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Ina Faye’s dad came from a well-off family. Even though he
could give her mom whatever she wanted, mom still tended to hoard things. Dad
was a farmer who owned a dairy, a milking machine, and even ran Charlet (Charolais)
cows bred for beef.
Recycling grease in containers for later use, she would
cleanse the grease with potatoes to prevent cross contamination of frying smells.
Having brought her frugal ways into the marriage, she saved all the time and
cut corners.
When she passed away, Ina Faye found yards and yards of
string, old twine, boxes of saved aluminum foil, washed, dried, and neatly stored
for future use, jars of buttons, tubs and tubs of Crisco shortening, used tin
foil plates scrubbed clean, and batches of home-made lye soap for her husband
to use after fertilizing the fields and working on farm equipment.
Ina Faye’s mom always stocked up on sale items and, since
Southern ladies fried most of the things they cooked, Crisco shortening was a
must pantry item to store in excess.
Old dresses and ragged shirts would be cut into strips and
made into lovely quilts which Ina Faye still proudly displays in her
Mississippi home. As it was the case then, mom always made clothes for her
girls until high school. A terrific seamstress, she made dresses and aprons for
herself and other females in the family, a must in the wardrobe of any Southern
country woman at that time.
Hancock Fabrics made a good business selling sewing
implements, from Singer sewing machines, to buttons, to thread, fabrics, yard
sticks, and McCall’s dress patterns made of thin onion-skin beige paper.
Ina Faye found an entire cedar chest filled with fabrics her
mom had purchased to make dresses for Cox’s army. The fragrant scent of cedar
brought back instant memories when she opened the lid.
In the late 70s and early 80s, the tide started to turn and southern
moms started shopping more and more for ready-made clothes in department stores
and the fabric shops started to disappear. There are few left around the
country, such a novelty that the younger generations do not understand.
An occasional downtown fabric shop in a small town always
makes me stop to peruse the racks of fabrics. The smell of cotton dye, the
wooden shelves, and polished floors bring back memories long forgotten. I too
had sewn my own clothes and my babies’ little dresses in the late seventies and
early eighties. Sewing was terrific therapy for the soul and it saved us so
much money.
The Greatest Generation learned to scrimp and save, using
everything up until it could no longer be fixed and it had to be recycled. An
appliance, a tractor, a vehicle, a stove, or anything with a motor, was fixed
and reused until it fell apart. And even then, it was recycled or scavenged for
parts. Nobody liked to buy on credit; they saved until they had enough money to
buy what they needed.
And then, there were Green Stamps given at the grocery store
each time a purchase was made. Women filled books of them and bought kitchen
items and small appliances. It was so exciting to fill a new book, that much
closer to a can opener, an electric frying pan, or a set of dinner plates.
Amway and Tupperware became popular among country folk.
Families would have parties, selling vitamins, soap, farm surfactant, and plastic
storage containers from Tupperware. There were few families in the South who
did not have a Tupperware party and kept their rice, flour, tea, sugar, and
other ingredients in classic orange Tupperware containers. My girls played with
a Tupperware red and blue puzzle ball with different geometrical yellow shapes
that had to be fitted through proper slots.
Everything people ate was produced on the farm. On a special
day, dad would take the children to town for a cold cola in a glass bottle,
taken out of the grocery store cooler or on a trip to the downtown Rexall Drugs
counter where they served cola floats from a real fountain. When the children
finished their drinks, dad would return the empty glass bottles to the store
owner for a 5 cents refund per drink.
Ina Faye’s parents never bought them candy because mom would
parch peanuts grown on the farm and would make chocolate fudge with the peanuts;
on weekends, while they played games with friends, they had delicious treats.
Her cakes and fried chicken from scratch were “second to none.”
It was a simpler life, close to home and to the country that
revolved around church, a life that the children of today will never get to
experience. It was much safer, closer to church on Sunday morning, evening, and
on Wednesdays. Few girls were sexually active, it was something people did not
do, it was immoral and dishonorable, and guys did not expect girls to “put out.”
There was intense shame attached to such loose morals, and children were taught
right from wrong. Most kids did not get into drugs, there was no Hollywood
telling them that anything goes.
Ina Faye’s dad was highly respected in the community and
knew most people in the area. He was the Justice of Peace for many years and a
good friend of the Sheriff who lived up the road from his home. Her dad would
sometimes hold court in their living room and a few couples were married on
their front porch.
It was a life from another century when family, church,
citizenship, hard work, and morals mattered. It was the 20th century
generation of Americans that had made America great.
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