Sommerer Family Website

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tobacco

Uncle Mahlon’s Sory (part 10)

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As children we had several chores but I remembers all work was work and so there was really no chore which was the worst. I does recall how picking tobacco was less than desirable. Picking tobacco was awful because your hands would get so sticky you couldn’t even get your own fist undone. The sap from the tobacco was like glue.

During World War II all young boys went into the service and started smoking. The first year father had a tobacco allotment with no government support. We planted and harvested 12.5 acres which is one thousands hours of labor. The government put a supply price on the tobacco the next year and received five hundred dollar profit off of the tobacco produced. Tobacco was a big portion of our family income. We would dry it in the barn across boards and had to make hot beds. We would go through the forest with a team of horses and make a brush pile. The brush pile would be burned to make heat in order to kill the seeds in early spring. After the brush pile was made and burned off, one tablespoon of seeds were put into a gallon of ashes. This would be mixed up and spread smoothly. We would take the gallon of ashes and line with poles covered in cheesecloth to prevent frost and birds from affecting the tobacco supply.

Uncle Mahlon’s Story (part 7)

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Sundays after church from 12-5:30 or 6:00 was free time for the children. I often remembers finding a gunnysack when I would walk home from Brazito where a small country store was located. On way way to the store, I would pick up pop bottles and cash them in for a one of the following: 16oz bottle of pepsi for five cents, candy bar for five cents, or a sack of candy for ten cents. While on my way back I would walk on the opposite side of the road and pick up bottles for the next time I went to the store. The return price on a bottle was two cents. If I had leftover candy, I would share it with the smaller kids.

mo-cole-county-1904-map
The file says this map is from 1904. Lots of interesting details.

 

Aunt Naomi’s Story (Part 36)

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Mother had a way with flowers of all kinds.  We had seven sister roses in an arch over the garden gate and the front gate for a while (the gate on the deck).  She had flowers all around the entire farmhouse and around at least one half the yard fence.  In addition, she had other flower beds and flowering bushes she cared for.  The seven sister roses always meant a lot to me as we were seven sisters at home.  Mother was also one of seven sisters. Mother had daddy build a grape arbor over the old well.  It was wonderful to sit under and eat grapes.  The old well is still there, covered by rocks.  I dropped my 10-cent ring in it one time to see if it would come back up when I pumped the handle.  It did not.

The barn had about 10 stations to chain the cows and keep them in place when being milked.  It had a wide concrete hallway and three divisions for horses.  There was a storage room and the barn loft was always full of sweet smelling hay (except when it was full of tobacco).  At the rear of the barn was a lean to that housed the bull and had another area for cows.  Behind this was the silo.  It was an exciting time when the silo was built.  We enjoyed climbing up the outside.  We had to throw the silage down a chute and then transport it to each cow’s station so they could be fed.

Mary Jane on the Porch

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Aunt Cleo sent me these two pictures. Here’s what she wrote:

I have 2 pictures here that were taken of Mary Jane Sommerer Piazza. These were taken about a month before Julie was born.

This was Grandma & Grandpa Sommerer’s back porch before it was converted into a living room and a bathroom. Picture #2 shows where we piled the wood for the stoves when we carried it in from the wood pile. It also shows a square washtub hanging on the wall. The door & window go into the kitchen. On the lift of the kitchen door is a weight that was used to press the tobacco together for shipping. I don’t know what else it was used for, but it was very heavy. The part of the porch you can’t see had a swing and the washing machine was stored there.

mary-jane-on-porch2b mary-jane-on-porch1b.jpeg