Oral History Interview with Ruby Allen

JOIE CARROLL: Could you tell me a little bit about yourself?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, I was born over in Wofford, Kentucky and I was born over there in 1903, and when I was five years old, I moved into town and went to school when I was five years old. I stayed in that class for two weeks and they moved me into the first grade, so I just caught on quick, I reckon.

JOIE CARROLL: Where were your children born?

RUBY ALLEN: They were born in between Wofford and Watts Creek. And I was married in 1922 and my oldest one was born in 1923, and the next one was born in 1926 and the next one was born in 1928, and the next one was born in 1933, and then the next one was born in 1938. I had a son to die of a brain tumor in 1982.

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

RUBY ALLEN: I was twenty.

JOIE CARROLL: How many children did you have in all?

RUBY ALLEN: I had five.

JOIE CARROLL: Could you describe a typical day for me back then?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, you just fed them and took care of them like they do today, only you just didn't have nothing [anything] to do [it] with, you just made do of [with] what you had. If they got the colic or anything, you gave them a little tea and of course, you nursed your babies, back then you didn't feed them on a bottle, you just nursed them.

JOIE CARROLL: What kind of tea would you give them?

RUBY ALLEN: Catnip tea and I never found out till here lately that catnip tea is highly narcotic (??), you give them about two teaspoons full and they would go right to sleep.

JOIE CARROLL: What did you feed the baby?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, you didn’t feed them anything till you weaned them.

JOIE CARROLL: How old [where they when] did you wean them?

RUBY ALLEN: About a year old, but you didn't feed them anything, you just nursed them.

JOIE CARROLL: Was it very hard for you to wean the baby?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, yes it was hard to wean them, the girl, when I weaned her, they said, “after the signs went to the head, you could wean them.” And I weant [weened] by the signs and it was much easier to wean that baby, I never believed in signs. Well, I thought, “well, I’ll try it.”

JOIE CARROLL: [At] What age did you start feeding them solid foods?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, usually after you weaned them, you would start feeding them mashed potatoes or something like that, something you would—soft [foods] till they got their teeth.

JOIE CARROLL: Did all of yous [you] eat together?

RUBY ALLEN: Yes.

JOIE CARROLL: Were there times when you didn’t have enough food, like during the Depression?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, my daddy had a farm and we [had] more food I guess, than anybody else. We would always have food from the farm, that’s what you eat [ate] back then.

JOIE CARROLL: Before you were, married did you work on the farm?

RUBY ALLEN: Yes.

JOIE CARROLL: Did you depend on a garden?

RUBY ALLEN: Yes.

JOIE CARROLL: Were you babies ever sick?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, of course, they got whooping and things like that because they didn't vaccinate back then. When one took [contracted] the whooping cough, they all took [contracted] it and you just kept them out of school.

JOIE CARROLL: What did you do when they had colds?

RUBY ALLEN: Give them tea, like sage tea and stuff like that.

JOIE CARROLL: Where there doctors?

RUBY ALLEN: You didn't take them to the doctor unless you just had to.

JOIE CARROLL: How many grandchildren do you have?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, I have about fifteen grandchildren and about ten or eleven great-grandchildren.

JOIE CARROLL: Did you babies have colic?

RUBY ALLEN: Oh, I had three that had three months [of] colic, it almost killed me. They would cry and you couldn't do a thing in the world for them, the doctor wouldn't give me anything for them and after three months, they were alright. My milk was strong, and my babies just couldn't stand it and they was [were] so fat, you could barely carry them around. I had three of them, that almost killed me.

JOIE CARROLL: Did they have diarrhea?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, not too much.

JOIE CARROLL: If they did get [it], what would you give them?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, I don't remember.

JOIE CARROLL: Did your kids ever have any accidents?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, just common accidents like kids do.

JOIE CARROLL: Could you tell me a few of your favorite home remedies?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, my daddy always made us sage tea and then he had turpentine and he used that.

JOIE CARROLL: Did any of your children die as infants?

RUBY ALLEN: No.

JOIE CARROLL: How old was your son when he died?

RUBY ALLEN: Forty-four.

JOIE CARROLL: What kind of toys did you[r] kids have to play with?

RUBY ALLEN: They didn’t have much [many] toys back then, they had a few little books that I would read them. I had two 1ittle books when l had three kids, and I would read them 1 little nursery rhymes and they would say, “read it again, mother.” And I would read it again and I would read [it] about three time[s] and if you misquoted a word, they would correct you right quick. I taught my kids to read.

JOIE CARROLL: Did you make the girls dolls?

RUBY ALLEN: Yes, I did and my mother was a seamstress and she made all [of] their clothes and of course, we didn’t have money, so we made them out of old things and after I got [had] a lot of kids, somebody ask[ed] me how did I learn to sew and I said, “if you had five kids and look at their face[s] and they was [were] hungry, you’ll do a lot of things.” So, I did a lot of sewing, I still sew.

JOIE CARROLL: How did you play with the children?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, the first one was hard, you had to entertain it and after the

next one came along, they entertained each other. On a farm, you can always find thing[s] to do and play.

JOIE CARROLL: How would make a doll or a rattle?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, we never made any rattlers or anything, we would make little dolls out of cloth, but they didn’t have a lot of toys back then now like they do now.

JOIE CARROLL: Did you use cloth diapers?

RUBY ALLEN: We had to use diapers back then that you had to wash, because they didn’t have pampers.

JOIE CARROLL: Did you have a playpen, walker, or anything like that?

RUBY ALLEN: No, I had a highchair, my grandma brought me a highchair when I was eight months old, and we just passed it down.

JOIE CARROLL: Did you have trouble like getting them to take naps during the day?

RUBY ALLEN: No—well, the ones that had the colic didn't sleep much but.

JOIE CARROLL: Did you have anyone to help you with the babies?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, [I] had my mother.

JOIE CARROLL: Did you[r] husband help you?

RUBY ALLEN: Well, [the] husband wasn't suppose[d] to do much, back then, the husband went along first and you would tag along carrying a baby, because it wasn’t fashionable for them to carry them back then I—like it [is] now, they all take a hand in [it].