TRANSCRIPTION
What was life during WWI, WWII and The Great Depression?
Well, I was either too young or too old to go to WWI and WWII. But some of my uncles had to go and the whole family was upset. I reckon I think I can't say much about WWI, I didn't know anything bout' that I was much too young to say. I was in school. I remember when I was younger during WWI we had to ration our food. Like flour, sugar. We used stamps. My parents said it was the patriotic thing to do without for our army boys. My mom had a little garden full of vegetables and we killed hogs just to have meat.
Tell me about your childhood, school, fun? What you wanted to be when you grew up?
I woke up ate breakfast then went to school, I liked geography. I liked to ride my horse and play basket ball with my brother's and the other kids. My dad never did give me any chores; I reckon he didn't trust me much when I was a kid. I really did like to ride my horse. I always wanted to be a farmer, but my daddy was a banker all his life. My daddy said son you can't be a farmer they don't pay very much to be a farmer. Your gonna have to take care of your family so it'd be best to be a banker like me.
When you had to drop out of school, why did you leave, you left to do what?
I went to Waelder High School till 9th grade; I'm thinking I was only 16 then. My first job before I dropped out of school was a soda jerk for this drug store in town; I can't remember what it was called. After that job about six months later I was married and moved to San Antonio . Waelder was a small town and I wanted to live in a city with many jobs. I knew I wanted to work at a bank so I moved to find a job.
How did you meet your wife?
I liked to play dominoes at a friend's house, and I was on my way and got stuck in a bad rain storm in her town. I stayed at a local store to wait it out when I seen her. She lived 20 miles apart from me and my daddy bought me my first car, Dodge Roadster just to go see her. I took her to the matinee every weekend by ourselves. There wasn't nothing to do in a small town. It's funny how we were only born five miles apart. I married her right off after 6 months. We only had one baby, guess cause we just couldn't have anymore, God figured. We were married for 65 years, in the beginning hardly anyone got a divorce and we didn't know what a divorce was.
Why did you move to San Antonio?
Opportunities were better, better jobs, I went were the jobs were at. My dad made it clear that working for a bank like he did would be the best way to make a living, and it was. Far as I saw, cause when no one had a job, I had a job. I was sure grateful I never went hungry or poor like some. Everything seemed to fall into its place for me and I was lucky, guess is all.
What was life during WWI, WWII and The Great Depression?
Well, I was either too young or too old to go to WWI and WWII. But some of my uncles had to go and the whole family was upset. I reckon I think I can't say much about WWI, I didn't know anything bout' that I was much too young to say. I was in school. I remember when I was younger during WWI we had to ration our food. Like flour, sugar. We used stamps. My parents said it was the patriotic thing to do without for our army boys. My mom had a little garden full of vegetables and we killed hogs just to have meat.
Tell me more about the Great Depression?
The Depression was when all the factories north closed and all the jobs were in the South. A lot of people had no money or jobs, unless you already had a good job. Everything was cheap. I remember buying a bag of groceries for 1.00, coffee for 20 cents a pound, a slice of pie for 10 or 15 cents a slice. Gas was 18 cents until the 30's it went up to 22 cents. You could get all kinds of food off the sides of the road, there were little shops. We had stores like the Piggly Wiggly, or stores from a person's name, like Jones Grocery. . And JC Penney's to get clothes. My father worked for a bank, and I reckon that's why I did to. The Depression didn't hurt us, cause I had a job with the bank. When I married and had a job at the bank, we never struggled. We had one baby so I didn't have to worry about money. I had a good civilian job
What was it like to work at a bank during The Great Depression, did people trust the Bank?
My dad worked at a bank so he always told me I was too. I worked for National Bank of Commerce off Soledad and Commerce. Work was hectic when the Depression was goin on cause all the young boys went overseas. That's when all the young woman worked at the bank, they were the only ones left after the boys left. Our bank did it's filing system by using file cabinets. One was for checks and deposits was popular then. People trusted our bank it was a good bank, big bank, it stood when others failed. Our people never lost confidence. I think the first bank was organized in 1903' at Pecan & Soledad, then it moved to Commerce & Soledad in 1958. It was a big, good bank..
What role did religion play?
I went to church when I was little every Sunday's and if we went to our kin folks in another town we would go to their church on Sunday's. I was Methodist, pretty much because my parents were.
What would you do if you got sick? How would you get your news?
We didn't have hospitals like ya'll do now. I know I had gotten the mumps, chicken pox and colds. My momma would buy liniments (castor oil) to give us, and the country Doctor would come to our house but people didn't go to the the Doctor much. All our news was by mail. We only got letters from family when someone was either born or someone either died.
What would you use for transportation?
We took a train from Waelder to San Antonio . It would leave at four o clock in the morning. There were no automobiles like now, just buggies. We would stay in San Antonio all day and do the shopping for the months ahead. I always figured it as a mini vacation. I liked the train and seeing the land as it passed places and houses. San Antonio was 60 miles from Waelder. I enjoyed that most when I was a boy, I'd like to say. I remember the first car I ever bought was a 1923 Chevrolet CoupeI was still a boy then, but it was a car, so I was happy.
What inventions do you like the most that you have seen over time?
I like the cell phone. You can call someone from your chair all the way to your family and get it out of your pocket and say hello. I really like that. So small. I do enjoy the television even though I don't watch most of it; I usually fall asleep while I watch it.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Whole thing is management is the key to success. Start early and never put anything off. Everything fell in place for me, being at the right place at the right time. Use your head when the opportunity presents itself grab it. I was always accidentally at the right place at the right time.
What is the secret to living a hundred years?
I don't know, I had a normal job, normal life, I was just brought into the present. Guess I just had a strong amune system. Never took any medicine, but never really got sick.
