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Hall of Famer [22127]
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Tomorrow is Saturday, We're Going to Town
May 1, 2020, 2:44 PM
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Going to town on Saturday in the 1920's and '30's was a ritual in the rural south. It was a day for shopping, banking and fellowship. The preparations began before sunrise. The cow had to be milked, the hogs and chickens fed and arrangements made for someone to milk the cow in late afternoon. While the women were preparing breakfast, they were also preparing food they would need during the day. In my home town, Mrs. Fugate's café would be open and a few people would visit there for lunch. She apologized to her customers when she had to raise her price for lunch from thirty cents to thirty five cents But there was always the problem of money, most of the people did not have much so they made do with what they brought from home.
Preparing for a trip to town was similar to our preparing for a tailgate at a Clemson football game. The most prevalent means of transportation was a horse or mule drawn wagon. Everyone in the family went unless one was left behind to do all the chores. Chairs were put in the wagon for the older people to sit on. When they arrived in town, the chairs were placed under the shade of a pecan tree. Also, in the wagon, was the food they would enjoy during the day and there was hay for the horse or mule. Most of the people had a special insulated box for ice. The last stop before leaving town to return home was the city ice plant. One other important item was a sack of shelled corn which would be delivered to the grist mill as soon as they got to town. The operator of the grist mill usually took part of the corn as payment for his services.
In the middle of the town near the grist mill, was a large vacant lot with several pecan trees. This was the area where most of the people parked their wagon. Usually the same people picked the same spot to park their wagon. The horse or mule was unhitched from the wagon and there was a special place for them. Most of the women sat around in the shade visiting with the other women and, at times, visited the clothing stores for needed items. There were two clothing stores, three grocery stores, one furniture store, one hardware store, two barber shops, one blacksmith, two banks until one "went busted" in the early 1930's, two doctors, one livery stable and two drug stores.
Joe Fugate owned one of the grocery stores. On the top of the meat cooler there was always one of those huge "hoop" cheeses. This was a favorite of many. Along with the cheese, many preferred putting the cheese on a soda biscuit, which looked like a pregnant saltine. Every grocery store had a huge container for soft drinks. Every morning the melted ice water had to be drained off and fresh ice placed over the drinks. If the smaller kids had behaved properly they were treated to the drink of their choice. All drinks were five cents. The young kids played games with the other kids.
The banks were open on Saturday so the men did their banking. If they needed work done at the blacksmith's shop that was one of the first places they would go as soon as they arrived in town. Grocery items were basically those items that were not produced on the farm. The last items purchased were the groceries, It was now time to load up everything, hitch up the horse or mule to the wagon, check to see if every one that was supposed to be on the wagon was their and head for the last stop, the city ice plant. A one hundred pound block of ice was placed in that special box and wrapped tightly with burlap or some other material to slow down the melting process. On Sunday, there would be real iced tea. Oops!!! Almost forgot to give the ice man fifty cents for that 100 pound block of ice.
And that's the way it was on a Saturday down south during the 1920's and '30's.
Message was edited by: Joe21®
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Re: Tomorrow is Saturday, We're Going to Town
May 1, 2020, 3:46 PM
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Pretty much the same in a small South Carolina town in the late 1940s. I worked at a grocery store on Saturdays and all of the farmers in the county would come to town on Saturday. They would come early and stay until the stores closed at 9:00 P.M. They would come to our store during the day, buy their groceries, and we would keep them for them until they came back and picked them up before going back home. They mostly bought staples so didn't have to worry about keeping thing cool.
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110%er [5495]
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Re: Tomorrow is Saturday, We're Going to Town
May 1, 2020, 4:01 PM
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Joe, I heard my parents and grandparents talk about the same thing. At least when I was growing up I had the privilege to at least ride in a car and we would spend a lot of the day in town. Grew up on a farm so I know what you were speaking about when you were saying someone needed to be home to take care of the animals.
Really enjoy your stories. Keep them coming.
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110%er [6878]
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Re: Tomorrow is Saturday, We're Going to Town
May 1, 2020, 4:44 PM
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Going to town in the fifties wasn't quite as big of a deal as we got to ride in our '49 Ford. The car was washed beforehand as it was important to be tidy. Mother always wore a church dress with heels, hat and gloves and I wore a Sunday dress and my patent leather Mary Jane's with white anklets. Daddy in his suit and hat. I'm not sure when we quit wearing our church clothes to go downtown but it must have been well into the 60s!
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All-TigerNet [10121]
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Re: Tomorrow is Saturday, We're Going to Town
May 1, 2020, 4:52 PM
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Great story- Joe !! How is the book progressing ? - ">
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Hall of Famer [22127]
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Re: Tomorrow is Saturday, We're Going to Town
May 1, 2020, 5:23 PM
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It's just about finished. Have been debating about some stories and finally decided o leave them out. About a week ago I woke up several times with those stories on my mind. Something kept telling me, "leave them out", so I will. Another problem I'm having is with some photos. The photos are about 75 years old and on one particular photo my copier makes it even darker and can't distinguish the men in the photo. This is a photo of my entire company in Europe. I believe the book printer can correct this when he makes a photo copy. Will have a better idea when it ill be available after I talk to the printer.
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All-TigerNet [10121]
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Very nice - Joe .. Thanks for the update .. Very much ....
May 1, 2020, 11:08 PM
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... looking forward to the publication!! Certainly hope the printer can print the pictures clearly .. Please keep us posted on book’s progress ... ??
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CU Guru [1337]
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Re: Tomorrow is Saturday, We're Going to Town
May 1, 2020, 9:28 PM
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Great story Joe. Thanks for reminding us how things were in days gone by. We do not know or remember how tough things were in those days. Born in "51 so I know a little.
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110%er [6009]
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Re: Tomorrow is Saturday, We're Going to Town
May 1, 2020, 11:07 PM
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My Mom told me about living close enough to town that the ice man came once a week. She said it was a treat when he came because he would give her and all her siblings chips of ice . She said they always looked forward to it especially in the summer.
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CU Medallion [55298]
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Re: Tomorrow is Saturday, We're Going to Town
May 2, 2020, 3:39 PM
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I remember back when just going to get groceries on Saturday with momma and daddy was a special even when we had to sit in the car while they did the grocery thing, at least we got to see other people walking the sidewalks and saying hey to them!!! The excitement of shopping has long gone, just like many of the things that we done growing up. They say change is good, but I think there has been to much change that has ruined a lot that was good that didn't need changing IMO!!!
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All-TigerNet [10121]
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I agree - allorange ... Change is inevitable .. but is ...
May 2, 2020, 4:24 PM
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... most certainly not always good !! - ">">">
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