May 13, 2016 Coats Museum News
The calendar displays that it is February of 1958-short days and long nights; however, that did not deter the ladies in the Coats area from attending night classes at the Coats Home Economics Department. The participants watched Charles McLamb of the Auto and Furniture Upholstery of Erwin demonstrate how to cover and pad furniture to get a professional look. Chances are if any of the attendees were farm wives, they were seeking ways to save money in the household. Money came hard on the farm and farm income varied from year to year on the products. For example in 1956, 18,154 bales of cotton were produced on the Harnett farms; whereas, in 1957, there were only 6,653 bales. Was that a big difference? Folks, was the farm productivity like the salary of the farm family (Daily Record Feb. 10, 1958)?
Did young people marry much younger in the “good old days”? Sue Langdon, a senior at Coats High, married Joe Eason, son of Mrs. Mozelle Eason and the late James Eason. Sue was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Langdon.
Despite the cold of winter, many people had found it a time to visit. Mr. Shelton Ennis was home for a weekend visit at his parents, Mr. and Mrs. M.E. Ennis. Sue and Jimmy Benner were also visiting with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Maylon Byrd and Miss Ula Byrd had visited with Mr. and Mrs. Harold Puckett in Wake Forest. Mr. and Mrs. Stacy Byrd and Mr. Fred Byrd had visited Mrs. Elsie Byrd Garton of Raleigh.
Were Stanley parties a social event in the late 50’s? Many women had them while others attended them. Mrs. Chester Ennis had eight guests at her party (Daily Record Feb, 11, 1958).
The Coats Baptist Church was the site of the N.C. Federation of Home Demonstration Clubs for the 10th District of which Mrs. Delmer Ennis was president (Daily Record Feb. 12, 1958).
“Economic development, economic development, economic development” was on the minds of Jarvis Pleasant, Jack Marley and Carson Gregory in 1958. The people in Angier were willing to raise $150,000.00 to help them bring the right kind of industry to the town. The trio took a brochure of plant sites, labor supply, and other relevant matters in an exhibit to show Governor Luther Hodges what Angier had to offer (Daily Record Feb. 14, 1958).
The ladies in the Coats area continued to take the night classes at the school and went home better from having done so. The ladies had learned how to cover furniture in the last session and this session they had learned how to cover their heads in the “Hat Making Demonstration”. Mrs. Franklin Stewart had won the door prize. The FHA girls who helped serve were Eloise Johnson, Rachel Ennis, Mary Wade, and Linda Harmon. Seventy-five people attended. The next session was to have Mr. John Parker who was to discuss seeding lawns, selecting and setting shrubbery.
Some of the participants might have shared that Zola Mack Tart had died at his home on Saturday. The 58 year-old had W.B. Tart as a survivor of Coats and Ira Tart of Benson (Daily Record Feb. 17, 1958).
Evadean Ingram announced a change in program for the night classes. Lane Siler replaced John Parker who would give his program in March on landscaping. The program by Miss Siler was “Meals from the Freezer.”
Mrs. J.D. Norris was honored with a stork shower at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Virginia Capps, and Mrs. Edna Lockany as co-hostesses. Mrs. Carlie Stevens hosted another Stanley party. Do you readers know the purpose of a Stanley party?
The weather was brutally cold but schools were running on regular schedules despite schoolhouse boilers creaking from the strain of near zero weather (Daily Record Feb. 19, 1958).
Dunn was hoping that natural gas coming to Dunn by midsummer would alter their chances of attracting new industries. Elsewhere, Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Turlington, Sr. announced that their youngest daughter Susan would marry J.M Mewborn of Fuquay Springs. He was the son of Elder and Mrs. J.E. Mewborn of Snow Hill. Another note of interest about the Turlington couple was that their daughter and son-in-law Mr. and Mrs. Edward F. Barbee planned to move from Winston Salem to Huntington, West Virginia. Cathy Fay Creech, three-month old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Creech, Jr. of Greenville, was buried in the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church Cemetery (Daily Record Feb. 20, 1958).
Coats had two more young couples to pledge their marriage vows. Linda Lawrence, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Lawrence of Barclaysville, married Lewis Smith, son of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Smith of Coats. Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Godwin of Coats announced that their daughter, Dorothy, had married Kenneth Lloyd. Both couples were married in Dillon, SC. (Daily Record Feb. 24, 1958).
The county winners in the 1957 4-H Award program were Joyce Johnson for a Bread Demonstration, Sylvia Lee for her ”Dairy Foods Demonstration” and Carminta Rowland for her “Dress Review” (Daily Record Feb. 25, 1958).
Another young Coats girl, Eleana Reid Wilburn, had won the Betty Crocker Homemaking Award for having the highest score on the written examination on homemaking knowledge and attitudes (Daily Record Feb. 26, 1958).
A safe robber had broken into the Coats school and taken $100 in March of Dimes and lunchroom accounts for two days. The school had been broken into in the fall and had taken $500.00(Daily Record Feb. 27, 1958).
Buck Turlington had entered the District 2 race for county commissioner. The widely known Grove farmer and Democratic leader was the fourth candidate to toss his hat into the race (Daily Record Mar. 3, 1958).
The Harnett County Spelling Bee at WCKB had Wayne Avenue versus Coats. The Coats team of C.L. O’Neal, Brenda Stephenson, and Becky Ennis were still standing at the end of the regulation period. The Coats team had been going strong for seven weeks. Other Coats players who had been competitive spellers were Larry Tadlock, Mike Cook, Sandra Wolf and Linda Ennis- all sixth graders. The team would go up against Beth Russell, the sole remaining member of the Wayne Avenue School (Daily Record Mar. 3, 1958).
We received some valuable exhibit donations this week from Kenneth Stewart of Buies Creek. He gave the museum a beautiful table from the Hiram Stewart plantation. Pretty enough to be used in any home, it was eventually used in hog killings. The Mrs. Barclay’s Inn was in existence in 1819 for it is marked on Fulton’s map of that date. Kenneth made two benches from the reclaimed wood from that inn. Lynda has set up an exhibit using Kenneth’s donated items along with a sausage stuffer (a gift from Wade Williams). It is a very pretty and educational exhibit that shows other items needed to carry out the annual killings. Misty Gil has loaned a wood paddle for the stirring of the cracklings made from hog fat.
We also would like to thank Phil and Andrea Harker from Fuquay for gifting a book on the history of the Durham and Southern Railroad. It is fascinating reading about the railroad that operated through our town. They also brought a monetary donation from the Fuquay Cruisers who visited the museum a few Sundays past.
Thank you to Barbara Gardner for bringing by a gas mask belonging to Norfleet’s brother, Al Gardner. Miss Lucy Weaver is remembered for all the beautiful clothes she made. Her daughter, Mary Frances Weaver Williams, brought by six little girl dresses her mother had made for her for us to use them in the vintage clothes exhibits. All these items are so appreciated.
Don’t forget that the public is invited to the book signing of A Little Town Called Coats by Brian Davis this Sunday from 2-5 pm. The book will be his 19th book. Brian grew up in Coats, graduated from Triton and has carried his ministry to Africa, Europe, West Indies, Jamaica, and other Caribbean sites.
The calendar displays that it is February of 1958-short days and long nights; however, that did not deter the ladies in the Coats area from attending night classes at the Coats Home Economics Department. The participants watched Charles McLamb of the Auto and Furniture Upholstery of Erwin demonstrate how to cover and pad furniture to get a professional look. Chances are if any of the attendees were farm wives, they were seeking ways to save money in the household. Money came hard on the farm and farm income varied from year to year on the products. For example in 1956, 18,154 bales of cotton were produced on the Harnett farms; whereas, in 1957, there were only 6,653 bales. Was that a big difference? Folks, was the farm productivity like the salary of the farm family (Daily Record Feb. 10, 1958)?
Did young people marry much younger in the “good old days”? Sue Langdon, a senior at Coats High, married Joe Eason, son of Mrs. Mozelle Eason and the late James Eason. Sue was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Langdon.
Despite the cold of winter, many people had found it a time to visit. Mr. Shelton Ennis was home for a weekend visit at his parents, Mr. and Mrs. M.E. Ennis. Sue and Jimmy Benner were also visiting with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Maylon Byrd and Miss Ula Byrd had visited with Mr. and Mrs. Harold Puckett in Wake Forest. Mr. and Mrs. Stacy Byrd and Mr. Fred Byrd had visited Mrs. Elsie Byrd Garton of Raleigh.
Were Stanley parties a social event in the late 50’s? Many women had them while others attended them. Mrs. Chester Ennis had eight guests at her party (Daily Record Feb, 11, 1958).
The Coats Baptist Church was the site of the N.C. Federation of Home Demonstration Clubs for the 10th District of which Mrs. Delmer Ennis was president (Daily Record Feb. 12, 1958).
“Economic development, economic development, economic development” was on the minds of Jarvis Pleasant, Jack Marley and Carson Gregory in 1958. The people in Angier were willing to raise $150,000.00 to help them bring the right kind of industry to the town. The trio took a brochure of plant sites, labor supply, and other relevant matters in an exhibit to show Governor Luther Hodges what Angier had to offer (Daily Record Feb. 14, 1958).
The ladies in the Coats area continued to take the night classes at the school and went home better from having done so. The ladies had learned how to cover furniture in the last session and this session they had learned how to cover their heads in the “Hat Making Demonstration”. Mrs. Franklin Stewart had won the door prize. The FHA girls who helped serve were Eloise Johnson, Rachel Ennis, Mary Wade, and Linda Harmon. Seventy-five people attended. The next session was to have Mr. John Parker who was to discuss seeding lawns, selecting and setting shrubbery.
Some of the participants might have shared that Zola Mack Tart had died at his home on Saturday. The 58 year-old had W.B. Tart as a survivor of Coats and Ira Tart of Benson (Daily Record Feb. 17, 1958).
Evadean Ingram announced a change in program for the night classes. Lane Siler replaced John Parker who would give his program in March on landscaping. The program by Miss Siler was “Meals from the Freezer.”
Mrs. J.D. Norris was honored with a stork shower at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Virginia Capps, and Mrs. Edna Lockany as co-hostesses. Mrs. Carlie Stevens hosted another Stanley party. Do you readers know the purpose of a Stanley party?
The weather was brutally cold but schools were running on regular schedules despite schoolhouse boilers creaking from the strain of near zero weather (Daily Record Feb. 19, 1958).
Dunn was hoping that natural gas coming to Dunn by midsummer would alter their chances of attracting new industries. Elsewhere, Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Turlington, Sr. announced that their youngest daughter Susan would marry J.M Mewborn of Fuquay Springs. He was the son of Elder and Mrs. J.E. Mewborn of Snow Hill. Another note of interest about the Turlington couple was that their daughter and son-in-law Mr. and Mrs. Edward F. Barbee planned to move from Winston Salem to Huntington, West Virginia. Cathy Fay Creech, three-month old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Creech, Jr. of Greenville, was buried in the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church Cemetery (Daily Record Feb. 20, 1958).
Coats had two more young couples to pledge their marriage vows. Linda Lawrence, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Lawrence of Barclaysville, married Lewis Smith, son of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Smith of Coats. Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Godwin of Coats announced that their daughter, Dorothy, had married Kenneth Lloyd. Both couples were married in Dillon, SC. (Daily Record Feb. 24, 1958).
The county winners in the 1957 4-H Award program were Joyce Johnson for a Bread Demonstration, Sylvia Lee for her ”Dairy Foods Demonstration” and Carminta Rowland for her “Dress Review” (Daily Record Feb. 25, 1958).
Another young Coats girl, Eleana Reid Wilburn, had won the Betty Crocker Homemaking Award for having the highest score on the written examination on homemaking knowledge and attitudes (Daily Record Feb. 26, 1958).
A safe robber had broken into the Coats school and taken $100 in March of Dimes and lunchroom accounts for two days. The school had been broken into in the fall and had taken $500.00(Daily Record Feb. 27, 1958).
Buck Turlington had entered the District 2 race for county commissioner. The widely known Grove farmer and Democratic leader was the fourth candidate to toss his hat into the race (Daily Record Mar. 3, 1958).
The Harnett County Spelling Bee at WCKB had Wayne Avenue versus Coats. The Coats team of C.L. O’Neal, Brenda Stephenson, and Becky Ennis were still standing at the end of the regulation period. The Coats team had been going strong for seven weeks. Other Coats players who had been competitive spellers were Larry Tadlock, Mike Cook, Sandra Wolf and Linda Ennis- all sixth graders. The team would go up against Beth Russell, the sole remaining member of the Wayne Avenue School (Daily Record Mar. 3, 1958).
We received some valuable exhibit donations this week from Kenneth Stewart of Buies Creek. He gave the museum a beautiful table from the Hiram Stewart plantation. Pretty enough to be used in any home, it was eventually used in hog killings. The Mrs. Barclay’s Inn was in existence in 1819 for it is marked on Fulton’s map of that date. Kenneth made two benches from the reclaimed wood from that inn. Lynda has set up an exhibit using Kenneth’s donated items along with a sausage stuffer (a gift from Wade Williams). It is a very pretty and educational exhibit that shows other items needed to carry out the annual killings. Misty Gil has loaned a wood paddle for the stirring of the cracklings made from hog fat.
We also would like to thank Phil and Andrea Harker from Fuquay for gifting a book on the history of the Durham and Southern Railroad. It is fascinating reading about the railroad that operated through our town. They also brought a monetary donation from the Fuquay Cruisers who visited the museum a few Sundays past.
Thank you to Barbara Gardner for bringing by a gas mask belonging to Norfleet’s brother, Al Gardner. Miss Lucy Weaver is remembered for all the beautiful clothes she made. Her daughter, Mary Frances Weaver Williams, brought by six little girl dresses her mother had made for her for us to use them in the vintage clothes exhibits. All these items are so appreciated.
Don’t forget that the public is invited to the book signing of A Little Town Called Coats by Brian Davis this Sunday from 2-5 pm. The book will be his 19th book. Brian grew up in Coats, graduated from Triton and has carried his ministry to Africa, Europe, West Indies, Jamaica, and other Caribbean sites.