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Martha Pruett: Lorraine’s sister
Laura Bridges: Interviewer (student from Bland High School)
Robbie Morehead: History teacher at Bland High School
Mr. Dodson: History teacher at Rocky Gap High School who started the Bland County History archives
Laura: OK, my name is Laura Bridges and I’m interviewing...
Lorraine: Uh, Lorraine Tolbert
Martha: Martha Pruett
Laura: And the date is 9/10/99
Laura: O.K. When and where were you born?
Lorraine: I was born in Bland County down at,uh, White Gate on the Fanning Farm.
Laura: O.K. and what, when was this?
Lorraine: I was born in 1929.
Laura: O.K.
Martha: I was born in Bland County on, uh, Barbara place in Ceres 1941.
Laura: OK, who was your mother and father?
Lorraine: Well, my father was Orson Willy Jenning and my mother was Maggie Leona, uh, Hamlen Jenning.
Laura: Um, where were they born and raised?
Lorraine: Uh, uh, in Bland...
Laura: OK.
Lorraine: both of them born in Bland.
Laura: What did they do for a living?
Lorraine: Daddy was a farmer and then Mother was a housewife.
Laura: Um, what was your father like?
Lorraine: He was a nice gentle person, sweet loving, and all, but then he had strict rules and when, uh, he promised us a living then we knowed we was gonna get it a week later.
Martha: He, he.
Laura: giggle, giggle. What was your mother like?
Lorraine: We could give my mother most anything.
Laura: Ha, ha, ha, o.k. Who were your grandparents? Oh, I’m sorry. Who were your grandparents?
Lorraine: Uh, Wally Edna Jenning, and all, and my grandmother Jenning was uh, Florence Gertrude Hamilton Jenning.
Laura: Um, where were they born and raised?
Lorraine: Uh, Bland and West Virginia. I’m not sure, I know Grandpaw...Grandpaw Jenning was but I don’t, I don’t know about grandmother.
Laura: What did they do for a living?
Lorraine: They were farmers... back, back, back then that was about all anybody done was just, you know, rent and farming.
Robbie Morehead: What all did you raise on your farm?
Lorraine: Well, uh, Emer and I had cattle and sheep, and you know, and then of course our son Charles he had a horse, and all, named Motten B.
Laura: He he. Um, what were your grandparents like?
Lorraine: Well, my grandmother Hamlen she was, you know, she was nice, and grandpaw he was uh, you know, Mr. Ed Hamlen and all and then Grandpaw Jenning and Grandmaw...they were a little more strict on us children than Grandmaw and Grandpaw Hamlen was and we enjoyed going, you know, to visit them more than, than, we did, you know, our Grandmother Jenning but anyway they were, I mean they were all nice and good to us and they wanted us to be ladylikes, you know, and fixed up pretty and doll up in whatever. (in a whisper) Hurry up!
Laura: Giggle, giggle. Um, who were your brothers and sisters?
Mr. Dodson: Ha, ha, ha
Martha: Go ahead you’re doing fine.
Lorraine: Well, uh, they were, they were nine of us, well actually ten we had uh, we had a little brother, he died when he was a year and a half old, Wallace, and then there was Earl, and then Lorraine, and then Edna May, and then, uh, uh, well, let’s see, Bill, and then Bob, then Martha...
Martha: Well, let’s see, Wallace was in between...
Lorraine: Yeah, I know but I said him first and then um, I remember more alike, Lou,
Martha: And Fred.
Lorraine: and Fred. Is that all ten of ‘em? Nine of us, whatever, really that makes nine.
Martha: Uh-huh. Yeah.
Laura: Um, where were you raised?
Lorraine: Well, uh, I, I was raised in Bland County ‘till I was thirteen years old and then we moved from the Barbara Farm, Charlie Barbara Farm, from, from there over to Dublin on the uh, ...
Martha: Dollins
Lorraine: Yeah, Tommy Dollins farm and then we lived there ‘till I don’t know, I think thirteen years or something, anyway we moved from there up on George Farris’s place and then, then that’s whenever I got married. I run off and got married.
Laura: He he he
Robbie: So, where’d you go to high school at?
Lorraine: Uh, went to Dublin.
Robbie: Dublin
Lorraine: Uh-hum, yep.
Martha: I went to Bland High School. I was younger.
Everybody: Ha, ha, ha
Laura: What did you do for fun when you were small?
Martha: Played ball,
Mr. Dodson: Ha, ha
Martha: Worked.
Laura and Mr. Dodson: Ha, ha, ha
Lorraine: Yeah, we mostly had to work in gardens and, you know, of course we had a lazier time but and all but then we had to carry in wood I had to milk, help milk and feed the hogs and the turkeys and chickens and, and all, and then of course we had back then we didn’t have um, you know electricity, we had to do all our homework by candlelight or by oil lamp or whatever, of course now I don’t think Martha did, did you, Marth?
Martha: No, but at the workdhouse I did.
Lorraine: Oh, ok.
Martha: Before they got electricity. Yeah.
Lorraine: Uh, huh and we and then I had to... well, me and my sister, Edna, and all, then we had to do the washing, you know, on a board, and, you know, you talk about nowadays, and all and they think well, how old are you? You know.
Laura: He, he, he
Lorraine: But, it was, you know, it was fun. You know, children nowadays they don’t, they think we’re crazy, you know, talking about stuff like that washing on a board, and, you know, and then slopping the hogs and milking the cows and churning butter...
Martha: I sure got rough knuckles from scruffing on a board.
Everybody: Giggle, giggle
Laura: What kind of toys did you play with and what kind of games did you play?
Lorraine: Well, we most the time brought a handkerchief, you know, where, you know, a bunch of us, you know, we would play tag and...
Martha: Make mud pies... ha, ha... gather up things and like we was making jelly or something to color, just like that. Ha, ha, ha.
Laura: What were your chores around the house?
Lorraine: Well, you name it and we had to do it. I mean, we had to make the beds, and we had to wash dishes and...
Martha: Milk cows, water hogs, feed the hogs, gather eggs. He he he.
Lorraine: Well, back several, you know, I wasn’t too old, but anyway, uh, you know, every fall, you know, we would sell our turkeys and all and everything then so we, they had a big keg that it would have like, you know, a big barrel, and we would have to pick these turkeys and uh, and all, and then put ‘em in a barrel and ship ‘em out, take ‘em out to the Dublin Depot, and then ship ‘em out and all, and everything then I wasn’t well, I I I guess I was around fourteen or somewhere around there and then you know, we ha..., you know, me and my brother Earl, we had to take and you know, when we came in from school, well then Enda May, she always did the, you know, the cooking and you know helping mother in the house with the, Martha and Lu and Janie and, and all, and um but we would always have to go shuck corn for the hogs and bring it in and you know and feed them and all. So we, we didn’t really have a lot of pleasure but we had a lot of work.
Martha: We had fun while we was working. He he he.
Everybody: Ha, ha, ha, ha
Laura: That’s always good. Um, which was your least favorite chore?
Lorraine: Uh, going to hunt the cows to milk.
Martha: Washing dishes. Ha, ha, ha.
Lorraine: Mine was washing dishes cause I didn’t like to wash dishes but in, you know, we would have to go hunt the cows. They were out in a big pasture field, we would have to go, you know, hunt them in and bring them in and it was...(sigh) a lot of fun but you know really thats, nowadays, and all and everything, you jump in a car and you run and, and all and you don’t, don’t really have a lot to do.
Martha: Mine was washing cans at the cannery.
Laura: He, he, he.
Martha: They were half gallons and they was hard to wash.
Mr. Dodson: Ha, ha, ha
Lorraine: And then to...
Robbie: Ya’ll don’t like canning?
Martha: Yeah.
Lorraine: Yeah. Well, you know, we would, you know, would pick cherries and, you know, and berries but Daddy’d always say, “Well, when ya’ll get fifty uh, half a gallon cans of berries or fifty half a gallon of cherries then what you all picked you all can sell.” And you talking about picking berries and whatever. Then we would really pick ‘em and all and everything but we made a lot of money out of selling our berries and our cherries and, and all and of course, you know, picking beans. We’d have a lot of beans and maybe we’d sell ‘em for, what was it five dollars a bushel or whatever? It wasn’t very much.
Martha: I really don’t know.
Lorraine: And all and everything but... you know with nine of us and then with Daddy and Mother, it really, you know, that was eleven of us and so uh, we had to can up a lot and, you know, then of course he would kill hogs and , and uh, you know, uh, and then, then the man that he lived on the farm for, they would use it, you know, kill beef and then, you know, give us beef and they gave us some, flour, wheat to make flour out of and...
Martha: Sell hogs in the fall, enough to buy everybody a pair of new shoes.
Laura: Ha, ha, he, he
Lorraine: And spin clothes and Mother made our clothes a lot, you know, she knowed how to sew and, and all, and we didn’t have a lot of dresses and, and all. Me and Edna May, like we were about the same age and then we would take and, uh, and all and then I would wear, like a dress on Monday and then maybe she’d wear the same dress then, then, on a Friday, but then we rotated around and all but a lot of times we had to come in and wash some of our clothes in order to have clean clothes to wear back to school the next day.
Laura: Ok, what was your favorite chore?
Lorraine: I don’t know that’s really hard to say, I mean...
Martha: You had to like ‘em all.
Laura: He, he
Martha: You had to do ‘em whether you did like ‘em or not. He, he,he
Lorraine: Yeah, and then, you know, Daddy’d say, “Well, listen,Lorraine, you and Earl, ya’ll get in so much wood, you know, for, you know, cause back then we had wood stoves and, uh, and all, and then sometime we wouldn’t get in as much as he thought we would burn that night, and all, and he’d say, “Well, listen, children you all are gonna have to do what I tell you. If you don’t then, then it gets dark then you all are gonna have to go out after dark and get it in.” So, we thought we would try his, you know, strategy out, or whatever, and all, and so one night we didn’t, uh, we didn’t get in the so many wraps of whatever he had there for us to do. So, he said,uh, “Lorraine, you and Earl didn’t get in enough wood and listen, ya’ll better take the flashlight and go get in another couple of loads.” And, you know, we, we, we wasn’t really skilled but then we didn’t want to go out after dark but from then on don’t you think we didn’t get our, our wood in?
Laura: He, he, he... What was your house like?
Lorraine: Well, it wasn’t,uh, a new house but it, it was just a tented house, rented house, and all and everything, and a lot of times it was mostly painted, and all and everything, and, you know, just...
Martha: Hardwood floors.
Lorraine: Yeah, yeah, them had, you know, uh, what anoliums over the floor, and all and everything. I know one time, when we lived, uh, I believe it was up on the Greenville Farm, and all, and they just had strips down, you know, nailed over the cracks and all and everything, and, and all, and then sometimes when we would get up, whenever the wind would blow real bad, we would get up, and all, and there would be snow on the cover on our beds.
Robbie: Whistles in astonishment.
Everyone: Makes sounds of disbelief and astonishment.
Lorraine: I mean it wasn’t that much but it was you know...
Martha: On the pillows there, I always slept in the front next to the window and there would be um, two or three inches on the pillows. Ha
Laura: Sheeww. Ha, ha
Lorraine: Yeah.
Martha: But we had that thick covers, we didn't get cold.
Laura: That’s good.
Martha: Ha,ha. Probably why I got sinus today though. He he
Everybody: Ha, ha, ha, ha ha
Robbie: Probably so.
Laura: How was your house heated?
Lorraine: Uh, by wood. We had a, we had a cook stove in the kitchen to cook on and, and all and then, then in the, the living room, uh,then we had uh, you know, a big, great big ‘ole heater and, and then in another room if it was, you know, where we had to have extra heat in, in the boys bedroom, then they would have a small heater in there. But it took a lot of wood.
Laura: He,he
Lorraine: And then...
Martha: Some of them had fireplace too.
Lorraine: Yeah.
Martha: The old workhouse.
Lorraine: The old workhouse down here, you know, on the Allen, you know, the Allen farm down here, you know, and all and everything. Of course I was married then but Daddy and them lived there and all, and uh, of course they’re tearing it down now, and all and everything, but it had a fireplace in it and it, you’d would burn up on one side and freeze on the other.
Laura: He. Did you have running water?
Lorraine: No, we had a, we had a systerum and we had uh, uh, a lot of times before we ever got, you know, a regular pump to go in, we would have uh, it had a big thing, and then we would have a rope we would take and go down in the well and then it had a kind of sinkoid thing on it, and all, and it would sink the bucket and then we’d bring it up. But then, you know, in maybe a year or so or something, then they, we got a, you know, a pump where we could just go out and we had to prime it, and all and everything to do that with.
Martha: And in other times we had to carry it for half a mile across
Lorraine: Yeah.
Martha: springs.
Lorraine: And then when we needed it to wash with, we washed on a board, but we had big barrels and, and stuff to uh, you know, to, to wash in, you know, to catch our wash water in so we wouldn’t have to carry it all.
Martha: Catch rain water. He, he, he
Lorraine: Uh-huh. I mean it seemed like the clothes washed better in the rain water.
Laura: What did you...cook on? What did you cook your food on?
Lorraine: Uh,...
Martha: A cook stove. A wood cook stove.
Laura: A wood cook stove... How were your clothes washed and dried?
Lorraine: Well, we washed ‘em on a board and then we would take ‘em and, and all, and then we had another tub and we would put ‘em over in it and, you know, wring ‘em out and then we’d put them over in it and rinse ‘em and, and all, and if we seen an old dirty spot that we didn’t get off, then we would have to put it back over and redo it, and all and everything, then we took ‘em out and hung ‘em on the line.
Laura: Where did you get your hair cut?
Lorraine: I didn’t have my hair cut. I had, I could sit on my hair, and all, and I could, you know, I had it braided, and all and everything, and then I learnt after so many years, I learnt to, you know, to plait it, and all, and then it was long, so then whenever I started in high school over in Dublin, and all and everything, and everybody was beginning to get their hair cut a little bit shorter, and all, and I asked Daddy, I said, “Daddy, can I get my hair cut?,” and he said, “No, honey you can’t.,” and I said, “Oh, please everybody,uh, else is.” He said, “Yeah, but you’re not everybody.,” and all and everything then, so, I thought, “Well, I’m gonna get it cut, I know I’ll get a whipping for it, but anyway I’m gonna get it cut anyway.” So, I went out and got it cut shoulder length, you know, shoulder, and all and everything, and when he came in, I had it tied up, you know, kind’ve plaited up around my head, and all, and he kept looking at me and he said, “Honey, did you cut your hair?” and I said, “Yeah.” “How much did you cut off?” I said, “Not a whole lot.” He say, “Well, now what did I tell you?” I said, “Yeah, but Daddy...” I said, “ You know, I don’t wanna be laughed at, at school.” He said, “Well, o.k.” So, I just kept nipping a little, and nipping a little, and all, and so he, look at it today! Ha, ha, ha.
Robbie: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Lorraine: But...
Martha: I got mine cut too.
Lorraine: Yeah.
Laura: He, he
Lorraine: But, I had...
Martha: Just a little trim on the end for the main meeting,
Laura: Uh-huh
Martha: And from then on I got eeeaased on up.
Laura and Robbie: He, he, he
Lorraine: Yeah, and all
Robbie: A little processed.
Lorraine: Right.
Martha: A little bit at a time so no one would notice it so bad.
Lorraine: But, I had curly hair, uh, and all, and then, you know, I kept wanting to get it cut a little more and so, where I could get it short enough to get me a permanent, and all, and then the first permanent I ever got, it was this here old heated, uh, you know, where they heat, uh, the curlers where they put in your hair,
Laura: Uh-huh
Lorraine: and all and everything, and then they burnt my hair, and all, and my hair never was, curly, really curly anymore. And I always kind’ve hate, you know, sorry, that I ever done it.
Laura: He
Lorraine: So, I guess I got paid back, cause Daddy didn’t want me to cut it.
Everybody: Ha, ha, ha
Laura: Did you have an outhouse?
Lorraine: Yes. Yeah, and it wasn’t too far from the house, but anyway, we made our visits, and all, before dark. But then we had a, a potty chair, and all, that we used in the night.
Laura: Uh,...I think...
Robbie: We outta tape? Is it on pause?
Lorraine: (in a whisper) Cut this off.
Robbie: Let’s rewind this tape.
A little more racket and then the tape is turned off.
The tape is then turned back on.
Laura: What did you grow in your garden?
Lorraine: Uh, about, all kinds of vegetables. I mean, tomatoes, and potatoes, and peas, and, you know, squash, just...
Martha: Beans.
Lorraine: Yeah. About everything.
Martha: Corn. Most anything we could grow.
Laura: What was your favorite food?
Lorraine: Potatoes... because you could...
Marth: Potatoes and beans. He, he, he
Lorraine: Because you could fix ‘em so many different ways, you know, the potatoes, and all, and uh, and then we had a big pot that we cooked a lot of dried beans in and then we would have potatoes, and cornbread, and slaw, and, and then, of course we churned our own butter, you know, made our own butter and had our own milk and, and all, and sometimes before we go to bed, and all and everything, if we thought we was, if we had little more extra homework, while we would, take and fix us a bowl of cornbread...
Laura: He, he
Lorraine: and all, and have us some cornbread before we go to bed.
Laura: He, he, he
Robbie: How long did it take to churn butter?
Lorraine: Well, it depends on , it depends, depends on how, you know, how sour the cream was, and all, and if it was pretty sour it didn’t take very long, but if it, if it, if it was real sour, then it kinda made the butter bitter, so, then, just the things that kinda begin to, to blanket like, you know, kinda curdle like, then Momma would say well, it was time to churn, and all, and sometimes, you know, we would have to churn, maybe, up and down half an hour or, or...
Martha: Sometimes seemed like two hours.
Lorraine: Yeah. We would churn awhile and then, then say, “Well, listen,you know, let the other one churn awhile,” and all and everything. It depends, and all, but if you, you could make it a little, you know, kinda a little bit quicker by pouring a little warm water in it, but then, you know, then that would make it white and then you couldn’t sell it. So, we sold eggs and butter and, you know, kinda to help out on the grocery bill. To buy sugar and coffee and that’s but about all, you know, and things we had to buy.
Laura: Where did you go to school?
Lorraine: Well,uh, I went, uh, to Bland up here and uh, I was in Ms. Muncey, Ms. Hilly Muncey and all, I went to her and she was my fifth grade teacher and then we moved from Charlie Barbers then over to Dublin and I went in, then I went over there, and then mother got real sick and all, and then my sister Edna and I, we had to take every other day to go to, uh, you know, to stay at home and take care of the, the small children, and all and everything, and then so she would go one day and I would go the next and I’d get my homework and whatever, but yet we missed, we did good in our homework, but yet we missed too many days in order to pass that year. So, then in the sixth grade, I failed, and all, and then, but other than that why, you know, everything went pretty good.
Laura: OK, I’ll ask you the same thing?
Martha: I started school in Dublin, and then I finished up in Bland County. I started every year in the second grade, half way through the second grade and I went, I didn’t miss any days except, I believe my senior year. I got silver dollars for each year that, that I didn’t miss.
Laura: Uh-huh
Martha: The teacher would give you a silver dollar
Laura: Uh-huh
Martha: and so I was trying to make a dollar but I gave up on it the twelfth year. Ha, ha, ha
Laura: He, he, he
Lorraine: Well, you played basketball too. You was...a star in that wasn’t you?
Martha: Yeah. Star player in it.
Laura: Oh, that’s good.
Lorraine: Yeah. Still got that trophy over there, over there in Bland High School.
Martha: Yeah, I got a trophy in Bland High School building.
Laura: Oh, really?
Martha: Yeah.
Lorraine: In the showcase.
Robbie: Did you go to the championship?
Martha: Uh-huh. They had it at Rocky Gap that year.
Robbie: Uh-huh
Martha: We played Auburn. They was one a lot taller than me and then, then there was another one that was taller than me but we, I think I had a heart attack at the end.
Laura: He, he
Martha: I couldn’t enjoy it for hurting so bad, but I was determined to win. Ha, ha, ha
Laura: He, he
Lorraine: And ya’ll did win.
Robbie: What other sports did you play?
Martha: Oh, we played all-around, about the same ones...
Robbie: About the same as today?
Martha: Yeah, uh-huh.
Robbie: Did you play up in Wagner Auditorium?
Martha and Lorraine: Yeah...
Martha: uh-hum, yeah. We didn’t have the new one then.
Robbie: Yeah.
Laura: Did they play half-court or full-court back then?
Martha: Well, it was just like the boys game, you know, then. They had a boys game and a girls game
Laura: Uh-huh.
Martha: both the same night.
Laura: Oh, really?
Martha: Yeah.
Laura: What was school like?
Lorraine: Um, I hated school.
Laura: He
Lorraine: I did not like school,
Laura: He, he
Lorraine: but I loved Science and whenever I got in high school I made real good on Science but English was my poor subject because I didn’t like the nouns and the pronouns.
Laura: He
Martha: I liked school myself. And...I really liked it.
Robbie: What did the old school building up here at Bland look like? Uh, the old, did you go to the old building...?
Martha: Yeah, but, uh, it’s, um, its...
Robbie: Was it...
Martha: It was just the big building, you know, and then the room on each side and then the hallway in the middle that you went back and forth across halls too. It was...mainly a big building all together, it wadn’t, lockers and, you know, stuff like that in it. You had to carry your books. He, he, he
Laura: He, he
Robbie: It was two stories? Is that...
Martha: Nooo,
Robbie: No?
Martha: it was just, uh, one story back then.
Robbie: One story? Oh, ok.
Martha: Uh-huh.
Laura: What did you study...in school?
Lorraine: Well, I learned a lot in school but just the main subjects, and all and everything, I didn’t, I didn’t like Chemistry, and all, and I didn’t like cutting up the frogs and all that,
Laura and Robbie and Martha: He, he he
Lorraine: and I just I didn’t, I didn’t do that of course we had, they had a real good, uh, you know, uh, Chemistry, uh, class and stuff over in Dublin, and all and everything, but whenever they would go to, to do this, and, and all, and they would, you know, they had a rat. Well, they said it was a rat but it looked more like a mouse to me,
Laura: He, he
Lorraine: but anyway, they was gonna, you know, cut it up, and, you know, do things like that. And I tell ‘em that it made me sick. So, I got out of that class.
Laura: Ha, ha
Lorraine: Real quick! He,he
Laura: Ha, ha
Martha: I never did take that subject either cause if I we’da done it I wadn’t around.
Laura: He, he What other classes did you take other than...?
Lorraine: Dublin High School, well I mean, I took, you know, the regular English and Math and I didn’t take Biology. I didn’t like that, and all, but I mean, just the regular, ordinary classes, and all, but, what we was required, you know,
Martha: Typing, shorthand, bookkeeping, and all the regular ones, you know, those things.
Lorraine: Yeah, you done real good in school.
Martha: Thank ya.
Laura and Martha: Ha, ha, ha
Laura: What did you pack for lunch?
Lorraine: Well, you won’t believe what we packed our lunch, we had a syrup bucket, you know, back then we bought syrup in these little half a gallon buckets,
Laura: Uh-huh.
Lorraine: and all and everything, and then sometime we would take it in a brown bag but then, very seldom we ever got a brown bag, so we would have, each one of us have our own...uh, lunch box and it was a syrup box and then we would take, maybe, tenderloin, and all, biscuits, or, or apple butter biscuits, or, you know, just...
Martha: Beans,
Lorraine: jelly, jelly...
Martha: pinto beans.
Lorraine: Yeah, sometimes we, I, you know I liked, uh,
Everybody: Ha, ha, ha (something Martha said but couldn’t distinguish)
Lorraine: to take uh, you know, take and mash up brown beans and put, you know butter in ‘em or a little ketchup and, and all, and then put ‘em in a little dish-like and set ‘em down in there. Of course they were cold or if they wanted to then they had a place along where they, we could set, you know, our lunch in the sun, let it warm before we ate, and all and everything, and, and then it, it took pretty good but when you were hungry, you know, you got up and you had to do this milking and all this stuff before you went to school and then when we lived over here at this old, uh,...uh, where this, you know, mill dam was, you know, over here on uh, what is it, Walker Creek over there?
Robbie: Walker Creek.
Lorraine: Yeah, and all and everything, we lived on uh, on Arthur Kings’ place, in Jack Kings’ Daddy’s place, and all, and then we walked, had to walk from there down to uh, the Walker School House, and we would go around this cliff, and all and everything, and then, it was, what, a good mile or better, and all and everything, and we didn’t, we didn’t get out of school like they do now, too cold or, you know, snow’s too deep, or whatever, then earlier, and then us bigger ones would walk, you know, make a path for the little ones, and all and everything, but then, you know, we had good warm clothes, and had gloves, and we would, you know, they didn’t have these here toboggans like they got with the masks in ‘em. We would just take, uh, one of the children’s diapers, you know, that’s clean, and then just tie over our face, and all to uh, you know, to keep the cold out, you know, from, you know, being so cold on our, to breathe.
Laura: So, you walked to school?
Lorraine: Uh-huh. Well, now that was one year we had to walk, I believe it was, maybe a year or a year and a half and, and we, we moved there into, you know, Mr. Wigger’s place.
Martha: They had school buses when I started, but still we lived off of the road, and...
Lorraine: And...
Martha: and had to walk up to the road to catch the bus.
Laura: To catch the school bus.
Martha: Yeah.
Lorraine: But we didn’t...
Martha: When you’re in the first grade, you know, it’s a pretty good walk.
Laura and Robbie and Martha: He, he
Lorraine: And they didn’t have kindergarton back then, we just, you know, you started in, in the first grade but the older ones...
Robbie: All the way up through twelfth?
Lorraine: Yeah, no, up to eleventh,
Robbie: You just had eleventh?
Lorraine: we, we just had the eleventh.
Robbie: Oh, the eleventh grade,
Lorraine: Uh-hum
Robbie: Ok
Lorraine: Yeah.
Martha: We started the twelfth grade, the year after I graduated, I believe in Bland.
Robbie: What year did you graduate?
Martha: ‘59
Robbie: ‘59.
Martha: Uh-huh.
Robbie: Ok. What year, year did you graduate?
Lorraine: Well, I didn’t graduate, I mean, I...
Robbie: Oh, ok.
Lorraine: Um, I, I got my GED test, but I came back, I don’t know, uh, I believe Charles was already born, and all, and he was born in ‘53, and all, and uh, I believe it was in ‘69 that I got my GED test.
Robbie: Good.
Lorraine: And all because I wanted to, uh, you know, to be the teacher’s aide, you know, during the assignment, and all, and I helped, uh, I was chosen, uh, Ms. uh, Ramsey. No, Mrs. Labellops. Yeah, yeah. Or Ms. Ethelbillops, I believe that was her name, Ms. Ethelbillops, and all, and, and then she and I was, uh, you know, that summer,
Robbie: Uh-huh.
Lorraine: and all and everything, and I really did li...I really did like it. You know, I loved to be with the children, and everybody liked me and that was Rita, uh, you know, Rita Locust, nowadays, but that was my sister, Lou’s girl, and that was the year, that, that she started, and uh, I believe, Lisa, your, your, little girl started that year, and then my,
Martha: Yes, they started the same year.
Lorraine: my Pete
Martha and Lorraine: Uh-huh
Martha: Yeah.
Lorraine: Yeah, so uh...
Robbie: You need to get another tape cause we gotta have it.
Tape is cut off.
Tape is turned back on.
Laura: Ok, who were your teachers?
Martha: Hmm...
Lorraine: Um, I can’t remember that but I know Ms. Via, she was, uh, my, my sixth grade teacher in Dublin when we moved over there.
Laura: Uh-huh.
Lorraine: And she was a good teacher but if she wore purple we knew that she was gonna be mad that day.
Laura: He, he
Lorraine: And we all knew to be quiet,
Laura and Robbie: He, he, he
Lorraine: and not be saying nothing, but if she wore pink, we could do most anything, and she was just as happy as a lark, but we knowed when she wore purple,
Laura: He, he
Lorraine: nooot to be mean.
Laura and Robbie: Ha, ha, ha
Laura: Ok. Who were your teachers?
Martha: Well, in the grade school, I can remember Ms. Franklin, and then in high school...
Laura: Achoo!
Lorraine: Ms. Lydia Stuart,uh, uh, Ms. Mary Stuart, and all, and Ms...
Martha: I didn’t have her.
Lorraine: And, I know, but Ms. uh,
Martha: Nunn?
Lorraine: No, Ms. Meryl Stuart and uh, Ms. Georgey,
Martha: Georgey?
Lorraine: uh-huh, and then, what was her name? Ms. Georgey, uh, who, who was Ms. Georgey?
Martha: I had Ms. Bird.
Lorraine: But, anyway...
Martha: Ms. Georgey Bird.
Laura: Uh-huh.
Lorraine: uh...
Martha: She was a good teacher.
Lorraine: Ms. Myrtle, Ms. Myrtle Stuart was my first grade student in Bland, and I believe she was your aunt wadn’t she?
Robbie: She was.
Martha: Wh...
Lorraine: She was a sweet woman.
Martha: Who?
Lorraine: Ms. Myrtle Stuart.
Martha: Yeah.
Laura: How did the teachers make the students behave?
Lorraine: Well, they do a lot different than they do today because, uh, hhhmmm, you know, they could paddle you then,
Laura: He
Lorraine: and then, you know, nowadays they cain’t and I, and I, you know, then they’d say, “Well, listen now don’t catch you talking anymore,” and you know and they were made to pop our hands like that, and all and everything, and then they had a paddler. They would really, you know, they really paddled ‘em, and, and of course I never got but one whipping in school, and I asked for it.
Laura: Ha, ha, ha
Lorraine: That was when we was going down here at, uh, at, uh, you know Walkers Creek School, and then Margaret Thompson, you know, she taught all of the seventh grade, you know, one through seven, and all, and she told me, she said, “Lorraine,” she said, “if you don’t have your math by tomorrow,” and all said, “you’re going to get a spanking,” Well, she had told me that a couple times before and she never did, and I thought, “Well, I’m just trying her out and see.”
Laura: He, he
Lorraine: And all and everything, and then so, uh, I, well, uh, write two problems and I said, “Na, she ain’t gonna whip me. She done threatened me too much.” Well, whenever I went in, and all, that, that day and, you know, and come to my class, you know, we had sections and all, and uh, she’d say, “Well, Lorriane have you got your, uh, uh, all your math?” I said, “All but two.” She said, “What did I tell you?” and I said, “Well, yeah, you been threatening me too many times and I just trying you out.” She said, “This time you gonna get it.”
Laura: He, he, he
Lorraine: So she took me, and, and, told me to come up to the front of the room and that really, she didn’t hit me hard enough to hurt but the embarrassment, that, that was really what hurt, was in front of the class.
Laura: He.
Lorraine: And buddy from that on, I mean that was the only time I ever got a spanking, but I, you know, when she told me to get my lessons, then I knowed to get it.
Laura: He,he
Lorraine: (coughs)
Martha: I was a good girl. I didn’t get in no trouble.
Lorraine: Well, I knew I was going to get in one, cause I, she was just trying me out.
Laura and Martha: Ha, ha, ha
Laura: So, that was the only time...
Lorraine: That was the only time...
Laura: you ever got in trouble at school?
Lorraine: Uh-huh, uh-huh. Yeah, they said...
Laura: (laughing) Did you ever get in trouble?
Martha: No, I didn’t geta whipping, He, he, he
Laura and Martha: He, he
Lorraine: No, I was a good girl in school. (kind’ve sarcastically)
Martha: Let’s see, in, uh, first grade, I believe, over at Dublin, she smacked my hand with a ruler, one time that’s all. He, he
Lorraine: Who was your teacher in Dublin?
Martha: I don’t remember what her name was.
Laura: What had you done to have...
Martha: I don’t remember I done anything.
Laura and Martha: Ha, ha, ha
Martha: I may have been chewing gum.
Laura: Uh-oh. He, he, he
Lorraine: Yeah, we couldn’t chew gum back then.
Laura: How were holidays celebrated at school?
Martha: Well, they had little refreshments and play some kind of game where they’d have a gift wrapped and pass it around and each one would tear a little bit of it and whoever got it open, then got gifts.
Laura and Martha: He, he
Martha: It was pretty fun.
Laura: Was that at Christmas time?
Martha: Well, yeah, Christmas and then, maybe, uh, we had, you know, a party for a birthdays or something.
Lorraine: And, you know, and then, you know, Thanksgiving, we would draw turkeys, and, you know, pumpkins, and put ‘em up on the windows, and, and all, and then we would glue ‘em on there, and then we would have to take and scrape ‘em off, and all, and they’d say, “Well, why do we have to put ‘em up there if we have to scrape ‘em off?” Back then, they had this stuff that they sprayed, and all, and it, they wadn’t hard to get off, but at first we had to take, you know, a, a razor blade, well, us older ones,uh, older children but then, they would just certain ones that she would trust with that because they, she was afraid that some of the, although they were in the sixth grade, but then they was, you know, they was still small at their age. So, I was the one that had to help cut the stuff off cause I was always large.
Laura: He, he. Do you remember any funny stories or pranks that were pulled at school?
Lorraine: Yeah, the boys use to take and, and ,uh, and all the ones that would set behind me, I had long hair, and most the time, I mean a lot of the times I would just comb it back,
Robbie: (coughs)
Lorraine: and just take a, well it was just a piece of a string like, you know, that we use to tie up Christmas with,
Laura: Uh-huh
Lorraine: and all and everything, and I would just take and tie it up in a thing, and then they would take, and tie my hair to the back of my seat,
Laura: Huh (as in Oh, my goodness)
Lorraine: you know, my chair, and all and everything, then uh, then when I would get up, well then I would lift the chair up,
Laura: He
Lorriane: and all and everything, and then buddy, you talking’ about mad! I would really get mad, and all, and then the teacher, you know, she, she got, uh, and all and put me in the, in the back seat where they wouldn’t be behind me,
Laura: He, he, he
Lorraine: or she said whichever one I want to do, and I told her well, I didn’t want them to tie my hair to the chair, but they wouldn’t tie it very hard they was just enough to, to let me know that, see it was long enough so I could move my head around but then they would just take and wrap it around there and tie it. Just twirl it around there. So, anyway it was...they, they got us, uh, as girls and then we would play tag and they would run us, and, you know, a lot of times they would hit us hard and then they would, you know, we’d hit them back why, if we was, you know, playing tag or whatever, and then we would drop a handkerchief and different things like that.
Laura: Do you remember any pranks pulled?
Martha: Not really. Just the ones I done myself. Ha, ha, ha. We’d sneak around and smoke.
Laura: Uh-oh. He, he, he. When you were a child what games did you play?
Lorraine: Well, we just kinda just dropped our handkerchiefs and things like we did at school, and all and everything. Then Daddy had a Saddlehorse, well, it wasn’t his, it belonged to Mr. Dobbins, and all and everything, then he would ride it home for lunch, and all, and then while he was eating lunch then, then us older children would, would ride the Saddlehorse, and all, and I really enjoyed that, you know, just uh, you know during the summer, when we had a little, we would kinda, you know, have lunch ready and all and Daddy would say, “Well, listen, ya’ll take turns,” you know, and then most time each one of us maybe got to ride down by, it was along the road, and then, you know, just in a field like, and we’d ride down the road and back. It was nice. I guess that’s where Charles got his riding Motten B.
Laura: He, he, he How were the games that you played, how were they played? Like dropping the handkerchief.
Lorraine: Well, they would just, we would just, kinda like tag, you know, we would just hold hands, and all and everything, and then, then they would be somebody go around, and all and everything, and then, you know, like I would drop the handkerchief behind you, and all, and then I would, and then, and then she would see it and then grab it and, then, then run around and get in their place and, uh...
Martha: We use to play Rummy a lot too.
Laura: How was that played?
Martha: Just the other night. Just with cards. Rummy, you know.
Laura: Oh, Rummy, ok.
Martha: Just for fun.
Lorraine: Uh-hum.
Laura: Which was your favorite game?
Lorraine: I didn’t really have any. I, I liked, I liked ball, though, you know, we played uh, baseball, well, softball really, and all and everything, then you know to get exercise and run, you know. I liked it pretty good. Cause see, us girls would play the boys then, you know, Earl, and Bill, and Bob, and, you know, a bunch of ‘em, and all, they would they could knock it farther than we could. So then we decided we’d get a couple of boys on our side,
Laura: He, he
Lorraine: some of the neighbors, you know,
Laura: Uh-huh.
Lorraine: would come in, and so most times the boys would beat us, but then we tried.
Laura: He, he. Did you play in the creeks in the summer?
Lorraine: Yeah. Yeah, we, we would always, see we didn’t have, we didn’t have no bathroom or anything and then we had a, a long tub like, and then come Saturday, where you need the bath at night, you got one.
Laura: He, he, he
Lorraine: But, then in the summertime we’d always go swimming, and all and everything, then, you know, it was, we really did enjoy the summers. You know, all that we worked hard and, and then the creek wasn’t too far from us, and all, and we would go, and uh, and all and then take our baths in the creek, and all, and then Daddy and them would say, “Well, listen take your rag and some soap and wash behind your ears,” or, you know, things like that.
Laura: Did you fish in the creek?
Lorraine: Yeah, uh-hum, I liked fishing, today I like to fish. Yeah, me and Emery,uh, my husband, and all and everything, before he got real sick, why, we’d, we’d go fishing down at the Correctional, cause he was down at the Correctional for seventeen and a half years, and so, he got a permit to go fishing in the pond down there, and we’d catch a lot of ‘em, and, I liked the red-eyes the best. Now, he did, he liked uh, trout, but I, you know, I liked the red-eyes, they got a better taste.
Laura: Did you ride sleds in the winter or build bonfires and have snowball fights?
Lorraine: Well, yes, we did, and all and everything, but back whenever we didn’t uh, we didn’t have a sled, and all and everything, then we would take an old wash tub, and all and everything, that was uh, you know, kinda, uh, you know, well, it, it didn’t leak or anything, and all, but we take and fix it around in an old innertube,
Laura: Uh-huh.
Lorraine: and all and everything, and then, see it would slide, and yet then we could hold on, you know, in the tub, with, with the innertube.
Martha: Or we would use the lid off a wash machine...
Lorraine: Yeah...
Martha: one of them old, old...
Lorraine: One of them old timey wash machines, and all, that we had a, you know, a lid off a wash machine that we sleigh ride, and then a lot if times we would just take an old sack, you know, just a, well, it wasn’t a burlap sack, it was one of these here like the, you know, that they put the flour in
Laura: Uh-huh
Lorraine: you know, they had special things then where they would go to the mill and grind , and then they had uh, and then, you know, where they would have a hole or something in ‘em, and they was kinda slick and, you know, after we get a, get us a path worn in the snow, they would go pretty good.
Laura: Did you all have snowball fights against your brothers and sisters?
Lorraine: Yeah
Martha: Yeah
Lorraine: Oh, yeah.
Laura: He, he. OK. How did teenagers court when you were young?
Martha: Well, they didnt’ court very young. He, he
Lorraine: Well, I mean, you know...
Martha: We done it at home...
Lorraine: we walked to church...
Martha: tell ‘em to come to your house and see you. That’s it.
Lorraine: Uh-huh. Yeah, and then, you know, then, you know, then we would walk to church. I went to to the Methodist church over at Dublin at the Highland, and all and everything, and then all the neighbors around, see we’d all walk to church, and all and everything, and then we would hold hands, and all and everything, then when it got dark when, you know, when we would come back we had lights, and whatever, and all and everything, then they always gave us a goodnight kiss,
Laura: He
Lorraine: or a pat on the shoulder or what, but my, we didn’t do like that they do today.
Laura: Did you ever go on dates or anything?
Lorraine: Yeah, I mean, you know, whenever Emer and I started courting we went together for like for three days being three years. Of course he had a car and, and then, you know, we would go out to Dublin to the movies and, and all, and see a lot of westerns, you know, back then that was all that was on, westerns,
Laura: He, he, he
Lorraine: and to this day I hate westerns.
Laura: He, he, he
Martha: You’d take the whole family just about...
Lorraine: Yeah, you didn’t, you...didn’t go by yourself.
Martha: All the little kids had to go with you.
Lorraine: The little ones wanted to go.
Laura: So, when you went to the movies everybody went.
Martha: When...
Lorraine: Yeah, everybody went.
Martha: the kids weren’t available Mommy would go.
Laura and Martha: He, he, he
Lorraine: Yeah, yeah.
Laura: How did you meet your husband?
Lorraine: Well, they was having, they was selling the, the Tommy Dollins’ farm over in Dublin, where we lived, and all, and uh, so then he was coming over to the farm, but I had met him, uh, on the Sunday before this, you know, on a Tuesday cause down at his brothers, and all, and he had been coon hunting all night and he was laying on the couch, and all, and, and then we were down in the kitchen, so they sent uh, uh, you know, Jimmy and Dorris, that was uh, his niece and nephew, up and they told us, me and Edna May, to come down that they had somebody here who wanted to meet us, and all, and I said, “Oh, my goodness I don’t wanna meet nobody,”
Laura: He
Lorraine: and all, and we went down, and all, and so uh, Bula, uh, Emer’s sister-in-law, she said, well, “Lorraine, we got somebody up here that wants to meet you,” and I was kinda shy, I didn’t wanna meet nobody and, and all and everything, and so they woke him up and they called him “Buddy” and they said, “Buddy, there’s somebody here wanting to meet you.” I said, “No, it was the other way around is what you told me.” And anyway, he looked at me and, and he didn’t even look at Edna May and, and Bula says, “Well, there’s, you know, another one here.” He said, “ Yeah, I see her,” and all, and then we just kinda kept talking and, and then uh, he wanted me to cut him a piece of cake and I cut him a piece of cake, and all, and he said, “ Hey, you have the first bite,” I said, “Now, I don’t eat after anybody,” and all and everything, and he said, “ Well, you’re not going to eat after anybody you take the first bite and then I’ll take a bite.” So, then that’s the way we met and then uh, then he came over for the sale, whenever they had the next week, whenever they Dollins Sale, and all and we uh, we just started dating, and all and everything, then. And then we went together like in three days and it had been three years.
Laura: OOOOHHHH
Lorraine: Uh-huh.
Laura: Ok, I’ll ask you the same thing.
Martha: Uh, I guess his family moved into Bland County and we was just walking along the road and, you know, Sunday walking. Went by their house and he came out and talked to us. He, he, he. That was about it. He, he, he
Laura: Where were you...
Martha: And then at church too, you know,
Laura: OK, church.
Martha: he come to church, got talking to him and I was ready to ask for a date.
Laura and Martha: He, he, he
Laura: Where were you married?
Lorraine: I was married in Radford. By Reverand uh, uh, Andre...Anderson. Uh-huh, in 1949. September 7, 1949 at 10:30 and I slipped off and got married then.
Laura: He, he, he
Martha: I got married in Bastien. I also ran off and got married.
Laura and Martha: He, he, he
Robbie: Did you guys get married at the, at the preacher’s home?
Lorraine: Yeah, at the parsonage,
Robbie: The home?
Lorraine: yeah, uh-huh, yeah. In Radford, cause we lived in Dublin, and uh, so I was gonna take my sister Lu to school, that was the year she was starting to school, and I was gonna take her to school that year, and all, and enter her in school, and she was small and she didn’t know, and all and everything. So, Emer was to meet me down at the road there, you know, after the buses come up, and all, and Medley was going down through there and I said, “Well, hey, Lu, there’s where you go in there.” She said, “Well, aren’t you going with me?” I said, “No.” So, here come my brother, Bill, and all and everything, and I said, “Bill, when you go home this evening you tell Daddy and Mommy that, that I’ve gone to get married and I won’t ge home tonight.”
Laura: He, he
Lorraine: And you talking ‘bout something went all wrong. It did. He was sick in, in for a week in bed, and all, and he wasn’t able to work because I had, you know, he was gonna run Emer off the next week. I said, “Well, that’ll be fine, you know, that’ll be fine.” So, uh, I knew then we was getting married then, you know, on the day school started, and all and everything, but, you know, he thought that, well he, you know, he, he knew that we was really serious but he, you know, he didn’t want me to get married. And it was really sad.
Martha: They saw you getting serious and
Lorraine: Yeah.
Martha: they was trying to break you up
Lorraine: Yeah, they would break you up.
Martha: Before you got too serious. He, he
Lorraine: Right. Cause they didn’t wanna loose any of ‘em.
Laura: He, he
Lorraine: But, uh, then I was a pouter.
Martha: He, he, he
Laura: What was your wedding ceremony like?
Lorraine: What was what?
Laura: Your wedding ceremony. What was it like?
Lorraine: Well, I had uh, I wore a brown, I wore a brown suit and I had a yellow corsage, and I had a hat, you know, and all, it was, it wasn’t a big hat but just kinda a rim like, and I had brown gloves and brown shoes, and all, and it was, it was, back then it was nice,
Laura: Uh-huh.
Lorraine: and all and everthing, and then uh, then we, uh, that Allen Woodyard and his wife Nellie Live, and all, they went with us, and all, and they, they got married in April and we was getting married in Septe...
End of tape side 1
Laura: What was...Bland like when you were growing up?
Lorraine: It was quiet, I mean, you know, there wadn’t a lot of, then we didn’t have nobody stealing or nobody, uh, robbing people or anything. We never locked our doors or anything.
Laura: What businesses were there in Bland?
Lorraine: Well, they was just a country store and, uh, we had a, a doctor’s office, and all, and, uh, well, let’s see. What was, uh,...Dr. Webner, and then, then Dr. Kegley came.
Laura: What was there to do for fun?
Lorraine: Well, just the same routine. Jumping rope and playing ball.
Laura: How did your family celebrate Christmas?
Lorraine: Well, just like, I mean, you know, if we got a, a bag of oranges. Well, a orange, and nuts, and candy, and all and everything, maybe one toy, and all, and, and maybe we’d get a, maybe a full bar of candy, and all, and just, you know, and, and then we would make our, our decoration on our, uh, tree and all, out of, uh, little strips and color ‘em, and then, you know, make flour and paste ‘em on and everything.
Martha: Well, they played music a lot. See my father and brothers they played music, so...
Lorraine: Yeah, Daddy played the fiddle, and, and Bob played the guitar, and Bill played the, the...
Martha: Ledger
Lorraine: Ledger
Martha: And then I had, and I had to dance for ‘em.
Robbie: Did they play anywhere?
Lorraine: No, they just played at home, and all, and then, then I danced, and all and everything, and I was pretty good at it.
Laura and Robbie: He, he, he
Laura: Who was the first president you can remember?
Lorraine: (pauses) Um, I believe, I, I mean, you know, the year I was born or whatever? Or just? I don’t know, uh, Roosevelt, you know, I heard ‘em talk of Hoover and all them. Well, I heard ‘em talk of a lot of ‘em but I mean, you know, Roosevelt.
Laura: When you were younger who was your favorite movie star?
Lorraine: Well, we didn’t really, we didn’t...
Martha: We didn’t have a TV.
Lorraine: We didn’t have a TV. We, we,...
Martha: We never got to see ‘em. He, he, he.
Lorraine: we done good to have a radio, and we listened to the Grand ‘Ole Opry. Bill Monroe, I mean, you know, I liked his...
Martha: I liked Elvis.
Laura and Martha: He, he, he
Lorraine: Well, I mean, Elvis wasn’t around when I was growing up.
Laura and Martha: He, he, he
Laura: Do you remember the first movie that you went to see?
Lorraine: It was a John Wayne movie, but I can’t remember what the name of it was, and all, but he was just shooting these here men and killing ‘em, and all, and I thought, “Oh, my goodness,” I don’t wanna see that no more.
Laura: He, he, he. Where, where was the movie?
Lorraine: It was in Dublin, Dublin Theatre.
Laura: Do you remember how much it cost?
Lorraine: Thirty-five cents.
Laura: To watch a movie?
Lorraine: Uh-huh.
Martha: He, he. I can’t remember the first movie I went to. He, he. I was a teenager, I guess, and it had to be Elvis, or something like that, you know.
Laura: He, he.
Robbie: Where’d you go to?
Martha: It’s the Pulaski one. Uh-huh.
Laura: Do you remember when the Stock Market crashed?
Lorraine: Not really.
Laura: Um, what was it like during the Great Depression?
Lorraine: It was hard, and all and everything, you know, we, they rationed sugar and uh, and all, and gas and, and ...
Martha: Coffee.
Lorraine: and coffee, and, you know, stuff like that.
Martha: I was little but I can remember it.
Lorraine: Yeah, I was, I wadn’t, I was thirteen.
Martha: I remember we was concerned with the coffee and sugar, you know.
Lorraine: Uh-huh.
Martha: He, he.
Laura: How did you feel about President Franklin Roosevelt?
Martha: (coughs)
Laura: How did you feel?
Lorraine: Well, I, I thought he done pretty good. You know, he gave us, uh, you know, a lot of benefits, we wouldn’t have, uh, a whole lot of social security and nowadays, and all, and I think that’s the one, or whatever, he anyway, anyway he, he done pretty good.
Laura: Did, um, any of his programs like the WPA, PWA, or CCC help the people of Bland County?
Lorraine: The CC Camp was over here in Bastien, and all, yeah, they did.
Laura: Do you remember when Franklin Roosevelt died? When FDR died?
Lorraine: Um, not really.
Laura: OK. Do you remember were you were when you heard that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor?
Lorraine: Um, well, I, I remember, and all and everything, but I remember hearing it on the radio, then and all, but, but I didn’t understand really know what it was...back then.
Laura: Did anyone in your family have to fight in World War?
Lorraine: Yeah, I, I had a brother, Earl, Earl Jennings, and he uh, he served what twenty years in it, and uh, then I had an uncle. Well I had three uncles that served in the, in the Korean War.
Robbie: Did they all come back home or did any of ‘em get killed or anything?
Lorraine: No, uh, I had, uh, Arthur, Uncle Arthur, and all and everything, he got a leg shot off. And all and everything.
Robbie: Really?
Lorraine: Uh-huh, and all and everything, but other than that, I mean uh, Uncle Garnet, and all of ‘em, they, they came back. Uncle Earnest,and all, you know mother’s, on mother’s side, and all, all of her generation is gone except one brother, Earnest.
Laura: When did you get your first radio?
Lorraine: Me personally or just in our home back?
Laura: In your home?
Lorraine: Uh, I guess I was about fourteen or fifteen. Cause Daddy got one, and all and everything, and it was a battery one, and all and everything, of course we didn’t have electricity, and, and all, and we could only play it on Saturday night if we wanted to hear the Grand ‘Ole Opry.
Laura: Was that, was that one of your favorite shows?
Lorraine: Yeah.
Martha: Uh-huh.
Lorraine: Uh-huh. I mean on the radio because...
Laura: Yeah.
Lorraine: Yeah.
Martha: Everybody would gather around and listen to it. He, he, he.
Laura: When did you first get electricity?
Lorraine: It was after we had moved over to Dublin and I know we got our first wash machine, uh, and all, shortly after we got our, uh, you know, electricity. And all, and, and, we wanted to wash everyday then and, I mean, they couldn’t hardly get us to wash then, we had to wash on a board, and then, and now, I mean, then, uh, we’d say, “Hey, mother do, don’t you need some washing up?,” “No, no, no we don’t need anything done today,” and all, but we wanted to wash cause all you had to do was just, you know, and then, then you wring it, you had the old timey wringer, and all. It was fun.
Laura: Um, when did you get a telephone?
Lorraine: After me and Emer built our home down here in Mechanicsburg, where we live now,and all and everything, it was, uh, whenever they run the line down through there, uh. They, uh, they run, whenever the Bland Correctional Center built, and all and everything, they was wanting to run some, uh, you know Bluefield, up, and some down from Trent’s, and all and everything, and they said, “No,” that they wanted to come from Bland down, and all and everything, and then so, if it hadn’t been for the Bland Correctional Center, I don’t whether we would have had a telephone yet or not.
Laura: He, he, he.
Lorraine: But anyway, they, uh, whenever...
Robbie: What year was that, that they...?
Lorraine: You know, I can’t remember, and all and everything, and uh, we built our house in ‘51, and, uh, it was, it was shortly after, after that. Within ‘51, ‘52.
Laura: Um, when did you get your first television?
Lorraine: Well, uh, we didn’t have a TV, and all, until I think we’d been married for a couple three years, and all, we would go down every Saturday night at Jane Stafford, Jane and Albert Stafford, and all, and, and then they had wrestling on, and all and everything, we’d go down there every Saturday night to watch the wrestling, and all, and then, that was a big thing then, back, you know, wrestling.
Laura: What did you think about President Kennedy?
Lorraine: I think he’s as good as a person and as a, as a President, but his character is just not my type.
Laura: How did you feel when you heard he was shot?
Martha: Well, it hurt. I mean, you know, it just seemed like the whole country stop, stopped or something, you know,
Lorraine: Right.
Martha: he just, influenced people .
Lorraine: And he, he really, he really understood behind what, well, what he, what he stood for, he, you know, he, he, really believed in what he stood for. That’s what I’m trying to say, I can’t get it to come our right.
Laura: He, he. How did you feel about President Johnson?
Lorraine: He, he was nice, I mean he tried to help the poor people, and all and everything, he was the one, you know, who got us the, the medicare and different things like that.
Laura: What kind of shape is the country in today in your opinion?
Lorraine: Well, it’s, it’s in a terrible shape. Really.
Laura: Do you think they’ve changed for the better or the worse?
Martha: Worse.
Lorraine: Yeah. I think...
Martha: In some ways.
Lorraine: Yeah, I think...
Martha: So, in other ways, it’s, you know, improved, but misbehavior and things happening like that’s worse.
Laura: Is there anything else you would like to add about life in Bland County?
Lorraine: Well, I think it’s a good place to live. I’ve lived here...practically all my life, we lived over in Dublin, I, I forgetting, what, fourteen years wasn’t it Martha, or something? I don’t know how long we lived over there. I was thirteen, and all, and then whenever, uh, I got married when I was nineteen, so, anyway, we still lived in Dublin when I got married, but then whenever we came back, you know, my husband lived in Giles, and all, we moved in with his mother and two sisters for two months, and then we moved back to Giles, in a little apartment, and all, he worked at a lime factory, I mean a lime plant down in National Gypsum, and uh, then, then we built a house there in Bland, in I mean Mechanicsburg in ‘51, and we lived there ever since, and I enjoy the people, got good neighbors, and people respects me, and I respect my neighbors.
Martha: Good place to live .
Lorraine: It is, and all, and then in, in time of need and time of death, and all, you know, you, your people are right for you.
Laura: Is there any advice you would give young people today?
Lorraine: Yes. I think and all that they need to obey their parents, they need to respect their parents, they need to, to have respect for theirselves, and all, and try to be somebody and try to grow up, and all, and to make a life on their own, cause you know, you can run your name down, and if you ever get your name run down you’ll never get it built back.
Martha: They need more chores.
Lorraine: Yeah.
Martha: Something to occupy ‘em and give ‘em something to do instead of thinking of things that will get ‘em in trouble. He, he.
Robbie: Thank ya’ll so much.
Lorraine: You’re welcome. I’ve enj...
Tape is cut off
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