George Dyer and his siblings worked hard to help run the family farm
George Dyer and his ten siblings helped run their parents' farm once they were old enough to do the work. He recalls the labor being very difficult with only one afternoon off per week. Still, it did not provide as much financial security as living in the city.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with George and Tessie Dyer, March 5, 1980. Interview H-0161. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- GEORGE DYER:
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I was eleven years old too. We moved from out to Henry County,
Virginia-that's Martinsville, Virginia. People talk about the
good old days back then; them's was the hard old days. People really has
it good now. Kids spend more money now. Just young teenagers now spend
more money now than I made when I was fifteen, sixteen years old. I's
work after school.
- LU ANN JONES:
-
Why did your parents decide to move from the farm?
- GEORGE DYER:
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It was hard and people could make more in town. They could make a better
living, unless you's a big rich farmer. Unless he had good equipment and
everything, he couldn't make a good living. But we had a plenty of food
to eat, but our clothes wasn't too much. We got by, but it wasn't like
people ought to have.
- LU ANN JONES:
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Did your mother help your father on the farm?
- GEORGE DYER:
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She done just about everything, milk cows and look after all of us.
- TESSIE DYER:
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There was about eleven in your family wasn't it?
- GEORGE DYER:
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I was eleven in the family. We all had to work when we got big enough to
work. We couldn't lay around and play off like something was wrong with
us. He made us work. That's the way people was brought up
years ago. They had no idle time to get into anything. You
had off from Saturday afternoon on to Sunday. On Sunday you had to go to
church. Get us all in a wagon and take us! Drive three miles there and
three miles back.