Interview with Maxine Wiley, April 20, 2010

TROLAND: My name is Tom Troland. I'm here today interviewing Maxine Wiley. This is April 20, 2010. This is part of the Buffalo, uh, Buffalo Trace Oral History Project, and we are located here at the Buffalo Trace Distillery. Maxine, first of all thank you so much for agreeing to sit down and talk with me.

WILEY: It's my pleasure.

TROLAND: Let's start with a simple question: just tell me a little bit about yourself.

WILEY: Uh, now? Well, my husband's passed away, and I, uh, I operate a small utility trailer business from my home. And, uh, I have one grandchild that's a teacher at Beaumont Center, uh, Rosa Parks in Lexington and one son that lives next door to me, and he makes my life a lot easier. He takes care of most of my yard work, and so I've 00:01:00really enjoyed my retirement and, uh, have a comfortable home and a good life. Uh, at first I didn't want to retire. I thought I would need maybe a part-time job, but I've managed to work out finances and I'm living very comfortably.

TROLAND: How long have you been retired?

WILEY: Four years and, uh, my husband passed away in '07, and, uh, that changed my life a lot. And, uh, but I've made new friends and I do 00:02:00church work; stay as active as I can.

TROLAND: I want to ask you a question that might embarrass you--not really.

WILEY: (laughs) You better not. (laughs)

TROLAND: I was given some information about you prior to this interview because I've not had the pleasure of meeting you before, and speaking on behalf of the distillery, one of the items I was told is this: "We all love her immensely."

WILEY: That's so nice.

TROLAND: Why do you think, why do you think people have such a wonderful impression of you? What's one reason perhaps?

WILEY: Well, I love people. I try to put other people before myself. 00:03:00I did it when I worked here, you know. It was, uh, important to me to help others all the time, and I've continued to try to do that still. I try to help at least three people every day in some way, and, uh, I've done that all my life or since I've been an adult. And it was like a family when I came here to work. It was mostly local people-- now it's more international but it was local--and, uh, we just were like a big family. And Colonel Blanton's secretary, uh, Sally Gardener, she lived in my community and we went to the same church. And, um, I was a 00:04:00teenager and, and I would notice her because she always drove a new car, had beautiful clothes. She'd go out of town to buy her clothes, and I would think, I'd like to be like her. We all knew that she had such a fabulous job as a private secretary to Colonel Blanton, and everyone said that she made more money than the engineers and the professional people; that he paid her really well. So that was my desire, to be like Sally Gardener, and when I heard about an opening here I jumped on it. And, uh, like I mentioned to you before, they hired me, and 00:05:00I think it was just kindly in a plan what I'd wished for basically eventually happened. Even though I wasn't a private secretary, I took her desk when she retired and, uh, stayed in that position for--hmm-- forty years. (laughs) And, uh, I, I've just--we were just, like I said, a family, and that, uh, I still love all of them that I, you know, worked with when I was here and, uh, get to see them as often as I can.

TROLAND: Let's, let's consider a little bit about your early life before 00:06:00you came here and then we'll talk even more about what your career and what your life was like here at Buffalo Trace. Uh, tell me something about your parents.

WILEY: My parents were, uh, uh, they lived on a farm. I was raised on a farm. I was a baby of seven children, the youngest, and, uh, we all had to work. I can remember--(laughs)--I couldn't--I was just big enough to keep a bucket of water up off the ground, and I would have to take water to all the field hands for them to, to drink. And, like I say, I could just barely carry that bucket, but that was my job and I had to do that. And, uh, we all worked. I've helped in tobacco and, uh, I had responsibility of taking care of sheep, and, uh, that I, that 00:07:00I enjoyed. Uh, we had a large farm and they would wander, and I'd have to make the count of them and make sure they were all accounted for at the end of the day. (laughs) They didn't let me have a lot of free time, and, uh, uh, there was just something going on on the farm all the time. And I couldn't wait to get off of it, but now I think how wonderful it would be to go back and live on a farm.

TROLAND: Where was this farm?

WILEY: Woodford County, um, what they call "Little Germany". I don't 00:08:00know if you're familiar with, um, um--it's about nine miles from Versailles and the same distance from Frankfort. It's close to--our, our farm was on the, uh, Kentucky River, and, uh, it was just good country.

TROLAND: Tell me something about your dad. What was he like?

WILEY: My dad passed away when I was fifteen. Um, he, he never met a stranger. I know when we'd get to--maybe once a week we'd go into town for supplies and groceries. The minute he'd get out of the car, he'd start talking to people, and, uh, he, he just enjoyed life. He, uh, 00:09:00worked hard. He also liked, uh, the product we have here. I remember that, and, uh, but then he was sick a lot of the--he had a heart condition, and at that time there wasn't a lot to be done for that. I think they prescribed sulfa drugs or something like that, and that was about it. So he died young, and, uh, there's not a lot of stories that I can remember about him.

Uh, my mother was a hard worker. She was a seamstress and, and sewed for all the women in the community. She made fabulous looking dress suits, and it wasn't just, uh, flat sewing. I mean, it was extremely 00:10:00hard, and, uh--excellent cook. She'd send me to the kitchen when I was just, I was the only one at home not going to school, and she'd tell me how to make, uh, potato soup and apple pie. That's what I started out with; just real, real young. And, uh, they'd brag on it, and I thought, "Well, I'm really good at this." And I know now why they bragged on me. They wanted me to keep cooking, you know--(laughs)--but those are some of my memories when I was just really young. And, uh, but I'm glad I learned how to cook because I've had to do a lot of it, and, uh--

TROLAND: What is something you learned from your mother that you took into adult life?

WILEY: When I, when I got my first job she made sure that I took a portion of my salary and gave to the church, and I would, I'd say, "Oh, I, I don't want to do it. I don't--Unh-uh. I can't barely get by." You know, she would say, "That's going to make a lot of difference in your life if you will continue to give." And it's been such a benefit 00:12:00to me. I don't think you're supposed to talk about it, but I tithe my income. I think that's how I managed to keep a job as long as I did. The good Lord took care of me. I believe that, and it's just the sole, a lesson that I really needed because she just kept insisting. She had to work with me a while to get me to tithe, but that's the one thing I remember that she didn't give up on.

TROLAND: Can you think of, of a story when you were young at home involving either your, uh, one of your parents or one of your brothers 00:13:00or sisters? A funny story? Something that happened that was unusual that you well remember?

WILEY: (laughs) Well, there was twins in my family, a boy and a girl, and they were into everything. Um, they set the garden on fire. They upset the whole family, you know, I mean, because it was a big fire. Um, they would chase the animals and pull their tails, and, uh, where some of us were afraid of the animals, they--(laughs)--they weren't. They just got into everything. It really livened up the, the household, you know, when they would never, never quit. They were just always into something, and, uh, my mother always had a lot of stories 00:14:00to tell about them. Um, I'm sure things happened constantly, but, uh, I can't remember too many things about them. Uh--

TROLAND: Where did you go to school?

WILEY: I went to Millville, Millville School through the eighth grade and then we were bused to Woodford County, Versailles School, and that's where I met my husband. And, uh, we didn't have, uh, I really wanted to go to college, but we just didn't have the money, you know. 00:15:00I was, uh, uh, came along right after the Great Depression. (laughs) It made a big difference. We had, we had everything from the farm that it could supply, but we didn't have material things and, uh, college was just out of the question.

TROLAND: What interested you as a young person, um, as a teenager? What was something that--apart from, perhaps going to college which turned out not to be a, an option--what other kinds of things interested you at that time? What did you think the future might bring you?

WILEY: Well, I, I really intended to be a beautician. I liked, uh, uh, 00:16:00doing my sisters' hair, you know, and my mother's, and that was pretty much my plan. But I was an excellent typist, um, so that changed my mind really because I loved typing. I mean, I was, it was just something that I was really good at, and, uh, so that's why I started doing clerical work. And, uh, it was--I didn't have transportation, but National Distillers was about six miles from where I lived. And, um, there was an opening at a construction company that was building 00:17:00the, uh, warehouses at National, and I, I managed to get a job there and stayed there until they completed their construction work. And then the, uh, my boss got me a job at, um, national office as a file clerk, but I could never, I just didn't like filing at all. So I stayed there about a year and a half and then left and, uh, worked at, uh, filled in for a friend of mine at the state of Kentucky, and, uh, it was a new annex building. It had just been built and, uh, tile 00:18:00everywhere, you know, and I just, I just loved it. But the girl got well and came back to work, so I was out of a job. And when I, that's when I heard about this job at, uh, uh, Schenley.

TROLAND: Now how old were you at the time when you heard of the job at this distillery, now Buffalo Trace?

WILEY: Twenty-three or--twenty-two or twenty-three, and I, I started working. Like I said, I'd worked in that new annex that was just fabulous. I walked into the office. That's where I would be working. The floors were warped from floods. (laughs) The building looked like it was about ready to fall down.

TROLAND: Now that's here at this distillery?

WILEY: That's here.

TROLAND: Yes. And what year was this?

WILEY: Fifty-two. Nineteen fifty-two. I thought, I'm getting my Christmas expenses paid for and then I am out of here because it look-, the building actually looked like it was going to fall down, and they had a fan sitting up behind me where I worked. It was blowing right down on my neck. That afternoon when I left work I could not turn my head. I mean--(laughs)--I had the stiffest neck that ever was. I thought, "How do these people work here?" (laughs) You know? It was awful, and, uh, I got over the stiff neck eventually and got used to the building. I had the best supervisors that ever was, just--and I was actually having a lot of fun. You know, it was just, uh, interesting people, and, uh, I looked forward to coming in every 00:20:00day. And, uh, the building didn't seem to matter anymore. They later demolished it, but, you know, it was, uh--I never will forget how it looked. It was just, uh, walk across the floor, you know, it was just a mess--(laughs)--and that's where Colonel Blanton had his office, in that building. And, uh, it has just always been a nice place.

TROLAND: Tell me a little bit about Colonel Blanton. He was here for a brief time when you first began working. What are your recollections of Colonel Blanton?

WILEY: (laughs) Well, he would come in--he had retired--and, uh, he lived in the stone mansion up on the hill. And, uh, he'd walk down 00:21:00and come into the, his office every day, and he wore a little, uh, some type of a visor; uh, had that on every day. Uh, and he'd walk through the office, and I would just panic. I'd be scared to death of him. I don't know why because he didn't pay any attention to me certainly, but, uh, just the fact that I'd always heard of Colonel Blanton, uh, he, he was just, uh, a very nice man, so I was told. Treated all the employees just like they were part of his family, and, uh, but then he, uh, he gradually quit coming around. And he didn't live real long after 00:22:00he retired. Uh, but I, I worked in that office for about ten years.

TROLAND: That office being--

WILEY: The engineering office.

TROLAND: The engineering office. Yes.

WILEY: I think I enjoyed that, that job more than any. It was, uh, it was so beneficial to me. Um, I learned how to do drafting, and I didn't think I would ever use it but I did in, uh, when, um, Schenley sold to the New York, uh, two men from New York--Baranaskas and Falk- 00:23:00-in '82. Schenley took every, all the paperwork and moved it to, um, a Lawrenceburg, Indiana, plant. There was nothing left in the form of forms or anything. We had to start from scratch, and I did all of the forms, made them myself. And, uh, that's where the drafting was really a benefit to me. Um, I don't know why they took everything, all the paperwork when they left, bought it, you know, sold it, but they did. So it kindly made it rough to have to start over with all 00:24:00new forms and, but that was a, that was a big change in the distillery. They brought in computers for the first time, and, uh, I didn't expect to keep a job, you know, because of, uh, I assumed that the computers would--they said there'd be very little paperwork, you know. (laughs) But it just increased, actually. So--

TROLAND: So you worked in the engineering office for many years?

WILEY: Ten.

TROLAND: For ten years. Yes.

WILEY: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And then, uh, when Sally Gardener retired, Colonel Blanton's secretary, they offered the job to two other women 00:25:00that had been here longer and were better--they'd had, uh, business courses--and they were better qualified, but they didn't want to work for the boss that we had at that time.

TROLAND: And what year was this roughly?

WILEY: Sixty-five. Nineteen sixty-five. (laughs) That's a long time ago. Anyway, they turned it down. The other two, uh, that had more seniority turned it down. Well, I took it. I mean, I didn't care. You know? (laughs) And he was hard to work for, Bill Fairleigh.

TROLAND: Now Bill, Bill Farley?

WILEY: F-a-i-r-l-e-i-g-h, Fairleigh.

TROLAND: Fairleigh. He was, in fact that--

WILEY: He was the regional manager. He was over our plant and the other plants that I mentioned, and, um, he got me upset one day. I just got up and walked out. I left. Never said anything to anybody, and I had to talk myself into getting up the next morning and coming back in because he had really hurt my feelings. Well, I, I--from that day forward, he was the nicest person to--I just loved him dearly. He was just so good to me. I guess that's what it took, just getting up and walking out, and I often wondered why the other women thought they 00:27:00couldn't get along with him because we just got along fine. But, uh, I never walked out again because--(laughs)--I knew better, but, uh, at that time it didn't bother me. I thought, Well, if I lose my job so what? I was younger, and I knew I could get one somewhere. So, but, uh, I had--after that I just--I must have had about eight bosses, different bosses and liked them all.

TROLAND: So beginning in, uh, 1965, your position here was as the secretary to the--

WILEY: General manager.

TROLAND: --general manager of the distillery? Yes.

WILEY: Um-hm. Um-hm.

TROLAND: And there were eight such--approximately--eight such general managers during the time you worked here?

WILEY: Um-hm. Elmer Lee--of course he was, he was my boss in engineering and then after, when Bill Fairleigh retired Elmer took that position, so he was my boss again and a great man.

TROLAND: Tell us a little bit of what it was like to work with Elmer T. Lee.

WILEY: Well, I thought a lot of him. I thought a lot of him. He, he wanted everything done just right, just perfect, and I learned to make sure that I did the best I could do on any jobs that he asked me to do 00:29:00or doing letters and different things, you know. I just had to make sure I got them just right, but he was very understanding. And, uh, I know in 1969 they had an economy drive--or I don't know if they sold the plant, the distillery, or if it was an economy drive. I, I can't remember which--but it was his responsibility to let so many employees go. It was such a drastic cutback, and I'd been here at that time, I think, seventeen years. They sold the company, but I, I can't remember who bought it. Anyway, I remember Elmer, I asked him one day, I said, 00:30:00"Will I get to keep my job?" And he had tears in his eyes. He said, "I'm not sure." He, he was just a big-hearted, generous person, and I've just adored him all through the years. And he stayed my boss until, uh, eighty, '82 when the New York men bought us, and they kept him on as a consultant, Elmer. And, uh, there wasn't--they let all the hourly people go at that time, and there was about seventeen people 00:31:00for the office to do all the office work. And, uh, they didn't paint us a very good picture at all, you know. They didn't have much money, and we just had to do a lot harder work than we'd ever done before but there was always fun. You know, you can, I know--(laughs)--Mr. Baranaskas, he spent probably the first year here at the distillery. He'd go home to New York on weekends, but he was--

TROLAND: Now who was he?

WILEY: Bob Baranaskas. He was one of the men that bought the distillery, and, uh, he would dictate to me. He'd call me in to 00:32:00take a letter. Well, he would just go so fast I couldn't keep up with him. I'd get so nervous. I'd be squirming and trying to think, hope I could remember what he said. He was going so fast. Then he'd say--after I'd worked with it all afternoon trying to decipher what I had taken down in shorthand--he'd say, "You don't have to worry with that. I just wanted to learn how to dictate." I'd squirmed and got so upset and thought sure it was a letter that he intended for me to mail, you know, get ready and mail out, but he was just always thinking of something like that to do to somebody. And, uh, he made it a lot 00:33:00more interesting, you know, uh, doing things, but he was very nice to me. And, uh, he has since been--he was killed recently, uh, in an airplane, uh, uh, accident, flying his own plane, and that upset me. He was a very nice person.

TROLAND: Who was another general manager of the distillery while you worked here that you remember particularly well or were particularly fond of?

WILEY: Well, there was Don Kelley. He's now, um, um, plant manager at, 00:34:00uh, Owensboro Distillery, uh, that I think Buffalo Trace has recently bought. Um, he, he was, uh, hired by Bob Baranaskas. They had worked together at Fleischman's, and, uh, Don moved here. He was about thirty-six years old when he, when he came here, and, of course, I was getting up in years. And that was a concern, trying to mesh gears with a younger, much younger boss, but he was such a gentleman and real easy 00:35:00to be around and work for and, uh, just, just sort of turned out to be one of the better bosses that I had and, uh, very considerate. Uh--

TROLAND: Who was the last general manager with whom you worked?

WILEY: Richard Wolf. I think he left last year. Uh, then there was a doctor, uh, before him, Jim Fox. I remember, uh, after Jim Fox left they interviewed, uh, Mr. Brown, interviewed, uh, two or three people, 00:36:00and his secretary gave me their names and she named Richard Wolf. I said, "Well, we've had so many animals here," I said, "they'll hire Richard Wolf"--(laughs)--and sure enough, they did. My, the boss before him was Jim Fox and then Richard Wolf and, uh, then Joe Darmon. He was here for about ten years and moved here from Massachusetts, and, uh, he had worked for Bob Baranaskas before. And he was very nice. Um, I've had a lot of good bosses through the years.

TROLAND: You worked for so many years that the distillery obviously saw many changes that occurred during that period of time. What is one change that you saw that you thought was interesting or significant during the time you worked here?

WILEY: Well, I think changing the name of the distillery, uh, from Ancient Age to Buffalo Trace, I thought that was very interesting. Um, I liked that change, and, uh, I think building the one-barrel warehouse, they started building that shortly after I came to work here. And they had to meet a deadline on it, and they worked around 00:38:00the clock. Uh, they, they had lights set up where they could work at night just like they did in the daytime, and, um, then they had, um, oh, they had a problem finding a mason to do the stone work. And, um, they went all over the country trying to find somebody to--that could do that type work, and I was in the engineering at that time and knew quite a bit about what was going on with it. And I found that very interesting. And, uh, they had, uh, they hired co-ops in engin-, when I was, you know, at that time, and they'd have these young men that- 00:39:00-(laughs)--were still in school. And, uh, I don't know. It was just a lot of fun actually to work with young people like that, and, uh, I never will forget one of the co-ops came up. He didn't want anybody to hear him, and he'd say, "How do you spell barrel?" (laughs) Couldn't, couldn't spell at all, you know, and then they thought the corn, they'd asked, uh, Do they bring the corn in on the cob? (laughs) You just remember little things like that that were just humorous, and, uh--

TROLAND: In all the years that you were here many things happened; some major, some minor; no doubt some other funny stories or little things that, little instances that occurred. Can you think of a, of a funny incident or a story, uh, that happened here at the distillery that someone, during the time that you were here?

WILEY: Well, there were so many, but, uh, I actually wish I could just think of one thing that was outstanding. No. I'm sorry, but I just 00:41:00can't think of any one thing that was--

TROLAND: Well, if such a story comes to your mind in a few minutes--

WILEY: Oh, one, one thing. They locked an employee up in the warehouse. Maybe Ronnie told this. I don't know. He was locked up overnight in the warehouse, and the next morning when they unlocked the warehouses he was laid out drunker than a lord and was happy as could be. You know, he had really had a good time in that warehouse, and, uh, since then I think they made sure they never locked anybody else up because there wasn't any way for him to get out back then, you know. And, uh, 00:42:00that was quite a story at that time. Uh--

TROLAND: What about the work environment--(clears throat)--that you experienced? Did you notice over the years that you were here at the distillery any changes in the work environment, changes in the attitudes of people who worked here or changes in the type of people who worked here?

WILEY: Well, it did change. Um, when I, when I first came it was local, all local people, and it, it gradually changed to more international. 00:43:00And, uh, of course as they, as they, uh, the payroll enlarged, you know, it was, um, a lot more people and definitely not as family-type business as before. Um, and then, uh, I think when, uh, Sazerac bought us they were more, intended to go more international and brought in more people from everywhere. So it definitely changed at that time, 00:44:00um, which was--they always hired good people and, uh, nice to be around, and, and then, uh, gave more tours, and that, that changed the distillery. And at one time, I just thought the distillery was dying; it was just going to close down completely.

TROLAND: What time was that?

WILEY: That was, um, in the early eighties, and, uh, uh, Bob Baranaskas and Ferdie Falk helped the distillery ten years and then the Japanese and Sazerac bought us, and, um, that, that was a complicated situation. 00:45:00The Japanese owned part of it and Sazerac owned part of it, and the government couldn't even understand how to do government forms and all. It really--(laughs)--it really got complicated, and, um, I know I had to work with the government, federal government on it a lot and they couldn't understand how one of them could own the brand names and trade names and the other one owned the property. And it complicated the 00:46:00paperwork, but we eventually got it worked out and everything running smooth again. So that was a good move really for the distillery. They did a lot of beautification and, um, changed it; did a complete turnaround.

TROLAND: Now the area around this clubhouse is very beautifully maintained. I'm told that somewhere on the grounds is a garden named for you. Where is that garden?

WILEY: It's, um, it's right beyond the, um, gift shop, between the gift shop and the clubhouse.

TROLAND: And when was that garden named for you?

WILEY: When I retired.

TROLAND: And when did you retire?

WILEY: March of '06. And, uh, I'm very proud of it. They've changed the, uh, they've changed the garden two or three times, and the last--they've recently done it. I haven't stopped to look at it, but I'm going to on my way out--but, uh, I was told that it looked like I was buried there. It was on a, a plaque was on a rock--(laughs)--and they said, "Well, it looks like you're buried there." I said, "Well, they should have given me a plot, too, as many years as I've worked." (laughs) But now they've changed it, so I don't know if it still looks like I'm buried there or not. But, uh, anyway, I'm, I'm proud of it.

TROLAND: So your career here began in 1952 and you retired in 2006. That's a very long time. When you first began working here how many other women, to your recollection, were working here?

WILEY: Well, like I said, Colonel, Colonel Blanton's private secretary, um, retired schoolteachers--I think we had two retired schoolteachers working--and, um, they all looked real old to me when I started working here, and I've often thought how young people coming in-- (laughs)--before I retired, how they had to think, "Gosh, she must be ancient." But that's the way I felt about these older women that I 00:49:00started working with, but they were all so nice and after you've worked with them a little bit you didn't think anything at all about their age. Um, they, there was a lot of women here, but of course I don't know how many. But, uh, they were all qualified, most of them well- educated, and, uh, all of them were nice to me.

TROLAND: What was the work environment for a woman here early in your career? Do you feel in particular that women were respected and their 00:50:00efforts valued by the distillery?

WILEY: Uh, yes. I, I would say yes; probably more so then, then at that time, than in later years. They, uh, they just showed more respect at that time, and, uh, it was so different back then because--well, one thing, we had parties. I mean, like, I couldn't believe it. My first Christmas here, on Christmas, the last day we worked before Christmas they started partying at, like, eight o' clock. You walked in and 00:51:00before you got your coat off somebody was saying, "We're all set up over--come over and have a drink with us." Now, at eight o' clock in the morning you started drinking. By lunchtime--(laughs)--the party was really going, you know, and, uh, of course that ch-, that changed. That had to change, but back then it didn't make any difference. Bars were just set up in all the offices and I couldn't believe how it, how it was, but I never will forget it. I mean, it was just a lot of fun to, to party back then, you know, and, uh, they'd, uh, by the end of 00:52:00the day not everybody had a car to get home. And, uh, the engineers would, uh, kid each other, and they'd load all the drunks up in a car. And, uh, they said, "We didn't have any brakes so we just had to slow down in front of their house and roll them out into their front yard," and I believed it, of course. I thought that's what happened because they were usually all sauced, you know, just, uh, by the end of the day. People couldn't even get home. (laughs) I mean, should I be telling that? But that's the way it was, and, uh, didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. They did let you party after you worked hard, and, uh, so that was unusual. And they, they gave bonuses years ago 00:53:00to employees, and my first Christmas I got eleven dollars. And, uh, I thought that was the best thing that ever was to get in on a bonus, you know, and then they discontinued them. They didn't give them anymore after that first year, so everything changed. And, uh, I even remember my salary when I came; forty-eight dollars and fifty cents a week. I thought that was really something and had to pay a babysitter, and I commuted from Versailles. By the time I paid a sitter and bought 00:54:00gasoline, I had nothing left hardly, and they had the first economy drive and, uh, the general manager, Orville Schupp, came up to my desk and said, "Now, don't you worry. We're not going to let you go." He said, "We're keeping you." I was so proud of that. I told some of the engineers. They said, "Well, why would they get rid of you? You're working free--forty-eight dollars and fifty cents a week." (laughs) So that inflated me right there. You know, I thought the boss was just being so nice to me by keeping me, and, uh, they took the wind out of my sails. (laughs)

TROLAND: In the latter years working here at the distillery, did 00:55:00you have the feeling that attitudes towards women working at this distillery were distinctly different from the early years or not?

WILEY: I don't think I noticed too much, you know. Uh, I know through the years they had more, uh, women supervisors in, you know, recent years, and, uh, they were very respectful for women. But, I mean, other than that I don't think I noticed too much difference. Uh--

TROLAND: It's obvious that you're very well-remembered here at this 00:56:00facility. I witnessed the garden has been named in your honor. If sometime in the future someone wrote a history of Buffalo Trace Distillery and if your name was mentioned somehow in that story, what would you like to be remembered for?

WILEY: I was definitely loyal to the company. I worked when I was sick. I don't think I took a sick day for twenty years. I maybe had to be off for, with my child, but for myself I worked sick. Um, just, just the fact that I tried to be a loyal employee would mean more to me than 00:57:00most anything.

TROLAND: Do you drink bourbon yourself?

WILEY: Sociably. Uh, my favorite brand was Triple A.

TROLAND: And what is Triple A?

WILEY: Ancient Ancient Age. To me that had such a smooth flavor and taste, and, uh, and they were bottling that when I came here. And, uh, it was just a favorite, but I like Buffalo Trace. I try to keep a bottle of that, and, uh, my mother thought I would be an alcoholic. 00:58:00She didn't want me to start working here, but, uh, I, I didn't have any problem with it and don't to this day. I try not to have any habits that I can't control. So I can, uh, enjoy a drink as often as, you know, whenever I have friends in or--and it doesn't bother me.

TROLAND: So you're confident that had you been accidently locked into the warehouse one night you would not have over-consumed?

WILEY: I don't, I don't know. I probably would have. (laughs) I think 00:59:00there are snakes in that warehouse, and, uh, I'd probably want to drink just to overcome my fear. (laughs)

TROLAND: Some bourbon enthusiasts say that you should always drink your bourbon straight, uh, but I recently learned that Elmer T. Lee himself, uh, likes to take his bourbon with Sprite. So how do you take your bourbon?

WILEY: I always preferred 7-Up. Uh, I, I like that. Um--

TROLAND: Is there anything else that you'd like to say that I haven't asked you?

WILEY: Well, I think you've covered it pretty good. Um, I, I couldn't 01:00:00say enough good things about this distillery. I really couldn't. Um, it was just such a big part of my life for so many years, and my memories are all good. I just maybe cared too much for people really because it, it hurt me so when I had to retire and leave them. But, uh, I enjoy reading about the distillery now and, uh, all the bourbon 01:01:00books. I, of course, know so many people. I enjoy looking at them. I try to keep all the, um, magazines that I can get my hands on of the bourbon industry, and, um, I enjoy seeing Elmer Lee and Harlen.

[End of interview.]