January 30, 2015
Coats Museum News
How many of you were raised on a tobacco farm? If you lived in the 1950’s, did you use a mule to transport the tobacco leaves from the field to the tobacco barn? What did you call the thing that was used to carry the tobacco-was it a tobacco drag or tobacco sled?
This I do know. Motor Vehicle Commissioner L.C. Rosser had asked that vacation bound motorists be careful when traveling through tobacco producing regions where young people were working on sleds pulled by mules on the side of the roads. He noted that many tourists driving through N.C. are puzzled at the bulky, mule-drawn sled.
Curious, slow driving tourists were not the only hazard that the young sled drivers encountered. Wayne Parrish was the grandson of Jesse Herman Parrish who was a railroad section foreman for the Durham and Southern Railroad in Dunn. Jesse invented and installed the first gasoline engine on a hand operated crew wagon for the railroad. All of them had been hand propelled by see-saw pumping action until that time.
Wayne recalled that his granddaddy had some mules on the farm and that he had learned to ride and drive them around on his granddad’s farm just on the outside of Coats. At tobacco harvesting time, Wayne recalled he had the best job on the farm-driving a tobacco slide from the field back to the barn with it full of green tobacco for the farm hands to bundle and loop onto sticks.
When he unhitched a full slide, there was always another one empty for him to hitch and pull out to the field for primers to fill again. The sled was so heavy when loaded that his daddy would not let him ride because it overworked the mule pulling it. He had to walk behind it when the primers were filling it with green tobacco. However, when he left the tobacco barn with an empty sled, he could stand inside and drive “Old Kate”.
The drag slide had a thick wooden bottom and corner posts, but the sides were burlap sacks nailed through a soft drink cap to prevent the nail from pulling through the burlap which was nailed between side boards. That made the drag lighter and easier on the mules to pull.
Wayne recalled that Old Kate was gentle and could be ridden anytime. Just one thing he had to remember about her was that she was deathly afraid of paper or a sack blowing by within her sight. She would run –always run!
He recalled one day when he was driving her back to the field when the unthinkable happened – a paper sandwich bag blew right in front of her. She bolted at full gallop down the tobacco row. He had dropped the rope attached to her bridle and the sled had turned over on its side with Wayne inside it. Old Kate paid no attention to Wayne’s commands. He was being pulled at full gallop down that tobacco row with stalks of green tobacco whizzing past the opening on the side which had been the open top before the sled had turned over.
Every time he stuck his head out, he was slapped in the face by gummy green tobacco stalks. He hollered and Kate galloped . Wayne knew there was a big open ditch at the end of the field and Kate was not going to stop until she hit that ditch full speed. Wayne took a deep breath, covered his face with both hands and rolled out of the opening of the sled , tearing down several hill of tobacco while rolling. The field hands had heard all the fuss and were waiting to jump at Kate’s neck when she ran by-no serious damages (Wayne Parrish Remembrances of Coats Vol 1—p-9-2003).
Tourists’ cars, paper bags, and even snakes could not stop the farmers from harvesting the tobacco crop and curing it in the tobacco barns. In earlier years, wood had been the source of heat to cure the tobacco crop; but later, oil fired burners were used. Once lit, each burner had to be adjusted so that even heat was throughout the barn. Wayne also recalled that the barns on their farm had five burners that were big, round metal stove-like devices. A large oil tank outside held the fuel oil and a copper line went under the dirt floor to each burner inside. The heat had to be checked at regular periods to make sure even heat was throughout the barn (Parrish 10)
In case you were not raised during those years of tobacco curing, you might wonder how could they gauge the temperature in the barn. The farmer placed thermometers in the barn and would check the temperature on the thermometer, which were hanging from wire secured to the bottom tier over or near each burner which could be regulated by the carburetor outside the barn. The cost of a thermometer in 1951 was 59 cents each (Daily Record July 13, 1951).
Harnett County had gained 56.6 miles of hard surfaced roads. The road from Coats north to county line road was completed –known as GI Smith Road. From the Stephens farm by Ennis place to Bailey’s Crossroads was finished. From NC 55 by Barclaysville to county-line for 3.7 miles was paved. From Coats to Old Field Church Road at Parlia Wood farm for 3.3 miles was paved. Some folks were out of the mud so to speak. Can you identify these roads by the 2015 names?
The Oakdale HD Club met in the clubroom in the old Oakdale School. Mrs. David Ennis and her mother-in-law, Mrs. Rena Ennis, acted as hostesses. Wonder if any of these ladies were wearing the new non-smear lipstick made by Tussy at the cost of $1.00 plus tax (Daily Record July 17, 1951).
In the Bethel area, J.A. Langdon, Sr., widely known merchant and farmer, bought a television with pennies and silver dollars. There were $262 in pennies and 72 silver dollars. That was partial payment for the television. How long had it taken Mr. Langdon to save that change? It had taken him 4 years-all of which proved that pennies would go along way and buy big things. Do you wonder where he bought the television? There was no Best Buy, K-Mart or Sam’s, so he went to Coats and purchased his first TV from the Electric Sales and Service Co. owned by Roscoe Thornton. Mr. Thornton and Layton Godwin spent several hours counting those coppers (Daily Record July 18, 1951).
It is always rewarding to have readers call and share additional information about topics in the column. Lynwood Dupree of Angier shared information on Jeff D. Barnes who built the General Lee Museum. He has a picture of the Barnes family that he is going to bring by the museum for us to copy. Mack Hudson shared that he was in school with Christine Tart and that he recalled activities were held in the daytime because no lights were allowed during the war.
We are grateful for the memorials given to honor deceased family and friends. Lincoln and Fannie Neal of Lillington, Robie and Lynda Butler and Ann Jones remembered Mr. Rupert Nye Honeycutt. Thanks!
Thanks goes to Ralph Denning, Bennie Harmon and Betty Vaughn for bringing some old photographs for us to scan. The volunteers can post them on “Growing up in Coats” on Facebook to help us identify the people in the old photographs. Since the museum was awarded a grant from Operation Roundup South River Electric Membership Corp. to buy new computer equipment, the volunteers are able to do remarkable work with printing and preserving old pictures. Thank you again South River Electric.
We are excited to have on display pictures of many of our African American citizens. Thank you goes to Peggy Robinson and Desi Campbell for helping us with this project- Come by the museum and add a framed picture that you might want on display for our Black History Exhibits.
How many of you were raised on a tobacco farm? If you lived in the 1950’s, did you use a mule to transport the tobacco leaves from the field to the tobacco barn? What did you call the thing that was used to carry the tobacco-was it a tobacco drag or tobacco sled?
This I do know. Motor Vehicle Commissioner L.C. Rosser had asked that vacation bound motorists be careful when traveling through tobacco producing regions where young people were working on sleds pulled by mules on the side of the roads. He noted that many tourists driving through N.C. are puzzled at the bulky, mule-drawn sled.
Curious, slow driving tourists were not the only hazard that the young sled drivers encountered. Wayne Parrish was the grandson of Jesse Herman Parrish who was a railroad section foreman for the Durham and Southern Railroad in Dunn. Jesse invented and installed the first gasoline engine on a hand operated crew wagon for the railroad. All of them had been hand propelled by see-saw pumping action until that time.
Wayne recalled that his granddaddy had some mules on the farm and that he had learned to ride and drive them around on his granddad’s farm just on the outside of Coats. At tobacco harvesting time, Wayne recalled he had the best job on the farm-driving a tobacco slide from the field back to the barn with it full of green tobacco for the farm hands to bundle and loop onto sticks.
When he unhitched a full slide, there was always another one empty for him to hitch and pull out to the field for primers to fill again. The sled was so heavy when loaded that his daddy would not let him ride because it overworked the mule pulling it. He had to walk behind it when the primers were filling it with green tobacco. However, when he left the tobacco barn with an empty sled, he could stand inside and drive “Old Kate”.
The drag slide had a thick wooden bottom and corner posts, but the sides were burlap sacks nailed through a soft drink cap to prevent the nail from pulling through the burlap which was nailed between side boards. That made the drag lighter and easier on the mules to pull.
Wayne recalled that Old Kate was gentle and could be ridden anytime. Just one thing he had to remember about her was that she was deathly afraid of paper or a sack blowing by within her sight. She would run –always run!
He recalled one day when he was driving her back to the field when the unthinkable happened – a paper sandwich bag blew right in front of her. She bolted at full gallop down the tobacco row. He had dropped the rope attached to her bridle and the sled had turned over on its side with Wayne inside it. Old Kate paid no attention to Wayne’s commands. He was being pulled at full gallop down that tobacco row with stalks of green tobacco whizzing past the opening on the side which had been the open top before the sled had turned over.
Every time he stuck his head out, he was slapped in the face by gummy green tobacco stalks. He hollered and Kate galloped . Wayne knew there was a big open ditch at the end of the field and Kate was not going to stop until she hit that ditch full speed. Wayne took a deep breath, covered his face with both hands and rolled out of the opening of the sled , tearing down several hill of tobacco while rolling. The field hands had heard all the fuss and were waiting to jump at Kate’s neck when she ran by-no serious damages (Wayne Parrish Remembrances of Coats Vol 1—p-9-2003).
Tourists’ cars, paper bags, and even snakes could not stop the farmers from harvesting the tobacco crop and curing it in the tobacco barns. In earlier years, wood had been the source of heat to cure the tobacco crop; but later, oil fired burners were used. Once lit, each burner had to be adjusted so that even heat was throughout the barn. Wayne also recalled that the barns on their farm had five burners that were big, round metal stove-like devices. A large oil tank outside held the fuel oil and a copper line went under the dirt floor to each burner inside. The heat had to be checked at regular periods to make sure even heat was throughout the barn (Parrish 10)
In case you were not raised during those years of tobacco curing, you might wonder how could they gauge the temperature in the barn. The farmer placed thermometers in the barn and would check the temperature on the thermometer, which were hanging from wire secured to the bottom tier over or near each burner which could be regulated by the carburetor outside the barn. The cost of a thermometer in 1951 was 59 cents each (Daily Record July 13, 1951).
Harnett County had gained 56.6 miles of hard surfaced roads. The road from Coats north to county line road was completed –known as GI Smith Road. From the Stephens farm by Ennis place to Bailey’s Crossroads was finished. From NC 55 by Barclaysville to county-line for 3.7 miles was paved. From Coats to Old Field Church Road at Parlia Wood farm for 3.3 miles was paved. Some folks were out of the mud so to speak. Can you identify these roads by the 2015 names?
The Oakdale HD Club met in the clubroom in the old Oakdale School. Mrs. David Ennis and her mother-in-law, Mrs. Rena Ennis, acted as hostesses. Wonder if any of these ladies were wearing the new non-smear lipstick made by Tussy at the cost of $1.00 plus tax (Daily Record July 17, 1951).
In the Bethel area, J.A. Langdon, Sr., widely known merchant and farmer, bought a television with pennies and silver dollars. There were $262 in pennies and 72 silver dollars. That was partial payment for the television. How long had it taken Mr. Langdon to save that change? It had taken him 4 years-all of which proved that pennies would go along way and buy big things. Do you wonder where he bought the television? There was no Best Buy, K-Mart or Sam’s, so he went to Coats and purchased his first TV from the Electric Sales and Service Co. owned by Roscoe Thornton. Mr. Thornton and Layton Godwin spent several hours counting those coppers (Daily Record July 18, 1951).
It is always rewarding to have readers call and share additional information about topics in the column. Lynwood Dupree of Angier shared information on Jeff D. Barnes who built the General Lee Museum. He has a picture of the Barnes family that he is going to bring by the museum for us to copy. Mack Hudson shared that he was in school with Christine Tart and that he recalled activities were held in the daytime because no lights were allowed during the war.
We are grateful for the memorials given to honor deceased family and friends. Lincoln and Fannie Neal of Lillington, Robie and Lynda Butler and Ann Jones remembered Mr. Rupert Nye Honeycutt. Thanks!
Thanks goes to Ralph Denning, Bennie Harmon and Betty Vaughn for bringing some old photographs for us to scan. The volunteers can post them on “Growing up in Coats” on Facebook to help us identify the people in the old photographs. Since the museum was awarded a grant from Operation Roundup South River Electric Membership Corp. to buy new computer equipment, the volunteers are able to do remarkable work with printing and preserving old pictures. Thank you again South River Electric.
We are excited to have on display pictures of many of our African American citizens. Thank you goes to Peggy Robinson and Desi Campbell for helping us with this project- Come by the museum and add a framed picture that you might want on display for our Black History Exhibits.
