TRANSCRIPTION
What occupations have you done in your life and what was your favorite?
Well, I've always worked and I drove trucks. When I was in college I shoveled chicken manure for 65 cents an hour and then I worked at HB Zachary, and that was quite a deal, it was on Dyess air force base in Abilene, Texas when they brought in the new bombers, the bigger bombers and they had to extend the runway. And up on the mountain, about 10 miles away, they were getting their material for caliche and I was working up there and you had to be 16 to work for Zachary and I was 14 so I told them I was 16 and so I worked up there for month, then they changed the deal where you had to be 18, so they let me go so I went down the mountain down to Dyess air force base and got out on the runway and I told them I was 18 and they hired me. And I worked there for about a week and the big balls from up on the mountain came down and he asked the boss down at Dyess "what in the world is he doing here," and he said, "well, I just put him to work," and he said, "well he's not but 16" and so they let me go again.
So I ended up going to Paymaster Mills and I shoveled cotton seed from 12 midnight to 8 o clock in the morning. And this was about when I was 14 years old and I made good money there but it was by the hour. Then I got in college, that's when I shoveled chicken manure and after a year I decided I would that buy a truck because I was having to pay for college as I went and I had to work a semester. So I bought truck and I run trucks in from 59' up until 74', so I ran trucks in Texas and Oklahoma and was fairly successful.
And then I got into the Farm Bureau; hired me as a part time agent and that turned out to be a 35 year job. and after I'd been with Farm Bureau for 22 years as an agency manager of McCullough county and Concho county, I became a district manager and I had all of west Texas from El Paso to Llano.
What was your favorite?
Insurance, district manager. big money, big fun.
Have any of those occupations vanished?
Bout' the only one that I think would vanish would be shoveled chicken manure by hand.
How old were you when you decided to get a job?
Well, it was just expected that you work all the time. Yeah when I was like 9 years, 10 years old, 11 years old, somewhere in there, I used to go to junction in the summer and I would work with my uncle Milton and he was quite a story. He would hire me in the summer to stock grocery bags and carry them to the cars. Back then when somebody bought groceries , you picked the bags up and carried them out for them. So, that was the first time I got paid. I'd worked all my life for my dad and them but I've always said my dad taught me how to work and my uncle showed me how I could get paid for it.
What is something interesting about growing up during the 1940s in rural Texas?
I was born January 25, 1939 and as World War 2 started for the USA in late 1941 I was about 3 years old at the start and it ended in 1945 at my age of 6. I still remember some of the headlines and remember everyone driving around the Mason square honking horns when it was over. Things that I remember in the 1940's was the freedom all kids had. We could eat breakfast and then go to the creek or somewhere and meet up with other kids and play all day . Did not even go home for lunch and in the summer it would be dark before we went home. All kids played outdoors as there were no TV, phones, ipads or game boys. The best entertainment was the new issue funnybooks, now called comics, and we would trade those to each other. Most fun was on Comanche Creek where we could catch frogs, minnows, ride the willow trees, and play in water. Had a lot of snakes to watch for. I started school at age 6 and I remember my Grandfather drove me to school the first day and from then through grade school I walked about 1 1/2 mile to school. Only ride was first day. I would start walking to school alone and by the time I arrived there would be from 5 to 8 of us. Same on the way home. Saturday Movies at the Odeon Theater that's still in business, was the greatest times. On Saturday movie would start with coming attractions, then a cartoon, then a Western, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Johnny Mac Brown, Lash Larue, and several others, followed by a serial. Usually a 6 to 9 week serial that ended with the hero in desperate trouble and you had to go next week to see how he survived. After that we had another cartoon and then another western. Full day and on Saturday afternoon it was usually all kids in the theater. Cost was .13 cents to get in, 5 cents for a coke or a candy bar, 15 cents for a hamburger and 10 cents for a hot dog. During pecan season I could pick pecans off the creek and carry 10 to 15 pounds of pecans to Reardon Feed store and get 10 to 14 cents a pound for those and then I would be rich. It did not matter if a kid was poor or rich if he had 13 cents to get to the movie and a dime for coke and candy, that was all you wanted. It was a very simple life and school was very important but the summers were heaven for a kid growing up.
People talk about the good old days and these were good days but I must say I like today much better. People work less and live better.
What about growing up in Mason, Texas? Were you and your siblings close?
No, we weren't close because I didn't really have any siblings. My mother passed away when I was two years old and I was raised by my grandparents. And I was raised in Mason but I was very fortunate cause I had a whole herd of cousins and during the summer was great days for my cousins and I, cause were talkin about 5, 6, 7, 8 years old and we'd all hit Comanche creek early that morning and we would stay there all day long. we would be chasing frogs, catching fish, or shooting snakes, or doing something like that.
Why were you not close to your siblings? Did you not grow up in the same house or was it because if the age difference?
I was much older than my siblings. My oldest was 6 years older than me and the youngest (Shane) was 20 years younger. We did not live in the same home except for one year as I was reared by my grandparents as my mother died when I was 2 years old. I also graduated high school on a Tuesday and left for the Army on that Saturday and upon return went to college and then to work. The sisters got married early and left but I did have the pleasure of working with Jackie and Shane before I began my 34 year insurance career. I still am close to brother Shane.
Why would you and Grammy visit San Antonio every 3 months?
We were living in Brady and my banker, Wayne Hoffman, who I met in the first grade and who went to college together. and were just really close friends so about every 3 months, just for funsies, we'd go to San Antone and stay at the Menger Hotel and just soak up the atmosphere and we would eat good, drink good, have a lot of beer, lot of fun. The river walk wasn't that good back then, it was before they cleaned it up and made it really nice, but we just loved going down there. There was a guy, I never will forget him, they had a guy that always set up o the street right above the river walk, by where Joskie's was, and he had these 55 gallon drums and they called him Bongo Joe and he would sit there and play music on those metal drums. And he was really good, we enjoyed that.
What experiences in your life have shaped who you are today?
I would guess probably my work ethic . Everybody in my family was taught to work. I mean, it wasn't that you might want to work, you were expected to work. And so we all worked, and when we weren't going to school or something we had to have jobs and , make a little money to support ourselves. And I always wanted to go to college; I didn't get to finish because I ran out of money and bought a truck. But, what shaped my life most was when I go into Farm Bureau ad I got a real good basics on saving money and taking care of the family and things like that.
From your experiences how have the times changed when it comes to purchasing a house?
Well, really and truly, my first house we bought we gave $4,200 for it. And it would sell today for probably 30, 40 thousand. Second house, we gave $9,200 for and I sold it for 120-somethin thousand and its worth about that now. And the house we're in now, I gave $95,000 but it needed a lot of work done on it so Grammy and I spent over 30, 40 thousand dollars just getting it ready to live in. And I imagine now we could get 3, 4 hundred thousand for it. So the prices have just jumped with inflation. They always have, and they always will.
You have traveled to many places across the World, what would you say is your favorite and how does it compare to Texas?
The places that I would pick, I would have to pick two of them. London, England and Rome. I love those two places . They were just great. London, just the people and the history, and the things that you could see that happened back in 1400, 1600, you know. And they still talk about those people as if they're alive today. I mean, history in England, they live in their history. And then when we went Rome, uh, Rome is just a place to eat. When you go to Rome, you don't just eat, you sit down at a table and that's your table for 3,4,5 hours. People just sit at those tables and eat, drink a little wine, visit, and they'll get something else.
I wouldn't care to go back to Hong Kong. It's just mad house over there. Well, too many people and it was just too hard to get from one place to another there. Madrid was nice. I enjoyed Germany. They just weren't the friendly atmosphere of England and Rome.
How did Beulah (your mother) pass away and what age were you?
She passed away in 1941 due to pneumonia and childbirth. The baby lived for 2 weeks after she passed and at that time I was within 2 0r 3 weeks until my 2nd birthday.
Why were you raised by your grandparents, and where was Jasper (your father)?
Jasper was working on a ranch in Ft. McKavitt Texas and later he was working for the WPA in Mason. He had a truck and was paid $1.50 per hour for he and the truck, He told me that was a lot of money.
Growing up did you have a lot of money? What did your grandparents due to put food on the table?
Grandfather worked at farming and baling hay. He and several of his sons did the baling for others. They were like custom farmers of today.They never had a lot of money, very few did in the Mason Area, but we always had plenty of food. my Grandmother was a great cook and cooked on a wood stove. She made bisquits from scratch every day and we always had beans, becon, eggs, pork, and as we had a milk cow, plenty of milk and butter. Granny churned the butter and at times I remember turning the crank on the butter churn to make butter. And after skimming the butter we had butter milk. I still like buttermilk.
Did you help the family make money as you were growing up?
I had chores but as we lived in town I did not have money making jobs until I was 10 or 12 years old. When I was in the 8th grade I went to Odessa with my dad and 3 uncles for a road job. My dads driver quit the day we got there and as my dad had 2 dump trucks he decided I could drive one He bought me a hat so I would look older and a pillow to sit on so I would look taller and I spent all summer hauling caliche into Odessa for the road job. I thought I was big stuff and had fun. Made him a lot of money and I got room and board.
Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview?
I just want to say, probably, that the greatest thing that's ever happened to me is my granddaughters and my family.
