Every day except Sunday, I visit a nursing home.  Of course the residents are mostly way past retirement and many with medical conditions but most with remarkably good recall about the past especially during their youth.  And it’s something they seem to enjoy relating, a respite from the routine of the day at their new address.  Below are some observations I had heard from one remarkably mentally alert 93 year old who has lived most of her life in Dillon County, was active in her church, raised her family here and worked until she was forced to retire to take care of her sick sister who was alone.
When she was 23, she knew the date since this was the time of her son’s 4th birthday, she worked in the Hamer Cotton Mill as a spooler.  She remembered that she was paid 25 cents for finishing each filled (overflowing) spooler cart and that her quota was a minimum of 12 units each day.  It was called ‘making production’ earning her $3.00 for an acceptable day’s work – good wages back then she stated.   Occasionally she was able to exceed her quota and earned a ‘bonus’ for her efforts.  She recalled one special weekly $16.00 check she earned because the yarn was ‘just right’ and she had no serious problems in the operation.  Once she got her check – she of course had no checking account- she took it to the hardware store on East Main Street in Dillon and made a purchase that she had long wanted, a cast iron wash pot which she used for years and finally sold it to a collector and “got more for it than I paid for it.”  Back then, in order to really have clean clothes, one had to boil the garments.
She loved school.  The family lived near Little Rock when she entered the first grade and she, back then, had to walk.  She recalled the winter times because then she only had a heavy coat for warmth but no mittens. Remarkably she was able to continue her schooling until she reached the 10th grade and that is when she ran into a word that still frightens her today: algebra.  It made no sense to her and with no one to   help her at home, she began to feel that she was a failure and finally quit school to enter the work force, not unusual for a girl back then who had reached working age.  It was one of her biggest mistakes and even today she regrets the decision to leave although not having to attend algebra class was a compensatory relief.  What made algebra even more difficult was that her cousin who was in the same class, never had one moment’s trouble with the subject.  She recalled that her cousin would read the assignment, stick the pencil’s eraser in her lips and then “go to town” on the assignment, always getting a black check mark by the teacher whereas her paper was always returned with lots of red marks.  It was more than she could bear.  But she loved spelling, literature and English and developed a lifelong interest in reading.
One early memory she reported was when she was in the first grade, the family lived not too far from a country store where limited school supplies could be purchased.  Her father, she recalled, allowed her to walk to the store alone to purchase her first school supplies:  lined notebook paper which could be used on both sides and a pencil which ran the bill up to 6 cents.
Early in her childhood she was given the opportunity to take piano lessons where she learned to read music which allowed her to become active in the music ministry of her church.  She continues even today to play although eye problems limit her performances.
She has high praise for Dixiana where she last worked.  At the time she applied for employment there she was working out of town and when she sat for the interview, she was asked what salary she expected to earn there.  Always honest, she stated that she would  expect to earn as much as she was  presently earning and was happy when she was informed that at Dixiana she would earn far more than she was presently making, in fact, the interviewer stated that she would think she was rich by comparison.  Dixiana, she recalls was the best place she had ever worked, and she only has fond memories of working there with people she still calls friends; it was like a family there. Looking for interesting conversations about the past?  Visit a nursing home and sit for a spell and be informed.
You will learn more than you thought possible and from an original source.
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Bill Lee, PO Box 128,
Hamer, SC 29547