Oral History Interview with Loraine Kelley

CROLEY: When was your first baby born?

KELLEY: October 20, 1937

CROLEY: How many children did you have?

KELLEY: Eight.

CROLEY: How old was [were] you when you had your first baby?

KELLEY: Seventeen.

CROLEY: Have you always lived close to this community?

KELLEY: We 1ived in Harlan County and we moved back down here--we had three children in Harlan County before we moved back down in here.

CROLEY: Whenever you first had yours, what did you do when you first got up?

KELLEY: Washing, housecleaning, cooking.

CROLEY: How did you feed the baby, did you breastfeed or bottle feed?

KELLEY: Breastfed them.

CROLEY: How old was [were] they when you weaned them?

KELLEY: About twelve months old.

CROLEY: Whenever you first started feeding them off the table, how old was [were] they?

KELLEY: I really don't remember.

CROLEY: How did you go about weaning them?

KELLEY: I had a pretty good thing on weaning the children there was and [an] old women [woman] and she told me said, “when you get ready to wean your baby, wean when the signs are in the knees,” said, “you take [them] out on the porch if it’s pretty then put its feet toward the rising of the sun and let it nurse all it wants then set it down and let it go and I never did have

No [any] trouble with her.

CROLEY: Did your kids have a favorite thing that they liked?

KELLEY: Most of my children would eat anything since they got older, some of them wouldn’t eat certain things, but when they were little, they ate [just] about anything.

CROLEY: Did you fix cakes for them?

KELLEY: Yeah, I used to make my own cakes.

CROLEY: Was there a certain time that yous [you’d] all sat down an[d] eat together?

KELLEY: Yeah, we all eat together--about all the time we would eat together. Sometime[s] the children would snack, you know, when they got bigger between meals and go and get stuff to eat, but we always waited for him to come in from work and come home to eat.

CROLEY: Did any of your kids have any real[ly] bad illnesses?

KELLEY: I think they had everything that comed [came] around then, they had the measles, chickenpox, and they had whooping cough. they had everything that comed [came] around.

CROLEY: They never had typhoid or anything like that?

KELLEY: No.

CROLEY: What about broken bones?

KELLEY: Only one had a broken bone and he was older--he was out playing basketball.

CROLEY: Was there a doctor you took them to?

KELLEY: We had a camp doctor--we had the doctor in the mining camp--see we lived there seven long years before we ever moved out--we had a regular camp doctor that comed [came] to see the children.

CROLEY: What about home remedies?

KELLEY: I never really used any--I would always call the doctor he said, “there ain’t [isn’t] a thing wrong with this baby, it’s only got the croup.”

CROLEY: Did you go to the hospital to have your babies?

KELLEY: Never went to doctor till the last one--had them everyone [every one of them] at home. I said, “boy if I would of known this--I would of had them everyone [every one of them] at the hospital.”

CROLEY: Did you have a hard time having your babies?

KELLEY: The first one I had a hard time and the next to the last one I had a hard time, but the other ones I didn't have that hard of a time.

CROLEY: Did you ever have any trouble with diaper rash?

KELLEY: Not too much, sometimes they would get a little raw and things like that, but I would grease them with Vaseline or something like that and always kept them dry too--you know, you[‘ve] got to watch them. I got up in the night and kept my babies dry, I can't stand for them to lay in the bed wet.

CROLEY: Did you ever use any catnip tea?

KELLEY: Yes, we used catnip tea when they were little to break the hives out, [a] lot of the doctors say that babies don't have hives.

CROLEY: Do you Know what caused you[r] little girl to die?

KELLEY: Bronchial Pneumonia.

CROLEY: What about the twins?

KELLEY: I miscarriged [miscarried] the twins, I don't know what happened that night, it was in the middle of the night.

CROLEY: Whenever they were little, did you make them toys to play with?

KELLEY: Yeah, I made little things for them to play with, I made their clothes too. I made their gowns and everything.

CROLEY: What did you make them out of?

KELLEY: I ordered some outing stuff, and I made their clothes out of that.

CROLEY: Whenever they were little, did you sing to them?

KELLEY: Yes.

CROLEY: Can you remember any of the songs you sang to them?

KELLEY: I would sing songs right out of the song books that I knew were hard I would just sit and sing but rock-a-bye-baby and things like that.

CROLEY: Did you read to them whenever they were little?

KELLEY: Yes.

CROLEY: About how old was [were] they when you started reading to them?

KELLEY: Well, big enough to play with books and things, you know--and I would read to them while they were playing with them. I guess around three or four years old.

CROLEY: Did you use Birdseye diapers?

KELLEY: Yes.

CROLEY: Did you have any baby beds for your kids?

KELLEY: Never [did] have any baby beds with any kids of mine except the last one and his brother was working in Ohio at a furniture company and he bought his brother a baby bed and high chair and a layette set and everything before he was born.

CROLEY: How did you potty train your kids?

KELLEY: I would teach them to pull their panties down, I put panties on at first to start them and teach them how to pull them down and everything. We had to go outside, we didn't have no [any] potty chair[s] then.

CROLEY: How old was [were] they when you started teaching them?

KELLEY: Well, I really don't know.

CROLEY: Did they have a certain time for naps?

KELLEY: I give [gave] them naps every day; I would make them take naps till they were six years old.

CROLEY: Did they have a certain time for naps?

KELLEY: Yeah, about 1:00 or 2:00 in the evening.

CROLEY: Did they have a certain bedtime?

KELLEY: No we generally went to bed early because their dad were--and they had to get up early.