on the line what would they carry it out in usually 678: Ah well I'm not sure Interviewer: {NW} 678: I would imagine Uh it'd seem to me like my mother used a little tub Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: A little zinc tub Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Didn't have hampers or anything back then Interviewer: They didn't already have that basket 678: No no baskets Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {X} {NW} Maybe they would have one of these old woven baskets #1 Like you see made up in the # Interviewer: #2 Yeah uh-huh # 678: Mountains a few of them use those but my mama {NW} Uh she would Wash them out and wring them out and hang them on a line like the old s- song which you know but {NW} Uh she would when she'd get them wrung out she'd put them in this little tub Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And of course I was heavy #1 Wet clothes you know and hard on women # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm oh yeah mm-hmm # 678: But that's what she would use and I remember when I as a child seeing here Start her washing {X} Before we would leave for school Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: In the winter it was pretty early Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: My brother and I would pump this water up Get it in the old iron kettle and start the fire and have water get hot {NW} As soon as she got us off to school she'd start washing on this rub board Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And she'd be rubbing when we got back Interviewer: Hmm 678: All day long and and the deal when you had hard hands The women had to work To wash their dirty #1 Clothes # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Which is so unfair you know Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And {NW} I can remember Wishing it was yet to be some way easier to do that washing Interviewer: Than that #1 {NW} # 678: #2 And uh # I'd be so sorry for my mama and And would help her a whole lot And then I'd get looking through old catalogs and I I began to see Why you could order Uh {NS} Washers you know {X} One of them was an old {NW} Kind like an old {X} Used to be hand- handles on each side and you'd just push it {X} Round bottom tub didn't {NW} Kind of like a washboard itself Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I thought well if I ever accumulate enough money on my own I'm gonna buy her one of #1 Those # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} But I didn't and {C: tape slowing} Then when {C: tape slowing} {X} After I got married and bought my wife a washer {C: tape slowing} My dad {C: tape slowing} Only then bought my wi- uh my mother a washer {C: tape slowing} Interviewer: Oh {C: tape slowing} 678: That must have been in nine {C: tape slowing} {X} Interviewer: Sixty-five percent huh um oh Louise was telling me the other night y'all stayed up until one-thirty in the morning 678: Chill peas Interviewer: Chilling peas #1 I can't believe that # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: {X} Oh goodness I got a kick out of that I'm trying to picture you was it {NW} 678: My fingers so sore {X} Black Interviewer: Yes 678: That stuff won't hardly come off and I told her last night I said I didn't have sense enough to {X} #1 Some for # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: {X} Interviewer: {NW} 678: Just a sore like you'd hit it Interviewer: {NW} Well it's a lot of peas to share them 678: {X} Interviewer: Oh now back to that piece of chicken that you 678: That pully-bone #1 You mean # Interviewer: #2 Pully-bone yeah # Now why was it that they wanted to do that what was the 678: Oh it's an old saying an old superstitious idea that you break the pully-bone and uh Want to get the shorter end uh Make Can make a wish and it'll come true Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: That's Interviewer: And that's the one that got the shorter end Would make the wish 678: Could make a wish and come true Interviewer: Uh-huh um what would you like the inside of a chicken like liver and heart and gizzard the parts that you can eat you call it chicken 678: You mean uh the liver Interviewer: Yeah if you were talking about the liver and the gizzard and the heart the things that you can eat you'd say it's you'd be talking about the chicken 678: {X} Interviewer: Innards maybe or would that be a word people would have used 678: I never did use it Interviewer: Did people eat the the Liver and stuff 678: Oh yes used to you'd buy Interviewer: How about on a hog wh- 678: Liver livers are rare you know you buy chicken livers If you can get them Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Lot {NW} Lots of people especially if you was Right out of the hospital and you'd have stomach problems why #1 Chicken liver # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: #1 Was real # Interviewer: #2 I didn't know that # 678: And the gizzard you gotta have good teeth #1 To eat that # Interviewer: #2 To eat that # 678: #1 And the heart it's # Interviewer: #2 And the heart # Well how about on a hog what uh would they eat on the inside of a hog 678: The The three things Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And and I eat I ate {NS} Some of the liver the lights and the kidneys Interviewer: The liver the light 678: I never could stand to even think about eating the lights because they're actually the lungs Interviewer: Oh is that what that is #1 That's # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: The lungs 678: And then I couldn't think of kidneys simply because they were kidneys #1 And what went through them # Interviewer: #2 Oh # {NW} 678: #1 And I over # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: {X} #1 On liver # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: When I was about twelve or thirteen year old until this day I won't eat hog liver Interviewer: Oh 678: But I don't see how anyone could eat {NS} Uh {NS} Hog kidneys {NS} Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they even castrate hogs you need to cut their Nuts if that's what #1 Oh really they eat that too # Interviewer: #2 Yeah yeah # 678: And they say they're fine I said thanks Interviewer: {NW} 678: #1 I couldn't stand it # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # No thanks thanks but no thanks 678: I might get hungry enough to but Interviewer: Oh #1 Goodness # 678: #2 The thoughts # Of it Interviewer: #1 Oh I can't believe that # 678: #2 Some of them call them kernels # But uh Interviewer: Oh they call them kernels #1 I never heard that # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: You ever heard of oh excuse me have you ever heard of anything called the melt on the inside of a 678: Yeah I forgot that it's a long strip looks like a tongue Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: #1 And they did melt # Interviewer: #2 What's it called now I'm not # Melt okay 678: It's about so long and So wide and not uh Well not any thicker than this pencil #1 Just # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Looks like a tongue #1 When you cut it # Interviewer: #2 Like a tongue # 678: Mm-hmm but it's the color of liver Interviewer: Oh it's the color of liver do people eat that 678: Oh yeah And I couldn't stand that either Interviewer: {NW} 678: #1 So I don't eat # Interviewer: #2 How about # 678: Any of the inner part of the hogs except the brains #1 That's good # Interviewer: #2 Except the brain # 678: I like brains and eggs Interviewer: Brains and eggs #1 I've # 678: #2 Uh-huh # Interviewer: Never had that I've heard of that 678: It's good #1 I like it # Interviewer: #2 And uh # But I've never tried it I've heard people talk about it um how about the intestines do you know 678: People people eat those or to make chitterlings Interviewer: Oh chit- #1 Uh-huh # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Oh and down in Mississippi they really {X} Go for them Interviewer: Oh do they 678: Yeah they go for lots of chitterlings Interviewer: Oh 678: But and they'll eat the hog feet and hog ears and hog tail Pickle pickle the feet Interviewer: Oh 678: They're they're pretty good I eat some feet occasionally Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But I never could stand the ears because their old ear is so dirty you know #1 Before you # Interviewer: #2 Ew # 678: Before you clean them I never could stand Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Never could I never could believe that they could get them #1 That clean # Interviewer: #2 They could yeah # 678: But the feet I had cleaned the feet and I know you cut you scald them and you cut the toenails off and they really come clean Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But the tail I wouldn't eat it because it's too close to some other #1 Parts # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # The tail #1 I can't believe I can't even imagine that # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Goodness um what now with the time to feed your stock and everything you'd say you it's 678: {NW} It's feeding time {NW} Interviewer: How about if people were calling cows in from the pasture how would they call them 678: Mm. {NS} Well now they used many different {NS} Tones that uh They'd they'd just tell us to go call the cows in and Interviewer: How would you call them 678: I don't really remember uh The pigs you know we'd holler piggy piggy Cows we'd say sooey sooey Interviewer: Oh 678: But it's all goes back to the way you train them #1 You can say {X} # Interviewer: #2 Oh the way you train them # 678: To the hogs they'd come just as quick #1 If you train them that way # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Uh-huh mm-hmm 678: Or Now you could call piggy #1 Piggy # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: #1 And then it would be feeding time # Interviewer: #2 If you train # Oh 678: Same way with a Did you know they train catfish in these fish ponds to come to eat by a #1 Bell # Interviewer: #2 No # 678: #1 # Interviewer: #2 # #1 No # 678: #2 That's right # They They've got a certain place they #1 Feed them fish # Interviewer: #2 I never heard that # I never heard 678: {NW} And uh The certain and when they put the feed in there they ring the bell Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh They can ring that bell say they feed at four o clock Interviewer: Yeah 678: Uh Visitors are there they'd ring the bell at three o clock and you'd see those fish starting over there the waves flying And they always feed them because they don't want they want them to know that bell is time to eat Interviewer: Oh 678: So they just make it a A exhibition and to call them at twelve o clock they'll feed them #1 Something # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh they'll feed them # 678: But they train those fish to come {NW} Feeding time by the bell Interviewer: #1 Isn't that something I never heard I didn't know I didn't know fish could hear like that # 678: #2 {NW} # Well I didn't either but they sure do it Interviewer: They hear the 678: So they will respond to Interviewer: So the cow would uh whatever if they heard what they thought 678: Was a call Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Uh now when my horse is out in the lot why I just called them by name Interviewer: Oh you just called #1 Them by name # 678: #2 Just Mike # Or Pearl or I'd say hey Mike Mike and he'd pick up to hear then come here come here When you train them ordinarily {NW} Well you might give them a little niblet of sugar or something see Or you might pet them they like to be petted you know rub them under the Neck And uh but you can train them to Say Come here by their name #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Or a lot of them will whistle But when you whistle if you train them by whistle then you You might whistle and and three or four different ones would respond #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: #1 Because that's their call # Interviewer: #2 I see # Uh-huh 678: But I always called mine the ones that I could train to come by their name Interviewer: And they would know their own 678: #1 Yes sir # Interviewer: #2 Name # 678: They would know their name And Go out in the lot I had one mare that was named Pearl and Their their ears were very sensitive Anything with hair in their ears #1 Is very sensitive # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: And I'd say Pearl She'd move that one ear you know and I'd holler hey Pearl Prick up her ears and Look around Come here She'd always Interviewer: {NW} 678: Come on up there Interviewer: That's really something 678: And I had one horse that uh Never would come by his Name And he didn't like to be bridled. Put the bridle on him. Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} But when you'd Start out in the lot with a bridle he'd always go to the far corner of the horse lot And he wouldn't run he'd go there And wait for you And if you didn't uh handle him a certain way he'd he'd {X} and run Interviewer: Oh 678: We learned to put our hand under his Under here and put it on the far side of his head Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And he'd always turn lean his head into that hand #1 Then you could bridle him # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: But if he didn't feel that hand he'd whirl and might even kick you when you #1 Up see # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Goodness 678: #1 So they're they're different # Interviewer: #2 {D: Where did you learn so much about} # 678: Kind of like humans though Interviewer: #1 Yeah animals would be # 678: #2 {X} # Interviewer: Different #1 Well how about if # 678: #2 {X} # Interviewer: You were wanted a cow to stand still while you were milking it what would you say to the 678: Saw. Interviewer: Oh 678: That was the word they used. Saw. #1 Before they # Interviewer: #2 Well if you # 678: Got her {X} I don't know I wonder where Interviewer: #1 They got that # 678: #2 But I don't think # It had much effect Interviewer: You don't think it had #1 Much effect # 678: #2 Nuh-uh # Interviewer: {NW} 678: They'd still kick you some of them Interviewer: {NW} 678: But we said it anyhow Interviewer: Huh 678: They'd get burrs on their tail #1 And whip their # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Tail and hit you in the face with it Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: While he's milking Interviewer: Huh 678: Hurt Interviewer: That is uh what about calling a calf how would they call a calf 678: Calf Interviewer: Uh-huh just the same way 678: Yeah I just I generally call her Well uh we never I just couldn't honestly say that we ever called calves #1 Because we # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: We uh Interviewer: They'd just come #1 When you called the # 678: #2 Well we'd uh # We kept them separate from the milk cow and #1 And he was always # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Ready when you'd #1 To to # Interviewer: #2 Oh # {NW} 678: #1 Nurse his mother you know and # Interviewer: #2 Get right right # 678: When we Got her in ready to Why he was there ready We'd open the gate and he'd run in there and uh we'd let him have what we thought as his portion of it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Generally we'd stand there and keep him away from Uh maybe give him one tit #1 You see to suck or # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # 678: #1 Maybe maybe # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Two depending on how much the cow gave #1 If she was a # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: Free milker #1 One would # Interviewer: #2 If she gave a lot of milk # 678: Yeah one would do it Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh we'd just keep him knocked off of the others Or just put our hand up there and let him have the one Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But if taken two well we'd let him have one front one rear To kind of divide it up Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And we got through well we pulled him off put him Back in Through another door see But far as calling them I don't remember You know what we would call them or how Didn't have to call them they was there ready Interviewer: They was yeah well now if you were plowing with uh mules or horses what would you say to them to get them to turn left and right 678: You uh Turn them right you say gee Interviewer: That'd be right 678: And you turn them left you say haw Just that simple and they learned it too Interviewer: And they learned it well how about if you wanted the horses uh if you wanted to urge a horse on 678: Get up. Get up. Interviewer: Well now would you would that be when he's already moving or when he's staying #1 Still # 678: #2 Either way # Interviewer: Either way 678: It's it's a it's a command uh get up For him to move and if he's not moving fast enough you get a little louder and a little firmer Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And then might have to #1 Tap him with a whip # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # How about if you wanted him to stop 678: Just say whoa he knows what that Interviewer: And he'd know that 678: #1 He # Interviewer: #2 Too # 678: knows what that means Interviewer: How about was there anything you'd say if you wanted him to back up 678: Just tell him back up Interviewer: #1 You'd say back up # 678: #2 Back up # I used to tease my horses and I'd say Oh me You know and they'd just stop #1 All of sudden I said # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: You didn't hear me #1 And man they'd start out see # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: {NW} #1 But anything # Interviewer: #2 That's funny # 678: That sounded like whoa Just stopped right then especially if they're tired you know Interviewer: {NW} 678: And more so with mules #1 You know in fact you know I class # Interviewer: #2 Oh even more so with # 678: Mules more like niggers you know Interviewer: Oh #1 Mules # 678: #2 Yeah # They had they they're lot like uh Handling mules Because uh {NW} {X} Comparatively like uh handling a nigger and a horse to a white person Interviewer: #1 Oh really # 678: #2 Yeah # With their intellect and everything Interviewer: Oh 678: Mules are always ready to kick you Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Or to hit you with their head Or run a- run away Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: If they if they think they can get back with it see Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Or to walk slow Unless you prod them It's a just a whole lot like working niggers Interviewer: Huh 678: Mules are Interviewer: I didn't realize working mules and horses was that different 678: Yeah oh that's why I always like to keep horses because they They would take training better and Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Would respond quicker and I just like to work horses Interviewer: How about if people 678: I've had good mules Interviewer: #1 Oh you have # 678: #2 Yeah # Good real good mules but You get a few that's like some of these Burr headed colored people they're just obstinate is all You know Interviewer: Oh that's really interesting I didn't realize they were that much different 678: That goes to show you what mules will do And I never had a horse do that you'd have a {NW} And going down to the Field now we were speaking a while ago of the lanes that led in #1 The fields # Interviewer: #2 Yes # Uh-huh 678: Well when you get into the field you have what you call a turn row Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: #1 You might # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: You might have rows of corn Running here see Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And rows of cotton running here Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well you couldn't plow it all with the same Plow so you would plow the cotton and you would turn here and go #1 Back see # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: That was your turn row Interviewer: Turn row 678: Well {NW} When you plow out to this turn row these mules have got to go far enough out Let your cultivator wind up here and plow the end Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And then they turn But come close to eleven thirty Working mules They'll get to where They'll turn when their head gets here Interviewer: #1 Oh really # 678: #2 If they don't want you # They'll start Fudging see Interviewer: #1 How come at eleven thirty # 678: #2 They got sense enough to # {NW} Well that's getting close to eating time Interviewer: Oh oh oh 678: And I've had mules just start braying uh horses neigh but mule mules they bray Interviewer: Bray 678: {NW} You know {X} Interviewer: Ah 678: But about eleven thirty they'll throw their head around you'd see their eye #1 Shining # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: They wanting to know if it's about time to eat see Interviewer: #1 Oh # 678: #2 Horses # Never Have that problem Never But mules I've worked lots of them that wouldn't They wouldn't take your cultivator out there in the row they'd start grumping back a little bit each time Until they'd start turning when their head got there See they thought they was hurrying that job up Or hurrying noon up Interviewer: {NW} 678: And then about eleven thirty they'd bray Interviewer: #1 And they'd know when it'd be half past eleven # 678: #2 And not all of them but just occasionally # You'd have one to do that And he knew it was time to eat And he'd just be dragging on you'd have to put the whip to him every once in a while Interviewer: Oh 678: And put the whip to him about eleven thirty But now when you turned him out and start him down this turn row toward the barn You'd have to jump on the cultivator and ride because he'd walk so fast you couldn't keep up with him Interviewer: Oh 678: See The horses wouldn't do that #1 They'd use the same gate # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Going to the barn as they use in plowing But now these mules #1 You can believe # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: They were sharp in a dumb way see Interviewer: #1 {NW} That's funny # 678: #2 {NW} # {NW} Interviewer: Now how would people call chickens at feeding time 678: Chicky chicky chicky Interviewer: Have you ever heard anybody call a sheep you know how they call sheep 678: I've never I've never had any deals with sheep Interviewer: Yeah they probably didn't even have sheep around here I guess 678: Just a few {NW} More of a novelty then Interviewer: Mm-hmm now if you were plowing with uh uh uh with uh mules or horses what would you call what you hold in your hand 678: {NW} Well Interviewer: That you got them with 678: That you got them with Interviewer: Right 678: Them check lines Interviewer: Okay how about riding on horseback what would you 678: Reigns Interviewer: And on a on a saddle well what do you call the part you put your feet into 678: Stirrup Interviewer: Now if you were plowing with two horses uh what would call the one that walks in the furrow 678: {NW} Well he's a lead horse Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: That's what I always called them Interviewer: #1 That's you called them yeah # 678: #2 {NW} # Because he he did take the lead Interviewer: He would take the lead 678: And the other we called the off Interviewer: The off 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Oh 678: And he was not the leader Interviewer: Uh-huh um now if something like a house we were if I ask you where uh somebody lived and it wasn't just right next door but you might say but it's not very far it's just a little 678: Piece little piece most of the way {NW} Instead of saying a little a little ways down the road I've heard them say #1 Little piece down the # Interviewer: #2 Little piece # 678: Road Interviewer: How about if it if it was if it was uh somebody lived long distance you'd say yeah it's quite a 678: Quite a ways Interviewer: Quite a ways they'd probably say that uh 678: You know they don't use words especially like us #1 As much anymore # Interviewer: #2 No # They don't use like quite uh a little piece 678: #1 Little piece you'd say # Interviewer: #2 Like that # 678: Oh it's a {NW} They think in terms of blocks if they've been #1 City # Interviewer: #2 Oh I see # 678: People Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Or they'll say it's a half a quarter of a Mile Or a hundred yards or #1 So see # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh uh-huh # 678: They'd say it's a hundred yards or so If it's rural {NW} And if it goes beyond a hundred yards or so you would say well it's uh Approximately a quarter of a mile #1 See or # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: #1 A quarter of a mile which you know exactly see # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # 678: But they used to say oh it's uh little ways down there Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # #1 Well in the # 678: #2 {NW} To # To other side of that {X} Tree Interviewer: {NW} That tree over how would they say would the say the tree was over 678: Yeah Interviewer: Over there or over yonder #1 Would they # 678: #2 Uh # That's that's it's just a tub assigned to that {X} tree over yonder Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 {NW} # {NW} And they'd say oh we're invariably it'd be up down Or out #1 You know you know the # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: old expression is north is up you know that Interviewer: I was I was gonna #1 Ask you about that # 678: #2 West # West is Is uh out Interviewer: Is out 678: South is down and east is over Interviewer: No I didn't know that 678: It's expression. Interviewer: And if a person say lived some place north you'd say #1 They lived up # 678: #2 if they actually # Used the right expression they would say up north Interviewer: Up north 678: #1 Down south # Interviewer: #2 Down south # 678: #1 Out west # Interviewer: #2 West # 678: Or over east Interviewer: Over east 678: And same way with a clock {NW} #1 People don't know don't # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Don't know the expressions of a clock #1 When you take here # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: When this gets up to twelve Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: They would say oh it's always been an expression it's uh It's uh Straight up twelve o clock Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Because both hands are up Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: Now when it gets six o clock guess what Straight up and down Interviewer: Straight up and down 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Six o clock 678: Because both hands are Interviewer: Are are upright 678: #1 Up one up one down # Interviewer: #2 Up and down yeah # 678: Straight up and down six o clock or even up twelve Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: You'll still hear that expression Interviewer: Sometimes {NS} And and these people will look at their uh 678: Say it's twelve it's uh I've heard them I still hear them say what time you got it's even up twelve o clock #1 You never hear them # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: say it's even up three or four Interviewer: No no 678: Even at twelve o clock or What time you got Right now it's straight up and down six o clock Interviewer: That is Really interesting 678: Old sayings #1 You know and some of them are # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: #1 Still carried on # Interviewer: #2 uh-huh # {X} 678: And I use a lot of them just for the heck of it Interviewer: Uh-huh just to keep them keep them going 678: #1 Perpetuate them # Interviewer: #2 {X} # Yeah uh if something was real common and you didn't have to look for it in any special place you'd say well you can find that just about 678: Anywhere I reckon Interviewer: And if somebody slipped on the ice like that year the whole town froze over and if somebody slipped on the ice and fell this way you'd say they fell they fell this way #1 Say that # 678: #2 Backwards # Interviewer: And this way you'd say 678: Forwards Interviewer: Um if somebody apologizes for breaking something of yours you'd say well that's alright I didn't like it 678: Anyway Interviewer: And uh uh if there was a little child crying about something you might you might say what's wrong you say what so and so was eating candy and he didn't give me 678: Any Interviewer: Um have you ever heard the the this is another old expression people talking about something that might happen like uh let's say a spoiled child might have trouble like is not have you ever heard like is not 678: #1 Mm-hmm oh yes # Interviewer: #2 used in that way? # 678: I still hear it Interviewer: Oh you do am I using it the right way how would you how would they 678: That's the way Interviewer: They'd say uh 678: Like is not he'll do so and so Interviewer: Like is not he'll have uh-huh uh 678: Or you'll uh There's another old saying that uh Pertineer Interviewer: Pertineer 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Uh-huh do you still hear that 678: Mm-hmm oh but instead of saying oh They almost uh did so and so Interviewer: Yeah 678: say hey pertineer Interviewer: Oh 678: And you you hear another expression Louise laughs about Her step-daddy using it to Uh Say you was gonna you had done something and He'd say and maybe maybe it was Well if it was between right and wrong he said well that that's not far from wrong Interviewer: That's not far #1 From wrong # 678: #2 From wrong see # Interviewer: Oh 678: So uh really the expression that he was trying to say well you're almost right. Interviewer: You're almost right 678: But uh Interviewer: #1 But he said it the opposite sort of way # 678: #2 He'd say you're not far from wrong # Interviewer: #1 That's interesting # 678: #2 Far from wrong # Interviewer: Um well now when you're talking about plowing now you the the sort of the trenches that a plow cuts you call them the 678: Furrows Interviewer: Um now the second cutting of clover or grass do you know a name for that 678: The s- well just the second crop Interviewer: Second crop how about a name for the old dry dead grass left over on the ground {X} 678: Straw Interviewer: And what would you call a crop that's not planted it just comes up by itself 678: Volunteer Interviewer: Volunteer um now wheat would be tied up into a 678: Shocks Interviewer: Into shocks 678: Used to #1 Don't anymore # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: They used to They used to uh {NW} Well they used to tie it up into Sheaths Interviewer: Oh 678: Little old sheaths and then shock it Interviewer: And then shock it oh they would and then that because that would be #1 Bigger # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: #1 Than than the # 678: #2 That's right # Interviewer: #1 Oh I see # 678: #2 You'd take # Several sheaths make one #1 Shock see # Interviewer: #2 And make one shock # Yeah well now uh are they here 678: #1 Oh I'm just seeing someone go by just # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: Wandering Interviewer: Okay um if you were talking about the amount of wheat you can raise per acre you'd say about 678: So many bushels Interviewer: So many bushels um what's what's easier to to uh thresh oats or wheat do you think 678: I don't know Uh I've helped thrash both but I was young Interviewer: Uh 678: #1 I learned # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: I don't really know Interviewer: Oh the kind of bread now this is gonna be about things that your mother might have made the kind of bread that would be uh baked in loaves you'd call that 678: Called that light bread Interviewer: Light bread 678: Some called it white bread Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: And the and the reason they did is because Way back yonder some of them made barley bread which was #1 dark # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Really barley bread 678: And they would have that distinction Interviewer: Between 678: White bread and brown bread Interviewer: Mm-hmm and brown bread 678: Instead of saying barley or wheat well they'd say white bread or Brown bread but my mother always made it out of wheat so she called it light bread Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 And it # Interviewer: #2 Um # 678: Took her a long while to knead that stuff but it'd #1 Rise # Interviewer: #2 Yeah what would make it # Rise 678: Yeast Interviewer: Oh 678: Put yeast in it. Oh it was quite a problem back then to make light bread #1 That was a rarity # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: And was almost a luxury Interviewer: Oh it was 678: Boy it was good Interviewer: Oh I bet it was good 678: I couldn't hardly wait until it got Interviewer: {NW} 678: #1 Ready to eat # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Oh well what now you you mentioned that you had lots of corn bread what else would they make with corn meal 678: Mush Interviewer: Oh mush 678: It's kind of like grits have you eaten grits Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: #1 Being from Georgia # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: You must surely or Mississippi Interviewer: #1 A- well you know actually # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: the truth is I come from the part of Georgia up near Tennessee #1 And I had never # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: Had grits 678: Hadn't Interviewer: Till I went down to uh visit some people that lived down in Alabama and it was the first I didn't even know what they were because I the part where I lived in Georgia #1 They don't make grits # 678: #2 Well they make grits here in this # {NW} Part of the country south But living up next to Tennessee Uh somehow I've always felt like it Tennessee was a little further advanced. Ahead of the others. #1 My first wife # Interviewer: #2 I yeah # 678: People came from Tennessee and I've always had that closeness Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 For Tennessee # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: Because I've known some real Real fine people there I've known some fine people out in Mississippi I'm not running down any #1 Other states but I I # Interviewer: #2 Oh I know I know # 678: I I get a kick out of listening to them Interviewer: {NW} 678: And and many Mississippi They say here #1 Here # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Here 678: And then Tennessee it's here. #1 They go through the nose with it # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # #1 Yeah that's right # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: #1 You picked up on that but that's right # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Especially you know we always heard uh we were so close to Chattanooga that all our TV stations and everything were Chattanooga #1 We had # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: We knew more about Tennessee than we did #1 Georgia # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: Because we only lived about oh twenty miles below the Tennessee line and uh 678: People down in northern Mississippi Are different from the uh #1 The old and middle Mississippi # Interviewer: #2 Right. # 678: #1 Much different # Interviewer: #2 Yeah it's it's # Really different it really is 678: #1 We # Interviewer: #2 Talk # 678: Spent four years down in just uh north of Jackson Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh They were middle The heart of Mississippi Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And and that's where I Studied them so closely and and and and I say they're a breed of their own {NW} They're just different Different people they're good people Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 I I love them but they they're different # Interviewer: #2 But it is different # Mm-hmm 678: And they'd uh they'd use the words Here. Sir. Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And in Tennessee I noticed my wife she always cut That here #1 But it # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Went through their #1 Nose # Interviewer: #2 But went through their nose that's right # #1 I know I've heard it # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Um would they uh did when you were a this is off the subject why we were on with mush but I'll get back to it in a minute I just happened to think about it when you were a boy did they always teach you to say yes sir and no sir and all that 678: Absolutely Interviewer: To always now would it would be to grown ups you'd have to 678: To grown-ups Interviewer: Any grown-up you'd say uh 678: Any person As I recall any person When I was let's say when I was Eight uh That's when I remembered mostly was the time I was seven or eight year old I remembered everything But from then until I was uh a teenager Anyone that was married was mister and missus Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And it was no sir Yes sir or no ma'am and yes ma'am Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: There's another car dadgummit Interviewer: You got somebody else coming 678: I don't know maybe they just #1 Turning around # Interviewer: #2 Maybe they're just turning around # 678: #1 Or pulling # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Well n- mush you said it was something like grits 678: In the in one way grits you know you eat with your breakfast food but #1 Mush # Interviewer: #2 Mush # 678: Is a is a concoction that uh just I don't know what they put in there besides meal but they just boiled it and boiled it and boiled it and then you eat it With milk Interviewer: With milk anything else they'd make with corn meal 678: Oh well they made uh they made uh what they called fried corn batter Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh It was different from the corn bread I think it was mixed similar but you just You cooked it more hurriedly by frying Interviewer: #1 By frying it # 678: #2 it see # Interviewer: uh-huh did you ever hear of anything called a corn dodger 678: Yeah but it's it still tastes like the corn bread it depends on Oh why this Dodger I think they cooked in little round uh So and sos. Interviewer: Little round 678: The corn bread could be cooked in a big pan or in little old individual Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But the corn dodger I I I never really ate what what I think was known as corn dodger but we would refer to it my mama's corn bread as corn dodger Interviewer: #1 Oh you did # 678: #2 But # But I don't think Interviewer: That that was actually what 678: I don't really think that's what uh The real #1 Corn dodger was # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: A corn dodger was more or less Crusted all around #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh uh-huh # 678: {NS} And the Corn bread you know was crusted maybe on top but down the bottom had just a thin Interviewer: Just a thin crust 678: #1 Crust mm-hmm # Interviewer: #2 On the bottom # How about uh hush puppies did they 678: They cooked those with fish that's made out of corn meal Interviewer: Mm-hmm they did they used to they did cook those back then 678: Still still cook them well now I never ate ate any Hush puppies until Oh first I remember eating about twenty years ago #1 Something like that # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Maybe maybe they made them but Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: I wasn't #1 Familiar # Interviewer: #2 How about # Anything that like after they cook the lard the that would the cracklings stuff 678: Cracklings Interviewer: Did they do any 678: Well now they made some crackling bread too Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But I never did care for that Lot of people eat {X} Crackling but that's too greasy and grimy for me Interviewer: That sounds greasy oh 678: And uh what it was #1 I # Interviewer: #2 Well how about # 678: I don't think it's good for you really the {X} Still strong because I #1 A lot of # Interviewer: #2 Because you didn't # 678: #1 # Interviewer: #2 # 678: #1 A lot of that uh # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: Lot of food that I think {D: deteriorating} People's body Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Made them fat #1 I didn't eat # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Yeah maybe #1 That # 678: #2 Course # I'm a little bit fat but uh Interviewer: #1 Oh no no it's how come you have the strong muscles # 678: #2 They're solid they're solid # Interviewer: #1 That's what I want to know # 678: #2 They're solid # Interviewer: You have such strong muscles in your arm that's for I can't believe um now this would be something that's fried in deep fat and it has a hole in the middle They cut out a hole in the middle kind of sweet kind of a sweet thing they used to make them homemade I don't think people make them homemade anymore 678: What's it made from Interviewer: Uh uh I I dough kind of stuff and uh 678: I don't know Interviewer: Uh well do you ever remember making homemade doughnuts 678: Oh yes Interviewer: They would they did make those 678: My sisters Interviewer: Oh 678: Mother never did Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But uh as we grew a little more modern why My sisters learned how to make doughnuts Interviewer: Oh they did 678: And this sister that I referred to That uh In my memoirs Interviewer: Yes 678: She just died two years #1 Ago # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: She She was always Concocting something new to eat Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: She would get any kind of recipe and {NS} And try to make something. She liked to cook Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And I was ready to eat it #1 And try it out # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: She'd. I was her tester Interviewer: You were her guinea pig that's funny 678: Yeah she taught me to drink coffee #1 I guess I was about six # Interviewer: #2 Yeah that's what {X} # 678: Year old and she Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: She's five year older than me and and there was uh It was my sisters uh when one married and left then the next one was a cook Interviewer: Oh that's the way it worked 678: One thing my my dad Took care of my mother now she worked like a dog like most women back then But she didn't have to get up and cook the breakfast unless she wanted to Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: The girls When they become About twelve year old if they would host the home they was the cook Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And my sister Georgia had fall in that category and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And she'd get me to get up with her #1 And she said # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Get up and I'll give you some coffee Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {D: Man to hell with her I'd go} Interviewer: {NW} 678: And she'd She'd go down and get that old smoked ham and there's nothing tastes as good as {NS} The the type of ham we used to put on the smoke with the sassafras and hickory smoke And she'd cut down through that and get a great chunk of it and make that brown gravy and those hot biscuits and Hot coffee #1 And man I'd just # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: I'd go for that Interviewer: {NW} You'd go for that oh it sounds like really you used to have really good #1 Food # 678: #2 Yes # We did Interviewer: You had good 678: {X} {NW} We put up so much fruit that uh you could almost well we had blackberry Jelly blackberry jam just cooked whole #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Grapes Apples uh peach preserves and man ain't nothing better than peach preserves you know Uh honey we Well you had any kind of sweets you wanted Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And we didn't have the fancy meats we didn't have bacon and such but we had uh Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: What we called side meat Interviewer: #1 Oh you did # 678: #2 This uh this # Salt meat but later we we learned how to make bacon but this salt meat was Exceptionally good #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: And we had lo- we had We would put up Lots of hams and shoulders and they'd hang on up into the summer you know #1 Wouldn't they wouldn't # Interviewer: #2 Oh # And they wouldn't even 678: No they wouldn't Interviewer: Spoil 678: No wouldn't spoil at all and we'd sell this side meat during the winter {NS} If we knew we had more than we wanted we'd #1 Sell it # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: See Interviewer: Oh and it never got spoiled 678: Mm-mm no these hams hang there all summer long Interviewer: And never did 678: They looked rusty as all get out Interviewer: {NW} 678: {NW} But you just take a A knife and slice the outside off where it had been smoked #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Prettiest reddest meat #1 You've ever seen # Interviewer: #2 Hmm # 678: It uh You know out west especially they used to make what they called jerky #1 Um # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: The old cowboys and the ranchers they They dry this beef you know for medicine And that's what they called jerky But they'd cut that into long strips and dry it And they'd just put that in the sack or in those saddle bags And they would draw it maybe to see something like that #1 Long # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: But then when they'd start boiling it it might get out that long see Interviewer: Oh 678: Had a. It was all tough the tail meat. #1 But uh # Interviewer: #2 All tough # 678: But but it was tough {X} Jerky it don't matter if it was out of a young Deer or a young #1 Cow # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} #1 Or calf # Interviewer: #2 It would be tough # 678: After it was put in the form of jerky it was still tough. But very nourishing #1 Very nourishing # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Huh 678: And that's what the old cowboys would Interviewer: Yeah 678: They'd carry the coffee cup along boil them some coffee and Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Had a little old um Pan of a thing or {D: or a stirrer} But they'd uh Boil this jerky #1 and # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} and carry cold biscuits and. Month old You know Interviewer: {NW} 678: #1 Soap them up and that's their that was their food # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} Well um 678: Which shows that it's uh After all you get the the quality Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And the quantity together why you were alright Interviewer: Well um did you ever have at breakfast time sometimes uh like they make up a batter and fry like three or four 678: Pancakes #1 Oh boy yeah # Interviewer: #2 Pancakes # 678: Yeah {X} We didn't we didn't eat those for breakfast #1 We ate them # Interviewer: #2 Oh you didn't # 678: Nah we uh Lots of time we'd eat those what we called our supper meal Interviewer: Oh 678: If we if we uh I believe I told you sometimes during the snow and the cold weather we'd sleep a little late And mom she'd get up and {NW} Fix the breakfast and it'd be nine or #1 Ten o clock before we get to eat # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Uh-huh 678: Well then we'd wait until Four or five in the afternoon it began to get dark and we'd begin to mill around and want something to eat {NW} And that's when she'd cook the pancakes and she could make those things the size of the skillet Interviewer: Oh really 678: Man the finest pancakes I I just don't never eat any like she made #1 I don't know what she done to them # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: But boy you'd get Two she'd give us two at at time Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: #1 And you couldn't cook them # Interviewer: #2 Two at a time # 678: #1 Fast you can now we had to # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Sort of eat uh in relays Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: {NW} Of course my dad ate first Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: That always #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 Yeah that was I remember you # 678: #1 Eat first # Interviewer: #2 Said that # Yeah 678: And then the oldest child #1 That that was the only # Interviewer: #2 And then the oldest child # 678: Way you could be fair you know #1 Was take them by age # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: So but I know when it'd come my time why she'd hand me two pancakes the size of the skillet And she'd have all this Good butter really good #1 Butter and sorghum molasses # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Mm-hmm 678: Sometimes we'd buy Uh what we called log cabin syrup back then Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But that was a rarity we just done it to uh You know for a little bit different #1 But # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: We all got plenty of sorghum and pancakes with butter and sorghum was much better than pancakes with the syrup you buy Interviewer: #1 Oh really # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: #1 Well which one # 678: #2 It's thicker # Interviewer: I also was gonna ask you which is thicker 678: #1 Oh the sorghum # Interviewer: #2 Molasses # 678: #1 # Interviewer: #2 # 678: #1 You can get uh # Interviewer: #2 Molasses # 678: Yeah. Sorghum molasses you can You can make it uh All as thick as you want but during the winter you could dip into that and pull it up and And with your spoon and it'd be Just hang on you know just hang on Interviewer: And molasses wouldn't #1 Do that # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Not like syrup you know just pour it out Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But these sorghum sometime you'd have to heat them to Get them to where they'd pour {NS} Interviewer: #1 Oh really # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: #1 It'd be that thick # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Yeah they'd get during cold weather it'd be so thick wouldn't pour out of we used to keep them in little uh Uh crock jugs You've seen the old pictures of I guess of the old gray jug with the brown top Interviewer: With the brown top 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: And that's where you'd keep the #1 Molasses # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Yeah Interviewer: Huh um now if you cooked eggs in hot water you left the shell on them and cooked them in hot water you'd call them 678: Boiling Interviewer: {NW} 678: Boiling Interviewer: Um 678: Boiled eggs #1 You mean # Interviewer: #2 Boiled eggs # 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # Now what would you call in the inside part of the egg 678: Yolk Yellow Interviewer: The yellow or the yo- yeah uh-huh 678: Why I remember I remember When I was a kid here and talking about the yeller #1 Yeller of an egg # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Uh-huh #1 Uh-huh # 678: #2 And uh # You know I {NW} Not knowing the word why I was calling it yeller Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: And my mama said that's not yeller son that's yellow #1 I said no # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: #1 {D: Not in Garfield Burr} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: #1 {D: Garfield Burr} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: #1 {D: See he was from Nashville} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: {X} From Alabama that's #1 {D: Some of his whiskey major} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: #1 Garfield # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Called it yeller #1 She said well # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: There's a lot of words they don't pronounce #1 Right and then later on she # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Said well they Call it yolk she said that's what most people #1 Call it yolk # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: {X} Interviewer: That's great 678: #1 That was easier to say # Interviewer: #2 That's great # For Garfield 678: But I thought Garfield was right see Interviewer: Garfield knew everything 678: He was older than I Interviewer: Right Garfield knew the the whole thing that's funny if you cracked an egg in hot water and then cooked them in the water you'd call them 678: Poached Interviewer: Now you were talking about this this uh salt meat now would that be would you use that in say if you were cooking uh 678: #1 Beans # Interviewer: #2 Beans # 678: Or anything Interviewer: And you call that uh 678: Uh uh Interviewer: Would that be the same thing as what have you ever heard of fat back 678: Fat back mm-hmm {NW} And uh I'm trying to think of what my mama used to call that though when she put in the beans But she'd cut up some of that side meat Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And boil it right along with the bean #1 I can't think # Interviewer: #2 And boil it # 678: Of what she called it but it was uh Oh it was uh Interviewer: Salt meat or salt 678: Yeah It was salt meat but I'm #1 Trying to think of the word # Interviewer: #2 But she had another name # 678: She had to express The difference between that and just straight cooked #1 Beans # Interviewer: #2 And just straight cooked # 678: #1 I just can't uh # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh oh I see # Um what the the meat between the ham and the shoulder you call that the 678: Between the Interviewer: The ham and the shoulder 678: Well Now there's several kinds Interviewer: Oh oh 678: You mean There's actually a ham of a hog's #1 Shoulder # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: Well you've got the spare ribs Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And then you have the side meat #1 That's where you get your side meat # Interviewer: #2 The side meat # That's where the side 678: {NW} And then uh When you fresh butcher You get tenderloin Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Or backbone Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: You got a choice now you can take the Backbone and cut it And leave the tenderloin on it which is the best Meat in the world I think But you strip off the tenderloin it could be Piece of meat that thick That wide and That long depending on the hole And uh Then you would just have backbone with scarcely a little bit of meat left Interviewer: Oh it would have scarcely any meat 678: That's right but they usually took the tenderloin off Interviewer: Took the tenderloin off 678: When you make backbone as such why you leave the tenderloin on and it's Wonderful eating And ribs the same way you can cut uh you can cut those ribs and leave part of the tenderloin or part of the side meat on them and get Plenty of meat or you can Uh You can Leave it onto the side meat and on the #1 Tenderloin you'll come out # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: A bunch of rib bones with barely meat On it see Interviewer: Yeah #1 Well anything # 678: #2 And then the neck # Of the hog #1 There's lots of good eating in the neck # Interviewer: #2 In the oh in the neck # 678: And the head you know they make hog head cheese Interviewer: Oh I was gonna ask you about that do they do anything with the head 678: Hog head cheese Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Takes lots of work for that Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Lots of work Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: It's a very rare dish Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: People I don't imagine they fool with it much anymore #1 They don't # Interviewer: #2 No probably not # 678: Take that time but Time was uh Wasn't all that important #1 Then # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: You you made this hog head cheese because it'd keep all winter long and you knew that was food for the table. Interviewer: Uh-huh Well now on uh do you remember on the bacon there used to be uh something that they'd have to cut off they have to on the 678: On the what Interviewer: On the bacon if you had bacon 678: The yeah the rind Interviewer: Oh the #1 Rind # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: They'd have to cut that off 678: You didn't have to but But it was so tough you couldn't #1 Chew it # Interviewer: #2 Oh it was tough # 678: But Pe- Some people ate it anyhow #1 Rind and all yeah # Interviewer: #2 Oh they did # Oh they did 678: But I now there again I was always peculiar about my eating when you have when you have uh The rind left on a hog His hair grows out of that rind just like it grows out of our scalp Interviewer: Oh that's #1 Right # 678: #2 And uh we could # You know When they when we butchered hogs we scalded them don't know if you knew that or not Interviewer: No 678: {NW} Well the first thing we'd do we'd shoot them with a twenty two rifle Twenty nine would hit their brain Then we'd uh run over there and we'd cut his throat cross wise Or And and then get get him in the heart or some of them just Go right in here with a long butcher knife you had no right to hardly reach that heart you didn't why you Cut into the shoulder and you had damaged meat in that shoulder Most of the time you'd hit that heart and the blood would squirt from here to the Wall And uh that bled him and made his wheat Uh meat uh white you see Interviewer: Oh 678: And then Time that was over why your water was supposed to be hot and you put him in the barrel to we'd have a barrel and Build it slim Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But {D: the log was something over here} Fill that with water and then two men get ahold of this old hog and they'll soak him down in there Turn him over. Work him up and down Interviewer: Oh 678: And then change hands with him and scald another and then they'd get down and If you had enough men two or three of them would take a Knife to start scrape Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And that hair would come off Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh but it left uh If it didn't get a good scald Why then you had to pull the hair or kind of cut it off with a sharp knife like shaving Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And that's the reason I was always afraid to eat the rind. Afraid of those hairs. Interviewer: Yeah 678: Afraid or afraid of what they might do to me and then the thoughts of eating #1 Hairs # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # Oh 678: So I always cut the rind off of But my mama would cut this side meat and leave the rind on it which they did a lot of #1 Times # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Because it added a flavor they claimed for the meat But you always had a choice of taking Cutting that rind off and feeding it to the dog see Interviewer: {NW} 678: That's what I would do I was always a peculiar nut I guess about my Interviewer: {NW} 678: About my eating #1 Still am # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Well uh if you took hog meat and ground it up and put oh peppers and stuff in it what would they call that ` 678: Chow. Uh uh Interviewer: If they spiced it all up 678: Hog chow Hog chow is what we called it Interviewer: Oh 678: You talking about the hog head or the Interviewer: Or any part #1 Of it # 678: #2 Any part of it # Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: We called it uh hog chow Interviewer: Hog 678: I don't know if that's uh Interviewer: Huh 678: Uh #1 The national name for it or not # Interviewer: #2 Now how how would that # Be different uh how would that differ from sausage 678: Oh from sausage #1 Uh # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Well now What I referred to the hog chow was uh Grinding up the rind Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: The ears Interviewer: The ears #1 All those parts yeah # 678: #2 And all that and # And mixing it with uh Vinegar and uh pepper Interviewer: Oh 678: And that was uh hog chow #1 But what you're # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Referring to is sausage Interviewer: Is sau- I see 678: Now there again you you choose uh mostly lean meat Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And this tenderloin that I'm talking about Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Mixed in with some of the side meat #1 Gives you # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: A good blend Interviewer: Oh 678: You get it too fat It was just too lardy hog lard is Real greasy Interviewer: {NW} 678: And uh if you get too much side meat why you get Too much grease and you could start with a sausage so big around and wind up with one that big #1 around when it's cooked see # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh uh-huh # Mm-hmm 678: And uh that's true with it with this you buy where they put too much oatmeal and stuff in it #1 And you wind up # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: With a little bitty sausage {NS} But if you put plenty of tenderloin there and then you put your red peppers and black peppers and maybe some cinnamon a little from the Interviewer: Oh 678: Something just to kind of Make it taste a little Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And we used to sack sausage uh Interviewer: Oh you did 678: Put them in sacks Hang them up Get the flies away from them They'd keep way up into the spring Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And if we saw that Interviewer: And it never got spoiled 678: Mm-mm If we had uh {NW} A great Great amount of sausage Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We my mama and her daughters and all would get together and cook sausage Maybe two days at a time and can them Just like Interviewer: Oh 678: Just the where we had Lots of half a gallon {X} And they would fill this full of sausage and then Pour hot grease over it And then you would have about so much of a Pure lard settled over them and that It's the same thing sort of like uh uh deep freezing #1 Now # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: This uh this grease uh settled in over them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And then Way up in the summer you could open a can of that and they the sausage just as fresh as the day that they were cooked see Interviewer: Gosh that I never heard that out of a can 678: So many ways that they had to do #1 That was # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: The hard way really Interviewer: Well did meat ever get spoiled 678: Oh gosh yes I wouldn't even begin to tell you how nasty some of it had got. Maggots in it. Interviewer: {NW} 678: Yeah I've had I lost meat to {NS} But you you see the first thing you do you salt it down you put it in a box and cover it with salt Interviewer: {NW} 678: But {NW} Aux 1: Um Frida's here and we're going over there and getting her ready and Newt's 678: #1 Okay # Aux 1: #2 Supposed to take # Is he supposed to take her up there to the doctor 678: Newt I think is gonna come and take her {NW} #1 Hi Frida # Aux 1: #2 {X} # Said she refused to take her to the doctor Aux 2: I'm not going to 678: Well she's got to He he couldn't Talk to this doctor Frida Aux 2: {X} 678: They just refuse to talk and she said that uh She'd come up there and whether she has an appointment see And she'll fill her appointment Then she'll tell her whether she needs to go to the hospital And uh Newt said he's gonna check her in but he's afraid to check her in afraid they'll charge it to him I said just tell them no I said just take her up there and say here she is {NW} And if they want you to sign something don't sign it And uh I said they're not gonna turn her away they may raise Cane about it But I said if they get to raising Cane just ask for Ben Owens he's the manager of the hospital And tell him that you positively are not going to put your name on this and she's just {X} That they want her alright And if they refuse her I'm going to the newspaper and let the whole country know what happened And I said they'll take her {NW} Aux 1: {X} Aux 2: That's where she needs to be in a mental health 678: Yeah Aux 2: {X} 678: Yup Aux 2: That's where {X} Needs to 678: #1 She could # Aux 2: #2 Go # 678: Ever get her mind off of Dwight Aux 1: Well that's like I said this morning that's what's tearing her apart is thinking he's not coming back 678: Well you all just deal firmly with her now that's the only way you can deal with her Aux 1: I thought he will Aux 2: No he ain't Aux 1: He always has Aux 2: He told Grace he was done Aux 1: I've heard him 678: Oh I've heard him say that more and more #1 Frida's # Aux 1: #2 He was # Right here with his parents when her mama died and and he never went even up to see her mama or nothing he was ready to go back and she threw such a darn fit {X} 678: Excuse me excuse {X} Interviewer: Oh is that 678: #1 Just like she's # Interviewer: #2 What you mean # 678: Gonna go fishing or something Interviewer: You mean you'd do that after the coffee 678: #1 After we # Interviewer: #2 Thing # 678: After we have our coffee of the morning Interviewer: Yeah 678: {NW} We'd always make Seven or eight cups Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And I'll drink a couple cups and maybe Louise'll drink one then we'll kill that thermos jug And we'd have coffee all day if we Interviewer: Well now that's 678: #1 Really far # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: Yeah and and it doesn't get stronger that way see Interviewer: That's right because if you leave it in the percolator it would get stronger 678: Oh yeah get just #1 Black and I can't stand it # Interviewer: #2 {D: That's plain and funny} # And that was because thermoses normally we don't use them except just when we go off some 678: #1 That's right # Interviewer: #2 Place # And that's a good use for them because uh they're wasted #1 Otherwise # 678: #2 Keep uh # Interviewer: That's good 678: Thermos jug that I take fishing with me it uh it's got coffee every day in it almost all day {NW} Interviewer: Gosh that's really good um well now if your meat's been kept too long and it's gone bad you'd say the meat has gotten 678: Spoiled Interviewer: Now if it was but if you were talking about butter if you kept it too long you'd say it had gotten 678: Stale Interviewer: Stale #1 Um # 678: #2 And boy it's # {X} Said it smells rancid {NW} Interviewer: It smells what 678: Rancid that's what they #1 say about it yeah # Interviewer: #2 Rancid is # 678: {NW} They'd say it smells rancid boy it sure do smell rancid Interviewer: Rancid I never heard that {NW} 678: Did you want anything in your coffee Interviewer: I don't take anything {NS} 678: Tell you oh We've had some what we call cow's milk uh my oldest Grandson Dwayne's boy #1 Uh he # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: His mother in law lived up here the other side of Paragould he went up to visit with her and Couldn't talk plain And he couldn't say grandfather so he called me faw-faw #1 That's what he and that's what # Interviewer: #2 Faw-faw # 678: They all #1 Called me # Interviewer: #2 That's what # Is that what they 678: #1 Yeah faw-faw # Interviewer: #2 All called you # 678: And Uh Just to make conversation with him when he came back I said son they Feed you good up there and he kind of turned his nose up said oh pretty good faw-faw Interviewer: {NW} 678: I said what'd you have to eat he said well we We had some biscuits And he said some kind of old meat and he was talking referring to side meat #1 Then see # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: And then he said you know we had to drink old cow's milk #1 See he'd # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Grown up in city and got that milk out of {NW} #1 Out of boxes # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: #1 And he went # Interviewer: #2 Because he didn't even know # 678: No he didn't know it had come from a cow and he went with them To milk and {NW} And And he wouldn't drink it He said Interviewer: #1 He wouldn't he # 678: #2 {X} # Interviewer: He didn't drink it 678: He said he just couldn't drink it He said I just couldn't drink that old cow's milk Interviewer: Oh 678: And I said why son that's uh that's what you drink out of these bottles and explained to him and he he was about Oh four year old I reckon Interviewer: {NW} 678: He still uh still laughs about that #1 Cow's milk # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Oh that's funny um if you ever heard of people taking cooking the liver and then grinding it up and making something with it 678: No Interviewer: Okay how about the blood have you ever heard anybody make anything #1 Out of the # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Blood 678: Yeah but I don't know what they called it Because I didn't even want #1 To talk about that # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # You didn't even want to talk about that how about something that when they take the the the hog head or 678: Hog head cheese Interviewer: Yeah and then they take the juice from it and stir it with uh corn meal have you ever heard of anything 678: Yeah but I can't think what they called it Interviewer: Uh how about um let's see what there's #1 Something like they call # 678: #2 See if they've got a name for it # Interviewer: Scrapple have you ever heard? #1 Or cribble? # 678: #2 No I haven't. # Interviewer: Or anything? 678: No I haven't uh I know they make hog head cheese but uh Uh the other I don't know {NW} Interviewer: Now a pie is baked in a deep dish like maybe with it'd have like a layer of crust and then 678: That's cobbler Interviewer: Cobbler 678: Yeah Interviewer: Yeah well did you ever know of your mother making something to pour over the cobbler did she ever make a 678: Not that I know of Interviewer: Anything called a sauce or a dip 678: {NW} Well Now I've heard of it but my mother didn't well she Interviewer: #1 Oh now you have heard it # 678: #2 just she just made # She made the pure old cobbler with enough juice in there #1 To # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: {NW} But uh {NS} I have uh Well I'll be Louise has made cobblers and put put something over the top Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: All I do is eat them I don't cook them Interviewer: {NW} But have you heard people call that a sauce 678: No #1 I don't really know what they called it # Interviewer: #2 Or the dip # Um 678: {NW} Interviewer: And if somebody has a real good appetite you say he sure likes to put away his 678: Food Interviewer: Um how about food that's taken between your regular meals you call it 678: Well snack {X} Interviewer: And 678: {NW} I think they call them brunch now don't they Interviewer: Oh brunch between 678: #1 Breakfast and dinner # Interviewer: #2 Breakfast and lunch # 678: Lunch Interviewer: Breakfast with dinner and they 678: I told them I didn't care what they called as long as it was food Interviewer: {NW} As long as you could eat it um when you drank water at the table what did they drink it out of 678: Glasses {NW} #1 Just some # Interviewer: #2 Like in # 678: Gold glasses Interviewer: Just like the ones we have today did they ever have any big heavy ones or anything 678: #1 Oh yeah # Interviewer: #2 Had special # 678: They had mugs too Interviewer: Oh they did 678: {NW} They had big heavy mugs like uh Well I guess you would refer to them as maybe beer mugs or or root beer mugs #1 But uh # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: They were regular Dining table mugs And that was mostly for the children Interviewer: Oh were they hard to 678: #1 Because they # Interviewer: #2 Crack # 678: They well they could drop them and wouldn't break them and they had a handle #1 For them to hold see # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Have you ever broken one 678: {NW} Never have Interviewer: You've never 678: No. Never have but uh I don't remember Our family having {X} Maybe just a few and I don't know Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Why but we always just used the regular #1 Glasses # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: The mug was more or less of a rarity if we wanted one we'd get it but Interviewer: Now if a glass fell off the sink though it probably 678: Would break and the mug probably wouldn't Interviewer: And if 678: We didn't have sinks back then Interviewer: Oh you didn't have oh of course you didn't Not that 678: They may have up in cities #1 And big cities # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: But uh {NS} No sinks around this part of the country then Interviewer: Now 678: They had what they called a cook table Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: {X} And that's generally what they #1 Done their cooking on # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Instead of cabinets there wasn't no building cabinets Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Had safes Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Or actually Shelves on the walls for Uh extra dishes Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Sometimes that just had a curtain Over it no doors Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm um if uh if the if you had like your uh supper was on the table and uh the kids were standing around and uh mother didn't want them to keep on standing she'd well just go ahead and 678: Eat You mean just what {NW} Interviewer: Eat or 678: #1 Just thinking of # Interviewer: #2 Or # 678: Before they eat Interviewer: Right before they eat uh if if they were standing up and she didn't want them to keep standing up 678: Oh she'd just tell them to be seated Interviewer: Be seated 678: Start eating Interviewer: Uh-huh um 678: She wouldn't have to tell them to be seated just say eat #1 They they they # Interviewer: #2 Just they they know # 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # If you were passing around uh the maybe if you had company there and you were passing around some food you might tell a person well just go ahead and 678: Serve yourself Interviewer: Serve yourself 678: Or have so and so Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Help yourself to so and so Interviewer: Um if you decided not to eat something that was passed around you might say well no thank you I don't believe I 678: That's what you should say But uh {NW} Used to have an old boy to come home with me And We had a large enough table that He would always sit in the middle Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 Pass it to # Interviewer: #2 Oh he sat # 678: Him instead of him saying no thanks Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Or taking the whole bowl and passing it he'd just lean away back and get away from it {NW} Interviewer: Oh no 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Oh that's funny well would they say I don't and you'd say no thank you I don't 678: Care #1 For it # Interviewer: #2 Don't care for it # Or something like that 678: You know another thing thing Mary that that and I remember this very Very distinctly and And I don't remember when we made the The change but my mother would put The food on the table Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Always lots of it it was good food Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But we ate one thing at a time Interviewer: Oh you 678: #1 Now # Interviewer: #2 Did # 678: Where we you would take a helping of everything we want Interviewer: Oh 678: Each and everything if if we don't want it we don't put it on our plate but Each and everything that we want that's on the table we we take a portion into our plate But then if we had fried potatoes we ate fried potatoes Interviewer: And 678: And then if we want some gravy and biscuits we we #1 Ate the gravy and biscuits # Interviewer: #2 You ate that # But not at the 678: #1 And we ate # Interviewer: #2 Table # 678: The meat well by itself Or with the gravy But we'd never take a piece of meat And some gravy And some cream #1 Potatoes # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: And maybe some green beans all like that on a a plate one time Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And I don't even remember when I went through the transition of going to that Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 I guess # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: Just {NW} And but that was the practice Of every family that I ever visited when I was #1 A child # Interviewer: #2 They know all the other # Families 678: That's right they they just fill that table full of food and Interviewer: Hmm 678: And uh you would dip in and get whatever Amount of potatoes uh however they was fixed Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And you ate those They'd all have bread with them because people ate lots of bread back then Interviewer: Oh they did 678: Lots of bread Interviewer: Lot more than they do now 678: I think so Interviewer: Um 678: I well I I would I would I'd say that there's individuals now that eat as much Interviewer: #1 Right # 678: #2 But # Then almost everyone ate lots of bread Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Now that some people don't eat bread at all sometimes we don't even put bread on our table Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: And I did it to keep from getting fat and I love bread Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But I just {X} Done it because I could cut down that much Interviewer: Right 678: I got to where I do eat {NW} Toast of uh for breakfast now #1 And # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Once in a while we'll fix biscuits but Unless we have company here We seldom have bread on the table Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And and sometimes we're embarrassed we have company and and I'll see them looking around while Louise {X} Think of bread Interviewer: Yeah I don't ever think of it either because I never need to eat any 678: And and I never think to offer a fellow an ash tray because they don't #1 Smoke # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # Me either 678: I don't #1 Smoke and # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: {NW} And uh sometimes uh man get in here smoking until I can't hardly walk out that door Interviewer: Oh 678: I can't stand it Interviewer: I can't stand that either um oh if you had uh if you heated up some food that you'd already cooked you'd say that food 678: Well you mean warm it over Interviewer: Warmed over 678: That's what they did for What we call supper #1 We used to never # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Refer to it as dinner #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Mm-hmm 678: I still use the word supper #1 Because # Interviewer: #2 Supper # 678: Well several reasons one reason uh to me it's still supper Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And another reason that uh a lot of other people it's still supper if you refer to dinner Uh so many people so well he's talking about twelve o clock Interviewer: Right 678: See Interviewer: Right that's right 678: I try to I try to think the people that I'm around Interviewer: #1 Yeah # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: #1 What they would say # 678: #2 But if I'm # With what I call some of the {D: elps} Are how you say it Have an aunt that talked with people that were rich #1 Or had more she'd say well they're they're some of the {D: elps} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Oh your aunt did 678: Uh-huh so #1 if uh # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: If I'm around some people #1 That I think are # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Are up you know uh Interviewer: {NW} 678: And I don't mean that as high hat Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Necessarily but Up on their etiquette or their Knowledge of the way of life why I'll say well uh it's time for dinner or what I had for dinner And I know they know what I'm talking about Interviewer: Right 678: See Interviewer: Um what peas and beets and carrots and things like that you call them 678: Vegetables #1 You mean # Interviewer: #2 Vegetables right # 678: #1 I thought you meant a concoction # Interviewer: #2 Now # No no um 678: Vegetables Interviewer: Well would would would they grow ve- like a if little plot around your house where you 678: Garden in your yard Interviewer: Would they mostly would everybody mainly have those 678: Back then back #1 When I was young # Interviewer: #2 They did # 678: Why that was part of your living Interviewer: That was part of your living 678: You didn't grow a garden people wondered what was wrong with you Interviewer: Mm-hmm well what 678: Well there was something #1 Wrong # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Because Interviewer: {NW} 678: They they had they didn't have jobs to Go out and buy this that and the other and you couldn't go to the store and buy Vegetables like you can #1 Now # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: No such thing as a meat box #1 Or a vegetable # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: {NW} Counter anything you bought uh At the store was uh Uh dried beans and Flour and #1 Sugar and # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: And uh Bologna they used to make it in sticks that big around and they'd hang from the ceiling and they'd just cut you off #1 A slice of it # Interviewer: #2 Oh # They would 678: Yeah but they didn't have no meat boxes They they'd have an old big I call it trough but it'd be an old wooden big wooden box back there that they'd keep this side meat flat in #1 It'd be # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Covered with salt Interviewer: Would be covered with salt 678: Yeah and uh They'd cut you off a chunk you'd say oh give me about a piece about so wide they'd cut that off and go to the scales and weigh it and that's what you owed for {NW} Sometimes they'd buy a whole side {NS} But far as going to the store and running to the store say run down to the store and get me so and so you didn't do it Interviewer: You didn't do #1 That # 678: #2 Wasn't # When I was about Seven or eight or nine my mama would send me to town With a couple dozen eggs and hope that I didn't break them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh She'd buy a loaf of light bread #1 The stores would # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Keep a few loaves of light bread #1 But now # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: They didn't pick those breads up every day because it was old. That bread would stay in that store all week And and it didn't mold like it does #1 Now they assumed # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Something about it didn't didn't mold like it does when it gets old Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I remember going to town one day and getting our loaf of bread and a gallon of vinegar Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And that vinegar was so heavy we'd carry it back in that old glass Interviewer: Oh in 678: #1 Jar # Interviewer: #2 Glass # 678: #1 And I'd have # Interviewer: #2 Jar uh-huh # 678: A taste of that stuff every once in a while I liked the smell of it not taste of it Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And this bread smelled so good #1 That one time # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: I was Was tempted and {NW} Ate the whole end out of #1 A loaf of that bread # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: And I just knew every bite I would #1 Would steal # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: That that's one more lick I would #1 Get # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: And I didn't dare to go home #1 But I had to go and so I went home and handed her that loaf of bread and I'd ate down maybe that far in it # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: And she didn't uh didn't do anything to me Interviewer: She didn't 678: Told me said that was uh They didn't use the word uh sanitary Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Sanitary they'd just say that's kind of a nasty thing #1 To do # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: To do now she said everybody else would have to Eat where you #1 Have eaten # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: But she didn't whip me for it and Interviewer: Oh she didn't 678: But she scolded me and shamed me until I said well I won't do that anymore But very seldom did we have light bread Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: They cooked the biscuits #1 For the breakfast # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: {NW} We'd eat those warmed over for Dinner and uh if she'd had enough she wouldn't make the corn bread #1 But if we # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: If she made corn bread for Uh noon day meal she'd make enough For our supper too Interviewer: Well what all different kinds of vegetables would they raise in the garden 678: Very just every kind you could think of {X} Just start out in the Spring and we'd set out the onions and {NW} We'd plant the potatoes we'd plant the English peas we'd plant the green beans Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh both the runners and the {X} Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We'd plant uh sweet corn and mule corn too so we could have sweet corn early Interviewer: Oh is that the kind you'd eat on the cob #1 The sweet corn # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # And the mule corn too #1 Get the whole ear # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: {NW} Ear is probably that long you bury your face #1 And you go # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: And then we'd grow the tomatoes Lots of tomatoes And uh okra and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Squash my mama would #1 Grow rhubarb # Interviewer: #2 What # 678: And make rhubarb #1 Pies and # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: They any anything that would grow in the garden they'd ever heard of that's what they'd #1 Grow # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: And they just wouldn't have a little flat they'd have a place uh Big enough that you'd plow it with a with mule #1 And then # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: And well course #1 My mom would always # Interviewer: #2 How about # 678: Pull too but uh we'd pile those things Interviewer: How about uh radishes 678: Oh gosh yes Interviewer: They had 678: Grow them in the Hundreds uh you know Our family {NW} We didn't eat many radishes I don't guess any of them really liked it Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And I remember my mother Taking mustard Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Tender mustard and lettuce Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And radishes Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And sliced them all up Chopping them up And putting Uh grease over it Interviewer: Uh-huh oh 678: And and uh A few onions Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And man my dad loved those things that she'd always fix him a dish of it but we kids never did want any of it #1 Never did like it # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Until this day I don't like concoction Interviewer: Didn't like that 678: I like salad just the #1 Lettuce you know # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Or the Dressing over it but I remember her fixing all that Uh lettuce and the mustard And some onions and some radishes And putting grease over it #1 And some salt # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: And boy he'd eat #1 That stuff # Interviewer: #2 And he really liked it # 678: He was like a Cow eating father Interviewer: {NW} that's great 678: Well now that was a healthy dish you know Interviewer: Yeah 678: Real healthy Interviewer: Well um 678: You got a lot of bulk out of it Interviewer: Um did they have um um oh did you ever see those little tiny tomatoes did they 678: #1 Tommy toes # Interviewer: #2 Tommy toes # 678: We we had some this year Interviewer: Oh yeah um 678: She may have some and they're about so big around Interviewer: Yeah little bitty ones well now how about um did what kinds of squash would they raise you mentioned 678: {NW} Well we had several varieties we had some little yellow squash and then we had some really big what they called gourd squash Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And you had to cut that up {NS} Fry it #1 I think # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {X} Interviewer: Almost all night with that I'd say you probably put in enough time {NW} 678: It's sad {NW} Sad when anyone gets in Interviewer: In that kind of {NS} 678: {X} Mentality you know Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Slow {NS} Resistance Interviewer: Uh-huh yeah 678: Resistance with anything Interviewer: Yeah 678: I don't think she's even married to this man I think they just live together Interviewer: Oh 678: Course she's always afraid she'll lose him and he's a Habitual alcoholic Interviewer: {NW} 678: Not just an alcoholic but a Habitual one Interviewer: {NW} 678: No good I just say a man that uh Won't stay around long like that and she owns the house and owns the farm and He had any spunk at all he'd stay and Help her make a living or he'd get plum out of her life that's what I told him #1 I said you ought to get # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: He's not a native he comes from Indiana #1 And he's just down here and # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: I said what you need to do Dwight is to get Away from Mildred and just say now Mildred I am through I'm leaving I don't want to s- Fool with you anymore {NW} And don't just go up here to Jonesboro and work and come back every once in a while get Away and let her know #1 That uh # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: And then she'll get over it Interviewer: Mm-hmm #1 But he won't do it # 678: #2 He just # No he won't do that No manhood about him no Interviewer: {NW} Well um still can't get over tomato pie #1 I just never heard of that # 678: #2 {X} # Interviewer: {NW} Oh that just sounds oh sort of good in fact um because I like tomatoes a lot did you ever have the kind of raise the kind of onions that they uh did they eat the green part too 678: Mm-hmm Well #1 Well uh # Interviewer: #2 What did they call it # 678: You've got two kinds that we put out we got the onion plants and the onion sets Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: Now the sets are the little um bulb #1 Type that you # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Put out and And uh and you can eat that The green in the plant if you want to Interviewer: Uh-huh mm-hmm 678: Or or the plants it's all it's just a little {X} Just a little Onion about so big #1 You can get a whole bunch of them and put them out # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: {NW} About three or four weeks of good weather and you've got green onions #1 To eat # Interviewer: #2 Green onions # 678: And if you don't eat them well then they they make the big #1 The big onions # Interviewer: #2 Oh they do # #1 {D: They think trying to design into the big onions} # 678: #2 Yeah yeah # Interviewer: I didn't realize that 678: But if you pull them and eat them Green then you get a little onion about maybe so big on the end #1 And # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: You can it eat it or you Whack it off like #1 They do on # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: {X} We don't we just cut the roots off and Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: {NW} Eat the little onion Interviewer: Eat the little onion 678: We don't eat a lot of onions I well I I like them once in a while with uh If we have uh white beans which we hardly ever do but with white beans or with hamburgers Interviewer: Mm-hmm #1 Mm-hmm with hamburgers # 678: #2 {X} # I like them but them suckers uh They smell pretty loud when #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} And when you're the mayor 678: #1 Well # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # {NW} 678: I'd say that uh they're not the most romantic #1 Vegetable # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} I like that that's #1 Funny # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: #1 That's really funny # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: {NW} Oh oh they were hardly 678: #1 I used to tell this step-daughter of mine now I # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: Said you eat onions when you was young I said only when I wanted to keep the girls blowed away from me Interviewer: {NW} 678: {NW} She gets a kick out of it Interviewer: Oh I bet 678: #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 She does # 678: I showed her these uh I said see them knots in on my arms She said yeah she said what caused that I said knocking the darn girls off #1 When I was # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: When I was a teenage boy {NW} Interviewer: {NW} Oh I bet she gets a kick 678: #1 Yeah she gets # Interviewer: #2 Out of that # 678: A kick out of it Interviewer: {NW} That's great um how about cabbage did they raise very many 678: Yeah Yeah and they made that kraut you know Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Homemade kraut Interviewer: Did they raise a lot of it 678: Oh yeah Depends on how Depends on how well the family liked kraut Interviewer: Yeah 678: See {NW} Interviewer: And that was primarily what they used #1 Cabbage for was # 678: #2 Yeah # They use they'd use the cabbage and cook the cabbage and eat them while they were in season Interviewer: I see 678: See Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But The only way they had of uh S- of uh Saving cabbage then was in kraut Interviewer: Was in kraut 678: And uh They'd make the kraut and then you could eat the raw kraut or you could eat eat the cooked kraut #1 Either one see # Interviewer: #2 Oh # I see 678: We used to put my mama used to put it down in old churns #1 Weight it # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: Down you know and just Interviewer: Oh 678: Oh we had lots of churns #1 Around # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: I don't I don't know what happened to all of them they'd be worth Fifty dollars a piece or more now Interviewer: Sure I 678: {NW} But she'd have those uh Things full of Full of kraut We used to my brother and I used to go to the Woods and And uh gather up what we called possum grapes and Summer grapes And uh she would make a Um marmalade sort of Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Out of those And she weighted that down I don't know what she done #1 Boy that stuff # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Was rich you know muscadine #1 Have you ever eaten # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Muscadines Interviewer: Mm-mm I don't think so 678: Well they're About the size of a grape except they grow individually you know Interviewer: Oh 678: #1 And they're the # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Undoubtedly the best uh Best jelly #1 And strongest # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Uh I don't mean strong in that respect but I mean the the flavor is Interviewer: The most flavor 678: Yeah the most flavorable Thing that you have ever tasted Interviewer: Oh 678: And they get a lot of muscadine in Mississippi Interviewer: Mm-hmm oh in Mississippi 678: A lot of tanglings Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW] This country used to be covered up with them in the woods but Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: People would cut them down and I just don't know where there is any now Interviewer: Hmm 678: They'll grow Oh they'll grow in a t- They'll grow to the top of a tree if it's fifty foot high Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And have muscadines all the way up Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But if you hit if you let them grow on a fence or In bush if they'll just spread out where you can just pick them one at a time {NS} They sure do make fine jelly and If you make uh can the {D: hurls in} Make pies Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: You can make a fine pie see Interviewer: Oh I #1 Didn't know that muscadine # 678: #2 Wonderful flavor # Interviewer: Pie gosh 678: It's a thick Thicker rind than a grape Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: That's about the size of the grapes Interviewer: Hmm um now you mentioned a lettuce that she your mo- now was this the kind that came in um um 678: Mean in heads Interviewer: Yeah #1 Did it come in # 678: #2 Uh-uh # Interviewer: It didn't come in heads 678: No We just hit just was a {X} A leaf and it was seasonal you eat you ate it while It was in season or and then it would go to seed on you Interviewer: Yeah 678: Grow up big tall and heavy yellow bloom go to seed but But now they have lettuce That you can buy at the just like you buy onion plants Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh transplant it and it'll grow heads Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Just like you get in stores Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm oh 678: We don't fool with that because we don't like lettuce #1 That well # Interviewer: #2 That well # 678: We well the the amount of ground that it takes is more valuable than #1 Than something else see # Interviewer: #2 Than oh yeah # 678: So #1 You have to plan # Interviewer: #2 Well how about # 678: Your gardens #1 To conform to what to to # Interviewer: #2 Around the amount of land that you # 678: Yeah to what What you want to eat #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Right # 678: #1 # Interviewer: #2 # 678: #1 For instance # Interviewer: #2 Well now # 678: Why I've got one I've got I'll have three crops on one part of my garden Interviewer: Oh you will 678: Had a onion crop Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: I harvested it And just yesterday We pulled uh Louise did pull the last of the corn crop Followed it with sweet corn so that it'd make faster Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And she got Quite a quite a bunch of sweet corn off of that Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Next week I'll pull those corn stocks up and sell turnips Interviewer: Oh and sell turnips 678: So I'll have three crops #1 on that one little # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Plot of land Interviewer: Well now the turnips will you eat the uh 678: Just the {NW} Well you can eat the turnip greens Interviewer: Oh you'll eat yeah 678: She will I won't #1 I don't eat # Interviewer: #2 Oh you don't # 678: Turnip greens and she eats uh she loves turnips Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And when and then for cold weather I'll take those turnips and {NW} Hail them up and bury some of them Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: I can dig in there during the winter and get her some turnips out Interviewer: Oh 678: And they'll uh they'll keep until Way up in the spring When the sun gets hot enough then they'll start growing The leaves out again real yellow pale looking leaves And you just tear them out and if Lots of solid why you you start eating them and giving them to your neighbors and throw the rest of them away {NW} Interviewer: That's r- I didn't know all this um well now on on the sweet corn uh and that would be you said that would be the kind you'd eat on the cob #1 Now # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: #1 Would # 678: #2 Or # Cut it off either one Interviewer: Or cut it #1 Off either one # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: Well now what about roasting ears what would that be 678: The same that's eating it off the cob Interviewer: And do you know that er that term 678: Yeah #1 That's what # Interviewer: #2 That # 678: That's what it still goes by Interviewer: They still 678: #1 Roasted # Interviewer: #2 They'd say # 678: Roasting ears Interviewer: Uh-huh um 678: Call them roasting ears because a lot of people bake them #1 Instead of # Interviewer: #2 Oh they # Did 678: We we cook them in water Interviewer: Yeah Uh-huh 678: Uh and that's probably the way #1 You eat them # Interviewer: #2 I was wondering # 678: #1 A lot of # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: People {NW} Cook them in water and then put them in the oven and bake them Interviewer: #1 Until uh # 678: #2 Oh I didn't know that # Well until they'll just turn almost brown Interviewer: Well I didn't #1 Know that # 678: #2 And it's uh # Interviewer: I wonder 678: It dries it out and it's Tough And it's good but uh #1 You chew it more # Interviewer: #2 But it's you # #1 Chew it more # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Oh um how about the outside of an ear of corn the outside 678: Shucks {NW} Well what'd you find Aux 1: She had called Ms. Anderson crying Wanted her to come over there so we decided {X} Turn down 678: {NW} Aux 1: And Miss Reeves was over there 678: Who #1 Miss Reeves # Aux 1: #2 And they had # Cooked her some food and and she was sitting out there eating a big 678: #1 Sure # Aux 1: #2 Plate full of # Bacon and eggs #1 Toast and jelly # 678: #2 {NW} # {NW} Aux 1: One of these big tall glasses of like that #1 Bacon you know # 678: #2 She's that wide # Aux 1: Oh wider than that Interviewer: {NW} Aux 1: Wide as that door Interviewer: {NW} Aux 1: I told her her ankle Down here where #1 Bigger bigger than my leg there # Aux 2: #2 Bigger bigger # 678: You see that #1 Uh # Aux 1: #2 And she's been # Out and the sink was full of okra here's part of it 678: #1 Did you see her her toes # Aux 1: #2 And I {X} # 678: {D: Surprised to hear} How blue they are Aux 1: Yeah 678: Well she's either {NS} Kicked something when she went up there on that chair the other day or she's uh Fell and and Meant those things see Aux 1: You ought to see her she ain't got on a stitch of clothes 678: I don't want to see that Aux 1: That house 678: #1 She's red and blue all over # Aux 1: #2 No I don't want to see that she showed # 678: Me her Her leg from up #1 From up to here that # Interviewer: #2 Oh she did # 678: Oh that leg is just that big around Interviewer: Oh my #1 Goodness # 678: #2 But it's # She's got black #1 It's that big # Aux 1: #2 {X} # 678: Isn't it Louise that black place Aux 1: Oh it's bigger than that 678: She claims her husband kicked her but she fell That's what that's what #1 Happened # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Aux 1: She told us they beat her with a pair of boots because I think uh 678: Now back then he may have Aux 1: She said I think Jan beat me too 678: {NW} Interviewer: Who is that 678: Jan is just a man that her husband runs around #1 With that works with # Interviewer: #2 Oh oh oh # Oh Aux 1: That that but uh she told us stuff to divide that okra up and take it home #1 With us # 678: #2 There's uh # Newt's not over there yet is he Aux 1: No here's that key 678: Well #1 Just leave it # Aux 1: #2 He he he # He give it to you 678: Leave it there on the cabinet Aux 1: Frida I wonder we got over there and the door was unlocked and Mildred was Aux 2: And they're looking for her insurance papers 678: {NW} #1 But she can't ever # Aux 1: #2 She's been getting everything # 678: Find them #1 I guarantee it # Aux 1: #2 She can tell her right # Where everything is and they got it getting everything organized her makeup kit and everything to go to the hospital Frida says that they can put her in a mental in a #1 Mental part # 678: #2 That's right # Aux 1: #1 Out there # 678: #2 That's right # Where she needs to be Needs to be whipped real good first Interviewer: {NW} 678: #1 Get her attention you know that's what they say about the # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Aux 1: Give up her line we both swore off doing anything more for her Interviewer: #1 Oh you did y'all both did # 678: #2 {X} # You'll always go back though Interviewer: Y'all both did it 678: Well yeah we go back we'll swear we're not gonna #1 Help her but # Aux 1: #2 Okay I'm going back # {X} Interviewer: #1 Both of you # 678: #2 {NW} # Yep Yeah we both go back and help her Interviewer: Oh 678: I've known her all my life #1 She's # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: Your granddaddy Is old there's uh kind of a crazy streak in the whole family #1 Her grandmother # Interviewer: #2 Oh really # 678: Wouldn't start crazy Interviewer: {NW} 678: And her mother was almost Off the rocker and some of her aunts was off their rocker Interviewer: Mm 678: Uncles Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Um just about halfway between {NS} Crazy and being able to take care of themselves Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh a brilliant mind And and it always happens you know a brilliant mind In one respect But then it wavers and gets off channel and uh just crazy as a loon for a while Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So you don't know what to do with them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Not much you can do just wait Let them die some day and bury them Interviewer: Goodness bet you have a lot of trouble in 678: #1 Oh # Interviewer: #2 Between # 678: Yeah whole town She creates trouble Whole street here Interviewer: My goodness 678: Law enforcement everywhere #1 Even though # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: #1 {D: we belong to} # Interviewer: #2 A lot # 678: Here but up in Jonesboro those {NW} She's got the sheriff and the Prosecuting attorney and all of them to where they don't they won't don't even want to talk to her see Interviewer: Oh 678: She's a problem Interviewer: {NW} 678: She is a problem Interviewer: Uh let's see where were we oh yeah corn the the the thing that grows out the top of a corn stalk 678: The tassel Interviewer: And how about that stringy stuff on the ear of corn that you have to 678: Silks Interviewer: Clean it off 678: Used to smoke those as a kid #1 Trying to learn to smoke # Interviewer: #2 Oh when you were a kid # 678: Yeah #1 They make # Interviewer: #2 Did you really # 678: Every kid that grew up on a farm has smoked corn silks Interviewer: Really 678: Throw them like a cigarette Interviewer: {NW} 678: And uh Interviewer: {NW} 678: I was asking my neighbor over yesterday he had a little old torch he was wanting me to {NW} Help him Get started and I had some Ears of corn out there that I'd pull off and save the seed with the shucks still on them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I just put this To the end of that and When the odor came I smelled just like those old cigarettes Interviewer: #1 It did # 678: #2 And I said # Did you ever smell anything like that and he said yes sir Said when I smoked uh corn silks Interviewer: Oh really {NW} 678: #1 And I didn't even like # Interviewer: #2 Isn't that # 678: To smoke #1 Corn silks so I didn't # Interviewer: #2 Corn silks {NW} # {NW} 678: I sure don't like tobacco Interviewer: Oh I don't 678: #1 Can't understand # Interviewer: #2 Either # 678: #1 Why people # Interviewer: #2 I can't understand it # Either something I've always wondered about but I can't I can't 678: #1 Can't understand it # Interviewer: #2 Can't understand it # 678: {NW} Interviewer: I can't either 678: And you know some Well this man that came in here this morning he was our chief of police And he's uh I guess gonna have to resign he's got blood clots and Interviewer: Oh goodness 678: Heart trouble and and uh Diabetes he's just in bad shape But I'll bet you That he smokes three packages a day and that's about a dollar and eighty cents #1 A day # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: You just {NW} He'll he'll smoke and pack it on uh The ashtray Interviewer: Mm 678: And when it gets down so low he'll lay that ashtray and start fishing I've seen him lay his cigarettes down and And you get lost you get nervous you know lost thinking well man I haven't got a cigarette what's gonna happen here Interviewer: Oh 678: Until he happens to think well I laid them down over there But they go wild Wild just instantly #1 When they haven't got # Interviewer: #2 Scary # 678: That cigarette Interviewer: {NW} 678: And you know There's not much difference between that and marijuana Not a whole lot Interviewer: Not #1 Well not if you're that # 678: #2 Well when # #1 When they rip when they rip # Interviewer: #2 Get to that point # 678: And snort about #1 The young people # Interviewer: #2 When you # 678: Have Wanting to try marijuana Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Uh I said well what's the big excitement #1 We tried # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: Cigarettes and you're still on them Interviewer: And you're still on them 678: #1 I said don't raise # Interviewer: #2 Hooked on them # 678: Cane with the kids for Trying marijuana because it's something to come along And I said you tried the cigarette and you stayed on it and if you would have had marijuana then you'd have tried that Interviewer: {NW} 678: I said I would have too #1 I tried # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: To smoke cigarettes #1 Two reasons I didn't one # Interviewer: #2 That's probably good # 678: It didn't taste good #1 And made me dizzy and another one # Interviewer: #2 {NW} terrible # 678: Uh my dad smoked the old pipe but he gave me his reasons for that His reasons was that his mama smoked the old plate pipe {NW} #1 And she got # Interviewer: #2 Really # 678: Sick and And she'd ask him to light her pipe for her #1 So he got to waft mm-hmm # Interviewer: #2 Oh she asked him to light # 678: And he'd light it take it to her And then he got to smoking the pipe but he never did inhale the smoke Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And he told me said now it's no good don't smoke it Well that's one of the reasons I didn't but another reason is it didn't taste good Interviewer: {NW} 678: But I'm sure that if marijuana would have been available then I may have tried it and could have gotten on it see And the same man that I'm referring to in here The way he fights cigarettes if he'd have got ahold of marijuana when he was a kid he'd have tried it Interviewer: Probably would have yeah 678: So I don't really fall out with the kids I'm sorry for them Interviewer: Yeah 678: Because they do it I'm just sorry that they get on it And can't get off of it But it's just human nature and kid when the what they call growing pains Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: They'll want to do stuff Of course I'm talking to a kid but uh Interviewer: I'm not a kid {NW} 678: How old are you Interviewer: {NW} 678: #1 Eighteen # Interviewer: #2 Uh # Huh 678: Eighteen Interviewer: No I'm older than that 678: You are Interviewer: Yeah {NW} 678: Well I guess You're in college #1 Call that # Interviewer: #2 Yes # 678: Twenty Interviewer: No older than that 678: Well you don't have to tell me I just #1 Wondering # Interviewer: #2 No # Uh no I'm twenty-five 678: Are you that #1 Old # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # I'm in graduate school now that makes me feel good though if you didn't think I was #1 That old # 678: #2 Oh really # {D: You'd be either} If I'd have been honest I'd have guessed you Now had I {X} If I hadn't uh known you was in #1 College # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: I'd have guessed you eighteen or nineteen #1 Year old # Interviewer: #2 Would you # Really 678: Yeah but #1 knowing you was in # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: College Interviewer: Yeah #1 Knowing that yeah # 678: #2 And uh # That the #1 How far along you I would have guessed you were actually twenty-one # Interviewer: #2 Yeah well I'm in graduate school now right # 678: #1 Or two # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: But You sure don't You don't appear to be twenty-five #1 Even # Interviewer: #2 I don't # 678: Except one way Interviewer: What 678: Your uh Well your intellect shows that you're twenty-five and and uh the way you approach things Far more advanced than a twenty-five year old person Because I know most twenty-five year old persons Now when I was twenty-five uh I was fathering my last child Interviewer: Oh right right 678: The three boys Two girls and we lost one boy Interviewer: Yeah #1 I remember # 678: #2 But really # Uh Mary Uh I didn't know what life was all about I married just a boy I was having #1 the time of my life see # Interviewer: #2 Yeah you were # You were just #1 Eighteen # 678: #2 {X} # Having the time of my life Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: One of two or three that had a car around and Like I said I was gonna go to school but I didn't uh {NW} Grow up and the Thing hit me very forcefully when I had uh A family to Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And I had a choice to make Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Now you've either got to take care of this family or you don't one of the two So I settled down and took care of them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But And I was twenty-five and And that's why I don't uh Get upset with kids that don't settle down until after they're twenty-five Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Because I didn't Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But I If the opportunities had uh come along or temptations I don't know what what I'd have done #1 Before I was twenty-five no telling # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: Plus I was just average Country boy But you seem to be Uh farther advanced and I I think that's what schooling will do for you Teaches you to think things out That's uh Interviewer: I 678: #1 That's one thing college # Interviewer: #2 I don't know # 678: #1 Does is to think things out # Interviewer: #2 Yeah college # And then you know like uh and then like now now that I'm in graduate school you know and everything uh in graduate school you can just take the things that you're interested in you know like in 678: That's right Interviewer: In undergraduate school you have to take other like I wasn't #1 Really interested in # 678: #2 There's certain # Certain basics Interviewer: #1 Certain basics that you have to get # 678: #2 That uh you have to have # Interviewer: And that's good but then when you get into graduate school you can just get into the all the stuff that you're interested in #1 You know and I like that # 678: #2 It's kind of like uh # The basic kind of like washing your hands before you eat Interviewer: Yeah it's just 678: #1 Your mom and pop # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: Made you wash before you #1 Eat because # Interviewer: #2 Something you have to do # 678: Health wise and #1 And # Interviewer: #2 Right # 678: And for the looks of it Interviewer: Right 678: And the basics are something you just need #1 To learn # Interviewer: #2 That you # 678: #1 That's what # Interviewer: #2 Have to learn # 678: You build on Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I'm always regretting that I didn't get to go to college I I know I would have enjoyed it Interviewer: Yeah you would have 678: {NW} Interviewer: You would have you're just 678: {X} Interviewer: You have such a your mind you just pick up on things and notice things and you you have just I mean you retain things and everything you would have been 678: #1 Well I've # Interviewer: #2 Really good # 678: Studied hard #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: I've got some I've got a few diplomas around that's not a whole lot of them up there that I've actually earned since uh #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 Oh yeah # 678: Completely completed Dale Carnegie course #1 Which was real # Interviewer: #2 Oh you did # 678: Helpful to me Interviewer: Yeah 678: And uh I've got several rolled up in here little old Uh certificates that I've Attended Arkansas State College on On certain things #1 Mostly # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: Pertaining to industry Interviewer: To indu- right 678: #1 But you can't help but let let some of it # Interviewer: #2 When you were working for the singer co # 678: Rub off on me Interviewer: #1 Right # 678: #2 You know # And I I know why {NW} I had uh Had to write sort of a Oh I don't know if you call it a theme or not when I finished at Dale Carnegie long about fifty-three or four Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And you had to write within a certain amount of words Something that happened to you in real life Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh and What you did about it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well I was in the same class as seventeen college men and I won the top award Interviewer: Oh you #1 Did # 678: #2 Over those fellows # They were all friends of mine working with #1 Down at the plant # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: And they was glad that I won it too Interviewer: Uh-huh that's great 678: I I want to look to see if I can find that {D: Hurriedly} Before I leave and give I don't know if I've got a copy of it or not but if I have I will Interviewer: Oh I'd like to see that 678: {X} I'm gonna have to go here pretty #1 Soon # Interviewer: #2 Oh are you # 678: And uh have you got anything in particular you'd like to wind up with and we'll wind that up and then I'll see if I can find this #1 Thing # Interviewer: #2 Okay # Uh let me let me get off the let me finish up this thing #1 About the vegetables and everything # 678: #2 Probably in ten or fifteen minutes # Interviewer: Okay uh what would you call the thing that that you'd use to make a jack o lantern out of 678: Pumpkin Interviewer: Um what kinds of melons did they raise 678: Back when I was a child we raised uh watermelons And mush melons Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And raised the cantaloupe Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: The Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: The marsh melon is the long Interviewer: Oh that's the long one mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: And the cantaloupe is the round one Interviewer: Mm-hmm um let's see oh uh what did they raise uh well was there any difference between butter beans and lima beans do those considered the same 678: In the same family Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Same family one is uh you have it in the bunch beans and then the runners Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: We have them all around our fence the big colored Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: #1 Great big # Interviewer: #2 Right # 678: Colored butter #1 Beans # Interviewer: #2 Butter beans # Uh-huh 678: But I think really they refer to the Well back when I was a kid now Uh we had {NS} We only knew one One bean it was the white one Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I remember when we first got the colored #1 Butter beans # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: But then we had the little white one and the large one now we called the little white one the lima Interviewer: Oh you did 678: And we called the big white one the butter #1 Bean # Interviewer: #2 The butter bean # I 678: #1 But they # Interviewer: #2 See # 678: Still are of the same #1 Family # Interviewer: #2 Of the same # Family 678: Because you can get them in the bunch Or you can get them in the run And I think we called them limas because that was a trade name Interviewer: Trade name uh-huh 678: {X} And the butter bean was the Eating name of them Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: What I called the eating name Interviewer: Um now on a cherry the inside part of the cherry the part that you don't eat 678: The seed uh or the Kernel Interviewer: Or the kernel how about on the peach what would you call that 678: It's a seed Interviewer: It's a seed 678: It's a seed Interviewer: Now the kind of peach that sticks to the seed you call that a 678: Cling Interviewer: And then the other #1 Kind # 678: #2 That's a # Freestone Interviewer: Freestone now the part of the apple that you don't eat that you throw away 678: Why we called it peeling Some called it a rind Interviewer: Uh-huh oh 678: It could be either Mm-hmm and um now on the inside of the apple uh #1 Core # Interviewer: #2 If your # Core 678: But I'm talking about the peeling you see when they when they remove the peeling you They use two expression peeling or paring Interviewer: Or paring oh either way they'd say that um {NS} The did you ever know any other names for uh for peanuts besides peanuts 678: Goobers Interviewer: #1 Goobers {NW} # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Um what kinds of nuts might there be on trees around here 678: Acorn nuts Walnuts Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And that uh all the kind we have here #1 Locally # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # And pecans 678: Oh yes yes Interviewer: They did have the 678: We have lots of pecans #1 I thought you was # Interviewer: #2 Oh you do now # 678: Referring to wild Interviewer: Oh but now pecans I see that would be We have a wild pecan but we have the tame 678: #1 Domesticated # Interviewer: #2 Pecan # Uh-huh 678: Lots of them #1 But I was # Interviewer: #2 Right # 678: Referring to the Ones that grew in the woods was the #1 Walnut # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: And the and the hickory #1 Nut and # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: The wild pecan we called those pig nuts Interviewer: You called those #1 Pig nuts # 678: #2 They they were not # Good to eat #1 Bitter # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Real bitter Interviewer: Oh they were well now on a walnut what do you call that green outer covering 678: {NW} {X} I don't know just a Interviewer: Um #1 Well # 678: #2 The hull # Interviewer: #1 The hull # 678: #2 I guess # Interviewer: And then the part on the right around the meat you'd call the 678: The uh Interviewer: The shell 678: The shell yeah Interviewer: Yeah um 678: But now on hickory nuts it's right opposite That part that you peel off they do call the shell Interviewer: Oh they do 678: Until you get down to the nut Interviewer: And then 678: #1 So I imagine # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: On a walnut it'd be the same they would call that part the shell Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And then when you get down to the other it is a nut Interviewer: It would be the nut 678: The meat's inside Interviewer: Um did like at Christmas time sometimes did they have a special type of nut that they would use at Christmas time do you remember the ever that you'd only have around Christmas time 678: Well {NW} Yeah when I was a kid growing up we we had uh That was one of our rare treats to buy some nuts Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Walnut English #1 Walnuts and uh # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Brazil #1 Nuts # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: We called them nigger toes Interviewer: Oh you did yeah 678: You got to be careful about #1 Calling them that now # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: And then we had uh Interviewer: #1 Did they ever have # 678: #2 Uh # Interviewer: Almonds 678: Almonds #1 That's one thing # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: I'm thinking of #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: And those little uh #1 Beach # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Nuts or Interviewer: Yeah I know what you're talking about I don't know the name of them either little small #1 Ones yeah # 678: #2 Uh-huh # Interviewer: Um #1 Well now # 678: #2 Almost # Thought of it then Interviewer: Um hazelnut 678: #1 Hazelnut # Interviewer: #2 Hazelnut # Yeah yeah I remember my aunt talking about that 678: It is a treat you know to hang up your stocking and Interviewer: And have the 678: Have those in there and the apples and the oranges Interviewer: And oranges too they'd put uh 678: {X} Sock up Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: We'd always hang up the biggest sock we could find #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: Really believed in Santa Claus until I was about #1 Eight or nine year old yeah # Interviewer: #2 You you said until you were about eight or nine or ten or # Something like that #1 I noticed that and it was # 678: #2 {X} # Interviewer: A big shock 678: That's right Well disappointment Interviewer: Yeah 678: Just Heartbreaking {NW} Interviewer: #1 Sure it was # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: {NW} 678: Well it's just like bursting a bubble #1 Just uh # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: No more Interviewer: Uh-huh well would Christmas time be about the only time they'd have oranges 678: No my my dad would buy them {NW} Occasionally during the winter #1 Because he # Interviewer: #2 Oh he would # 678: He realized that uh we needed the fruit juices Interviewer: Oh he did yeah 678: But I would venture to say that there's lots of families Sharecroppers and such Would be fortunate to get oranges even during Christmas Interviewer: Oh yeah 678: Then the old man would have to get out and And either cut some wood to sell or maybe pick some cotton that had been left in the field and do something a little extra Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: To get some money or they didn't have any Christmas I've known I've known families that didn't have any Christmases Kids would be so disappointed Interviewer: Well now during the depression money was really uh 678: Scarce Interviewer: Yeah 678: Scarce Interviewer: Well uh when when you when you ran out of something like food uh did and they didn't have any money what did they do the like these people like these sharecroppers they #1 Was # 678: #2 They got # Interviewer: #1 {X} # 678: #2 Just got # By the {NS} Interviewer: Was it just all gone I mean the 678: It's gone and uh They run out they They resorted to whatever means they had and I am referring to honest means of Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Getting it they'd go borrow Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 From # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: The landlords or they'd go Uh offer to work for some Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} Or they'd just stick to scrounge around and and make do with what they had Was the was the old saying was pour a little more water in the {D: grater} Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: It didn't get As bad as it sounds Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But uh {NW} In lots of cases there was people didn't know and I've been in that shape that I didn't know where my next dollar was coming from And I was growing my family #1 I hit it right in the middle # Interviewer: #2 Oh really # 678: Yeah Interviewer: Oh 678: And even though we were prosperous farmers Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: They just simply didn't get enough for your crop to no more than pay your debts in between crops that's why we hustle ground and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh done what we could #1 To get a little bit of # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Extra money but there's been a few times When I'd run without money and we would need {NW} A few things from the store And I didn't know how I was going to get it Interviewer: {NW} 678: I remember coming down to {NS} A man's store and {NS} Wanting to buy some things now these were things that I really didn't have to have When I ask him they come to about three dollars in quarters Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And I ask him if he could credit me to the for a couple of weeks when I was going to sell something He said no {NW} And he said uh I've he said I grew up with your daddy and mother up in northwest Missouri if there's anyone in the Country I would trust it'd be you But he said I just haven't got the money to do it but #1 He said # Interviewer: #2 Mm # 678: When they {NW} When they move this these groceries into my store I have to pay for them Right then #1 And there # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: And if I let them out any of them out on credit I have he said I don't make enough profit Because if I let out uh fifteen or twenty dollars worth I can't pay the bills #1 When he come in # Interviewer: #2 Mm # 678: So I'd be out something to sell I said well I understand that and I done without it Interviewer: Mm 678: I don't remember what I was buying but I done without it {NW} Which goes to show that uh if people make up their mind they could save a lot of money Interviewer: Mm 678: By Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Getting by instead of spending everything #1 They make see # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: {NW} Interviewer: Well um the what would you have on your table to season your food with 678: Salt. Pepper. Uh pepper sauce. Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Hot peppers Interviewer: Um now if something that you bought was not imitation Sometimes it might have on there 678: You mean if it was #1 Imitation # Interviewer: #2 If it was # Not imitation 678: Pure Interviewer: Pure 678: Mm-hmm #1 Like uh # Interviewer: #2 Did # Gen- 678: Like a {D: they demand uh} {NW} Uh Well a certain amount of flavor what is this uh Well there's uh spice that uh The women used and it had a pure and then it had an imitation Interviewer: Mm-hmm and then they'd have like vanilla or #1 Something like that vanilla # 678: #2 That's what I'm thinking of # Pure #1 Vanilla # Interviewer: #2 Yeah because # I can remember #1 Seeing pure vanilla uh-huh # 678: #2 And imitation vanilla # Mm-hmm Interviewer: How about on a leather belt it'll have on there 678: The buckles you mean Interviewer: No if if it's not imitation leather it'll have gen- 678: Genuine #1 Leather mm-hmm mm-hmm # Interviewer: #2 Gen- yeah stamped on there # 678: Yeah Interviewer: Now sometimes if people bought something in a big quantity they'd say they were buying it 678: Gross Interviewer: In gross now would that how would that differ from buying in in bulk 678: Bulk {NW} Gross is so many Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: You realize what a gross is Interviewer: Okay that that's a countable number of things then oh I see a gross 678: #1 And and a # Interviewer: #2 Of something # 678: Bulk is if I had a bin here full of sugar Interviewer: Right mm-hmm 678: Ah and I'd uh and you'd come in and say I want uh fifty cents worth of sugar Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I'd dole you out fifty cents worth Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But if I had it in sacks over there all the way to Pre-sacked Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} That's sacked sugar Interviewer: I see 678: Or a or a or a designated quantity Interviewer: Right 678: And this is bulk Interviewer: That's 678: You can buy any amount #1 Of it you want here # Interviewer: #2 And you just # 678: #1 # Interviewer: #2 # 678: #1 And here you've got to buy # Interviewer: #2 And they measure that # Out 678: One one or more sacks #1 Just # Interviewer: #2 I see # 678: One if you wanted uh Say they had five pounds of sugar Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: In the sack you want fifteen pounds #1 You'd have to buy three # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Sacks Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Here he could dip you out #1 Fifteen or sixteen # Interviewer: #2 Fifteen sixteen # 678: Or seventeen Interviewer: Whatever you want 678: {NW} Interviewer: Just that loose 678: If it was twenty cents a pound you'd say give me a dollar's worth he'd when you have five pounds Interviewer: I see 678: That's #1 That's the bulk # Interviewer: #2 That would be in bulk # Oh you know everything um if something was cooking and you came in your mother was cooking something good and you and your brother came in you might turn to him and say mm-mm just just 678: I don't know Interviewer: If you were gonna if you wanted him if you thought it if it made a good impression on your nose you'd say mm just you might say just take a whiff of it 678: #1 Yeah yeah # Interviewer: #2 Or just # 678: That would be {NS} Interviewer: Or just 678: {NW} Interviewer: Just smell 678: And talking about uh I'll tell you Maybe you better turn this off Interviewer: #1 Oh # 678: #2 While I'm telling this # {NS} He was talking about how smart he was Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: He said boy he said that man has gone all the way through college And this old ignorant nigger said he he has Interviewer: {NW} 678: And he said yeah he said he's got a BS degree And he said you know what BS stands for don't you Interviewer: {NW} 678: And of course the old ignorant nigger there wasn't but one thing that BS stood for #1 For for # Interviewer: #2 No # 678: Bull so and so Interviewer: Yeah I think I know 678: {X} I know what that B S stood for He said uh And he's got a MS degree And he said he's got a P H degree He said now I knows what that B S stands for but what does that M S and P H D stand for {NW} He said that M S is more of the same And that P H D is piled higher and deeper Interviewer: Oh no 678: {NW} So {NW} #1 That's a broken word # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Oh that's great um 678: You remember that one now that's a good one Interviewer: I'll try to #1 Remember that one that's yeah # 678: #2 That's a college joke # Interviewer: Yeah that's good um if there was a bowl of apples on the table and one of the children wanted one uh he might point up there and say 678: Gimme That's the old word G I M M E Interviewer: Yeah gimme gimme uh 678: They wouldn't say can I can I have #1 Or may I have # Interviewer: #2 Right # Say gimme and if they wanted an apple they'd say 678: Mommy gimme a apple Interviewer: Mm-hmm that's great um a person that doesn't have much money you'd say that person was 678: Broke Been that way Interviewer: You've been that way um 678: Still am Interviewer: {NW} 678: Never got over it Interviewer: Which came first the cigars or cigarettes 678: The to my knowing the cigar did Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I remember Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm um those things that sometimes would come up in people's yards after rain umbrella shaped 678: Toad stools Interviewer: Now that'd be toadstools now would that be 678: Got some in my yard now Interviewer: Oh you do now could you what about the ones you could eat 678: I never did I was always Afraid of them some of them poisonous #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: And uh They were mushrooms Interviewer: Mushrooms would be the kind that that people could 678: But I never did know the difference so I didn't think I would like them either Interviewer: Um well we're just about to get onto the part about animals so this might be a good uh stopping place if you want to 678: {X} Interviewer: Uh {NS} 678: I don't remember just where I {X} Why I keep so much junk around Interviewer: {NW} 678: {NW} Interviewer: It's hard to keep up with everything 678: {NS} I don't know if I have two copies of this or not I well I hope I do {NS} Interviewer: Well I hope so too 678: Well the The reason I wanted to give you one of these is is to show you that {NS} After all times have no changed a whole lot Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: #1 In some ways # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: This was I think I did make some more copies. Yeah Interviewer: Oh you do have #1 More than that # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Good {NS} 678: That was in That's been twenty-one years ago that I've taken that Dale Carnegie course and Interviewer: Oh this is from the Dale #1 Carnegie thing # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # #1 That's what I wrote and that's what I won the award on # Interviewer: #2 Oh this is it this is what you wrote # You won the award for 678: Yeah you can take that with you #1 If you want to after # Interviewer: #2 Oh good # Good yeah I'll take this with my other stuff 678: Well it might {NW} And I know you're going to pursue your education and you know this is This is sort of history this actually #1 Happened see # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: #1 This is something # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: That uh We had to write something that actually happened #1 In our our life # Interviewer: #2 That actually happened # 678: #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Oh you did # Yeah 678: Uh an incident Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Uh that happened Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: In in our life that uh a tale that we could tell #1 That was true # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Mm-hmm 678: And and uh you still see the same things happening today that That happened back then Interviewer: Hmm {NS} 678: That's all I can think of I might Wish off on you Interviewer: Oh well that's good I let me put these things in my note in my book so I won't drop a pen {X} 678: {NW} But I learned that in In uh talking to college graduates that anything that they can get ahold of sometimes {NS} Will come to be beneficial Interviewer: Oh right that's that's for sure {NW} That's yeah 678: I guess I need to get over #1 And see what's happening in town # Interviewer: #2 Okay see what's happening in town # 678: Tomorrow I've got to go to go #1 to Little Rock and you're leaving tomorrow right # Interviewer: #2 Right I know I'm leaving tomorrow # How about you oh you gonna be busy tonight 678: I'm not sure uh #1 I don't uh # Interviewer: #2 For just a little while # 678: I don't think I will be Interviewer: But you never know 678: #1 Well I I'm not I haven't got anything # Interviewer: #2 {NW} You have some # 678: Planned Interviewer: You don't uh would you be willing to give up a little more #1 Time to me # 678: #2 Yeah # If I have I mean if If uh #1 If nothing comes up # Interviewer: #2 If nothing comes up # 678: {NW} And I can't think of anything right now Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But and I don't know what time I'd get in well you won't be here tomorrow at all Interviewer: No 678: Friday's always a pretty busy day #1 even # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: If you was here Interviewer: Yeah 678: I'm gonna miss you Interviewer: #1 Well I'm gonna miss you too # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: #1 I really am # 678: #2 I've I've never met a person # That I have took to like I have you Interviewer: Really and truly? 678: I don't know why but I Interviewer: That makes me feel so good uh excuse me trouble Aux 1: I think uh {X} 678: #1 I'll be right there # Interviewer: #2 Okay # 678: {NW} Be right {NS} Interviewer: But did you get all that stuff taken care of today the hospital and 678: Yes I got everything under control just got rid of some of the councilmen here and Marshall got them ready for tomorrow so we We're in pretty good shape Interviewer: Well that's good um 678: {NW} Interviewer: I believe the last thing I was talking about was 678: {NW} You was gonna talk #1 About horses # Interviewer: #2 Animals # 678: Or animals Interviewer: Yeah animals was the last thing I was on that's right I didn't I asked about this when we were gonna talk about animals um now the kind of bird that can see in the dark 678: Hoot owl Interviewer: Hoot owl what about one of those small ones that's um 678: Screech owl Interviewer: Screech owl you know everything how about a bird that can drill holes in the trees 678: {NW} You mean the old well there's two kinds There's a yellow hammer And the peckerwood Interviewer: And the peckerwood 678: #1 Some of them call them # Interviewer: #2 Are those are those # 678: Woodpeckers {NS} And some of them call them peckerwoods so Interviewer: Are those the same thing though 678: No no a woodpecker and a peckerwood is the same thing he's a red head Interviewer: Right 678: With a white body and black wings Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And the yellow hammers are Is the larger bird Interviewer: But it does peck holes 678: Yeah yeah just like a battering ring Interviewer: I didn't know that 678: Sound like a machine gun Interviewer: Huh haven't heard of that one 678: That's right #1 Yellow hammer # Interviewer: #2 Um # 678: It's a bigger larger bird than the Peckerwood Interviewer: Than the peckerwood how about now this is a little animal that's black with a white stripe down its back 678: Smells very good Interviewer: Yeah 678: Skunk Interviewer: Have you ever heard it called anything else 678: Pole cat Interviewer: Pole cat #1 Oh that's # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: The same thing 678: Same thing And the and uh And and when you hunt hunt them for their fur Interviewer: Yeah 678: The ones that doesn't have the white on them will bring more money than the Those that do #1 Because they # Interviewer: #2 Well I thought they all # Had white on them 678: No no some of them are solid black and uh the white ones Before they use the fur they have to dye it Dye the white part see Interviewer: Hmm um what kinds of animals come and raid hen roosts 678: Well possums for one And I think skunks do Interviewer: And skunks 678: I think I think they do but {NS} But uh possums will uh uh in that {X} Course a fox Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Fox will Interviewer: Well now have you ever heard of people refer to animals like that as varmints 678: Mm-hmm Some of the old timers called any Anything in the beast Family varmints Interviewer: Varmints yeah have you ever heard anybody call a person a varmint 678: Yeah I've been called that Interviewer: You have 678: #1 Sure # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: You know you read Snuffy Smith He always refers to #1 To animals as # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: {NW} As varmints you know or Interviewer: Yeah 678: And and he classes a humans as {NW} Varmints Oh yeah I've been called a varmint jokingly you know Interviewer: Uh-huh uh what types of squirrels would you have around here 678: We have the gray squirrel and the fox squirrel And then we have the flying squirrel Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And he's almost extinct he's uh Interviewer: Oh really 678: Yeah they they build him holes Uh they're great on using the holes that woodpeckers make Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Or A a deteriorated tree where it's rotted out they'll bed up in that and {NS} And they're called flying squirrels but {NW} They don't flap their wings Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But they will get on Up in a tree And when they spread their feet out Well this uh This meat uh this skin I mean comes from this the Front foot Back to its back foot and just and and he inflates his self Interviewer: Oh 678: That's just loose loose skin and he just inflates himself {NS} Instead of flopping why he'd just sail it's kind of like a glider you know he'll #1 He'll glider # Interviewer: #2 Oh like a glider # 678: He'll glide for a long distance and then land Of course he loses {X} He'll land lower down #1 On a tree # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: But they do not flap Interviewer: Oh so they don't really fly they glide 678: Glide Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Just glide Interviewer: Um 678: They're small they're not over So long Full grown Interviewer: Oh 678: About half as large as a gray #1 Squirrel # Interviewer: #2 As a gray squirrel # Huh well how about something that's sort of like a squirrel but it doesn't climb trees 678: You mean rats Interviewer: Uh well you may not have these in this part of the country some is called a brown squirrel or a chipmunk 678: {NW} We don't have them that's uh they they are they're in the hill countries Interviewer: In the hill countries oh how about some common fish that people might get around here 678: Fish Interviewer: Yeah what would they maybe get if they were to go fishing well you go fishing what would you 678: Well We have several species we have the black bass Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: We have the rock bass Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh we have the white bass Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We have the drum Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We have the carp We have the buffalo Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We have almost every species of catfish Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh we have the crappie Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We have the brim family which is made up Several types of little common {NW} Commonly called perch Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But they're in the brim family And uh One is called the goggle eye perch and the sun perch #1 For instance and they # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: And they uh uh {NS} Whiteys they call them and then we have the hickory shed {NS} And uh we have the grinnels We have the gar Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh Interviewer: Well now what have you caught the most of 678: Well I fish My when I go fishing I have three species that I fish for the brim the bass and the {D: crockett} Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I catch others Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But they're unwelcome Interviewer: Oh but uh-huh 678: I catch them because they eat what I offer the others Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But I never go fishing after a grinnel or a carp or a grime or a gar Interviewer: But you have uh 678: I ca- I do catch them Interviewer: Um what do you call those things that pearls grow in 678: {NW} Oyster shells you mean Interviewer: Oysters yeah 678: We have uh Those around here there used to be lots of them lots of them they would Gather them and and take them to a button factory Interviewer: Oh they did 678: They'd find them on the sandy Beaches like uh where when the water Is high and Goes down why there'd be Sand washes And that's where they would find the Mussel shells and And they would make buttons from them but They don't well they just about uh Done away with all of them {X} Going after them #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: And along about the time they got scarce then they started making uh synthetic buttons Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: That kind of evened up the score Interviewer: Oh yeah 678: They don't get many Pearls they call pearl buttons you see that's where you got your pearl buttons out of the oyster shells Interviewer: #1 What about # 678: #2 They had some # Really large you know making nice ashtrays #1 And things like that yeah # Interviewer: #2 Oh they'd {X} # 678: Oh we found them this This long around there Large ones Interviewer: Huh uh what about the things that make a noise around a pond at night croak around the pond 678: You mean the bullfrogs Interviewer: Bullfrogs 678: They're one of them then there's uh There's a spring frog And uh #1 And a bullfrog # Interviewer: #2 Oh a spring frog # Uh-huh 678: They're both uh Water Frogs Interviewer: Water frogs uh-huh 678: And then we have the little tree frogs Interviewer: #1 Uh-huh # 678: #2 That # That uh hangs on the side of the reed and he takes a tremendous Noise and then the toad frogs they're not Known as a A water frog but After a rain they will get out on the edge of the water and that's All the noise you hear around when you {X} Especially in this part of the country after a rain just at dark Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: They make a tremendous noise For the spring there will be hundreds and hundreds little #1 Toads not over # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: That large every one of them singing at one time Interviewer: Really 678: They the old timers say that they're praying for rain #1 More rain # Interviewer: #2 Oh # For more rain 678: You know toad frogs uh Almost disappeared in this country they began to Buy them to uh Well they use them in chemical plants #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: Yeah And uh for a few years here we seldom saw a toad frog And Every one I'd find I'd just take care of him you know and now I've got Several of them around But I haven't seen those things years ago thirty or forty years ago So thick on the {NW} Store fronts where there's a light That you couldn't couldn't walk without placing your feet And they just sat down lick their tongue out and get that bug Interviewer: Oh 678: And People have uh Torn open shotgun shells and taken these real fine shot and just rolled them at them And they just Interviewer: {NW} 678: Until they get so heavy they can't walk With led it'll kill them #1 See lead # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Will kill anything They'll eat until they can't until they can't hop {NS} Interviewer: Oh 678: Just eat as fast as you can {X} {NS} But the only time that I had seen frogs That thick I was down when about three weeks ago and it came a rain And while I was driving home why I just saw Hundreds of frogs Course people were just mashing them and Interviewer: Oh 678: Into the highway Interviewer: What did 678: So frog toad frogs have made a comeback I've got one in my Boathouse that I call Lucifer Interviewer: {NW} 678: I keep him water in there so he won't even have to go out Interviewer: Oh 678: And he takes care of those spiders and everything #1 Yes sir # Interviewer: #2 Oh they eat spiders # 678: And in my gardens they they're out there I'm real careful not to plow into them or anything And if he Trying to get out the way I'll stop my plow and they can get out of the way Interviewer: Oh 678: But this one in my shed he's a great big old toad now Real dark one and The other day I said I haven't seen Lewis for a couple of days and Louise said yeah he's out there on the sitting on the sills #1 Said he's behind your shovel # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: Went out there and there he sat #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 Oh # That's funny a pet toad frog um what would you call the things that you dig up to go fishing with 678: wor- well worms #1 Worms red worms # Interviewer: #2 What what # Red worms 678: Red worms Interviewer: How about around a a stream uh is the hard shell a thing that it puts its head and its legs in and out 678: You mean a turtle Interviewer: Yeah now #1 Would that be # 678: #2 Well now # We have the hard then we have the soft shell turtle then we have the old Hard shell snapper Interviewer: Oh 678: Uh Interviewer: Would those be on the in the water 678: {NW} Well they'd settle limbs and drop off in the water when you Get close to them Interviewer: How about in dry land uh 678: They have a dry what they call dry land tavern Interviewer: Oh 678: #1 He's a he's a # Interviewer: #2 Tavern # 678: Tall one he He stands up tall and And never never too large maybe something like that but These soft shell turtles gets uh Oh they'll get this big around and that's the kind they eat That is good eating I never did eat one Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But it's a rare dish you know A lot of them eat these old uh snapper turtles too they say they're just as good but they're harder to clean Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: My brother caught one over here on the river weighed a hundred and five pounds Interviewer: Mm 678: We could stand on him he'd just walk off with us Interviewer: Gosh 678: His head was uh Oh gosh it was as wide as this here this #1 Across # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: He could have bitten your leg off most off Interviewer: Mm 678: But the soft shell ones are flat Big around and got a long neck they look kind of pitiful out in sitting under looking Interviewer: {NW} 678: Looking around at all the old snappers so they got that hooked bill nose and the short neck big head Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Hard hard shell on the back {NS} Interviewer: Um did people course I guess they didn't have any way of keeping it refrigerated people didn't eat much in the way of seafood did they when you were 678: Not here {X} When they went and caught a massive fish they had to eat him #1 Because they had no way of keeping it # Interviewer: #2 And eat him # Now they now anything that was caught like in the ocean uh they did could they ever bring that in like uh oysters and that sort of thing 678: Canned Interviewer: Oh canned how about stripped did you ever see 678: Yeah {X} In fact They had uh Interviewer: #1 Canned # 678: #2 I remember # Getting canned shrimp Years ago Interviewer: Oh you do they had a can oh I didn't know that 678: But we The main fish dish here Was uh was uh salmon And mackerel Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh Oyster or uh sardines Interviewer: Sardines yeah mm-hmm 678: Sardines and mackerel And uh {NS} Interviewer: Um now an insect that'll fly that'll like to get around a light when you open oh I don't know how they get in but anyway with the light wings kind of 678: Millers Interviewer: Millers 678: {NW} Interviewer: Now would that be the same as the thing that'll lay the eggs in your clothes 678: No that's a moth isn't it Interviewer: Oh that would be a moth did you ever #1 Have # 678: #2 I think # Interviewer: Did you have very many 678: Used to have lots of moths Lots when you had the old wooden houses that had uh Lots of cracks And this that and the other but I know we used to have to keep moth balls in our hanging in our Closets after we got closets or on the clothes when they'd hang to the walls and {NW} If you wanted to wear a suit of clothes Sunday why you better take that out about Thursday and hang it out #1 Or or you'd have # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: It'd be so strong with moth balls that people couldn't stand you Interviewer: Oh 678: But uh we have We still have moth Around here but uh very few and If we're gonna store something back in a chest or something we put moth balls in it and Now you can buy moth balls that are not so strong And just hang them on your clothes racks you know Interviewer: Mm-hmm how about an insect that flies around with just oh with a light in its tail 678: Moth well there's two two names we Always referred to them as a lightning bug but uh most of them I refer to them as June bugs Interviewer: Oh as June bugs 678: Because they come because they show up Latter part of May or Especially in June Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Used to be here by the millions #1 Literally millions # Interviewer: #2 Oh by the # 678: #1 Yeah # Interviewer: #2 Millions # 678: Just We'd get out at night when I was a kid and they just almost light up that whole Place just just like that just Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them Interviewer: {NW} 678: But you seldom see them anymore Interviewer: Yeah well now an insect that's got a long that you'll see around a pond it's a long thin body and 678: #1 You mean the # Interviewer: #2 Two # 678: Mosquitoes you're talking about mosquitoes or Interviewer: No this is something this is bigger than a mosquito it's got a long thin body it's got two sets of flimsy wings 678: Well there's a There's a #1 Well we # Interviewer: #2 Sometimes people say # 678: Call them a horse there's some horse doctors Interviewer: Horse doctor 678: And then there's a Interviewer: What do people think they find their snakes around 678: Um A snake doctor #1 Flies they call those # Interviewer: #2 Snake doctor # 678: They call them snake doctors and horse doctors Something else I bet you {X} You may have never heard of and it's fox fire have you Interviewer: Mm-mm 678: It's uh It's a piece of old wood mostly gum or soft any soft wood That has rotted And bleached out white Then when it rains on it You can go into the woods at night and you'd see that stuff just as far as the eye can see it's uh it's #1 It has a kind of a # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: White gold look Interviewer: And it does it glow I mean 678: Yeah at night but you it's just a piece of wood in daytime Interviewer: Oh {X} 678: Used to be a lot of that in Newgrounds you know #1 Where we'd # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Clear up You'd {NW} Have an old dead hog and maybe Chip off part of it and and uh it would get wet and lay up there under the moon shine on it why Or even the stars especially the moon It would reflect just like white gold Interviewer: Huh 678: #1 Called it called it fox fire # Interviewer: #2 I never never # Fox fire I guess they don't have that in many places 678: Well you just weren't around the woods much Interviewer: Around the woods 678: You were growing up around timbers like I did they still there would still be some of it but not as much because now when they clear land they just take a A big cat and and uh Push the trees down and would stack them up and burn them before they ever rot see This has to come from old rotted wood Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And Oh there used to be lots of it and {X} Hunting damp night like this see lots of it Where people would cut wood you know and lift the old gum tree and it would rot Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I just pitched that in ecstasy Interviewer: Yeah #1 That's interesting though I never heard of it # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: That's what I mean I learn all these things #1 I wouldn't have learned anywhere # 678: #2 You may be asked about it someday # What is fox fire Interviewer: What is fox fire 678: You'll think someone's pulling your leg Interviewer: Yeah I wouldn't know what fox fire was what kinds of uh insects would you have around that would sting you 678: A lot of them. Wasps. Bumblebees. Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh Honeybees Yellow jackets Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Did I say hornets Interviewer: No 678: Hornets They won't sting you they'll knock you down Interviewer: Mm 678: They get mad and take off Now this is sort of believe it or not but the old people can tell you That they've been known to knock a cow down hit her between the eyes and just knock her down Interviewer: You don't mean it 678: You know they build in big huge nest you ever seen a hornet's nest Interviewer: No I haven't 678: Well you ought to see them around a museum some time It's a it's an enormous thing it could be that big around Well you've seen wasp nests Interviewer: Yeah 678: It'd be the color of wasp nests so but they'd just build it layer on top of layer and it's kind of Shaped like a top a spinning top Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they hang it up in the tree and {NW} And they go into the barn Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they make their honey up in that thing I've seen them as long as this Table is wide and #1 Oh this big # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Around Interviewer: Oh 678: And if you ever Disturb them boy they can give you fits And the the bumblebee he he He goes into the roots of trees and makes his honey Goes into a little hole and Finds a hollow Hollow stumps {NS} And We used to cut into them and my brother and I found out if we'd lay flat on the ground they wouldn't sting you they always go up They'd come out and they'd fly up mad you know Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they grow their honey in little individual Uh cups And that too is the color of a wasp nest Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: A little thin gray looking Thing and the cup is about like a A little marble or a steel ball and And you just pick it off and just squeeze it and it's clear No chrome to it just clear syrup real delicious Interviewer: Mm 678: #1 We used to run r- # Interviewer: #2 Oh really # 678: Run around with some old country boys and Interviewer: {NW} 678: And we'd we'd take them to help us rob the bumblebee tree Until they caught on well we'd chop this hole and soon as we cut into them why My brother and I we'd hit the ground and those old boys would be standing up they're getting stung all over see {NW} Interviewer: Oh 678: But they that's where you initiate them Interviewer: Yeah that's where you initiate them yeah 678: But wasp nests are Quite numerous I have them around my corkwood A whole lot but I just put a water hose to them Interviewer: Oh that's how you get rid of them 678: And Wayne down over where he lives in his he's got a double corkwood on the side of a trailer and he lives right on the lake and I got out of the car the other day and I saw several nests that big around with I guess a hundred wasps on them Interviewer: Mm 678: Well I said they'll kill you they will get enough of them to sting you they'll kill you {NW} So he got some guy the other day to Spray them uh Uh mace or something #1 Kind of like a {D: holy shields} you know # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # 678: Just kill them instantly Interviewer: Well now which is worse the sting a wasp or a yellow jacket u 678: Well uh I don't think you can make a distinction between them Either one if you get them mad they're gonna sting you #1 But the yellow jackets # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Find them in the woods and Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Mostly once in a while they'll get in briars Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But mostly they build in stumps {NS} And you drive a team by there and if you stir them up {NS} They'll start hitting the belly of those horses and they'll run away with you right down through the middle of the woods And nobody can hold them But man they sting the life out of you Interviewer: Mm 678: And the wasp's the same way when you disturb him Well he's gonna sting you Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And jackets and wasps either one's not gonna bother you until You disturb them once in a while they'll come down and buzz you Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But if you're going about your business they'll hardly ever sting you Interviewer: Now what about those things that build their nest up out of mud 678: The snipes Interviewer: Or dirt 678: Well Well the snipes build on dirt and Interviewer: Oh 678: And and and pigeons carry a lot dirt we used to put Lard can little lard cans And they'd carry in mud and sticks and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But snipes build on uh Uh mud that's uh that's one bird that I know that does Interviewer: How about an insect that likes to nest out of dirt or mud do you know I mean 678: The dirt dauber Interviewer: #1 Oh a dirt dauber # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: Yeah 678: They don't sting you Interviewer: They don't sting no oh I didn't know that 678: I've never been stung by one never heard of anyone #1 Getting stung by one # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Mm-hmm 678: I still dodge them #1 I know I don't trust them # Interviewer: #2 Oh you do # Yeah yeah um what about those insects that'll like if you go through the tall grass it'll get in your skin and make you itch you can't even hardly see them 678: Chiggers Interviewer: Chiggers you ever heard those called red bugs 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Yeah 678: They call them Some people call them red bugs {NW} I think uh Probably if you go up in an encyclopedia well that's what you'd find #1 It'd be red bugs # Interviewer: #2 Red bugs # 678: {NW} #1 Maybe # Interviewer: #2 How # 678: Instead of chiggers but we always call them chiggers because that's the way we grew up calling them Interviewer: Uh-huh how about the insects that hop around in the grass 678: You mean the grasshoppers Interviewer: Grasshoppers have you ever heard them called a hoppergrass 678: Yeah #1 Now a lot of # Interviewer: #2 You have # 678: people call them that Interviewer: Oh you have 678: And we have a lot of Ticks in the hills and the mountains and we've got this year we we've got The first time in a long time we've been infested with small ticks Interviewer: Hmm 678: What we call seed ticks Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Get all over the dogs Interviewer: Hmm 678: And they'd even get the They get on your shoes tromp them in the house fortunately we haven't had them #1 But Truman # Interviewer: #2 Mm # 678: Down below us had to spray for them Interviewer: Hmm 678: Now the old dogs are just covered up with them Interviewer: Oh 678: And I We took tweezers and picked them off Interviewer: Oh 678: Must have been dozens Interviewer: Hmm 678: But we still have lots of chiggers and Chick chicks and tiggers they call them Interviewer: Chicks and tiggers how about a little fish that people use for bait 678: You mean you mean the minnows Interviewer: And uh what do you call the thing that a spider 678: His web Interviewer: If it's up in the corner of a room do you call it just 678: Yeah it's a web Interviewer: #1 It's a web # 678: #2 {NW} # Wherever he builds it Interviewer: Wherever he builds it 678: Sometimes he runs them a strand across to the next corner you know Interviewer: How about what do you call the kind of tree that you tap for syrup 678: Uh sugar maple Interviewer: Yeah do you know what you call a a group of those trees together 678: #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: #1 I'll have to go down to find that out # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # What kind of uh what kind of shade trees common shade trees would there be around here 678: {D: Bare} We have I guess every species that grows here We have uh uh several species of oak And the red oak and the white oak and in the red oak you have the old The red oak {NW} And the pin oak Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And the water oak Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And then in the white oak family you have the original white oak And uh the Overcup And uh then there's another one I can't think of the name of them there's three that The white oak has an enormous Heart red heart And very little sap So you get good post timber out of that the heart won't rot And also it doesn't warp when you make it into lumber It has kind of a white scaly bark and a forked leaf Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And the Overcups have a small heart and lots of sap Interviewer: Uh-huh oh 678: The Overcup and the Cow cow itch we called them cow itch #1 Oak # Interviewer: #2 Huh # 678: And They don't make good post they make good wood and they make good lumber but it has tendency to warp more than the white oak Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: White oak is Almost uh Warped out I mean we don't have much of a #1 Real white oak anymore # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: Then we have the ash we have the white ash and the pumpkin ash Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We have the weeping willow and the umbrella willow and the water willow Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And we have the elm or piss elm whichever one you're gonna piss Piss elm is really the name of it you know Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: And uh {NW} Several maples {X} We have the soft maple and the white maple Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We have the sycamore Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We have the um Boxelder we have the Mulberries Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And the pecan and the walnuts {NS} {X} Interviewer: Now how about fruit trees do you have 678: {X} Interviewer: You have the cherry 678: We have the cherries There's one across uh my neighbor has one across #1 My house # Interviewer: #2 Oh your neighbor has a # 678: I have a Peach and a apricot Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And then I have a A plum Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: That's uh about the extent of my fruit Except for grapes I grow grapes That's not a tree but it's A vine family And then we have the redbud tree and the white Uh the the Do- dogwood {NW} I have a redbud that {X} My front yard Several other trees the cottonwood I have the cottonwood Oh I could go on {X} Interviewer: There there's a a a big shrub kind of a big bush that has uh little red berries on it that uh some people say they're poisonous 678: Well I'm not too familiar with some of them now that we have bushes in our yard that's called a Nandina that has Red red berries Interviewer: Have you ever heard of anything called anything like a {D: sumac} 678: Uh yeah Interviewer: What's it is that is that what you call it you call it a 678: It's a there's a sumac and it has uh {NW} Berries on it but Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: I I don't believe they're poisonous #1 They they used them one time # Interviewer: #2 You don't think they're oh that's not # 678: Make ink out of them Interviewer: Oh to make ink 678: #1 A lot of the old # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: A lot of the unions in the early settlers used {NW} That and the elderberry Elderberries also have a Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: {NW} A a berry on them that Late in fall you can just Get a mash them up in your hands red just blood red #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Hmm # 678: And it it makes good pretty good eating because it's hard to wash off your hand Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We used to write our names on our cotton sacks when we were picking cotton And get uh elderberries Write our name with elderberries On the cotton sack Interviewer: Hmm that's really pleasant um well now how about um any roots that people would use for anything 678: To tea Interviewer: Yeah 678: Sassafras Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: {NW} Interviewer: About time 678: There's a there's other roots they used to use for um Making Medicines but I'm not Qualified to Elaborate on them ones but I I could drink the sassafras tea Interviewer: Oh you have 678: I dug them up and I know that it makes good pretty good tea and There used to be an old saying that They'd cut to get those roots and then the {NS} 678: {NS} Sometimes if I don't eat I might get caught out uh three or four hours you know Interviewer: And never get to eat 678: Now where were we Interviewer: Okay 678: {NW} Interviewer: Um oh what were the things what would nails come in 678: Oh back Back then uh in wooden kegs Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: Wooden kegs Interviewer: And what would they call the things that would run around a barrel the those metal things to hold the the stays in place 678: Bands I suppose uh {NS} That's what I'd call them I don't remember I don't really remember {NW} How they referred to them But uh They were that was a band #1 So I don't know # Interviewer: #2 Was a band # 678: I don't know any other any other thing to call it Interviewer: Mm-hmm well do you ever remember uh anything uh like a round metal thing that children would play with uh like sort of spin along called a hoop or a hoop or 678: Oh gosh yeah {NW} Uh one of the things that That boys and girls too played with {NW} The old wooden wagon wheels had a band around the hub #1 About # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: So big Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh {NW} Course when the wagon wheel would go bad why there they'd {NW} Metal tar laid and all the other metal until Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Someone gathered up {D: soda} We'd take those little hoops Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We'll take a stick with a #1 Little cross on the bottom # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Mm-hmm 678: And we'd {NS} Start that thing out #1 And follow it # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: Just as hard as you could go you know see how fast you could run it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Now that's one of the things that we played with girls and boys Interviewer: Mm-hmm played with both of those 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Oh um what would you put in the top of a bottle to stop it up 678: Cork and bay Interviewer: And a little #1 Musical # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Instrument that children would 678: French harps you mean #1 Jew's # Interviewer: #2 Right # 678: Harps and French harps Interviewer: Jew's harps and French harps what would be the difference in them 678: French harp you blow Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And move and a Jew's harp is just a little old {NS} You ever seen one Interviewer: No I don't think so 678: I don't know if I can describe it now it's just a little old metal thing with one trigger like #1 In here and he'd just # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh uh-huh # 678: He'd just go {NW} And thumb that thing #1 You know # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh uh-huh # 678: {NW} Really it's not it's not very musical Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 But uh # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: One of the things that we played with as children and I may bring in things here that you're not interested in but Up in our hay loft When the when we used a uh half or two thirds of the hay Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh I'd like to have some breakfast if you wouldn't mind now #1 Because # Aux: #2 Yeah # Well uh I got uh Newt to come back they have oh my gosh you've never seen it like sleeping pills 678: #1 Well I told you that's what's wrong # Aux: #2 They billed # 678: #1 {NW} # Aux: #2 Her bill # 678: #1 That old nurse bring them down here # Aux: #2 Three different # Three different doctors oh she's gone to three different doctors and there's two of them being filled on the same day the same stuff and he's took her gun and a bunch of them pills And stuff and taken them with him and he's really laying low down to her over there she's nutty as a fruit cake #1 Harlene # 678: #2 I know # Aux: Harlene told him he said he called her and she said said Newt said there ain't a thing wrong with her she's just {X} And now somebody has beat her up again she said that he broke in about four last and beat her up somebody 678: #1 No she's fell # Aux: #2 Beat her up # 678: She's fell She's strong and proud and she's fat and bruises that's what's wrong with her Aux: #1 Uh well something's happened now # 678: #2 {NW} # Aux: #1 She is she did go to # 678: #2 They're not breaking in there she's got # Aux: Jonesboro yesterday #1 {X} # 678: #2 She's got # Aux: And Mr Reeve's seen her go 678: She's got new locks on that and uh They didn't break in Aux: And she can't hardly talk her tongue is bit #1 Is big # 678: #2 I know # Aux: And Harlene has told him he she said now she's just she just {X} 678: That's all Aux: And we got to checking on the medicine and and I mean he really was trying to {X} Right now I said well I'm going home Burt hasn't had any breakfast and their kinfolk Interviewer: That's just what he was talking about 678: #1 Well # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: I'm not really hungry but I think I should eat because {NW} I've got some things #1 I've got to do this afternoon # Aux: #2 Is that my lock # 678: I I don't care if I eat at midnight you know just {X} Aux: #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Aux: #1 He eats breakfast all the way from # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Uh Aux: #1 Nine to twelve one o clock # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Mary would you like to have a coke Interviewer: I'd love to have a coke 678: Well maybe Louise will get us a coke Aux: You reckon I might {NW} 678: #1 I said maybe # Interviewer: #2 It would be # So kind of you Louise 678: #1 I I said maybe # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # #1 Maybe we would # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Appreciate it if you could {NW} 678: Uh I started telling you about a {NW} The haylofts #1 When the the when the # Interviewer: #2 Oh yeah # 678: Hay got down we'd have what we'd call a bag swing up in there Interviewer: Oh 678: Boy was that fun #1 Those little barns was # Interviewer: #2 I was wondering about that # You mentioned that that was in #1 I noticed that that # 678: #2 Uh-huh # Interviewer: Bag swing in your 678: Yeah that uh the whole barn would be sixty foot long you know and #1 And you'd get up # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: On this hay {NW} And we we were kind of dare devils we would uh Interviewer: {NW} 678: {D: When I was between this old} The bag was made out of a toe sack crammed full of hay Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: See on the big chain Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And we'd swing that thing and And uh we'd see how far we could leap {NS} From this shelf Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And straddle that thing and grab it Interviewer: Oh 678: Well if we missed we might fall #1 Sixteen # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Feet #1 Over the hay # Interviewer: #2 Goodness # 678: See {NW} Interviewer: Oh did you ever miss 678: Oh yeah I missed but you'd roll in that hay Interviewer: Oh you'd roll in the hay 678: And uh we learned uh we learned uh if we miss we learned to throw ourself over Know uh how how to fall and roll Interviewer: Isn't that something 678: Oh we had some we had some times Interviewer: Mm 678: Wonderful times that's to A kid that didn't grow up on a farm in those days really missed #1 Something # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Just really missed something Interviewer: I can tell reading your memoir #1 That # 678: #2 {NW} # {NW} Interviewer: Sounds like you really had a good time um now on a wagon what would you call the the piece that goes up between the horses the long wooden piece 678: The doubletree You mean to pull it by Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: That's a double #1 Tree # Interviewer: #2 That's a doubletree # 678: And the singletree #1 That uh # Interviewer: #2 And the singletree # 678: {NW} A doubletree {NW} {NS} Well here's your wagon Interviewer: Mm-hmm {NS} 678: Tongue Interviewer: Oh the wagon tongue 678: Yeah we'll just say this is your wagon tongue #1 Here # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: And here here's your horses Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Well they've got chains that run down from {NW} From each side you know of them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Until their collar Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: You familiar with horse collar's parts maybe #1 You should have seen a horse collar somewhere # Interviewer: #2 I think I've seen # I think so 678: Now these These chains have got a ring here {NW} This is what we call a singletree It's got a little old hook that comes out here and these hook into it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh it hooks on And these things are On swivels Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And these hook onto a A doubletree #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: And uh That's how the horses are hooked up and there's a Center hole here Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: This tongue comes across on back into here And this doubletree {NW} One horse gets hit why it'll just simply Turn on this #1 He walks # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Ahead and {NW} That's why you had to try to get horses of the same gait Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: See Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Compatible Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: That uh {X} Had the same gait and and everything if he didn't why one of them would lay back and {NW} And your doubletree would be Similar to that Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And old lazy bones you've got to whip him all #1 The time # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: But maybe it wasn't his fault maybe You take a short Fat man or woman They can't keep up with an old long-legged man #1 Or woman see # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: So you had to try to match your Your teams up {NW} And most of the times it was hard to match a horse with a mule Interviewer: Oh 678: #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Oh I bet # It was 678: We lots of times I've seen teams that A horse and a mule made real good teams Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But it was the exception rather than the rule Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But uh that's uh and and and then up here in front they had what they called a neck yoke We'll just assume this is a horse's head Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Comes on out here This neck yoke held a tongue up Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And it was fastened to his Lower part of his collar Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: With what they called a hang {NW} Hang chain Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: The {X} Or thing that went around the collar And the hang chain Fastened onto the neck yolk and that's the way they guided the wagon Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And pulled it this way Interviewer: Mm-hmm oh yeah that's 678: And uh people would see who could have the fanciest harness you know Interviewer: Uh-huh oh they would 678: Oh gosh yeah man Interviewer: Oh 678: They'd dress those horses up {NW} Fare you well Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} Interviewer: Oh well I didn't I never stopped to think about that that the you know you mentioned whips #1 Being fancy # 678: #2 Yeah # Oh yeah yeah Interviewer: Everything 678: Pride. It just all goes back to pride {X} Trying to keep not up with the Joneses but ahead of them Interviewer: Well the good the good uh sort of you made me understand it when you mentioned like a Cadillac you know and then I could oh thank you Aux: {NW} Would you like to have a sandwich there's some bacon and eggs Interviewer: No thank you Aux: I have three or four kinds of lunch meat some cheese Interviewer: I I ate breakfast this morning 678: {NW} Interviewer: Big breakfast Aux: I'd be glad to give you a sandwich or something Interviewer: Oh I appreciate it but I don't think so but Aux: Now really I don't a mind a bit in the world {X} Sit right on the table and you can come right in there and eat and Or eat it right here wherever you want because I'm gonna #1 Feed him too # 678: #2 Move this down on here # Place that you last Interviewer: Oh this is fine Aux: I've got to feed him too you know Interviewer: {NW} 678: I I don't smoke Aux: #1 {X} # 678: #2 And uh # Aux: And he's got a little family 678: #1 When the fellas # Interviewer: #2 No he said # 678: #1 Come in # Interviewer: #2 He wants # Breakfast 678: #1 When the fellas # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Come in here and smoke and I'm drunk after they smoke Interviewer: {NW} I don't smoke either so I no really I had a big breakfast Louise thank you though mm {X} Um now when you have a buggy uh before you hitch the the horse up you have to back him in between the 678: Shafts Interviewer: Now the out the the outside part of the wagon wheel do you call that the rim 678: {NW} Interviewer: What do they call that 678: The metal part Interviewer: Yeah that metal 678: Well it two things it it is the rim Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But most of them call it the tire Interviewer: The tire 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Mm-hmm now what about 678: #1 Even back then # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: before cars they referred to it as a {NW} Tire it it it it uh actually the rim the outer part {NW} But we called it a metal tire Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh And and they had the uh Dolly dog I can't think of the name of the Course they had this hubs and the spokes Interviewer: Mm-hmm and then 678: And then those other things I can't think of Interviewer: The spokes went up into uh 678: Into it was a filler of some sort {NS} What in the heck did they call that One of my blanks can't think Interviewer: There was a now I have heard some people call there's something that they call like a filler 678: A filler that's what I was #1 trying # Interviewer: #2 oh # A filler oh that's what that's what you were 678: It's a filler actually #1 But the word to they refer # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: #1 To it as a filler # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: Filler Interviewer: #1 As a filler # 678: #2 See # Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm um 678: Couldn't I couldn't think sometimes like I said I forget names Interviewer: Mm-hmm {NS} Now if you had a if a log had fallen across the road uh now you tie like a what would you do like put a chain around it and then to drag it out of the way how would you do that 678: {NW} #1 Well # Interviewer: #2 Did you pay # 678: 'course it would be done with a team Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: #1 And there's uh there's more than # Interviewer: #2 Oh and a team # 678: One way you can do it Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But to answer your question we would We would put a chain we'd have a log log chains we had uh We had uh three types of chains Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} We had one fit on each Wagon bunk Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Went out {NS} And I'm talk I'm I'm I'm a little uh {NW} Misleading here but I'm talking about loading logs now in the wagon Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: These two chains would go out In under the log And hook together And then we had what we called a cross haul Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: It'd hook onto there and come back across the wagon and a team took one that loaded on the wagon Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But we used to get back to your question we'd usually take the cross haul It had what they call a grab hook on it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} And we would uh Somewhere other get that under then the log Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: Uh you couldn't say well we can't get it under there had to be a way #1 It had it # Interviewer: #2 There had to be a way # 678: You had to dig down In the earth and get it under there or if you had to if it's on {NW} Something solid why you just simply got a prize full of something and got it under there Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh Hoped you grabbed hook and hooked your team onto it and we called it snaking it Interviewer: Snaking it 678: Snaking it away Interviewer: Oh 678: And then there was another way if it was on the side of the road you would take your cant hook you never saw a cant hook I don't guess {NW} Well it's a big old long Shank so long curved about {X} With a Barb on it like a similar to a fish hook {NW} And it was on a Big long handle Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh handle handle's strong where This hook uh fastened onto a big old Cuff of a thing and that went on over your handle and you just simply {NS} Got this Big pole on the log and put this hook under it and you got back and manhandled it rolled it off Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: See Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: That's one way of getting it off the side of the road but {NW} If you had to take it any distance you would hook onto it and Either drag it or snake it we we can refer to as snaking Interviewer: But snaking if you said I snaked it would that mean the same thing as I 678: Drug it Interviewer: Uh-huh it would be just the yeah I see it was just another #1 Word # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: For that 678: Some of them used tow tow it away Interviewer: Uh-huh mm-hmm 678: But tow uh {NW} The way I look on the tow is {NW} Is something with wheels Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: See Interviewer: #1 Mm-hmm # 678: #2 But # A lot of them say I towed the log away but Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We we'd either say {NS} We drug it away or we snaked it #1 And # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: The {NS} The general word right here was snaking Interviewer: Have you have you drug them a lot in the past 678: Well {NS} In in hauling logs {NW} You had to in o- in order to get into these Timbers you cut them you couldn't move them they they grew there you had to cut them down where they were Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: {NW} And then you might have to clear up Several little bushes to set your wagon close enough to this big log Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Now there's there's been logs big enough that you could It's impossible to move with teams Unless you be set your l- your wagon here by them and load it on the wagon Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So there has been trees left that'd be That would grow in in between two scrub trees or something Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And say well we just can't get to it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Until some wise guy would come along and say well we'll cut the other two trees and get them out of the way Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: See Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Lot of work but {NS} It's a valuable tree Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So {NS} If it was small logs {NW} Like we cut a lot of what we called second growth sappers Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: That was anywhere from Well maybe down to this small it uh something like this Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Then you could take a And we'd cut them in ten twelve fourteen sixteen foot lengths Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh there you could a hook a a good team what we call log team they were always strong Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: It would hook on these logs and you would set your wagons say as far from here to that house right there Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And you could snake these logs in there Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Now if the butt of it the butt end got heavier than they could snake {NW} Then you would cut you {NS} Little trees down about that long and Oh say this big around And you'd put Those under that log Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh if you had someone with you he'd just {NW} When the log was drug they acted rollers see Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: And uh when one'd come out he'd he'd grab this and run up and it put it in front Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well if you was by yourself you'd pull the left One out and then you would stop your team and you'd move that by yourself {NS} Interesting {NW} Lots of them {NW} Lots of planning lots of #1 Ingenuity went in with it # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: {NW} I know When I was a kid when I was about twelve or thirteen my dad turned me loose to loading all the logs Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh I got one just about loaded one time and and I had four logs Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: On the wagon you'd put three what they called bed Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And then two would fit in between those and then one on the top Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And when I loaded that top in my old hard-headed team {NW} Kept pulling turned the whole thing over Interviewer: Oh 678: Well you talking about a crying time I had it Interviewer: Oh 678: And things like that would happen to you Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well then you had to {NW} Reset your wagon and re-snake those logs until do it all over again Interviewer: Oh goodness 678: But I {NW} I I I finally got ahold of me a team of horses That uh You could set out set them to pulling this log up and when that skids you know it #1 Wouldn't # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Go up the wagon And uh they'd get that thing about halfway up skid and I'd holler hold it and they'd just stretch on hold that thing right there {NW} And they also was wise enough That when this log hit the bunks And the stop blocks Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: It made a certain noise and they knew that Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they just stopped pulling Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Just uh wonderful to have teams like that Interviewer: Oh sure 678: {NW} Interviewer: That 678: But if this log you know a butt Butt logs are larger on one end than the other Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well if you roll it it's gonna gain see Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And it'll run off your wagon Interviewer: Oh I see 678: So the way you would do that If you had a team that you could depend on and uh you'd say Get up or okay whatever you way you spoke to them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} This uh This big end where it gained You'd take this big old cant hook which was twice big as this Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And you'd throw it In front of this butt end On that skid and that'd cause it to roll And turn backwards and let the little end gain Interviewer: Oh 678: Yeah {NW} Interviewer: So that that made it even out 678: And you could load your wagon {NW} There's science to everything you know Interviewer: Oh yeah 678: I've seen I've seen fellas that were numbskulls Interviewer: {NW} 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Load them to where the butt of the log would just barely be on the bunk Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And and a whole lot of it was hanging back behind well that {NW} That made the wagon pull balance bad and pull bad and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: There's always a a danger of the thing that gradually work and and drop off see Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: They wouldn't they didn't know how to balance their load or anything about it Interviewer: Huh 678: But well we called those fellas ne'er do wells Interviewer: Ne'er do wells mm-hmm 678: {NW} Interviewer: Um {NW} oh {NS} When what would be some different types of plows that people used 678: Back then we had what we called a single stock Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: The double shovel Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: The top harrow the gee whiz Interviewer: The gee whiz what was the gee whiz that's a #1 great name # 678: #2 It was a thing # It had uh A series of uh s- spring uh spring similar to this Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And was sharp on the end and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And just you just simply hold them down push them down and you ran as far as they wanted to go and they were springing they'd hit roots or something well they'd spring back and jump over see Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And then we had the breaking plow Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And the disc harrow that's the thing that has the round uh {NW} Well you see the disc now on tractors you know these huge We had those and And they were the heaviest tool a team had to pull it was really hard and we had the section harrow which was You could take apart and use one section or two sections or three sections depending on the size team or the Uh the size of the place you was Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: harrowing down then we had the drag we had a drag that We had a bedder that bedded up the cotton drones then and we would either harrow them down with harrows and Or we'd drag it off with drags {NW} And uh that was followed with a planter Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We had one row of planters and later my dad as soon as he'd come out he got him two row of planter he's Interviewer: Oh 678: Yeah And we had uh Interviewer: Hmm 678: Cultivators Interviewer: Cultivators 678: And uh Of course uh getting out of the plow family we had uh More machines and hay rakes Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: We never owned a hay baler Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} Had more #1 than one reason # Interviewer: #2 Yeah you # 678: one hay baler would take care of many farms Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: My dad My dad didn't have the time to operate it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And he didn't with so much money invested in it that he didn't want to just let Dick Tom or Harry Run it And he didn't want to be tied down with it because if he'd get caught up why he He'd take my brother and I fishing Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 So we'd make # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Arrangements with someone else to bale our hay Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And when that happened The hay baling crew and all of your own crew Would gang up and bale your hay and the Uh for instance {B} Would fix dinner for that whole crew Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: If it took one day or two days or three days {NW} And have forty or fifty people {NS} But the neighbor women would come in and help Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: See Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh maybe {B} {X} {B} Today and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: My mother and miss {B} {NW} Miss {B} Where would it be Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Would all take Things that they could fix and go over there And they'd pour that old coffee {X} Back when I was a kid it was boiled in a pot Interviewer: #1 Oh # 678: #2 Wasn't no percolator # To it you boiled a You ground your own coffee Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And boiled it Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh coffee and milk was what you'd have {NW} #1 And water you had three choices # Interviewer: #2 Coffee and milk # 678: #1 Coffee water and milk # Interviewer: #2 Coffee milk # And water right 678: And uh kids didn't get the coffee {NW} #1 That's {NW} # Interviewer: #2 Oh but you did # Because 678: Yeah yeah #1 I switched around I switched around # Interviewer: #2 You switched around and got it # Uh-huh 678: Got it Interviewer: {NW} 678: Know that Uh you know that was uh that got the job done that harvested your crop and so much fun Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: The men would uh sit around and Rest during the noon hour and talk and the women would feed us and take those old fans and keep the flies away from us Interviewer: Oh oh yeah 678: Everybody happy You didn't see people unhappy those days It it's uh Really Mary it {NW} It's sad uh And you couldn't realize this unless you can Could have gone back you know and {NW} And lived it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We had mean people then and we had thieves then but they were the exception Interviewer: They were the they were very 678: {NW} Interviewer: #1 Unusual # 678: #2 And # {NW} And they were in one class {NW} #1 And we were in the other # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: And they were distinctly no good Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: They knew it they admitted it And they they were punished for it Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh Interviewer: The kind of people now these though are not now the kind of people you referred to you were saying ne'er do well type people now they would not necessarily be #1 Thieves or anything # 678: #2 Mm-mm # Interviewer: Like that 678: #1 No # Interviewer: #2 Now that was not the same # 678: The ne'er do wells were people #1 That were # Interviewer: #2 Just people # 678: Illiterate to the #1 Extent that uh # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: That they didn't know how to take the advantage Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: If if they had uh {NS} Oh what we called a single stock plow you'd go down this side of the road and throw the dirt {X} {NW} And you'd come back the other side This day and time they plowed twelve rows at a time Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well that single stock to them someone made it and it was a pretty good idea Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And but that's far as they'd ever think Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: They didn't ever think well why couldn't I use Why couldn't I build something That'd do both sides of this at one time see And they didn't plan the they didn't cut their wood during the summer hot weather it was too hot see They didn't want to expose the {NW} Their kids to the mosquitoes Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Or to the hot weather {NW} To the chiggers and the ticks That went along with it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But they would wait 'til winter And the house would be cold and the kids would get sick Interviewer: Mm 678: And they'd have to get out in the snow and cut their wood Interviewer: Oh 678: I called it grasshoppering around Interviewer: {NW} 678: You know and to explain what I mean Interviewer: {NW} 678: When I was a child I was uh {NW} I was observing I In a lot of things #1 These grasshoppers # Interviewer: #2 You must have been # Reading that 678: These grasshoppers just Jump around have the biggest time in the world during the the Early or late spring and and summer and late and early fall But they finally run into a barbed wire fence and there they lodge For the winter Interviewer: {NW} 678: They die they get a barbed wire fence great big old grasshopper And you'll find him there during the winter Interviewer: Oh 678: And he'll he done just hop around all summer Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: {NW} I called it grasshoppering around Interviewer: Oh that's 678: They just wouldn't do nothing but just Hop around Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Until it's too late Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: My dad has uh Loaned people wood during the winter Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: During the winter of uh Nineteen seventeen Interviewer: Mm-hmm I remember reading about that 678: {NW} And the snow was extremely deep Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And all winter long we had snow Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And we had to loan wood To our neighbors Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: They'd come on those mud boats Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: Get the {NW} We had all of our lane Full of logs Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: My dad uh As I said was a timber man {NW} And if he had some logs that {NW} They'd cut into these trees and maybe they'd be hallow Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Why he'd have my me or my brother This happened to be before the time that I could uh drive a team but he'd have his Hard hats that haul these logs up and unload them in the lane Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And all winter long why {NW} As I said while we was resting we'd be cutting wood Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: And we'd sell wood and {NW} It kept us exercised but he'd always let us go hunting we'd just do that for him because we had all day #1 Long and # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Mm-hmm 678: And he'd cut that wood But these people would come borrow that would and And and I don't never remember But one man paying back Interviewer: #1 Oh really # 678: #2 Any wood # And he only paid back Load for load Interviewer: Oh 678: They was they would come there and agree we'll cut you two loads of wood next summer #1 If you # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: let us have one load now Interviewer: Oh I see 678: And he'd let him have it Interviewer: And he'd let him have it 678: Of course why he'd have given it to him because their family was cold Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: Needed the wood and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they were good people but they didn't think Interviewer: #1 But they didn't # 678: #2 See # Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 Ne'er do wells # Interviewer: I think Louise said your breakfast was ready 678: {NW} Well if you {NS} Interviewer: Getting everything I was I was going over it and underlining some of the stuff I I was really surprised about this you know where it says uh uh finally it was 678: #1 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: #2 Decided # 678: And that got even worse than I put there Interviewer: #1 Oh really # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: #1 And if # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: If they refuse now they you would tell them to haul they'd have to haul 678: They'd have to haul or get shot Interviewer: Uh-huh and they'd have to identify 678: That's right it's kind of it was it was going to be kind of like a vigilante #1 Committee # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: That the people was gonna organize And they was gonna put the signs up and everywhere that {NW} After a certain certain date Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: If uh If more than One or two or three people is More than two Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Or anyone Had to identify their self Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: Or get ready to start shooting and shooting back Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh for instance to I I didn't put everything in there and I don't know if I mentioned what I'm going to tell or not The old the {D: pilot} That was the captain Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} Now I shook hands with one of his boys in Jonesboro the other day see that's what I mean by being Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Close Around {NS} Uh {NS} They lived right down below us and he couldn't read nor write Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But he got scared up and he'd come to my dad and my dad was working {X} Trying to find out who it was Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And he came to my dad and said I want to tell you {NW} Who these night riders are Interviewer: Oh 678: Then uh He did he told who a few of them was and said he was one of them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: While he went back home And that night Uh They they began to suspect him they other fellow so they They got liquored up Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: Now these men if they'd have been sober wouldn't have done that but they got liquored up {NW} On that white mule #1 Whiskey # Interviewer: #2 White mule # 678: White mule whiskey Interviewer: Oh {NW} 678: #1 White lightning they called it # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: So they got this man And they took him out into the woods Interviewer: Oh 678: To build a big campfire Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh {NW} They said we're gonna go over here We we think you have Talked to another man about you was going to Turn us all in Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We're gonna go after him Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And bring him back And they You can call him a liar he can call you a liar Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We're gonna let you face one #1 Another # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: And they didn't tell him what they was gonna do but said uh We'll tell you then what we're gonna do Well they build up this fire {NW} And they left one man to Guard this guy Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And While they was going after the other fellow this old drunk this guy was guarding him he just got so drunk he just fell out Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And this guy {X} He just slipped off his gun boots his hip boots Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And he waited uh He went across the woods That's a little over a half a mile In the dark Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And slews and ridges slews and ridges in almost freezing weather {NW} And he came to my My dad's house Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh But {NS} Before {NS} Before they took him over there I got a little hint at something before they took him to this campfire They brought him to my dad's house and he had an and my dad had one of these paling fences #1 Up about so high # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: And they asked my dad if uh This man had told him anything {NW} Well my dad had to lie about it of #1 Course # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: Said no And uh Convinced them that he hadn't Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And all the time they had this man make him squat down back here behind one of the wagons Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And another man to guard him Interviewer: Oh 678: And {NW} The story went that if My dad had had said yes This man told me he was going to shoot my dad and shoot him too #1 And hush him up # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: See Interviewer: Oh 678: So then they went to this campfire Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And When he got loose he could come back and come by my dad's house and my dad said well you can cut across the fields and so forth and come down to mister Amos {B} He runs a store and he was the only man that has a telephone Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: And said to tell him that I said to put you up Until daylight you'll get there before daylight and said uh Have him to call the sheriff Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: And he called the sheriff and the sheriff come down and got him Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And he turned state's evidence Interviewer: Oh he did so he he really turned himself in 678: Yeah turned himself in Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} Interviewer: Wow that is really something that's really exciting 678: I don't know if I put all of it in or not but {NW} Me and uh a boy named Norman {B} Had been up to Pleasant Valley district Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Course to see some girls naturally Interviewer: {NW} 678: And uh we came back back and {NW} I stopped by Norman's and you know chatted like boys will Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And even went into the horse lot with him and we we had in the barn what we called our gear room where we keep our harnesses Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Hang our saddles and Rather than to get up into the gear room and hang it on the peg {NW} He just tossed it in the door that night Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And T- Tossed it on top of a man that was there waiting to burn the barn Interviewer: Oh 678: And did burn the barn Interviewer: And did that was the one that burned the barn 678: And the only reason he didn't burn the home of Norman {B} Daddy was they had one of these little uh Uh dwarf women you know #1 He had a sister # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: That was a little dwarf big head #1 You know and so forth # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # 678: And they did have respect enough about him to say well If we burn that well maybe she wouldn't get a Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: So they didn't burn the house but he burned the barn Interviewer: Oh 678: And that night Interviewer: Mm 678: But us boys me and my brother {NW} Well mister {B} Told you about him but Of course I wouldn't want Him to even know that I wrote #1 This up # Interviewer: #2 No # No 678: We lived right {B} Time it was happening and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} And now these boys their daddy was uh uh Captain of this thing Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: They didn't know he was captain they thought he was out coon hunting Interviewer: Oh I see 678: But we did do we knew they was Night riders and and we'd slip through the woods {NW} My brother and I and and these three boys And slipped right up close to them Interviewer: Mm-hmm #1 Oh you would # 678: #2 But # Yeah onto their campfire but they kepts dogs Interviewer: Oh they did 678: Yeah they kept the dogs with them and these dogs would bark Interviewer: Oh 678: And when the dogs would bark why {NW} They bet uh Anyone know they was around they better get the so and so out of there Interviewer: {NW} 678: We got Interviewer: {NW} oh that's funny that's great um let's see where'd we get to oh uh now back to the wagon on a wagon what do you call the part that the wheels spin onto that runs underneath the wagon 678: There's an axle {NW} And the {NS} And then there's a spindle Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: That fits on the end of the #1 Axle # Interviewer: #2 Fits on the end of the axle # 678: And the hub of the wheel goes onto that Interviewer: Mm-hmm um 678: I've got an old wrench that we used to screw the Interviewer: Oh really 678: Screw the nuts on the #1 End of the spindle # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Mm-hmm 678: Found one just hung it up out there somewhere Interviewer: Oh um now if you were those kind of A-shaped wooden frames that you would lay boards across what would you call one of those oh I guess it it would be like two A-shaped things together with a piece across it and like if you were gonna have a church supper you might put them down 678: Oh Long trestles or horses Interviewer: Oh 678: {NW} Wooden horses or Interviewer: Wooden horses 678: Are trestles Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm would they use them if they were sawing what would they put if they were gonna saw like if you were just needed to cut up your stove a little bit smaller what would you put it on 678: Oh {NW} Well that's a saw uh we a saw rack or a saw horse Interviewer: Oh uh-huh 678: It was it was an X shaped thing and Interviewer: An X shaped thing 678: Have a maybe {NW} Oh you'd have a Maybe as long as this room you'd have a X there and a X #1 Here and X here and X here # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: And uh you'd Pull it out saw one off pull it out saw one #1 Off # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Until you get down to {NW} To where you sawed the last one #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm well now uh if if your mother was fixing her hair she'd use a comb and a 678: Brush Interviewer: Have you ever seen her did they used to she have long hair #1 And she # 678: #2 Yep # #1 I # Interviewer: #2 Uh # 678: Combed her hair Interviewer: Oh you did 678: {NW} Those kids {NS} Kick me and my brother would get a kick out of #1 Combing mother's head # Interviewer: #2 Oh really # 678: She'd read to us Interviewer: Oh 678: She used to get us down around our knees and read the bible to us #1 At night # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: Explain it Interviewer: Mm-hmm and you mentioned in in your uh memoirs that she really knew the bible #1 Well # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: I know 678: Lived it Interviewer: Mm-hmm uh now oh when they used to use those straight razors what would they sharpen them on 678: {NW} Well {NW} They Had a rock we called a hone Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We would hone them and then they would strap them Interviewer: Oh they would 678: Strop #1 They called it strop # Interviewer: #2 Oh they'd strop it # 678: So long {NW} Strop about that long and about so wide and generally hang on the wall and you get that out there and Well and {NW} You there's an art to that see Interviewer: #1 Oh # 678: #2 You would take a # {NW} If you didn't know how to strop one you'd cut it in two Interviewer: Oh really 678: See you would {NS} Like this was your razor Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: You'd hold this strap and you'd go this way Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well you wouldn't turn here see what it'd do to your edge Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: #1 You'd come here # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Oh uh-huh uh-huh 678: See Interviewer: #1 Uh-huh # 678: #2 And # Around these barber shops just {NW} Interviewer: #1 And they could do it real fast # 678: #2 And just oh # Gosh {NW} Well I stropped one but I uh When I first started shaving why I had me a straight razor I'm scared to death of them Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 Things were dangerous you know # Interviewer: #1 They sound it sounds terrible # 678: #2 Oh my gosh # Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 I cut this # My ear #1 Several times you know # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} #1 Oh goodness # 678: #2 And then you get # On with well any If you'd bear down on any Part of your face you'd just grab a slice of meat I I I'm even afraid of a barber getting ahold of my neck Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I always had the horrors of a barber having a heart attack Interviewer: {NW} 678: #1 When he had to hold that razor on me see # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: {NW} And I always figured well if that sucker has a #1 Heart attack it'll be when I'm in his chair # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: #1 Ain't that something # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # That's funny I never have thought of that 678: Shows I'm a little queer #1 See but uh # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: {NW} That's that's one of the things in my life that has always bugged me Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Is going to a barber shop and that Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And I never read of it happening Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But gosh it could Interviewer: It could 678: It could Interviewer: {NW} 678: {NW} He could have a hold of you and just cut your head off #1 With that thing # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # That's great 678: Or be under here you know used to where they shave them Have a hard time holding onto it and just Interviewer: {NW} 678: I never got over a half dozen shaves in a barber shop and that was partly #1 Reason # Interviewer: #2 That was partly # The reason oh 678: I was happy when I run across a safety razor Interviewer: Oh yeah I bet yeah then you didn't have to be afraid 678: #1 I don't know # Interviewer: #2 Anymore # Um what would you call the ammunition that they would put in a shotgun 678: Shells Interviewer: Uh would a shell be the same as a cartridge what would be the difference 678: Shells are {NW} In one effect are larger and made up of uh Paste water or hard cardboard uh Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And the cartridge is uh all metal Interviewer: It's all metal 678: #1 Container # Interviewer: #2 Oh I # See um now we were talking about 678: A cartridge has a bullet in the end Solid lead bullet and a shotgun has shots Interviewer: Has shots 678: Shell rather Interviewer: Hmm um now we were talking about oh playing things that you'd play with like the bag swing did you ever know of children uh getting on a plank and one getting on 678: Teeter totter Interviewer: #1 Teeter totter # 678: #2 Oh # Oh yeah Interviewer: Yeah 678: And that's not the only only one now these if I'd have been in Mississippi I'd have said onliest Interviewer: Onliest {NW} 678: {NW} That's what they say Interviewer: That's great 678: Had the teeter totter Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And then we had a merry go round Interviewer: Oh 678: Uh we'd have uh {NS} Well if you moved where there was uh Trees around why Maybe your dad would cut down a Saw down a tree about Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So big around and up about so high And he would get them a great long board Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And put uh {NS} Maybe put a seat of some sort but mostly you rode the thing bare back Interviewer: {NW} 678: A handle across the board Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: And then he'd bore a hole in the Center of this board Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} Drive a big old metal Stop down in there and {NW} One get on one end one the other and the other would push Interviewer: {D: Oh} 678: You had two ways of getting out there and let them go around and ride you could {NW} Duck down and crawl out Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: If their feet didn't hit you Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Or you could time it and run out Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: Well one time {NS} I was running one Just as fast it could go empty Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Fortunately it didn't have these handles on it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Where it might have cut me in two Interviewer: Mm 678: But I I had it going just as fast as I could run Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And I attempted to go out Run out and thing hit me in the side Interviewer: Mm 678: Like that broke me open {NW} #1 Well if it had those handles # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: over see it'd have stuck right on them Interviewer: Oh goodness 678: {NW} Interviewer: Oh you sure #1 Have had # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Some close calls 678: Oh I've had uh I've had three horses on top of me Interviewer: I read the one 678: #1 Yeah # Interviewer: #2 About the # Uh where 678: The mule Interviewer: #1 The mule # 678: #2 Fell on me # Interviewer: #1 Fell on you # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: Uh-huh that was 678: Nine year old {NS} Interviewer: Yeah that was terrible 678: {NS} You know after my bones I remember They were popping just like popcorn Interviewer: And you said and then that you wouldn't tell them 678: #1 No I didn't tell them # Interviewer: #2 And # And then uh your mother had got one and went to church 678: #1 Church and found it out # Interviewer: #2 Found it out at church yeah # #1 I couldn't believe that # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Um did you ever play on a like a jumping board anything like that #1 A jump board # 678: #2 Oh yeah # Yeah we had uh Jump boards kind of like a Like a diving board Interviewer: Kind of like a diving board mm-hmm 678: Spring you know we'd we'd jump on that thing see how high we could jump or how far we could jump {NS} Had all kind of gadgets Interviewer: Mm-hmm uh how about uh if the uh oh like taking two ropes and tying them to a tree and putting feet across it it'd have a 678: Little swing Interviewer: Mm-hmm had those too um now if people ever had um had coal if they ever burned coal what would they carry coal in 678: In a coal bucket {NW} That is uh Kind of had a chute on it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh {NS} And put that chute in the The where you lifted the lid up Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And poured her in there Interviewer: Mm-hmm um 678: Unfortunately I only burned coal one year I Done meat the rest of my life Interviewer: #1 Oh they did # 678: #2 I hate # That stuff Interviewer: #1 Oh yeah # 678: #2 Nasty # Interviewer: {NW} 678: You can't have a house #1 With the smoke and all # Interviewer: #2 Oh ew # Yeah ew well you know when you had uh like those wood burning stoves uh what would run from the stove to the chimney to take the smoke out 678: {D: Sulfite} #1 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: #2 {D: sulfite} # 678: Six inch pipe Interviewer: Six inch pipe um how about now this is a like a little vehicle that's got one wheel and two handles to carry heavy things 678: Uh Interviewer: Like 678: One wheel Interviewer: Uh-huh just it 678: Oh you mean the wheelbarrow Interviewer: Yeah yeah did they use those 678: Oh gosh yeah We made uh {NW} You could buy them or you could buy a wheel make them we did and made ours Interviewer: Oh you made your own 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Well I never heard of that 678: You could buy wheelbarrow wheels and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And you could make them as large as you wanted Interviewer: Mm-hmm. 678: Side boards on them. Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We made them uh Lot of people would make them with a little bed on them and then then they'd put side boards and {X} We made {NW} We made the platform {NS} And the side boards were We could uh add to it or we could take it off and just use a platform and there we could put fence posts {NS} Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Cross wise on it see Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh {NW} Just push them Down through the country Interviewer: Oh I didn't know 678: Rather than tote them on your shoulder #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Mm-hmm uh well now what about a kind of a porta- a rock that you could carry around to sharpen like a side or something 678: Like a what now Interviewer: Like a rock that just a rock that you might carry in your pocket to sharpen a tool if you're cutting with a 678: Uh you mean the whet r- whet rock that's what they called it Interviewer: Whet rock 678: Now they call them a {D: carver hunting stone} Interviewer: Oh 678: They dress it up a little you know Interviewer: But it's the same 678: #1 Still whet rock # Interviewer: #2 Thing # How about one that that you sharpen things with that had a handle that you turned 678: That's was an emery wheel Interviewer: Emery wheel mm-hmm 678: Well no we had two Mary we had the Old time grindstone Interviewer: Oh 678: #1 Grind # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Which is a finally Well might say knitted rock My dad's Rock was that big around Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And that thick Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And he he had it bend to this square In the middle of it And you put that onto a shaft And then you made your own wooden crack Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} And you stationed that on a stand and He'd get out here to the hand sharpen that ax and one of Us children would turn the The old thing and keep water Interviewer: Oh 678: Pour water on it well finally Show you how he was always the thinker Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh we We poured the water on and of course it'd run dry and we'd have to pour more on and get more Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Too much water {NW} He rigged him up a thing with a Simple tin can on it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And just punched a little bitty hole in it he just had a constant drip on it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 On this thing # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: See Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Which is as simple as A B C yet what an improvement Interviewer: What an improvement 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: What do you 678: And you could keep grinding the other way. You {NW} You had to have somewhere to pour the water Or he had stop gri- uh With his ax or I had to stop grinding to pour the water on Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So that simple little uh Stick that he put up there with a {X} Through a tin can Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And a little hole Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Why it fed the water constantly Interviewer: Mm-hmm #1 Well he really was # 678: #2 But uh that's what # You call the old grind stone Interviewer: #1 Yeah # 678: #2 But then # And the emery was uh More abrasive #1 And smaller # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Mm-hmm 678: Turned faster and {NW} It would cut your Ax down and {NW} Really Abuse it more or less but it would get the shape that you wanted and then you'd go back with the old {NW} Grind stone and Cut it down to a Interviewer: Oh 678: Smooth it out and then even take your whet rock Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Back then they had that old whet rocks that long Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And you would go up each side and well those axes was sharp as Interviewer: Mm 678: Almost sharp as razors Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I've got a When I was a child I got ahold of my dad's ax and And I think I can show you {NS} Interviewer: Oh #1 You did that with an ax # 678: #2 I was # I was I was four year old when I done that Interviewer: Oh 678: Yeah {NS} Interviewer: Four 678: But I've got other scars like that I got playing baseball Interviewer: Oh from playing baseball uh-huh 678: {X} Interviewer: Oh 678: #1 This one was caused from a knife # Interviewer: #2 Baseball # 678: I mean a axe Interviewer: From an axe when you were four 678: Never went to the doctor it Interviewer: Oh 678: {NW} Interviewer: #1 What in the world were you doing with an axe # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: When you were four years old 678: I was just out in the back {X} Pile and I well of course I'd watch him cut Wood and I thought well I'll try it Interviewer: You had seen 678: #1 And I picked # Interviewer: #2 Yup # 678: The axe up and I hit the stick and it glanced off and whack Interviewer: Oh 678: I just laid her down went walking in and had blood all over me blood all over the floor Interviewer: Oh 678: You know a scar that wide should have been #1 Sewed up yeah # Interviewer: #2 Should have been sewed up sure # 678: Nothing to it Interviewer: But you had you were a little kid you'd see you had seen 678: Watch my dad yeah Interviewer: Oh 678: Wanted to try it Interviewer: So you wanted to try it oh 678: That's one of the times that he was careless ordinarily he would have {NW} Put that ax up or he would have stuck it in a block of wood so Deep that we couldn't get it out Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: It might have been my mom was out there using it over there getting some {X} She needed or something and she may have Carelessly left it Interviewer: Mm goodness 678: I couldn't looking back I can't hardly believe my dad would Interviewer: Would be that careless 678: be that careless Because he was more conscious #1 Of those things # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: But uh my mother would have uh Probably If she'd have used she'd probably just Stood it down the side of the Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And it's so dangerous Standing them down on the side of a {X} You can just hit your foot against one it'd cut you open see Interviewer: Mm 678: It's like hitting a razor they kept them sharp back then {NW} Felt like {X} Interviewer: {NW} 678: I even chop concrete with it some Interviewer: {NW} 678: That doesn't help it at all Interviewer: {NW} Oh your mother now if she was uh baking something like biscuit what did she do to the pan to keep them from sticking 678: Well I suppose {NW} Mary that she Greased them I imagine with with lard because uh I don't believe they used butter so much #1 For cooking back then # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh they would have # Probably used lard 678: We had what we called pure lard hog hog lard Interviewer: Oh and they would grease 678: {NW} Interviewer: #1 With that # 678: #2 Yeah # {NW} This hog lard would get old And Smell a little rambunctious #1 During hot hot summer months # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: But again my dad had ways of overcoming that they had what they called uh {NS} That was pure lard and then they had shortening #1 When they # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: First come out with shortening made from Cotton seed Interviewer: From cotton seed Uh-huh 678: {NW} And uh that was be- Better summer grease than than the {NS} Pure lard Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well what my dad would do he would {NW} We'd kill butcher these hogs and {NS} And make oh five or six stands of lard Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Enough to do us a year {NW} But he'd take uh he'd decide about what We could use until up up until it would begin to Yellow up and begin to smell now {X} Wasn't anything wrong with it except uh {NW} It was strong Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh Say we had uh We'd make seven stands of lard and he figured that Uh three of them would do us until {NW} Middle June Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well he'd take four down here to A friend of his mister {B} In a tremendously big store and he put uh This pure lard in there that mister {B} Sell it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh he wouldn't take the money he'd just Wait and buy a bag of shortening in place of it #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: During the summer {NW} So he kept my mother {NW} In plenty of good groceries and and would look ahead #1 At things like that # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # 678: {NS} {NW} And some of those I say the ne'er do wells {NW} They {NW} This is so believe it or not but they they took that lard and when it would it would be so Rank that you could smell it on the bread On through their food Interviewer: #1 Oh my heaven how horrible ugh goodness # 678: #2 {NW} # Oh that was Again that was the exception rather than the rule #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 Than the rule # 678: And {NS} And Interviewer: Well if you got lard all over your hands you'd say your hands were all 678: Greasy yeah greasy Messy Interviewer: Well it would be they would #1 Would be real # 678: #2 Yeah it would be # Greasy yeah Interviewer: Would be uh now the well if you had a door hinge that was squeaking what would you have to put on it 678: {NW} Before my time they put {D: briar} grease on it #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 Oh did they # 678: Well I read that Interviewer: #1 You read that yeah # 678: #2 {X} # But we {NS} {NW} Well we had from the time I can remember we've had what we called three in one oil #1 Machine oil # Interviewer: #2 Oh you had # #1 Machine oil that you used on that # 678: #2 Mm-hmm yeah # My mama {NW} Owned a sewing machine from the day I can remember Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And she had a little sport can that uh And that's what she hauled uh She took care of the house my dad didn't mess with that Interviewer: Mm-hmm didn't mess with that at all 678: She'd run him off #1 Nobody messed with her house # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} Well now would the uh that the what you burned in the lamp uh you said it was 678: #1 I think it was kerosene # Interviewer: #2 Kerosene # Did was that ever called anything else other than 678: Coal oil Interviewer: Oh would that be the same thing coal oil and kerosene would be the same thing well then now when they first began to have electricity uh did they have lamps or did they just have it like hanging from the ceiling just have a 678: They had the old what we called the old drop cord Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Sure you've seen some of the old uh {NW} Green and black mix twisted wire Interviewer: Uh-huh #1 And then that would be # 678: #2 That's what it was # And had a little rosette at the top that you {NW} You'd measure rig up this uh {NS} A thing similar to this right here Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And your cord would go in that Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And then it'd fasten fasten onto a little What they called a rosette part of it went up And connected to your Wires up in your loft and then you'd take this other part and just {NW} Kind of screw it in there and and then uh you had these {NW} Push and pulls or {NW} The jerk cord type Interviewer: Mm-hmm and did they have um uh did the bulb look like it does now 678: #1 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: #2 Did they have a # 678: More a lot of clearer bulbs back then Interviewer: Oh they did #1 They had clearer # 678: #2 Lot clearer ones # Interviewer: Oh 678: Hurt your eyes something awful Interviewer: #1 I didn't know that # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: #1 They were clear # 678: #2 Yeah # Yeah personally we had one clear on our Delco system Interviewer: Uh-huh well did they did they call them lightbulbs like they do now 678: {NW} I don't know I don't know if they called them lightbulbs or not Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: #1 Undoubtedly undoubtedly did # Interviewer: #2 But they were the same thing # Mm-hmm did you ever see a lamp that was just made out of a rag a bottle and kerosene just kind of a 678: #1 Yeah yeah # Interviewer: #2 Like a makeshift lamp # What were those called 678: I don't know Interviewer: Um 678: They wouldn't know what the word improvised meant back then #1 But that's what it but that's what it was # Interviewer: #2 Oh but it definitely would be yeah # #1 Um # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: {NS} Okay now uh inside of a the tire of a the early cars now did they have inner uh did they have the inner 678: Holster you mean Interviewer: No #1 Inside # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: The tire 678: Oh the tire #1 It had a # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Tube inner tube #1 Yeah # Interviewer: #2 They did have # The inner tubes in the in the early cars um if somebody had just built a boat and they were going to put it in the water for the first time they'd say they're going to 678: Launch it yeah Interviewer: What kind of boats would they use like if they were gonna go fishing maybe on a did what 678: You mean here Interviewer: Yeah uh-huh 678: Well {NS} To fish we had what we called a flat john boat #1 Built out of lumber # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh uh-huh 678: Just a Very crude affair Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Because you didn't no motors #1 You didn't go very far # Interviewer: #2 No motors # Right 678: You just uh Fished off the bank or if you got {NW} Uh real ambitious you'd build you a boat Get out in the deeper water or go downstream or Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Maybe setting out set ups or drop lines Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And then they had the what they called the Canoes or dug outs Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh I remember my dad And a friend made a Canoe from a big red gum tree just #1 Hued it out # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: And it was perfectly shaped Interviewer: Oh 678: And my brother and I couldn't hardly wait until we got in it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And he finally the the high water came in just to take your time and He put this canoe out in there and he We noticed he would stand up and And uh push it with a {NW} With a big long pole Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh we couldn't hardly wait until we got in that thing Interviewer: Mm 678: And we never did get in it {NS} Interviewer: #1 Oh you never # 678: #2 Well # We never did get in it we got halfway in it Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Until it turned over Interviewer: Oh it did 678: Just like a barrel you know Interviewer: Oh 678: And it took us quite a while to learn how to sit down and it not #1 Turn over # Interviewer: #2 And not turn over # 678: Let alone paddle it around Interviewer: Oh goodness did you learn 678: Oh yes yes we'd have died or learned Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 You know # Interviewer: {NW} 678: But we just kind of Indian fashion you know they set flat down so we my dad said after he laughed at us a while he'd say well set that plant down Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Take a paddle one get on One end and one the other Interviewer: So then you learned to #1 Just # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: So y'all sat down 678: {NW} And to show you the confidence he had in us uh after we Had uh Ridden that boat around there a while and He thought we was safe he put us in this {D: Grudgy ditch} Down here wasn't as large as it is now but it was High high water and running wild and he put us in that thing and {NW} And uh He met us on down about a quarter of a mile in the wagon and took the us and the boat out and we hauled it back Interviewer: Oh 678: Let us ride downstream in that thing Interviewer: Well he really did #1 Have confidence in you if he did that # 678: #2 {NW} # Yeah he told us to do it well we could swim like ducks you know and he figured we turned over we'd swim out Interviewer: Yeah I noticed in there #1 You were talking about # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: One one uh summer where you did a lot of swimming and stuff #1 You and your brother # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: Uh and I didn't I didn't r- so y'all could #1 You swam # 678: #2 Oh # That's one of things like a duck we learned to swim Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Very few kids back then could #1 Course they'd live # Interviewer: #2 Everybody swam # 678: Uh we had a {NW} The boys that were uh I called them progressive boys would all learn to swim Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We'd slip off and go to the swimming hole #1 Take our younger brother # Interviewer: #2 Oh you did # 678: Take the younger brothers along We would go by sometimes and ask uh neighbors or Can Bob and Joe go to the swimming hole with us no no They don't know how to learn well let them go learn how no they'll have to wait until they learn how to swim Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well it never struck me then but how would they learn #1 Without going in see # Interviewer: #2 If they never went # {NW} 678: #1 So # Interviewer: #2 That's right # 678: Those boys {NW} Probably never learned to swim We didn't have the opportunity to go to swimming pools and be supervised #1 So # Interviewer: #2 Right # 678: {NW} A lot of old men in this country right today my age can't swim Because their their parents wouldn't let them Interviewer: Never let them 678: And after they got growing they didn't care enough about it you know as a sport to try Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But us fellows was permitted to go now should we learn to swim {NW} I've been down a third time twice #1 That's right # Interviewer: #2 Oh you don't mean it # 678: My brothers pulled me out twice and I didn't uh I'd already lost conscious Interviewer: You don't mean it 678: {NW} Interviewer: You mean you can 678: #1 My arm went up that waters # Interviewer: #2 Come back from the # 678: Sounded like felt like I was bottom of the whole ditch #1 Grudge ditch # Interviewer: #2 Oh # And you come back close to 678: That's right Interviewer: Drown 678: Went down the third time he {NW} He pulled me out one time and I Interviewer: Well you'd have drown if it weren't for 678: Oh yeah one more time I well {NW} When I'd have gone back down that'd have been it But that happened lots of times when we was in swimming #1 I remember # Interviewer: #2 Oh it did # 678: One time I Feel something against my leg it'd be fifteen or twenty of us boys down at the old swimming hole Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And all who {NW} Who were all laughing Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Uh mud throwing mud at one another you know and {NW} I I remember Feeling something against my leg and I thought it was a fish and I jumped And I felt it again and it didn't feel like fish and I fell down {NW} Picked up a kid about seven year old at that time I was about ten Interviewer: Oh 678: I don't know how long he had been under we got him out there and laid him on his belly and {NW} Well we end up bashing on him that's all we knew to do in fact {X} Water just gushed out Interviewer: {NW} 678: Sick #1 Oh got so sick # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: After that's over you just want to die Interviewer: Oh 678: But the positive of that it's three miles down to the old swimming hole and I'd always be ready to walk back you know Interviewer: #1 Uh-huh # 678: #2 They'd have # A fight or two on the way home Interviewer: Maybe have a fight or two on the way home that's great that's really something I can't believe you came that close #1 To drowning # 678: #2 Yeah # I didn't even remember when they pulled me out Interviewer: You didn't 678: No Interviewer: Wow that's scary 678: You know it didn't scare me it didn't excite me and I didn't realize I thought well I just figured that oh there'd be someone there to pull me out Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: Nothing to it {NW} Interviewer: Uh now if a person had wanted to sign their name in ink they'd use a 678: Oh well you know way back then they used a quill but uh {NW} Um well we had what we call a Pen staff I believe they called it a Ink pen Interviewer: Mm-hmm they would have to #1 Fill it # 678: #2 We bought uh # Yeah well now that was fountain pen Interviewer: Oh that's fountain pen 678: What I'm talking about is uh One about like this that you #1 Bought extra # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: Points and slipped them up in there Interviewer: Oh 678: Yeah Interviewer: Heard of that 678: Really before your time Interviewer: Yeah 678: But you're thinking about the {NS} The fountain pen this is the old #1 Fountain pen # Interviewer: #2 The old fountain pen # 678: See you would Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Why it's broke down I {NW} I just use it dipping I like to write with them #1 Once in a while # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: But uh It had a a little thing here that you'd mash you know and that sucked the ink up in there Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And I got the bottle of ink there and Once in a while people want something signed in ink Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: {NW} I'll think when they say that That it's an old saying and that these are just as good Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But when they say signed in Interviewer: #1 Ink # 678: #2 Ink # Interviewer: You use 678: I say I'm a notary public and when they say something is signed in ink I get this out Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And I get it they're in good writing order and give it to them and {NW} It scares the tar out of a lot of people getting a little something like that Interviewer: {NW} #1 That's great # 678: #2 But talking about # The writing I have a letter Down there that's {NW} My great granddaddy wrote my daddy Interviewer: Oh #1 Really # 678: #2 In eighteen # Ninety-eight And it was uh it was wrote with a Peculiar colored It was dark ink But my dad said that he believed that uh The best he can remember that His granddaddy wrote that with one of the old quills Interviewer: With one of the old quills 678: Why he was the At the time my great my great granddaddy was a {NW} County judge up in Saint {NW} Saint Clare County Missouri Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And he wrote that letter to Time Interviewer: Hmm 678: And that's one of my relics is that old letter Interviewer: Yeah that's great to have kept that that's that's really hmm uh what would they use you know you were talking about they used those uh flower sacks for baby's diapers what would they hold the diapers on with 678: Safety pins Interviewer: They had safety pins 678: Yeah Interviewer: Well now if you bought something in can what was the can usually made of 678: Well it'd be a {NW} You didn't buy many cans but if you did {NS} Back when I'm talking about when when I was a From the time I can remember up until I was about twelve or thirteen year old that's what I generally refer back to Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But if you bought it in cans it was in tin and you had to empty it Quick Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: You let it {NW} Rinse in sardines would uh If you'd leave them in there thirty minutes And then eat them why you'd have a diarrhea Interviewer: Oh #1 Goodness # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: Just that #1 That length # 678: #2 Oh yeah # Interviewer: Of time 678: Yeah you'd get ptomaine poison Interviewer: Oh it would be it would be poison actually 678: One of the things that I remember we got back in cans and it was pork and beans that's #1 One of their # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: Things I can remember {NW} A way back Interviewer: Way back coming in cans 678: But uh no peaches or apples you dro- you bought those dried Interviewer: Oh you bought those dried 678: We used to buy them in a box peaches Peaches box about so long so wide and so deep Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Great big beautiful red peaches Interviewer: Oh they would be that 678: Dried yeah Interviewer: Dried and they would not be all shriveled up 678: Oh no they would be this these little bitty ones you'd get dried peaches that was that big around and pressed into these boxes Just the prettiest color and you talk about fine pies man Interviewer: Oh well now 678: Wooden boxes very sanitary at the time Interviewer: I never heard about that 678: {NW} Interviewer: The only thing that I've seen were just all uh 678: In little old paper sacks uh cellophane sack #1 Little bitty {X} things # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: #1 Yeah # Interviewer: #2 Right right # 678: {NS} Peaches uh be half as large as this right here {NW} Interviewer: You don't mean it I didn't even know they did that 678: And and getting back to the lard situation {X} Uh {NS} Grease that they used Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We would put put this uh Hog lard aside And then the sugar was something we couldn't grow Interviewer: Yeah 678: We would always buy Oh two or three hundred pounds they come in hundred pound sacks Interviewer: Oh sugar 678: #1 And put # Interviewer: #2 Did # 678: Put that up For the winter Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And {NW} We we grew some wheat but Uh we would all sell it but uh For all our meals and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And then uh then we would either take a new bill and buy flour back or Or we would buy flour directly from the store mister {B} and I referred to we'd get flour here for the box car loaves #1 Fit # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Twenty-five and fifty pound sacks Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And some of it in old wooden barrels Interviewer: Oh the flour would come in 678: As long as we could buy it in wooden barrels my dad would buy about three barrels of flour Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: To last all winter Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well when spring would come {NW} Well if you didn't have it used up why the weevils would get in it see Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: Then you'd mix it up into a batter and feed it to your hogs and family Interviewer: Oh it'd feed uh-huh 678: But {NW} We would we would store up sugar And flour Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And coffee and then uh the things the essential things or things we wanted that we couldn't grow Interviewer: That you couldn't grow 678: So we didn't worry about food during the winter Interviewer: Mm-hmm {NW} 678: We had all kinds of fruit all kinds of jellies and jams Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: All kinds of dried peas and dried beans Potatoes put up Uh apples put down in barrels layers and {X} Apple flavored {X} Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh Everything imaginable peanuts put up uh popcorn Interviewer: Mm 678: And had all that stuff and sorghum molasses Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: We'll grow our own sorghum they'd have the sorghum mill around So you didn't worry about uh you had to buy pepper and salt and uh and spice and Sugar and flower and coffee And tea if you drink tea seldom did we drink any tea it was hot you know Interviewer: #1 It was hot right # 678: #2 Hot tea # Interviewer: Hot tea yeah how much was a dime worth then 678: Well there's an old saying it's worth a dime Interviewer: {NW} 678: Now it's worth about one cent Interviewer: But was it worth it was worth 678: Yeah Interviewer: Ten 678: That's right it was pure silver Interviewer: And it was worth actually worth ten cents 678: I've got some of the old ten cents dimes Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Pure silver dimes Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} But then you bought a dollar a dollar's worth for a dollar Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: I bought uh blue denim pants for sixty cents a pair That you pay twenty one dollars for now Interviewer: Oh 678: Course they got them dressed up like your your uh Interviewer: With the #1 With all that stuff # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Fancied up now but It didn't make them wear any better see Interviewer: Hmm 678: But I bought during the depression {NS} I bought {NS} Uh blue jeans for sixty cents a pair Interviewer: Really during the depression 678: I remember a thing that happened {X} {NS} 678: {NS} Interviewer: #1 I like hearing stories # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Um 678: {NW} Interviewer: Story about the uh the one about the the people doing the doing the route and the one with the corn and the that you were telling me 678: Oh you want the egg story too Interviewer: And the egg story too right yeah 678: Well This is the {NS} Ozark {NS} Mountain boy you know Interviewer: Yeah 678: And uh his Didn't get to go to town very often so this one trip he Decided while he was there he would uh Get him some store-bought food Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} So he went in this restaurant and Took his seat and a waitress came up and said uh what would you like to eat He flashed a big grin said eggs And uh {NW} That kind of her took back you know and she said uh Well how do you like the eggs he said I like them Interviewer: {NW} 678: And uh {NW} That uh stumped her again so she said well how do you like them cooked he said oh I like them that way too Interviewer: {NW} 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: {NW} And then there's uh {NW} Oh I can't think of the good ones when I need to but #1 The # Interviewer: #2 The one you were telling about the roof about fixing the # 678: Yeah about the Arkansas traveler there was a #1 Book called # Interviewer: #2 The Arkansas traveler # 678: The Arkansas traveler and this City Man was traveling through selling his elixirs and this that and the other and uh {NW} It was rainy weather and And this man invited him in and when he got in why the roof was leaking pretty badly Said your house leaks doesn't it said yes sir He said why don't you fix it well said it's uh Raining Can't fix it while it's raining {NW} He said well why don't you When it's dry why don't you fix it said I don't need it then #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {X} 678: And then uh {NW} And then he walked on you know the next day w- by this fellow's farm Saw this little scrawny corn you know that was all of it turned yellow Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: He asked him uh said uh {NW} Well said uh Now see it Turned dry around here and your {NW} Corn's uh turned yellow what's wrong with it he said why I planted a yellow kind So That's about all I can recall out of the Arkansas traveler but Interviewer: Traveler 678: {NW} Interviewer: Still look up that book 678: {X} You know I don't know how you could get ahold of that book {NW} I was Huh Aux: It's in the Library of Congress 678: Um oh yes but uh You know I think of it so often and and I read these things when I was a child Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: About uh These salesmen would go in through the country you know and of course these mountaineers had all kind of callouses and corns on their feet from going barefoot and they'd sell them This stuff to Take the callouses and corns off and having to soak their feet Overnight you know and this that and the other and of course when the they'd get all the money The old boys Women's feet were so sore then they couldn't uh Interviewer: {NW} 678: From soaking them in this concoction that they couldn't bother them you know it's {NW} It was the it was a scream all the way through it Interviewer: I wonder if the 678: {NW} Interviewer: Library here would have it 678: I don't know it might We have a real fine library County library out here Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Real fine It's uh Aux: {X} Interviewer: Yeah I will 678: The Arkansas traveler Interviewer: Might just go by the library tomorrow 678: If you could get ahold of a book like that you would certainly enjoy it Interviewer: Um next thing I want to ask you about is clothing 678: The what Interviewer: Clothing 678: You mean the {NW} The early clothing Interviewer: Right like when you remember now what would you wear to church usually Aux: Overalls 678: {NW} Well uh you mean when when I was a boy Interviewer: Yeah Aux: On Sundays 678: Well we had these uh Sunday clothes alright Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Uh Think I've told you before my dad was a Little bit better provider than Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Than I would I say the average Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh family Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But at that time {NW} We wore Pants That {NW} {X} We would wear long stockings And pants that uh Buttoned around here with a little flap on them and then bloused down Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And buttoned shoes Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I remember those button shoes And that white shirt s- starched uh Until it would Scar your neck Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I'll tell you a funny one on my brother And on me too Mama sent us to church one Sunday morning she didn't go along she sent us Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And he kept moving Neck around you know and I I was wanting to know what was wrong he said well that Shirt collar's so stiff it was Chafing his neck real bad Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And he'd keep squeezing it And squeezing it and squeezing it couldn't do any good so he just dropped on the side of the road he uh did chew the starch out {NW} #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 Chew the starch out of it # {NW} 678: That's right chewed the starch out of it that shirt where it would lay down Interviewer: {NW} 678: {NW} Interviewer: That's great 678: Well you'd have to know my brother uh Wayne knows that he would he's trying to follow how he could do that Interviewer: This is thick 678: {NW} Yeah thick Interviewer: #1 Right # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # {NW} Interviewer: I feel like I know your #1 Whole family having read your # 678: #2 That's good # Uh we wore uh we everyday we wore the country boy's overalls Interviewer: Well what about your what did the the older men wear to church 678: {NW} They they would have a suit Interviewer: They would #1 What did they # 678: #2 Uh uh # Interviewer: Consist of 678: Well they had the at that time they'd have the vest and the {NW} I remember the the uh material they call it worsted Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Surge Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And it would be a brown or a black or a blue Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Those are the three colors Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And I I used to wonder about my dad he He would split his suit up and I thought with suits you do as a suit Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But if he wore his brown coat he wore his blue trousers and his black trousers {NW} Well just uh Now I look back and that is kind of a forerunner he was a little ahead of the times Interviewer: Yeah 678: Oh yeah Aux: {NW} Interviewer: He was wearing 678: Uh-huh that's right he was splitting them up {NW} And and I wondered why Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But uh course I'd have a suit I'd wear that whole thing I remember having a green surge suit Dark green I thought that was the prettiest thing I ever put on {NW} {X} Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Kind of like they wear up north you know Aux: Socks was the biggest problem 678: Yeah Interviewer: #1 Socks were a big problem # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Yeah oh you had to have those Full length socks for your {NW} Sunday clothes and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh No holes in them they Interviewer: {NW} 678: They had to be good ones They had kind of a hole of course you didn't throw them away your mama would darn them up Interviewer: Oh 678: Take a darn needle and Fix it to where you couldn't hardly find it Interviewer: Well how often would they get a new suit 678: How would they Interviewer: How often would they get a new suit 678: {NS} If the men would get one every three or four years they would Call theirself being extravagant Interviewer: Oh really 678: And the only reason the boys would get one each year they would outwear them Interviewer: Oh but but 678: And I I got handed them down to me I was a second child Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And I'd wear my brother's suit Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: {X} I seldom got a new suit Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 {NW} # Second hand Interviewer: You just got the second 678: Second hand Charlie yeah Interviewer: Well did they did they fit you 678: Oh well it didn't make much difference you wore them anyhow Interviewer: Oh whether it fit or not 678: Sure you {NW} You Long as you could get in them Why you wore {NW} Oh we had a certain amount of pride to it of course my dad and mama wanted me to look good but If the sleeves were a little long that didn't uh {X} Wasn't too sh- too short but they got it Tight why Then they'd They would cut those up and make skirts for the girls Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Your mama's probably not old enough to even remember those {NW} She probably didn't cut up The men's clothing and make skirts with My mama would take the old suits And the And the suits would Become too small Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And make skirts for the girls Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And {NW} Well you had to economize Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: You had to use everything nothing throwed away Interviewer: Oh 678: Course we wore the long handle underwear don't #1 Forget that # Interviewer: #2 Oh you did # 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # That's funny um now what would happen like if a shirt was not sanforized or something and they washed it in hot water what would happen 678: If uh if you weren't careful I It would be too small Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} They {NW} There's no such word as sanforized back then or there {X} Probably might have been a word but no such uh treatments Interviewer: #1 Treatments # 678: #2 As # Such But #1 We would uh # Interviewer: #2 Well how did you # 678: We once in a while we would Buy a shirt that would draw up Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But {NW} When it did well my mama would go back to the man that sold it to her Aux: Most of the time you bought a shirt a little bit 678: Too big Interviewer: #1 Oh you did and then tie it on a string # Aux: #2 Overalls # Same thing 678: Yeah {NW} But Interviewer: You did and then you would count on it to shrink 678: To shrink some Aux: {X} Interviewer: Oh you did oh you could just always 678: But if you got ahold of one that'd shrink excessively why then you You fussed at the The man sold it to you and there was no no argument he'd take it and and the factory made it good Unless you bought it uh knowing that it was cheap and that it might draw up Interviewer: Well now those overalls and things uh did they have them like they do now with lots of pockets in them 678: Mm-hmm about the same Interviewer: And you can stuff 678: {NW} Had uh Two side pockets two hip pockets One pocket here on the bib Place for your pencil and then a watch pocket Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: For your watch Interviewer: Well if you stuff a lot of stuff in your pockets would they uh uh you know 678: Bulge out Interviewer: Yeah 678: Sure Interviewer: Yeah I mean were they 678: As kids keep pulling marbles and rocks you know Interviewer: Yeah yeah 678: {NW} things like that Interviewer: Um Aux: Wasn't no worry in that 678: {NW} No Interviewer: #1 Ignored it # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: #1 Um # Aux: #2 Everybody # Carried fish hooks if something dropped Interviewer: Oh they did Aux: {X} Interviewer: Um what if you were talking about a woman who would with all the standing in front of the mirror kind of you know fixing herself up all the time you'd say she really likes to what would they call it 678: Primp Interviewer: Primp yeah 678: {NW} Yeah #1 Well we # Interviewer: #2 How about # How about somebody who always likes to wear fancy clothes they'd say she really likes to 678: You mean how would they express it Interviewer: Yeah they'd say she likes to uh 678: Well now {X} Some of these saying I've heard fellows say that she likes to put on the doll but uh Interviewer: Oh really 678: {NW} But uh {NW} That may not be the answer you was expecting but Interviewer: That's interesting 678: That's that's one I've heard Interviewer: What would you call a small leather container for for carrying coins in 678: Coins Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {X} A pocketbook {NW} My dad carried a pocketbook about so long with the old snap Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh He had have a He had a little Pocket up closer that he carries bills in you know that wouldn't go all the way down Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And in his change went down in the sack part and he'd dug all that up and put it in his pocket Interviewer: What about your mother what would she carry money in 678: Well she {X} My mama if I remember probably Probably would have only owned one Uh big purse Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: They didn't have A color for each suit you know back then Interviewer: {NW} 678: {NW} They'd own a purse and that'd be it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And I suppose I don't remember buying it I just suppose it had the little snap Places inside for the change Aux: You know how women used to fix their hair Interviewer: No Aux: You've seen the old kerosene lamps Interviewer: Uh-huh Aux: They had curling irons you know Interviewer: Oh Aux: And they'd put the iron the irons down in the heat Interviewer: Down in the Aux: Heat Interviewer: In in the lamp 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Oh 678: The springtime Wooden handles Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} Aux: {X} Fix their hair 678: Clamp it on there Aux: Clamp it 678: Wayne's mother used one Aux: I've seen my mother do that Interviewer: Oh really Aux: {X} 678: She'd crimp that hair and then just she'd just work on it and work on it #1 Work on it yeah # Interviewer: #2 Oh really # Aux: Takes a long time 678: {NW} But you had plenty of time Aux: {NW} Interviewer: But you had more time Aux: Nobody could go to a beautician first of all there wasn't any Interviewer: #1 Mm-hmm # Aux: #2 Second # You know people didn't have the money Interviewer: And you wouldn't have the money right {NW} 678: And you you wouldn't have had someone saying that She's one of the uppity ups because Interviewer: Oh right mm-hmm now in the way of jewelry what would you call something like this 678: Bracelets They had to use some fancy ones way back there Interviewer: #1 Oh they did # 678: #2 Fancy ones # Yes Interviewer: How about around their neck 678: Beads they'd have beads and uh And lockets Interviewer: Oh what would men wear to hold up their trousers 678: Suspenders or belts and sometimes both they thought some of them tried to be fancy Dans and wear both Interviewer: And wear both 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: And they also called them galluses Aux: galluses 678: galluses Interviewer: Oh do they uh what would you hold over your head when it would rain 678: Those umbrellas the women Men Didn't care for getting wet Interviewer: {NW} 678: Didn't want to be called sissy Interviewer: Oh um when they would makeup a bed uh what would you call the fancy top cover they put on the bed 678: Well {NW} Uh way back I don't know we called them bed spreads when we Interviewer: You can always remember 678: Yeah I can remember bed spreads but well now wait a minute there was another one Aux: Dusters 678: No there was another uh uh what Aux: {X} 678: No there was a counterpane that's what I'm trying to {X} Counterpane wasn't that the word Interviewer: Counter pin or 678: Counterpane #1 I believe they called it # Interviewer: #2 Counterpane # 678: Now that's back when my mama's when she was making up beds after I got married they were called bedspreads Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Be real fancy {NW} Interviewer: Um 678: {NW} Interviewer: Well do you remember uh like anything like a pillow only it went um 678: Bolster Interviewer: Well #1 Now did a bolster # 678: #2 I remember those # Interviewer: Go just part way across the bed 678: All the way across Interviewer: Oh 678: My brother was always Kind of a meanie Interviewer: {NW} 678: And uh we had a bolster and lots of times just to Aux: {NW} 678: Just pure old meanness you know to be show that he was the older brother He'd jerk it from under my head and wouldn't let me use it see {NW} Until I threatened to tell on him Interviewer: Oh 678: {NW} Interviewer: Oh what would you put on the bed for warmth in the wintertime 678: Oh you could get {NW} Well uh {NS} We uh {NS} Blankets we didn't sleep next to sheets like we do now Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Got these blankets {NW} Quilts and And comforts some of them call them comforts Interviewer: Is that different from a quilt 678: Yeah it was different a little bit thicker than the average quilt then they had something else that uh Oh it was real heavy but I can think what they called it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Sometimes they would quilt on top of quilts take an old quilt you know and recover it Interviewer: Oh 678: But the comforts were {NW} That was generally the top cover because it had a little bit of beauty to it but Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: These down next to you they're just for warmth only you know Some of them were Quilted with thread and some of them were were just uh {NW} Tied together and tied into about four inch squares you know and tied to the Twine tied into knots Now they tied those knots to where they didn't come loose some way Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: They knew how to tie them {NW} Interviewer: Um what would you call a place if you made a place on the floor like for children to sleep you'd call that a 678: Pallets I was one of those {NW} I slept on them Interviewer: {NW} 678: And we used to have so much company That uh we children would sleep crosswise in bed {NW} All could get on there Interviewer: Oh 678: And we'd have my mom had uh Several bedrooms But people used to get in their wagons and bring their families And and uh sometimes it'd be a coincidence but maybe another family would Come to spend the weekend with you and there'd be two families with six or seven kids each And it'd just gang up sleep crosswise on the bed if it's Wintertime or summer they'd get on the floor pallet wherever they could get Aux: You ever hear that song about sleeping in a little bed 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 I don't think so # I don't believe I've heard that 678: Yeah {NW} Sleep in a foot bed we hear that on the Uh {X} Jimmy Dickens Jimmy Dickens sings it Interviewer: Um 678: Take a cold tater and wait Interviewer: {NW} 678: That's another thing that has changed Aux: Always listen 678: {NW} Aux: {X} 678: Yeah Interviewer: Oh 678: When when uh I grew up and even when Wayne grew up Uh {NW} The children had to wait Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: All this fancy food would be set on the At the table and then Get grandpa and grandma and uncle John and aunt Sarah and all them set them down to eat {NW} And the kids keep them out and leave them {X} Starving to death {NW} Interviewer: {NW} 678: And that you know that was brutal Interviewer: Yeah 678: So now you know you you either feed the kids first or you fix them a plate uh Some plates and let them go into the another room and uh card tables or something and set down and eat {NW} But I would lean in there and looked in the door many times my mom would put her finger and I had to leave {NW} Interviewer: Oh that's funny 678: You should have lived back then Mary that's Interviewer: #1 I think I would have enjoyed it it always sounds so good to me # 678: #2 {NW} # Aux: And you didn't even get to talk either 678: Oh no Aux: No conversation Interviewer: Oh 678: Children children should be seen and not heard {NW} Aux: They'd tell all their stories 678: {NW} Aux: And they're wanting to say something 678: {NW} Aux: If you did you had to leave Interviewer: That's funny that's great um this next part's about land and sort of different kinds of land what would you call the land along a stream sort of 678: Along a stream you mean well it the bank you mean the banks of the river or the Interviewer: No 678: {NW} Yeah the banks of course would be the land along the stream I was thinking about maybe land that could be farmed that's kind of flat low lying land close to a stream or close to a river Well it'd be river river bottom Interviewer: Oh 678: River bottom Interviewer: Bottom 678: Bottom land Interviewer: Mm-hmm bottom land is bottoms and bottom land the same thing 678: Mm-hmm Generally when you refer to the bottoms Is before it's cleared up Interviewer: Oh I see 678: See Interviewer: I see 678: And bottom land is after it Interviewer: Is after it's cleared up let's see um how about an any {D: rafty} land that you can think of sort of flat grassy land 678: Pasture land Interviewer: Or how about if it's not planted if it's just natural kind of 678: Without uh you mean without timber on it Interviewer: Right mm-hmm anything like that 678: Well it would {NW} Probably be used for pasture land or Interviewer: It'd still be yeah uh-huh 678: Or uh A land that they was wanting to lay out and uh And uh Regain its strength you know Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} Interviewer: How about um like an area that's got just like water standing on its like staying up water standing on it all the time 678: Slews Interviewer: Now would that be the same as a swamp 678: Mm-hmm Swamp land {NW} Swamp land would have uh Interviewer: Not necessarily 678: Would have the water in it and then then the slews Aux: I think that's what she's finding 678: The slews Aux: Yeah slews Interviewer: And would the slews 678: It's a it's a depression in the land Interviewer: Oh 678: That when the when the excess Rainwater falls it it It channels the water Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Into the bottom lands #1 What it is # Interviewer: #2 Bottom lands # Yeah mm-hmm 678: It's a slew Interviewer: Yeah 678: And generally when they did the grudge ditches They follow the general direction of the old slew I suppose they snake around just like a river Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But you'd cut the The ditch uh Interviewer: To drain the 678: To drain where you could where either side would run in Interviewer: Oh I see 678: {NW} Interviewer: Um what would you call a sandy type soil a name 678: Loam Sandy loam Interviewer: How about that black sticky kind 678: Gumbo Interviewer: You know gumbo 678: Get some of that on your feet sometime Interviewer: {NW} You can't get it off 678: Get your car in there when it's wet Oh how do you get it out if you get your car in Get somebody get get someone to pull you out Interviewer: {NW} 678: With a team or tractor Interviewer: Or you wait until it dries up oh that's funny have you ever heard of anything called crawfishing land 678: You better believe it Interviewer: #1 Oh you have # 678: #2 I I # Fished a crawfishes out too Interviewer: Really 678: We still have some of that Interviewer: And you call it crawfishing land 678: Oh yeah they build these big Stools you know above the ground Interviewer: I didn't know that 678: Oh yes {NW} While you have a lot of little crawfish in your now these are in the slews and in the bottom lands is the is the water recedes uh it goes down oh you can get in there and just catch lots of crawfish Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But out at the edges You'll see these enormous stool that holds Oh big as a ball bats aren't they Wayne Aux: Yeah 678: And these enormous big old red crawfish almost lobsters Interviewer: Oh 678: Would be down in there {NW} And you can get him by putting a stick down in there and he'll Pinch and he ain't got any better sense than to hold on you just fish him out Interviewer: Oh 678: See Use his tail for catfish bait Aux: {X} 678: {NW} Interviewer: Um what would you call kind of a deep gouged out place like in a field that kind of a washed out place in a field 678: {NW} You referring to hills be a gully Interviewer: A gully 678: {NW} In the hills Interviewer: Mm-hmm um 678: Whole land we probably wouldn't have them Interviewer: You probably wouldn't have it uh-huh well is is the around here I don't know this terrain this area very well and around Bay and Craighead county is it is it mostly just flat or it appears to me to be but then I don't know 678: No {NW} Well we have lots of flatland in Craighead county but We're sitting right now on what is known as Crowley's ridge #1 It's # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: It's a Interviewer: Kind of a 678: Quite a historic Interviewer: Yeah 678: It was caused Well It was a freak formation wasn't it Wayne And it it begins up in the edge of Missouri Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} And goes down through Arkansas and hits uh Mississippi river about {X} Aux: Almost in there 678: And uh it's Unique in every respect you go down where we live you hit the sandy loam and On down at that marked tree down there you hit the black some of the black gumbo And that was caused from the New Madrid earthquake Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh But this {NW} This place uh Aux: New Madrid Missouri Interviewer: #1 In Missouri # Aux: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: Yeah 678: Yeah I've been uh Down there around the boothill And uh This place is uh Just pure old red hills part of it no rock at all but part of it is loaded with All these gravel roads you drive on around here comes out of these these uh Crowley ridge mountain hills Interviewer: Oh 678: Yeah Interviewer: Yeah yeah well now um 678: {NW} You're running out of tape by the way Interviewer: I don't know if we have that much time because this tape runs an hour 678: Oh does it Interviewer: So yeah runs an hour a side I could you just know I'll tell you what okay now talking about um streams if you were talking about running streams the smallest would be called a 678: You mean around this territory Interviewer: Yeah 678: {NW} First of all this would just be Uh Farm ditches Interviewer: Did uh uh-huh uh-huh 678: That we had dug Interviewer: That you had dug 678: Back when I was a kid we dug them with spades shovels Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And then later we had small Well maybe road slips now you don't know what a road slip is but it's a scoop of a thing with two big wooden handles on it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} And you hook a team to it Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And as long as you were horse enough or strong enough to hold to where it scoops the dirt fine But if you get too high it sticks in the ground where you land or when the mules see Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 And hope they don't # {X} And uh that's the way we would dig some ditches and later we got the drag little little drag lights Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And Then we still dig small small ditches not as Well now {NW} Half as wide as this bed perhaps in and around farms What they call lateral ditches And they'll empty into a larger ditch Interviewer: Mm-hmm Aux: What what you would call a god-made creek in the hills we call a god-made ditch 678: {NW} Interviewer: #1 Oh really # 678: #2 Yeah # Aux: Because we don't call them creeks here we call say ditches everything Interviewer: You say everything's a ditch 678: Everything is a ditch in the lowlands #1 There's no creeks # Interviewer: #2 You don't mean it # And there's no creeks #1 Even if it's god made or man made # Aux: #2 Nobody says creek # Interviewer: I didn't know that 678: No you get up here in the in the hills you have a creek because it was god-made Interviewer: Yeah right Aux: So all these ditches down towards Bay 678: Up in Chicago they call them creek All northern people call them creeks Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh and Aux: But here everything's a ditch Everything's a ditch 678: Down in our country it's a ditch because we dig it Aux: These big made hills {X} Interviewer: And even god-made things are ditches to me ditches have to be man-made have to be dug I think of it but that's amazing so no creeks huh that's really wild well how about rivers does it do you a big there's ditches and then there's rivers 678: Oh yeah well they Interviewer: That's the only distinction everything is either a ditch or else it's a 678: River goes from a creek to a In this particular country it goes from a creek to a river Interviewer: Hmm 678: And the hills In our country it goes from a ditch #1 To a river # Interviewer: #2 From a ditch to a # River That's fascinating I've never heard anybody say that that's just amazing um Aux: This may be the only area that I've ever been to where they do say ditches Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well and the deltas Mississippi deltas Interviewer: Oh they do it there too 678: Any delta land Interviewer: They'll say ditch 678: {NW} Interviewer: Um 678: Some of them in the in the rice In the flatlands of the rice country now Sometimes they refer to them as canals Interviewer: As canals 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Yeah 678: Where they water their rice Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But that's a little bit different that's uh that's taking the water to The uh The farm product or Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And our ditches is to take it away Interviewer: Uh-huh I see yeah 678: That's the difference Interviewer: Sort of thing 678: {NW} Interviewer: Um now up like on a mountain the course I know you don't have them here but the rocky side of a mountain where it drops off you call that a 678: I guess a cliff I'm not a mountaineer Interviewer: No I know and and then up in the mountains like if uh there's a creek and it goes along and then it has a sharp drop off you call that a 678: Waterfall Interviewer: And you know do you know of something in the mountain called either a gap or a pass or are you familiar with 678: Oh yeah {NW} That's just a Just an opening in the {NW} In the between two Two mountains Interviewer: Yeah 678: {NW} And the the pass From what I read from history and and reading western books A pass is something that you discover Miles away that way you get it Wayne but uh It's a landmark more or less Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: That that in traveling across the country when they settled the country you could see this way over and that's what they aimed for Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: And when they get there they hoped it was passable see Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: But it was a landmark between two ranges of mountains {NW} And that's the way they would pass through the mountains they couldn't go over them the Rockies especially Aux: And perhaps on that subject you should tell her about the annual trip you used to make where all this {X} 678: {NW} Well I believe I told her I let her read my memoirs too you know that I wrote I don't know if you've ever read them or not Interviewer: Really great 678: Up to nineteen Aux: Read those 678: Up to nineteen thirty one {NS} When my dad I believe I told you my dad and mother came from northwest Missouri over land Well just uh between Hardy Arkansas and and Fair Missouri there's a hill up there that they still call black snake hill And there were so many {NW} Large Black snakes there that my mother had to get in the wagon and Ride there'd be so many snakes crossing the road Interviewer: {NW} 678: And I see no snakes Up at Hardy we had a boy scout camp at Hardy for years and years called Cedar Valley Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And we would go up there and then those snakes are still there and I if I can think of it I'll fish out a picture and show you a a A man that was Was uh Basketball and football coach at Trumann During the forties Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And we called him snake Bullard his name was Bullard and we called him snake because he would he would get those {NS} Snakes and just let them wrap around him Interviewer: Mm 678: And I wouldn't even get close to them Interviewer: Mm 678: But I have a picture of him squatting down with one of those big old black snakes And them things would be that big around and as long as Longer than this bed is wide here Interviewer: Mm 678: And my mama said they'd come across there and throw that head up and just scare the life out of her Interviewer: Mm 678: Eh What they lived on back then so many of them but she said that Late of the evening when they come from fair to Hardy they they was almost afraid to To camp overnight Interviewer: Hmm 678: But uh they had quite a time on that trip Had two children and They brought another strange thing had happened {X} {NS} Dad had an old hound dog that was a squirrel dog And He brought her along with the puppies she had some puppies And they would Were practically weening size so they he didn't want them so he left the puppies out there with his brother Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And he'd bring this old dog along and Just tie her or let her follow along behind the wagon Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And When night come if uh if he took a notion to Have a fish supper they'd camp on the stream and he catch them as fish catch them anywhere you know Or if he wanted squirrels to eat he'd just take a This old dog out and she'd treat three or four squirrels and he'd kill him and When he got to Bay And landed there he just turned the dog loose and said now this is home Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NS} And two days after he got there he missed his old dog And three weeks later he got a Letter from his brother's said old Belle has Come back Interviewer: {NW} 678: Feet so sore that uh Interviewer: {NW} 678: She couldn't hardly walk Interviewer: #1 Oh my heaven # 678: #2 {NW} # {NW} Went back to those puppies Interviewer: Good grief 678: {NW} Interviewer: Some are amazing 678: #1 He he was a # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: {NW} Interviewer: {NW} 678: He was afraid she would leave why I kept her tied up Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Under the the wagon and tied her at night Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But he said he thought well when we get there and get established She'll say well this is home Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: You know dogs wherever you move they go with you Interviewer: #1 Mm-hmm # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: #1 Normally # 678: #2 And # Yeah contended yeah Aux: Well good dogs were such a necessity 678: Oh yes part of your living that uh This dog's name was Belle and {NW} Three weeks later he said his brother said he woked up one morning and she was her feet was so sore she had Really crossed a mountain you know Forgot about the the roads Interviewer: Oh 678: But I crossed a {NW} In nineteen twenty-four Aux: {NW} 678: We went back up in Missouri on a visit we harvested our crop and In November My dad had just bought a new nineteen twenty-five model Ford touring car Interviewer: Mm-hmm oh 678: My brother had just got married and he had a Ford coop Glassed in rig Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Was scared to death of him then afraid he'd turn over and cut you all to pieces see Interviewer: {NW} 678: But we made this {X} Back and the first day {NW} We spent the night at Hardy Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: The second day out we spent the night at West Plains Missouri Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And when we drove into Osceola Missouri which was three hundred and forty miles from here Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: At the middle of the third day And I drive it now in seven hours {NW} Course we didn't drive at night we we'd get a we'd stay at hotels we stayed at a Hotel in Hardy And the bed ticks the bed bugs like to scared us all Interviewer: {NW} 678: And we started out the next morning {NS} And uh And uh {NS} On this black snake hill there was there was no no road as such in Between Hardy and Fair it's just a Gravel trail that Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Wagons could go over {NW} And model T cars could hardly make it they only had breaks on the back wheels you just locked the back wheels And there'd be so many rocks under there this old car would just keep rolling see And you'd luck and stop it But we got behind a caravan of gypsies Interviewer: Oh 678: When we left Hardy {NW} And there there was no place for them to go they couldn't get off the road and wouldn't have if they could And we trailed them suckers until We got about halfway between uh Hardy and Mammoth Springs And they They crossed a creek up there they call Otter creek And they just spread out there and Camped {NW} Now they had the wagons And some old buggies And they led their cows along with them their Shetland ponies along with them the kids were walking {NW} Billy goats they had everything imaginable along there with them {NW} So when they spread out to camp we got by But I I bet you that it took us Three hours To go the eighteen miles from Hardy to Manly #1 Springs # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Behind the #1 Gypsies # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: {NW} Oh that's 678: Well we better quit on that Aux: Death of those gypsies Interviewer: Oh really Aux: Yeah 678: We'll say goodnight to you and uh Uh Interviewer: One thing before you go I I just backed up and realized I left out something I wanted you to name some of the uh you know rivers and ditches and things around here just give some of the names 678: Down in #1 My part of the country # Interviewer: #2 Right # 678: {NW} Well we're about uh We're we're due west of San Francis River Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: We're about uh Four miles as a crow flies Interviewer: Oh south 678: It's only about four miles straight across to the San Francis River And then we have uh Uh Big Bay Ditch Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Is between us and Trumann Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: Now Little Bay Ditch is the ditch you cross just before you get to {X} Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Going to Bay Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh Then a little ditch just below Bay is uh what the call Bull Run Slew Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: It was one of the slews Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Those are the only three ditches that would be right close to us Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I over close to the Lake City Highway there's one they call Maple Slew Ditch Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh Well That's as far as we should go I reckon get on over on Lake City I know some more there's one they call uh Aux: Huckleberry 678: Huckleberry and one that is Buffalo Ditch and there's Candy Candy Island Ditch Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: There's Whistle Ditch Interviewer: Oh that's great ditch 678: {NW} Interviewer: Great 678: {NS} My great grandfather Interviewer: Oh this is the one that your #1 Great great # 678: #2 Eighteen and ninety # One see #1 Ninety # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Beautiful 678: #1 See I was telling you about the # Interviewer: #2 Writing # 678: The peculiar ink Interviewer: The the ink 678: Uh-huh Interviewer: It's a it's a brown #1 Looking sort of how # 678: #2 It's how they wrote them back then # Back then Interviewer: Oh 678: {NW} Interviewer: It's beautiful writing though you know it's really pretty look that #1 On that uh # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: W there #1 The way h- # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: He did that fancy thing on there 678: He was a county judge {X} Interviewer: He was the 678: Saint Clare county at the time that he Interviewer: The time that he wrote that 678: Wrote this letter And #1 Just thought you might like # Interviewer: #2 Oh that is # 678: To see that and this is the married license for my dad and mother look Interviewer: Aw 678: {NS} I like those Interviewer: Oh yeah isn't that #1 Pretty aren't they pretty and look at that picture on there # 678: #2 Prettier than today you know uh-huh yeah I like that # Interviewer: Uh-huh I like that too Saint Clare county eighteen ninety oh 678: Quite a while hasn't it Interviewer: Oh it sure has 678: {NW} Now I won't take up the time to let you read this This is something I'm going to give you Interviewer: Oh good 678: {NW} And what it is You know we're in our bicentennial Interviewer: Oh yeah mm-hmm 678: And uh They ask the mayors Or the school superintendents or anyone {NW} That's uh has anything to do with public life or even an individual if they wanted to to write something Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NS} To be used {NS} During the Next hundred years {NW} What what they're going to do down on the banks of the Arkansas river {NW} They're gonna have a sort of a tomb or something there and then they're gonna store all the data #1 That they get see # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: And then at the in the The year of two thousand seventy six it's going to be opened #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Oh I see # 678: And uh I wrote a letter As if I was the town of Bay speaking Interviewer: Oh you did #1 And so you # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: gave them that 678: And sent that and then {NS} I wrote uh {NS} As the mayor of Bay Interviewer: Oh 678: #1 Two # Interviewer: #2 So you wrote # Two different #1 Letters # 678: #2 So if # You want to take time to read this part of it why do so you might want to {NS} Comment on it and You can read it here and then #1 You can take that with you # Interviewer: #2 Oh this is really interesting # Now did you wrote this like you were the 678: I'm the it's like I'm the town of Bay speaking see Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Not me or the mayor there but the town of #1 Bay # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Oh this is really 678: To to I'm speaking to the mayor of Two thousand seventy six Interviewer: To the mayor of Bay in that year mm-hmm oh you've got this about the uh the flooding and everything 678: Mm-hmm Just as brief a history as I could give of the town Interviewer: Mm-hmm oh then you've got this flu epidemic that I just never have heard of flu being like that or in the depression Oh you've got everything about the school too {NS} Oh the the corps of engineers Uh I was gonna ask you what they did about the flooding 678: That's what they did they built these levees Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: We haven't had a flood since Interviewer: Who sponsors it 678: Government Interviewer: Mm-hmm oh yeah world war two oh the hub of the universe 678: That's what I jokingly tell people Interviewer: {NW} Oh that is so good oh that 678: And the next one is uh a letter that I have {NW} Was mayor Interviewer: As as you personally 678: #1 Yeah mm-hmm # Interviewer: #2 Uh # 678: #1 # Interviewer: #2 # 678: It's been briefed as much as I could Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: They ask you to do you know briefing as much as possible Interviewer: Oh they ask it to brief yeah that is really #1 Something # 678: #2 Now that # They will do Interviewer: So what 678: They they make uh they make uh Pictures of this and then reduce it down Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But they reduce it to to the point to where it will you can read it Interviewer: Oh 678: Almost don't matter how small Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And that'll be put in a little capsule Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And then But this year if we're world's still standing This will be delivered to whoever's mayor of this town if the town is still standing Interviewer: Oh that's a great idea isn't that something to think about that a hundred years from now #1 Somebody will read # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: What you wrote what is that 678: {NW} That's {X} My dad's old Uh graves up in Jonesboro that was in Interviewer: Oh 678: An old {X} In nineteen oh two see Interviewer: The oh their graves are up in Jonesboro 678: By the old city cemetery Interviewer: Oh and that's where you dad and #1 Mom # 678: #2 {NW} # That's right where they Saint Bernard's hospital Interviewer: Oh 678: That's where they're buried and that's a Deed to their grave To their lots {NW} He bought twenty lots Twenty Interviewer: #1 Lots # 678: #2 And he # Gave them all away Except uh {NW} We had a brother in law that got killed Young in life and they buried him there But then back in those days Dirt roads Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh People never thought of A burying place And sometimes you couldn't dig your grave here the water would be so close to the ground during the flood seasons Interviewer: Oh yeah 678: So They would die And he and a few other leading citizens would buy him a coffin or make him one Put him on a train take him to Jonesboro and he gave all his graves away we don't even know who's on there except my brother in law my dad and my brother Interviewer: And you don't even know who's on the rest of them they don't have any 678: No markers Interviewer: No markers 678: No markers nothing Interviewer: Golly 678: Just uh Just the three graves that we knew of and He gave he put his son in law there and then he reserved one for himself one for his mother Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: I mean for his wife my mother Interviewer: And that's the city 678: City cemetery Interviewer: City cemetery do they have a cemetery here now 678: Mm-mm #1 Not at Bay # Interviewer: #2 At Bay # 678: #1 Well # Interviewer: #2 They still have # 678: We have some Indian mounds up here that they #1 Used to bury # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: On but They don't uh they never did have uh cemeteries as such you know People just buried on the mounds because that was above the water Interviewer: That's above the water oh yeah that's right because you've always had such a problem here 678: It was a problem Interviewer: With flooding and all that 678: I've been to Up here at Bowman on eighteen highway between here and Lake City Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: There's a Big Graveyard there and It's kind of on a higher plane than the rest of the land #1 But # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: {NW} I have helped bury people there when two men would have to stand on the box and hold it down in the water to cover him up Interviewer: {NW} 678: Isn't that that terrible Interviewer: Oh that's terrible oh 678: Stand on the box and holding the water let that cold muddy water run in #1 There and # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: Throw the throw the mud in on it Interviewer: Oh mm that's awful well speaking of {X} You ready to roads roads was the one I wanted to ask you about um when they first began to improve roads what was the first thing that they did to them in the way of improving them 678: You mean after the roads were already laid out Interviewer: #1 Yeah # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Well the first thing they would do would be to take what I I told you last night the road slips Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: This is a big old Enormous scoop #1 Maybe so wide # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # Mm-hmm 678: With handles that the man held onto and hooked the team onto a bale like Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh these roads had {NS} Sag holes mud holes we'd call them {NS} And uh {NW} Wherever the Mud holes were why they'd dig these ditches And put this dirt in to build the holes out See Interviewer: Oh I see 678: And get them to S- Somewhere near a level Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And then {NW} Later years well they got the old road graters Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Similar to the ones they have now but they were pulled by teams Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they would go into each one of these ditches and pull dirt Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: In there and drag it off to a level Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And that continued until they graveled them Interviewer: Oh I see and then when they graveled them did they did they have to put something down on the before that to make the gravel stick to the road or anything 678: No #1 Just embeds # Interviewer: #2 Just put gravel # 678: Itself into the ground Interviewer: It just I see mm-hmm well um if you were talking about a a road that was uh just out in the country a little road that goes off of the main road what would you call it 678: Well some of them call them lanes Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh Some of them call them access roads Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: That word that word came along later #1 Most of the # Interviewer: #2 That was the later # Yeah 678: Mostly they were Lanes Uh-huh You know they would lead up to a house Home or To a into a man's farm Interviewer: Oh or into a 678: #1 Man's farm # Interviewer: #2 Or he had # Mm-hmm 678: Maybe He and his team was the only one that would get in there Interviewer: #1 Oh I see # 678: #2 They were just # Lanes they would call them Not a public thoroughfare #1 At all # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # 678: Not #1 Wasn't even maintained # Interviewer: #2 Not a public # 678: By the county #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: It's just a If it went up to the home the people Owners or renters maintained it Or let it go whichever they would choose And went into the farm that is Strictly up to the farmer to Make that road passable Interviewer: Mm-hmm {NS} Um in the something along the side of a street for people to walk on 678: You mean the sidewalks Interviewer: What was that what material what was that made from 678: Well I remember here in Bay when we had board sidewalks Interviewer: Oh really 678: And then Along about Nineteen sixteen or seventeen when I was about {NW} Eight year old something like that They uh Built two or three walks on the main street over here uh out of this uh ground up chat white chat Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And then oh about in the twenties in the early twenties they began to make concrete sidewalks Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But I remember Plenty of boardwalks around Interviewer: Oh you do 678: Grass growing up between the cracks Interviewer: Grass growing up between them well now have you ever seen a sidewalk that would have a there'd be the sidewalk and then the strip of grass and then the street 678: Yes Interviewer: Strip of grass do you know a name for that strip of grass 678: No Interviewer: Never heard of that okay if um now this part's about expressions that people might use if you've been walking along the road and a mean dog uh jumps you might pick up a 678: Well Whatever you get ahold of a club or Limb Interviewer: Or maybe uh something lying uh or maybe a rock 678: That would depend on where you was walking Interviewer: #1 Uh-huh # 678: #2 If you was # In a rocky country Certainly you'd Pick up a rock #1 I'm trying to think around because just # Interviewer: #2 And then you'd say oh well # 678: On a plain old dirt country road you'd run Interviewer: #1 Oh then you'd run you wouldn't have a # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Yeah you probably wouldn't have a rock 678: {NW} Interviewer: Well now if you were talking about a rock would you probably say you picked up a rock and then you 678: Threw it Interviewer: Threw it you 678: And then run Interviewer: Okay 678: Mary Interviewer: And then yeah and if somebody came to visit you you might say well just sit down and make yourself 678: At home That's an old expression Interviewer: That's a yeah um now if you were talking about putting milk in coffee you'd say some people like coffee if they do want milk in it you'd say they like their coffee 678: Well you want this modern word integrated Interviewer: {NW} #1 I've never heard anyone say that about coffee # 678: #2 {NW} # Yeah Interviewer: Well now 678: Got white in there and integrated you know Interviewer: {NW} Never heard anybody say that about their coffee if you don't put anything in coffee you say you're drinking it 678: Straight that's what we used Interviewer: Straight yeah uh-huh 678: Like you do your whiskey Interviewer: Mm-hmm they'd say straight mm-hmm that that's interesting I like that um and that was more common than saying black #1 At that time # 678: #2 Oh yeah # Um now if you were going to town and you didn't want to go alone you might say to somebody well come on and go Oh #1 I'd generally say # Interviewer: #2 Come on # 678: Come come along or #1 Go along # Interviewer: #2 Go # 678: Go along with me #1 Something like that # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # And now if that person didn't want to go uh you might say well that's okay I'll just go with without you or how would you say that I'll just go 678: Oh see you tomorrow Interviewer: Um if somebody was not going away from you you'd say they were coming straight 678: Towards you Interviewer: And if you ran into somebody um if you saw somebody that you haven't seen in a long time you might come home and say well guess who I ran 678: Into Interviewer: And if the child was given the same name as her aunt for example you'd say they named that child 678: After was the word they used to use Interviewer: Uh if you had a dog and you wanted it to attack another dog or a person or something 678: You'd just sic him Interviewer: They'd say sic him now if you were talking about a dog that was no particular breed of mixed breed of dog you'd call it a 678: Two two different names a cur or a mongrel Interviewer: Uh-huh oh you know both those names um how about one of those little bitty dogs that barks all the time you call them a people would have in their yard 678: Oh Interviewer: You ever heard of a feist #1 Dog # 678: #2 Yeah # Feist but uh They don't bark as much as the chihuahuas Interviewer: Oh chihuahuas 678: They're the ones that do the #1 Barking # Interviewer: #2 They're the # The yeah uh now if somebody had a mean watch dog and kept it inside a fence uh you'd say to that person so somebody was trying to go in there you'd say you'd better be careful or you'll get 678: Dog bit Dangerous dog Interviewer: Uh now what would you call a male horse 678: A male horse Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Well now that depends on whether he had been castrated or not Interviewer: Oh I see I see one 678: If he hadn't been castrated he's a stud Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And if he has been uh If he has been castrated why He's uh {X} He'd be called a stud or a stallion #1 If he hadn't been but uh # Interviewer: #2 Or a stallion if he hadn't # 678: #1 # Interviewer: #2 # 678: Well the dickens Interviewer: #1 I don't know any other # 678: #2 I know as well as I know my own name # I know but I can't think of the name uh Gosh {NS} As many of them as I helped operate on and Interviewer: {NW} 678: Sometimes words hang up with me like that Interviewer: Well um I'll ask another maybe it'll come to you later what would you call a female 678: Mare Interviewer: Did you ever remember um well words well like bull for example do you ever remember people saying that you shouldn't say that in front of women have you ever 678: Oh yeah when when I was growing up why words like I use In front of you no offense intended at all you know why Uh we just didn't use it Interviewer: Well what would they they would not say bull for example in front of a woman 678: Well the grown ups would say it to But men would seldom say it in front of the women Interviewer: They wouldn't 678: No sir Interviewer: What would they say instead 678: Well they the man would tell his wife talking about the bull you know but {NS} #1 They wouldn't uh # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # But not in general 678: They just wouldn't some lady come in why He wouldn't walk into where she Interviewer: Huh 678: This lady and wouldn't say hey that bull jumped the fence Interviewer: They wouldn't 678: Say old {D: Roney} or #1 Whatever they called him jumped the fence # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: {NW} Interviewer: Would the same thing go for stud and stallion 678: That's right Interviewer: Huh 678: Well I can't think of that name I'm declaring my time Interviewer: Um I don't know what that I don't know that name either 678: Oh it's common as stud and stallion but Interviewer: Um only thing I can think of is a gelding is that it no 678: Gelding Interviewer: It's gelding yes 678: #1 That's it # Interviewer: #2 I wasn't even # Sure if gelding was 678: Gelding that's what Interviewer: Um Aux: Hello {X} Interviewer: Oh Aux: Come to take care of Interviewer: You've got company you've got company Aux: {X} {NS} Interviewer: You want to go ahead and talk to them {NS} Like just {NS} 678: Yeah Interviewer: I just happened to come at your busiest 678: Well it all it always happens when you When you don't want to be bothered you are see Interviewer: Okay um now if you were talking about riding horses and if you couldn't stay on the horse you'd say I fell 678: You were throwed off Bucked off whichever one Interviewer: Uh now if a little child went to Sleep in the bed the next morning found himself on the floor he'd say I must have fallen 678: Off out off whatever Interviewer: Off or out which would you 678: Off Interviewer: Fallen off the bed or out of the bed 678: Well Either way Um Interviewer: Um the things that you 678: I would say off Interviewer: You'd say off the things that the things that you put on a horse's feet to protect them from the road 678: Shoe horse shoes Interviewer: And the parts of the foot that the parts of the feet that you put them onto 678: The hoof Uh do you put them on all four uh Yeah {NS} Especially if you're in uh rocky country Interviewer: Uh-huh then you put them on all four of the 678: Sometimes in in the in this country where there's no rocks at all we'd insure Or just common Plow stock Interviewer: Oh you didn't 678: Uh-uh But uh if #1 We had one of those # Interviewer: #2 Well it must not # Get to 678: Well {NW} You know Horses are in in some respects like humans you know some humans' fingernails are brittle and tear up Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And some horses Uh hooves would split if you didn't keep them shut Interviewer: Oh I see 678: But we've got to remember that uh until man come along they weren't shut And they made it see Interviewer: Yeah of course 678: So when {NW} In the rock country I suppose before they're captured they just simply take care of theirself if their feet get sore they don't Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: They just don't run Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Anymore than they have to Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And then uh Probably tougher Than they are in the in the Swamp lands or low lands Interviewer: Um the game that you play with those uh if you were tossing the 678: #1 Horse shoes # Interviewer: #2 Horse shoes # 678: You mean pitching horse shoes Interviewer: Pitching horse shoes 678: Done a lot of that Interviewer: Oh you have um if you were talking about sheep the male sheep would be called 678: He's a ram and uh The uh Female is a ewe I guess you call it E W E Interviewer: Mm-hmm um 678: I never did know how to pronounce that #1 If it was ewe or ewe # Interviewer: #2 I think ewe is what I thought # 678: Is it ewe or ewe #1 Depends on how they handle it # Interviewer: #2 I I call it ewe # 678: #1 Ewe # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # I call it ewe but I I'm not really sure 678: I imagine that's the way it's pronounced Interviewer: I don't know much about sheep 678: Me either Interviewer: Well what do you call the stuff that they have on their backs that you raise them for 678: Wool Interviewer: Um Now I know something about billy goats 678: #1 They're I raised # Interviewer: #2 Oh you know about # 678: Billy goats Interviewer: Oh you have really what did what did you raise them for 678: To play with my brother and I played with them worked them to wagons Interviewer: Oh you did you had them pull wagons 678: Yeah Make them a leather harness Interviewer: #1 I didn't know that # 678: #2 My dad # Give her give us all Line plow uh Horse chick lines you know and so forth and we'd Cut them up and take brads And make a goat harness Interviewer: Oh you did 678: Working singles working double just like working horses Yeah We had some fine goats Three or four at a time you know great big old billy goats Interviewer: Uh-huh gosh that's really um if you had a what would you call a male hog 678: Boar Interviewer: Now if you if you had uh uh a boar and uh you didn't want it what would they call it uh if it was castrated it if we were talking 678: Barrow B A R R O W Interviewer: How about um a female hog what would you call that 678: See well uh There's two Before she ever has pigs she's a gilt Interviewer: I see 678: After she has pigs she's a sow Interviewer: Oh that's what makes the difference between that oh well what 678: Like a girl she's a maiden until Interviewer: And then a 678: Until she has Well Until she gets to be an adult maiden #1 You know and # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: If she marries why then she Has children she goes into womanhood Interviewer: That's very I never thought 678: Even if uh {NW} Well after she's married #1 She enters womanhood # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: You know No matter what age right she's considered a woman but she's a Maiden until that Interviewer: That's really interesting well what about um first born what do you call a hog 678: That'd be uh well they're called pigs Interviewer: Oh 678: Yeah Interviewer: Well how big are they before they start calling them hogs 678: It depends on the individual that calls them mostly Mary when they get uh we'd say Half grown we call them shoats Interviewer: Oh 678: And at the same time he's called a and I'm referring to a male Interviewer: Yeah 678: He's called a shoat She's called a gilt Interviewer: Oh I see 678: That's a teenager Interviewer: That would be the teenager 678: {NW} The teenager {NW} That's the teenager Same way with Cows you may want to get to that later I don't know but the cow would be called Calf Interviewer: Uh-huh mm-hmm 678: Course And uh {X} Castrated bull's a steer Interviewer: Oh I see 678: And uh and uh A female cow until she has a calf is a heifer Is a heifer oh is that what a heifer is and then after that then they call her the Cow Cow because she's already Gone into that state Interviewer: Yeah I was so amazed when you were talking about in that in your memoirs about having had to help deliver {NW} That's good um 678: Quite a quite an experience Interviewer: Oh I bet 678: Rory and his sister Interviewer: Right 678: But it was either that or lose the Interviewer: Or lose the 678: The heifer see I'll always remember just how she looked Interviewer: Mm and you did it too 678: Yeah yeah {NW} Cleaned that calf up {X} He made a dandy Interviewer: Uh people could just probably do anything then it seems like from talking to you 678: Had to Interviewer: Because you yeah you just 678: You do what you can to survive and then to survive why you have to do Interviewer: Um what would they call the stiff hairs on a hog's back 678: Bristles I suppose Interviewer: And how about those long teeth 678: Uh tusk tusk uh Tusks Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Tusks Interviewer: And how about those wooden uh like those long wooden things they fed the hogs in 678: Hog trough Interviewer: Would they have more than one on where they had 678: Oh depends on the amount of hogs you have Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: If you have more than Four or five hogs then you need two troughs because they'll fight shove one another #1 And steal food # Interviewer: #2 Oh they would # 678: Yeah Interviewer: {NW} 678: Knock the food down on the ground there and eat dirt food and all see Interviewer: Oh oh um the uh how about would they ever have any wild hogs around here 678: Yes I climbed through trees to get away from them Interviewer: Really 678: When my dad would My brother and I would coon hunt Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: I remember Very well one night we had a Man with us we called name Lemers we called him cotton Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: He lived on a Farm up on {X} Ditch my dad had cleared up and He went coon hunting with us one night and these hogs {NW} Got after our dogs Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well the dogs always run to the humans for protection Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And they had cut the timber out of this woods and lot of it they cut during the When the water was up Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: {NW} And they made uh {NS} Uh Something like trestles or Two legs out here and a long board and the trestles would sit on the ground the board leaned against the trees and these men would stand on there to saw the tree down Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So that left a stump Oh maybe six foot high Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: These hogs came along my dad scaled onto those things he climbed up there But my brother and And uh Cotton Lemers and I we all climbed trees Interviewer: Oh you did 678: I remember this one particular night that {NW} That uh Cotton we always looked on as sort of a joke you know he was a big coward Interviewer: Uh-huh {NW} 678: And I climbed this tree with a twenty two rifle in my hand I got up pretty and I was just nine year old when this happened Interviewer: Oh 678: And he I said where are you Cotton he said here I am and he was thirty feet above me up the #1 Same tree yes # Interviewer: #2 Oh on the same tree # 678: #1 # Interviewer: #2 # 678: #1 That's how fast he'd gone up there # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # Well have you I guess you have climbed a lot of trees in your 678: Not any more than I had to I I was always a little fearful of them Climbing trees but my brother would climb anything that he could get That he could possibly Interviewer: Oh he 678: In other words we'd tree a coon and Couldn't find him See you The way you hunt coons you carry a headlight and they look at you their eyes shine and That's when you shoot them Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: That way And some of them were smart enough to {NW} We called it hiding their eyes they'd lay with their head in their Paws you know #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: #1 Or they'd # Interviewer: #2 Uh-uh # 678: Lay up hang on the tree Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And my brother would climb Up the tree and and scare him around to where he'd have to go out on a limb And he'd climb down one of the I'd shoot them out {NS} Time or two shot his head my brother's hunting coat you know he Interviewer: You don't mean it 678: He'd pull it up around his neck and hide on the tree you know Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Shot it through {X} Interviewer: Oh 678: But uh I wasn't a climber Interviewer: Yeah oh you you've never climbed much 678: I had perforated ear drums one thing Interviewer: Oh 678: And the heights would uh ween me you know and I was afraid they'd fall out scared really scared to #1 Climb # Interviewer: #2 Sure # 678: Tonight the hogs have got to have {X} Interviewer: {NW} 678: But my brother was climbing Interviewer: Oh that's so good um is the the noise that a calf makes 678: {NW} Interviewer: Uh when it wants its mother you say the calf is 678: Oh several expressions he uh He bleats uh Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: The old cow she moos you know that's what uh Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But uh Use a Expression we would always call say the calf was bellowing for its mama Interviewer: Oh bellowing for its uh-huh 678: That uh actually I think it would have been referred to as lady Interviewer: Lady how about the noise that a horse makes the sound of 678: Neighs Interviewer: Uh now is that the same as a whinny or a nicker 678: Yeah Same thing uh Neigh is when they let out a long one when they see horses way off and then when they They come up close to them why he whinnies or nickers #1 That's their greeting # Interviewer: #2 I see # It's a greeting 678: A neigh it might could be a call you know Interviewer: Would be more like a 678: #1 Salutation # Interviewer: #2 A call # 678: #1 To something way off # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # Uh-huh 678: But when they get up close why they'll roll their neck and whinny and Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And Haul you know and it's just a language that they're going through Interviewer: Um would people if they were talking about hens and turkeys and geese and all those different things together would they r- did they have a name to refer to those various things as 678: In the chicken family he's a rooster or a hen Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: Uh Before she lays eggs she's a pullet Interviewer: Uh-huh I see oh you know all those things 678: Yeah {NW} And uh Interviewer: Would it be the same for any type of fowls 678: About what now Interviewer: Any type of fowl 678: Yeah uh the rooster Uh Before he gets grown he's a Well I c- again I can't think of what we called him I {NS} Chickens are But the turkeys are gobblers Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: {NW} Or hens Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And they're also pullets before they Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Guineas are the same thing Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: You know what a guinea is don't you Interviewer: It's I you I I 678: #1 That's the noisiest # Interviewer: #2 Really # 678: Thing in the country we got some out of across town Interviewer: You mentioned about it in your memoirs #1 You mentioned something about guineas in there # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: I I remember that mentioned but now if you were calling those would you call guineas and turkeys and things like that would they have you call them fowl would they have 678: Yeah they're in the fowl family Interviewer: Uh what do you call a hen on a nest of eggs 678: She's a sitting hen Interviewer: And uh something a kind of a little thing to put chickens in 678: Coop {X} Coop Interviewer: And when you're eating chicken there's a bone that the kids would like uh-oh {NS} Interviewer: Now when you said you said that you had just a little uh 678: We was talking about sassafras Interviewer: Yeah sassafras root and so you have you have tasted that tea 678: I don't drink lots of it because Used to your mama would Save those roots until spring and she Put the sassafras tea to you to thin your blood down get you ready for summer Interviewer: Oh really #1 To thin your blood # 678: #2 Yeah # They really believed it and and I've never heard a doctor deny it But but what was good it was a good blood thinner Interviewer: {X} 678: Had lots of iron in it Interviewer: Huh 678: They learned that from the Indians Interviewer: Uh-huh they learned that from the Indians um what about a kind of bush or a vine that'll make your skin break out when you rub up against 678: You mean the poison oak or poison ivy Interviewer: Poison oak or poison how about types of berries that you might have around here 678: Wild or tame Or both Interviewer: Or both mm-hmm 678: Well we have the blackberry which is Universal you know Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And we have the Uh Dewberry that grows on the railroad out in some places it's a {NW} Bush that grows down on the route {NS} Real fine berries And then we have the strawberries and the tame blackberries and the Himalaya berries Interviewer: Hmm 678: And the raspberries And uh The boysenberries Maybe more I don't know Interviewer: Now if you were talking about the berries that grew in the woods that you couldn't weren't supposed to eat because they'd kill you you'd say they were 678: Say they're poisoned Interviewer: Poisoned um you ever heard of a bush up in the mountains called mountain mountain laurel 678: Yeah I've heard of it {NW} But I'm not familiar with it Interviewer: How about a tree that's got big green leaves and big white flowers shiny green leaves 678: Mistletoe Interviewer: No um the whole tree that's got you may not have them around here it's got 678: Oh uh Interviewer: It's got big white flowers the flowers smell good and shiny leaves 678: We don't have it Interviewer: Okay um 678: I don't believe we have those Interviewer: Now when the old people 678: Course I don't know know everything now remember Interviewer: {NW} Well if you don't know it then it's not here I'm beginning to think that it's uh if the old people especially were talking about like a married woman didn't want to make up her own mind about something she'd say well I better go ask my 678: Husband Interviewer: Did you ever hear old people using any other term besides a husband 678: The old man Interviewer: Oh that uh-huh 678: An old man Interviewer: How about for what the man would say #1 {X} # 678: #2 The old woman # Interviewer: You've heard old woman now a woman who's lost her husband whose husband has died would be called a 678: A widow You know I hear of late where they've uh They find they you know what uh What is a widow and what is a widower and And uh {NW} What is A divorcee and this that and the other and it sorely got me mixed up on them but {NS} We all when their husband died we always called them a widow Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But uh and we and we also called them a widow if they was separated from #1 Their hus- # Interviewer: #2 Oh you did # 678: Divorced you know divorced Interviewer: #1 Uh-huh # 678: #2 We'd # Call them a widow but Interviewer: You called them a widow 678: They don't call them that now Interviewer: Huh 678: They call them what divorcee don't they Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: See Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But we called them a widow #1 Because # Interviewer: #2 Oh you did # 678: They didn't have a husband Interviewer: I see 678: I say we I'm talking about uh Interviewer: The people in 678: Before my time and when I was a child Interviewer: Mm-hmm um when you were talking to your daddy what did you call him 678: I called him papa Interviewer: And when you were talking to your mother 678: Mama Interviewer: And uh how about to to your grandparents 678: I called them grandpa and grandma {NW} We uh that was {NS} Almost a hundred percent accepted Around here Now some Well up until I was married and had my own children My wife and I decided we'd go a little modern have our children call us mother and daddy Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh It sort of embarrassed me you know to be to be called that Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Because {X} Everyone that I knew Except what we call the ups in the city you know this that and the other They call them father I I knew one family that called one fellow called his Dad and mother father and And mother {NW} And uh Wally calls me father a whole lot Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh Wayne calls me Bert a whole lot Interviewer: {NW} 678: {NW} But uh Back when I was growing up I'd say ninety-eight percent of the people it was papa and mama Or mommy and poppy Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But I never did like the mommy and poppy and We called our parents mama and papa Interviewer: What was the 678: I still like the I still like mama Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Still like to hear the kids say mama Interviewer: Mama what were some like common women's names that 678: Uh {NW} More more plain names and I and I I really love that like Ann Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Laura Sarah Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Uh Mary like that name Interviewer: How about Martha 678: And Martha {NW} And Margie my first wife's name was Margie And Martha I have uh Uh two aunts that was Martha May and my and may get that down to Maddie or Mad Interviewer: #1 Oh uh-huh # 678: #2 And # My younger sister's named Martha Ann and She's called uh Ann But uh Lots of times when they before she started before they started calling her Ann why it was Maddie Ann instead of Martha Ann So they dropped Maddie when she went to college and it was Ann Interviewer: How about 678: But I still like those short names Interviewer: How about Nelly was that 678: Nelly is a good name yeah Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: It's a common name Interviewer: And now in the way of men 678: Samantha Interviewer: Okay oh 678: That was getting quite lengthy Interviewer: That was uh-huh yeah that would be kind of long 678: But when you come along I I Interviewer: How about in the way of men's names 678: Well they was common too George and John and Jim and Tom With the old same Dick Tom and Harry Interviewer: Uh-huh William 678: {NW} William was uh Interviewer: Well now did they use nicknames 678: Oh yeah Yeah any time you was Named uh Richard why you was called Dick And uh and you know all down the line Interviewer: Mm-hmm how about for for William what would they have as a 678: Uh Bill Interviewer: Did they ever say Billy 678: Billy In fact my dad's name was William Noah Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And he was called Willy he grew up and if you notice the marriage license they they had that Willy Interviewer: Willy 678: Instead of William Noah it was Willy because that's what he grew up Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But his uh {NW} Grand daddy Called him Billy Interviewer: Called him Billy 678: When he was speaking to him but when he was speaking off him it was William Interviewer: William 678: My dad's uh people were uh Were Irish they they were mixed Irish with some of them with the dark and some the Interviewer: Oh 678: Red head with uh Brown eyes and They were all tall straight dignified people and My mother's people were uh Uh Scotch and and dutch Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh But But they all grayed early both families I never I My dad was forty-two when I was born and I can't remember him having any black hair or my mother either And she was only thirty-five when I was born Interviewer: Oh really 678: But of course I would remember her as a forty-two or three year old woman see that's when I was starting to remember her And she had some black Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And my dad if he did I can't remember Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: And my daughter my who was my baby She's uh forty-one years old Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And she's gray-headed almost as I am Interviewer: Really 678: But she's never growed up you wouldn't think she's over sixteen year old Interviewer: {NW} 678: {X} You've ever seen Interviewer: {NW} She takes that after you 678: I guess so she says she does Interviewer: She says she does um how about Matthew was that very common 678: Matt yeah no not too common There was Matthew they always got it down to Matt Interviewer: They always got it down to 678: {NW} Interviewer: Matt mm-hmm 678: And Launey Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Launeys Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Few Amoses around Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But we didn't have the long names and Some of the names they hang on girls I understand it if it's on an Italian or a Syrian or a A Bolshevik or whatever you have or Norwegian or something They have those names Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But for the pure old American Uh Well just like uh my stepdaughter has a little girl she named her Sarah Michelle Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And she spelled I couldn't even spell that Michelle the way she has it Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: So Where did she get it it sounds French Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {X} There's no French blood in her Interviewer: No she's nobody from France 678: {NW} Interviewer: Family 678: And I'll give you a little insight on Molly's family I've told you they about about when he corrected one he corrected all of them Interviewer: Yes 678: Because he'd correct one {NS} And the others stand around and And he says that he {NS} He'd say uh now Zola do you understand what I'm talking yes sir Yes sir and said now as far {X} The others would be nodding too Interviewer: {NW} 678: But {NW} Betty {NW} His wife {NS} {B} They they're they're English almost full blood {B} Each of their girls is named Know- Their middle name is Knowles Interviewer: Oh 678: {X} Moon Elizabeth Knowles Moon Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Mary Knowles Moon Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh Larissa Knowles Moon And they call them Larissa K Betty K I mean uh Elizabeth K Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: See And just some the K but every each one of them has the middle name of Knowles Interviewer: Same middle name of Knowles 678: And I like that #1 I like people # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: That perpetuate their name Interviewer: Yeah that's good 678: And uh I didn't name either one of my boys after me but I didn't have sense enough I was just married when I was a kid you know and and uh But one of the boys ought to carry the The father's name I don't care if it is Henry {B} Like my That's my name Interviewer: Mm-hmm yeah 678: {B} #1 But I don't like it # Interviewer: #2 You told me about that # But everybody calls you Bert 678: Uh-huh But I wish that I would name one of my boys Bert I had three boys one of them died at uh right after birth Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: His name was James Edward Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Wally is Wallace Wade he was named after the famous Alabama footballer Interviewer: Famous he was a football coach 678: #1 At uh # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: Alabama and at uh Duke University Interviewer: Uh-huh {X} 678: And uh {NW} We just sort of caught onto Wayne's name we we called him David Wayne and On the one of his uncles said uh Let's name him David as a bible name you know I said okay and one of them said how about Goliath and I said no #1 No # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: No go so we Interviewer: {NW} 678: My wife liked the name Wayne so we called him David Wayne Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But we took David from the bible {NS} Interviewer: Um {NS} 678: And Loretta is named G- Gwendolyn Loretta Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Uh the Gwendolyn was from a girl that Uh my wife was friends to over in Tennessee and Gwen uh Loretta was after Loretta Young She was my favorite movie star #1 At the time # Interviewer: #2 Oh she # Oh yeah 678: In the old silent picture days Interviewer: She was so pretty wasn't she 678: Yeah I did when I was Young boy you know I'd go see the movies Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: {NW} I'd think well man if I was in Hollywood I'd sure make love to that woman Interviewer: {NW} To Loretta Young 678: And uh Interviewer: {NW} 678: That's that's I named my daughter after Loretta Young Interviewer: That's really something um do you remember when like for something that they'd have for babies that was kind of like a crib on wheels you put it in the 678: #1 You mean the # Interviewer: #2 Take it # 678: #1 Baby carriage or baby buggy # Interviewer: #2 Outside baby carriage # Or baby buggy 678: {NW} Mm-hmm Interviewer: Um now when they put it in the carriage they'd say they were gonna go out 678: {X} A stroll Interviewer: #1 To stroll the baby is that how they'd say it # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Yeah or Push the baby Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I've heard them say let's go out and stroll the baby around a while Interviewer: Now if a woman was going to have a baby was going to have a child you'd say she's 678: Pregnant Interviewer: Now but now that's 678: I don't know what they used to say Interviewer: Yeah what they used to 678: #1 You want me to tell you # Interviewer: #2 Say # Yeah what'd they used to say 678: {NW} Well {NW} If you don't mind I'll tell you the good and the bad Interviewer: #1 Okay # 678: #2 And uh # Interviewer: {NW} 678: Uh They I've heard them Slipping around listening around the corner you know I've heard them say uh She's big You ever heard that Interviewer: Uh-uh uh-uh 678: #1 Big big with child # Interviewer: #2 Never heard that # Big with child 678: And I've heard them say that uh She's with a child Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh I've heard the men uh the men that I never did uh Appreciate say that woman's knocked up Interviewer: Oh you would they used to #1 Say that # 678: #2 Yeah # Out on the streets you know Interviewer: Oh 678: Look there that woman's knocked up Interviewer: Oh 678: I never did like that I've I've always been a {X} But Interviewer: Yeah 678: I've always uh I've I've I've always respected women uh and uh Course I'd make love to them all I could and all like that you know but uh When they said no To me that was no if I could out talk them alright Interviewer: {NW} 678: But I would never try to attempt to use uh Force or anything like that I threatened one one time Interviewer: {NW} 678: {NW} She had it she asked for it and I didn't but I threatened her see and But I always I never did like to hear men Tell Things that went on in their home Interviewer: Hmm 678: Between them and their wife never Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: No man ever heard me say anything About What went on between me and my wife except Something good like she Cooked me some cake or something like that I've heard men Uh Talk awful disrespectful and And I'll tell you {NW} Maybe I'll tell this one maybe I shouldn't have said on this {D: Oh no I} Forgot about Interviewer: Oh that's okay 678: Uh Interviewer: That's something that people did 678: Well {NW} Interviewer: It was 678: I had a man and his wife working for me down in Singer And uh He called everyone honey Interviewer: Oh 678: He was from Miss- They was from Mississippi Interviewer: Mississippi 678: #1 And # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: She was one of these bucks oh her breasts were tremendous And she was an inspector for me on the A line that carried uh Part of the sewing machine cabinet parts along And old Dexter he was back up the line working you know and And she was inspecting them marking them and sending them back to be reworked and I {D: strolled by} And he said hey honey said that Uh who's the inspector down there this morning And I looked back around and it It was his wife on the line About that time she stepped out in the aisle Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And I said uh you know who she is and he said oh {X} He said it's old big tit herself ain't it Interviewer: Oh 678: {NW} Interviewer: Her husband said that 678: {NW} He said a bunch among a bunch of men #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: {NW} Interviewer: Oh that's terrible 678: And maybe you should have cut #1 That off maybe # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: Hey do like Mister Nixon scratch that out Interviewer: #1 Scratch that out # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: Yeah I'll go back and scratch that out scratch that oh goodness I'll bet that if she known that that would have embarrassed her 678: She didn't care #1 She didn't care # Interviewer: #2 She knew what he was # 678: She knew him she knew what he was Interviewer: #1 Oh she did # 678: #2 I well she just # Took him face value yeah Interviewer: Oh 678: She done all the thinking and all the check writing Interviewer: Oh she 678: Handled all the money {NS} And uh Interviewer: {NW} 678: He was just there Interviewer: He was just there um how about if they didn't have a doctor to deliver a baby what would they 678: They they'd have a midwife {NW} Uh I had a A midwife with my baby girl Interviewer: #1 Oh really # 678: #2 We # Yeah and uh Just Just one of those happen stances all my children were born at home and Interviewer: Oh they were 678: {NW} Yeah And {NS} The doctor He was a real close friend of ours {NS} Course he kept up with the dates of all the children he was supposed to deliver {NS} But he fell and hurt his hip And unbeknown to me Why Uh I didn't I didn't know it and he he was in such a pain and laid up until he forgot Interviewer: Mm 678: So here comes time for this child to be born in July hot as all get out Interviewer: Mm 678: {NS} So when it started happening I went after doctor {B} And found out he just couldn't couldn't get up Interviewer: Oh 678: Well then I called and we only had one telephone in Town at that time so I called meddling for a doctor {B} Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well before doctor {B} Before he could get that message and up there and get doctor {B} Back down here in a model T car Interviewer: {NW} 678: Why We had a neighbor woman lived about a half a quarter up there so I went uh I went up after her And she was a huge thing and couldn't walk fast and of course I was young #1 I could have run # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: A mile I just #1 Worried # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: To death Interviewer: {NW} 678: Thought once I pick her up and and I tote her down there you know Interviewer: {NW} 678: Finally she made it down there and uh She took care of it and The time the doctor got there the boy was born and cleaned up and his navel cord taken care of and he said you don't need me he just examined my wife and I said well what's your bill he said just half fare {D: Just he said} Such a good job and everything said Come by and pay me ten dollars that's what they charged twenty dollars Interviewer: Twenty dollars 678: That was in nineteen thirty-two during the depression It took me a year to pay him a dollar a time every time I'd go to Jonesboro if I had a dollar I'd stop and meet him Interviewer: Oh 678: Until I paid that ten dollars Interviewer: That is really something 678: {NW} Interviewer: Well now if a child or like let's say a boy had the same kind of facial features as his father you'd say that boy 678: Resembled his father Interviewer: Would they ever 678: Well they all see well he looks like him Interviewer: Looks like him how about favors him did they ever say that 678: Say favors Interviewer: Favors 678: But most of the time they'd say looks like him and I Got studied about that later and I said well sure we both look out of the same eyes I mean they look alike Interviewer: Eyes yeah 678: The so many of the old sayings didn't really make sense Interviewer: Did yeah uh-huh 678: Might say I look like you Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Well we do #1 We both look through glasses we look we look we look # Interviewer: #2 Yeah we look through glasses # {NW} 678: But uh Resemble or Favors Interviewer: Yeah 678: {NS} And I would say resemble would be more accurate Interviewer: How about if he had actions or behaved like him would they ever what would they usually say then 678: Well you mean about chip off the old block Interviewer: Yeah or something like that did they ever say takes after 678: {NW} Takes after him Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I can tell you another good one about that that uh A little The little boy went to School They had a new baby in their family Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And he told his teacher about it and The teacher wanted to course wanted to make conversation make him feel good he said Now son who does the baby Uh take after Who does it uh Favor Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Thought a minute said well Said it's got features like mama but said it's got fixtures like daddy {NW} Interviewer: Oh my gosh 678: {NW} And to show you how kids now you can't uh you can't Talk in front of them because they'll repeat you Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: When when I had been married twelve years Loretta had just Was in her second year of school Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: She only came home for lunch at that time Didn't have the lunch rules so they'd come home for lunch So around the I was eating a noon day meal why I said well honey Twelve years ago today your mama got me by the ear and led me to the altar She didn't let her shirt touch her back until she got to school until she told her Teacher said guess what Miss Gill Interviewer: Oh 678: {X} Twelve years today ago today he said mama by the Ear and led him to the altar Interviewer: Oh 678: Oh Miss Gill couldn't wait until she saw us to Laugh about it #1 She knew you know what # Interviewer: #2 Oh # Knew what yeah what 678: But Told it as soon as she got #1 To school # Interviewer: #2 As soon as she got couldn't even wait # 678: {NW} Interviewer: Well if you were talking about a like a woman who says she had a hard life her husband died and like if she had six children all by herself she had to in reference to the children what would you say she had to do to the children 678: She had to be the The boss or the daddy and the mother both well uh I've heard them say I've had to be Mother and daddy both Interviewer: And um 678: While we're on this {NS} Um Some of these they scratch out things out sure enough Interviewer: Okay okay if you want me to sure I will if you want me to 678: After you get through with that part of it anyhow Interviewer: #1 Okay # 678: #2 Because # Someone might come through here some day {X} Said I want to see mayor Moon Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 Hey # Boy you know what you said over Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 On the tape # Interviewer: No I didn't think anybody would ever do that that's funny um 678: {NW} Interviewer: Would they usually say uh that somebody's raised six children #1 Or rears # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: Six 678: Raised Interviewer: Raised 678: And I've heard a lot of you know jokes about that How did they raise them on the elevator or Interviewer: {NW} 678: By the hair of their head Interviewer: {NW} 678: See Interviewer: Yeah 678: #1 And uh # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: And uh well that's uh that's what it means Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Lift them up Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So and I I still catch myself I was born and raised in Bay See Interviewer: #1 Mm-hmm oh born and raised right right # 678: #2 Uh-huh # And uh Uh I try to think well I was reared in Bay Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So I try to but Being a country boy I still get back and lot of times I say I Born I say you from Bay yeah born and raised there {NW} Interviewer: Oh 678: It'll wear you out you know we use that Interviewer: Yeah 678: They spell it I don't I don't know if it's in dictionary or not but they spell it Y E O W and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And right in your Fiction you know and so forth but I really don't {NS} Accept the word or not But all these Especially southern people yeah Interviewer: I say it all the time 678: And uh And they in Mississippi They don't see yes sir they say yas Y-A-S Interviewer: Oh 678: Yas sir {NS} And they that's And you know they don't want to be mixed with the colored people in any form or fashion But they have automatic to To taken up the nigger's Brogue. #1 Yas sir # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: He says yas sir see Interviewer: And so they say that 678: Yeah yas sir Interviewer: Huh um if if a child had been naughty you'd say to her you'd better be careful or you're gonna get a 678: Whipped Spanked Interviewer: Or spanked now if a if an unmarried woman had a child you'd call that child 678: You mean uh uh If she wasn't married Interviewer: If she wasn't married she had a child they'd call that child 678: Well he's uh {NW} I've heard him called woods colt Interviewer: Wood colt yeah 678: I've heard them called bastards Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And uh I've heard them I've heard them called deer licks Interviewer: #1 Oh deer licks # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Which uh really doesn't Doesn't mean that but I've heard them called that and There's some other word I can't think right now what they would call it but You know what the You know what the colored boys in Mississippi say when You ask them how many you hire them into a plant and say how many children you got Oh I got five And and I always try to joke with them I said uh Kelly is that all you have Oh he says I got a few over the fence Interviewer: Over the fence 678: That means with another woman see Interviewer: Oh 678: Yeah I've got a few over the fence Interviewer: #1 Oh # 678: #2 {NW} # But I can't claim some Interviewer: {NW} That's funny I never heard 678: Well you're gonna be full of that stuff aren't you Interviewer: #1 Oh I'm gonna know everything I'm gonna know everything # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Oh now your brother's son would be called your 678: My nephew Interviewer: And a child that's lost it's father and mother is called a 678: He's an orphan Interviewer: And a person that the court would appoint to look after an orphan 678: Guardian Interviewer: Um now if somebody there was somebody else named Moon but you might say now he's also got the same name as me but he's no 678: Relation Or kin Interviewer: Mm-hmm uh somebody 678: Way back in years ago it'd be no kin Interviewer: No kin yeah somebody that comes to town that nobody knows now you'd call that person a 678: Stranger {X} A foreigner Interviewer: A foreigner right yeah now foreigner would not necessarily have to be from another country would it 678: Not uh he probably would now Interviewer: Would now 678: #1 But uh back then # Interviewer: #2 But not then # 678: If you wasn't of uh If you wasn't of our community community we looked on you as a foreigner Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: In other words when we played baseball when I was a kid we'd go play in the middle Or somewhere else it was it was war {NW} Interviewer: Oh it was #1 War it was like # 678: #2 Yeah we # Interviewer: War 678: No matter where we went they were foreigners as far as we was #1 Concerned # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: But really uh you know a foreigner is a an alien of some some other #1 Country and uh # Interviewer: #2 Some other country # 678: #1 That's right # Interviewer: #2 But not then that wasn't yeah # 678: Not then Interviewer: Well now what did they usually call who conducted school 678: Teacher Interviewer: Teacher 678: Schoolmarm Interviewer: Schoolmarm you've heard that too 678: It's what they called them when I was a kid schoolmarm Not mom, marm Interviewer: Marm 678: {D: Mm-hmm Marm} {NS} Interviewer: Um would they 678: Or old lady so and so Interviewer: #1 Or old lady # 678: #2 To her back # Interviewer: {NW} #1 Was was the name # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Cooper very common around here 678: Yeah Interviewer: Usually 678: Yeah we with us it was Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Several Several families of Coopers up in uh What we called Pleasant Valley district #1 There's a # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: There was two or three families of Coopers that were related and then out uh a couple three miles there was another Bunch of Coopers then over in what we called uh {D: Loving Ridge} Over here Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: There was another bunch we had uh we had right now we got seven families of Holts Of no relation Interviewer: That don't 678: Gets mail out of this post office Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: So that's a lot of Holts Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And there's a lot That's related to this Holt Lot related to this one but they're not Inter-related Interviewer: But not inter right 678: It's absolutely seven different families Interviewer: Hmm 678: And that gets a little #1 Confu- # Interviewer: #2 That gets # 678: #1 Confusing sometimes # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 I bet it does # Oh now did you ever hear a person talking about somebody who wasn't very good at something like say a preacher ever heard him called a jack leg 678: I've heard uh carpenters called a jack leg #1 Carpenters and jack leg # Interviewer: #2 Oh you've heard of carpenters # 678: Mechanics but I've heard uh preachers called sky pilots Interviewer: Sky pilots 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Really oh 678: Pilots you to the sky {X} Interviewer: Oh 678: But jack leg is a common name for anyone that uh That doesn't excel at their At whatever they're doing Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Say is that man a carpenter or he's a jack leg Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} Interviewer: That's funny 678: Now the words you want you've got to drop to {X} Interviewer: Don't I now the the uh commander of the ar- of an army would be called a 678: Well I guess this uh would be the general the Ch- The uh Chief of Staff or the general {NW} Interviewer: Oh and the Kentucky fried chicken man he's the 678: Colonel Sanders Uh now you you should have seen me when I had my moustache and Interviewer: Oh did you 678: And sure enough long hair here about Year and a half ago #1 They called me Colonel Sanders until I shaved # Interviewer: #2 Did you really they did # 678: It off Interviewer: #1 You had a moustache # 678: #2 {NW} # Just a moustache Interviewer: Yeah 678: I growed uh I growed that thing way way out you know Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh While I was starting in letting my hair grow I {X} Used to wear a crew cut Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: So I just let it start growing and growing and growing and it got longer here than it did up here {NS} Than these three did Interviewer: {NW} 678: #1 So # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # {NW} 678: Uh {NW} Interviewer: Oh 678: I had me a pretty good moustache I done it just for the heck of it Interviewer: Uh-huh um what about the man that's in charge of a ship what do you call him 678: Captain Interviewer: Have you ever heard captain used in any other way other than #1 The army # 678: #2 {X} # Interviewer: Or the air or 678: #1 They call him # Interviewer: #2 Or # 678: The old man Refer to him as the old man Interviewer: Oh you have 678: Or the G Interviewer: Have you ever heard people talking about like oh say something like a raid or road gang or something called the head of it a captain 678: Road gang Interviewer: Or I don't know 678: #1 Yeah # Interviewer: #2 Or work # 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 Gang # Or something 678: Yeah they're uh {NS} S- Uh {X} section used to have a section foreman Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And then they'd have a man that uh sort of captained the #1 Whole thing # Interviewer: #2 Oh they did # 678: {X} Interviewer: Light bulb, yeah. 678: Captain Interviewer: Um how uh now a child in school would be called a 678: Student I suppose Pupil Student I imagine Interviewer: Whatever now how about um somebody that let's say is a a man hired uh somebody to look after his letters and his correspondence they'd call her a 678: Secretary {NW} I guess Is that right Interviewer: Sure a man on the stage would be an actor so a woman would be 678: Actress {NS} Interviewer: Um now if you were talking about you know like these people that you were talking about kind of ne'er do well type people have you ever heard anybody refer to them as trash 678: #1 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: #2 Or # 678: #1 Or # Interviewer: #2 People # 678: Scum Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Trash Interviewer: Trash you've heard of it how about 678: Some of them I referred to in this Dale Carnegie thing they was trash and scum Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Or they wouldn't have been in that condition Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: That what that was the truth Interviewer: That that was the 678: That I wrote yeah {NW} Interviewer: How about people who lived way off in the in the hills you'd call them 678: Hillbillies Interviewer: Hillbillies you ever heard the word hoosier 678: Hoosiers Interviewer: Uh-huh in talking about 678: {NW} You know where they're from Interviewer: No 678: Indiana Interviewer: Oh from Indiana you've heard it talking about people from #1 Indiana # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: Um 678: And the in Ohio the buckeyes you know Interviewer: Oh Ohio uh now if somebody was waiting for you to get ready to go some place and they said uh Bert will you be ready soon you'll say yeah I'll be with you in 678: Minute {NS} That's what I usually say Interviewer: Just a minute 678: Might be ten but I say wait a minute Interviewer: You'll be with you in just a minute {X} Um if you were sure you're on the right road to a place but just not sure of the distance you'd ask somebody well how 678: How far Interviewer: Um if you were agreeing with somebody now if somebody said I'm not gonna do that you might say well me if you weren't gonna do it either you'd say well 678: Me me me me neither Interviewer: Me neither probably that's hard to remember what you say when you're not really saying it now this next part's just a for pronunciation I'll just point and tell me you tell me how you say it now this would be my this part of my head would be my 678: Forehead Interviewer: And then uh now on a man's face he has to shave his 678: Beard Interviewer: Uh now 678: {NW} Interviewer: Distinguish this one from this one this would be my 678: Say what now Interviewer: To distinguish this one from this one this would be my 678: You mean left ear Interviewer: Right and this would be my 678: Right ear Interviewer: And 678: Some of them used to call them years you know Interviewer: Oh years {NW} {NS} So the part that you talk through would be your 678: Mouth And this whole area around here would be your Neck I Interviewer: And 678: And uh Interviewer: The part that you swallow through would be your the the thing that you swallow through would be your 678: What do you call it Interviewer: Well you 678: #1 Throat # Interviewer: #2 Throat # 678: #1 You mean # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # Throat 678: Aw I thought you had a fancy name #1 {D: For that one} # Interviewer: #2 No no # Throat was what have you ever heard anybody talk about a goozle 678: Yeah Interviewer: What would that be 678: Same thing This is it Interviewer: Oh 678: That's your goozle Interviewer: Mm-hmm it'd be the same thing as your #1 Throat # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # {NW} Interviewer: Um 678: {NW} Some of them has Adam's apples you know Interviewer: Oh 678: You know what Adam's #1 Adam's apple # Interviewer: #2 Adam's apple # That's the 678: This is it {NW} This see Interviewer: But yours doesn't #1 Stick out # 678: #2 Uh-uh # But I've seen 'em just like that #1 You see # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # Once it was 678: Looked like a turkey's Interviewer: Like a 678: Neck you know {NW} Interviewer: That area right up above your teeth would be 678: Your gums Interviewer: And this part of your hand would be 678: Palm Interviewer: And uh you'd say he got well like this you'd say he had two 678: Fists Interviewer: Uh and if you hit somebody would you say hit him with his 678: Right Interviewer: Right 678: Right fist Interviewer: Um the places on your body that move would be your 678: Joints Interviewer: And the upper part of man's body is called his 678: Torso isn't it Interviewer: Torso 678: Uh-huh {NW} Interviewer: And then you say this would be your 678: Shoulders Interviewer: And this would be your this whole thing here 678: Hand Interviewer: And you'd say you have two 678: Two hands Interviewer: Um this uh what we walk on would be uh 678: Feet Interviewer: Um now the front part of your leg the part that you know into things 678: Shin Interviewer: Now if you're squatting down like on the back part of your thighs you'd say you're squatting down on your you know hunkers or #1 Haunch # 678: #2 Yeah # Um {NW} Your haunches Interviewer: Your haunches You ever heard anybody say they hunker down 678: Yeah Interviewer: Would that be the same as #1 Squat down # 678: #2 Mm-hmm same thing. # Interviewer: And if somebody's been sick and they're okay now but they might say still looks a little bit 678: Pale or {NS} Or peaked do you say #1 Peaked # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # Peaked why do you think of everything I don't know how you think of everything 678: I've heard of I remember Interviewer: Yeah but you remember you you but you know this stuff you know and keep up with it how about a person who can lift heavy weights you'd say that person is really 678: Strong Interviewer: And how about a person who's not really fat but just kind of thick you'd say that person 678: Maybe I don't follow you {NW} Interviewer: They're they're not really fat but they're 678: #1 You mean # Interviewer: #2 Sort of # Solid I guess {NS} Uh maybe a nice way of saying #1 Fat # 678: #2 Oh uh # Uh {NS} We said the other ones didn't we say the other was strong what did we Interviewer: Strong okay yeah how about stout would you ever 678: Well yes Word stout Interviewer: Now a person that's really easy to get along with you'd say they're that person is good natured or 678: #1 Good natured # Interviewer: #2 {X} # 678: Yeah Interviewer: How about a person who's always knocking into things all the time you'd say they're really 678: I'd call them scatter brained {NW} I don't know if that's right or not Interviewer: How about a person who would never spend a cent of money 678: He's a miser Interviewer: Miser 678: Got to be Interviewer: How about uh a how about a word miser and then how about it's got tight with it you'd say {NS} 678: Tightwad Interviewer: #1 Tightwad you've heard that # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: Too um now if if you were talking if you were using the word common like if you said that girl is very common what would you mean 678: {NS} Well I believe it uh {NW} That you would Well this this well there's several ways like I believe but I believe what you mean is that she's not too pretty Interviewer: Oh 678: And uh She comes in the Would be classed uh {NS} Well a lot of the girls weren't Pretty and this that and the other in other words she doesn't She doesn't have anything that excels {NW} See Now that may not be the answer you wanted but uh Interviewer: Yeah that's what I was looking for 678: But another way of common would be uh they're I've heard of Uh Women of ill repute Interviewer: Oh you've #1 Heard it used that way too # 678: #2 Yeah but # But uh They're just a They're just a common #1 So and so # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm # Mm-hmm um now if you were talking about somebody that was 678: {NW} Interviewer: Oh say ninety years old and could still really get around real well you'd say that person was really 678: Active Interviewer: Uh 678: Lucky Interviewer: #1 Lucky yeah # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: How about a little kid who just can't sit still in a chair you'd say that kid's really 678: {NW} Fidgety Interviewer: Fidgety um 678: Or mean I don't know which Interviewer: Or if one of your children was out later than usual you might say now you wouldn't say you felt easy you'd say you felt 678: Uneasy Interviewer: Um now if somebody was uh if somebody you just could not joke with without that person losing his temper you'd say that person is really 678: Touchy Interviewer: Touchy #1 Right # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: Yeah 678: Stop that #1 Just a minute # Interviewer: #2 Okay # 678: {X} On any kind of business I'll stay until around eleven ten thirty to eleven Interviewer: Well anyway you just you just tell me um 678: About fifteen minutes Interviewer: Alright um one thing I was curious about uh I noticed in your memoirs the one you began when you were talking about now you said when you got the illness you said that you I think you said you took sick 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Yeah now would that that would be a common way of #1 Saying it # 678: #2 Yeah # Interviewer: #1 At that time # 678: #2 And that's the # Reason I used it Interviewer: That's why you used it you would have said instead of saying I got sick I noticed you said 678: And uh Or or Say that I contracted uh certain certain illness Interviewer: Yeah 678: They used to say well he took sick Interviewer: Took sick yeah 678: And that's why I put that there I may have done it through ignorance but uh Uh uh you know But Actually when I when I uh Wrote that I tried to think back Uh as the way it would have been expressed at that time Interviewer: Right yeah yeah I like that #1 I thought was good # 678: #2 {NW} And # Interviewer: I liked that about that 678: Because uh Actually I don't know any highfalutin words or if I did I wouldn't know what they meant Interviewer: {NW} 678: I don't mean that literally I do but I mean I'm not qualified to {NW} To use Uh I don't have too good of Vocabulary Not nearly as well as I would like to have see Interviewer: Oh I think 678: What I have I've just dug it out #1 See # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: So but uh I tried to revert back to Just exactly the way It happened or would have been said Interviewer: Um if there were several people like in a burning building somebody might just say now just keep 678: Calm Interviewer: Uh 678: Or cool it we'd say today Interviewer: {NW} 678: {NW} We'd always say cool it around the farm {NW} #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 That's funny # 678: But they'd say it Interviewer: But they'd say it 678: If there if there was fire burning these people who got to hurling around you'd say cool it cool it It's just what you're used to Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Way you grew up Interviewer: Um if a person sat sat was sitting in a draft you might tell him now you better be careful or #1 You're going to # 678: #2 Take a # Cold Or catch a cold Interviewer: Okay 678: We used to say take a cold #1 Cold # Interviewer: #2 Take a cold # 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Now if the person did take a cold and their throat got sounded like this you'd say 678: They're hoarse Interviewer: And then uh if they were going like {NW} you'd say they had a bad 678: Cold or cough Interviewer: Um if somebody can't hear anything at all you'd say they're stone 678: Deaf {NW} I won't tell you {X} {NW} This uh Man and woman Man and wife Uh They was pesting their neighbors and any time he would start to tell anything Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: She'd butt in Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And correct him Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: So one night he was telling a tale about {NS} A person and he said and uh {NS} And uh she was She was deaf {C: pronunciation} Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And she said John John Not deaf {C: pronunciation} Deaf and he said now by gosh the one I'm talking about was deaf {C: pronunciation} Interviewer: {NW} 678: {NW} #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # That's great that's funny the one he was talking about was deaf {C: pronunciation} she was talking about was deaf 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 Deaf {C: pronunciation} # That's great oh 678: That should have stopped her Interviewer: Yeah Yeah 678: And then there's another funny one you don't mind funny ones being mixed in here do you Interviewer: No 678: There's another funny one about the man and his wife that uh {NW} Got into argument and finally she said Oh boy said I wish I'd have thought twice before I married you He said honey if I'd have thought once I'd have been happy {NW} Interviewer: {NW} {NS} {NW} 678: Then there's another old saying that uh {NS} That's always told that the men will go into the factory or to their office and Say well my wife and I had it out this morning Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} Listen boy did I have her down on her knees begging I I would tell that #1 To these colored people # Interviewer: #2 Yeah yeah # 678: And they'd say oh Mister Moon Mister Moon said what did you what was she {NW} Doing you had her down on her knees {NS} I said she was begging me to come out from under the bed and fight like a man #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # #1 How do you think up these things # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: I don't know how you think them up oh goodness oh oh let's see oh now these people used to get I don't think they get them much anymore they get these bad sores that would make a come to a head what are they called 678: Bad sore oh you I thought you said bed sores Interviewer: #1 No bad # 678: #2 You said bad one # Interviewer: #1 Sore that would be # 678: #2 Well # They called {X} Interviewer: Uh-huh oh yeah what would they call that stuff that came out of it 678: Pus Corruption Interviewer: Or corruption now if if you had some infection in your hand and your hand got bigger you'd say my hand 678: Uh you want it like they say in Mississippi or Arkansas Interviewer: Or like Arkansas 678: Arkansas it swelled up Interviewer: Swelled up yeah 678: These colored boys would say my hand's all swole up Interviewer: Oh all swole #1 Uh-huh # 678: #2 Mm-hmm # Swole up Interviewer: Yeah but now in Arkansas you'd say my hand's 678: #1 Oh they do in # Interviewer: #2 All # 678: Arkansas too I was kidding but They they The colored people especially use that Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh and they s- they s- For a pint like a pint of water they say point {C: pronunciation} Interviewer: Oh 678: And then if they need to say point they say pint {C: pronunciation} #1 They just reverse them # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # They just reverse them 678: And they don't stub their toe they stob it {C: pronunciation} Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Stob {C: pronunciation} their toe Interviewer: Um in a war uh if somebody got shot they'd say they got a 678: #1 Wounded # Interviewer: #2 Bullet # 678: #1 # Interviewer: #2 # 678: #1 Or # Interviewer: #2 Or # Yeah right and have you ever heard anybody talk about proud flesh do you know 678: Oh I've had it Interviewer: Oh you have is what they called it 678: Had a bone fallen On this finger see this {NS} This white scar there Interviewer: Right uh-huh 678: And the bone fell under it's worse worse than a blood ball it's a bruise what it is Interviewer: Yeah 678: {NW} And That thing Swole up Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: And then Come to a head and the doctor ripped it open here And bandaged it up And it oh it began to hurt and if I just touch it against anything just Oh just murder Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: So we took that off and you was Thinking of the frog stools the other day Uh That just a had a stool right there a little Nip of a thing and and then a great big round thing of proud flesh Interviewer: Oh 678: And that's when they first come out of these little old Things where the doctor could squirt ether on you and freeze that And I was ready to him cutting that off you know because the man would just touch it But he just froze that thing just took the scissors and Pushed he had me to hold this side because I couldn't feel it Took his other finger and pulled it back here and Cut it close enough that this Skin would come out over Got well in three or four days Interviewer: Mm isn't that 678: And I have never had anything hurt any worse Interviewer: Oh well now you remember when they used to use uh i- 678: Ice cap Interviewer: Yeah an ice cap 678: Still do Interviewer: Well how about when they would if you got a cut on your finger what would they put on there possibly 678: Oh way back yonder Interviewer: Yeah 678: Kerosene or uh Interviewer: Oh 678: Or uh Soot out of your stove pipe Interviewer: Oh they did well what about later 678: Dry dust Interviewer: Or dry dust goodness well now what about that red stuff that they used later 678: Oh you're getting modern honey #1 Mercurochrome # Interviewer: #2 Oh really # 678: And merthiolate Interviewer: Yeah what about 678: That's late that's late. I'm talking about way back in time Interviewer: How about um i- the other stuff the 678: Iodine Interviewer: Iodine did they use that too 678: Some of them called it iodine Interviewer: Iodine yeah well now was that before merthiolate 678: Yeah Interviewer: Yeah before I thought 678: The forerunner of merthiolate Interviewer: Mm-hmm The forerunner of mercurochrome and and mercurochrome was the forerunner of merthiolate 678: Yeah I've been here a while Interviewer: #1 Yeah you know {X} # 678: #2 {NW} Oh yeah # All the way there and halfway back Interviewer: #1 {NW} # 678: #2 That's what I say # Interviewer: If you didn't know the cause of a person if you didn't know the cause of a person's death you'd say I don't know what he 678: Died from Interviewer: Um 678: Well died with Interviewer: Or even you said that one 678: #1 Either one # Interviewer: #2 Either one # Either one uh when somebody dies the ceremony that you have is called a 678: {D: We do just} Well we say preaching his funeral Interviewer: Right yeah now when the people are dressed in black they say they're all in 678: Mourning You know I often wonder about that preaching #1 A funeral # Interviewer: #2 Preaching yeah # 678: I don't like that word preaching Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Because that's getting {X} Ain't it Interviewer: Because yeah 678: I would I I'd just say that uh Uh Brother Jones held the services Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: I don't like that word I don't want him preaching at me Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Or over me either one Interviewer: Uh do you remember uh uh a disease that people used to get in their throat that course we have a shot for it they don't have it anymore but 678: Diphtheria Interviewer: Yes yes how about a disease that makes people's skin turn yellow 678: Oh that was uh Well it can be a fever or yellow jaundice Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Jaun- Jaundice I believe we called it They call it jaundice but it's because it's spelled J J U N D I C E I believe Is that Interviewer: How about uh no if you had to have your appendix taken out you'd say you had an attack of 678: Appendicitis Interviewer: Um now if somebody had had to vomit and they wanted to tell you where they were sick they'd say they were sick 678: At their stomach Or on their stomach Interviewer: Or on the stomach when a when a boy and girl were going out together a lot what did they usually say the the couple were they'd say he 678: Going steady Interviewer: Going steady did they use that back when #1 You were # 678: #2 Mm-mm # Interviewer: How about courting did they 678: Yeah Courting was Before I got old enough to go out I I {NW} When I when I was growing up we called it going steady Interviewer: You called it #1 Going steady # 678: #2 But uh # Interviewer: Courting was just 678: I remember I can remember hearing them say that uh {X} Didn't so and so used to court her Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh mm-hmm yeah and now if they were going steady they would they would say that uh he is her 678: Sweetheart #1 Or uh # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # Yeah 678: Mm-hmm call her call her sweethearts Interviewer: Sweetheart 678: #1 For she she would be his sweetheart # Interviewer: #2 She would be his sweetheart # And he would be her 678: Uh I {NW} I don't know what they they said there but later on they say boyfriend Interviewer: Boyfriend uh-huh 678: But they didn't say that back when I was #1 Courting # Interviewer: #2 They didn't # 678: No Interviewer: How about if if a boy came home with lipstick on his collar 678: Oh he was guilty {NW} Interviewer: What would they say he's been doing like back then 678: Smooching Interviewer: Smooching yeah 678: That was during my day when they said #1 When they said # Interviewer: #2 Yeah when they said # Smooching 678: But uh back back before we {X} I don't remember having any lipstick #1 I remember # Interviewer: #2 Oh you don't # 678: My When I was a little child I don't remember hearing the word lipstick #1 Or seeing it # Interviewer: #2 Right # Uh-huh 678: I remember when I first noticed it it just red real heavy red they just smear it on Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Like a cupid doll {NW} Interviewer: Um how about if uh if a woman had a let's say she had agreed to marry a man and instead though she ran off and married somebody else what 678: Like eloped Interviewer: Yeah now what now so this first man what would they say she did to this first man 678: Jilted him Interviewer: Jilted him 678: Mm-hmm Interviewer: Yeah um did you at at a wedding now the woman that stands up with bride would be called 678: Bridesmaid Interviewer: And the man who stands up with the 678: #1 Groom # Interviewer: #2 Groom # 678: I guess Interviewer: The one who stands up with the groom is called 678: Best man Interviewer: And do you ever remember when people would get married they'd give a kind of a serenade 678: Oh yeah they call them we call them chivaree Interviewer: Chivaree what would they do did they do it to everyone 678: {NW} We'd uh Well sometimes they done too much sometimes they would uh Surround a house Shoot Firearms Interviewer: Hmm 678: Holler and hoot and sing get to the side of the house and Clubs or whatever they could find And sometimes go in and get the man take him out and ride him on the rail Interviewer: Oh my heaven 678: Yeah Interviewer: Did they really do all that 678: And uh and hard feelings made the rest of their life #1 Some of them # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: But that is getting into {NS} Into more uh {NW} What did you call it barbaric bunch of uh people ordinarily And I've been in some of these we'd just go Storm over the first night that they moved into their home where they was gonna reside {NW} We'd go there and we'd all gather and all once everybody would have a shotgun to wild them you know And Cow bells and anything we could make noise with And uh If the woman now mo- some of the times they would tell the woman tip her off So she could have some Goodies #1 You know for us to eat # Interviewer: #2 Mm-hmm mm-hmm # Oh I #1 See # 678: #2 And then # Two women or more nervous and scared And they didn't want to scare them half to death Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But if they didn't tell the woman then the girls that went with us and and the married some married way up in years that's Part of the fun then you know But they'd always take something to eat And we'd go in their house and And uh Eat and sometimes take them presents see Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Like uh Some pillowcases or Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: Something like that or maybe a little sack of coffee and Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh Half pack of potatoes Something to get them started off on {NW} And it's all fun that's part of our entertainment Interviewer: Yeah {X} One thing I was wondering about that in your memoirs you said uh the reason that you ended up in the same grade as your sister was because you 678: I I skipped a year of school Interviewer: Yeah #1 But the reason you said # 678: #2 {NW} # Interviewer: Was because you you didn't say you played hooky you said you 678: What did I say Interviewer: You said you laid out 678: Laid out #1 Mm-hmm # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: Laid out #1 Laid out # Interviewer: #2 Laid out school # Yeah I thought that was really cute because you said 678: Well I didn't uh yeah well See I went to school here at Bay and and then when I moved out to Browns They had an inferior school Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Uh I believe I was in the seventh grade my sister was in the sixth And Shucks uh no she was in the fifth and I was in the seventh there's two years difference in our ages And uh {NS} She she just {NW} Instead of going into fifth she went into sixth and carried it right along Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well I was so far ahead that uh I found out that What I knew in my {X} I In order to {NS} To get any good out of school we'd have to enter in the eighth grade Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Well we was a little bit Small by the eighth because they went to school until they was twenty-one year olds Interviewer: #1 Oh # 678: #2 Some of them # In the eighth grade just go over and over and over Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: {NW} And our dad had this timber job going {NS} He said well if you want to just lay out a year Drive the log team and then you can start heading see this was just summer term actually Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Then they had it that swift term But we laid out the summer term and Then fall came why I think I was Thirteen year old was in with the eighth graders Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Who was Seventeen or eighteen year old Interviewer: Mm-hmm and they were 678: They just didn't advance them unless they could make the grade Interviewer: Uh-huh uh-huh 678: They either made them #1 Or they stay in that grade # Interviewer: #2 Or they stay in the # Same grade 678: I've been in In uh School With uh Seventeen eighteen year olds when I was ten and eleven Great big old overgrown kids couldn't learn nothing Interviewer: Really 678: They'd finally give up on them they'd tell their parents well they can't learn anymore or don't want to or don't need to see Either one of the three would disqualify them Interviewer: Would disqualify them yeah well now if a boy left home in the morning to go to school but instead he went fishing they'd say he If if he was supposed to go to school but he did something else 678: {NW} You mean if the boy did Interviewer: Yeah 678: Played hooky Interviewer: Played hooky 678: #1 Yeah # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # Yeah now what did you sit at at school 678: Well when I first started I went to school in a building not It wasn't twice as wide as this and Maybe as long as from here to the front and it was the old church of Christ Wooden building Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh you can imagine about what kind of pews they had in there and in that type of church We sat on those And we had to turn around and write this way Interviewer: Oh 678: In the second grade I went in the old methodist church which has been torn down we sat on the old pews Interviewer: Oh you did 678: Then in the third grade When I was promoted over to the the real school building we had double desks Interviewer: Oh you did #1 Double # 678: #2 Two to a desk # Interviewer: Two to a oh I see oh 678: And uh Later on got The single desk #1 Except that uh # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: It didn't have the lot of times now they have a chair with a writing Desk at the #1 Side # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # 678: But this was the old time Desk with the ink well Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And uh {NS} You place them under here for your books Interviewer: Uh-huh well now you had mentioned that you had gone to the movies where did you go to see a movie 678: Well {NW} They had the At home we would go to tent shows Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: They would go through here especially in the fall Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Tent shows And uh Then uh Occasionally someone would Get energetic or ambitious you might say and Put in a show in an an old store building Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And you'd either make money or And continue for indefinitely Until hot weather you couldn't stand in there and feel hot {NS} Or he'd uh wouldn't make enough money or get tired of it and quit but Interviewer: Would they call that a theater 678: {NW} Well I know we called it a show Moving picture show Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: But then when I went to Got old enough to Go by myself or go out with other boys or girls We would go to Jonesboro #1 And they had uh they had the liberty # Interviewer: #2 And then you'd say you then you'd call that # 678: They had the liberty theater down on uh main street we called it the bloody bucket Interviewer: Oh you did 678: Because that's where the Cheap Johnny shows would put on and all these shoot them down short Westerns Interviewer: Oh oh 678: #1 And the old # Interviewer: #2 Oh yes # 678: Uh Sherlock Holmes and things like that Then we had the empire which is a bus station in Jonesboro now And then we had the uh Oh it was paramount the but I can't It's uh Can't think of the name of it right now it was on main street and then they built what is now the strand Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: Between uh main and uh Church is a real nice theater And I they built it about the time I got married so they they had good shows back then Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Actually Uh theaters paid off more then than they do now Interviewer: Than they do yeah 678: Yes yes Movie stars were something to To uh Look at on the screen and wonder if they was real life Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: See it was really something Interviewer: Uh-huh 678: You picture heroes and your villains All this but now you see 'em on television until you almost despair 'em Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: I I see people {NS} On television that are supposed to be movie stars that I wouldn't give you one penny to see them In any play Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: See Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: For instance John Wayne I I like John Wayne pictures Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But uh He lived up close to Wally and Interviewer: #1 Oh he # 678: #2 And I s- # In California {D: Hollywood} #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 Yeah # Yeah 678: That lived in in {X} And he had uh Uh Part of his uh shot part of his pictures right there in his on his estate Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: It was fenced around and I'd go up there {NW} Walk around and dang it I'd just peep in Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: They didn't mind it But John Wayne got so common that uh He's not John Wayne the movie actor you know I still admire him and still like him But it it It wouldn't uh create the sensation of the As if I had watched him back in the old {X} #1 You see # Interviewer: #2 Oh right # 678: And figured figured Molly McGee I don't remember if you ever Remember that Interviewer: I've heard the name 678: #1 Great uh # Interviewer: #2 But I don't # 678: Radio tape Interviewer: Radio yeah {NW} 678: And uh Mickey Rooney just a short ways from Wally And He's undoubtedly one of the ugliest fellows you Could ever see Interviewer: Oh really 678: Yeah he's an old looking Mickey Interviewer: Oh 678: Oh he looks terribly old And uh but he's a good actor #1 When when he # Interviewer: #2 He's a good actor # 678: Goes in Wally said uh he was having a Party for the ball players During the off season And uh Mickey heard about it Course they lived there you know and hardly ever saw the front of anyone's house See the back and it's all fenced in because you had to go winding around Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: But Mickey knew where Wally lived he'd coming winding there one day Introduced himself Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Said uh I hear that you're going to Have a party here tonight Wally said yeah He said how about me coming down there to entertain a while for you Wally said he put on the darndest show you've ever seen and got so drunk they had to take him home see Interviewer: Oh 678: That's been the that's been the Story of his life #1 You know drink his # Interviewer: #2 Of his oh # 678: Way out of several fortunes Interviewer: Oh 678: {NW} But while I was out there I I watched them make uh One picture of Wagon Train You see Wally was in Wagon Train several times Interviewer: Oh he was 678: And I watched him make uh Uh What's this the pretty stars used to play Watched that and uh uh uh watched them make four or five different TV {X} I had I had uh dinner with old Charlie Wooster that played in Wagon Train Interviewer: Mm-hmm oh you did 678: And then this old {NW} Guy that made those scary Interviewer: {X} 678: No Interviewer: This 678: All all his shows is picture and still you Interviewer: Lon Chaney 678: No Interviewer: Uh Alfred Hitchcock 678: Alfred Hitchcock Interviewer: Yeah 678: I watched him make a {NW} Picture there of a Oh it was It was A replica of uh streets of San Fransisco Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: In a Theater there And when they made wagon train {NW} They'd showed uh Uh It was in Re- A great coin set building Interviewer: Oh it #1 Was # 678: #2 And uh # Interviewer: #1 It was all inside # 678: #2 Wall # Yeah the wall was painted with uh Mountain pictures Interviewer: Yeah 678: And uh it it traveled In instead of uh Instead of the people traveling so much well this uh this thing #1 Traveled # Interviewer: #2 Oh the thing # Traveled 678: And that's where they got the scene effect Interviewer: Huh 678: And they had uh {NW} This Uh street And part of it would come in from one end part of it from the other and they'd have these tumbleweeds blowing down the street and that was none other than An enormous fan Back down there Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: Then I watched Art Linkletter make a Interviewer: Oh 678: Was a play out there Interviewer: Oh #1 That's really something # 678: #2 And I sat happened to sit # Beside uh Ronald Regan's wife she was uh Interviewer: Oh 678: She was uh She was a guest star on this with with Fred Astaire some kind of a play house #1 But uh # Interviewer: #2 Uh-huh # 678: She was a guest star and I kept seeing the man sitting over there and I thought well you you a familiar looking fellow but I know you're not from Arkansas Interviewer: Mm-hmm mm-hmm 678: And he kept I kept looking around finally he goes oh said I'm uh Ronald Regan Interviewer: Oh 678: He was Lieutenant Governor at that time Interviewer: Oh really 678: And I said are you a guest here he said no my wife #1 That's my wife # Interviewer: #2 Oh # 678: She's a guest #1 I just come along with her # Interviewer: #2 That's really something # 678: {NW} Interviewer: Boy you really got a lot #1 Out of Wally's career yourself I mean # 678: #2 {NW} Yeah # Sure did Interviewer: #1 Getting all that # 678: #2 And I enjoyed it # Uh they Take {B} Ever He died not long ago he was a good friend of Wally's I used to visit their home out there {NW} Interviewer: Well you've 678: Oh I rubbed shoulders with some billionaires Interviewer: You sure did #1 Same as # 678: #2 Pretty close # Interviewer: People 678: And you know went to parties with them Interviewer: Yeah 678: I would talk when you referred to uh Sea food I went to Interviewer: Yeah 678: They've got a place out there that covers a whole block And uh Maybe it'd be Sh- Shaped like a pie this building and it'll be the steak house and then the next would be the chicken house and next was the sea food house The next would be Italian food and it it goes all around the block {NW} And everything it prepared cooked in the hub of the thing Interviewer: Oh 678: And there we that's where I went to the {NS} Sea food uh Thing and All the ball players that wintered in Los Angeles with their with their wives or their sweethearts And that was before I remarried Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And all shook up and tore up and Didn't know what I wanted to do or what I aimed to do I got in with a millionaire Woman out there that tried to marry me Interviewer: Really 678: Just Filthy filthy rich Interviewer: Wow 678: But I'd have been afraid of being caught in the dark with her so Interviewer: {NW} 678: Undoubtedly one of the boniest ugliest #1 Creatures you've ever seen # Interviewer: #2 {NW} # 678: Seen Interviewer: {NW} 678: And I didn't uh didn't want the money that bad Interviewer: You didn't want the money 678: #1 {NW} # Interviewer: #2 That bad # 678: She told me said you'll never have to worry for money anymore says I got more money than a hundred people could spend Interviewer: Mm 678: I said well I want to earn my own money My own money she said it'll be your own money Said work for me I'll give you a thousand dollars a day until you get all you want Interviewer: A thousand dollars a day 678: Said you can mow the yard do whatever you want I'll pay you a thousand dollars a day {NW} But I didn't take it Interviewer: Are you glad you didn't take it 678: Oh yeah Interviewer: {X} {NS} Um 678: Wouldn't have been happy if I had Interviewer: One thing I wanted to ask you about what were some common churches the most common churches 678: Around here Interviewer: Yeah {NS} 678: Same that we have now except that we had the Methodists and the Baptists Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And later on came the Church of Christ Interviewer: Mm-hmm 678: And then the past few years {NS} We {NW} We had uh A branching out of Baptists We have what we called a Broadway Baptist Some other kind of Baptist I don't know what they called it then we have the Missionary Baptist which were the original Now we have the Assembly of God And we have a little Pentecostal church But way back there we only had two the ba- Baptists and Long in the {NS} When I was about Eight or nine year old {X} Church of Christ Organized {X} And now it has more members than any Interviewer: Oh it 678: Any other church in town Interviewer: Oh it does 678: We have Three real nice churches around this town But the church of Christ has more membership than {D: Almost them all} That what the Baptists and Methodists have Interviewer: Um 678: {NW} Interviewer: One thing I wanted to get so I could get uh at the recording level on the end of it uh just have to get some numbers count from one to fourteen 678: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven {NS} Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Interviewer: Okay and then starting with first go from first to tenth 678: First Second Third Fourth {NS} Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Interviewer: Okay and then the days of the week 678: Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Interviewer: And then the months of the year 678: January February March April May June July August September October November December {NS} Interviewer: Okay are you worn out 678: No I'm tough Interviewer: You're tough 678: I've enjoyed it {NW} Interviewer: Well I hope you're not worn out 678: One thing that Has bugged me why would they ask those silly questions Interviewer: {NS} Well well 678: A lot of them for me Interviewer: A lot of them seem that way to you 678: Like uh What for instance what was this #1 Head # Interviewer: #2 Head # 678: Or hand Interviewer: A hand yeah um just to com- some people don't you'd be surprised #1 People # 678: #2 Well # Interviewer: Call those fists 678: That's why you said you would rather Interview someone uh probably with not much education Interviewer: Well it's just because they're more truthful people who have education 678: They don't know any better than to tell the truth Interviewer: Tend {NS} 678: That's right Interviewer: Really 678: {NW} When you're interviewed they don't know any better than to tell the truth Interviewer: And people who have a lot of education are not as interesting for the most part simply because they are too concerned with stuff like 678: Exactness Interviewer: Exactness and what's right and what's wrong and all that and they're not nearly so interesting I don't have as much fun with them 678: #1 I catch myself # Interviewer: #2 I don't relax # 678: Too see I I've been {NS} Interviewed a whole lot Interviewer: Oh yeah 678: My newspaper bend with Wally #1 And there you've got to be awful # Interviewer: #2 Oh sure you have # 678: Awfully careful What you say That you won't be misquoted Interviewer: Oh so you've been interviewed with Wally 678: {NW} Yeah I've been I've been paid for making recordings. Interviewer: #1 Oh have you # 678: #2 Mason's store # He was advertising A certain baseball glove well I'd have verified the facts {NS} {X} {NW} Verified to check that I ordered a new glove {X} Interviewer: Oh you did 678: And I swore to him that I was telling the truth #1 {X} # Interviewer: #2 {X} # Yeah 678: I actually bought him a glove {X} Interviewer: Well 678: Had stuff like that and you see You se-