From Dirt Roads to Space

The mountain has so many traditions, cultural nuances and memories to research and record that I rarely focus on a single individual.  However, there are a few that cross my mental pathways that beg to be shared.  Today I want to introduce you to Clyde Whittaker.

Now Clyde is my first cousin once removed on my father’s side.  He is the oldest grandson of Billie and Ida Key; my father is more like grandchild number ten of thirty-three.   The beauty of a close-knit extended family is that you know a whole lot of uncles and aunts and cousins.  The sadness of knowing all that family is the difficulty of keeping up with all of them.  But Clyde has done me the very great honor of not only telling me some of his stories but actually writing them down and permitting me to share his life with you through these stories.

Clyde will turn 93 this month - this may take more than one article. Over the next few weeks I’ll share some of Clyde’s stories in his own words.  Today I’ll give you a bit of a summary of his life.

Clyde was born in 1924 in Monterey, Tennessee.  There he would grow up while his father worked for the Tennessee Central Railroad and his mother raised five children.  They had very little, they were not alone in their poverty in that day but neither did they wallow in it.  They worked.  The whole family worked.  And as I share with you some of Clyde’s achievements the resounding theme is work.  It’s what I hear when I talk to him, “Well I worked hard.”  He never asserts he was the smartest guy around, although he surely is very intelligent.  And no one would claim he had more advantages than others – if you think that please fast forward to the story about him sharing textbooks because his family could not afford them. 

I asked Clyde if his parents – who never enjoyed advanced education – pushed their children in school.  He simply answered that he was expected to finish.  Not finish in first place but just to finish.

And he did finish.  At a time when most young men would do well to finish 8 years of school, Clyde graduated from Monterey High School.  After serving in the Navy during World War II he put the GI bill to good use and completed a Bachelor’s degree in Physics at Tennessee Polytechnical University – that’s what they called Tennessee Tech in the 1940’s. 

He married a local girl, Ellen Bilbrey, and together they went to Florida where he would get his Master’s Degree in Physics.

Keeping his eye on a bigger goal, Clyde turned down a job that would have paid him more that the Dean of the Physics department earned.  The family continued in Florida where Clyde worked in research.  In 1956 he was named in the “Who’s Who in Scientists in America”.  That’s already a leap from humble Monterey beginnings but he didn’t stop there.

In 1962 he moved his family to Houston, Texas to the Center for Manned Space Flight.  I haven’t asked Clyde how many people were there when he arrived but the announcement that the center would be in Houston had only been made a few months earlier in September 1961.  

Clyde worked with the men who would walk on the moon.  He met with German scientists recruited to America following the fall of Nazi Germany.  He was among those pioneers that opened the space frontier.  Yet his roots run right back to Monterey, Tennessee.

Lamp Collection

I have collections – completely by accident mind you.  I never go out and think, “I collect this so I should buy it”.  Somehow these collections just happen at my house.  And I love them.

Well last week’s article was accompanied by a photo of a coal oil lamp that I don’t even own.  My Aunt Roberta had it nicely displayed in her kitchen and I snapped the picture just for the blog.  However, the responses I received on Facebook made me think about all of the lamps that I’ve collected and I wanted to share some of them with you.

It goes without saying that in the pre-electric homes of our grandparents coal oil lamps were indispensable.  Yet they were precious and therefore protected and that means they’ve been handed down.  If you’ve inherited one of these treasures, did you ever think about how much it must have meant to the people who had it before?  They touched it every day – or else they went to bed with the sun and didn’t rise until good daylight.  It had to be cleaned and filled regularly and would have set near the center of the home – for no one wastes their only light on a corner.  One reader mentioned that she “got her lessons” by this type of lamp, and many children would have spent time hunched over tablets or slates near the lamp. 

Now if this was my principle means of light I imagine I’d find a few minutes during the daytime to do my needlework despite the quaint picture Hollywood paints of women sewing by lamplight.  However, I know there’s been many pages from The Good Book read by coal oil light for daylight hours are valuable and the quiet family time of an evening are ideal for studying The Bible.

Even understanding how much it would be used and how important the lamp was to the home, there was not a lot of money to be spent on them.  Therefore as with most products, there were models offered at varying prices.  I tried to do some research to learn what I might about these models I’ve inherited and was amazed how difficult that was. 

I did learn that oil lamps were produced all the way through the depression years.  It was after World War II that electrical power really reached to the rural areas therefore there would have been demand for new lamps until then.  In fact, there were improvements being made to lamps well into the 20th century.  The Aladdin Lamps which offered incredibly bright light for their day were first sold in America in 1909.  The burners were imported from Germany where the technology for a center draft burner had been developed just three years earlier.  And of course fuels were always evolving from the olive oil used in biblical times to the refined kerosene that we can still buy as “lamp oil”.

Reader Rose Davis had this lamp with a fluted fount (the part where the oil is held). 

Several folks said they have lamps just like the one pictured in last week’s article.  I’ve seen a LOT of these on the mountain and I imagine it was an economy model.  In fact, I have a pair of lamps with a beautiful scroll pattern around the foot of the lamp and I found the same model for sale at www.oillampantiques.com for about $84.  The site mentioned that it dates from the early to mid-twentieth century.  So that answers one of my questions – I’m always curious to know how old some of these lamps are. 

Replacement Burner - Isn't that pretty?  I wonder if original burners were ever decorated like this?

All of my old lamps have flat wicks – although I recognize they may not still have their original burners because that part of the lamp seems to wear out.  In fact, I've replaced a few burners and I'm thrilled replacement parts can still be found pretty easily for my lamps.  I have new lamp that has a round wick – or rather a flat wick in a circular burner.  This is similar to the Aladdin lamps but those have the addition of a mantel that glows when heated and produces significantly more light.  The center-draft wick is supposed to put out 3-4 times more light than a flat wick.

A repairman came into my home one time and commented on my lamp “collection” – that was probably my first realization that I was collecting them.  It turned out he was an avid collector of antique lights and had a lot of information about their ages and origins.  Maybe one of you have similar information – I’d sure welcome your comments!

This lamp may have no monetary value but it's one of my most prized.  It belonged to my Great Grandma Key.  I don't know that it's ever been burned.

By the Light of the Coal Oil Lamp

This is probably the most entertained I’ve been writing any of these blog articles.  I am writing to you tonight by the light of a coal oil lamp.  Well, that and my backlit computer screen – see the humor?

The power went out about 3 ½ hours ago and I’m sure the very-efficient electric guys will have it on before bedtime – at least I’m hoping so.  Still, it got pretty dark in the house and it seemed prudent to light some lamps to keep from bumping into stuff.  And you know me, it got me to thinking…

My grandmother has always been an avid reader and she’s told many times about her childhood and wanting to sit up late into the night to finish a book.  Her father would holler up the stairs, “Put that light out you’re a’wastin’ coal oil.”  And in fact, I’m sure coal oil was a very valuable commodity.  It was one of those things that a subsistence, mountain farm could not produce for itself.  Cash money would be required and as we’ve discussed many times, cash was always scarce on the mountain. 

Now I still find myself referring to these old lamps as “coal oil lamps” but in fact coal oil hasn’t been readily available in the US since the middle of the 19th century when large deposits of petroleumshifted distilleries to process kerosene. 

I tried to find prices of coal oil and kerosene through the years and found a Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting Retail Prices 1890 to December 1913.   This showed the average workman’s household spent $8.15 per year on lighting.  I’m pretty sure that wasn’t an Appalachian farmer for those households spent $326.90 on food annually and there was scarcely a home on the mountain that saw more than $300 in a year – but there’s a whole different story to be had in that booklet.  I also wonder if that would have included some electricity since by the end of this period some homes in larger cities began to have electric lighting.  Other than that information, the world wide web is mum on this price despite reporting coal and heating gas prices. 

Still, we know from experience that those items that the farm couldn’t produce or nature didn’t provide were dear.  Of course, the resourceful farmer could find other options –beeswax candles or lard which will make a smoky lamp if necessary.  Don’t you remember the scene from Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind when Scarlett comes home to Tara and the room is lit by a wick suspended in fat held in a gourd? 

I often mention that while I revel in the stories of the good ole’ days there are sure things I enjoy about our modern way of life.  It’s not cold tonight so I’m not particularly worried about the absence of central heat.  And the power will certainly be on before I’m forced to wash clothes on a washboard (which I do own of course).  In fact, we ate a cold supper and did just fine with it so food isn’t even much of a concern (I’m not above building a fire and sticking an iron skillet on it).  But it doesn’t take long without electricity to realize how heavily reliant we are on it.  I have well water so we can’t even open the tap – but of course I’ve got some jugs on stand-by since I’ve been in this situation before.  The house is amazingly quiet without the hum of the fridge, dishwasher, radio or tv.  And children certainly find it hard to understand why their favorite programs cannot be had.

Still, it’s nice to look out and see the stars instead of the security light.  And the quiet is so peaceful.  We need to do this every once in a while both to appreciate the conveniences we take for granted as well as to appreciate the beauty of the world God gave us.

Raindrops Keep Fallin’

I had to drive into town yesterday and it started raining.  Well that’s no big deal, I just turned on the windshield wipers, adjusted my speed and was sure to flip on my headlights so the other cars can see me in the decreased visibility.    With those small adjustments I continued on my way.  But it did make me think about travel just a few decades ago. 

There’s a big difference in running to town in my car with a solid windshield which is cleaned by wipers and runningto town in, at the very best, a covered buggy (which common families really didn’t have).  More likely they were driving a buckboard wagon, riding a horse or even walking.  All of those options leave you very exposed to weather.

And rainy weather just brings on so many more topics

First there’s your wardrobe.  Start by thinking of wearing long dresses that dragged through the mud when you didn’t have a washing machine, not to mention that people didn’t have very many clothes.

Now we don’t wear hats very much these days – and just as a fashion statement, I like hats a lot and think we ought to bring them back.  But they were a very practical part of fashion – from cowboys whose hat shielded him from both sun and rain to the city dweller who didn’t spend his day on an open range needing a wide brim to shield him from the sun’s glare but still relied on his hat to protect from rain and wind.  With the expansion of the automobile hats became less necessary.  Of course women’s hats were always changing and even though it seemed like women wore them later than men did, they were all about fashion and little to do with function by the 1960’s. 

Beyond head covering, I ran out today in a light sweater, which I often do when I’m just riding in the car.  Sure, if there’s serious weather threatening I’ll have heavier coats in the back lest I should have any kind of trouble and end up walking.  But if I had to climb up in an open wagon for a ten or fifteen mile trip you can bet I’d be wrapped in something waterproof and as warm as I could get. 

And then there’s weather-related health conditions to be considered.  President William Henry Harrison served just 31 days before he died from pneumonia which he contracted after standing hatless and coatless during his 2 hour inauguration speech.  How easily would those conditions be duplicated on any given errand if you drove an open wagon?

Finally, there’s just the simple inconvenience of trying to get somewhere in the rain.  Now the car gets pretty dirty and yucky – mine is dirtier and yuckier than I want to admit – but we have these amazing, automatic car washes.  You pull right up to the front, slide your card and in just a few minutes you can drive away with shining wheels, a hot wax, spotless under carriage and of course a nice clean car.  Compare that to currying the mud out of your horse’s coat after your little jaunt to town.  And you do want to curry him for that horse is one of your most valuable and prized possessions.  Cars today cost more than a home did just a few years ago and I think most of us try to take care of them and make them last as long as possible.  However, American households average 2.28 cars.  Many of you have a four-wheel drive off-road vehicle just for fun.  Maybe you have a pickup that you just use to pull your bass boat or RV. However many vehicles you have, we take them for granted.  And some folks actually live where public transportation is available!

Transportation, or the lack thereof, certainly was a key element that kept earlier generations centered in the home and farm.  Without the ability to run out and grab a loaf of bread, you made your own.  For that matter, without being able to grab a bag of flour or corn meal, you grew a little wheat or corn and took a turn to the mill.  Cows were milked twice each day and butter churned instead of visiting the dairy section.  Hams hung in the smoke house after hours spent killing, scalding and scraping a hog.  Vegetables were waiting in the root cellar or dried and hanging from the rafters.  Root vegetables were stored in the ground so you needed only to kick off the dirt and enjoy a head of cabbage. 

Wow, it all sounds so convenient my trip to the grocery store in the rain is seeming like too much work.   Wait, all that farmstead convenience took an awful lot of work on the front end.  Once again, my drive to town in the rain just wasn’t too bad, was it?

In the Sweet By and By

Now you may be in a more modern church that has done away with paper hymnals but I like my song book in hand.  I play at the piano and my meager skills have been used from time to time in various churches from which I’ve collected a number of books.  It’s funny the difference in songs from one edition to another and I’m often saddened by missing favorites.

Well as you know this blog largely springs from research for my fiction-writing and I’m very serious about historical accuracy – which was what I was thinking about as I noticed the dates of tunes and lyrics this past Sunday.  Did it ever occur to you if you stepped back in time to your very own church 50 or 100 or even 150 years ago what they might be singing?

My pastor mentioned a song recently – which I’d sung my whole life – that was a “modern” hymn.  I thought, “Huh?”  Modern isn’t an adjective I like applied to the good ole’ hymns I know and love.  But compared to Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress which he wrote in 1529, The Old Rugged Cross is quite modern, being penned in 1913. 

If you arrived this Sunday into 1850, you would not be singing Jesus Loves Me – it would be another decade before that song is available.  Nor would you enjoy What a Friend we have in Jesus which was written in 1855.  You would be able to sing At the Cross (1707) and Amazing Grace (1779).  If you enjoy I Shall not be Moved that song was probably available in 1850, but it was an African American Spiritual, the exact date of its origin is unknown.  Since there were few desegregated congregations in 1850, there would have been lots of churches that would not have included that one on their weekly program.

Fast forward fifty years and the song book has grown.  By then How Great thou Art (1886), At Clavary (1895) and Count Your Many Blessings (1897) would have been added.

But you’ll have to wait well into the twentieth century to begin singing some of my personal favorites: I’ll Fly Away (1932), Jesus Hold My Hand (1933) and Victory in Jesus (1939).  Who ever thought of those songs as “modern”?

The stories around songs are fascinating too and we often sing them for years without knowing their history.  I guess a hymn can minister in two ways, by its lyrics and by its story.  I enjoy Mine Eyes have seen the Glory which was written in 1861 by Julia Ward Howe.  The original printing is “by the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments” and includes a verse “I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel”.    The tune was originally set to “John Brown’s Body Lies a’moulding in the Grave” and eulogizes “John Brown was a hero” and “his truth still marches on”.

It is Well with my Soul was written in 1873 by Horatio Spafford following the tragic deaths of his four daughters in a shipwreck.  He had already suffered the loss of a 2 year old son and economic ruin following the Great Chicago Fire.  Still, as he traveled across the Atlantic to meet his grieving wife he was inspired to pen lines that I can barely hear without a tear springing to my eyes.  “When sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well with my soul’”.

And perhaps the most famous backstory to a hymn is Amazing Grace – all the more well known after the 2006 film.  John Newton had captained a slave ship before he came to know The Lord and he was later inspired to write a number of hymns.  Amazing Grace was picked up in America by the Second Great Awakening and has touched an untold number of souls in the past 238 years.