The Vintage Southern Homemaker: Gloria

home, farm, & garden

I Own a MuseuM

I’ve never been to many museums in my life other than a car museum or a couple of the local history museums.

Although my museum experiences have been few, I love to visit the Carroll County Historical Society and Museum, on Main Street in Hillsville, VA. It’s remarkable what the historical society and private citizens have procured to bring the past to life for all to enjoy. I especially like the section relating to the 1912 Hillsville courthouse gunfight. Although the event was very tragic, it is fascinating to have the specifics so detailed and impartially presented. The museum is housed in the very courthouse where it all took place. As it turns out, that courthouse is also where my Ma and Pa Macemore got married in 1936. That alone makes it a point of interest for me. I remember asking Ma why they went all the way to Hillsville from Yadkin County to get married. She explained that back then, during the Great Depression, there was no money for poor folks like them to have a wedding. She said that it became fashionable for young couples to just keep it quiet that they were getting married. Then they would take a couple of witnesses with them, go some distance from home, and get married. She said it wasn’t quite like eloping, it was called running off to get married. Knowing Ma’s family, there wasn’t a soul in the house who didn’t know they were getting married. Ma and Pa took Ma’s sister Dessie and her husband, George, with them as witnesses. George and Dessie had a car. Ma and Pa did not have a car until they had been married ten years. Ma said that to begin with they didn’t have the money. When they had finally saved up enough money to buy one, they couldn’t because of World War II. She explained that all Americans had to pitch in and do all they could for the war effort. That meant a lot of things were either rationed or just too scarce to find. Especially vehicles and even tires to go on the trucks and cars of those that did have them. She went to the old wardrobe and dug out ration stamps to show my cousins Dawn and Darrell and me what they looked like and explained how they were used. Ma told us that she believed “them that lived out in the country had it some easier than them people living all crammed together in cities.” She reasoned the country had more families living close to each other and could take care of one another. Country folks knew their neighbors and were able to call most all of them friends. In the country everybody pitched in and helped each other out. Ma told us how people would swap work and trade off things to keep needs met.

That afternoon she told us about all kinds of things. We heard about wood cutting, priming tobacco, quilting, and canning. We heard about the thrashers coming, people travelling through the country on foot, and saving back enough sugar to bake a cake for church homecoming. I can still remember sitting out there under those old poplar trees, I can still hear her voice as she looked back over the decades and brought her memories to life for us. Now mind you, we heard those stories many times. However, I don’t recall one of us ever saying, Ma, you’ve told us that before. We loved the stories of her past and would often encourage her to retell our very favorite ones. Ma, her sisters, and her brother were talented storytellers.

I’ll tell you what Ma did. She built a museum in our minds. We have her memories that have become our memories to look back on. We know the names, places, activities, and times to visit. The best thing is that we can visit our museum anytime. Sure you own a museum of your own. Just go open the door and enjoy what it has to offer.