Growing up in Louisa – Hunter/Gatherers!
Weekly feature . . . by Mike Coburn
By the time I was born in those wonderful foot-hills life’s habits had changed as compared to the need to take a hand in obtaining food and providing the comforts of living. Daniel Boone and his contemporaries had long-ago moved westward through the ‘gaps’ and across the rivers into eastern Kentucky. Prior to that the hills were the private hunting grounds for Native Americans tribes and were considered sacred by them for many generations. While some early pioneers stopped to build new communities along the passes, the explorers had to forage for themselves. A lack of critical supplies, such as flour, ammunition and gun powder, was incentive for them to find safe ‘trade routes,’ and build an occasional fort. After all, the new county had no stores, no grist-mills, and no crops to stave off hunger. Like the Indians, they had to live off the ‘mast’ of the land and find whatever game could be taken. Granted, game was more plentiful back then, and the hungry hunters were not as picky. As always when needs arise, nature finds a way.
I know this sounds like ancient history, but really, it wasn’t all that long ago. We were only two or three generations apart. Our great grandparents may have known some of those heroes of old. Consider that the push westward from the coast developments began just before the American Revolution in the late 1700’s. At issue is that conditions didn’t really change in terms of folks having availability of supplies until the mid to late 1800’s. Some few stores were established about the time of the Civil War. Finally, supplies were brought in by means of barges along the waterways. The waterfront at Louisa was busy and the stores were right there, near the landing. Because of this, my quaint little ‘home-town’ became a center for commerce.
Up and down the river stores were built and finally pioneers could obtain the goods that would support life and development. Some would continue their push westward, but some would stop and build business in logging, including saw mills, mining, blacksmithing, and other occupations. There were grocers, haberdasheries, undertakers, churches, and pool halls.
People no longer had to hunt and gather food for their families. Farms were developed and the excess produce was taken to market. Fabric became more available for clothing, tools for working iron and other raw materials were traded in the market places. Finally, during and just after the Civil War, the railroads opened. Established companies grew and shipped out lumber and coal. The larger industrial centers were ready to buy more and more as the industrial revolution cranked to life in the major population centers of America. Coal, coke, lumber, and tobacco were in high demand. There are stories of those who had jobs but benefitted little, but for many the standard of living improved.
Now, instead of hunting and gathering, groceries, dry goods, tools, and even clothing could be purchased from small ‘general stores’ that sprang up in the outlying communities. Railroads and mining centers had ‘company stores’ which gained a bad reputation but were the only choice for many to do their shopping. Reminds me of the Tennessee Ernie Ford song, ‘Sixteen Tons.”
While Louisa had perhaps eight or ten grocery stores, even the outlying communities had a place to quickly pick up some of the necessities. Some of these mini-stores were just small one-room buildings, but they became ‘all-purpose’ general stores that served as post offices and the center of social activities.
I remember when I was growing up that many of the smaller communities I visited, whether it was in High Bottom, Lowmansville, Smoky Valley, Blaine, Fallsburg, Buchannon, or Webville, each had at least one of these little stores that was the center of life in the area. Throughout America these stores typically had a big, pot-belly stove in the middle, with chairs and upturned kegs holding checker boards. I remember the dark, cool pickle barrels, and those floating wonders I’d fish out with a set of tongs. I also remember a jar of cookies that would get my attention if I had a few cents to indulge.
The men that lived in the general area would often gather at the store and swap stories, play checkers and sometimes ‘get down,’ with some down-home fiddle playing. Ladies and kids would drift in and out, picking up the family’s needs, or dropping off eggs and other ‘farm-grown’ products. They earned egg money and butter money this way and it helped through many a rough time between paydays. You could bet the products sold in these stores was fresh. Sometimes they’d bring in greens, potatoes, and beans by the bushel. Yum! Farmers could order their seeds there, too, but larger operations might require a trip into town. Feed stores stayed near the railroads so boxcar loads would be unloaded and sold a few bags at a time. The feed-sacks were made with fancy decorated fabrics and would be the resource for mom to make dresses and shirts for the kids. It would be years before people in the country would buy ‘store-bought’ clothing. Somewhere along this time ‘sliced bread’ happened, and after that came ‘batter-whipped.’ Wow, no holes, and it tore evenly!
Most of us older persons remember those big, deep coolers full of pop! While some were in water baths, some hung from a track that would only release the drink with insertion of a quarter. Sitting around ‘jawing’ was the life. Back then nearly all stores and establishments had spittoons. A lot of people chewed back then, mostly from the crops they grew themselves. The storekeepers would get mad if someone missed and the juice hit the floor. I remember that lighting wasn’t all that great, often depending on the light from the front windows. As time went on and refrigeration became better, meats, cheeses, and dairy products were added. As pasteurization and hominization became common the milk came from dairies rather than directly from the farmer. Raw milk was legislated out of acceptability for safety (or because of lobbying by large, cooperative producers.) Over time the local farmers were squeezed out, or forced to sell to the wholesalers that supplied the stores.
During the nineteen fifties, sixties, and since, things continued to change. At first, large well-lit, super markets replaced the corner groceries. They offered a broader selection of products including national brands that were advertised in commercials on the radio and TV. While people used to come into a store and give their list to the storekeeper, they could now go fill their carts themselves. Checkout changed, too. The old store clerks used to add up (cypher) the purchase totals on the brown paper bag, sometimes called a poke. Then they would take down a book of tickets set aside for the family’s account, and write in the total. It would come due weekly or monthly, depending upon the account. With the new stores the checkout counter was born. The clerk would simply ring each item up on the register. They expected cash, but prices at the new market were lower.
Another change I saw was that the supermarkets didn’t deliver. I remember the day we could call in an order to the grocery and the delivery boy would show up in a truck or on his bicycle with the order. Often, they came into the house and left the stuff in the kitchen, being careful to put the milk in the ice box.
It was the early 20th century when farmers in our area began to abandon the traditional use of oxen, horses, and mules to work the fields. It was the 1910’s and 1920’s when roads were beginning to be decent, or dependable, and the automobile became more and more practical. What with the fast, if overloaded, ‘moonshine’ runners and the governmental ‘revenuers’ that pursued them, highways became more and more important. A ‘spin-off’ of this practice caused some of those drivers to break away and start racing stock cars. That gave birth to NASCAR, which is still growing around the country. Regardless of driving skills, the economy and availability of goods changed all our lives.
I remember that there were still plenty of folk who were doing things by hand and that could ill-afford modernization. Many of them couldn’t buy a car, a tractor, or a lot of stuff from general stores. That gradually changed each year as the benefits of this new society allowed. The back-breaking work of planting tobacco, corn, and vegetables was still going on, but the revenue from sales allowed some to buy tractors, better seed, and to build larger barns. Some turned their homesteads into operating dairy farms, cattle farms, or ‘truck’ farms that rotated cash crops.
The communities grew prosperous and the population exploded. Highways brought more people and provided a sample of all that modern life would lend. Churches, theaters, furniture stores, lumber yards, medical facilities, utilities, and builders flourished. This was about, or just before, when I came along.
After I left, new roads bypassed the downtown merchants. Big box stores moved in and changed everything. The good; travel and accessibility to less expensive supplies. The bad, the commercial districts dried up and the income for those families was lost. Many people had to move out to find jobs, usually going north to Columbus, Detroit, Cleveland or somewhere else. Ownership of small, local firms diminished and economy of the towns stagnated. Any new jobs were generally lower paying and fewer than before. The old ways were gone.
Yes, there are still seasonal hunters out there, and some who gather, but it would be unusual for anyone to do this to sustain life. It might even be close to impossible to do so in the current environment. Maybe there are frontiers out west, or in remote locations elsewhere that would support the old ways, but the old WWI question arises, still. “How do you keep them down on the farm after they’ve seen Paris?”
Indeed, we are enjoying a much higher standard of living today. We have also come to expect a lot more out of life than our forefathers could even imagine. Consider this: the trend has started where folks can now order their groceries electronically and pick them up later, or like the old grocery stores, have them delivered. The stores of the world are on our desktop or in our hands. Life is better in many ways. We now have good roads, fast cars, and an electronic device that continues to open new avenues. Hunting and gathering is now a sport and no longer a necessity, and we can kick back and relax. No Indian attacks, no need to fix the plow, or milk the cow, and a shiny new pickup in the driveway. Now, who could be beat that?
That’s a real cause to be grateful, and considering where we came from, a bit humbling.
