Good Ole Days

Corn Drying

Sent in by: Knapper

One of my favorite memories was when my grandmother would dry corn on the stove. She had this square gray container that was as big as the entire top of the stove. She sat it on top of all the burners and filled it with fresh corn cut off the cob. She would stay up late at night drying load after load of corn.

Exclamations:"Well knock me down and steal muh teeth!"

"Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit."

"Ahm fixin ta do that"  

Threats:"I'll slap you so hard, when you wake up, your clothes will be outta style."

"This'll jar your preserves."

"Don't you be makin' me open a can o' whoop-ass on ya!"  

By: Lee Thatcher

Sarsaparilla, (Smilax Officinalis) whose name is derived from Spanish, meaning Thorny. This thorny vine has been used medicinally since at least the late 1500s. In Roman times, the young shoots were eaten, and the vine worn as garlands by the Bacchus festival partygoers.

Some of its uses included a cure for the common cold, a cure for earaches and deafness, and relief from upset stomach. The common saying in the Old West was that sarsaparilla cured anything but a gunshot wound.

Bettina Pearson came to Cullman County from her graduation at Alabama College in 1941 to teach math at West Point. In those days, teachers taught whatever needed to be taught. She also taught typing, which she had for six weeks in college; history, which was not her favorite subject; algebra, business math and 7th, 8th and 9th grade math. She had a 9th grade homeroom and 7 periods with about 260 students a day.