Childhood Memories:
Well, I'm from Alabama and my parents were pretty poor. But I don't remember being unhappy in any way. My friends and I would break sage broom straw (remember the old brooms made from a bundle of straw) into straight pin sizes and 'sew' leaves together. We made skirts, hats, dresses, etc. We took wild berries and stained beautiful rings on our fingers. We played by the creek and stuck our foot in the damp sand, mounding it up and over our foot, then carefully slipping out the foot so the house didn't cave in. These houses were for frogs! We put pebbles and twigs around the house for a gate and other decoration. We were a lil naughty and pulled the 'step-ins' (underwear) down about 2 inches and operated on the other person playing doctor. We even played 'funeral'. I would lie down on edge of porch, my cousins picked their mom's gladioli's and covered me from waist down. They they would 'view' the deceased (me) by going by, talking about how natural she looked, and wailing to high heaven! I was the only one who could keep a straight face with my eyes shut and not laugh as they did this. May sound weird but my mother used to say poor people had poor ways. I guess we kids did for sure, lol! Then there was always making molasses candy for a treat; Mother cooked the molasses til just right and then we floured our hands and pulled and pulled and ate and ate it after rolling the candy in chopped peanuts. We played school on my cousin's steps after regular school. We picked blackberries and watched out for snakes. We made our own paper dolls and clothes from Sears Roebuck catalogs, etc. Lots of fun in the old days using our imagination. No tv, no computers, no record players, just radio.