Some time ago, several of us “older folks” were talking about how times had changed. I suppose this is something all generations have done as they grew older.
In the not-too-distant past, things were indeed much different than they are now especially in Graham County.
We did not get electricity on Atoah Creek – where I was born and grew up – until I was around six years old. There was one bare light bulb in each room and one electrical outlet in the entire house – which was for the refrigerator.
The first winter that we had electricity, there were several large snows that kept the power knocked out for days at a time. We simply got the kerosene lanterns back out and lit them. Heat was provided by a fireplace and a wood stove.
Our house was very cold in winter. Anything that you didn’t want to freeze – such as milk, mayonnaise and other items – were placed in the refrigerator, as it got colder in the house at night than it was in the refrigerator. In fact, a bucket of water – sitting on a washstand by the cook stove in the kitchen – would freeze in ice overnight, even though there was a fire in the stove a few feet away. If you forgot and left the dipper in the bucket overnight, you couldn’t get it out the next morning, as it was frozen in ice.
Fried chicken has always been a southern delicacy. I think we had it most weeks, especially on Sundays.
Chickens ran loose in the yard and nearby woods at the time. The one unfortunate enough to be the next victim either had its head cut off with an axe or had its neck wrung. The chickens would flop all around after this “execution,” so they were placed under a wash tub until they quit moving.
For those not familiar with what a washtub is, it was used for washing clothes. Water would be heated and poured in the tub, and the clothes rubbed back and forth on a scrub board until they were clean. Then they were hung on a clothesline outside, to be dried by the wind and sun naturally.
Money was not handed out to children back then as it is now. The only time we were given money was at Christmas – when the tobacco sold – or sometimes, we were given money to go the movies on Saturday night, when there was a double feature.
Yes, Robbinsville had a movie theater back then. It sat almost directly across the street from the Graham County Courthouse.
One of the biggest changes seems to be in morals. We were taught to respect our elders and other people’s property. We roamed all over the neighborhood as children on other people’s property and they didn’t seem to mind.
Older times might have been difficult than now. There was much more manual labor.
I wonder though, if there wasn’t much more peace of mind then, rather than now.
Marshall McClung is the historical columnist for The Graham Star. He is retired from the Graham County Rescue Squad. He can be reached via email, mcclungs@email.com.