n rakes. Pa made de
rakes hisse'f. Dey had short wooden teef jus' right for to kivver de
seed. Folkses buys what dey uses now an' don't take up no time makin'
nothin' lak dat.

"In dem days 'roun' de house an' in de fiel' boys jus' wo' one piece of
clo'es. It wuz jus' a long shirt. Dey didn't know nothin' else den, but
I sho' would lak to see you try to make boys go 'roun' lookin' lak dat
now.

"Dey hired me out to Mr. Jack Weir's fambly when I wuz 'bout fo'teen
years old to do washin', ironin', an' cleanin' up de house, an' I wukked
for 'em 'til I married. Dey lemme eat all I wanted dere at de house an'
paid me in old clo'es, middlin' meat, sirup, 'tatoes, an' wheat flour,
but I never did git no money for pay. Not nary a cent.

"Us wukked mighty hard, but us had good times too. De bigges' fun us had
wuz at candy pullin's. Ma cooked de candy in de wash pot out in de yard.
Fust she poured in some home-made sirup, an' put in a heap of brown
sugar from de old sirup barrel an' den she biled it down to whar if you
drapped a little of it in cold water it got hard quick. It wuz ready den
to be poured out in greasy plates an' pans. Us greased our han's wid
lard to keep de candy from stickin' to 'em, an' soon as it got cool
enough de couples would start pullin' candy an' singin'. Dat's mighty
happy music, when you is singin' an' pullin' candy wid yo' bes' feller.
When de candy got too stiff an' hard to pull no mo', us started eatin',
an' it sho' would evermo' git away from dar in a hurry. You ain't nebber
seed no dancin', what is dancin', lessen you has watched a crowd dance
atter dey et de candy what dey done been pullin'.

"Quiltin's wuz a heap of fun. Sometimes two or three famblies had a
quiltin' together. Folkses would quilt some an' den dey passed 'roun' de
toddy. Some would be cookin' while de others wuz a quiltin' an' den when
supper wuz ready dey all stopped to eat. Dem colla'd greens wid cornpone
an' plenty or gingercakes an' fruit puffs an' big ole pots of coffee wuz
mighty fine eatin's to us den.

"An' dere warn't nothin' lackin' when us had cornshuckin's. A gen'ral of
de cornshuckin' wuz appointed to lead off in de fun. He sot up on top of
de big pile of corn an' hysted de song. He would git 'em started off
singin' somethin' lak, 'Sallie is a Good Gal,' an' evvybody kept time
shuckin' an' a singin'. De gen'ral kept singin' faster an' faster, an'
shucks wuz jus' flyin'. When pa started passin' de jug 'roun' dem