Granddad

My maternal grandfather was born on this day in 1901. It's hard for me to believe that it was so long ago. I believe he was born in Martin, Tennessee, but I'm not sure. I know that his mother lived there until her death. I remember seeing her when I was very young.

Granddad and Me circa early 1946

Granddaddy was a bit of a character. He worked in construction as a pipe coverer. He covered pipe in asbestos, and both he and my uncle died as a result. He worked away from home most of the time, coming home only on weekends if he was near home. He worked all over the South and in Illinois and Indiana.

He liked his little nip; my grandmother strongly disapproved. My older brother and I would find his bottles all over the house. I guess Nanny did, too, since she was such a good housekeeper. I don't see how she could miss them. She had a cedar chest that looked like a casket to me, and I think she would hide his bottles in there. She didn't mind too much if he smoked in house, but if he decided that he wanted tobacco in another form, she made him sit outside. I've seen him freezing in the winter time sitting in the front yard using his snuff or chewing tobacco.

My brother and I loved to spend the night when he was at home. He let us sleep with him. He would turn on the radio and we listened to “Gunsmoke” or “Gang Busters.” He told great ghost stories,too.

He also told tall tales. He told us about a tornado that picked up straw and blew it into utility poles. He said it looked as if someone had hammered each straw in vertically. Then there was the story of a man he knew who bought a Model T, or maybe it was a Model A. The top needed to be repaired so the man put chicken wire on top. The owner had an accident that ejected him through the chicken wire. He wasn't too badly hurt; the chicken wire simply sliced off his ears.

He loved cowboy music. I think he knew the words to every song ever sung by Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. My favorites were “Cool Water” and “Ghost Riders in the Sky.”

He was a spiffy dresser. As a construction worker he made a very good living, so he was able to buy expensive clothes. He thought nothing of paying $300.00 for a suit. That was a lot of money in the late 40's and early 50's. He would go to Finklestein's Men's Clothing twice a year to buy new suits. He also wore fedora hats in the winter and white straw hats in the summer. He would wear his straw hats all summer, then decide in August there was something wrong with the hat. He then returned it in exchange for a new winter hat. I'm sure Mr. Finklestein realized the price of a hat brought him the sale of expensive suits.

He and Nanny were so different. He was fun-loving, and she was dour. I never saw her smile much. He would make her so mad sometimes. Every time she made vegetable soup he would put in a bit of sugar. She would get so aggravated at him. When she was cooking, he would walk through the kitchen and smell the meat before she cooked it. She didn't take that well either. This picture illustrates the difference in them. My dad made this picture in the Smoky Mountains. They posed for the picture; at the last minute he turned his hat around backwards and crossed his eyes. Look at her! She's didn't think it was funny at all.



Granddad and Nan circa 1955

 Granddad died in 1965. I wonder if he ever thought that anyone would be thinking lovingly of him in 2011.