FROM CAROLINA COUNTRY
Y O U
K N O W
Y O U’R E
F R O M
Carolina country if . . .
…you showed your city cousins how you could outrun the mama hog when you made her newborn babies squeal. Joyce White, Candler
From Joyce White, Candler … You made a necklace by hooking together clover stems. … The first time you operated a gas lawnmower, you mowed the whole neighborhood just because everyone was watching. … You and your cousins had a great time in the woods and pasture, but in the evening the chigger bites itched, the ticks were removed, the cockle burrs were combed out of your hair and the calamine lotion went on your poison ivy. … The neighbor gave you money to buy bread for her at the store and gave you a Par-T-Pak bottle to redeem for deposit to buy yourself a Hershey Bar. … You know that a thunder-boomer is a big rain storm. … When the young’ns got hurt or angry playing games, Grandpa said, “Playing is of the devil.” From C.H. Morrow, Canton … You hunted chinquapins and carried them in a salt sack. Salt didn’t always come in a round box that said “iodized” on the side. It used to come in a cloth bag that held two pounds of salt. The bags were good for lots of things, like marbles. You also could carry eggs in them to the store to trade for penny candy.
From Wade Euliss, Burlington … You hunted for duddle bugs by hollering down their hole, “Duddle up! Duddle up!” And they would come up out of their hole to see what the noise was about. … You hunted for a white worm by sticking a leaf of wild onion down the hole. When the worm started pushing the leaf up, you pulled it out, along with the worm. … You made a toy tractor out of an empty thread spool, a rubber band, paraffin and a small stick. You wound it, and it would go under its own power. … You built a homemade tractor for farming, called a Hoover Tractor, out of a Model-T Ford and an old school bus transmission. From Juanita Wise, Lexington … You shucked corn and used the shucks for stuffing in a flour sack to make a mattress you could sleep on. … You found your morning breakfast eggs in a nest under a shock of fodder. … You heard your mother whistle, then an aunt whistle, then a different whistle from another aunt, and they all were calling the young’ns for supper. … You made parachutes out of handkerchiefs, string and small rocks.
From Mabel Dennie, Marion … When company came, you slept on floor. … You would pick blackberries half a day and then do a large wash the same day. … You could trade canned goods for meals at school. … You had to walk two miles to the mail box. … You used a sling blade to cut grass. … Your favorite pastime was throwing horseshoes. From Henrietta Godwin, Marston … You made playhouses out of dog fennels in the field across the dirt road. … The neighbors got together for a sugar cane party to make molasses, and the kids rode the mules in a circle round the grinding block. … You did the sowing and the mule did the plowing. … Your mom brought a bowl of cold peas and beans and biscuits to the cotton field so you wouldn’t have to quit pickin’ to eat. … Your schoolhouse had six rows of desks, one for each grade, and one teacher. … You washed your hair in the water that came off the roof when it rained.
From Peggy Hayes, Belews Creek … You like root beer floats. … You took corn silks before they dried out and tied them on sticks for hair and pretended they were boyfriend and girlfriend. … Your grandpa asked for “Coker Cola” to drink. … You and your friends climbed up onto the roof of the old barn to watch fireworks from the city. … You loved hearing the tree frogs hollering from the creek. … You made grasshopper houses from weaving teasel weeds together over your fingers and tying them off with another weed. … You played finger games with a piece of tobacco twine. … You remember the smell of kraut while it was makin’. … Your brothers chased you with tobacco worms.
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If you know any that we haven’t published, send them to: E-mail: editor@carolinacountry.com Mail: P.O. Box 27306, Raleigh, NC 27611 Web: www.carolinacountry.com
See more on our Web site. Carolina Country JULY 2007 31