TRANSCRIPTION
What was the earliest memory that you can recall?
My mother had a uh uh a big pan she washed dishes in and I can remember her giving me a bath in that tub now I don't know how old I was. It was inside the house.
How would you describe where you lived when you were younger?
It was very interesting to me. Yeap, I always had something to do. It was not real crowded but it was in town small town everybody knew everybody else and you know we could walk around the neighborhood and visit or do whatever we wanted to do.
How was your classroom set up?
Yes, we had a teacher in the front desk there was a black board there was individual chairs with armrest if you were right handed you had a right handed one if you were left handed you had a left handed one.
Was it just one grade or multiple inside a classroom?
Nope, by the time I went to school it was just one grade per group and we had one teacher until we got to be into about the 7th grade than we had a teacher for every subject.
What was an average day for you when you were growing up?
Get up in the morning eat breakfast. Either I would walk to school, catch a ride with neighbor, or my mother would take me. We have class, I did not eat in the cafeteria I would take my lunch than we would have recess in the morning and recess in the in the evening. We would play when school was out I would walk all the way home and my father owned a barbershop on my way home from school I would drop by there. He would give me a penny or a nickel or something and I could get a piece of candy and go on home.
Do you remember some of your chores that you had?
Yes, we had uh chickens that we sold eggs and of course we had chickens and eggs to eat ourselves. My job was to gather eggs and feed the chicken. Saturday my chore was to go into the hen house where they stayed at night and rake up all of the manure and feathers at the bottom and clean that out, and put that on the grass in the front yard. Some of my other chores were pulling the weeds from the yard and we had a wood stove my father would buy the wood and I would cut it with the axe and take it inside.
Where would your father buy the wood?
Either from a farmer or rancher.
You think your parents were harder on you since you were an only child?
No, they was not hard on me. They were stern on me and uh they always talked to me when I did something wrong they would talk to me. My mother was the main one that punished me because my father was working and she had a board. Once she got that board she would give me a spanking. When I first started school I learned these bad words to say and I used them around the house and my mother got a bar of soap and toothbrush and would brush my mouth out with it.
Did that break you of saying those words?
That broke me of saying cuss words.
What were some of the fun things you did when growing up?
There was about 3 or 4 of us in the neighborhood and we would play stick horses, cowboys, Indians. As we got older we would play marbles and spin tops. Than we would go into baseball and football and we ride our bicycles way out into the country and back sometime we would take our lunch and eat out there and come back.
Was it the same 3 or 4 people?
It was mostly the same.
What was the most funniest thing that you can remember from your childhood or teenage years?
Oh after I began growing up well I had I shined shoes in my father's barbershop and uh I did a lot of funny things with the older people that came in there joke with them try to out trade them trade knifes or out trade them in something and I was a kid they would all tease me.
Did you ever get any knives?
Yeah I had a knife that was not very good not very good. There was an elderly man that would get the mail and would come out he had a three bladed knife that was beautiful. I kept wanting to trade him, so one day he said he would trade with me if I gave him a nickel and my knife. I was real happy.
Did you choose to be a barber since that is what you father did?
Yes, I graduated high school and went to college for 1 year and decided it was not for me. My father said go to barber college and get a profession so you can make money and then you can do whatever you want to. That is how I got into the business. But my father always had a job for me pulling weeds working in the field pitching watermelons picking corn or he could always find a job for me to make money. I like that.
What was the first though when being drafted?
Well at that time a lot of civilians were going with bombs and blowing them self up with the soldiers. I made up my mind that I was not going to get close to them or if they got to close I was going to shoot them. But I did not have to go to Korea I went to Germany. I stayed there.
You remember what you got paid for a haircut and the year?
In 1949, we got$1.00 for a haircut and $0.50 for a shave.
Was that a lot of money back then?
Oh yes my first new car was a '49 Chevrolet and I think I paid $700 or $900 that car right now would cost about $30,000.
Why did you decide to give up barbering?
I raised my son with the help of my mother until about the third grade and then I raised him by myself. I had to have a steady income so we could live. I invested some in real estate. When he graduated from high school, I asked him if he wanted to go to college and he said no he wanted to go to work. I said ok I got him a job driving a semi truck, I married this lady and we got that clothing store in Dilley and I quit barbering, sold all my real estate, and invested it in the clothing store.
I remember you told me you wanted to make money sleeping.
When I got out of the store business, I came back to Pleasanton so I was either going into real estate or insurance.
Was it hard raising your son by yourself when you working?
I was very fortunate because I owned a barbershop and I could get my son up and feed him breakfast. I would either take him to school or he would ride his bike or get a ride. When school was out, he would come to the barbershop. I had a TV in there, I had a quilt and he could take a nap. When he got older he would shine shoes. He made his spending money there and at night we would either eat in the restaurant, or I cook something and he would help me I did not feel like it was hard on me I had a good time.
Did you go to church a lot and did it help you out?
The church helped me out a lot. Whenever my first wife got sick and died they helped me out a lot, and I went to church a lot in fact I went to church in Dilley, Pearsall, Jourdanton, and Pleasanton that was the basic places I went to church.I taught Sunday school in Pearsall. Oh yeah, they were Baptist Church. It was the First Baptist Church in those towns.
Do you still go to church today?
Yes, I go to a church in Pleasanton called Cowboy Fellowship.
What was the largest number of real estates you owned at one time?
I had about 40 rental units some apartments and others were houses. My partner and I bought 100 acres and subdivided it.
What made you want to join the Gunslingers group?
Well, the boys that were in that group got to go to all the celebrations. I decided I was making plenty of money and had time off on the weekends so I got in. We went to Corpus Christi, they would pay our hotel, go all around the celebrations such as Cowboy Homecoming, and meet a lot of strange people. I was a people person so I enjoyed that.
What made you quit the Gunslingers group?
It finally just dissolved. We quit going to events. I didn't quit we just all dissolved.
Would you take anything back if you could?
No not really, I was very fortunate in my lifetime.
What was your favorite small town since you have lived in so many?
Pleasanton is my favorite. Well my parents lived in Dilley, which is 50 miles away, and I was 30 miles from San Antonio. I met a lot of people here.
Did you ever think that some day someone could get on the internet and know everything about you, Claude Robert Wood?
No, I never had a big thought of anything like that. I am real excited.
What made you get in the movie " The Wild Man of Navidad"?
I go to a bar here in Pleasanton and drink beer. There was a piece of paper on the door. It had a piece that you tear off and call. They wanted hairy looking men and uh I did not get one. My friend sent one. These people were from Austin. They came into the bar looking for my friend and I told them that he was not here but he would be here. They asked me if I wanted to be in a movie and I said sure and that is how it happened.
Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview?
No, I was very fortunate that everything that I did in my occupations was something that I enjoyed. I always enjoyed what I did. I never felt trap.
