I remember for colds we used Raleigh's Linament, which you put in hot water and drank, or a pure Quinine liquid called 666. It was really wicked stuff. We used a lot of Raleigh salve, too, on cuts and scrapes, and used it on sores and cuts on the horses, too.
My Mom's sister, Rosie Ray, was present when Hazel was born. She remembered when she was due to be born, how they pulled the bed into the middle of the floor, and Joe had his horse saddled and at the hitching rack in the yard. She said "He walked 'round and 'round the bed, he was really nervous, until we told him it was time to go for the Doctor. He went out to his horse and galloped away." It was 11 miles to Eufala, Oklahoma, where the doctor lived. Rosie remembered Joe was always so kind to her and their other sisters and brothers when they went to pick cotton for him. He would bake bread and make them jelly bread sandwiches, a real treat, because they always had biscuits or cornbread.
When we were growing up, we always had Sunday clothes and work clothes, Sunday shoes and waterproof leather work high top shoes and lace up engineer boots. We kept them waterproof by rubbing them with goose fat, warming them until it soaked in. It kept the leather from cracking, too. We had to strictly set aside Sunday dress clothes because they would have been ruined very quickly in the rough work that had to be done daily. So, as soon as we'd get home from school, church, or any trip to town, we had to first change from our Sunday clothes and shoes.
Dad used rubber knee boots a lot in the winter around the farm, and we all had four buckle overshoes that we wore in bad weather, around the farm and to school. We wore aviator caps a lot in the 30's. Charles Lindbergh made them famous. With their ear flaps, they made pretty good winter caps.
For dress we wore a flat top cap with a bill made out of material, like the material in plaid suits. They seem to be coming back in style in the 90's. We wore short pants and knee socks for dress (the boys), and long pants for work, mostly Osh Kosh by Gosh bib overalls, with suspenders. They had a watch pocket on the breast. We always had a 59 cent pocket watch with a braided leather strap. I didn't get a Westclox Pocket Ben until after I was married. I believe they were $3.95, so most of us stuck with the Ingraham with a black luminous face. You could see the time in the dark. The style Ingraham with the white face and green luminous numbers cost 69 cents in the Montgomery Ward Catalog. We really didn't need a watch working in the fields, though, because you could always look down at your shadow and see how short it was and in what direction you were walking, making a sundial. The fields were laid out directly north and south.
When Hazel's husband, Ben, planted his first crop of potatoes in the country, the rows were a little crooked. Our aunt came by and told them he wouldn't get any potatoes from crooked rows. Hazel said he got a bumper crop.
