<TITLE>07. Par 20-23</TITLE>L-20 And so I remember when papa'd pay his grocery bill on Saturday nights, that was a treat for the little Branhams. He'd get a sack full of candy, little old peppermint stick candy. Say, you know, that--that was good. I remember when he'd come out there, maybe he'd have... Maybe there'd be four good-size sticks, and there was five Branham's to divide it between, every one looking to see if he got his share. Them sticks had to be broken up and divided just exactly the equal among them, 'cause all eyes was turned on that candy.
I guess I cheated little bit on it. All the kiddies would get all they could eat, you know, and they would just eat, and all... They couldn't eat their candy up. I licked mine a little while, you know, and I'd reach over and get a piece of that old brown paper sack the meal was wrapped in, and pulled off a little piece if it, and rolled it up, put it in my pocket; I wait till Monday. And so then, I think... Now, Monday come along, and mom would say, "Billy?"
I would say, "Yes, ma'am."

L-21 "Take the bucket." It wasn't one of these little old galvanized buckets; it was big cedar buckets, and an old gourd dipper. How many ever seen a gourd dipper? Oh, how...?... all right. All right, and go down in the spring and pull up the water, you know, and put into the bucket. My, that was a job.
I look over to my brother, I'd say, "Tell you what I will do. If you'll go get that bucket of water, I will take... I've got my candy yet; I will let you lick it till I count ten slow: one, two, like that." I was a business man, sat back in the shade, you know, while my brother went and got the water, lick on the candy. Oh, my, I tried to make that ten just about as good as I could, you know. And you ought to seen him lick. My, my. He got more than ten licks off of it all right.
Well, Monday would be a pretty good day for me, 'cause I keep that piece of candy, you know, just work right on that candy. And they knowed I had it too, you know, so I... Oh, my.

L-22 I guess today, I could go out and, not on Sunday, but some other day, and buy a box of Hershey's, but it'd never taste like that candy. How many of you eat peppermint candy and old fashion barrel crackers, let's see you hands? Oh, my, say, I'm telling you, that wouldn't go bad right now. That's right.
And--and oh, for meals we would have mulligan stew; we was Irish to the core, you know. And my, how many knows what mulligan stew is? Say, that's when you boil everything in the kitchen even to the dish rag almost, just put everything in a pot and boil it. That's right, get everything in there and boil it up: the turnips...?... the carrots, and the potatoes, and the beans, and the meal. And just put it all together and boil it. Well, almost... That mulligan stew would have to last two or three days; we had it on Sunday. Had beef in it, you know, so it had to be good: quarters worth of beef, my, chunk that big. So then it... Mama would dice it up.

L-23 Puts me to mind of Buddy Robinson, when he said he... One time Uncle Buddy said, "I tell you," said, "I went out West and they was having a depression out there." And said, "A great drought was on, and they had nothing to eat." Said, "The only thing we had was dried apples." Said, "I eat them for breakfast, drink them in water for dinner, swell them up in time for supper." So that's about the way that mulligan stew lasted, just constantly all... till about Wednesday it was played out, had to... Then we went back to something else. Great day though.


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