Hinson Family
Fall was a time of excitement for cotton growers—the fields would be solid white in November. Migrant workers came in by the droves working their children and very small ones in the fields. Sometimes we girls helped Margaret and Edwin pick cotton f there was difficulty in finding enough workers. The community was awash with trucks and trailers filled with cotton on the way to the gin. I loved to ride to the gin with Edwin and watch dozens of trucks unloading cotton, see the mountains of cotton burrs and inhale the sweet nutty aroma of the burrs being burned It is nostalgic for me return to Levelland at this time of year and see the cotton industry still strong, but in such a modernized way.
A good cotton crop meant a good Christmas and also a little extra for shopping in Lubbock for needed items. I recall one year when I was nine, a shopping trip that included a new navy blue corduroy suit for me and a small navy blue shoulder purse ( Pete had given me some spending money). After a day of shopping and eating a delicious hamburger at a special place, we usually stopped by Morton's retail store and bought a large bag or two of fresh made potato chips and a sack of Morton's chili powder. Oh my soul, how good that all smelled,' mmmmm.
Fall also meant it was time to vote for one’s favorite candidates—Mama always tried to be informed on who was running and who would be the best person for the job, provided they were Democrats, of course! She was determined not to waste her vote and if she was undecided she would check with Al Allison, the family attorney. Al and his new bride Letha Faye had moved to Levelland just after completing law school. Without any money and no clients they had a real struggle the first few years. Mama and Daddy took them under their wing and gave them large portions of cured meats and lots of fruit and vegetables as they had them. Al never forgot their kindness and refused any payment for legal work as far as I know, especially after Daddy died. He was very kind to Mama and treated her like his own mother. When Sandra, his daughter joined his law practice, he informed her she was to always take care of Mrs. Hinson and never charge her. After Mama passed away and she was taking care of the probate and legal matters, I offered to pay her. She replied quite strongly, "Are you kidding, my Daddy would come back from the grave and haunt me if I charged the Hinson’s a dime!" As previously mentioned, Mama was a faithful friend and she made and had faithful friends! Our family knew of course it was because of her honesty and her word was definitely her bond When Al ran for State Representative, Mama wrote a complimentary long poem about him and it was published in the paper I believe. Al had a copy printed and framed for Mama and it is in Mary's possession along with other memorabilia our family wanted to keep.
Funerals were interesting in those days; no one was ever too busy to attend the funerals of close friends or people of respect. I distinctly remember Mother taking me out of school many times to attend the funerals of longtime residents—I suppose it just showed respect to the families to take even the children. In those days, several men would even sit with the corpse all night, sometimes several nights and then attend the funeral the next day. I think I read somewhere, the original reason way back when, was to keep the evil spirits from bothering the dead During those days though, it was strictly to show respect. Edwin was always faithful to volunteer his services to that means. Rollins tells a funny story of his two brothers at the funeral home one night sitting with his deceased Uncle George. About two o'clock in the morning when they were bone tired and about half asleep, the automatic electric coffee pot came on in another room with an eerie blup, blup, blup! It nearly scared them out of their skins—they took off home and related that was the last time they ever sat with anyone. I was born on November 7, 1937 on Daddy's birthday and he died two years later at home with the family two days before my 2nd birthday. Mother died September 13, 1987 in the Levelland Hospital with Margaret, Juanita and myself by her side. Nelda and Bill were on their way from New Mexico, but unfortunately arrived just a few
minutes after she had died.
Life for Mother was probably very difficult after Daddy passed away, leaving her with a farm to pay for and small children. Edwin was only 16 years of age, but always being the faithful son he was, he quit school and helped her on the farm. She sold some of the acreage to help pay for the remainder of the farm. She managed well and one of the neighbor men told her she had managed better than most of them. She and Daddy had moved from Crosby County years earlier and purchased the farm for $30.00 an acre. There is a picture of the farm and farm house in a very old book I have, probably taken about 1930. It showed potential buyers coming to Levelland to purchase land—the farm house was originally a hotel for that reason.
Frequently Mother would go into town to the beauty shop for a permanent. As usual I tagged along for the two hours, sitting in awe of those huge contraptions called permanent machines. The electrical unit was tall with a very large dome placed just above the head with several dozen electric wires hanging down with clamps on the ends. The hair was doused with a strong smelly solution, rolled on rods and the clamps were eventually attached. The first time I saw them at three or four years of age, I screamed for fear they were killing my Mama. It looked like a good substitute for an electric chair. I would never get one of those perms, but in the following years when home permanents came into existence when I was about seven, 1 decided I just might like a perm also. Mother told me no, but when I insisted on one before school the next day, Nelda flatly refused to give it to me. I cried and squealed and argued for a while—Mama told Nelda to just roll my hair on the perm rollers and not apply waving lotion. Nelda kept telling me I would look ridiculous, but never the less relented and gave in to my whim. Being close to bed time, I wouldn't let them remove the tiny rollers from my hair. Morning came and Nelda begrudgingly helped me remove the rollers, horrified at the mass of kinky cork-screw curls. The school bus was due shortly and we were unable to do anything about my hair at that late hour. Mama declared, "Oh mercy!!" I sheepishly stepped on the school bus looking like an adopted albino member of the Akuna-Boola tribe!!! Kids laughed and pointed everywhere I went. Passing a window and even seeing the reflection of my ten gallon head made me feel faint!! I really believe that was positively the last time I ever insisted on my way. Mrs. Copeland, my sweet, kind second grade school teacher, whom I was very fond and who probably saw my beet red face said, "Patsy, I think your hair looks very nice!" I can tell you without any reservation whatsoever, Mrs. Copeland was my all-time favorite teacher. After I was graduated and would see her on the street, she would always smile sweetly and timidly and say "Hello Patsy, how are you?" She always remembered my name and I have wished in later years I had taken time to tell her how much I appreciated her and the kindness she always showed everyone. The dear woman may have saved me from a lifelong complex!
Because of the oil boom in Levelland and the surrounding area, rent homes were at a premium and the schools were grossly over crowded. Our third grade held classes in the basement of the Methodist Church. My teacher at that time was a beautiful dark haired dark complexioned woman who was very kind also, named Mrs. Usher. Her husband was in the Air Force and was stationed at Reese Air Force base in Lubbock She taught us most of the year and then they were transferred just before school ended I was sad to see her go and knew I would never see her again. Approximately forty-five years later, as time passed Rollins and I lived in several different towns and ended up in Breckenridge and attended church in Albany. Being active in the Lutheran Church, we all called a young minister and his family from Baltimore, MD. His mother came down to help them move and we had their family over for dinner at our home. 1 was telling them about my nice third grade school teacher from Levelland named Mrs. Usher. She began laughing and told me that was her. We both hugged each other and laughed about how the course of life takes us all in such different places and circumstances. They had always lived in Maryland and never expected to return to Texas.
Being the baby of the family, of course I went everywhere Mother went, visiting friends with her. One of her very favorite friends was also mine—an unusually happy woman named Mrs. Diggs. She always called me "Pickle-foot" every time she saw me, even after I was grown. I would giggle hysterically because she was so funny in all she said she and Mother always enjoyed their time together and I too looked forward to each visit, as well as the delicious treats she served us. Mother's favorite nickname for me was Patty-Cakes and she and Pete often called me Pattaricka. Pete's pet name for Juanita was "Cotton"— I suppose because of our blonde hair as children. "Sissy" was tagged on Elizabeth at a very early age by everyone. Because of visiting so many of Mother's friends with her, even to this day I feel much more comfortable with people who are older than me. Of my three dearest friends, all three are in their 80's. This feeling was probably born out of conversing with older people at a very early age.
We rarely, if ever missed a parade in town—they didn't occur often, were always exciting and of course were free. The carnivals and the circus came to town annually and the circus parades were my favorite—really something to see for a little country girl. It was delightful to behold with the huge elephants trumping down the main street. Clowns were exciting and always threw gum or candy to the crowd. How mother could afford it still puzzles me, but we nearly always attended each time one would come to town. We always managed to go to the Lubbock Fair each year also. I can well remember Mother's cabinet being well stocked with the gaudy Carnival glass the boys always won at the fairs. We used them so often, I suppose they all got chipped or broken over the years from use. Medicine Shows came to town about three or four times a year and we attended those too. We would park our cars in a circle around the medicine wagon which was always decorated and gilded We thought the shows were wonderful with all the corny jokes, prizes, salt water taffy and caramel corn. The liniments and salves they sold came in handy at various times when we had need of them or were aching—plus we received a large old fashion print for framing.
Nelda had gotten to the age where she had a job at the corner drugstore downtown. On Saturday afternoons, I have always made a bee-line for the drugstore to get an ice cream cone. They probably sold for a nickel and my sweet sister would always pile my cone sky high! I lucked out at the dime store also, Juanita worked there part time and she would always spend some of her paycheck on me. She rarely ever came home that she hadn't bought me some little toy or a decorative pin for my dress. Mary and I were close to the same age and we enjoyed quite a lot of fisticuffs between us. She was four years older and lowered the boom on me usually—if I got really, really angry I could get in a blow or two before she laid me out. I recall during one skirmish, I whacked Mary over the head with a broom. She squealed and immediately fell to the floor in dead silence, ever so still. Mother was in the room, scolded me and said, "Well you really did it this time, you killed her—she is deader than a mackerel!!" I felt a sudden surge of fear and I thought, well, if I killed her why is Mama standing there snickering and soon she broke out in laughter. I didn't laugh at all until I saw Mary rise up from the floor. Mary would almost mutilate me some times, however, if we were on the school bus or at school and anyone picked on me, she was the first one to come to my defense, shake her finger in someone's face and tell them to leave her little sister alone.
Living on the farm certainly had its benefits— there was no rushing to get the kids to fall games, birthday parties, or social events. Things were done completely as families and everyone pulled together to help each other. Windy west Texas always beckoned for homemade kites. The outdoors enabled baseball to be played anywhere, hop scotch was a favorite as well as hide and seek—a good time to have fun, relax and work off anxieties. The air was clean and fresh as well as our good well water. Doors were usually always left unlocked, people were eager and willing to pitch in and help one another if there was a need. There was only one telephone to a household and even that didn't come in to use in our home until I was about 15 years of age. Certainly there was no curling up and chatting on the phone for hours at a time—the party line would not allow that, nor would the parents. Movies were only about ten or fifteen cents for admission for me and I loved going to them on a Saturday afternoon as I became older. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were my absolute favorites; followed-by Gene Autry-and then Hop Along Cassidy. Mother always gave me money to get my favorite ten cent comic books. My favorites being Patsy walker, Archie, Nancy and Sluggo, Superman and Spiderman. More advantages of the farm were various fruit trees, a green and luscious garden and Mother's beautiful zinnias graced the edge of the house as well as the lilac bushes. Another great benefit—I never recall liver and onions or brussel sprouts being served Dogs and cats were outdoor animals and never, but never slept in the bed with you. Every few years, we got new wall paper and new home-made curtains to freshen the house. It was an exciting time to receive the Sears and Roebuck catalog and spend the entire afternoon wishing!! The children's summer days were filled with imaginations as we draped sheets over the chairs or our round wooden table. We could be kings and queens, ferocious animals, or take turns scaring the daylights out of each other. The carbide lights were exchanged for new electric lights, the old yellow Nash parked under a shade tree (one of our favorite places to play) was hauled off and replaced with a shiny black 1937 Ford Sedan. The round wooden table and chairs were given away and replaced with a new chrome dinette set, much to my dismay! Mother had been reared with old things and she said she was ready for some new shiny appliances and things. We no longer drove in to town on Saturday nights to listen to the election results, but stayed home and listened to the results on the new TV. A huge blackboard was always on the courthouse lawn, and as election results were known, they were posted We kids missed the excitement of running with our friends on the courthouse lawn as the people were anxious to know how the elections turned out.
Things kept changing for me and all of the family, as they always do. There was a lot of heart ache as friends and family passed away, but a lot of joy as grandchildren were born into the family. Mother was always a mountain of strength when she needed to be and that instilled in each one of us a desire to be strong like her. I read one time that life's journey is circular—the years don't carry us away from our fathers, they return us to them. What lies-behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies with us! Thank you dear Mother for instilling in all of us the virtues that you so nobly lived by. The name 'Mama" is forever carved into each one of our hearts!!!