SELMA AND OTHA BRIDGES

TRANSCRIPT %u2013 SELMA AND OTHA BRIDGES
[Compiled August 24th, 2009]

Interviewees: SELMA AND OTHA BRIDGES

Interviewers: Buzz Biggerstaff and Jeff Curie

Interview Date:

Location: Shelby, North Carolina

Length: Approximately 1 hour, 20 minutes

SELMA BRIDGES: But he actually--his title was working in the machine shop.

BUZZ BIGGERSTAFF: Uh-huh.

SB: And Miles Baker told us that he could just take his hand and show Miles what kind of gear and he could go down to the shop and make it just perfect.
JEFF CURIE: Huh.
SB: Of course he, you know--carpenter and electrician and a little of everything--.
JC: What they call a jack of all trades.
OTHA BRIDGES: In the mill houses they had up there, you know.
BB: Well now, would that be in the, like the twenties or thirties? When would--what years would that be?
SB: Well, I%u2019m eighty-one%u2026
BB: %u2026Eighty-one?...
SB: %u2026and we moved up there when I was six years old.
BB: Okay.
SB: Big two-story house that they moved.
OB: It was sitting right where the bridge is over the highway.
SB: Now, you want me to tell you about what Daddy said about the highway coming through?
JC: Yeah, go ahead. Yes, Ma%u2019am.
SB: Well, Daddy come home one day at lunch. He said, %u201C[ ], they%u2019re telling up here at the mill%u201D--and this is Belmont Mill, (he) said, %u201CThey%u2019re telling up there that they%u2019re going to move our house and they%u2019re going to come through here with a big super-highway.%u201D
JC: [Laughed].
SB: Now that was what we got out there now.
JC: On the four lane.
OB: Yeah, yeah.
BB: Well, would that--you%u2019re talking about 74 (Highway) or Lafayette (Street)?
SB: 74.
BB: Lafayette was already there.
SB: Right, right.
OB: Yeah.
SB: He said they say if you move the house, it will pop and crack but it won%u2019t fall apart. You could set a pitcher of water on the table and it won%u2019t spill. I went and got a pitcher of water.
JC: Did it do all right?
SB: It didn%u2019t spill [others laughed], but the house popped and cracked.
BB: Popped and cracked, yeah.
SB: %u2018Cause me and--I set and looked out the window while they pulled that two-story house over on Earl Road. You know where that road comes up like that?...
JC: %u2026From Wendy%u2019s? Yeah, we went on there yesterday.
SB: By Wendy%u2019s?
JC: Um-hmm.
SB: Well, right there%u2019s where they pulled it to. See, there was a Dairy Queen up here in the corner. No, they moved another house, and, but anyway, we sat there and watched it.
BB: Well, now we had a question yesterday that we didn%u2019t get answered about those houses. Was that part of Shelby Mill village there at?...
SB: %u2026Huh-uh, that was Belmont Mill.
BB: That was Belmont Mill houses?
OB: Belmont houses.
SB: Yeah, and see, you know back then, in town they%u2019d let you have animals. Where we lived--on the bridge--Mama and Daddy had--they had a garden, chickens; way down here they had pigs and a cow lot. They had all that at that time and that come almost down to that road that goes up that way.
JC: So, y%u2019all won%u2019t wanting for anything; you had everything right there.
SB: Well, we eat what we raised.
JC: Right, right.
BB: Did anybody on the village have a cow?
SB: My daddy had three!
BB: Oh, did he? Okay. So, they could have their own milk and everything.
SB: Yeah, and we had had cow lots, and he moved that cow lot down here but it rotted down.
BB: Oh, okay.
SB: Daddy said they asked me a way I can fix a feeder to feed them pigs.
OB: Moved the hog pen down here.
SB: Yeah, the hog pen was down here.
JC: It was down here too?
SB: And he built what they call a %u201Csun parlor%u201D for the pigs out here. Also, he took the old meal chest--you probably don%u2019t know what that is.
JC: I don%u2019t. What is it?
SB: It%u2019s a chest like this and got a--got a%u2026
OB: %u2026a partition in it%u2026
SB: %u2026a partition in it, and the old folks used to have corn meal down here and flour over here.
BB: I can relate to that; we had one.
JC: [Laughed].
SB: He took that down there to the--right down there to the cow lot. I mean, to the hog pen, and made it a self-feeder--took the planks off down here.
JC: Huh.
OB: Made a self-feeder [ ].
JC: Right.
SB: But he didn%u2019t have no education at all.
JC: So, you said y%u2019all moved here when you were six. Where did y%u2019all start out? Were you on the farm?
SB: Oh, no.
JC: Where did y%u2019all come%u2026
SB: %u2026I ain%u2019t no farmer!
JC: [Laughed].
SB: We lived on Shannonhouse.
OB: You know where Shannonhouse Street is?
JC: I don%u2019t know where that%u2019s at, no.
SB: Do you know where Blanton%u2019s Store used to be?
BB: We showed you that, the Toy%u2026
JC: %u2026Yeah, yeah. I know where you%u2019re talking about%u2026
BB: %u2026the Toy Store.
SB: Well, that first street below that%u2026
OB: %u2026The first below that, just right below the Toy House and the%u2026
SB: %u2026That was during the depression %u2018cause Daddy had a house built there.
JC: Okay. What was he doing then? Was he still working at the mill then, at that time?
SB: I reckon.
BB: Well now, was that part of the Belmont village there, too?
SB: No.
BB: What was that?
SB: Do you know where Tedder%u2019s is?
BB: Yeah.
SB: And that road that goes out that way? All that was village and the village went all the way down to Pine Street. You know? Are you following me?
BB: Yeah.
SB: And there was an Earl Road and then there was that one up there out from the mill; I don%u2019t know what the name of that one was. I told you that Dr. McMurry--well, they had a big house up there where Tedder%u2019s is now. They were, but they got mechanics working right there against that old road that goes up through there. Well, Miles Baker--see, when [paused]%u2026
BB: %u2026McMurry?...
SB: %u2026Dr. Willis%u2019 daddy and mama moved on Washington Street, Miles moved up there. See, he was supervisor--superintendent.
BB: Yeah.
SB: Yeah, yeah.
BB: That%u2019s Dr. Willis McMurray; that%u2019s not another doctor.
JC: Um-hmm.
SB: And then the mill was owned by the doctor%u2019s granddaddy and great-granddaddy.
JC: Okay.
BB: Do you remember what they made there?
JC: Were they from here in Shelby?
SB: Huh? Yeah?
JC: They were all from Shelby?
OB: Yeah, they was all in Shelby.
SB: What did they make?
BB: Yeah.
SB: They made yarn.
BB: It was a yarn mill?
OB: Yarn mill.
SB: Yarn mill. They had a spinner and we--everything except no weaving.
JC: So, what was it like growing up in that area at that time? What was%u2026
SB: Well, I didn%u2019t know no different.
JC: Yeah, so what did y%u2019all do? I mean, for%u2026
SB: %u2026We worked like the dickens.
JC: [Laughed].
SB: Back then, honey, Mamas and Daddies, if they saw you playing and having a good time, they called you in and told you there was something you had to do.
BB: [Laughed].
SB: And on Sunday morning--now this ain%u2019t got nothing to do with the mill--but on Sunday morning--you know, people passed our house to go to Second Baptist Church, and the Second Baptist Church was right up here where what%u2019s his name? They fix interiors of cars and all, right up here at the old Ella Mill.
OB: Mauneys--Mauney%u2019s Trim Shop.
BB: Yeah.
SB: That was the Second Baptist Church.
BB: Yeah. See, I remember that.
SB: And they%u2019d come by our house--it went to Second Baptist, and Mama would get us girls out there, and we had to walk backwards to sweep the yard. Now, you look at me--well, what%u2019s that for? That%u2019s to keep from having the%u2026
OB: %u2026Cracks in the yard%u2026
SB: %u2026cracks in the yard.
JC: Cracks in the yard.
OB: Swept it with a brush broom.
JC: Didn%u2019t want no grass in that yard.
OB: No.
SB: Well, nobody back then wanted grass; they%u2019d dig it up. They had a big garden and they took tin tubs and put us out there picking the rocks and all out, you know.
BB: Were folks on the village allowed pets like dogs?
SB: Oh, yeah, they allowed anything you wanted. It was like every village, you know. You didn%u2019t respect some of them. I%u2019ll tell you about going and--we didn%u2019t know no different.
JC: Yeah.
SB: Of course, Daddy--see, when we moved in that old house it was in bad shape. My daddy re-done the house and Miles Baker told him if he ever moved that he%u2019d reimburse him for what he spent.
BB: Is that right?
SB: Yeah. When he moved down here, we didn%u2019t have nothing modern. Daddy--I told him--I said, %u201CNow don%u2019t think we%u2019re trying to tell you what to do with your money, but if you see anything you want to do--.%u201D I%u2019m talking about this house.
OB: They moved down here with us.
JC: Right.
SB: I said, %u201CYou do what you want to, and when you spend all you want to, quit.%u201D He had to have lights run.
OB: The wire that run on the outside of the ceiling.
JC: Right, right.
OB: Two wires.
SB: Are you familiar with that?
OB: Run on the outside of the ceiling and one little bulb up there.
JC: Yeah, one little hanging--a hanging bulb, or was it up in the ceiling?
SB: No, it hung on a rope.
JC: Okay.
OB: It was fastened up there.
BB: Did you have receptacles on the wall?
SB: No!
OB: No.
BB: Had to put those in.
SB: You remember when you had them chains, and they%u2019d--get you a string and tie that to the head of your bed. You remember stuff like that.
BB: Uh-huh.
JC: Cut it on and off at night [laughed]?
SB: Yeah, yeah.
JC: I remember seeing that when I was young [laughed].
SB: Yeah, yeah.
BB: Do you ever have any trouble like--I remember my mom--we moved when I was about nine years old to another house, and it had hardwood floors, pine floors, but we called it hardwood. She wanted them refinished and they had to get--they had to go out to the power source--out where the transformer was to get enough power to pull the sander. Did y%u2019all ever have that experience?
SB: No, because we got colored people on Washington Street, you know, that live in that pretty white house?
BB: Uh-huh.
SB: They used to re-do the floors.
BB: Okay.
SB: Hoskins. I tell you right now; they%u2019ve been there always.
BB: Yeah.
SB: Good people. Good people. Of course the older one is dead and gone. Mama used to--what machine did she--one of them that you--. See, my memory--I know what I want to say, but I can%u2019t say it.
OB: [Laughed].
SB: Run a spool frame, and they let me come in from school and help her. About six o%u2019clock she%u2019d go home and I%u2019d stay %u2018til ten. I mean, they%u2019d let you do things like that.
BB: Oh, yeah.
SB: Yeah, I thought I was having a good time, but Lord, I said to myself, %u201CLike y%u2019all farmers, I don%u2019t want to do this the rest of my life.%u201D
OB: [Laughed].
BB: Well, now, both your mom and dad worked in the plant, right?
SB: Yeah, but Mama ended up working at the Lily.
BB: At the Lily?
SB: Down here [ ].
BB: Now this was part of the Lily village?
OB: Yeah, this house.
SB: Otha, tell them the history about this house.
OB: A lady that used to live across the street over there lived over there a long time. She had a book and they started building these houses and the mill out yonder, the thread mill, in 1904 and 1905 when they started building these houses. They built these big houses like we%u2019ve got here first, where they could put two families in it. See, they%u2019ve got two front doors%u2026
JC: %u2026Right%u2026
OB: %u2026and two back doors.
JC: So they built these for two families.
OB: Yeah. Then they come along after that and built the smaller houses in between them.
SB: That%u2019s the smaller houses for smaller families.
OB: Like the next house up there, it%u2019s a smaller house.
SB: Hilda might not have told you this, but people didn%u2019t have bathrooms or a shower, you know. The Schencks took the bottom basement and put showers in them for the people that worked in the mill to come out there to take a shower. The woman that lived there--she said she had walked home many a time, and time she got home her hair was frozen.
BB: In the wintertime--.
OB: Yeah.
SB: All right, did Hilda tell you--I%u2019m really hopping on Lily Mill. Did she tell you down this road it used to be dead-end right down yonder?
BB: I don%u2019t believe she did.
SB: All right, did she tell you that it had a center line out there, and that%u2019s where their water line was? They had pumps.
OB: There was a well in the middle of the road.
JC: Between the houses.
OB: There was a well in the middle of the road.
SB: There wasn%u2019t no well in the house.
JC: Okay, right--in the road.
BB: She said there was about four places that had those water pumps that you could get water.
SB: Well, it was down the middle of the street--the next street.
BB: Do you remember roughly how many houses was on the village, on the Lily village?
SB: Where? Up there?
BB: All of them--all counted that went with the village.
SB: No, I don%u2019t.
BB: Would it be as much as a hundred, maybe, or maybe more?
SB: Well, you can count %u2018em. You can count this road, that road, and that road. There used to be one behind the mill, and then there%u2019s one, two, three%u2026
OB: %u2026Down that street out yonder after you cross--where you cross the railroad tracks.
BB: Yeah.
OB: In front of the old mill--go down that street; there%u2019s some houses out in there.
SB: Let me tell you; you could ride down and count them.
OB: There%u2019s mill houses out there.
SB: And right up here, there%u2019s houses over to the back line, and you go on up there, and where it says Lily Mill Baptist Church--.
JC: Lily Baptist, yes ma%u2019am.
SB: Lily Memorial. See, Mr. Schenck and them--there wasn%u2019t no churches on the village, and he come in and built that one out there. That%u2019s where the village went out there. Hilda told me that--see, they lived on the next street--went out that way. She said there wasn%u2019t but three families that went to church.
JC: Yeah.
BB: Yeah, I%u2019ve heard her say that there wasn%u2019t many. Well, now let me ask you this about the--if you know what the street is that crosses this one out there near the railroad. There%u2019s a big old, I guess you%u2019d call it a Victorian style house; it%u2019s got a long porch; it%u2019s right there close to the road. Was that part of the village?
OB: No.
BB: I always thought--I%u2019ll bet that%u2019s where the big man lives.
OB: He%u2019s talking about the Hamrick house.
SB: No, that%u2019s the Hamrick house.
BB: Okay.
SB: It%u2019s privately owned. Everybody%u2019s dead except [ ]. What%u2019s her last name? You knowed of Herman Hamrick.
BB: Yeah.
SB: Well, that%u2019s Herman that grew up in that house.
BB: Okay.
SB: Robert Hamrick--that%u2019s his mama%u2019s place.
BB: Okay.
SB: Yeah.
BB: I just wondered %u2018cause it seems like every village had the--where the big man%u2019s house was--was bigger than everybody else%u2019s.
SB: The big man had a brick house on Lafayette and then there was a big white house out beside of it. That was Fred Whitener%u2019s. He was sort of a big man too.
BB: Okay.
SB: Hilda might have done told you all that.
BB: She told us a lot of it, but you know Carl and Carolyn that used to come to our rehab--the McQuirters?
OB: The McQuirters, yeah.
BB: Was those houses there part of Lily?
SB: No, that ain%u2019t none of the Lily%u2019s.
BB: Okay.
SB: No, that just privately owned.
OB: They%u2019re private-owned.
SB: Where Carolyn and them lived--her husband had grown up in that house, and that was Grandma [ ]. Did you ever know [ ]?
BB: I%u2019ve heard the name.
SB: Well, that was [ ], and then Carolyn%u2019s husband%u2019s mother lived there, and her sister. See, Carolyn and him got married--let%u2019s see, got married when they was in college.
BB: Okay.
SB: They come down here and they have always lived there, and Carolyn waited on
[ ].
BB: The older people?
SB: Yeah, and where the Second Baptist Church is--have you heard about that?
JC: Yes, we went by there, yeah.
SB: Old Clifford McCurry--you know Clifford? Of course, he%u2019s dead. He was a big put-on. He said, %u201CWell, I%u2019ll tell you one thing. If the church don%u2019t go--the way they%u2019re building, they could turn it into a motel [others laughed].%u201D Of course, Clifford is deceased, but he was so much fun to be around. That property--you know Carl Morrison that builds houses? That was his Granddaddy Morrison%u2019s, and his name was Charlie Morrison. Behind that, you see, is Dodd Street back there. Well, he had property on back in there, and it went that way down Dodd Street and Shannonhouse--we lived up here on the corner. I mean, I don%u2019t know much about that. But anyway, Mama said she%u2019d take her--us, the children--she laid me on a sack--cotton sheet %u2018cause I was a baby, and she%u2019d take the bigger ones out there and pick cotton for Mr. Charlie Morrison. Mama said he run out of sheets. She told him when she went for dinner she%u2019d bring a sheet out there. Mama would patch her sheets. You know, your mama did too.
BB: Uh-huh. Sure.
SB: [ ] said, %u201CMrs. [ ], that%u2019s the nicest, nicest sheet I%u2019ve ever seen. It was--she done such a grand job of patching.
BB: Uh-huh. You just mentioned something that I was trying to remember yesterday. One of the places that you could buy stuff was--wasn%u2019t it--? Wasn%u2019t that Dodd Store over near the airport, but what was the man%u2019s name that had the little store that was so tight? They always called him--that he had the first nickel that he ever made. Was it [ ]?
SB: Oh, he married--he married George Clay%u2019s--married George%u2019s wife%u2019s sister. What was his name?
BB: Well, the gentleman I%u2019m thinking about was--it wasn%u2019t Horne, but it was something like that. He had a store--before you get down to the church.
OB: It%u2019s right across the road in front of the furniture store.
BB: Maybe a little%u2026
OB: %u2026The building is sitting right there.
BB: No, it%u2019s on down. They%u2019ve remodeled the building and they sell stuff in there now, but I think it%u2019s more oddities and what-nots and stuff.
OB: Oh, you%u2019re talking about down there where the plumbing place is at.
BB: Yeah, right on down below it. What was that gentleman%u2019s name?
SB: Where are you talking about, [ ]?
BB: Where Zoar Church is--just this side of Zoar Church. His store sat right over there on the left-hand side going down.
SB: Oh, that%u2019s the man that sold foam rubber and then he moved it from there down there in that big old tin building.
OB: I can%u2019t think of his name. He never was married.
BB: I just thought of the last name--Crane.
OB: Crane--Evie Crane.
SB: Oh, yeah, Evie Crane.
BB: Okay. Well now, he was%u2026
SB: %u2026Don%u2019t you know somebody had went in there and stole his money?
BB: Oh, yeah, that%u2019s what I heard.
SB: And didn%u2019t they kill him?
BB: He died, but I don%u2019t%u2026
OB: %u2026I believe that%u2019s caused--that was caused by his death.
BB: Yeah. Well now, one of the reasons I wanted to find out about is that the folks in the lower end is the ones that supported his business primarily, wasn%u2019t it? He didn%u2019t get%u2026
SB: %u2026They went everywhere--from everywhere down there. [ ].
OB: He had all kinds of stuff.
JC: Right.
BB: He had plow points and%u2026
OB: %u2026Plow points and plows and twine%u2026
BB: %u2026Nails%u2026
OB: %u2026nails, screws, and%u2026
JC: %u2026So, he had a general merchandise store, pretty much.
OB: Yeah, yeah, Evie Crane.
SB: He used to keep cheese in a round%u2026
BB: %u2026the hoop cheese?
OB: Hoop cheese.
SB: My daddy would run down there and got it many a time.
OB: He had all kind of stuff in that place that country folks needs, you know [laughed]?
BB: He had some staples, as I recall. You could get you a Coca-Cola and a gallon of milk and%u2026
SB: %u2026And he lived right out there beside of it in a white house.
BB: Oh, really?
OB: That house sitting right beside of the old store building.
BB: Yeah.
SB: Never had been married.
OB: He lived in it.
SB: His--some relative--.
BB: Nephew or something got the place. Okay, the reason I wanted to find out about that is I thought that was one of the places that people could go buy stuff; from the village they could walk there.
SB: We liked to go just to look around.
BB: Yeah.
SB: Just like we liked to go up there at Rutherfordton. What%u2019s that man%u2019s name that runs that old store up there?
OB: Oh, Washburn%u2019s--Washburn%u2019s Store up yonder.
SB: You ever been up there?
OB: You ever been in there?
BB: Yeah, you have the funeral home across the road and all that.
OB: Yeah.
BB: Washburn%u2019s Store.
OB: They%u2019ve got a new funeral home in Bostic now.
BB: Oh yeah, yeah. It%u2019s a nice one too.
SB: Yeah.
OB: Washburn%u2019s Store--they had anything--old thing--old stuff in there you could buy.
SB: Octagon soap.
BB: Yeah.
JC: [Laughed]. It%u2019s hard to find that now, ain%u2019t it?
SC: You never could find it, and our seniors went to the mountains; the preacher at that time wanted to know, %u201CAnywhere else anybody wants to go you think you%u2019d be interested in?%u201D So [ ] spoke up and said, %u201CTake %u2018em to Washburn%u2019s Store.%u201D
OB: Old-timey wooden chairs--they had them.
SB: If you ain%u2019t been up there, go.
JC: Okay. I wrote it down.
BB: I%u2019m going to take him up there. It%u2019s not that far from Forest City. We%u2019re going up to the plant in Forest City that%u2019s closed that they%u2019re supposed to be converting to condos and stores. We can just go right out the Bostic highway and go out there.
JC: Some of--was it Hilda that had mentioned Tony%u2019s Ice Cream used to come around?
SB: Oh my God, yes!
JC: Did they used to come around a lot?
SB: They used to come around, and they used to come around, to my knowledge, it was in a truck. Of course it%u2019s like ice cream trucks--it had openings, you know. They would stop and want to know if you wanted ice cream. You%u2019d carry a bowl out there and they would put it in a bowl. I%u2019ll tell you another thing you ain%u2019t mentioned. They used to have a ice--well, Tony%u2019s though, they%u2019re good people. You know Tony Izzi now, don%u2019t you?
JC: Right. I know he--he%u2019s alive, yeah.
OB: Well, that was his daddy that had it.
SB: And do you know L.B. Izzi that died, that had that big plant down yonder?
BB: L.B. was one of the sons that was an inventor, and he invented a lot of plumbing things that they use all over the world.
OB: An offset thing for a commode.
BB: Right.
SB: You want me to tell you what they said about that? He was visiting his brother-in-law, and they were just sitting and talking. L.B. said--or anyway, they was discussing it--look like somebody could come up with that. Well, honey, he come home, drawed it, had it made, and was making beaucoups of money. He was a millionaire. He built a nice house down there.
BB: Overlooking the river.
SB: Then right behind it, he built a little chapel. It was in honor of his mama and daddy. When we%u2019d go down there--see, they come to our church--and we went down there on Easter Sunday and we%u2019d have a sunrise service, you know, looking over the river. He had some more house, %u2018cause we toured the house. Then he finally built a swimming pool for the young %u2018uns.

BEGINNING OF SECOND TRACK
SB: And if you want some good Tony%u2019s Ice Cream, go to Gastonia %u2018cause they%u2019re cousins.
JC: [Laughed].
OB: They run it down there.
SB: If they make you a milk shake, they fill it full of ice cream and then run a little milk in it.
JC: [Laughed]. That%u2019s the way it%u2019s good.
BB: That%u2019s right. I%u2019ll tell you somewhere that you could--you may have eaten there yet, I don%u2019t know; it%u2019s the Snack Shop. The Snack Shop sells Tony%u2019s Ice Cream.
JC: They sell Tony%u2019s Ice Cream?
BB: Yeah.
JC: So, what kind of flavors did they have back in--years ago?
SB: Everything.
OB: Anything.
SB: And then, once in a while--now, I don%u2019t remember this, but one of my friends told me that once in a while Tony would have a sale on hot dogs and you could buy five for a dollar.
JC: Hmm.
SB: %u2018Cause they%u2019d been down there together and got some, but now I don%u2019t remember that %u2018cause we didn%u2019t have money to go buy stuff.
BB: And I%u2019m trying to remember the village that his place would have been. He came in here, and I guess it was some kind of store building; he converted his ice cream place. I know he had a separate little building behind where he made all the ice cream and then he had the place%u2026
SB: %u2026And then they built a new one.
BB: Yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
SB: What%u2019s there now is a beauty shop.
BB: Right. Yeah, I remember them building the new one.
SB: That was his new building.
BB: But, he got support from all over town, but by him being down there kind of to himself, that%u2019s when he got that truck.
OB: He flavored his ice cream with preserves.
JC: Preserves?
OB: Yeah, peach preserves, cherry preserves, and all that.
SB: He%u2019d get that from Dub Champion%u2019s store.
OB: He used to buy that from Dub Champion%u2019s store.
SB: He%u2019d dump it in there, and there%u2019s your cherry ice cream.
BB: Yeah.
SB: Anybody ever tell you about the ice man?
JC: Huh-uh, I don%u2019t think so.
SB: His name was Gibb Jones, and he lived on--what%u2019s the name of that street, Daddy? Up there at the old Ella Mill--Shelby Mill, [ ] down that way? Anyway, he lived up there, and he%u2019d come in on the village. Now, I lived down on Shannonhouse Street. I was a little bitty thing. He%u2019d stop at every house and want to know if they wanted any ice. %u201CHow much you want today?%u201D He%u2019d bring it in, you know. He could chop that ice; there would be pieces falling off of it, and he%u2019d be riding down the road and us young %u2018uns would run behind him, wishing some of that would fall off, and it did! [Everyone laughed].
SB: See, back then, that%u2019s the only way you ever seen any ice. Daddy would get a big ole thing and put--they%u2019d bring it in the back door and put it in the icebox. But honey, we wasn%u2019t allowed to go out there and chop none off.
OB: He%u2019d have a big ole three-hundred pound block of ice on the back of a truck, you know, that comes from the ice plant.
BB: Yeah.
JC: And he%u2019d just run through the village and chip it off.
OB: Chip it off with what you wanted.
SB: His name was Gibb Jones.
BB: If they knew how much it took for twenty five pounds [ ].
SB: Yeah.
BB: Well, that brings to mind a question that might know. Why, in the mill villages when you%u2019d see that, and even in the towns the size of Shelby--you%u2019d always see the company would be ice and coal. Why was that? Even like I remember this one here in town was Shelby Ice and Coal Company.
OB: I don%u2019t know.
SB: Yeah, it was right there pretty close to where the Farmer%u2019s Market is.
BB: Yeah, I remember when it was%u2026
JC: %u2026Did they store stuff? Could you go up and--I%u2019ve heard some folks saying that the ice companies would let you store meat in the freezers. Not around here?
SB: They used to have a place they called Freezers, and you could rent a certain amount of it and take--like you killed beef--take it up there. But honey, I%u2019ve heard people say when they went and got it, they knew it wasn%u2019t their meat.
JC: [Laughed].
BB: Yeah, that led to freezer lockers later on.
SB: Yeah, that%u2019s what I was talking about--freezer lockers. But Lord, we used to go up there where they sold ice.
JC: So, what would y%u2019all do for fun on the village?
SB: What?
JC: What would y%u2019all do for fun?
SB: Shoot marbles! [Everyone laughed]. Kick the can! What did you do? What did you call it when you had a stick, and you laid it on something, and you hit it--when it come up, you hit it like a ball.
BB: Yeah, and then you had to guess how many steps it would take%u2026
SB: %u2026Well, I don%u2019t remember all that%u2026
OB: %u2026Mumble peg?
BB: Yeah, mumble peg.
SB: Yeah, mumble peg.
OB: Mumble peg [others laughed].
SB: And we%u2019d jump on a jump board. I mean, it would be a long board; one would get on this side and the other one on this side, and we%u2019d jump on that thing. My sister is a little high-falluting--she thinks she is, but anyway, she sat here the other day (saying), %u201COtha, you know Selma used to climb a tree with a dress on.%u201D I said, %u201CYou dern right, that%u2019s all I had to wear!%u201D
[Everyone laughed]. She ain%u2019t like that. Lord, I played horseshoes and I played baseball and softball at school. I never did play basketball.
BB: Well now, when they had the ball field down at the Lily--did they have anything--basketball courts or anything like out in the--or were they just baseball?
OB: It was just baseball, I think.
SB: It was out there where they%u2019ve built houses now. It was a field out there.
BB: Okay. Well now, as part of the recreation in the town, I can remember you had--there was three or four movies--movie houses, or theaters.
SB: There was Webb%u2019s%u2026
BB: %u2026Webb%u2019s and Rogers%u2019%u2026
SB: %u2026and Carolina, and then it got to be the State. We weren%u2019t allowed--well, we--on Halloween--Lord, God, people will say, %u201CShe%u2019s telling everything,%u201D and on Halloween, Mama would let us go uptown. Now you think this is crazy; this is recreation, you know. We%u2019d walk to town, and me and my sister I spoke of--we locked arms with our backs together to keep anybody from hitting us. I tell you, they%u2019d sock the fire out of you!
OB: With a paddle!
SB: And we called that fun.
JC: Would they?
OB: Yeah, yeah.
SB: And they%u2019d hang the--they%u2019d hang chairs up on the light poles. We was talking to old Vic Moore about that one time and he said, %u201CWell, the young folks today ain%u2019t no worse than we was.%u201D He said, %u201CWhy down at Boiling Springs we%u2019d turn the jail house over, and we%u2019d get wagons, take the wheels off and put them on top of buildings.%u201D
OB: And put the wheels back on %u2018em [everybody laughed].
JC: Sounds like y%u2019all were rough and tumble.
OB: [Laughed].
SB: Had to be back then, son.
BB: Well, did you get to go the movies often?
SB: No, never did get to go see what they done up to the American Legion. You know, they used to have dances. Well, see%u2026
BB: %u2026You couldn%u2019t go to the dance?
SB: Couldn%u2019t go to the dance. That was sinful.
OB: Used to have dances up over the Farmer%u2019s Market.
SB: Yeah, they did.
BB: Yeah.
OB: Where the Farmer%u2019s Market%u2019s at now.
BB: I can remember that, yeah.
OB: Used to be dances up there.
BB: On the railroad track.
OB: Yeah.
BB: Did you get to go--I know when I was coming along, a little bit ahead--behind you, they would have at the theaters--they would have a guest movie star. Like, I can remember Sunset Carson came up there, and Lash Larue%u2026
SB: %u2026No, I didn%u2019t%u2026
BB: %u2026both of %u2018em cowboys. Did y%u2019all get to go to those?
SB: No, we didn%u2019t get to go. We never did get to go to a ballgame. Nope--didn%u2019t have the money.
BB: Yeah.
SB: And Mama and Daddy wouldn%u2019t let us go, you know, and walk home in the dark.
BB: Well, how far back do you remember the Christmas parades?
SB: Oh, I loved them.
BB: Did they have them when you were?...
SB: %u2026They used to do it at night.
JC: Oh, at night?
SB: Oh, and it was so pretty.
BB: But you did that as a kid, then too, if you had them that far back?
SB: No, when we got involved with that, it was after we got married, and Otha would take us, you know. And then--we had our daughter--we got her into taking [ ] and she would go and be in the parades. Naturally, if you%u2019ve got a kid in there marching, you%u2019re going to march with them. Most of the time it would be Otha or I would be in the hospital. But, the parades was much, much, much%u2026
OB: %u2026[Whispered] marching slower.
JC: They were much more than they are now?
SB: Yeah.
JC: Yeah, a lot more fun?
SB: Yeah, it was for me.
OB: You might not know this%u2026
SB: %u2026After you get eighty-one, you can%u2019t enjoy lots of things.
JC: I guess not.
OB: But, the whole fair used to come here on a train.
SB: Yeah, did anybody tell you about that?
JC: Huh-uh.
OB: Come here on the train.
SB: They%u2019d come up this railroad track right out here.
OB: Right here--go uptown and park.
SB: And I%u2019d say something to Otha--I%u2019d say, %u201CGet the young %u2018uns and let%u2019s go.%u201D (Otha would say) [%u201C %u201C]? I said, %u201CYou%u2019re from the country; you don%u2019t know nothing about this.%u201D I said, %u201CYou go up there and you watch them people get off that--.%u201D They%u2019d get the animals off, and they%u2019d march them.
OB: Elephants.
SB: Elephants.
JC: Uh-huh.
OB: Go out old 74 to the fairgrounds.
SB: They would go from up there and walk all the way to the fair.
OB: Walk %u2018em all the way to the fairgrounds.
JC: Huh.
OB: Out old 74 highway.
SB: I told Otha, %u201CWell, you%u2019re from the country; you don%u2019t know how you%u2019re supposed to do.%u201D
JC: So you were from the country?
OB: Yeah.
JC: Did you grow up on a farm?
OB: Um-hmm.
JC: Yeah. I guess you wanted to leave the farm after a while?
OB: Up around Lattimore and New House.
JC: Lattimore and New House.
SB: He worked for the state forty years and ten months.
OB: That%u2019s where I grew up.
BB: Not having TV%u2019s and all%u2026
SB: %u2026Well, you didn%u2019t hardly have a radio%u2026
BB: %u2026Yeah, with a radio and all, would you say that growing up and living on the mill village, you still had plenty of things to entertain you and make you happy and all that? I know you mentioned%u2026
SB: %u2026There wasn%u2019t much happiness, cause if you get out and play, Mama would think--. Well, see I had problems with my eyes, and I%u2019d have to sit up close [recording stopped].

BEGINNING OF THIRD TRACK
BB: You were saying you didn%u2019t get to go to the movies that much because of the money situation. With the company store, and then having stores uptown, would you buy the most of what you bought when you needed something and had to have it? Would you get it at the company store or would you go uptown?
SB: Well now, let me tell you how it was. Me and Otha got married--he was picking cotton and I wasn%u2019t working. My daddy asked Dub Champion--you remember Dub?
BB: I remember hearing of him.
SB: Dub Champion--run that little store.
OB: It was right across in front of the barber shop.
SB: Daddy asked Dub Champion would he let us get some groceries on credit. He said, %u201CI will if they--when they get their check, if they%u2019ll come and pay me some.%u201D We never did have the money to pay it all. He said, %u201CYes, Mr. [ ], I%u2019ll let them have it.%u201D And that%u2019s how we fed ourselves. I%u2019ll tell you, it was rough going back then.
BB: Well, your chances of being able to set it down, so to speak--if your chances of being able to put it on the charge was a lot easier. You couldn%u2019t have gone uptown and done that, could you?
SB: Oh, no, no, no. Honey, he worked for twenty-five dollars a week and got paid once a month.
OB: When I first started working for the state.
JC: Did they pay less or more than the mills?
SB: Huh?
JC: Back then, when you first started working for the state, who paid more? About the same--?
OB: Probably so.
JC: Do you think in the long run, though, it was better to work for the state than to go work in the mills?
OB: Yeah, yeah.
JC: Why is that?
OB: Well, we had retirement.
SB: We had insurance.
OB: We had insurance. After you stayed there so long you got insurance. Then you got on permanent pay.
SB: They paid for it. They still do pay for it.
JC: A lot of folks that worked in the mills and retired didn%u2019t have--they still ain%u2019t got nothing, do they?
SB: No.
JC: Living on Social Security, I guess.
SB: Not when them there--now, you just think about this. Everything in Shelby, in Cleveland County that merged their business over with a Northerner, it wasn%u2019t long every bit of it closed down. That%u2019s what happened down here. They said Gene Schenck cried and cried.
OB: I%u2019ve been retired twenty-one years, and I%u2019ve drawed my retirement ever since I retired.
SB: He quit before he was sixty-two.
OB: How many people in the mill can draw retirement?
JC: Yeah, none.
SB: No, when they closed it down. Look at Hilda and Forrest. All them people thought sure they was fixed, you know--didn%u2019t have many more years. It all fell through.
BB: Well, you had another big thing that the mill folks didn%u2019t have. You had sick days, didn%u2019t you?
OB: Yeah.
SB: Lord, yeah. Vacation days.
JC: And they accumulated too, the sick days, didn%u2019t they?
SB: Yeah. See, all of the mills would close down for the Fourth of July back then.
OB: When I retired, I had eleven months of sick time.
SB: And you bought your service time.
OB: Service time--I bought my service time.
JC: Yeah, you mentioned that.
OB: And my temporary time.
SB: Now, the boys can%u2019t do it because it%u2019s so expensive.
BB: What would you probably have done if you hadn%u2019t gone to work with the state? Do you think you would have probably been in textiles in some way, or would you have gone back to farming?
OB: I don%u2019t know.
SB: I can tell you, you wouldn%u2019t have been back farming %u2018cause I wouldn%u2019t want to.
OB: I wouldn%u2019t have done the farming. I know that.
SB: I%u2019m going to tell you something%u2026
OB: %u2026It would have been something else besides that.
SB: Buzzy, if you leave the city and go to the farm--in the city, you%u2019ve got running water and you%u2019ve got inside bathrooms, and you move up there and have to draw your water. You have to draw every bit of water to wash your clothes. You had to go to the outside Johnny. And the Shelby bus ran by there. Now, we lived right up above PPG, and Lord, there%u2019s many a time that bus would run by there, and I%u2019d want to go into Shelby so bad, but I didn%u2019t have a quarter.
JC: [Laughed].
SB: No.
JC: You wanted to get to town.
OB: You could ride the bus up there close to that ridge up there at PPG, to Shelby for a quarter.
JC: A quarter.
OB: [Laughed].
BB: Talking about the bathrooms and all, do you remember when you moved here, did you have indoor plumbing or was it--came later?
SB: A commode.
BB: Had a commode?
SB: That%u2019s it.
BB: No shower, no tub?
SB: No. Otha put another--he fixed the bathroom, and then he decided to re-do it again. He done all the work, plumbing and everything. And how he learned to plumb--when we moved down here and Daddy--had they moved in the house with us then?
OB: No, I don%u2019t think so.
SB: No, they hadn%u2019t. But he told Otha, %u201CWell now, if you know somebody that%u2019s a plumber, we%u2019ll get %u2018em and let %u2018em come down here on Saturday and help you plumb.%u201D Now, you can tell them the rest of the plumbing.
OB: Well, we got a guy--he lived on the back line over here.
SB: He was a plumber, but he was a drunk too.
OB: He told me what to do and I done it, and he%u2019d sit down and drink liquor [laughed], and I was doing the dern work!
BB: You learned by pure participation, then.
OB: That%u2019s right. He%u2019d tell me what to do.
SB: He never had laid cement block, and all these houses, there wasn%u2019t none of them%u2026
OB: %u2026Underpinned.
JC: Right.
SB: And my daddy said, %u201CWell, I%u2019ll tell you what we%u2019ll do, son. We%u2019ll get a load of blocks one week, and when you get paid, you can get a block--a load.%u201D And you know who had to load them?
OB: When she went, they bought culled blocks, might have the corner broke off of it, you know, or a crack on it? You can turn it on the inside.
JC: That%u2019s right.
SB: They sat out there with a drop cord, and Daddy had his walking cane, telling him what to do. I told Otha--I said, %u201CHoney, start at the back.%u201D [Others laughed]. You might get it to where the front will look pretty good.%u201D [Others laughed]. And I said, %u201CIf you mess up, you don%u2019t have to have somebody to go look at it.%u201D That%u2019s what he done.
JC: Perfect by the time he got to the front, won%u2019t it?
OB: When I bought this house, this was just a little ole street out here, you know--dead end.
SB: Well, it was like I told them--dead end.
OB: Dead end--little ole narrow street, you know, and there was a gully washing down the front of the house out there, and one gully washing down the side to that side of the house, and one washing down this side of the house. I got the front porch fixed--the top of it, and then I went to work trying to fix up the yard. Then I got into the underpinning, laying blocks.
SB: And in that new building down there%u2026
OB: Worked with the state all day long%u2026
JC: %u2026Come and work here at night%u2026
OB: %u2026and come here%u2026
SB: %u2026Or either go paint for somebody%u2026
OB: %u2026and work, or either somebody wanted a room painted--I%u2019d go paint that room that night.
JC: Working all the time, making extra money.
SB: He still does. And that new building down there--he%u2019d said and said and said, %u201CI want me a new building. I want me a new building.%u201D Our son worked for the state, and he was tearing out the bridge down yonder at the Morrisons.
OB: Below--above Charlie Morrison%u2019s--I mean Carl Morrison--that bridge down there?
SB: And they tore that bridge out.
OB: Old bridge down there.
SB: Wayne told his daddy, %u201CNow, Daddy, you%u2019ve been wanting a new building. Now%u2019s the time to get it %u2018cause every day, there will be cement left in the truck, and they%u2019ll want somewhere to put it. They put it out there. Honey, they even brought enough to floor it, and left the cement man to do it!
BB: Can%u2019t get that done any more.
OB: What I done--I put my frame up around where I wanted the floor, and then I put a two-by-four across the center of it, both ways. If they didn%u2019t have enough cement to fill up much of it, they filled up one section of it, maybe, or part of one section.
SB: Well, how long was them beams they brought you?
OB: Huh?
SB: How long was them beams?
OB: Wayne tore down a--he was working with the state and working on bridges then.
SB: Well, he was down here.
OB: Yeah, and they tore down a bridge somewhere, and it had some two-by-tens, sixteen feet long--creosote.
SB: And he put them up down here by himself.
OB: And we got them down here to the house, and when I got my walls up, I put them up overhead by myself.
BB: Those creosote--those were heavy, weren%u2019t they?
OB: I took a ladder on each end of the building, and I%u2019d go lay one end up, and then I%u2019d go over and pick the other end up and go up the ladder with it, and lay it up there.
JC: Took you a long time [laughed].
SB: And when he built this porch out here, I wanted a screened-in porch. Well, I got the screened-in porch. Next year, I said, %u201CHoney, you know, if you take that screen off, windows would look good. You could put flowers and all kind of stuff.%u201D Well, that%u2019s all I had to say and he went out there and tore it off. When he got ready for his windows, he called the man that put the siding on this house, and asked him if he knew where he could get some windows. He just had hurt his back, and he couldn%u2019t hardly get around, so that guy told him--said, %u201CWell, Mr. Bridges, if you%u2019ll be up here so-and-so, I%u2019ll give you a truckload.%u201D He was talking windows out of a new trailer%u2026
OB: %u2026a new trailer--a new house trailer, and putting in new windows in that new house trailer, these insulated windows, you know.
BB: Yeah.
SB: And Otha did this porch out here and had about that many to give to another fellow.
BB: Had all kinds of windows.
OB: Went up there, and his boys loaded them up on the truck for me [laughed].
BB: You had it made.
OB: I didn%u2019t have to do nothing, only when I got home I had to unload them [laughed].
BB: You didn%u2019t have to take Selma with you that time, did you?
BB: Do you--having moved in here when you did, do you remember, did you borrow the money for the house, or part of the money?
SB: Oh, yeah.
BB: Do you remember what your payment was?
SB: Tell him what you paid for the whole house.
OB: Twenty-five hundred dollars for this house.
BB: I mean the payment, like a monthly payment.
OB: Oh, oh.
SB: It wasn%u2019t much of nothing.
OB: Was it twenty-six dollars or twenty-five dollars a month? I%u2019ve forgotten now, but it wasn%u2019t much.
SB: About every year, we%u2019d have to go back and borrow three hundred to get us out of the hole. [Others laughed]. Next year, same thing, but we made it.
JC: You had to do it, right?
OB: I went to Union Trust Bank when it was over on the corner, you know? I went up there and borrowed some money up there, and I paid the interest on time, paid every payment on time. I went back up there and wanted to borrow some more.
SB: Three hundred dollars.
OB: They wanted a note on everything I had. You know where I told him to go.
BB: Yeah.
SB: Well, when he went to borrow the money to start with, Otha told them what he needed, and he said, %u201CWell, if we let you have this, where are you going to get the rest?%u201D When Otha told him he%u2019d get it at the First National, they wouldn%u2019t talk to him.
OB: They wouldn%u2019t even talk to me, and I went up there to Larry Austell--Shelby Building and Loan. He didn%u2019t ask me nothing. He said, %u201CWe%u2019ll let you know.%u201D
SB: He didn%u2019t even come in and look at the house--took a picture.
OB: They come out here and set in the road and took a picture of the house, and he called me and said, %u201CCome up here; you can get your money.%u201D [Next few minutes spent discussing personal aspects of local banking].
SB: Well, we%u2019ve about talked you to death.
JC: [Laughed].
SB: Are you going to be able to read that when it gets cold?
JC: Who, me? Yes, ma%u2019am. I try--I try to write it just about right. I ain%u2019t too sloppy. I used to be worse and I started working on it a little bit.
BB: Were the families on the--we%u2019ve noticed you%u2019ve got some two-story houses, so it%u2019s not as much. Were the families pretty good sized back then that were on the village?
SB: That%u2019s why the big houses was built. When the farmers--they come out of the farm--off the farm and come down here, the ones that have a big family--they built a two-story house.
OB: This is two-story.
SB: Now I don%u2019t know nothing about the double-room people. Then the others came in, and they had a smaller family, and they built a house like that one over there or this one. The man that moved up there on the end--he come with a small family. He ended up--how many young%u2019uns did he have?
OB: Twelve, wasn%u2019t it?
SB: Had twelve young %u2018uns.
OB: That little bitty house on the corner up yonder.
JC: He had them stacked in there like cordwood, didn%u2019t he [laughed]?
BB: Did they blow the whistle to see who got to sleep in the bed, and who had to sleep on the floor?
JC: [Laughed].
SB: I don%u2019t know, but he went and asked Gene Schenck (if they) would build him another room. He said, %u201CWell, I%u2019ll tell you what--when you get another child, I will.%u201D
JC: Did he go get him another one [laughed]?
OB: [Laughed].
SB: Well, I%u2019ll tell you--now you can believe this or not--this is just my thinking. All these people that farmed and had big crowds of young %u2018uns, they done it to put %u2018em in the fields.
JC: Oh, yeah.
SB: But now, there was one that lived on Belmont Hill, and he said he intended to have as many as Mama did, Mama and Daddy. He did; he had fifteen.
OB: [Laughed].
SB: He was A.T. Newton%u2019s brother. And let me tell you--well, I%u2019ve told you enough about Daddy, but I%u2019ve got to tell you this. When something happened at the mill, nobody--and Daddy was in the hospital, they%u2019d come over there and tell Mr. Hawkins what had happened at the mill. Daddy was laying in the hospital and he done it right here in this house--told him what to go do. He said, %u201CNow, if that don%u2019t work, you come down.%u201D Well, if he was at home and they
[ ], he%u2019d say, %u201CYou go try this, and if that don%u2019t work, I%u2019ll just get out of bed and come up there.%u201D Miles Baker told us after Daddy died--he said, %u201CI%u2019m going to tell y%u2019all something. If your daddy had of had an education to go with all of his knowledge, y%u2019all wouldn%u2019t have never wanted for nothing, %u2018cause he%u2019d have gotten a job with a bigger company.%u201D But, we was happy.
We was as happy as we%u2019d of had good sense.
BB: Well, where the Belmont mill is, somewhere along the line, somebody mentioned that there was another little mill on down in behind there. Do you remember another mill?
SB: It was a hosiery mill, but I don%u2019t know the name of it.
BB: Okay, and it was kind of where%u2026
OB: %u2026Where the Chevrolet place is.
BB: Okay.
SB: But it was up here on this street. It wasn%u2019t down in the field.
BB: Okay. Well, that brings to mind when you mentioned that they were talking about putting the big highway out there, the old 74 went right through the middle of town.
OB: Yeah, yeah.
BB: Was there any kind of road there?
SB: No.
BB: So, in other words, they moved houses if there was houses in the way. Of course, they come across cotton patches and corn patches that now has houses, I%u2019m sure, to come to that point.
SB: It was just gardens.
BB: Just a north-south street, then?
SB: Um-hmm.
BB: Okay.
JC: So, which village did you like better, Belmont or Lily, and what were the differences between them?
SB: Well, I was little when I lived in Belmont. I wasn%u2019t but six years old. Mama and them--I remember going upstairs. Now, this was before Mama and Daddy moved in--they went and looked at it. Upstairs, some nut had cooked beans, and they left the pot and beans all over the floor--awfulest mess you ever seen, filthy. It wasn%u2019t filthy long. [Cell phone rang].
BB: Oh, I forgot to cut mine off.
JC: But the differences between the villages--was one nicer or one--which one treated y%u2019all better?
SB: See, we was married when we moved here, and that makes your difference.
JC: Yeah, it makes a difference.
SB: Now, I had a sister that lived on the back line, [ ], and she had a child. We went to South Shelby School. You know where that%u2019s at.
JC: I know down--yes, ma%u2019am.
OB: Down there where Ramblewood%u2019s at now.
JC: We went down there?
BB: Where what?
OB: South Shelby School.
BB: Yeah, we went down through there.
SB: See, they%u2019ve made it to a park, and then the blacks tore it up. But anyway, I lived up yonder. We walked to school and walked all the way back to the bridge, and us young %u2018uns that didn%u2019t have good sense--where we always walked and got across the railroad tracks, there was a dern train. I remember, I crawled in under it one time. That was crazy, but I didn%u2019t know no better. And I%u2019ll tell you another thing. Do you remember when the war was going on, and the train come up here with the soldiers and it parked right behind the Belmont Mill? You remember it?
BB: I can remember when we had to turn the lights off at night, and all of that.
SB: Well, we hung quilts up over the window.
BB: Yeah, yeah.
SB: So no light could come--. But anyway, I think it was--I don%u2019t know--people from Camp [ ] come up here of a weekend. You know, they had big ole dancing, and this and that and another. But anyway--now, I was scared when them Army boys got out with them guns. I don%u2019t know what they was doing. Protecting us, I reckon. There was a woman that worked in the mill--you know, they didn%u2019t call it a porch; they called it %u201Cout on a rock.%u201D She got out there and throwed pieces of loaf bread to everybody standing around [others laughed]. They stayed there a long time.
JC: You said earlier that y%u2019all didn%u2019t--there won%u2019t much for radios, but did y%u2019all have a radio growing up?
SB: Yeah, Daddy bought it from Sears. It wasn%u2019t allowed to play--only on Saturday night.
JC: What kind of music would y%u2019all listen to?
SB: On Saturday night we%u2019d listen to the Grand Ole Opry.
BB: [Laughed].
JC: Grand Old Opry?
SB: Yeah. Do you remember Amos %u2018n%u2019 Andy?
JC: Uh-huh.
BB: Oh, yeah. Yes, sir.
SB: Now Daddy loved to listen to them, but most of the time, you wasn%u2019t supposed to turn it on unless it was time for the news.
JC: The news? So you got to listen to the news and the Opry on Saturdays?
SB: Yeah.
JC: So what station was it from? Was it way off?
SB: It was up in Tennessee.
JC: Tennessee station?
OB: Nashville.
BB: Nashville, yeah. Was that--in that time, you were talking about just AM. You had the one band, you didn%u2019t have%u2026
SB: %u2026Lord, yeah.
OB: Yeah.
SB: And there wasn%u2019t no such thing as TV%u2019s.
JC: Would other people come over and sit with y%u2019all and listen to the radio?
SB: Now, back then, honey, if it was the summertime, you sat on the porch.
JC: Yeah, stay cool.
SB: You didn%u2019t always.
BB: [Laughed].
JC: It was still hot, but you tried--a little cooler than being in the house, I guess [laughed].
SB: But you know, you don%u2019t see people sitting on the porch no more.
JC: No, they go to the back now. Seems like the back yard is the big thing.
SB: No, now I ain%u2019t going to sit in the back yard. When we got land land all the way down to the creek--. It%u2019s pretty, if you want to go out there and let the bugs eat you up.
BB: How secure did you feel back then. Did you have to lock the doors at night?
SB: Shoot fire, no!
BB: You didn%u2019t?
SB: No. Sure didn%u2019t.
BB: Go to sleep with your screen door open and unlocked and your windows raised up, and all of that.
SB: Yeah, raised the window if you had to, to get to breathe.
BB: Yeah.
SB: In the wintertime, Mama must have had that problem with her feet burning, and she%u2019d raise the window and stick her feet out the window.

BEGINNING OF THIRD TRACK
BB: You may have had a while after y%u2019all got married before you had a car. Did you have a car when you first got%u2026
SB: Well, sure we had a car!
BB: Oh, did you? Okay, so you didn%u2019t have to worry about--I was going to ask when the city bus, so to speak, came into being. There used to be buses that went out in different--they covered, I guess, every street in town.
SB: Oh, you had a certain spot.
BB: A certain spot? You had to go to a bus stop?
SB: Um-hmm.
BB: Okay. But, when you got married, you had a vehicle.
SB: Yeah, we had a vehicle before we got married.
JC: What did you have?
SB: How do you think we went dating?
BB: Oh! Oh, okay.
JC: How long y%u2019all been married?
SB: Sixty years.
JC: Sixty years.
OB: This past June.
SB: Now, every minute wasn%u2019t happy. [Others laughed].
JC: Well, you ain%u2019t supposed to be. I don%u2019t think that%u2019s what it%u2019s all about, is it [laughed]?
SB: Well, I%u2019ll tell you right now, we%u2019ve had about as much happiness as we have sorrow.
BB: How many children is it that you have?
SB: Oh, I had two and had two [ ], so--. Right up here they are.
BB: Oh, okay.
OB: Boy and a girl.
BB: We were talking yesterday about if you were around, Jeff, in this area if you%u2019re a Hamrick, Green, McSwain, or Bridges, or something like that--. Well, Selma and Otha has Hamrick connections too. Their granddaughter married one of the Hamrick boys in Boiling Springs, so they%u2019ve got the connections with the county names. All of those are%u2026
JC: Yeah, we were--I was noticing up in--when we were at Cliffside, that the names over in Cliffside and the names over here are pretty much the same names, going back and forth.
SB: All right, do you remember Mr. [ ] Hawkins over there?
JC: I don%u2019t know him.
SB: His name is [ ] Hawkins; that was my daddy%u2019s brother. And there was a boy--called him %u201CWormy%u201D--painted over there.
BB: James, they called him Wormy.
OB: Yeah.
BB: And then they had another son they called %u201CPie Face.%u201D
SB: Which one was that, Garland?
BB: Yeah, yeah.
JC: Pie Face?
SB: And then, Howard.
BB: Howard, yeah. Howard married%u2026
SB: %u2026He had a pretty wife%u2026
BB: %u2026Howard married a Bridges.
SB: That%u2019s our daughter [showed pictures]. That%u2019s her son. Son, you see that, don%u2019t you?
JC: Yeah.
SB: That%u2019s a daughter. That%u2019s the oldest, and that%u2019s the one that married the Hamrick.
JC: Okay.
SB: And that%u2019s their brother. That%u2019s their daddy.
JC: That%u2019s a good-looking family.
SB: Um-hmm. I%u2019ll bet you know Wayne. I%u2019ve got pictures everywhere.
OB: Our son worked for the state; he retired.
JC: Yeah.
SB: And their little great--our great-grandson. I know it don%u2019t mean nothing to you, but it%u2019s precious to us.
JC: [Laughed].
SB: Have you got any children?
JC: No.
BB: This rascal, they can%u2019t talk him into marrying them.
JC: I ain%u2019t married nobody yet.
SB: Well, he may know something, you know?
BB: Yeah [laughed].
JC: Well, I ain%u2019t wanting to struggle if they do it, you know?
SB: And he%u2019s two years old. He looks a lot bigger. And they brought him down the aisle in a wagon.
JC: In a little wagon?
SB: Yeah, and he didn%u2019t let out a word.
OB: He sat in that wagon all during the marriage ceremony.
BB: And didn%u2019t make a noise?
SB: Huh-uh.
JC: Y%u2019all looking good there, I%u2019ll tell you.
SB: Shoot, yeah. We clean up good.
JC: I tell you, you%u2019ve got them dresses and suits on [everyone laughed]. Uh-huh, you%u2019ve got the %u201Cgo-to-meeting%u201D clothes on there.
SB: Not in our church. We don%u2019t dress up [laughed].
JC: Back in the day, everybody seemed to.
SB: Oh, yeah.
JC: That%u2019s nice.
SB: Thank you. You%u2019ve seen them, ain%u2019t you?
BB: Oh, yeah. Yeah, you brought them Monday, I believe, is when I got to see them.
SB: I told [ ]--I said, %u201CI%u2019ve shown them to everybody.%u201D
BB: I thought I had another question or two, but I can%u2019t seem to come up with them. Do you come up with any more?
JC: I%u2019ve just been enjoying this.
SB: I think we%u2019ve about talked him to death.
JC: [Laughed]. Oh, it%u2019s hard to talk me to death, now.
SB: Well, honey, I can talk!
JC: [Laughed].
SB: Somebody said something about talking and I said, %u201CListen, I want to tell you something. As long as I%u2019m living, I%u2019ll [ ].%u201D
JC: [Laughed].
SB: If I can. If I can.
JC: Well, my mama is that way. My mama, she%u2019s always been tough, and she tells you exactly what she thinks, and I like that.
SB: Well, you just stop and think about it, and don%u2019t answer just %u2018cause I do that. But hadn%u2019t you rather somebody do that than for you to wonder what they meant?
JC: Well, it%u2019s just--yeah, you know where they stand.
SB: That%u2019s right.
JC: I mean, you%u2019d rather have somebody in your face telling you something you don%u2019t like, than have somebody telling you something that%u2019s all sweet, and they go behind your back and they lie about it.
SB: I used to have to go to a therapist %u2018cause I was sick and couldn%u2019t get well and all this junk. She told me one morning--she said, %u201CSelma, let me tell you something, honey. You%u2019ve got something%u201D--and I thought she was lying like a dog. She said, %u201CYou%u2019ve got something that the richest of people would love to have.%u201D I said, %u201CLord, what in the world could that be?%u201D She said, %u201CPersonality.%u201D
JC: Hmm.
BB: Can%u2019t buy those.
JC: No, you can%u2019t.
SB: That makes you feel pretty good.
JC: Yeah.
BB: That%u2019s right.
JC: So, overall, growing up here, over there by the Belmont, did you enjoy it? I mean, really? The family life and the community?
SB: We didn%u2019t know no better!
JC: [Laughed]. I guess if you don%u2019t know nothing else, I guess you do enjoy it.
SB: I%u2019d go out and play a little bit, and I%u2019ll tell Mama I couldn%u2019t read, you know. She%u2019d see me out there playing and having a good time; she had three things I needed to do. She%u2019d call me in the house, tell me I was just lazy and didn%u2019t want to get my schoolwork.

BEGINNING OF FOURTH TRACK
BB: On the mill villages, was it pretty common for the husband and the wife to work?
SB: Yeah.
BB: Okay. What did the--what did the women do about looking after the children, like this time of year when school%u2019s out? Did they hire somebody to look after their children?
SB: They--depended on the family.
BB: A lot of times, the mom would live them and could look after them?
SB: Um-hmm.
BB: But it was pretty common back then for the husband and wife to%u2026
SB: %u2026Yeah%u2026
BB: %u2026both work to help make ends meet?
SB: Yeah.
JC: Would they both work in the mill, or would one of them?...
SB: Most of them, yeah.

BEGINNING OF FIFTH TRACK
BB: Do you remember many blacks, or any blacks that worked at the plant? Didn%u2019t have any?
SB: Not many.
BB: Oh, you did have some?
SB: They had a few.
BB: What type work did they do?
SB: They drove a truck.
BB: Drove the trucks? Handle cotton or anything like that?
SB: Well, what I remember is driving the truck, and maybe carrying a shipment of something somewhere.
BB: Yeah, yeah. Okay.
SB: Of course, you know I didn%u2019t work out there much.
BB: Yeah.
SB: We got engaged, and Otha said, %u201CI%u2019ll give you fifty dollars if you%u2019ll just go buy you an outfit and let us go ahead and get married.%u201D Oh, no! I was going to work and buy my own. If I%u2019d known what I know now, I%u2019d have took that fifty dollars!%u201D [Everyone laughed].
BB: All right, that%u2019s pretty much what [ ].
JC: Well, we thank you so much.
SB: Well, you%u2019re quite welcome. I enjoyed it.
END OF INTERVIEW

Transcriber: Mike Hamrick
Date: August 24th, 2009