<TITLE>06. Par 23-25</TITLE>L-23 And I remember how we used to go to town on Saturday night, go in and pay the grocery bill... We'd all get a treat of candy. You remember when we used to get a treat? Oh, my, that old peppermint stick candy, remember that? Boy, wasn't that real candy? Oh, my.
I remember we'd all get in the little old jersey wagon, we called it up there. You all called it buckboard here, I believe. We put some straw in the back and a whole lot of quilts, and get in there, and all that bunch of kiddies. We had a little old mule. We'd drive about seven miles down to the city and stop. Dad would go in, he and mother and get the groceries and come back out.
And I remember we used to have a--a two gallon can of coal oil. We burned coal oil lights. You've done that, haven't you? Many of you, burn the coal oil light. Did you ever get to a place where you didn't have enough oil for the wick to reach in there, pour water in it, and let it get up there so you... Oh, my. That's... Take a big old potato, and stick it over the stop, so going home, you know, wouldn't shake the coal oil out of the can, get it on the groceries. Them was great days, wasn't they? That's right.

L-24 So we remember going up, we'd set there. And when pop would pay the grocery bill, and come out with a little sack of candy. Mr. Grower would gave us--us a sack of candy when we'd pay the grocery bill each week. And then we'd come out. And maybe there'd be about five sticks, or maybe four sticks, and five little Branhams for it be divided amongst. Boy, there'd be about five sets of little blue eyes, every one of them watching that candy and if see it was equally divided. Had to be equally divided. We'd break that candy, you know, suck on it.
I had a little trick I'd do. Here am I. Monday wasn't a blue day for me. I'd take a suck on my piece of candy a little bit, wrap it up in a piece of paper and put it in my pocket. Then on Monday morning, mama'd say, "William."
Say, "Yes, mama."
"You have to go to the spring and get a bucket of water."
I'd say, "Humpie, if you'll go get the bucket of water, I'll let you suck on my candy till I can count ten." I said...?... I'd have this old piece of peppermint, you know. Oh, my. It was the real thing. Did you ever eat it with salted crackers...?... My, oh, my. Listen. I guess tomorrow, I could go and get me a whole box of Hershey's if I wanted to, but I... There's no candy like that. That's the best there is. Like when you're just a little kid, that old peppermint...
My, I'd get... long as candy lasted, I loafed. I'd keep that candy and wait for the--for the work, something hard I didn't want to do, you know, and then I'd get my brother to do it, some of them, you know. And they'd go ahead and eat their candy up, and I'd save mine.

L-25 I--I remember when daddy used to shave. He used to have a shaving brush made out of shuck. How many ever seen a shuck shaving brush? Well, some of you has. I shaved with them. Take the old shuck like that... Did you ever have shuck pillow, where you take the pillow, and strip the shuck and put it in there? Why sure, and a straw mattress... And take this old...
Had a little piece of glass drove up where we used to wash out there, you know, at the old wash bench. And them little fellows would slick their hair down so tight on those little...?...
They had an old bench built back behind the table. And mother would call dinner, and all of them... We'd go under the table and everywhere getting up there. And she'd set the great big bowl out in the middle of the table, like this, and--and bake the corn bread in the pan. How many ever ate corn bread baked in a pan. Oh, isn't that fine?


<A HREF="P7">Next Page</A>