With Bernice
Benice¢
Is an old woman of
I found it interesting of how she and people in the area had to lived in those days, Bill also thought it would be a good Idea to use her as a source for this paper. It took some convincing, however Bill convince her to do the interview, and here is some of my interviewer life Bernice.
Bernice started off by telling us of when she first left home, she had left with a bail of cotton which she had pick she had also received a sum of twenty dollar which her father had given to her on his arrival from the gin. She took the cotton and sold it, back in those days they would receive about forty dollars for a bail of cotton. Bernice then took the money she got for the cotton along with the money she receive from her father and bought a war bond.
(Dw) At this point I was clueless to what a war bond was so I ask her what is a war bond, (Ber) she relied that it was a saving bond that was used for the war, I wanted to know more about her life on the farm, and Bernice seem to like taking about the farm, the look on her face was more pleasant. She then to telling us of the farm where she grew up.
(Dw) My next question was how much was a bail of cotton 10 pound, what was the weight suppose to be (Ber) she then replied that it was over 1000 pounds, she could not remember was exactly went into a bail however she remember it took a long time and it was hard work, She recall Cortland I assumed was her brother, bring home the in the wagon where daddy as she put it had to off load it and weight it to see how much was to go into a bail. After weighing it they would have it raped in burl rap the bail would end up being about seven feet tall and about the same width. They would load them up and took it to the gin to sell it. Her father would also us the seed of the cotton and feed it to the cows.
Benice also recalled processing hay where her father would load the hay on the wagon and she would be on top of the wagon to stuff it down (when it was loose hay). They would then hall it into the barn. The hay they used for the cows and the mull as well as the horses.
(dw) my next question was what the
main crops they cultivated were. They raised cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, hash
potatoes, and turkeys. In the fall the
cash crop was sweet potatoes and turkeys. They had over a hundred of the
turkeys, which ran wild along the farm in the day and at night they would have
to run them into a large kennel. Bernice continued by telling us that was apart
of the daily chores, they would have to shed the corn for the cows the hogs the
chickens.
(dw) I continued on about her family. I asked her how many siblings she had. She had two brothers and a sister; she had a baby brother who died when he was a baby. They also helped with the farm. In the days of illness such as the influenza, she said that they did not go to the doctor. They would just stay in bed.
(BR) “And the cows, we’d have to get them in and feed them at times because Daddy would haul hay in it and freeze out and by the time next year, we’d haul it all onto the field, we’d have to load all of them-cow manure. You know what that is?”
(DW) Yes ma’am.
(BR) Okay. I loaded many a load.
(DW) Did you have a wagon?
(BR) Nope, we had to shovel it.
(DW) Was that an everyday thing?
(BR) No, it wasn’t. It was a spring thing- when you got your fields ready.
(DW) Is this what you used for cash crop?
(BR) The turkeys were sold. The man would come around and weigh all the turkeys and pay us. That was cash crop for the winter that you lived off of and bought your groceries. But the potatoes we sold them to- my Daddy would take them to the grocery store and take groceries for the potatoes. The grocery store didn’t pay you money for it. You took it out in groceries. So we all had plenty to eat. We had made our own bread.
(DW) What kind of stove did you have?
(BR) It was a wood stove and by wood stove, I mean it’s heated with wood in it. And then later we had kerosene stove and then we graduated to an electric cook stove.
(DW) Did you have any meat?
(BR) Every Saturday, they would- you’d join the meat club and then when you’d get all the meat that was allowed for you, you’d have to butch it and all the people would come and get their part.
(DW) Did you used to store it?
(BR) We didn’t have ice. My momma baked everything or salted it down in a crock pot. The sweet potatoes, we got four cents a pound for them. Do you know what they are now?
(DW) Probably like a dollar or $1.50.
(BR) I saw 88¢ now. We’d have wagons and wagons of sweet potatoes.
(DW) Where did you sell your produce?
(BR) People would come around and they’d buy it.
At
this time, Bernice begins to talk about what there was in
(DW) So when did you get a chance to go to the dancehall?
(BR) Generally Saturday nights.
(DW) So was it most of the younger people at the time?
(BR) Yup, they had a bench all around in the dance hall, the women would sit on one side and the younger girls would sit on another and the young men would look through the windows and decide who they were going to come in and ask to dance. (She laughs)
(DW) Was that the only entertainment?
(BR) Yes.
(DW) What was everyday domestic life like?
(BR) Work. You worked from early in the morning till at night. That’s all I remember.
She also mentioned that different days were different chores. For example, one day would be a washing day and another would be ironing. All Bernice remembers is that it was work all day.
(BR) I walked to school. I took eight grades in seven years. We walked about two miles to school everyday. Sometimes we would go play down at the creek after school, my brothers and sister as well as the neighbors kids would walk to school
(DW) Did your family own any horses or wagons for transportation?
(BR) Yes, we had horses. Daddy worked very hard.
(DW) Did you take any with you when you moved out?
(BR) What would I want with a daring horse?
(DW)
When did you move out?
(BR) In the forties. I was tired.
(DW) What did you do?
(BR) I worked at Marks. Daddy was going to give me part of the cattle and all this and that. We were going to raise cattle together. And I said I’m going to go to town and get me a job. That’s what I did.
(DW) Did you meet your husband where you worked?
(BR) No. Where did I meet him? On a blind date.
(DW) So when you got married, did you quit working?
(BR) She nods her head.
(DW) How was like after that- not working?
(BR)Okay. I had a very good husband. Very kind person.
(DW) What happened to him?
(BR) He got killed on the job. He worked in a gravel pit. He was changing the brake shoes on his dinky. He was underneath and the other guy didn’t see him and pushed it over him. That was in ’58.
(DW) Did you remarry?
(BR) No.
(DW) How many kids did you have?
(BR) Three.
(DW) What did you do after that?
(BR) I worked.
Bernice ended up taking care of her grandmother, her parents, and three children. She had a daughter who contracted Polio when she was three years old. It left her crippled but was healed after. At the time, she said the doctors didn’t know much about Polio at the time. She had it for about a year and then was back to her old self according to Bernice.