Three Books For Your
Holiday Reading

 

by: Bobby McDonald

 

Are you tired of the crowds? Looking for an escape? Trying to find something interesting to read?

Three books that you might consider are listed here, that will surely make you appreciate life in Hopkins County and take you on a trip into the past.

First, Stories of Saltillo is a collection of stories about our own Hopkins County community of Saltillo, and is written by Thomas J. Minter, who was reared in the community. He relates a number of interesting stories of his childhood, growing up in the 1940's. He also provides a unique history of the Saltillo Community and the people and places that formed that section of Hopkins County. You're sure to delight in the descriptions of the traveling movie theater that would come to town, eating sweet potato pie, and the extended stays of family and kin. The book captures life in Hopkins County in a bygone era, that many of us have heard our parents and grandparents talk about, but we've really never understood.

The book is available at the Hopkins County Genealogical Society and is a wonderful read, if you're wanting to know about how your parents and grandparents lived in Hopkins County.

 

 

The second book, The Worst Hard Time, by Timothy Egan, traces life in the Texas, and Oklahoma Panhandles, during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, of the 1930's. The book will give you a "first-hand" account of the Great Depression and the many programs that were implemented to "jump start" the failing economy (some of them ring true to the Government Bail-Outs of today, and some of the same logic is being bantered about the media, for current conditions).

Egan traces the lives of farmers and businessmen in the 1930's and illustrates just what the economic hardships of the times were for citizens like you and I. A time when "Public Works jobs paid $12.00 a week and you were fortunate to get one!" "Between 1930 and 1935, there were over 750,000 bankruptcies or forclosures on farms."

"Hundreds of towns in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma, were threatened of fading off the map, as quickly as they'd been put on it, during the times of plenty in the 1920's."

"Black Sunday, April 14, 1935, was a day to remember, one that anyone alive would never forget, when the sky was blackened with the worst Dust Storm in history!"

"The collapse of a big part of mid-America was at stake and the U.S. Government was forced to buy livestock, pay farmers not to plant crops, and offer soup-lines, to keep the sick populace alive!"

You're certain to have a deeper appreciation for those who survived the Great Depression and the perils that they faced in daily life. And, who knows, you might "pick-up" a tip or two for surviving the economic downturns of today!

 

 

The third book, Feed Sack Fashions and Other Childhood Memories, traces the boyhood memories of Jim S. Powell, in Chandler, Smith County, Texas, as he was reared during the 1940's. Powell, a retired employee with the Brookshire's Grocery Company, takes you on a journey of what it was like to have clothing made from feed sacks, going to town only on Saturday, and the thrill of going to the "picture show!" He traces the importance of family and the regular attendance of church on Sunday. He paints a picture of life in Northeast Texas, that captures the innocence and formation of this region of Texas.

Chandler, much like Sulphur Springs, was a basically rural town, supported by the agricultural pursuits of the farmers who lived in the area, and you can almost smell the chicken frying for Sunday dinner, feel the heat of the kitchen during canning season, and taste the refreshment of a cold coke float at the soda fountain, of the local drugstore. You're certain to find familiarity in Powell's description of small town life in Northeast Texas.

These three books are certain to entertain you and "jog" your memory about stories told in your own family, by your parents and grandparents!

Happy reading!!!

 

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