Pick'n Blackberries

Back in yesteryear, food was food. There weren't choices.......there was just food if you could find it. Wild, edible foods were picked with delight and thanksgiving. Blackberries were no exception. They were free, delicious, and could be eaten fresh, cooked, or made into pies, cobbler, jams, jelly, preserves. It took a lot of individual berries to make a gallon, but it was worth the effort.

Some of the hazards of blackberry pick'n were: chiggers (red bugs), snakes, thorns, and wasp nest, just to name a few. Most people tried to do their pick'n early in the morning while the weather was cool. A gallon of fresh berries would get a boy about 75 cents if he was lucky.

An Outrage

It's an outrage............a billboard on top of Mount Rushmore!!

Actually the photo is a special effects photo. The photographer took a picture of Mount Rushmore and made a 8 X 10 print of it. Then he took a photo of a license plate on a car that said "Eat More Possum" and made a 4 X 6 print of it. He then cut out the "Eat More Possum" sign out with a pair of sissors. Next he put the "Eat More Possum" cut-out on top of the Mount Rushmore 8 X 10 and reshot the photo to make the one that you see with this narrative.

Shaving Brush and Mug

Years ago, shaving the hair on your face was a little different than it is today. There were no electric shavers, or safety shaving kits, etc. Men had a mug (see photo) with soap and water in it. They also had a brush to spread the mixture on their face. This mixture of soap and water made their straight razor glide smoothly over their face to avoid cuts. It also eased the painful scratching that the razor would cause without the mixture.

Surgical Instruments

If you needed surgery back in yesteryear, you were in for some real pain. Even the instruments looks like things out of a torcher chamber. Some even looked like they came from the local butcher shop. However, if you needed surgery, you needed surgery, and that was that. You took the pain hoping for better days ahead. Aren't you glad that God has blessed us with more modern less invasive surgery today?

A Woman's Book Of Suggestions For Being Frugal

Red Book and Good Housekeeping ain't got nothing on the women of the past when it comes to being interested in being frugal. Just look at the date on the book in the photo. Some of the suggestions in the book are just as applicable as today as they were back then. General policies were: waste not, want not; repair and fix everything; throw nothing away that can be used again as is or in another form; borrow things but always pay back. Not bad ideas for us today.

Herb Slicer

Back in yesteryear, people grew a lot of their own herbs. That's just the way it was. Anything that you could make or grow was done that way. Money was scarce. Some herbs needed to be mashed, sliced, and/or crushed to be in a useful form for seasoning and cooking. That's where the device in the photo came into play. It is a herb slicer and was found in most country kitchens. You won't find this item in todays kitchen. Our herbs come in bottles, zip lock bags, plastic containers, and you name it.

Governor Jimmie Davis As A Gospel Singer

Jimmie Davis is remembered for two main things............a Louisiana Governor, and a great gospel singer. As a singer, his voice was mellow and clear. His back-up singers were called the Anita Curr Singers. His piano player was Drew Shaw who also played piano at the First Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. He made several albums of gospel songs. One of his most popular songs was called "When They Ring Those Golden Bells For You And Me." It was one of those "tear jerkers" that you never forgot once you heard it. He also recorded a hit record called "You Are My Sunshine". It was his number one big hit. It has gone down in musical history as a classic, and is still sung by popular artist today.