Chapter 43: 1929 Brings Precious Moments in Pearl’s Young Children
Ed. note: In late 1928 into 1929, prosperity came from good farming practices on Frank’s farm, in company with some delightful and frightening recollections of those wonderful days with three active children underfoot. Enjoy. RAN
Mildred and the songs of childhood
Ed. note: The narrative of Pearl that follows includes Mildred, who was born in December 2021, Calvin, who was born in November 1924, and J.T., who was born in December 1926. In these photographs taken in the summer of 1928, the left shows 2-year-old JT, in the foreground, while Calvin, 4, and Mildred, 7, are up on a limb in the tree; in the right photo, JT is seen in the same setting, on his toy scooter. These images convey a vague sense of the ages of the three children in this narrative. Enjoy. RAN
Another happy experience we had was when we visited Aunt Kate’s home in Burkburnett, Texas, while Frank was in Hobart at the sanatorium. It was the new songs Mildred, now 7 years old, was bringing from her school. She came home singing the “Craw-dad Song”: “You get a line-I’ll get a pole ……”. Also, “Billy Boy”: “Where have you been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?…….”, and the most enjoyable, “School Days”: “School days, school days, Bright and golden rule days. ‘Readin’ and ‘Writin’ and ‘Rithmatic’, Taught to the tune of a hickory stick….”. Aunt Kate remembered the song when Mildred and Ivy came in singing it. So, we all joined in, with Mildred leading, as she had memorized it all! Aunt Kate probably never realized how completely she had come to my rescue at this difficult time in my life!
The 1928-1929 school year brought new teachers to Pleasant Valley School: Mr. and Mrs. Charles Veley. They came to the school with no place to live, so they constructed a tiny house on the school grounds at Pleasant Valley. It was adequate for their home, and they termed it their little “Blue Heaven” from the tune of the same name, popular at that time.
Ed. note: this link leads to a YouTube recording of the 1928 recording “My Blue Heaven”. Enjoy! RAN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3fk9RADYWc&list=RDB3fk9RADYWc&start_radio=1
Cute Sayings of Calvin and Mildred’s Scary Fall
When Calvin was about four, Viola and the family came by our house dressed up, Viola wearing her new black patent-leather high-heeled shoes. They were decorated with ornaments on the toes, formed into multicolored diamond shapes that created an eight-pointed star. They were quite attractive, and Calvin noticed them as we were standing around talking. He reached down and touched the ornament and said, “Aunt Vi, you sure do have pretty shoes!” We were surprised that he noticed, and thought it was so cute! Also, about then, Calvin heard the expression, “As far as I’m concerned”; his version of the expression was “as far as I’m kus-serned.” How about his interpretation of exercise-“extrasive”!
Ed. note: Shoes for women, even in rural Oklahoma in 1928! This advertisement illustrates the variety available in the “Roaring Twenties”. Aunt Viola was “stylish”, let’s say. RAN
In the summer of 1928, Uncle Charley’s son, Arthell, 16, was plowing cotton with a one-row cultivator, helping Frank, also plowing in the same field. Mildred, 6, was riding with Arthell on his cultivator, standing on the frame and holding onto the seat, when suddenly she lost her balance and grabbed for the wheel of the plow. Arthell stopped the team of mules as quickly as possible and began to try to untangle Mildred from the wheel, where she was entangled in its many spokes. It lasted only seconds, but how terrifying! Frank, plowing in the same field, discovered what was happening as his mule team approached the scene. He left his plow in the ground, tied up his muleteer lines, and ran to the other plow. Mildred was crying, of course, from pain and fright! After quickly scanning the situation, Frank could see no way to free her from the wheel without removing it from the frame. Arthell unhitched his team from the plow, lest the mules, in all the commotion, would try to run away with the plow. With the beams lowered and the plows on the ground, the wheel was soon removed, and they brought Mildred to the house. She was bruised and skinned up considerably, but no bones were broken. I was doing the weekly washout in the wash house, which was an enclosed corner of the garage. We brought out some quilts to make a pallet for her to rest and recuperate while I finished the wash. The bruises were soon healed, and she was none the worse for wear. No more going to the field, riding the cultivator!
Ed. note: Uncle Charlie is Pearl’s favorite uncle, the youngest brother of Papa Pete Thornton. They moved into the neighborhood recently. Arthell is 16, so old enough to help with the farming. This old photo of a similar cultivator, breaking ground, is being pulled by a pair of horses, not mules. This model has a seat. Where Mildred was standing is probably on the pull bar in front of the seat, and Arthell was walking alongside the plow holding the reins of the horses. A scary story for Mildred, age 6, on this rickety contraption! What was Arthell thinking? Oh, he was 16! RAN
Mildred Befriends some Black Girls, Billy Thornton gets Married, A New Console Phonograph
We had another bumper cotton crop that Fall, 1928. For extra help getting the cotton out of the field, Dady hired at least three black men to help him. There were several families of cotton pickers staying in the two additional houses on our family’s farm. There was a two-room and a one-room structure, but we needed more space for these families, so we let one family live in the wash-house section of the garage. Mildred remembers that her rope swing was hanging on a limb of the big cottonwood tree beside the wash-house. She would go out and swing after school. Since the family who lived in the wash-house had children Mildred’s age, of course, the little black girls would be swinging, too. So, Mildred and the little girls took turns swinging, and she and the girls played together, peaceably.
Ed. note: Pearl’s brief narrative above, of Mildred playing with the little black girls, begs for some context. So, here goes: Even into my growing up in SW Oklahoma in the 1940s and 1950s, there was segregation. Our hired hand on the farm, at lunch, was not invited in to eat with us at the dining room table. He ate alone out on the porch. I did not have any black friends. We did not go to school with black children. We rarely saw a black person. In Grandfield, the black people literally “lived across the tracks”, meaning railroad tracks. There were separate public water fountains and bathrooms at the Tillman County Courthouse in Frederick, designated for “White” and “Colored” individuals. As children, we knew it was wrong, and in 1964 racial segregation was outlawed in the U.S. So in 1928-29, Mildred, playing with these precious little black girls about her age, it was natural for her to accept and enjoy them, and Mama must have felt a sense, in spite of overt prejudice around them, it was the right thing and a delight, as she mentioned it, writing this narrative in 1980. Thankfully, we have made much progress toward healing the racial divide in America, 2025. RAN
In January 1929, Verly and Billy were married. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Beverage, who lived near the Antioch Baptist Church, about 10 miles west of our farm. They had moved into the community from Arkansas at some recent point; newcomers to us, at least. The newlyweds moved into the Thornton house on the creek, as a first home, with Grandpa Pete and Mama Betty, and not-so-little Arthur.
Ed. note: Billy is Pearl’s younger brother, 4 years old, son of Melvina. He was born in 1909. Arthur is nine years younger; at this point, he is 11 years old, the son of Mama Betty and the stepmother of Pearl. RAN
New Packard Console Phonograph
This year held the promise of yet another good crop, and as Frank and Papa consulted with one another, they reasoned that Frank might be able to buy some land after the cotton harvest. Frank bought us a beautiful console-type phonograph, called a “Packard”, that year of 1929. I didn’t think we could afford it. But, I wondered if, in his thinking, it was to compensate for leaving us and staying in Hobart so much, in the Spring of 1928, while he took the massage treatments. A few records came with the machine; the Robbins family gave us some; Verlie and Billy gave us a few records, and I bought a new song, “Jeanine, I Dream of Lilac Time”.
Ed. note: This is an old 1928 photo of a Packard Console, or a close similarity. The link below is a YouTube recording of “Jeanine, I Dream of Lilac Time”. Enjoy! RAN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_2EBin-KnQ
Ed. note: We conclude this brief chapter here and look forward to an extended narrative of Pearl’s detailed account of traveling to West Texas to visit several kinfolk and Frank, who was searching for land to buy and become a rancher. Stay tuned. RAN