Full Text of the Excerpt

CLIFF KUHN:

I've been talking to some people who stayed a long time in one place, and then some other people who moved around from job to job.

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

I've got two sons that have worked in textiles, and if they feel like they're being pushed around, they'll say that's it and walk out. [Laughter]

CLIFF KUHN:

What do you think about that?

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

Well, I don't know. At the time I was working, I felt like I had to work. And another thing that had the advantage of me, I didn't drive at that time, and I just about had to stay where I could get to my work. I've seen the time a lot of times, I'd think, "Oh, I just can't take any more," but I don't know; you cool down. [Laughter]

CLIFF KUHN:

When people started getting cars, did that change where they worked a lot?

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

Yes, that changed it a lot.

CLIFF KUHN:

When did people start to own their own houses?

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

That didn't make a whole lot of difference of where they worked. If they thought they had a better job, they'd drive. I lived way down in Alamance County between Swepsonville and Saxapahaw, and worked over here at Plaid Mill. But at that time, the man that I rode with had a wagon, and he'd haul riders. And I quit one time because I didn't have any way to ride. He quit; he got another job and moved out of town, and I didn't know of anybody else from down that way that drove up here.

CLIFF KUHN:

Did he also work in Plaid Mill?

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

No, he worked at Mayfair, just across the railroad track.

CLIFF KUHN:

How long a ride was that?

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

It must have been ten or twelve miles, anyway, maybe farther than that.

CLIFF KUHN:

He had a car?

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

A wagon. And he had a load of riders.

CLIFF KUHN:

Everybody came from south Alamance to work in Plaid Mill or Mayfair.

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

No, not everybody, but a few did. He picked up riders all along the road. As he came along, he'd pick them up. He had one that lived right below Graham. He had one that lived down just off of Webb Avenue, below Midway. And just scattered around. First one place and then another; he would drive out of his way to pick them up, for a price. He made right much on his riders, as well as his job.

CLIFF KUHN:

What was his name?

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

Howard Porter.

CLIFF KUHN:

Is he still around?

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

No, he passed away fifteen years ago. It's been a long while.

CLIFF KUHN:

When did you work at Plaid Mill?

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

From '35 to '41.

CLIFF KUHN:

Were you still living in the county?

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

Yes.

CLIFF KUHN:

And you rode this man's wagon for most of that time?

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

Most of that time. Part of the time, I rode with a Mr. Farrell. He also had a wagon and a load of riders. He lived at Swepsonville, but he went way down 54.

CLIFF KUHN:

And people came all the way in from the country.

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

Yes.

CLIFF KUHN:

So there wasn't any real difference between working in the city or working in the country.

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

That's right. If you could find somebody that would come by and pick you up.

CLIFF KUHN:

As long as you could find the work.

JOSEPHINE GLENN:

Yes.