Charles M. Farr
What did your father do for a living?
He was mechanic, like a general mechanic for cars stuff like that right there.
Did he own his own business?
No but he would take me to work with him and I would roll tires out and pick up trash and stuff at the junk yard. Me and my Dad never really got along.
At what age did you start working, where did you worked at, and what did you do?
8 Years old, I was a shoe shine boy in South San….South San the high school? No, South San, that was before that high school was even built right there….What was South San? It was right over here on larado highway that's just was they called in. It was period just san antone
How far did you go in school?
8th grade
Why?
Because I had to work, make a livin…So that when you started bein a shoe shie boy?....No that's when I was 8 years old.
So what did you do when you left school?
I did everything, plumbing work, electricitian, shit you name it. I worked to help my family, I had too we where poor.
What did you plan to do after you where done with school?
Ohh yea I wanted to go through school and do something in my lifetime, back then they had no chance to do shit. Well I tried a lot of things in my life. I did carpenter work, I did this and that right there, plumbin work and all that right there but all down to it I aint nothing but a mechanic
Tell me a little about school..
They always had me stayin in the hallway all the time. Yup that where I satayed at. I was always doin tricks to the teacher and shit hahaha
As a child what did you do for fun?
Played out side and jumped off the roof with a sheet and said I was a parachute man. That's right tahts what I did im serious. I played baseball for about a year but they would never put me on a damn team, I was too damn mean haha
Did you ever go on vacations you took as a family?
Nope, don't even know what one is hahah and I still don't. We couldn't afford them, back then in the 50's and 60's couldn't afford nothing. I think we went one time to some river but that was back then when I was a young kid. Welll I take that back, when I was younger we used to go down to Poteet. They had a swimin hole down there we would always used to go to. Go down there and went swimin and fishen. I was about 8 or 9 years old, or 10. We sometimes go about once a week. Never went nowhere until there stuck me in boysville. It was like a boot camp for boys who couldn't get their head outta their ass and behave.
What were your weekends like growing up in San Antonio?
Always went to the Texas Theater downtown San Antonio and then I would go over here on Roosevelt to run cars with Mickey and thoes Miller boys.
…Did you ever go dancing?
yea, no, well yea I take that back, sometimes we did but not too much though. I didn't dance much untill I met your grandmother. We went the to Country Gold Dance Hall over there off Pearsall Road. Well you know where it is, you know that little store that your dad, me and you stop at all the time on our way back from the dump, Country Gold is right there next too it. It aint open anymore, but shit when it was, that place was the place to be. Ask your momma about it, she used to go there too.
How has San Antonio Changed since you where a child?
I lived in San Antonio all my life, shit it hasn't changed a bit . just got bigger but right down too it , it's still the same place its always been
What was the most interesting job you had when you where younger?
WhenI used to work at Domino Ranch.
Tell me about Domino Ranch.
See I used to work at Domino Ranch, I always liked horses so I helped break all them horses over there. Well you know where Domino Ranch is, well it aint there no more its gone. They used to have a big swimin pool here in the front and the big stables back there in the back where they raised the horses and shit like that, raised them up and sell them to the public and stuff like that. I used to break em, I remember this god damn white stallion I got on. Boy that somebitch was mean, ohh shit he was mean. Id put sand bags on his back so he wouldn't back that much, and I put em on there and he walked around there and bucked with em on for a while. Well I said im getting on this mother fucker, and I got on that sumbitch and he bucked it about 16 foot in that goddamn air and I landed right back on his damn ass.
Where was domino ranch?
It was right there on morsund road past 410 on the right side there, about a couple miles down.Don't know what is there now, but shit it's been closed a long time.
What was your first vehicle?
I had a 50 model ford. I paid 200 dollars for it but shit I don't remember where I got it from. Micky had one and I had one (Mickey was one of his brothers). We used to race thoes damn things all the time.
Grandpa I know you had all kinds of cars growing up, so tell me about some of the others.
I had a 55 cadalic 2 door hardtop and I traded a cushmen eagle for it. That was back in the 60's I was about 15. I never had no drivers licences back then when I was that age, shit, people didn't one. Everthings different nowa days. But you where supposed to had a drivers license, the law was the law no matter how you looked at it. First time I had my car I went around the corner right there and got stopped and got a ticket for pollution because it was smoking. Now you tell me how many stop you pollution now days, none of them do haha. My Dad made me sell that car after i got that ticket though, but it wasn't mcuh longer untill i got the 50 model ford.
When did you actually get your drivers licnese?
I was 18, you had to go take the test like you do now, but they didn't have them computers and shit like they do now, you had to go in there and take a written test.
What kind of music did you listen too growing up?
Rock and roll back then, I was in love withBrenda Lee ;I would have married that lady. but shit I cant remember shit from back then, but I would just listen to them I never paid attention to who was playing them.
Did you ever play any music?
Nope I cant play a tune for 5 seconds, but I had an uncle that was a star back then.
Ernest Tubb, hes kin to you too. You see the Tubb's where kin to my daddies sister, they where kin to each other, that made him my uncle somehow. But they still didn't have no god damn money they had a hard time just like that rest of us. We where so poor id have to go out and steal lettuce and tomatos and carrots from a god damn field out that so I could bring them home cause we didn't have notthing in the house. That's how bad it was.
How did you and grandma meet?
I was working for a junk yard over on Somerset road, and she was walking down the street, but I didn't talk to her then. She come back by, she kept looking at me and I kept looking at her, I knew she lived back behind the junkyard cause there where some houses out there. After a while I introduced my self to her, and after that its all history. That's it
Did grandma's parents like you?
Nope, your grandma had a 55 ford convertible and one time I had to hide in the trunk when I went to see her. They said I was a no good punk
How long did yall date before yall got married?
Well I was about 18, I believe we dated for about a year, then we got married. I didn't know that I wanted to marry your grandma. Back then it didn't make no god damn difference, could have been a gigolo or whatever you call it. I was married once before I met your grandma though, The ladys name was Jewl. We where married for a month then gota divorce. She was the kinda person who liked bigger and better things, so.
How did your life change after your 4 strokes?
I used to be a sucessful man with my buisness and all. Shit i always had money back then, now i aint got a damn thing. This social security crap their givin me just gets me and your grandma by. You remember how it used to be, me and you would always go fishin and the lake, and i had my damn boat. Like i said, now I aint sgot a goddamn thing. ( My grandfather used to own and run a sucessful transmission/mechanic buisness here in San Antonio named Charlie's Transmission Service. It was located on 6803 S Flores St)
Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview?
There is lot you didn't know about your old granpa, ain't that right? Hell I did al ot of crazy things in my day (haha). I hope you make a good grade on this, now go get me some more coffee and make sure you put milk in it.
List a minimum of SEVEN sources. There must be links to each of the sources within the transcription.
Here are three examples of annotated sources plus a source for photos/documents.
The Handbook of Texas Online is a multidisciplinary encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and culture sponsored by the Texas State Historical Association and the General Libraries at UT-Austin. It was produced in partnership with the College of Liberal Arts and the General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin. Copyright © The Texas State Historical Association.
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection. Geographical and historical maps of continents, countries, counties, cities; maps relating to history and current news events. University of Texas Libraries.
Cost-of-Living Calculator. The calculator uses the Consumer Price Index to do the conversions between 1913 and the present. The source for the data is the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Consumer Price Index reflects the cost of items relative to a specific year. The American Institute for Economic Research. P.O. Box 1000. Great Barrington, Massachusetts. 01230.
Small Town Texas Projects. Palo Alto College student/s ___________________ project on the town of ____________________________, Texas. This Small Town Project was completed in the _____________ semester of 200_ as a requirement for Assistant Professor of Robert Hines's History 1302 class.
Photographs and/or documents on this website were provided by names of interviewee and ____________________. Provide some historical background on the photos/documents. e.g. Who is in the photo/s? Who took the photo/s? Where was the photo/s taken? When were the photo/s taken? Special occassions? Everyday life? They were from her/his photo album... Located in the kitchen drawer...