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"The pictures
were taken in Seymour,
Texas in 1943. The car was a 1928 Model "A" Ford with 1932 wheels
on it. Touring car. A four door convertible. There was no heater
in the car. Nor any windows. I don't know how we kept warm. I guess
Dad wrapped us up in blankets. If you have ever rode in a Model
A, they are very small inside. Dad built a small trailer to pull
behind the car. Our bedding and what household goods we needed were
in the trailer. It is 293 miles from Longview,
Texas where we lived to Seymour.
Dad probably only drove about 45 to 50 miles per hour. That was
about as fast as you could drive the car safely pulling the trailer
with the load. (The car did not have hydraulic brakes on it. They
were mechanical. They didn't work very good.)
We couldn't make the trip in one day. We camped out on the side
of the road for one night.
We lived on Mr. Redwine's farm and picked cotton
for him.
At the time Dad took the family to Seymour
they were growing a "wind-proof" type of cotton to prevent the wind
from blowing the fiber out of the boll. So the entire boll was picked
- not just the fiber. Dad used a long cotton sack and after it was
weighed, the cotton had to be shaken out of the sack into the cotton
wagon.
If the sack was filled tight, this was a difficult job. So Dad had
my mother sew a zipper alongside the side of the sack. When it was
time to unload the cotton he merely un-zipped the sack and rolled
the cotton out. That was a lot easier.
They still plant "storm-proof" cotton in West
Texas, and other states where the wind blows about every day.
They don't use cotton pickers out there. They use "strippers." They
wait until all of the cotton bolls "open" and then run the stripper
through the field one time. It gets everything in one pass through
the field. They have to have a special gin to gin the cotton that
is stripped. " - Jesse Suttles
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"My dad
Audery Lance Suttles at 39, and his 1928 Model "A" Ford with 1932
wheels on it. Looks like he caught a good string of Channel Catfish."
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"The older
boy is my brother Jack Suttles, 13 years old. I am the little guy.
I was 5."
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"This is
a picture of all of the children in my family at that time. Left
to right Bernice Lee, 8 years old, Jesse Suttles, 5, Doyle Randell
Suttles, 3, Jack Audery Suttles, 13, Lillie May Suttles and Millie
Fay Suttles, 10 years old twins."
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| "This picture
was taken in the front door of our house in Seymour.
Fall of 1943. My Dad Audery Lance Suttles was 39. My Mother Ada Abagail
(Dyke) Suttles was 32. We went to Seymour
to pick cotton. We stayed until
late December before moving back to Longview."
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"The ones
on the end (Twins) are 10 yrs old, the other girl was 8."
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"My
dad Audery Lance Suttles holding an axe on his shoulder. We used
wood to heat and cook with. (The same stove.) He had been cutting
Mesquite, a small spiny scrub. They don't grow very large."
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"The
baby was 1 year old."
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Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered
and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local
history, stories, and vintage/historic photos, please
contact
us.
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