A Farmer With Seven Girls! Poor Grandpa!
Yes, my grandparents had seven daughters, my mother being the eldest. So naturally they had to do chores. My mother learned to sew when she was 9 and by the time she was 12, she was making wedding dresses for friends. She didn’t have patterns. She cut a pattern out of newspaper, then out of 5 cent a yard muslin. Then she fitted it on the bride and voila! I am sorry I did not inherit my mother’s ability to sew, however she did teach me to crochet and embroider. Now embroidering is a lost art.
My Mother was an avid reader and did well in school. When she finished as high as school went then(she was born in 1882)she would be allowed to teach the lower grades— if she went to Summer Normal. However, since my grandmother was crippled she opted to stay home and help her with the household chores.
My Dad was a farmer also with four girls. How cruel is that? We also had chores to do. My Dad spoiled us by planting an acre of cotton next to the house so when we took care of it we could go inside and make tea or lemonade. We had to thin it, chop, weed it and finally had to pick it.That acre of cotton would make a bale and that is what we had to spend on our school clothes. But don’t despair—you could buy pretty gingham and calicoes for 15 and 19 cents a yard, and since my Mother and my Aunt could sew we had it made.
My Dad wanted two things for us: To be good girls, go to Sunday School and Church and get a good education. If you have never lived in the black dirt you wouldn’t know this but: When black dirt gets wet it is like black tar and the only thing that can matriculate in it is a horse, wagon. or a Model T Ford. When the buses didn’t run my Dad rigged up a two-wheeled cart with a small pot-bellied heater and a tarp over it. He put 2 bales of hay on either side where we were to sit. Once we sat down we did not get up as the wagon would tilt. We were a funny looking bunch.
Since we lived in the country my sister, Lois, decided she would learn to drive the old Model T Ford. She was so tiny she sat on 2 pillows so she could see over the dash board. It took her and my older sister both to crank it. You should have seen us going to church in that. We were dressed to the nines and on Easter had our hats on!
Avid readers are usually good spellers so my sisters and I entered the UIL contests. My sister, Norma, and I entered four times and won four times. Lois and her classmate, Van Johnson, entered and won a first. My oldest sister, Fae, entered with our Presbyterian pastor’s daughter and won first AND a silver loving cup. By the time we younger ones entered they no long gave away loving cups and we just got a blue ribbon. Bummer! I understand that some of my great grand nieces are good spellers too.
I have more stories but don’t want to bore you so until next time I am Mama Connie signing off.
