Were you named after anybody?
I was named after my mother whose name was Amy Mae.
Where did you grow up?
18 miles west of Tatum on a ranch and farm and country store. {You guys read about that in this post previously!}
What was it like to grow up on a ranch in the 1920’s? Nobody had any money, neighbors would visit back and forth a lot, because you didn’t go to any town to shop. You grew your own vegetables and fruits.
Is there anything that’s the same about living on a ranch today as it was back then? Well, just you have to clean your shoes when you came out of the cow lot. About the only thing I can think of.
You’ve been a rancher now for almost 80 years, so what advice would you have for someone who wanted to become a rancher? You don’t need to expect a lot of money from anything. But enjoy life, because you’re out in the country and no close neighbors.
When you grew up, what did your parents do for a living? Just about anything they could think of. We had a garden and we grew vegetables and canned. Besides raising cattle, my dad had a little country store and he sold gas and oil, a few groceries, and he would fix flats for people and put a patch inside tires. And I guess that’s about it, well, my brothers would work out for laboring, day labor maybe, and they were paid a dollar a day.
What was it like to grow up with 4 brothers, you being the only girl? Good and bad. They boys wouldn’t ever let me go out to the barn, they didn’t want me out there at all. When it was milking time, if I would go over there to try and figure out how to milk, they would squirt it in my face. So I didn’t learn that technique. My dad wouldn’t let me wear any pants at all. He had four boys and he wasn’t going to have me wearing pants.
What’s your favorite memory of the family that you grew up with? Well, everyone played some sort of musical instrument. My dad played the fiddle and my brothers all played a stringed instrument, banjos and guitars. And then, later on, my dad bought a piano for $80 and we hauled it in a two-wheel trailer from Tatum and I took lessons then, finally. But one of my brothers could play it a lot better than I could with lessons, and he’s still going on it.
I was named after my mother whose name was Amy Mae.
Where did you grow up?18 miles west of Tatum on a ranch and farm and country store. {You guys read about that in this post previously!}
What was it like to grow up on a ranch in the 1920’s? Nobody had any money, neighbors would visit back and forth a lot, because you didn’t go to any town to shop. You grew your own vegetables and fruits.Is there anything that’s the same about living on a ranch today as it was back then? Well, just you have to clean your shoes when you came out of the cow lot. About the only thing I can think of.
You’ve been a rancher now for almost 80 years, so what advice would you have for someone who wanted to become a rancher? You don’t need to expect a lot of money from anything. But enjoy life, because you’re out in the country and no close neighbors.
When you grew up, what did your parents do for a living? Just about anything they could think of. We had a garden and we grew vegetables and canned. Besides raising cattle, my dad had a little country store and he sold gas and oil, a few groceries, and he would fix flats for people and put a patch inside tires. And I guess that’s about it, well, my brothers would work out for laboring, day labor maybe, and they were paid a dollar a day.
What was it like to grow up with 4 brothers, you being the only girl? Good and bad. They boys wouldn’t ever let me go out to the barn, they didn’t want me out there at all. When it was milking time, if I would go over there to try and figure out how to milk, they would squirt it in my face. So I didn’t learn that technique. My dad wouldn’t let me wear any pants at all. He had four boys and he wasn’t going to have me wearing pants.
What’s your favorite memory of the family that you grew up with? Well, everyone played some sort of musical instrument. My dad played the fiddle and my brothers all played a stringed instrument, banjos and guitars. And then, later on, my dad bought a piano for $80 and we hauled it in a two-wheel trailer from Tatum and I took lessons then, finally. But one of my brothers could play it a lot better than I could with lessons, and he’s still going on it.
Then we’d all get together on Fourth of July and we had a big picnic for all the neighbors and they’d bring a covered dish, and we had a tank down there and swings at the old place, and a lot of trees and shade. Sometimes we’d have parties at my house and everybody in the community were Baptist. And Baptists don’t believe in dancing, so some of us kinda got around that by having what we called swinging plays. I don’t know if anyone knows what I’m talking about here. Well like a little song, “Oh we got a new pig in the parlor.” We’d have to do that outside on the ground, no lawns, because there wasn’t room in the houses for that many.
I know when I was little we would always have a New Year’s Party and a Halloween picnic. Is that where the idea for that came from?
Yes.
Where did you go to high school?
Tatum, New Mexico.
What was different about high school then from high school now?
Oh goodness. Course this was a small school, everybody knew everything about everybody else. {Some things don't change apparently...remember this blog?} There was still no money. If you got a new dress, you were mighty happy to wear it the first day of school. Let’s see. We didn’t have much freedom in high school then. You went from class to class and that was all day long. Well, like for home economics, we had a little building out to the side which was considered a home and we learned housekeeping and all kinds of things over there, just for girls. And I learned how to make good candy there, and we’d never known. My mother wasn’t a good candy maker, so I learned to make good candy. {Did I learn anything this useful in school?}
I know when I was little we would always have a New Year’s Party and a Halloween picnic. Is that where the idea for that came from?
Yes.
Where did you go to high school?
Tatum, New Mexico.
What was different about high school then from high school now?
Oh goodness. Course this was a small school, everybody knew everything about everybody else. {Some things don't change apparently...remember this blog?} There was still no money. If you got a new dress, you were mighty happy to wear it the first day of school. Let’s see. We didn’t have much freedom in high school then. You went from class to class and that was all day long. Well, like for home economics, we had a little building out to the side which was considered a home and we learned housekeeping and all kinds of things over there, just for girls. And I learned how to make good candy there, and we’d never known. My mother wasn’t a good candy maker, so I learned to make good candy. {Did I learn anything this useful in school?}
Were you involved in any clubs or sports in school?
Well, I played tennis some. And that’s about it, I went to a track meet at Hobbs and maybe got 4th place maybe. That’s county-wide. And, then I was in the band. And that was really a wonderful experience. I played a horn, I didn’t have the money to buy one, so the school furnished it. And I took good care of it. And my brother was in it and we made band trips and some of us hadn’t ever been out of the county, I guess, and we’d go to Hobbs and Lovington and one time went to a band clinic in Plainview, Texas and that was out of state.
Stay tuned....in a couple of months I'll post Part II. You can hear Gran talking about college and World War II!
Stay tuned....in a couple of months I'll post Part II. You can hear Gran talking about college and World War II!
6 comments:
Love this!
-College Roomie
Love this!
-College Roomie
Good stuff! I believe this was our greatest generation for sure...
Love the blog. I wish I learned how to make good candy!
Whitney
Too bad her Home Ec skills didn't pass to you! I still remember that poor pillow....!
Thanks, everyone! The Part 2 about the war is going to be really good too! I'll do it in a couple of months.
And Marianna---she may not have passed on her home ec skills, but she DID pass on her charm....which is why Dace sewed my pillow for me so I didn't fail. :)
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