00:00:00SUCHANEK: The following is an unrehearsed interview with Mr. William
Keightley for the University of Kentucky Libraries, Charles T. Wethington UK Alumni
Faculty Oral History Project. The interview was conducted by Jeffrey Suchanek on
October 25, 2005 in Lexington, Kentucky.
SUCHANEK: Testing one, two, three, four, testing, testing three, four, five, six,
testing. (SUCHANEK and KEIGHTLEY laugh) Oh ok Mr. Keightley why don't we get
started and, and let's just start at the beginning. When and where were you born?
KEIGHTLEY: I was born in Anderson County, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky on
December 17, 1926.
SUCHANEK: And who were your parents?
00:01:00
KEIGHTLEY: My, my parents was A.C. Porter and Bessie May Keightley.
SUCHANEK: Okay.
KEIGHTLEY: I, my father was 48 when I was born and you really to get back
into the real history of course I never saw my fraternal grandfather, he was born in
Owenton, Kentucky in 1844...
SUCHANEK: Wow.
KEIGHTLEY: Rode with John Hunt Morgan in the Civil War and was with, was
with a Robert E. Lee when he surrendered in Lebanon, Virginia in 1862. Was that
when he surrendered?
00:02:00
SUCHANEK: 1865
KEIGHTLEY: 1865 yeah I got, I've got, I have the papers here in, in, in my desk.
SUCHANEK: Is that right?
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah, all the wording as it was the doctors and the administrative
people their, their vocabulary was somewhat different from today but anyhow he'd
been in the, you know the other side of it is if everybody had a ridden with John Hunt
Morgan it has been projected to have ridden with him...
SUCHANEK: Right, you would have had...
KEIGHTLEY: hey the south would a never lost the war (SUCHANEK laughs)
but...
SUCHANEK: There's a lot of people that claim that.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes, my yes, and, and thank goodness I've got the
documentation. But, he was...
SUCHANEK: What was he . . . (unintelligible - KEIGHTLEY and SUCHANEK
talking at the same time)?
KEIGHTLEY: had been in, he'd been in the, he'd been with Morgan for one
month and he got captured in Versailles, Kentucky. Now he was a prisoner of war and
00:03:00he was sent of course to Frankfort, to Cairo, Illinois and on to Vicksburg, Mississippi
where he was in, part of a prisoner exchange. In the Civil War they would exchange
prisoners, and yes and he, and he rejoined and of course John Hunt Morgan finally
lost his life you know but he was still with Robert E. Lee when, when he surrendered at
Lebanon, Virginia in 1865.
SUCHANEK: Alrighty, so Mr. KEIGHTLEY how far back in Kentucky do your
family roots go?
KEIGHTLEY: I am on my, on my paternal grandmothers' side I am eligible to be
00:04:00a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, the SAR, that goes back now to the
mid 70's through a man by the name of Samuel Cobb. I, I have not, not pursued that
but you know some day maybe I will. I just would like to, like to know a little more
about that. I did know that, that my paternal grandmother was a Cobb and that and
somebody traced the family history and I do have that documentation that, that I am
eligible for Sons of the American Revolution so that's getting her back there where
00:05:00might, might not want to go too far, might a been on that on that with Christopher
Columbus. (SUCHANEK and KEIGHTLEY laugh)
SUCHANEK: And how long have they resided in Kentucky?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh I, this is the only place I've ever been, yes.
SUCHANEK: Okay.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes.
SUCHANEK: Now you grew up in Anderson County, did you grow up in, in
Lawrenceburg or on a farm?
KEIGHTLEY: I, I grew up on a farm, yes sir.
SUCHANEK: So your, your grandparents and your, your dad they were
farmers?
KEIGHTLEY: They're, they're, they were farmers, all farmers. My, a, one of my
Great-Great Grandfather's came here from a territory in what is now North Carolina.
He, his, he lost his first wife and daughter to the Indians; they scalped 'em. (I don't
00:06:00know what that was) but, but, that, I have documentation on that too but you know to
go in he, he left there and he moved to what is now Franklin County, and then some of
his, some of his offspring's moved to Owenton which is just up the, the road about
twenty or so miles.
SUCHANEK: Okay, alright.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah.
SUCHANEK: How long, the, the farm you grew up how long had that been in
the family?
KEIGHTLEY: It had been in my mothers' family oh for many many years,
probably dating back to, probably dating back to the at least mid 80's.
00:07:00
SUCHANEK: 1880's?
KEIGHTLEY: Yes, 1880's yes.
SUCHANEK: And, and what kind of farm was it?
KEIGHTLEY: It was just, just a, just a normal average farm that we grew
everything that walked, creeped or crawled or just, just a matter of survival.
SUCHANEK: How, how many acres?
KEIGHTLEY: We had a 120 and then we leased another 90 acres that adjoined
us.
SUCHANEK: Okay. Which, what, what all did you grow, what kind of crops?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh, of course we grew like sugarcane, corn, tobacco, soybeans,
and naturally huge vegetable garden and we also raised our, our, most of our meat.
Back in those days you had you know your, you had your pork which you cured in a, in
00:08:00a smoke house we called 'em and you didn't have a lot of beef although we belonged
to what they called a Beef Company. As I remember and of course this was in the
30's, in the 30's you would have a little, you could get ice just to go in, not an electric
refrigerator now cause electricity did not exist but just in what we would call an old ice
box and you could get a big block of, 50 pound block of ice for about a quarter and
we'd have that delivered to the house twice a week.
SUCHANEK: Oh really, was it...
KEIGHTLEY: We had a...
SUCHANEK: Was it on a wagon or a truck?
KEIGHTLEY: It was on a, it was on a, it was on a truck.
SUCHANEK: Okay.
KEIGHTLEY: Milk truck. This, this is back in now were, were talking in the 30's.
SUCHANEK: Right.
KEIGHTLEY: When they was beginning to get a little transportation. Although
00:09:00a, I do recall having gone to a, a church revivals in a buggy. I can recall that.
SUCHANEK: So that would have been like...?
KEIGHTLEY: So that would a been in you know in the very early 30's maybe
'30-'31 something like that. I was probably 5-6 years old but I can remember that.
SUCHANEK: So your family had horses?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yes we had horses. We had everything you could name in
the way of an animal.
SUCHANEK: So you had hogs, you had...
KEIGHTLEY: I had hogs, we had...
SUCHANEK: milk cows?
KEIGHTLEY: had, oh yes, yes that we had, cows and that's probably...
SUCHANEK: Chickens?
KEIGHTLEY: That's probably what moved me to where I am today. I lost my
father at a very early age.
SUCHANEK: What happened?
KEIGHTLEY: He, he, he died of a, of a heart problem at the age 62, I just, I just
had started the first year of high school. So, but I was gonna tell you we belonged to
00:10:00what they called a Beef Company and that's where a group of farmers would get
together and each one of 'em would raise, well it would be what we might call about a
500 pound steer, you know they'd always neuter these things so they would, that you
could fatten...
SUCHANEK: Bulk up.
KEIGHTLEY: them easier and each one of 'em would furnish a, a steer over a
period of time say of oh maybe twelve weeks about every, every couple of weeks you
would slaughter an animal for you know for meat and of course you'd put it in this
refrigerator with this 50 pound block of ice and you could keep it you know for, for a
couple of weeks and then we'd repeat the thing all over.
00:11:00
SUCHANEK: So this, this company now when you slaughtered the, the cow
would you all divide up the meat?
KEIGHTLEY: That's the way it was yeah. Yeah that's right and it was eight
people see so you'd get about, well you'd get an 1/8 of it and you know they they kept
records on what say I would get this, this two weeks and then the next two weeks I'd
get another cut and, and so on as till everybody got, wound up had the same thing but
it was a matter of existence.
SUCHANEK: Sure, and I'll bet you every, every part of that cow was used
wasn't it?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh, every bit yeah that's right yeah, yeah, yeah, and then now
when they, when it come to the pork part everybody you know raised there own hogs
and some people and, and again we had these, these families that would get together,
00:12:00we'll say again, we'll say eight families, you got eight dad's and they all take part in the
slaughtering of the hogs and the curing of the meat and the weather had to be cold for
this now.
SUCHANEK: Sure.
KEIGHTLEY: You would not, you would not do it until the weather was cold
where it, where we could cure out the meat.
SUCHANEK: So it would be like October or November?
KEIGHTLEY: It would have to be most of the time this would take place in real
late November and the month of December.
SUCHANEK: Okay.
KEIGHTLEY: About the only, a period of about six weeks in there was, was
when you really had to do it and then you would hang it you know, you would put it in
a, a meat box we'd call it and you would put salt on it...
SUCHANEK: Okay.
KEIGHTLEY: and you'd put 'em in, the meat in there in layers, you'd put the
meat put salt on it lay another layer of we'll say side meat, shoulders, hams, rub it
00:13:00down with salt and let it cure that a way for about six weeks and then you would hang
it up in, in what we called a smoke house and...
SUCHANEK: A separate building right?
KEIGHTLEY: Yes in a, that's right, this building had nothing in it but just the
meat and you'd hang the sausages in the sacks and, and you would let it hang for
about oh six to eight weeks and then you would go get wood and build a, a fire in the,
in the middle, it, it a smoke house always had a dirt floor and you'd build a fire in the
00:14:00middle of it to smoke the meat, to give it a smoked flavor.
SUCHANEK: That's a smoke house right?
KEIGHTLEY: Yes. You'd use, you know you'd use ash trees were really good
for that because you got a lot of smoke off 'em, you'd close the doors and, and you
could see the smoke coming out of the eves of the little building so you always spent a
day smoking the meat and then after another probably three weeks to a month and
then we would, let's see we would...
SUCHANEK: Talk about making sausage that was quite a process wasn't it?
KEIGHTLEY: What's that?
SUCHANEK: Making sausage.
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that, that's one of the great
pleasures, making sausage. (SUCHANEK laughs)
00:15:00
SUCHANEK: You had your own grinder and...?
KEIGHTLEY: Well you know that's, you know that's another thing Jeffrey, I,
you probably would have to see this to believe it. You know I, I'm really glad of course
everybody's glad they were born (SUCHANEK laughs) yes, number one but...
SUCHANEK: Most everybody anyway you hope. (SUCHANEK laughs)
KEIGHTLEY: Yes that's right. But, you know I know for a fact at my age I have
seen more changes than, than any other generation's ever lived.
SUCHANEK: Well you've gone from horse and buggy to the moon.
KEIGHTLEY: That's, well that's right yes and were talking about making
sausage you know. Well the, you, you know the, the meat you put in the sausage it
was trimmed off of the hams you know you, you shaped all this meat up now, when
you just block it out its got square edges but you shape it all up so that's where you got
00:16:00the meat to grind up in the sausage.
SUCHANEK: It was a way to make, make use of that those trimmings right?
KEIGHTLEY: That's right yes plus the fact that you made your own lard too.
You took, now you cut the fat part off of this meat that you're gonna make sausage out
of and render it into lard. You'd, you'd cook that but the sausage was...
SUCHANEK: Did you make your own sausage?
KEIGHTLEY: what was amazing, we, you had a sausage grinder, now I'll tell
you what we had to do to, to power this grinder. We would take an automobile, jack it
up, put it on blocks and tie the, the sausage grinder you would tie it with a rope to the
wheel so the wheel of the car would turn the sausage grinder, (SUCHANEK laughs)
00:17:00and that's the way you ground, ground the meat up. That that was always fascinating
to me, oh I liked to see 'em you know and (SUCHANEK laughs) to stuff the, back then
the women would make the sausage bags they would be made out of cloth bout you
know bout this, this big and the guy that's gonna sit down while you, while your putting
the meat in and grind it up there was a spout on it and the meat would, would come
out of this spout so the guy would hold that that bag and it'd just keep getting longer
and longer and longer and till you got her, get her about oh two feet long you'd, you'd
00:18:00tie that one up and that would be hung immediately in, in, in the smoke house.
SUCHANEK: And that would eventually be smoked too?
KEIGHTLEY: That's right yes, and the older the sausage got the better it was. I
mean it really, you could leave it, if you know the weather, the only problem you could
have if the weather turned real warm for an extended period of time you stood a
chance to lose some meat so that was primarily the reason for waiting till late
November and December.
SUCHANEK: Now did your family have its own sausage recipe?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yeah everybody had their own sausage recipe, a lot of sage
and a lot of hot pepper. (SUCHANEK laughs) Course you, you raised all that yourself.
SUCHANEK: Oh, okay.
KEIGHTLEY: You, you had, you know you had you had your own private little
mixture.
SUCHANEK: And did you make your own soap?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yeah, yeah, yep, lye soap, yes.
00:19:00
SUCHANEK: Now hog, hog killing day was, was a big event wasn't it?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh it was yeah, it was see...
SUCHANEK: Would, would you slaughter one hog or several?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh you would it's what I was gonna tell you it's just according to
the size of the family. You know ours family was just I had one brother and my mother
and father so we most of the time would slaughter five but then the bigger families
some of 'em would slaughter eight to ten, depending on the size of the family. And,
yeah, it, it was, it was a yeah it was a big event. Now you, you know on, on hog killing
day like my father would get up about 3:00 in the morning and we had what we called
00:20:00a hog box, you filled it with water and he'd build a fire beneath this box, you had to
have a trench dug out and you'd build a fire beneath the, the, the hog box to bring the
water to really a boil because after you slaughtered the hog you put him in this hot
water to remove the hair from him, you'd get him out you had scrapers to take all of the
hair off of the hog.
SUCHANEK: In today's world I guess you, back then you weren't as skittish...
KEIGHTLEY: Yes.
SUCHANEK: about, cause like you said it was survival.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah, right, yeah, yeah, yeah that's right, yeah. But as you say it
was always a, a day that that was a big day, it was kinda like a party.
00:21:00
SUCHANEK: It'd take all day wouldn't it?
KEIGHTLEY: Yes, I got to put a battery in my hearing aid.
SUCHANEK: Alright hold on just... (KEIGHTLEY laughs) My, I said my wife she
accuses me of selective hearing sometimes.
KEIGHTLEY: Oh lord, hey not bad at all. (SUCHANEK laughs) If it's something
I want to hear I can just say they'd say, "You know I told ya", I'd say, "I didn't hear it",
(SUCHANEK laughs)
SUCHANEK: You mentioned you had a brother. What was his name?
KEIGHTLEY: A.J.
SUCHANEK: A.J.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes sir it was A. C. Jackson.
SUCHANEK: Now was he younger or older?
KEIGHTLEY: He was older.
SUCHANEK: Okay. So you're the youngest, how old, how much older was he?
KEIGHTLEY: He was twelve years and two days older than I.
SUCHANEK: Oh that's quite a span.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah it was yeah.
SUCHANEK: So it seems to me you wouldn't even have an opportunity to, to,
to, to, to play with him as you were growing up?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh I didn't see no, no he was you know he, he graduated from
00:22:00high school the year that I started in the first grade. (SUCHANEK laughs) Now that
was the difference.
SUCHANEK: Right, right.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes.
SUCHANEK: Going back to growing up on the farm now, raising your own,
raising your own food, raising, you had chickens I guess?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yes we had chickens.
SUCHANEK: And you mentioned you had horses, how many horses did you
have?
KEIGHTLEY: We normally kept five. We, we never did have the mules we
called 'em, we, we had the perching horses.
SUCHANEK: Oh okay.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah.
SUCHANEK: Now those are work horses?
KEIGHTLEY: That's a work horse, yeah, very you know, ma... powerful horse.
SUCHANEK: Did you have pets as you were growing up, did you have a dog?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh, oh yes, yep I was always a big, big fella for dogs, still am.
SAHONCICK: Okay.
KEIGHTLEY: But I want, I want you know like I always say I don't want a dog, I
00:23:00want a d-a-w-g, a dawg. (SUCHANEK laughs) But I like the big ones. We had
shepherds and collies and of course my favorite, my favorite is a lab cause they are
most of the time pretty bright dogs.
SUCHANEK: You have one now?
KEIGHTLEY: And we've had, well I've had in my life I've had almost every kind
of dog that, big dog, no little ones, no Chihuahua's or Jack Russell's or what's those
little ole red Terrier's, Boston, I don't know but anyhow...
SUCHANEK: You still have dogs?
KEIGHTLEY: I, no not now I don't, my daughter does, she's, she lives where
she can have 'em, I live where I really can't have 'em.
SUCHANEK: Okay, alright.
KEIGHTLEY: I did have at one time I lived on a little, little farm out Tates Creek
00:24:00Road, course now my daughter was responsible for this because she loves dogs but
one time I had nine but, but we had when I, I bought this little place the guy that lived
there had raised dogs and he had it's like a dog kennel, each one of 'em had a
separate run and I had nine runs so I didn't, you know, I, I let 'em out but they didn't
run free like a pack.
SUCHANEK: Right, right yeah.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah.
SUCHANEK: Yeah. I've got three Australian Shepherds.
KEIGHTLEY: I, hey they're dandies. They, they're dandies.
SUCHANEK: They're a handful.
KEIGHTLEY: Well, but they're active.
SUCHANEK: Yeah they are.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes.
SUCHANEK: Yeah.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah but boy nothing like a dog, nothing.
SUCHANEK: I agree.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes.
SUCHANEK: Mr. Keightley tell me what it was like growing up in the late 20's
00:25:00and 1930's during that, the, that era of the great depression, how did that effect your
family?
KEIGHTLEY: Well it, it, it's like I say Jeff when we was talking about all of these,
well just the simple things like your own, your meat and so forth it was, it was just a
matter of, of survival you know. You, you never knew what kind of income you were
gonna get off of the farm especially the money crops such as tobacco, and back at that
period of time if you got, averaged say .20 a pound for your tobacco crop you had a
good tobacco crop and, and even in that period of time you were unable to grow the
poundage per acre that they are today because the only fertilizer you had was, was
00:26:00from the cow barn where you milked the cows and in the winter time you, you would
leave the cows in the barn when it was real cold so you got a lot of manure and in the
spring time you'd have to clean that barn out and spread the manure on the, on the
plots where you were gonna plant your tobacco. So you know it was just, there was no
frills that's for certain yeah.
SUCHANEK: About how many acres of tobacco did you grow?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh most of the time we would grow about four to five acres, that's
about all you could, you know all you could do and raise all of the other stuff you had
when you only had the horses to pull a plow or horses to use the (unintelligible), you
had to depend on horse power for everything so big forty acre fields were out of the
00:27:00question.
SUCHANEK: Sure.
KEIGHTLEY: You know it would take gosh forever to plow a five acre field
because, because what you did you, you would have a plow and it would cut sixteen
inches, the furrow would be sixteen inches wide, you start going around a field that's
no bigger than a five acre field...
SUCHANEK: It takes a long time.
KEIGHTLEY: Boy you gonna take...that's right.
SUCHANEK: That, that'd take a couple days I'm sure.
KEIGHTLEY: Oh by gosh it'd take; it'd take a better part of a week.
SUCHANEK: So a, did you have indoor plumbing?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh lord, no, no, no, that was unheard of no, no indoor plumbing,
no, of course no electricity.
SUCHANEK: What did you use kerosene lamps?
KEIGHTLEY: You used kerosene lamps, graduated to what they called Aladdin
00:28:00lamps if you ever saw an Aladdin lamp.
SUCHANEK: I haven't.
KEIGHTLEY: Aladdin lamp boy was, it was an innovation. Now the kerosene
lamp was the old kinda yellow glow was the best you could get, but now the Aladdin
lamp had a what they called a mantel on it, it was, it was kinda a mesh and when you
lit the Aladdin lamp this mantel would start to glow and it, it gave a white light.
SUCHANEK: Better to read by wasn't it?
KEIGHTLEY: Yes and it read, it was really good if you, if you had an Aladdin
lamp you were, you were upper class. (KEIGHTLEY and SUCHANEK laugh) But,
yeah, and, and occasionally that Aladdin lamp now if you got it turned up a little too
high that mantel on it would blacken so you had to turn the, the kerosene down so it
00:29:00didn't get so much...
SUCHANEK: soot.
KEIGHTLEY: the flames wouldn't get so high. And then it would slowly burn
that black spot off of the mantel and then you could turn her back up again.
SUCHANEK: Okay. How would you classify your family's social status, middle
class?
KEIGHTLEY: Well we, we, we were just you know just an average Kentucky
family. Yeah we weren't, we weren't destitute but we were not wealthy either so you
just well you know you just, you just survive and we had I guess see I guess the first,
first vehicle I recall was a, I believe was a 1931 Chrysler and we had that thing for till I
00:30:00was almost all the way through 1930 and back then if, if you could afford it you could
buy a new car for $500-600.
SUCHANEK: That was a lot of money.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah oh yeah, that's what I said if you could afford it and wasn't
many people could afford it and I know we, we the one we had we got from one of my
relatives or something and because you just, you just didn't run out to the car lot and
trade ever, every time a new model came out.
SUCHANEK: Sure. You did a lot of walking didn't you?
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah that's right, yes sir you surely did.
SUCHANEK: How bout the neighborhood you grew up, it seems like today you
could live next to somebody and not know them for ten years, back then that wasn't the
00:31:00case was it?
KEIGHTLEY: No you knew everybody that lived within probably ten miles of
you. You knew what family lived in every house you passed which wasn't too many.
(KEIGHTLEY and SUCHANEK laugh)
SUCHANEK: Right.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes.
SUCHANEK: Was there a lot of, did you do a lot of, of social things with your
neighbors; I mean would you have...?
KEIGHTLEY: No, not a...
SUCHANEK: Would you share work for like getting the crops...?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yeah, you had, you had to share work, yes I mean you'd go
maybe say a couple, three families get together and trade work, to put, to house their
tobacco or put up their hay or thrash the wheat. That was something else see you, you
raised your own grain for, for your bread and you would take it and have it ground into,
00:32:00there was a lot of mills back then and it would grind your grain for you.
SUCHANEK: Where did you take yours, do you remember?
KEIGHTLEY: Sir?
SUCHANEK: Where did, where did you take your...?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh, we, we took ours to, to Harrodsburg which was the closest Mill
to us and it was about fifteen miles from where we lived.
SUCHANEK: How would, how would you take it there, in wagons or...?
KEIGHTLEY: No we, then we had you know there was a few, a few trucks, not
many pick up trucks like they are today but big flat bed trucks, you'd have the guy like
that hauled your milk to the milk factory you know, it was always three or four trucks in
most communities...
SUCHANEK: Okay.
KEIGHTLEY: and so you would have to engage one of those trucks and they'd
come pick up your, your wheat and take it to the mill and you would leave your, you
00:33:00know they'd give you a receipt for the pounds of grain that, that you left and, and then
when you needed the flour you would have to go back to the mill and they would draw
against the account just like it was a bank account.
SUCHANEK: Okay. Now when you sold your tobacco I guess it would be
December, November-December that...
KEIGHTLEY: I, most of the time it was late December early January.
SUCHANEK: Now would you, would you get, do you remember your family
getting paid in cash or would you, I guess what I'm saying is where did you do, where
did you do your shopping for like salt and sugar and that kind of thing?
KEIGHTLEY: Well, I, you, you did that of course like we did that in
Lawrenceburg, you had the A and P Store was, was in, in service at that time, now I
00:34:00don't guess there's an A and P Store left anywhere.
SUCHANEK: Right.
KEIGHTLEY: Kroger began to make the scene but we would go you know into
Lawrenceburg and that's where you would get your, your sugar and your salt and then
there's always a little community country store that you could also get that commodities
there.
SUCHANEK: Who owned that, do you remember?
KEIGHTLEY: Yes they, in my case in fact my middle name was after the people
who owned the groc...grocery store.
SUCHANEK: Is that right?
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah, there name was Walter and Rose Vaughn and my, they
were my closest neighbor so I was named William Vaughn.
SUCHANEK: Okay.
KEIGHTLEY: And you know a, getting now into a little more history and (phone
rings - KEIGHTLEY - all I want to know too-KEIGHTLEY and SUCHANEK laugh) see
00:35:00I'm telling you about life.
SUCHANEK: Sure, absolutely. We're talking about the, the country store and
you're giving me a little bit of history about that.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah I, when I was talking about the name Vaughn, now of
course I always called this Walter Vaughn I always called him Uncle Walter which he
was no...
SUCHANEK: Relation
KEIGHTLEY: relation of mine and, and Rose was Aunt Rose but not too far
back in his family you, are you, are you fa..., familiar with the name of Julian Vaughn?
SUCHANEK: Yes.
KEIGHTLEY: Uncle Walter's grandfather was...
SUCHANEK: The owner?
KEIGHTLEY: the father of Julian su..., well Julian Vaughn's relatives were
00:36:00slaves in, in...
SUCHANEK: Really?
KEIGHTLEY: Lawrenceburg and that's a, he, he is, that's where he got his
name was from the Vaughn family and you know how that, the history of that used to
work.
SUCHANEK: Right.
KEIGHLTEY: And, and that's where you know Julian is kinda a reasonably light
skinned fella, really nice guy. I, I traveled with him one time on a plane, I set next to
him and really you know of course I didn't get into but he, he was aware that he had
some roots in...
SUCHANEK: In Kentucky.
KEIGHTLEY: Anderson County yes, yeah. That's how small the world is.
SUCHANEK: That's right.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes.
SUCHANEK: What kind of tobacco did you grow?
KEIGHTLEY: Well we'd grow, we grew the just regular Burly Tobacco, you had
00:37:00a number of varieties but you always tried to get the one that would be a little more
leafy and weight a little bit more, but the, back then in, in raising tobacco and selling it
you had to make five to six grades. Now they just strip it and put it all into the same
grade but it used to be you'd have the, the bottom leaves was called the trash, they
were always kinda fluffy with a lot of holes in it and then, and then the next pulling
would be the lugs that's the whole leaves that's really light, when I mean light in
color...
SUCHANEK: Right.
KEIGHTLEY: and then you move on up and you get the, the, the lugs was the
best and then the bright was next and then you moved up to the long red and the short
00:38:00red and the tips.
SUCHANEK: And the tips was the...
KEIGHTLEY: The very tip top, that's the short leaves.
SUCHANEK: Now which out of the tobacco plant what was the best?
KEIGHTLEY: Well the best, the best for, for the cigarettes was, was the trash
and the lugs because it was the light not as strong flavored tobacco's, as you go up the
stalk, you get to the bright and the long red, that's a heavier leaf and then when you
get on up to the tips you made chewing tobacco out of it like Brown Mule and things
like that.
SUCHANEK: Ok. (KEIGHTLEY laughs) And I guess was it when you, when
you harvest it did you hand tie it?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh, oh, oh well, well of course...
SUCHANEK: Or did you bail it?
KEIGHTLEY: when you, now, now, now when you yes when you harvest it the
tobacco in, in the early days you split the tobacco, you had a tobacco knife and you
00:39:00started at the top of the plant and pushed this knife all the down to about six inches of
the ground and then cut it off and put it in, would straddle a stick and that's the, and
then you would take it to the barn, you would let it wilt in the field then you would take
it to the barn and spread the stalks on the stick and hang it in the barn for it to cure to
its brown color whatever it was gonna be.
SUCHANEK: And then would you did you, did you take it to a warehouse or did
somebody come and tie them out?
KEIGHTLEY: Well then the next part of the next step was after it was cured you,
you waited until you got a good rain or a lot of moisture in the air, see the tobacco
would be dry...
SUCHANEK: Right.
KEIGHTLEY: ok, but when you'd get a good rain or a lot of moisture in the air it
00:40:00would get a little damp and soft, that's when you always, we'd always call it you'd take
the tobacco down and bulk it in a big long bulk, you know you'd pull it off of the, you'd
pull it off of the sticks and, and put 'em in this bulk and then you'd cover the bulk up
and it would stay moist until you could get it stripped and then, and then you would
take it to, you would take it to a warehouse...
SUCHANEK: Where did, where was the warehouse?
KEIGHTLEY: That was in Harrodsburg...
SUCHANEK: Harrodsburg?
KEIGHTLEY: also but yeah but you also had to pull the, the grades of tobacco
off of the stalk and, and grade it see.
SUCHANEK: Ok, when you did that did you hand tie it?
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah, you hand tied it with a tobacco leaf.
SUCHANEK: Right.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah, you always picked a good leaf to, to hand tie, well you
00:41:00didn't want to make the hands too big and you wanted to keep, wanted to keep 'em
even because...
SUCHANEK: there's a real solace to that.
KEIGHTLEY: we thought it made it sell better but I don't guess it did.
(SUCHANEK laughs)
SUCHANEK: (I have to turn my tape over) Ok, I'm really interested in this since
tobacco is, is, is largely going to be leaving the scene as the staple crop for Kentucky's
economy...
KEIGHTLEY: Yes.
SUCHANEK: and you grew up that being one of the most, one of your cash
crops...
KEIGHTLEY: Oh sure.
SUCHANEK: and how you survived, what do you, is, is that kinda a sad thing
for you to see.
KEIGHTLEY: Well I tell you what's sad, yes, yes and I'm gonna tell you why you
know the very day that they approved this buy out for the farmers in other words to
00:42:00remove tobacco from really being one of their means of a livelihood the very same day
they relieved the restrictions on imported tobacco from South America and other
countries to let them bring tobacco in now to take away from our people. Yes, there's
not much logic to that at all. That's reading some time man will destroy himself
because there's not any logic to that what so ever.
SUCHANEK: Just a...
KEIGHTLEY: You know I feel, hey if it's bad there's a lot of things bad for your
health but you know we in my opinion I don't smoke but you know what it wouldn't
bother me if you had a cigar. (KEIGHTLEY speaking to someone - Hey Barrock (sp?) -
other person says-yes sir-KEIGHTLEY-we're, we're a full two hours into it-other person
00:43:00laughs-tape pauses)
SUCHANEK: Alright go ahead, we're talking about...
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah we were talking about tobacco being removed as a source
of income.
SUCHANEK: That's right.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes, and now of course we were talking about the smoking bit,
I'm not an authority on that, my father smoked, was a heavy smoker and he died you
know at 62 you know, I can't say it was and I cant' say it wasn't, and by the same token
I, I knew people that lived to really an old age that smoked every day as much as my
father so you know I, I, I really can't dispute the health issue or neither can I endorse it.
SUCHANEK: Did you ever smoke, even in the Marine Corp?
KEIGHTLEY: No, I never, never really, never really was a smoker. Like you
00:44:00know something else I never did, never did drink beer, I don't like beer. Never did drink
it.
SUCHANEK: How about bourbon?
KEIGHTLEY: I have had a drink or two of that. (SUCHANEK laughs) And you
know there's something else I've, I've worked in the distillery, as to supplement
income, had to, after my father died I worked in a distillery in a bottling house where
they bottled the bourbon, ran b...ran the filler in the very first part of World War II
because there was no help and I could make, I think I was making .50 an hour.
SUCHANEK: Well were gonna talk about that in just a minute...
KEIGHTLEY: Yes.
SUCHANEK: I want, I want to talk a little bit more about the farm.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah.
00:45:00
SUCHANEK: Growing up on the farm, especially in the 30's without a lot of
mechanization that was hard work wasn't it?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yes it, yeah oh yes it was hard work, yes.
SUCHANEK: And you all had, I guess you all pitched in, right?
KEIGHTLEY: Yes everybody, everybody worked you know and it was, it was a
never never ending thing I mean even the cold bad days there was something to do.
You could go to the barn, work in the barn, you, you would do things like for the, for the
corn you raised which you shucked in the field and put the stalks back in a shop, we'd
call it a (unintelligible) shop and in the cold bad weather that supplemented the, the
feed for cows and horses or anything else. Everything would eat the, the, the corn the
corn that didn't have the corn stalks. The corn itself was, was lying in a crib and you'd
00:46:00get in the crib and, and like on a cold day you had a corn sheller, you would shell the
corn for the chickens and the little short nubbins as we called 'em we'd take a, a corn
knife and cut 'em up in little slivers about, about an inch and we'd put all of those in a
big barrel and then we'd throw 'em to the cows when we would bring them in the barn,
we had a feed trough, of course the cows each one had a stall and they knew which
one to go to and, and that was always amazing.
SUCHANEK: That's where the term, "where the cows come home".
KEIGHTLEY: That's right, the cows come home.
SUCHANEK: So you have to call 'em right?
KEIGHTLEY: That's right, you'd call 'em and you know what that's another
thing its amazing they knew when it was milking time because they would, they would
00:47:00come to the barn and if you were a little bit late you would hear a mooing.
(SUCHANEK laughs) They, they, it, it's amazing about nature, they knew that
something was wrong you know if you wasn't on time everything's supposed to be on
schedule, so...
SUCHANEK: Did you have a milking stool?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yeah, little ole, oh boy that was easy to make. You know you
got a, you got a little ole piece of wood and well a tree limb, it was maybe, maybe about
six inches in diameter and you'd, you'd tacked about, put about three nails in a little
board that's about this long and that was your stool. Everybody had his own stool. No,
you didn't, you didn't want, you didn't want a four legged stool I'll tell you why you
00:48:00know cows at times for no reason at all will kick you know you might be milking and all
the sudden they'd raise that leg up and they'd kick, well you got to be, have something
where you can get up right quick get your bucket out a the way so she don't, you don't
loose your milk.
SUCHANEK: Or your head.
KEIGHTLEY: Or your, yeah that's right, yes. And then you're supposedly
chastise 'em for that by giving them a little tap with a little stick you kept in that area,
yes.
SUCHANEK: Did you ever get kicked?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yes, but, but the worst thing even worse than getting kicked is
to have a, a, a cow that has lost a bush off of her tail and it is just a tail with no bush
and it's like a stick and they'd sit there and swat you with that thing trying to get a fly off
00:49:00'em. (SUCHANEK and KEIGHTLEY laugh)
SUCHANEK: You, your head would just get in the way.
KEIGHTLEY: Nobody wanted, no, nobody wanted to milk that one.
(SUCHANEK laughs)
SUCHANEK: Did your whole family milk or was that one of your choirs?
KEIGHTLEY: No, it was always, I, I of course always helped my father and
brother and then when my dad passed away it just left the two of us and we had, we
had twenty-four cows that wasn't a lot of cows but that's a lot of cows to milk, milk by
hand.
SUCHANEK: I'm just, I'm just thinking about your growing up at that time, farm
work is hard, your dad dies when your fourteen years old, you had to grow up quick
didn't you?
KEIGHTLEY: Well we, yes and people grew up quicker at that time because
well out of necessity, you know it's a guy like me, yes he had to grow up quick, I rode
00:50:00the milk truck to high school and then was when I graduated from high school I was
inducted immediately into the Marine Corp so you know I never really lived a teenage
life.
SUCHANEK: I was gonna ask you what, you know...
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah.
SUCHANEK: it didn't sound like, like there was a lot of time . .
KEIGHTLEY: (Talking to someone - hey here Tommy) but it was you know it
was out of necessity but look we didn't, we didn't know any different. I mean your
neighbors were working just like you and if they had, wasn't many kids naturally in the
neighborhood my age but if they did they didn't know any different life than me and
one of the lives that we enjoyed and you talk about the social part was maybe on a
Sunday you might go to visit one of your neighbors for Sunday dinner, that's at 12:00
00:51:00and you'd go spend the day with 'em and, and just sit and talk and not work. On
Sunday didn't, didn't hardly anybody violate the Sabbath, not many people worked on
Sunday back in the 30's and early 40's but then they you know they got away from it
with when they started the malls and whatever and. Well you know you probably are
old enough to remember the flap over having shopping on Sunday...
SUCHANEK: Sure.
KEIGHTLEY: just in a, in, in we'll say department stores or whatever...
SUCHANEK: Right, that's right.
KEIGHTLEY: because it took people away from church...
SUCHANEK: Right.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes.
SUCHANEK: Did you go to church?
KEIGHTLEY: Yes sir.
SUCHANEK: Which church did you attend?
KEIGHTLEY: I went to Sand Spring Baptist Church. Later on I was a scout
00:52:00master there never was a boy scout though cause I, we, there wasn't any such thing.
By the time I had gotten back out of the service we were beginning to come out of the
shell where there was a few things other than just work and they...
SUCHANEK: People started having a little bit more money.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah that's right begin to have a little bit more money and we had
a, I, Sands Spring Baptist Church they started a, wanted to start a scout program they
decided I should be the scout master so I was a scout master, never was a boy scout.
(KEIGHTLEY laughs)
SUCHANEK: But the way you grew up Mr. Keightley in, in your role here as
equipment manager of the UK basketball team and you see these kids coming from all
over the country today does it, does it ever s...do you ever stop and think you know
00:53:00these, these kids are, they got everything, they're, they're spoiled, do you ever thing
about man I had it rough back then?
KEIGHTLEY: You know what I, no Jeffrey I'm, I am proud you know to have had
it the way I had it because today I know how lucky I am. I, I, I'm really you know really
appalled at how lucky I have been and you know even, even being here it, it wasn't
easy to get here although I've been here all these years but by the same token I, I'm
lucky because I've had good health and, and see I'm, I'll be 79 in December so.
SUCHANEK: You don't look it.
KEIGHTLEY: Well I, you know what that's because I fool with these kids ever
day. That's exactly it and not only that I do not allow myself to get old and you know
00:54:00just like Rob I mean we of course he's a little bit older, he's almost too old for me to
socialize with cause he's about 30 something. (SUCHANEK laughs) I'm used to my
kids you know, the, the, the, any where from 19 to 22 or 3, and but...
SUCHANEK: Do you ever take them aside and say you know what are you
complaining about this isn't work let met tell you what work is.
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yeah, well we, we have a, we have a pretty strong
understanding yes we do. You know I mean they don't work for me they work with me,
that's, that's the secret. You know you don't say you work for me, you work with me
and they, and you know they wanna please me so I, no I don't have, don't have any
problem. (KEIGHTLEY clears his voice)
SUCHANEK: And how about the, you know today's players you know they
00:55:00complain they don't want to get up at 6:00 in the morning (unintelligible - KEIGHTLEY
and SUCHANEK speaking at the same time).
KEIGHTLEY: Oh, of course yeah now see we, we, we have a, that's where I've
had to make and you have to make an adjustment as society is today and I've had no
problem with it and that's another reason so many people that get older they can not
adapt. You got to adapt if you gonna co-exist with 'em you've got to adapt and it's
necessary if you gonna be successful you've got to adapt and I, I have no problem of it.
SUCHANEK: I mean even, even from I'm not nearly as old as you are I'm 50
but even looking back I can, you know I look at these kids today and I say boy these
kids are lazy.
KEIGHTLEY: Oh, hey, you know what lazy right, and you just think about, you
look around this campus about 75% of' 'em between classes are walking, talking on
00:56:00the cell phone. Now look we had, we had one telephone that you had to crank...
SUCHANEK: It was a party line wasn't it?
KEIGHTLEY: and it was on a party line (SUCHANEK laughs) and the biggest
complaint you had you might have some talkative ladies on your party line and you
couldn't get the daggone phone to call somebody on your like that you needed to talk
to. (KEIGHTLEY and SUCHANEK laugh) That was about the biggest problem you had
with phones.
SUCHANEK: Martha would you get off I need to make a call. (SUCHANEK
laughs)
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah occasionally you had to ask yeah, yeah and I did, I just
need it for a minute. (SUCHANEK laughs) But then another pastime of course was
eavesdropping on each other you know.
SUCHANEK: Right.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes. (KEIGHTLEY and SUCHANEK laugh)
SUCHANEK: Learn the latest (unintelligible-both SUCHANEK and
KEIGHTLEY speaking at the same time) gossip right.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah that's right; yeah the women had to pass that news along.
00:57:00(SUCHANEK and KEIGHTLEY laugh)
SUCHANEK: I was going to ask you Mr. Keightley growing up in the 30's; did
you have a radio, a crystal set?
KEIGHTLEY: Ye...we had, we had a radio yes sir and it operated off of one
regular battery we'll say like you have on your car and then you had about four dry-cell
batteries and you had to be, you know didn't turn it on not necessarily because, you're,
you're a big A battery here had to stay up all the time and when, when it would get
weak you'd take it to, to the garage who had a charger and they'd charge your battery
up and you'd come back and hook her back up but yes we had, we had a radio and...
SUCHANEK: Of course no television.
KEIGHTLEY: No, no, no, no, no, never no never thought of a TV used and
another that, that we'd do in order to... (Someone comes past door-KEIGHTLEY-hey
00:58:00Bones come in)
SUCHANEK: What were we talking about?
KEIGHTLEY: Let's see we're, well about how times have changed and about
kids...
SUCHANEK: yeah and the radio...
KEIGHTLEY: and then the radio.
SUCHANEK: the radio.
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yeah I was gonna tell you another thing we did socially was
for instance if we wanted to listen we'll say to as we call back then a prize fight most,
most of the families had, had a radio and always somebody had one was a little bit
better than somebody else's or the location was you know....
SUCHANEK: Reception.
KEIGHTLEY: reception was better and you would go to their house and all get
together and get around the radio and listen we'll say to when, when Joe Louis beat
SUCHANEK: Match.
KEIGHTLEY: beat Jimmy Braddock (Cinderella Man) that, you didn't see that
00:59:00movie did you, everybody said it's a great movie...
SUCHANEK: Oh with Russell Crow.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes, and I haven't seen it but I, I do remember the fight. I believe
it was in 1935 and we went to a neighbor's house who was just back of where Hoot
lives, yeah.
SUCHANEK: Do you remember listening, was that part of the family
entertainment every night, to gather around the radio or was that a special occasion?
KEIGHTLEY: That's a special occasion and on Saturday's night in order to
conserve the batteries we're talking about if you liked country music which back then
was about the only music you could get...
SUCHANEK: Right.
KEIGHTLEY: you would get together and listen to the Grand Ole Opry.
SUCHANEK: Oh.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes you would gather around and, and you know listen to, to the
music...
SUCHANEK: Grand Ole Opry.
KEIGHTLEY: Might be you know say a couple of families would go or come to
01:00:00my house, we'd all sit around, we'd get chairs out of the kitchen, sit around the
fireplace and listen to the radio.
SUCHANEK: How about politics, were your, was your family involved in
politics at all?
KEIGHTLEY: I, I, well we were, I never did get too politically entwined although I
was a, reared a democrat and still am a democrat and but after we got through that
depression with Herbert Hoover gonna put a car in every garage and two chickens in
every pot and hell everybody about starved to death and Franklin Roosevelt came
along and you know it, you had to be alive at that time he you know he brought us out
01:01:00of the wilderness, shut those banks down and got America back to functioning again
so that, that probably played a large part in my party affiliation but I've always been you
know non-partisan for individuals so...
SUCHANEK: You vote for the person.
KEIGHTLEY: I, I vote for the person and sometimes I don't do too well.
(KEIGHTLEY and SUCHANEK laugh) But, but anyhow...
SUCHANEK: So your, your, your family was, was supporters of Roosevelt
and...
KEIGHTLEY: Yes, right, absolutely and, and of course of Harry Truman, "Old
Give 'em hell Harry"... (KEIGHTLEY and SUCHANEK laugh)
SUCHANEK: But you didn't get involved in county politics to much?
KEIGHTLEY: No, we didn't get, no, no, no. We always you know used to laugh
01:02:00about fact in that picture there's a, a guy in there in, in my precinct which was the
McBrair Precinct there was only two republicans in the precinct and they were both
elected officials. We always said one of 'em ever died we couldn't have an election.
(SUCHANEK and KEIGHTLEY laugh) and one of em's in this picture.
SUCHANEK: Is that right?
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah, I played ball with him. (KEIGHTLEY laughs) It wasn't, you
know we'd always kid about it...
SUCHANEK: Sure.
KEIGHTLEY: it wasn't a, wasn't vicious and vindictive as it is...
SUCHANEK: Sure.
KEIGHTLEY: today.
SUCHANEK: Was, was Ollie James in the, was he from Lawrenceburg, Ollie
James from the state legislature, do you remember that name?
KEIGHTLEY: Yes a James, yes but I, the James I'm thinking of maybe was
from Harrodsburg.
SUCHANEK: Okay, he could have been.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah, from Harrodsburg.
SUCHANEK: He could have been.
01:03:00
KEIGHTLEY: He, they were, yes they were related to me if that's who you're
talking about his mother was a Keightley.
SUCHANEK: Oh okay.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah. I, I, I'll tell you who was a, and you wouldn't know him but
was a state legislator was a guy that played basketball here, he was Coach Rupp's first
All-American was Aggie Sale.
SUCHANEK: Oh yeah.
KEIGHTLEY: Aggie was a third cousin of mine.
SUCHANEK: Oh really.
KEIGHTLEY: Fact back in, back in the 30's you know you just brought up
something else, back in the 30's my mother became seriously ill and I lived one, one
summer with Aggie Sale and his parents.
SUCHANEK: Really.
KEIGHTLEY: This was about 1930...about 1934; Aggie just had graduated from
01:04:00here.
SUCHANEK: What was wrong with your mom?
KEIGHTLEY: She had, she had ulcers and they really really got bad and they
didn't think she was, fact I recall I guess yes it was in '34 they called us all into the
hospital at Norton Infirmary in Louisville and didn't expect her to live through the
night...
SUCHANEK: Wow.
KEIGHTLEY: but she made it and...
SUCHANEK: but you're, you're what nine years old at that time, eight years
old?
KEIGHTLEY: That's right, yeah, yeah. And, but thinking about my summer
living with the, Aggie Sale's parents, Aggie had just a gotten outta school here you
know and he, he bought a new car, a 1935-60 horse power Ford and I imagine it
probably cost $500, brand new car, ole' Aggies...drive that thing get it up about 60
01:05:00miles per hour man I thought I was flying, (SUCHANEK and KEIGHTLEY laugh) yeah
never...
SUCHANEK: The road...not too many roads were paved back then were they?
KEIGHTLEY: You had the one, you had the one state road we called it, the rest
of 'em were just side roads were gravel and rock. Fact there, the road that we lived on
that's another thing we did as, as families that lived on the road, you'd have to get
together you know maybe five or six times a year and haul rocks in a wagon and take a
sledge hammer and fill up the chuck holes.
SUCHANEK: And fill up the, fill up the road.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes.
SUCHANEK: Yes so the...
KEIGHTLEY: And, and where you would, where you would stay in the same
tracks any time you met a car you know you had to pick a spot to pull off so you could
01:06:00pass. But what would happen when you ran in those same tracks every day the, the...
SUCHANEK: Ruts.
KEIGHTLEY: tracks would get deeper and you'd have the, this part up here, the
crown of the road would drag the underneath of your car so you had to go and knock
that off so nobody, the ones that had cars so that the...
SUCHANEK: Could you imagine asking Americans to do that today?
KEIGHTLEY: I can not imagine that happening, I can imagine 'em
(KEIGHTLEY speaks to someone - Hey Reg - Reg says - how you doing Mr. Keightley)
call somebody wouldn't they, call a county judge or the...
SUCHANEK: Something.
KEIGHTLEY: the governor or somebody. Be somebody have to do it.
(KEIGHTLEY laughs)
SUCHANEK: That's right, that's right. Well we have just a little bit more time for
today and I was just wondering if you could comment on as you were growing up
01:07:00holidays how your, how your families celebrated holidays like Christmas, was that a
big time for you all?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yes you know then the holidays were celebrated,
Thanksgiving and you know families weren't by and large huge back at that time but
you, you celebrated with your neighbors you know and one we'll say Rose Vaughn
would have two or three families in for Thanksgiving dinner and you really looked
forward to it. The kids that was there would always have to wait while the adults ate
you know, the first table or maybe even get bumped to the third table.
SUCHANEK: I remember the kids table.
KEIGHTLEY: Yes, yes, yes, (KEIGHTLEY and SUCHANEK laugh) yeah but
Christmas time was special you know you didn't have the, the Christmas lights and
01:08:00that sort of thing but I think you had the little, the little tinsel you could hang on a tree
but most people had a Christmas tree set it in a, in a corner of a room, propped it up,
dressed her up, put the packages beneath it and no lights just, just the tinsel on it.
SUCHANEK: Was there always money for, for gifts?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh, they was always get a little gift or two yes. I guess the
highlight was I had an uncle that was my mothers' brother that was, left Kentucky and
he went to Missouri and became president of a Junge Baking Company, it was a good
size baking company out, out in the west and he's the reason I got Mickey Mantle's
01:09:00picture up there, he was president of the Joplin Miners and Mickey Mantle broke into
the western association as a short stop and my uncle was president of the, of the
Joplin Team but that's off of the subject about Christmas. He, you know he was more
affluent than anyone we had here so he would send us big Christmas boxes every
year. He would send us a couple of great big boxes full of gifts.
SUCHANEK: Now were, were, were the, would the gifts be toys or for you to...
KEIGHTLEY: Some of it'd be toys and for like my dad he'd probably send some
of his older clothes you know that he'd wore no longer wear 'em but hey you know
they were pleased to get 'em.
SUCHANEK: Sure.
KEIGHTLEY: Yeah that's...
SUCHANEK: Did your, did your mom make clothes or did you buy 'em.
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yes, yes siree, yes sir. I've, I've, I've worn you know
01:10:00homemade overalls, shirts, shirts...
SUCHANEK: She would buy the material?
KEIGHTLEY: Buy the material yes and make the shirts.
SUCHANEK: Was she a good cook?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh great cook yes sir. Well you know women cooked back then.
SUCHANEK: Had a wood stove? Did you have a wood stove?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yeah, had a wood stove yes siree. Yeah had a wood stove
and it had the, you know the water boiler up on the side (KEIGHTLEY speaks to
someone - Hi Donna-Donna - Good morning) and yeah so, but it was, was, was
celebrated to the fullest.
SUCHANEK: What was your favorite meal that your mom used to cook for you?
KEIGHTLEY: Oh boy it's a, that's a dandy, I guess my favorite dessert was a,
was a hickory nut apple sauce cake. The, the hickory nuts was in the caramel icing.
01:11:00And then I always loved country ham, not long on chicken, the reason being we had
chicken every Sunday. (SUCHANEK laughs) as long as I, as long as I've stayed on
that farm every Sunday, now we have it over here at the lodge, we'll have it cooked
three different ways every meal. (SUCHANEK laughs) We'll have it baked, fried, ala
king, buffalo eggs or and I just, I don't eat much chicken.
SUCHANEK: Yeah. You got your fill of it.
KEIGHTLEY: I got, I had, yeah.
SUCHANEK: Another thing I wanted to ask you to is I imagine your Mom did a
lot of canning put it...
KEIGHTLEY: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. One of my favorite things ever to eat we
01:12:00used to cut the, the tenderloin strips off of the hogs when we killed 'em, that's the strip
that goes down the back bone and we would, would cold pack that in cans and you
had a what we called a capper, this being tin cans now not, not jars and you would,
would cap those cans and then you would put 'em in hot...
SUCHANEK: What would you cap, what would you cap 'em with?
KEIGHTLEY: Well you had a capper, when I say capper you had the tin can
and up at the top of this capper you put this lid and then you'd start applying the lever
with very little pressure and keep on until you, till you got it sealed, going to the left and
01:13:00then you'd pull the other one and get it going to the right.
SUCHANEK: Okay.
KEIGHTLEY: And then when you would get through with that you would drop
the can in to boiling water and cook it for x amount of time and I really don't remember.
And then that can you could open it up a year later and, and that tenderloin meat
would just fall apart. Fact she used to send it to me while, when I was in service,
occasionally I'd get a, a, you know a package from home. She'd always send that
tenderloin meat.
SUCHANEK: I can see your, your almost drooling now thinking about it.
KEIGHTLEY: Oh man I'm telling you. What, what gravy you could make with
that. (KEIGHTLEY and SUCHANEK laugh)
SUCHANEK: Well tell you let's, let's stop here for today, okay.
KEIGHTLEY: Okay.
SUCHANEK: And well check our calendars and see when I can come back.
KEIGHTLEY: Well, okay.
01:14:00
SUCHANEK: I've taken up enough of your time today.
KEIGHTLEY: Well, whatever.
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