Brothers

This is another little snippet from my husbands memories of growing up in Alabama-probably early 40s...





Brothers

It seems growing up in a family of ten kids could be a real blast!


O.K.- There were six girls sharing a room and four boys sharing the other, in the upstairs of the house where they lived.

Bro #1 and bro #2 shared a bed, as did bro #3 and bro #4.
(This mini story is about Bros #1 & #2 –the older of the four boys.)

There was always a race between bros # 1 & #2 at bedtime, to be the first in bed.

The reasons being …for #1- to hog all the blankets -for #2 to PREVENT his brother from hogging the blankets-and to save himself from having to shiver -uncovered- all through the night! The older brother, being bigger, faster, perhaps more devious, usually won the races…so... if he didn’t take ALL the covers he at least had his pick of what he wanted! :)

One night things played out a little differently and bro #2 beat bro #1 to the top of the stairs and to the boy’s sleeping room! He could hardly believe his good luck as he entered the dark room and, running, still, made an air borne lunge to the familiar corner where he knew the bed to be!

…Where he THOUGHT he knew the bed to be! OUCH! A hard belly landing, for bro #2, and a big commotion to follow...outraged yelling of surprise and pain, by #2...loud laughter by #1 and the younger boys too!- ( truth be told!! )
Finally, bringing Daddy Boyd to the top of the stairs with a loud, "Shut your mouth and get to bed!"

It just so happened- during the day the sisters had decided to clean and re-arrange the boys’ room, putting the bed on the opposite side of the room! One bro knew-the other didn’t…but found out soon enough! :)


Very generous of #1 to let his brother win that race, eh? :)



June Kellum
2006

Jake

This is a story of my husband's first bike ~ and of Jake the pig!


This was posted first at my blog, 'Junie's Place,' in several parts, in 2006, but I will put it all together and in order here! ~~~

Jake
(Part 1)

He had wanted a bike for a long time, this Alabama farm boy.
Ed and his brothers had, in the past, tried with little success to build a bike…wheels of wood and whatever they could find of metal or wood to build a frame…bending tree limbs for handlebars! As resourceful as these boys were, and as determined, they were never able to achieve what they wanted.

Ed had seen the new bicycles, lined up in long rows outside of U.G.White’s hardware store at the NW corner of the town square, in all their shining splendor! The dark green and creamy white bike was the one that captured the boy’s attention and left a yearning in his heart like none he had known before.

At age eleven, growing up in the 30s and 40s, one in a family of ten children, Ed realized how unrealistic this dream was of having a bike of his own... especially a bright and shiny brand new Schwinn bike! Still, he couldn’t get the thoughts of the bikes out of his mind.

He wished desperately for a way of earning money to be able to pay for a bike! This, seemingly, was an impossible dream for an eleven-year-old farm boy.

But what is life without dreams?

~~~

(Part 2)

In late fall, in this time and place, after the crops were harvested, most folks who had hogs would turn them out to forage in the fields, mostly corn fields; for whatever they could find to eat. No one minded as it benefited everyone for the hogs to roam free during this time. Winter was the time for slaughtering the hogs and the corn leavings in the fields would help in adding weight before the coldest days of winter came and the hogs could be butchered safely. Without refrigeration, the cold days were essential.

Sometimes sows with new litters of piglets would be seen. Often, hogs have more babies than they can raise. There is almost always a runt that gets shorted on the feeding, and does not thrive.

Such seemed to be the case with Jake.

Ed was the one who spotted the little runt pig, unable to keep up with his mother and brothers and sisters. He was much smaller than the rest and was always trailing behind in the ongoing search for food in the cornfields.

~~~

(part 3)

The boy rescued the little pig from an almost certain young death, and with no way of knowing whose pig it was, decided to keep him, raise him! He gave him the name ‘Jake.’ He took special care to see that the little pig had food every day.

The plan from the start was to raise Jake up and sell him. In a few months Jake would bring a good price…enough for a bike Young Ed thought!

As the weeks passed, Jake grew well - becoming big and healthy. He also became a pet and in awhile Ed found himself rushing home after school, eager to see the pig. Jake would always come when he would hear his name called! He would follow the boy around the farm, much as a puppy would have done.

A strong attachment had developed, and it was mutual!

~~~~~~

(Part 4)

The days were getting colder and time was nearing when it would be the right day for the slaughter of the hogs.

Although, it had never been the intention that Jake be among those slaughtered, Ed had resolved to sell him at this time and have the money for that bike! It had been a few months since he had found Jake and with the care he had given him, the little runt pig had become an impressive hog!

Finally the day arrived and the job of the slaughter was undertaken. Neighbors helped neighbors, as was the way in those days. The job had to be done quickly, so as not to lose the meat to spoilage. There was a flurry of activity on the farm, with everyone willing to do their share with the task at hand!

Without refrigeration, the meat had to be salt-cured and hung in smokehouses. Lard was made from the fat of the hogs , ( an essential in those days) boiled in a big iron pot over open flames and then, drained. Any meaty parts were removed, leaving just the pure white lard. Sausage was made, too, with the spices and herbs grown in the garden added. Pickling of some parts of the hogs was also done in those days- (ears, feet, snouts) nothing could be wasted in those hard times. Chitterlings (Chittlins’), made from the intestines, were boiled and prepared in a big iron pot in the back yard. The women of the family carried out this process. Ma -the grandmother-had a fondness for this delicacy and was the self appointed over-seer of the chittlin' pot!

~~~

(Part 5)

Ed and the younger siblings of the family were at school during this day of hard and unpleasant work. After school, as had become his usual thing, Ed went searching for Jake.

This time, Jake did not come running when his name was called. He searched every inch of the farm, calling the pig’s name, with an increasingly heavy heart! Jake could not be found.

Ed’s mother averted her eyes when asked if she had seen Jake, saying,” Oh, he’s around here somewhere!” His grandmother, too, was silent and avoided eye contact with her grandson. “Where could Jake be?’ the boy thought, sadly.

Ed suddenly realized some members of the family were missing. His daddy- his older brother- his older sister’s husband- all should have been there on this day of hard work of preparing the meat. He wondered where they all were.

He didn’t have long to ponder the mystery because at that moment they all arrived in his brother’s 1934 Ford, with a shiny, new, green and white Schwinn bike tied to the back! It was the bike of Ed’s fondest dreams!

So for the moment, thoughts of the pig were pushed aside.

~~~

(Part 6)

As it turned out and could now be revealed, Jake’s fate was a sad one - and ironic!

His mother and grandmother had wanted to wait for the return of the other family members with the bike, to make the news about Jake a little easier for Ed.

No! Jake was not among the slaughtered hogs that day, as one might have suspected.

Jake was hanging out with Ma around the chitterlings (chittlin’) pot, as she worked, preparing the parts for the pot! Unknown to her, as she tossed the unwanted sections of intestines aside, Jake was eating them. Jake choked on the discarded intestines!

The pig, after his untimely death, had been sold to a neighbor for a small sum of money, (Jake was not yet of the usual slaughtering size) though, not nearly enough for the bike! Family members added the extra money needed to buy the bicycle for young Ed!

Charles Edward would remember Jake through all the years - and that green and creamy white Schwinn, too!

And he would remember the kindness and generosity of his family on that day.

~~~

(Part 7)

Ed would have the bike for the next several years, until he went in the USAF just out of high school. He handed it over to his young nephews when he left home!


Years later, when he had his own wife and children, all of this was brought back fresh in his memory! On a visit back home with his family, there, hanging in his brother’s shed was the frame of the Schwinn bike!

All of the bittersweet memories of that time…of the bike and of Jake…came back in full focus for a little bit.


Note:

I, personally, have wondered if the young Ed would have gone through with the selling of Jake in order to get the bike.

However, considering the time and place in the past of this story, he probably would have. The cost of keeping a pig for a pet would have been too extravagant in those hard times!

…Besides... the young boy, Ed, had that burning desire for that new Schwinn bike! :)


Junie

June Kellum

Lessons Learned

...Here are more early memories from Mud Bottom -my husband's young years!...

Lessons Learned

Being the youngest of four adventurous brothers (Not to mention, also, having six sisters) could often be hazardous to a boy! This lesson young Ed learned, early on - with up-dates from time to time.

Farm life was not ALL work. There were times when boys could explore!

In the country neighborhood of Mud Bottom there happened to be an old abandoned log house. No one had lived there for a long time. The yard was overgrown with weeds, with the house almost hidden from view. It was the kind of place that would call to young, inquisitive boys to get a better, closer up, look!

The right day came for the three younger boys to explore the old log house. Ed was always up for some fun. He was about age six, with his brother Odell, eight and brother Jack, eleven.

The only thing of interest to be found in the old house was a pile of long discarded, mostly worn out, clothes! Being the only ’Find’ of their adventure, nevertheless, the boys focused on this pile of musty smelling old clothes!

Among the raggedy duds was found a pair of ‘under drawers’ which most likely had never seen the inside of a wash pot, nor ever flapped on a clothesline to freshen in the breeze! Ed remembers them as being a dingy white in color with brownish spots…especially in the seat area.

Jack dared his little brother, Ed, to try the underwear on! Perhaps Ed was intrigued with finding a pair of under drawers of his own. Little country boys his age often wore their overalls with nothing between the rough fabric and tender bottom! Whatever the reason, Ed did just as his brother told him to do! He shucked off his overalls and with his brothers watching him he put one bare foot and then the other into the underwear and pulled them up! He found them WAY too big!

It might would have been a blessing that they didn’t fit and he would leave them there in the heap of old clothes…so that his mother would not discover them when the next bath time came around!

It might would have been …except Jack said, ”Ummmm, I’m telling Mother you found some old under drawers and put them on!!” And with that the two older boys raced home, and did just that; leaving Ed to scramble back into his overalls as quickly as he could, and follow.

A set up!!

Ed of course, got a whipping from Mother and spent hours in a tub of water on the back porch, scrubbing his bottom with a bar of lye soap!

The brothers laughed! :)

June Kellum

July 2006

~~~

This picture was taken on our recent trip to Mud Bottom!
The old barn is still there and , still used, it seems!
A big, new house was built on the spot where my husband's family lived, but the barn remained the same- except for the red paint!
:) Charles said it had no paint on it in their time there!









Amazing to me that so many old barns are still standing - after 70 -or even more- years!

I love the old things!



Junie

The Rent Crib

This is a small corn crib (the rent crib) that still stands on the old home place where my husband lived in his youth! This crib was used to store the 1/3 of the corn crop, which went to the landlord for rent of the farm.

This is in Limestone Co, Alabama in the farming area known as Mud Bottom, near the banks of Elk River.






Junie

Family Ties

There's much to be said about the benefits derived of being born into a big family.

For one...with that larger number of people in your life you have a much better chance of , at least some of them liking you a lot! :)

Charles was always close to all his family - Parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins...and all the little nieces and nephews that came along later.

Being one of the youngest of the 10 children he was still a kid or a teenager when the new additions started coming along! (his nieces and nephews)

He always talked a lot about his family and I know he missed everyone when he joined the Air Force , right out of high school...but he never went back to Alabama to live, instead, settled in South Florida!

He enjoys going back every year for the reunion. I do too! I love seeing the places of his growing up years...and matching them up with the stories he's told me all through the years. :)

~~~


I got this E-mail from one of Charles' (and my) nieces . This shows a bit of the love - still alive and well- with the family!

I thought this was sweet and asked Kathy's permission to put it here on the family memories blog! :) She didn't mind - so here it is!!

~~~

Hi June -

I can't seem to find your personal blog - can you send me the
link ?
I want to let Mom catch up on the family stuff -
also
I just read Mud Bottom and can't wait to share that story with Mom she
will love it ...

I look forward to Uncle Ed telling wonderful stories during the reunion
this year - and maybe this siblings might have a story or two they can
share on him ... : )

My stories would be much too new -for the blog - But here are a couple you
can share with Uncle Ed - I think you and he both will get a kick out of
them -

The one I think you might get the biggest kick out of is...

When I would look at my Uncle Ed's picture (the one when he played football
for West Limestone) and then later on his picture in uniform at Grandmother
Kellum's house...I remember thinking ...he is the most handsome man I had
ever seen - plus I knew how much fun and loveable he was - but when I was
about
6...I can remember the shear disappointed when somehow I found out - you
couldn't marry your uncle... it wasn't allowed ...even if we did come from
Mud Bottom.

and the story I think my Uncle Ed will lol about is ...

How totally impressed I was when we came to Miami for a visit and he took
us to the Drive In movies - I will never forget - I was so excited he was
taking us to the opening of "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" (1961) ... and I could
not believe it - we drove right up to the ticket booth and MY Uncle ( who I
idolized) flipped out his police badge - and they just waved us in - like
royalty - I was so impressed I could hardly believe it - I think this was
the first memory I have of being on cloud 9 and I knew right away we were
no longer in Mud Bottom !

There is no wonder to this day - I fondly call him my Uncle Ed -

See you guys at the reunion...

Kathy

~~~

This is a picture of the time she's remembering when they came down to visit us in Miami!
Charles and I had been married just a short time. I was 20 and he was 26. The picture is Charles' sister and brother-in- law and his nephew, Steve and niece, Kathy! My little boy, Chris, was less than 2 here. (Chris is from a previous marriage- but Charles has always been his DAD!)





We're looking forward to seeing everyone in about 2 weeks!





Love,
Junie

Farm Life of the Past: Breakfast Time

...one more little story from my husband's memories of growing up in a big family in Alabama...

  (First posted, May 2006, at Junie's Place~ comments can be seen there)

  ~~~

Breakfast Time


Breakfast, to feed a family of twelve people, had to be a big thing.

There was the platter of sausage patties, piled in a mountain, perhaps, ten deep at it’s highest point… the biscuits counted in dozens…rolled out and cut in perfect round circles…to rise and brown to perfection… the butter, hand churned and molded in neat blocks, lightly salted… Jams or jellies from the summer’s bounty and canned by Mother and the girls, to mix and melt with the butter inside those biscuits… the eggs, gathered daily, cooked, sunny side up, stacked, one atop the other… the browned, milk gravy – to top it all off!

There was always milk to drink - and buttermilk!

And coffee, hot and black for the adults. It was the custom in those days to pour coffee from the cup into the saucer for cooling- a curious thing to do and something that is seldom seen in today’s world!

Some child among the ten, at almost every meal, would manage to spill a glass of milk!
Being one of the youngest it was often Ed who would have this mishap, resulting in a stern look, at the least, from the head of the family, Daddy! Invariably, with eleven sets of eyes watching, tears would follow!

Sausage, when available, was a favorite of one and all in the family. The platter was passed around the table and everyone took what they wanted. It was considered poor manners to take the last of anything left on a serving dish…(if you were a kid, especially) in case somebody else wanted it.

Once there was one lone sausage left on the serving plate. Several eyes were on this fine morsel but no one had yet worked up the courage to make the move on it.  Finally, one of the older sisters went for it! Her fork was half way back to her mouth with the sausage when it was taken, in mid air, by the older brother; and was gone in a flash!!

So much for manners!!

:)

June Kellum
May, 2006

Mud Bottom Cotton Chopping-Summer 1944

This is another story from my husband's growing up years in Alabama -  and this is mostly in his own words!

~~~

Mud Bottom Cotton Chopping - Summer 1944

The area where this story takes place was known as Mud Bottom. It was in the bend of the Elk River, where Alabama and Tennessee joined, in northern Limestone Co, Al. This river bottom land was excellent farmland. It was called Mud Bottom because of the, often, muddy conditions - especially in winter.

Cotton had to be chopped three times between it’s coming up out of the ground and laying it by. (end of plowing and chopping) With a family of ten children, and Daddy supervising, the work progressed at a steady pace!

(Or a steady CHOP- as it were!)

It was hard work in the sun all day, so we had to have drinking water. Usually one of the boys would be designated for this job. On this particular day Jack was sent to the house where the well was located, on this errand. The well water had to be transported in glass gallon jugs.

This day, Jack was gone an unusually long time, for the two-mile trip- there and back.

Finally, we could see him coming up the field road, with his bare feet kicking up the dust.

It seemed he would never get to us with the cool, fresh water! When he finally reached us we could see why it had taken him such a long time to make the trip.

On the way back with the water he had stopped at a blackberry patch and picked the jug half full of blackberries! That cool, fresh water was filled with all manner of trash, not to mention the small spiders, ants, and bugs!

He thought we would be thrilled that he had brought us the berries but water was what we needed and no one wanted to drink that water!

True to Jack’s sense of humor and personality he said, ”If no one else is going to drink it, I will! I don’t care how trashy it is! I’ll let my kidneys filter it out, all they do is set up in there and ride!”

And with that he tilted the jug and took a long swig!  ;)

Daddy looked at the sky and saw that the sun was about an hour high and said, “Let’s quit for the day!”

June Kellum

May 2006

Note:

Thinking about this story I've wondered if there might not have been some secret gratitude felt by some of the others,  for Jack's dallying on that trip for water that day.

In the end  it made for a shorter day!  :)

Pictures:

The group is from about the time of the story. It's the oldest brother  and the 2 youngest sisters of the family.

The mischievous boy peeking around the back is Jack!

The second picture is of Jack , about 19 47.

Junie