Archive Record
Metadata
Accession number |
2003.028 |
Catalog Number |
2003.028.001A |
Object Name |
Transcript |
Date |
12 Jun 2003 |
Title |
Oral History interview with Joyce Knowles Skaggs and husband, Jim Skaggs |
Scope & Content |
Transcription of an oral history interview with Joyce Knowles Skaggs, daughter of Joe M. and Irma Jones "Peaches" Knowles, and her husband, Jim Skaggs. Interview with Joyce Knowles Skaggs and her husband, Jim Skaggs June 12, 2003 by Nita Cole, Archivist Born in Texas, Mrs. Skaggs moved to Bossier City with her family in 1942. She attended Bossier Elementary and the Bossier High, where she was the librarian for four years. She graduated in 1948. Her parents were Joe M. and Irma Jones "Peaches" Knowles. They had another daughter, named Lucille and two sons, Joe, Jr. and Reginald. Both boys served in the South Pacific during World War II. They used to get letters from the servicemen called, "V-mail" which was a reduced copy of the original letter, which had been censored by the Army. Mrs. Knowles was a two star mother, and she had a lapel pin and banner to hang in the window indicating that she had two sons in the service. Also during the war they invited servicemen from Barksdale over for Sunday dinner, to share with the family. Her father built their home of concrete in 1946 on Northside Drive with the help of family and friends. Right after the end of the war, Mr. Knowles got a job as a printer with the Washington Youree Hotel in Shreveport, where he worked until the hotel was sold. He then moved the press to his home where he worked as a commercial printer until 1995. Mrs. Knowles was a housewife and spent her time visiting with neighbors, sewing, crocheting and cooking. She could copy "store bought" clothes with newspaper patterns. Mr. Knowles made quilting frames and they would set them up in the bedroom where friends would come to visit and quilt. In recognition of their 70th wedding anniversary, Rick Rowe named the Knowles as "Sweethearts of the Year" on his TV program in 1990. Mr. Skaggs graduated from Rodessa High School in January 1948 and moved to Bossier City with his parents. His father was a roughneck and followed the oil business. He worked for a wildcatter named Boss West. They lived on Patton Street, in Bossier City and he built a wood frame house. Mr. Skaggs went to work for Commercial Bank in Shreveport and then met Joyce in 1949 and they married in 1950. It is ironic that at one time,Mr. Knowles was the bookkeeper for Boss West and they were acquainted. Mr. Skaggs' brother, Walter, Jr., owned a café called the Little Banker, which was located between First National Bank of Bossier and Bossier Bank. Mr. Skaggs tells a story about how the patrons and waitresses loved to hear country music and especially, Elvis in 1954. Interview with Joyce Knowles Skaggs and her husband, Jim Skaggs June 12, 2003 [Mrs. Cole]:Mrs. Skaggs is going to talk a little bit about her family, who was in Bossier City. So why don't you start off by telling us when and where you were born. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I was born in Beaumont, Texas on March 29, 1932. We lived, I think, there about a month (laughter) and then moved to Bloomburg, Texas when I was about maybe a year old and lived there until I was 12 and then we moved to Bossier City in 1942. So no I wasn't quite 12. But I moved here in the summer of '42. We moved at 635 Benton Road in a duplex apartment and it had indoor plumbing, which I had never had and I thought that was the greatest thing in the world. (laughter) [Mrs. Cole]:So you were in the big city now, huh. (laughter) [Mrs. Skaggs]:I was in the big city. Everything was white and so pretty. It was, to me, the prettiest place I had ever seen. [Mrs. Cole]:Now, was Benton Road paved at that time? [Mrs. Skaggs]:The way I remembered it was. It was paved but they had duplexes and I think there's one still down there of the same type of duplex that we lived in. About where the Civic Center is, there was a sulfur plant, and it was right across the road from where we lived. [Mrs. Cole]:That must have been something. [Mrs. Skaggs]:The smell was not good. (laughter) [Mrs. Cole]:Yes, yes. I can imagine. Now, were you in school at the time? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes. I went to Bossier Elementary. We lived there and then we moved to Trichell Street in Barksdale Annex and then we moved to Hoyer Street in Barksdale Annex and lived there. We went to Barksdale Baptist Church. Then my daddy built the house on Northside Drive. He would have to catch the bus from Barksdale Boulevard and then he would catch it to the railroad track up here on Benton Road and transfer and go up Benton Road and then get off and walk down to where he built the house. He built it himself and he, with the help of my mother and friends and all, every bit of it he built himself. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh my goodness. How long did it take him? Do you remember? [Mrs. Skaggs]:No. But, we moved in in '47. It probably took him about a year… [Mrs. Cole]:Right. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…'cause we moved in I think it was in '47. I celebrated my 16th birthday there. I know that. But I went to Bossier High School and I worked in the library all four years… [Mrs. Cole]:Oh you did! [Mrs. Skaggs]:…I was at Bossier High School. Mrs. Butler was the librarian there and worked with her. I kept in touch with her for years. I would send her Christmas cards and this, that and the other. But time moves on. [Mrs. Cole]:Tell me what you thought of the school. I mean it was a pretty fancy school in 1942. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh I loved the school. Bossier High School, I remember it and oh it was very fancy, yes. It had stairs, it had three levels and oh I loved it. The teachers - I had Miss Montgomery, Miss Ellison, Mrs. Jacks. Mr. Jacks was the principal then. I had Miss McKnight, Mrs. Fitzgerald was the science teacher and it was…I remember going into the auditorium. We would have, they would show movies in the auditorium but they were historical movies is what they were. [Mrs. Cole]:Do you remember any of the ones that you saw? [Mrs. Skaggs]:The one with Tyrone Power and he played, it was about the Mormons. We saw it. I definitely remember it. I can't think of the name of it right now, but it was Tyrone Power in it and he played the… [Mrs. Cole]:Brigham Young. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…Brigham Young. Yes, he played Brigham Young. I know we saw that there. I'm sure we saw others, but right now that's the one that sticks in my mind. [Mrs. Cole]:What was the library like? How big was it? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well, it was, I don't know. I'm not good at sizes. [Mrs. Cole]:Like a classroom size or two classroom sized. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I would say it was two classroom sizes. It had tables with chairs and it was on the side where you could look out. I remember that. I'd say we had lots of books. I can remember getting so excited when we got new books in. (laughing) Ordered the new books and get 'em in. [Mrs. Cole]:How many student workers were there besides you when you were there? [Mrs. Skaggs]:I don't think it was like but like one more. I'm not sure. I really don't remember. [Mrs. Cole]:That's a lot for a high school library. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. But I know I worked all four years. But, of course, I could only work there like one period. Well no, so they must have had, maybe they had one to work every period. Maybe that's what it was. But I know I worked, you know, I would…like instead of study hall, I worked in the library. [Mrs. Cole]:Was it a popular place? Did students use it a lot? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh yes. They did. Of course, I remember the football players being in there and Mrs. Butler having to tell them to be quiet. (laughter) [Mrs. Cole]:They weren't in there studying, were they? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. Right. I don't think that was their reason for being there. (laughter) [Mrs. Cole]:They were there to look at the girls I bet. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Exactly. But the football team, it was very exciting because the football team, the football players and all and going to the football games and that was real exciting to me 'cause I had come from a very small school in Texas to go to a school that large and all. But, no Bossier was a very pleasant experience for me, and all my teachers I liked every one of 'em. They were all real nice, real nice people. [Mrs. Cole]:What were the people like? I mean, you come into a town, you know you kind of moved into a town where everybody had grown up together and you're kind of like an outsider. What was that like? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well, at first well I was always quiet. I liked to read so I would sit and read. But the people were nice and friendly. I mean I met some very nice people and still in contact with some of 'em that I went to high school with. I don't know if you, how long you've been here but Don Millen was the coach at Bossier for a while and he's passed away now. But I stayed in contact with him and his wife all those years. Bobby Ray Halffey, he was a friend of ours. His son, I think, still is a coach at Bossier. We knew him. He was small when our children were small. But no, the people were real nice. [Mrs. Cole]:Did you have a lot of Barksdale people when you were there? I mean, that was after the war wasn't it when you were in high school. [Mrs. Skaggs]:No, it was during the war. (Note: Fall of 1944 to May 1948.) [Mrs. Cole]:During the war. [Mrs. Skaggs]:It was during the war. I don't really remember a lot of Barksdale people being there. No I don't. I really don't. One thing I will tell you that's kind of funny. We talk about it now. Back then, everyone in the south - 99% were Democrats. I can remember that there was an election and one of the boys in my class that he told me his parents were gonna vote Republican. To me, at that time, that was like saying that you're gonna vote Communist. (laughter) You were a traitor, you know, if you were gonna vote Republican. I laughed because now, today, I'm a Republican. (laughter) How times have changed. [Mrs. Cole]:Well during the war, with FDR… [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. [Mrs. Cole]:…I think the whole country was really committed to the Democratic party. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh yes. Everybody, I mean, as I said 99% of the people were behind him. Very definitely they were. [Mrs. Cole]:Tell me about your parent. What were their names? [Mrs. Skaggs]:My father's name was Joe Knowles and that's (spelling K-N-O-W-L-E-S). My mother's name was Irma Knowles, but everyone called her "Peaches." [Mrs. Cole]:What was her maiden name? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Jones. [Mrs. Cole]:Jones. [Mrs. Skaggs]:My father came here in 1941 and he got a job at the Louisiana Shell Ordinance Plant out between here and Minden. He got a job there and he lived on Ogilvie Street with a Mr. and Mrs. Brown. He lived there until, I guess, I'm not sure, the next year to where he could get the money or whatever together where we could move here. Then that summer of '42, he moved mother and children and all here. [Mrs. Cole]:How many children did they have? [Mrs. Skaggs]:I have one sister and she's older than me. Her name is Irma Lucille. She was named after my mother. I have two brothers. My oldest was named after my father. He was Joe M. Knowles, Jr. Then my other brother was Reginald Knowles. My oldest brother had joined the Air Force, actually the Army at that time at Barksdale in '40 I believe, he had joined. So he was already in service. We moved down here as I said in the summer of '42 and my other brother he joined Army then in December. He went to Bossier High for, I guess, from September to December and he joined because he just thought it was the thing to do. [Mrs. Cole]:Right. Right. So you had two brothers in service. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I had two brothers in service and they both served in the South Pacific. The oldest one was a crew chief on a B-29 and the other one was…he just did clerical work. I mean, they both, thankfully, were not in any actual combat. [Mrs. Cole]:Were they gone for the duration? [Mrs. Skaggs]:My younger brother, when he went, he left here and he was gone three years. We never saw him for three years. [Mrs. Cole]:That must have been really hard. [Mrs. Skaggs]:It was. It was very hard on my mother. I can remember mother and daddy…back then everything was rationed. Not everything, but a lot of things were rationed. Sugar was rationed, pineapple was rationed, shoes were rationed, gas was rationed. Mother would save up ration stamps to buy things to send to them. In mailing things, the boxes had to be certain dimensions. So daddy would cut boxes down to where it would exactly fit. I still have memories of them trying to get packages together, you know, to mail. [Mrs. Cole]:What types of things was she sending? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Canned goods, like pineapple. My brother, as we were from Texas, he requested a Texas flag. My father tried to find a, he found a Texas flag and sent it. But I'm not sure. I don't really remember, you know, the other things. But I just know she sent him a lot of packages (laughter) and all. [Mrs. Cole]:And it didn't matter probably just something from home. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. Just something from home. Right. [Mr. Skaggs]:Chocolates. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, chocolates and all. [Mrs. Cole]:I'm amazed that you could send perishable things and that they would still get there. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well one thing, and this is jumping way ahead, but my oldest brother served in Vietnam and I made him some chocolate chip cookies. I was late in sending them and I was late getting them made and everything. I was in Florida and I mailed them and sent them airmail, paid extra you know. It was funny because he later told me that that was the only thing he got on his birthday was my cookies. He got lots of birthday cards and other things from his wife and my mother and all, but they all came early. Mine arrived on his birthday. [Mrs. Cole]:Right in time. (laughter) [Mrs. Skaggs]:I thought it was gonna be late. But my mother and father they built the house on Northside Drive and as I said he built it himself. But I remember sitting and eating and looking across and it was nothing but a cotton patch. We could watch 'em picking cotton over there. I've got pictures some place. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh do you! [Mrs. Skaggs]:Now I don't know where they are. But I have… [Mrs. Cole]:Now I'm gonna be after you now. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…well I have seen pictures. I'm not sure… [Mrs. Cole]:Oh, they'll turn up. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…if I have 'em or whatever. But we have a picture looking out across of them picking cotton. [Mrs. Cole]:If you have a picture of the house, that would be great too. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh yes. I've got a picture of the house. Yes. I've got some pictures of the house. I sure do. It's concrete, but we would sleep on the roof… [Mrs. Cole]:You did! [Mrs. Skaggs]:…flat roof, concrete made out of just nothing but concrete and we would sleep on the roof in the summertime because it was cooler up there. [Mrs. Cole]:I can't imagine it being cooler. (laughter) [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well, we didn't have air conditioning back then, you know, no air conditioning. But, when the war was over with, my father got a job at the Washington Youree Hotel as a printer. There was another man by the name of Mr. Brown who was there. He was in charge, but I don't really know what happened, but it wasn't very long and my father had it by himself. So he did all the printing for the Washington Youree Hotel. [Mrs. Cole]:So he learned it from Mr. Brown then probably. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well, no, he had been in printing in Louisiana… [Mr. Skaggs]:In Texas too, Beaumont. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…and in Texas, yes in Beaumont and in DeRidder, Louisiana. He had done printing back then before he ever came here. So yes, he… [Mrs. Cole]:As a commercial printer or did he work for a newspaper? [Mrs. Skaggs]:He worked for a newspaper and he had his own print shop, but it was during the Depression and he could not make it on his own. So he had to quit and just do whatever he could. My father was a very unusual man. I have always said he could do anything - dig ditches (which he did) built his own house, he worked in a bank (back when they did banking by hand, all the records were kept by hand)… [Mrs. Cole]:Clerical work. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…he kept books, he did people's income taxes. But the whole range, anything from digging ditches to that, he could do it and not only do it but do a good job of it. He was an exceptional man in my opinion and a lot of other people opinions too really. [Mrs. Cole]:Now where was he born? [Mrs. Skaggs]:He was born in Wolfe City, Texas on November 28, 1902…a family of nine. [Mrs. Cole]:How did he get to Louisiana? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well, his father passed away when he was 14 and his older brother was working at a bank, was an officer in the bank in Bloomburg, Texas. So his brother moved his mother and of course, my father was only 14 and the other children moved them to Bloomburg. So they stayed there I'm gonna say about a year. I don't know. But my grandmother did not like it there. She wanted to go back to Wolfe City so she went back to Wolfe City. My father said no he was gonna stay so he stayed there with his brother in Bloomburg. That's where he met my mother. My mother was Irma Jones. The story about that is that they were walking, he and a friend were walking down the street and they saw these two girls across the street. His friend said, "That dark haired blue-eyed girl looks like a peach to me." From that point on, mother was Peaches. (laughter) [Mrs. Cole]:She was Peaches, yes. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Mother was Peaches. All of her grandkids and friends and all called her Peaches. (laughing) [Mrs. Cole]:Now, what did she do? Once you moved here in '42 and besides, I mean you know, she's got two sons. [Mrs. Skaggs]:She was just a housekeeper, just a housekeeper. She was very… [Mr. Skaggs]:Housewife. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…housewife. But she was very neighborly. She was one of these people that knew all of her neighbors, would go over and help 'em. I can remember when we lived over on Hoyer Street in the summertime when I was still at home that we would get up in the mornings and of course have breakfast. Then right after breakfast, she and I would go to a neighbor's house, which was like two or three blocks away and they would sew and talk and do things. I can remember having a book to read and the neighbor would fix lunch for us and we would stay and they would visit and talk and everything. Then after lunch, you know around 2:00 then we would walk home. But, that was just what we did. [Mrs. Cole]:That's what you did. [Mrs. Skaggs]:She really liked all of her neighbors. [Mrs. Cole]:Was she sewing clothes for the family? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh yes. Well, before we moved here, she made my, when we lived in Texas, she made my clothes. I had dresses made out of flour sacks. She made me little underwear, bloomers, bloomers they called them. She made my clothes out of a… [Mrs. Cole]:I would love to see one of those outfits. (laughter) I know they were probably fragile and they didn't last very long. But I would just love to see it. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right, right. But no, mother made me bloomers. [Mrs. Cole]:Did she just make patterns out of her head? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Out of newspaper. I can remember this was when we were living in Bloomburg, but I had a friend that they had money. So, her mother could afford to buy her bought clothes. Well, mother would look at the bought clothes and then she would go and look at the patterns and she would look and everything and then she would come home and…how she did it I don't know. But she would cut a pattern… [Mr. Skaggs]:Out of newspapers. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…out of newspapers and make me clothes and my sisters. How she did it I don't know. But she was a great cook, she sewed, she crocheted. I got things to this day. I've got a beautiful crochet bedspread that she did. I got it and I only use it at Christmastime. I only bring it out on special occasions. [Mr. Skaggs]:Tell her about the quilt. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh, I have got a friendship quilt. Again, this was done in Bloomburg. It was in 1941 - '40 and '41. [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes, '41. [Mrs. Skaggs]:It's got squares and the ladies came and they embroidered their names and their birthday and then the date... [Mrs. Cole]:That they quilted it. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…that they quilted it. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh how fun. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I've got this friendship quilt. [Mrs. Cole]:They did that for your mother? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well, yes they did it. I don't know what probably some of them have some too. I mean, I don't know. [Mrs. Cole]:They probably each did squares for each one. [Mr. Skaggs]:It's probably about 10 or 12 names on there and dates and all. [Mrs. Skaggs]:There's that many or more. But daddy made quilting frames. I can remember as a young child that mother would set the quilting frames up in her bedroom and they would all come (her friends, neighbors, whatever) and they would quilt together. Yes, I remember that. [Mrs. Cole]:You still have that friendship quilt. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I still have the friendship quilt. [Mrs. Cole]:Take some pictures of that. Send us a picture of that. We'd love to have a picture of that. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh ok. Ok. [Mrs. Cole]:I think that would be wonderful. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I sure will. [Mrs. Cole]:'Cause I've heard about them doing quilting but I haven't heard by that specific example where they do their own names and dates of birth. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh yes, their own names. [Mrs. Cole]:I think that's wonderful. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Most of the names on there I know and I remembered the people. But there's two or three on there that I, you know, I didn't know myself. I didn't remember them. But, yes, I still have the friendship quilt. [Mrs. Cole]:How did you get to school? Were you able to walk to school? Was it close by? [Mrs. Skaggs]:No, in Bossier I rode the bus. Yes, I had to take the bus. [Mrs. Cole]:So that meant you probably ate in the cafeteria then. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. [Mrs. Cole]:Did people bring lunches? A lot of people told me they went home for lunch, the ones that lived close to the school. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Close by, yes. I brought lunches sometimes, but I shouldn't even…do you remember what I remember eating a whole lot a lunch? (laughing) I would buy a Powerhouse candy bar and an RC Cola. (laughter) That is not good. [Mrs. Cole]:Well, things haven't changed that much. I think that's what teenagers still eat for lunch. [Mrs. Skaggs]:But I can remember doing that buying a Powerhouse candy bar and drinking an RC Cola. [Mr. Skaggs]:Tell her about working at the bank. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh, working at Bossier Bank. Oh, I told her about working in the library. [Mr. Skaggs]:I'm talking about your first job and whatever. [Mrs. Skaggs]:What? Here? Oh, ok, ok. Yes, I went to work at Woolworth's Dime Store in Shreveport when I was 14. We had a neighbor who (my sister worked there) and this neighbor lived close by and they weren't suppose to hire people until you were 16. [Mrs. Cole]:Right. [Mrs. Skaggs]:But, she knew the family and she knew me and she let me go to work there when I was 14. I would work on Saturdays and then the summers. So, and I graduated, I turned 16 in March and I graduated in May and I went to work there. [Mr. Skaggs]:What year? [Mrs. Skaggs]:'48. [Mrs. Cole]:'48. Where did you work and Woolworth's? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well, all around. [Mrs. Cole]:All over. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I worked in the ribbon counter and I worked in the book counter. I loved the book counter 'cause I could sit back there and read books. But, I remember they had records and I can remember listening to the records, you know. I worked behind the candy counter some. I just worked at all the different counters. But it was really nice. Back then they didn't have air conditioning, they had the big ceiling fans, no air conditioning. [Mrs. Cole]:And the wooden floors. [Mrs. Skaggs]:And the wooden floors and the counters were the kind that you went behind; they were enclosed. [Mrs. Cole]:Like glass, yes. [Mrs. Skaggs]:It just had one kind of opening there. [Mrs. Cole]:And you had to get a clerk to go and wait on you. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh yes, oh yes. [Mrs. Cole]:You went and pointed. You want this and you want that. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right, right. That's what you had to do. But, yes, I worked there. But getting back to my father, he worked at the Shell Plant and then he went to work for Washington Youree. He worked there until Washington Youree…oh what I was gonna tell you, when he first started there the print shop was on the top floor and he has told me that he could look out across the river and 'course I don't really think he could. But he said, "I could almost see my house," you know. [Mrs. Cole]:He probably could 'cause it probably wasn't anything between his house and the hotel. (laughter) [Mrs. Skaggs]:Whether he could or not, I'm not sure of that. But he did, he was talking about looking across the river, you know, as seeing Bossier and all. [Mrs. Cole]:What kind of things was, I mean, he printed menus and things, but… [Mrs. Skaggs]:He printed the menus… [Mrs. Cole]:…what else did they print? Their stationery I guess. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…yes, I think they probably, their stationery. [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I just remember the menus and all. [Mrs. Cole]:But he was employed just by the hotel. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Just by the hotel, just by the hotel. Right. They are the ones that paid him and all. Then they sold out to Captain Shreve. It became the Captain Shreve Hotel. I'm not sure at what point, but the printing press was moved to the basement, big difference. All of my children can remember going to the basement and seeing him and he would print little cards with their names on them, you know, and give to 'em and things like that. Again, I do not know what the time, what year it was. But, Captain Shreve there were going to tear it down. So he bought the printing press and had it moved to his backyard on Northside Drive. [Mrs. Cole]:And this is the Chalmers press that you still have. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right, right. I can get you more information as far as the date and all but it…was it 1912 or 1920? Do you remember the printing press? [Mr. Skaggs]:I don't remember. It was more like '12. [Mrs. Skaggs]:But then he started printing, he did wedding invitations, he did stationery, he did all kinds of…I know Days Inn, he printed all of their, whatever they needed. [Mrs. Cole]:So he was a commercial printer. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. He was a commercial printer. He surely was. He did that up until age 93, which was 1995. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh my goodness! [Mrs. Skaggs]:He did that until '95. I mean, he tapered off at the end. [Mrs. Cole]:Right there on Northside Drive. [Mrs. Skaggs]:On Northside Drive. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh my goodness! [Mrs. Skaggs]:He tapered off and he would only print, you know, for a few people. [Mrs. Cole]:He was still running this press then… [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh yes. [Mrs. Cole]:…until recently. [Mrs. Skaggs]:'Till '95, he was still running his press. He certainly was. I'm trying to think. [Mr. Skaggs]:_________________________________________________. [Mrs. Cole]:You can speak up, Mr. Skaggs. (laughter) You don't have to whisper. [Mr. Skaggs]:(laughter) I didn't know. [Mrs. Cole]:Our transcriptionist will be going, "I can't here what he's saying on the tape!" [Mr. Skaggs]:I didn't know. I've been keeping my mouth shut. (laughter) [Mrs. Cole]:No, no, absolutely! Just jump right in! (laughter) [Mrs. Skaggs]:No, I was working at the Woolworth's Dime Store and my mother was very insistent, "You're not going to work at the dime store all your life. You can do better than that." Well, ok, number one - I was offered a scholarship to go to Northwestern to be a librarian. Mrs. Butler really wanted me to take it. I was 16; I was very immature. My parents really did not have much money and I just could not see going to Northwestern. I just couldn't see myself doing that. So, anyway, I ran into this friend of mine on the street and she said, "Why don't you come to Bossier Bank? I think they're hiring there." So I went in and I applied for the job. I talked to a Mrs. Clements. No she wasn't Mrs. Clements, she was Mrs. Bumgardner at that time. [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes, Bumgartner, yes. [Mrs. Skaggs]:She was real nice, you know. She said, "Oh, we've got some people from Bossier." Her son had graduated with me. She said, "We've got some people working here. We might could use you. Give me your phone number and I'll give you a call." Well, she didn't call, didn't call. My mother, being very opinionated, said, "You call her back." So I called her back. She said, "Oh, I forgot! I looked for your phone number and couldn't find it. She said, "Yes, come on in. Come in such and such day." So, 'course I had to ride the bus to get work. I got there (I never will forget it) I walked down the side of the building and again I was scared to death. I walked around like I was suppose to be there at 8:00 or 8:30, whatever the time, and it was about 5 or 10 minutes 'till. I thought, "I don't have to go in yet." So there was a little coffee shop next door. The Little Banker was the name of it. I thought I'll go over there and wait and come back, go right in at 8:30. Just as I was fixing to go, Mrs. Bumgardner came up and she said, "Where are you going?" I said, "But it's not 8:00 yet!" (laughter) [Mr. Skaggs]:8:30. [Mrs. Skaggs]:She said, "You can come to work before that." (laughter) But, that just shows you being young and scared. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh yes, when you don't know what to do when you go in there. [Mrs. Skaggs]:No, no. I went to work there and had very, very pleasant memories because some of the people there, of course, I had went to school with. [Mrs. Cole]:Did you work on the floor? [Mrs. Skaggs]:I was in bookkeeping. I started out in bookkeeping. I went from bookkeeping to proof department from proof department to teller. I worked in all three areas. [Mrs. Cole]:Now, was the building that you were working in, at that time, is that still here that Bossier Banker place? [Mrs. Skaggs]:I think that old building is still there. Isn't it still down there? [Mr. Skaggs]:I think it is still there. [Mrs. Skaggs]:It's not the new building that we're in. But the building, I'm pretty sure, I think it's an insurance…it might be insurance. [Mr. Skaggs]:Right across from that old police station. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes. I don't know exactly. I haven't been down Barksdale Boulevard, down in that area in a while. [Mr. Skaggs]:You worked there how long? [Mrs. Skaggs]:I worked there from '48, we got married in '50 and then I quit in January of '52 and we moved to Dallas and came back. I went back to work there then and worked there for like another year and a half or something like that. I can't remember. [Mrs. Cole]:Now how did you meet? (laughter) Are you from Bossier? [Mr. Skaggs]:No. [Mrs. Cole]:How did you run into her? [Mrs. Skaggs]:How did we meet? (laughter) [Mr. Skaggs]:I'm from Rodessa originally. You know where that is? [Mrs. Cole]:Yes. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I was standing on the street corner with my friend who worked at the bank with me. We worked at the bank together. We had been at her house. She lived over on Timothy Street off of Barksdale Boulevard and we were standing on the street corner waiting on the bus coming to my house. He and his friend, Dwayne Tubbs, drove up and stopped and said, "You wanna ride." (laughter) [Mr. Skaggs]:Dwayne knew both of 'em. I didn't know either one of 'em. [Mrs. Skaggs]:We knew him. We didn't get in the car with somebody we didn't know. We knew Dwayne. [Mr. Skaggs]:So, Bobbie jumped in the front seat with Dwayne and she got in the back seat with me. So the next day they said, she said, "Why didn't you let me up there with Dwayne. I don't even know this guy." (laughter) [Mrs. Skaggs]:I liked Dwayne. (laughter) [Mr. Skaggs]:She liked Dwayne. They end up getting married and we end up getting married. [Mrs. Cole]:Ah, well that's a nice story. [Mrs. Skaggs]:But ours lasted and theirs didn't. We'll be married 53 years in August. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh, that's wonderful. Congratulations. So, what were you doing in Bossier at that time? [Mrs. Skaggs]:He lived in Bossier. [Mr. Skaggs]:I was working at Commercial National Bank in Shreveport. We met in 1949. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, we met in 1949. [Mr. Skaggs]:I took her to a, we had a street dance here in Bossier. We met in the car and then I ask her for a date… [Mrs. Cole]:Then you asked her out. [Mr. Skaggs]:…to the street dance. But the first date we really had was to Louisiana State Fair in October. That was our first real date. I got home and the next morning I got up I said, "Mom, I've met the girl that I'm gonna marry." She said, "You just met that girl. You're not gonna marry that girl." I said, "Yes I am. I know I am." "How do you know?" "I don't know how I know. I just know I am." So, nine months later, we did get married. [Mrs. Cole]:Well, that's great. [Mr. Skaggs]:In August of 1950. [Mrs. Cole]:How many children do you have? [Mrs. Skaggs]:We have three sons. We have 10 grandchildren and 3 great-granddaughters. [Mrs. Cole]:Did y'all stay in Bossier or where did y'all go after that? [Mrs. Skaggs]:No, we lived in Bossier until…well we went to Dallas for what, a year? [Mr. Skaggs]:About a year. [Mrs. Skaggs]:About a year, we went to Dallas. [Mr. Skaggs]:We didn't like Dallas that much. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Didn't like it and came back here and then we moved to Pensacola, Florida in 1955. [Mr. Skaggs]:July of '55. [Mrs. Skaggs]:July of '55 and we've been there ever since. [Mrs. Cole]:You've been in Florida since. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, we've been there ever since. [Mrs. Cole]:Now, tell me about this street fair in Bossier. I hadn't heard of that. [Mr. Skaggs]:It was a street dance. [Mrs. Skaggs]:They had a street dance and it was in front of city hall where the library used to be…I don't know if it's still there or not. But, yes, they just blocked off the street and they had music and bands. [Mrs. Cole]:Did they do it on a regular basis? [Mr. Skaggs]:The way I remember it, yes. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I think they did. I think they did. [Mrs. Cole]:'Cause I've had people tell me there wasn't anything to do in Bossier (laughing) in the 40's and 50's. [Mrs. Skaggs]:We got married in '50 and this was in… [Mrs. Cole]:There was stuff going on then? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, yes. I'm pretty sure it was that year we got married. I'm almost positive it was that year we got married. [Mr. Skaggs]:What the street dance? No, this was in '49. [Mrs. Skaggs]:No, we met "Sug" and Don then. We were married then. [Mr. Skaggs]:We met "Sug" and Don at the street dance. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, but it was after we got married. [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes, that's right. It was in 1950. [Mrs. Skaggs]:It was in '50. I'm almost positive. [Mrs. Cole]:I mean compared to when you were in high school, were there a lot of social activities when you were in high school through the school? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well, the football games on Friday night was very special. No, I didn't go to a lot of parties. They had like when I graduated from elementary school, the parents had to get - 'cause I remember mother on it. They gave us a dance or whatever. Then when we graduated, we went to the (a bunch of us, with our dates and all) Zephyr Room in Pensacola and it was in one of the hotels. It might have been in the Washington Youree, but it was the Zephyr Room. I just remember we went to the Zephyr Room. We thought we were big timing. [Mrs. Cole]:In Shreveport. [Mrs. Skaggs]:In Shreveport. Yes. The only thing in Bossier that I really remember doing a lot was going to the Davis Theater. The Davis Theater was in Bossier on Barksdale Boulevard. We used to go to the show there. [Mrs. Cole]:So that was a hot date. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, oh yes. [Mrs. Cole]:Then after the show, did you go out for a soda, go to the drugstore, go to Fentons? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Ok. There was… [Mr. Skaggs]:Kokomo. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…well no, that came later I think. It was Amber Inn, Rendezvous and there was Harry's Barbecue and it was all on East Texas. [Mr. Skaggs]:East Texas. [Mrs. Skaggs]: 'Course the Amber Inn and the Rendezvous and all, you drove up (it was the old drive inn) and they came out to the car and everything. [Mrs. Cole]:What would you typically get? Coke? Malt? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Coke, and yes. [Mrs. Cole]:Hamburgers? Did you eat hamburgers? [Mrs. Skaggs]:I don't really remember getting hamburgers that much. I think we just get… [Mr. Skaggs]:Coke and crackers. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…coke and crackers. [Mrs. Cole]:Coke and crackers? (laughter) [Mr. Skaggs]:Peanut butter crackers. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well you have to remember, we didn't have much money either. [Mr. Skaggs]:We didn't have much money. [Mrs. Cole]:Peanut butter crackers. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes, yes. [Mrs. Cole]:Ok, well that would be good with a coke. Wouldn't it? [All In Unison]:Yes. [Mrs. Cole]:I interviewed Maude Bryan. I don't know if you knew her. She graduated in '52 I think. She worked at Harry's. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Really? [Mr. Skaggs]:Did she? Harry's BBQ? [Mrs. Cole]:Yes. She, you know, talked about one time when she very first started working there that two men pulled up and they ordered one a chocolate malt and one a strawberry malt. When she went to put the thing on their car, she spilled it all over the two of 'em. (laughter) And she said that was in the summertime all that hot, sticky stuff and she said that Mr. Harry took that out of her paycheck. So she didn't do that again after that. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Now, I went to school with Penny Patterson, his daughter, Harry's daughter, Penny. I went to school with her. [Mrs. Cole]:Yes, in fact, I think I've got it right here. It's that postcard of Harry's Barbecue. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Harry's Barbecue. Yes, oh yes. That's neat. That's neat. [Mr. Skaggs]:Did you ever hear of the Kickapoo? [Mrs. Cole]:I've heard of it. I've heard of it. Did y'all go there quite a bit? [Mrs. Skaggs]: No, not quite a bit. [Mrs. Cole]:No. [Mrs. Skaggs]:But we went there. [Mr. Skaggs]:We went there. [Mrs. Cole]:Was it a good place to go for dinner? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes. A lot of traveling people would stop. [Mr. Skaggs]:A lot of traveling people would stop at Kickapoo. [Mrs. Skaggs]:People would stop at Kickapoos. They sure would. [Mr. Skaggs]:There was 'Lil Abner comic strip and they had Kickapoo in their comic strip. It had what they called Kickapoo's Joy Juice. (laughter) I think he had his Kickapoo Joy Juice on his menu down there. (laughter) [Mrs. Cole]:Well it was quite a place. We have a postcard of that too but I think that's already…it had tourist camps behind it. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, right. [Mrs. Cole]:I mean it wasn't just the restaurant. [Mrs. Skaggs]:People could stop and spend the night. [Mr. Skaggs]:Bossier was at one time was known for what they called the "Bossier Strip." I mean they had night club after night club just one after the other on both sides. [Mrs. Cole]:Now was that there in the early 50's when you were here? [Mrs. Skaggs]:No, well one or two of 'em, one or two of 'em. Not like there was a little bit later on. We were talking coming over here and I don't know if you got anything because I may have it wrong. I was thinking that there was on the corner of Texas and Benton Road, just off a little bit, that there was a Stork Club. Have you heard that? [Mrs. Cole]:Oh yes. Well, we've got a couple of pictures of that. That was a dinner club. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I told him it was a Stork Club. [Mr. Skaggs]:Wasn't it a Stork Club in Shreveport too? [Mrs. Cole]:There was one out here. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, because I knew the man who owned it. I remember he banked with us. [Mrs. Cole]:(laughter) There's my postcard of the Stork Club. [Mrs. Skaggs]:That's it. [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes, that's it. [Mrs. Skaggs]:It surely is. That's it. [Mr. Skaggs]:We had one right next to the bank I worked at in Shreveport. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh yes. Now see I hadn't heard that. [Mrs. Skaggs]:We've been to the Stork Club, we went to the Stork Club. We sure did. [Mrs. Cole]:That was a real hot spot. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh yes. [Mr. Skaggs]:You what, I'm wrong. That was the Glass Slipper. [Mrs. Skaggs]:The Glass Slipper was in Shreveport. [Mr. Skaggs]:That right. I had it mixed up. The Glass Slipper. [Mrs. Cole]:But people would go, I mean, back when people would dance, you know, people don't go out dancing anymore. But back when people would dance, I understand. [Mrs. Skaggs]:We went dancing there. We sure did. [Mr. Skaggs]:We've been there. [Mrs. Skaggs]:We've been dancing there. We sure have. And what was that girl's name? The Cat? [Mr. Skaggs]:Lillie Christine. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Lillie Christine. [Mr. Skaggs]:The Cat Girl. [Mrs. Skaggs]:The Cat Girl. [Mrs. Cole]:Now I hadn't heard that now. [Mrs. Skaggs]:She performed there. [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes, she performed there. I remember. (laughter) [Mrs. Skaggs]:She wasn't really a complete stripper, but she was, for those days, she was pretty good. (laughter) [Mr. Skaggs]:You can say that again. [Mrs. Cole]:It was a show all right. [Mrs. Skaggs]:It was a show. It was a show. [Mrs. Cole]:Now see I've had people say, "oh no" that nothing every happened over there. But I've had other people say, "oh yes." [Mrs. Skaggs]:We went and it did. (laughter) It did. [Mr. Skaggs]:Bossier in the early days was a great place to live, I thought. Being from a small town, Rodessa, it was a big town to me. [Mrs. Skaggs]:But the buses ran every 15 minutes. So, you know, and I think it was, what as it, a dime. Yes, it was a dime to catch the bus. So, there was nothing to it, you know, you just go out there and in just a few minutes the bus would come. And even if you just missed one…like me, I knew, in fact I had dated a bus driver at one time. The bus drivers knew you, you know. It was just real friendly and all. Another thing, going back to World War II, but the postman was the most important person in the world. In the summertime we gave him iced tea to drink. At Christmas we gave him presents because waiting for letters from my brothers, I meant, that postman was a very important part of your life. It really was. [Mr. Skaggs]:We'd get that V-mail they called it. I had two brothers in the service also. They were in Europe, European theater. Half of their letter would be cut out or blacked out. [Mrs. Skaggs]:They censored it. [Mr. Skaggs]:They censored their letters. It was interesting to try to read through what they said, you know. [Mrs. Cole]:Try to figure out what they were doing. [Mr. Skaggs]:They would take photostats of the paper, destroy the paper and we would get what they call v-mail - just a little bitty photostat of the letter. That's what we'd get. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh my goodness. So you didn't even get the original? [Mrs. Skaggs]:No all of 'em. Sometimes you would and sometimes wouldn't. [Mrs. Cole]:I've never heard that before. [Mr. Skaggs]:Matter of fact, we can let you have one of those if you'd like. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh sure! That would be real interesting. [Mr. Skaggs]:I think I've got one of those from my brother we saved. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I think so, yes, I think so. [Mr. Skaggs]:They come in just like they just took a picture of the letter. [Mrs. Cole]:And kept the letter. [Mr. Skaggs]:And cut it way down about 6" from that. [Mrs. Cole]:Imagine how long that must have taken to do everybody's mail. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh I know it. [Mr. Skaggs]:But it's censored. [Mrs. Cole]:Now were your letter censored on the other end? [Mr. Skaggs]:Oh yes. [Mrs. Cole]:Did they say? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, yes, I think so. I'm pretty sure they were. [Mr. Skaggs]:Matter of fact, we've heard this. We didn't use it ourselves, but we've heard that a lot of times you didn't know where they were. Some of 'em rigged up a code. In other words, if they said how is Uncle Charlie (well he don't have a Uncle Charlie) but Uncle Charlie means, I'm in Europe. How is Aunt Sally means I'm in Japan or either the… [Mrs. Skaggs]:South Pacific. [Mr. Skaggs]:…South Pacific area. So they would have codes like that. Well, they wouldn't cut that out because how is Uncle Charlie . . . . So some of 'em knew where they were and some didn't. [Mrs. Cole]:I find in talking to veterans now that they didn't, they were not aware, you know I mean, they knew physically where they were, but they never knew from day to day where they would be. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right, no, no, they didn't. [Mrs. Cole]:So when you were writing a letter, I mean, you'd be sitting there at that particular time and tomorrow you could be in Timbuktu. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Some place else. No I've got several letters from my brother in different places and they are saying you know, one of 'em in particular, "I'm moving, you know, we're moving out." [Mr. Skaggs]:My oldest brother was in the Tank Core and he was North Africa. He fought Rommel, you know, in North Africa. My second oldest brother was in the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. He went in on D-Day. Matter of fact, I just got through visiting him in California. [Mrs. Cole]:Have you been down to the museum in New Orleans? [Mrs. Skaggs]:No we haven't been there yet. [Mrs. Cole]:You need to go. [Mrs. Skaggs]:We're going to. We haven't been yet. [Mr. Skaggs]:No, we have one in Pensacola that's small but we haven't been to New Orleans yet. [Mrs. Cole]:The one in New Orleans is really wonderful. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Is it? We heard it was. [Mrs. Cole]:They've got this huge relief map of the invasion and so if you know what division your brother was in, you can follow exactly what he did. It's a wonderful experience. [Mr. Skaggs]:I know exactly what he was in. [Mrs. Cole]:And just to see it, I mean, you know, it's like a table laid out and to be able to see that in conjunction with everything else. And of course, you read books about you see maps, but they way they've got it presented… [Mrs. Skaggs]:But seeing it… [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes, I'm gonna go down and see that. [Mrs. Cole]:…you will really, really enjoy it. And if your brother ever has a chance to come, it would really mean a lot to him. They've just done a fabulous job for that. [Mr. Skaggs]:That's really good. It was time. [Mrs. Skaggs]:But I had mentioned it the other day, my mother and father in 1990 were celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary. The family got together and we gave 'em a big reception at the Holiday Inn in Bossier. Rick Rowe from KTBS, I believe it was, they were named "Sweethearts of the Year" and they did a TV segment and put it on his broadcast whatever it was. We've got copies of it and it just really it told their story. [Mr. Skaggs]:It was their story. [Mrs. Skaggs]:It told their story as to what it was. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh that's great. [Mrs. Skaggs]:They, by daddy being a printer and mother, one thing you were asking about her, she loved flowers. She loved irises particularly. [Mr. Skaggs]:Her whole back yard was irises. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Her whole back yard was just nothing but irises. She would give more flowers away to people. [Mrs. Cole]:Now, did she belong to the Garden Club? [Mrs. Skaggs]:No, no. She was not a joiner as far as anything like that. She was strictly a homebody yet knew all the neighbors. (laughter) [Mr. Skaggs]:You could join her, but she didn't… (laughter) [Mrs. Cole]:She was the leader and everybody followed her. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. Exactly, exactly that she was. [Mrs. Cole]:Well good for her. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Certainly was. [Mrs. Cole]:Now did any of her children stay? You moved off to Florida. . . [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. My sister lives in Walls, Mississippi. They moved to Vicksburg and lived in Vicksburg for a while and then to Memphis. Now they're, she and her husband are retired and they're in Walls, Mississippi. My older brother, then her, because I'm the baby. He went to school in Oklahoma. He went to Oklahoma, went to Centenary and then he went to Oklahoma University. From there he went to Deer Park, Texas and worked for Shell Oil. He retired from Shell Oil. But he still lives in Deer Park, Texas. My oldest brother stayed in the Air Force and as I said he went to Vietnam and came home and it was never diagnosed but we always felt he got Agent Orange but he was never diagnosed with that. But he had medical problems in his last…I don't know whether it was two years, three years, I'm not sure, but he was in the VA Hospital in Bonham, Texas and he died in 1990 in the VA Hospital there. [Mrs. Cole]:That's a shame. So none of their children stay here, but then they stayed… [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right, they stayed. [Mrs. Cole]:…in Bossier so they must of really loved it. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh they did. They had so many friends here… [Mr. Skaggs]:They loved it. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…so many friends here. They stayed here until 1995 and we had tried, the last five years…to show you what a strong person my mother was, the last five years that she lived here from '90 to '95, she fell twice, broke both hips. She had another surgery after both of those surgeries she had another surgery on her hip. So she had three hip surgeries in five years. She walked with a walker, but she would not give up. She kept walking and of course, we all said that if it hadn't… TAPE SIDE B [Mrs. Skaggs]:…I'm not saying she would have, but she possibly might have. But daddy kept pushing her and the last few years of their life here, they went out to eat everyday. They started out before that after all the kids left home and daddy had a little money, got a little money, you know, together they would go out and eat everyday because mother quit cooking. That's how they met George Dement. He was at Holiday Inn in Bossier and they met him there and became good friends with him and Sunshine (Mrs. Dement). [Mr. Skaggs]:Her daddy wore a coat and tie everyday. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh daddy dressed up everyday. Mother… [Mr. Skaggs]:She dressed up like she was going to church everyday. [Mrs. Skaggs]:My sister owned a dress shop so she gave mother clothes so mother dressed up everyday. But they would eat…one day they would go to Holiday Inn and the next day they'd go to Holiday Inn in Shreveport and the next day they'd go some place else to eat. But of course… [Mr. Skaggs]:Morrison's. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Morrison's. Oh yes. They used to eat at Morrison's. But toward the end they would just go to Luby's and they would go for lunch at Luby's and then they would bring food home and that's what they would eat for supper. [Mrs. Cole]:For supper, right. [Mrs. Skaggs]:They did that. But they had home health care that came out after mother had fallen and broken her hip. The ladies there would help mother. But then in October of '95, daddy had had problems, but neither one of them would go to a doctor unless it was absolutely, positively necessary. We all knew that daddy had an ulcer but it was never diagnosed at that point. But he was in the, they were in Luby's eating lunch and daddy got sick. He asked someone to take him home and they said, "No, we're calling an ambulance." So they called an ambulance and they took him to the hospital and they did emergency surgery that night. From that point on, my sister came in that night to stay with 'em and then I came as soon as I, I was still working. I took my vacation and came. We convinced daddy at that point that daddy - 'cause he was taking care of mother a lot. And I said, "You know, you need help." I said, "We've got three choices - either we can hire someone to come in full-time and live with you and mother, you could go to retirement home or you can come and live with one of us. He said, "I don't want anyone coming in here and living with me." He said, "I'd rather be with y'all. And I said, "Well." He said he wanted to go to Florida. And I said, "Well, we'll work it out." So, what it was, he lived with my sister. They went and lived with my sister for a year in Mississippi and she took care of 'em. And then we added on to our home and they came and lived with us from January of '96 and mother passed away in December of '98. Then daddy passed away in September of 2000. But it was ironic the way that it happened because he had been with us, he went to Texas to be with my brother… [Mr. Skaggs]:It was a couple of weeks. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…and my brother brought him up here to meet my sister and they were going to be together here for a while and he suffered a stroke here in Bossier. So, he died at Lifecare over in Shreveport. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh bless his heart. [Mrs. Skaggs]:He was 97 and mother was 95 when she passed away. But they had a nice, long life and… [Mr. Skaggs]:Married 78 years. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…married 78 years and did everything together. [Mrs. Cole]:Isn't that amazing. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Did everything together. [Mrs. Cole]:Now before she quit cooking, was she a big cook? Did she enjoy doing that? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, oh yes. [Mr. Skaggs]:Oh yes. [Mrs. Skaggs]:She enjoyed cooking. [Mrs. Cole]:What types of things, I mean, since she grew up in Texas, I mean, she wasn't a Louisiana cook. I mean, did she adapt to cooking some things here? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well, we just had what I called plain food. I can remember like on Sundays we would either have chicken (it would be baked chicken) and then you would have dressing with it, you would have the green beans. She used to make macaroni salad. [Mrs. Cole]:Did she make biscuits or cornbread? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Both. Biscuits and cornbread. But also, in her earlier days, she used to make the best yeast rolls. They were absolutely delicious. When we still lived on Hoyer Street, my sister that's 4 ½ years older than me, she was of course older so she was dating you know, and some of the soldiers from the base would come to the house for Sunday dinner. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh yes! [Mrs. Skaggs]:I can remember mother making those rolls and they just loved those rolls that she made. But her specialty was chocolate cake. She made the best chocolate cake and all of her grandchildren just…and someone asked me the other day, "Well did you get her recipe?" I said, "Yes, but it doesn't taste like hers." (laughter) [Mrs. Cole]:She did something she forgot to write down. (laughter) [Mrs. Skaggs]: Right. It was something just a little bit different. [Mr. Skaggs]:Talking about those soldiers, when the war broke out, I was 11 years old. When I turned like 12, they used to have a Camp Polk. They used to have these long, about 10 mile long trucks lined up and they would stop to rest and eat. They always seemed around Rodessa where I lived as a boy. I was red-headed, flaming red hair then. We'd all go up there see the soldiers, you know. They said, "Hey red!" I said, "Yes." They said, "You got a sister?" I said, "Yes." They said, "How old is she?" I said, "Sixteen." They said, "Go get her." So I'd run home. (laughter) I'd run home. I said, "Mama, mama, where's sister?" She said, "She's back there. What you want with her?" I said, "Them soldiers want to see her." Mama said, "You ain't going nowhere." (laughter) She'd tell sister…she wouldn't let sister go up there. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh, I bet not. [Mr. Skaggs]:We'd run back up there. They said, "Where's she at?" I'd say, "Mama wouldn't let her come." (laughter) The would just bust out laughing. I'd holler, "Why didn't mother let her come?" (laughter) But that was during the war. [Mrs. Cole]:Well did you have soldiers over quite frequently during the war? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes. A lot when we lived on Hoyer Street, we did. But now once we moved on Northside, then I guess we were away… [Mrs. Cole]:Further away. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…it was further away and we didn't. But when we lived on Hoyer Street, yes we did. [Mrs. Cole]:I understand that a lot of people did that during the war. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes. Right. [Mrs. Cole]:That's nice. We were giving them kind of a Sunday dinner and that kind of thing. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Surely did. [Mr. Skaggs]:Everybody had, like her mother had, two stars in her window for her two sons. My mother did the same thing. [Mrs. Cole]:Now tell me about were they flags? Were they banners? [Mrs. Skaggs]:It was kind of like a little banner. It was about like this. If your sons were alive, they were red stars. It was red and blue, the banner was. But the stars were red on a blue background. It had a gold tassel and you hung it in the window. If your son had passed away, they were gold stars. [Mr. Skaggs]:If one of 'em got killed, there would be a gold star. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I do not have that banner, but what I do have, I have a little bitty pin, lapel pin, and it's got (it's not diamonds) but it's you know whatever around it and then it's got red around it. The stars are red. I've got two red stars. [Mr. Skaggs]:The stars are red inside. [Mrs. Cole]:For service. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes for service. And I've got mother's pin that she wore. [Mrs. Cole]:That's her pin. [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes, she wore that during the war. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. I still wear it like on Memorial Day and you know, special occasions. [Mrs. Cole]:I wish you'd send us a picture of that too. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Ok. [Mrs. Cole]:Because I, you know, we want to let people know that. We're looking for a banner. We'd love to be able to, but I don't think anybody every kept their banner. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I don't know why. I wondered what happened to hers 'cause she was one that kept everything. But I've never been able to . . . . [Mrs. Cole]:It may have just gotten all ratty looking and you know, they probably weren't very expensive to start off with. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. [Mrs. Cole]:But a picture of her pin, that would be nice. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Ok, yes, sure. I'll be glad too. [Mrs. Cole]:Because that's the first I've heard of somebody saying… [Mrs. Skaggs]:Really? [Mrs. Cole]:I mean I know they had 'em but somebody who actually kept their pin. [Mrs. Skaggs]:No, I've got the pins. [Mr. Skaggs]:She wears it every Memorial Day and holiday. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh that's wonderful. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Fourth of July and everything, I wear it. I sure do. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Tell her a little bit about your daddy. [Mr. Skaggs]:About my daddy? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well, I meant… [Mrs. Cole]:How'd you end up in Shreveport? Did you come on your own to work at the bank? [Mr. Skaggs]:No. I graduated in mid-term of 1948 from Rodessa High School and that was in January. Mother and daddy had already moved to Bossier so I come here to live with them. [Mrs. Cole]:Now why did they move to Bossier? [Mr. Skaggs]:I think daddy got a job with a guy called Boss West. That was his name, Boss. Daddy was an oil field man. He helped bring in the east Texas oil field and north Louisiana oil field. He was called a roughneck in the oil fields and that's all he did. Mother was a housewife. So, we were living in a little trailer on Patton Street in Bossier and daddy was building his house. He built his house out of wood. So we would help him build his house and I went and got a job at the Commercial National Bank in Shreveport and would help the best I could with, you know, daddy when I was off. Then I met Joyce. I met Joyce in '49 and married her in '50 and we decided that we wanted to move elsewhere. [Mrs. Skaggs]:What was so ironic though about us is that after we started dating and all and, you know, found out that my daddy had kept books for Boss West. He was the bookkeeper. His daddy worked in the oil field. [Mr. Skaggs]:So her daddy gave my daddy's checks. [Mrs. Skaggs]:And they knew each other. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh my goodness. [Mr. Skaggs]:They knew each other, but they didn't know… [Mrs. Skaggs]:But at the time we lived in Bloomburg and he lived in Rodessa. (laughing) [Mrs. Cole]:Was Boss West a wildcatter? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes. [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes, he was a wildcatter. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I, well that's not Bossier, but I have got something that daddy gave me of his. I'm trying to think of what it is. It's just a little bitty…I don't know whether it's kind of like a little billfold or what, I don't know. I remember seeing it someplace, but I don't know. Let me ask you this if you would be interested in it. I know the other day…I've got a scrapbook and I don't even know what's in it 'cause I haven't looked at it in so long about when I graduated from Bossier. I know I told you I've got some Bossier Bear Facts. There was a store, Hemingway Johnson's Furniture Store, and they gave all the senior girls a cedar chest… [Mr. Skaggs]:Cedar chest. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh they did. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…that graduated. But, I have got different letters that were sent to me from different places. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh, congratulating you on graduating. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right, right. [Mrs. Cole]:Sure. Oh yes. Oh absolutely. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I didn't know whether… [Mr. Skaggs]:Is that the little cedar chest on there? [Mrs. Skaggs]:No, that's not it. That one tore up. [Mrs. Cole]:It was probably just a little bitty tiny one. [Mrs. Skaggs]:But, what was I gonna say? [Mrs. Cole]:About your scrapbook and the letter that you got when you graduated. [Mr. Skaggs]:Johnson's. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I don't know what I was gonna say, but I've forgotten. It's gone. (laughter) [Mrs. Cole]:You'll read the transcript or the tape and you'll think, "What in the world was I doing?" [Mr. Skaggs]:That's a normal senior moment. (laughter) [Mrs. Skaggs]:Definitely a senior moment. (laughter) Definitely a senior moment. [Mrs. Cole]:I have 'em too. I know exactly what you're talking about. Now anything to do with Bossier. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh, I know what I was going to tell you, no. I got a letter from the phone company. Back then, I'm gonna say and I meant all of the girls who graduated that had good grades were offered a job at the phone company. [Mrs. Cole]:They were. Oh my goodness. [Mrs. Skaggs]:So I had received, they had wanted me to come to work. Well, I was only 16 so when I went down to apply, they said, "Come back when you're 18." Well, by that time I was working in the bank so I didn't go back. But another thing which was so ironic we were married but I had told you about Mrs. Butler wanting me to work in the library. Well the Bossier Library at that time it was not open full-time. It was only open on certain days, certain hours and all. But after I had gone to work at the bank the librarian, whoever was there… [Mrs. Cole]:Mrs. Williams? [Mrs. Skaggs]:I don't know who it was. But she quit or left or whatever. So Mrs. Butler called me and she said, "I put your name in for you to be librarian at the Bossier Library." So they called me and offered me the job. Again, I don't remember the amount, but I was making $100 a month at the bank and whatever they offered me was less than that. So I said, "No thanks." And I've often regretted that in some ways as I thought well if I had stayed with it, you know, I could have. . . . (laughing) But money talks. [Mrs. Cole]:Then it wasn't, I mean, if it's not open everyday, that's not really regular work. (laughter) [Mrs. Skaggs]:It was not a full-time job. [Mrs. Cole]:Back then I think Mrs. Williams is the one who set that up. She was the head of the library but, you know, they were in Benton. They were based in Benton. Mrs. Stevens, I think, was working there in 1950. It was probably right around that time. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Mrs. Butler at the high school was the only one that… [Mrs. Cole]:I don't know who was working the city branch, the Bossier City branch 'cause they were both in Benton. [Mr. Skaggs]:Was Frank Lampkin in school when you were there? [Mrs. Skaggs]:No, no. Elsie Jane married him. Oh he was a teacher. Frank was a teacher and Elsie Jane was a… [Mr. Skaggs]:Frank was a teacher. Yes, Elsie Jane Teague. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well, yes. They divorced later, though. [Mrs. Cole]:Tooter's sister. [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes, Tooter's sister. [Mrs. Cole]:Yes 'cause Mrs. Bryan told me she graduated with Tooter. [Mrs. Skaggs]:With Tooter, yes, yes, Elsie Jane. [Mr. Skaggs]:They got a street named Elsie Jane over here. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh yes. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes. [Mr. Skaggs]:Named after Elsie Jane. [Mrs. Cole]:Yes. I didn't realize that. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Frank was the, he was a teacher and she was a student and they wind up and got married. (laughing) But they later divorced. [Mr. Skaggs]:Tooter was on the Kitty Hawk. [Mrs. Cole]:Yes, we've had inquiries from the Naval Historian for him because of his, you know, involvement with the Top Gun School. In fact, the Naval Historian has written several books about the Top Gun School and they called me wanting to know kind of information we had on him. I said, "Nothing." (laughing) [Mr. Skaggs]:We have a grandson right now that's a senior at the Naval Academy. He plays football at the Naval Academy. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh that's wonderful. [Mrs. Skaggs]:He's the punter. [Mr. Skaggs]:He's the Navy punter. [Mrs. Cole]:Oh that's wonderful. That's great. I know you're real proud of 'em. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh yes. [Mr. Skaggs]:I remember when the Kitty Hawk was supposed to be stationed in Pensacola and I could not wait for the Kitty Hawk to get there because I knew Tooter was top man on the ship. I don't know what his rank was but… [Mrs. Cole]:He was commander I think. [Mr. Skaggs]:It got put back and we got another ship. It made me so mad. [Mrs. Cole]:Well somebody, I think it was Billy Davidson, I don't know if you remember him. He graduated in '42 so that was before your time. But he got to go on the Kitty Hawk. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh really? [Mr. Skaggs]:Oh he did? [Mrs. Cole]:Oh yes. So he was all thrilled. He was a football player. He was the quarterback of the '42 team. [Mr. Skaggs]:Oh he was. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh yes. [Mrs. Cole]:That was the undefeated team in 50 years. [Mr. Skaggs]:It was 1950, that's the year I remember in Bossier most of all. Don Millen and Tony Montalbano and I can't remember all their names now, but that was quite a team. [Mrs. Cole]:And the band [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh the band. [Mr. Skaggs]:Well that band… [Mrs. Skaggs]:Mr. Ramsey, he had a great band. [Mrs. Cole]:Was '47 the first year that they were national champions? [Mrs. Skaggs]:I don't know. [Mr. Skaggs]:The band you mean. [Mrs. Skaggs]:The band. [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes, I think so. [Mrs. Cole]:I know it was right around that time. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh the bands were, they were good. [Mr. Skaggs]:That drum major they had, what was her name? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Quincy. [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes, Quincy Ray Adams, no Quincy Ray Lincecom. Well she was really something. She was good. [Mrs. Skaggs]:She was a good drum major. [Mr. Skaggs]:Her daddy was police chief, wasn't he? [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, her daddy was police chief. Did you know about Billie Jean Jones? [Mrs. Cole]:No. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Her daddy was…I don't know whether he was police chief or just on the police force here in Bossier. This was in the early '50's and she was Hank Williams' second wife. The story - I was working in the bank and she came into the bank one time. [Mr. Skaggs]:This was when they were dating. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, this was when they were going together. She had this letter in here hand and she was standing there reading it and in front of me she tore two or three pieces and handed it to me and she said something like, "This is from Hank. Will you just throw it away?" And I threw it in the trash and I was thinking why didn't I save it. (laughter) [Mrs. Cole]:Read it at least. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right, right. [Mr. Skaggs]:That was Hank Williams, Sr. [Mrs. Skaggs]:That was Hank Williams, Sr. [Mr. Skaggs]:They got married right after that. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, yes. They got married right after that. [Mrs. Cole]:I heard she was very flamboyant. [Mrs. Skaggs]:She was. She was a character. [Mr. Skaggs]:I sure would like to know what was in that letter (laughter) for her to tear it up. [Mrs. Cole]:She must have been mad at him. [Mrs. Skaggs]:But anyway, but, I don't know. [Mr. Skaggs]:We had Slim Whitman. [Mrs. Skaggs]:He was postman here. [Mr. Skaggs]:He was postman here and he delivered all our mail on Patton Street. Daddy used to sit out and when he'd come and they'd sit and talk. Slim Whitman got famous later. [Mrs. Cole]:It's quite a musical heritage here that is really hard to pin that down. [Mr. Skaggs]:I was real close with David Houston. David Houston, he got big in country music. He's passed away now. I don't know if Slim Whitman is still alive or not. [Mrs. Cole]:Well, Shreveport has at the auditorium they are trying to start something called "Fame (F-A-M-E), which I forget what it stands for. But Tillman Franks is involved in that and he's trying to talk about, he calls this the birthplace of country, real country music. Not the Nashville stuff because he says that's not real country. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right, right. [Mr. Skaggs]:Let me tell you this story. My brother, the one out in California right now, the one that went on Omaha Beach, when he got back from the war, they lived here in Bossier on Whittington Street. They bought the Little Banker, the café that she talked about while ago. Bossier Bank was here, the Little Banker was next to it and the First National Bank of Bossier was next. [Mrs. Skaggs]:It came later. [Mr. Skaggs]:Well, they were right in the center so they called it the Little Banker. He was going on vacation and he wanted somebody to run his (it was in 1954) the café for about a week. I said, "Sure man, no problem." He got two good waitresses and all. So I go in there the first day and all I did was cash register. The music like to drove me nuts. I mean, I mean it liked to killed me. So I called this music guy and said, "Bring me some Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey and Duke Ellington - somebody like that. I said, "This music is killing me over here." So he come out there with all these records. So, the next morning time to go to work, nobody shows up. (laughter) So I called one of the girls, "How come you didn't come to work?" She said, "We quit!" "What do you mean you quit?" She said, "You took them Elvis Presley records out of there." I said, "Who is that?" She said, "You never heard of him?" I said, "I don't know who you are talking about." I said, "If I call the man to get 'em back, will y'all come back to work?" "Yes, we'll come back you get them records." (laughter) So I said, "Come on in then. I won't play no music." So they come in. I called the man. He said, "You want them Elvis Presley back." I said, "Ever who he is, I want him back." (laughter) That was in '54. [Mrs. Cole]:Did you tell your brother about it? [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes. So when he got back, he said, "How did everything go?" I said, "Well, first day both of 'em quit." (laughter) He said, "Why?" I said, "They had the records in there I never heard of before." I heard That's All Right Mama five hundred times that day (laughter) and it liked to drove me nuts. But boy I liked it that next day 'cause them girls worked. But I didn't know how strong this guy was until that time. [Mrs. Cole]:And that's real early. [Mr. Skaggs]:He was at the Hayride then, Louisiana Hayride right down here. [Mrs. Skaggs]:He come for the Hayride. [Mr. Skaggs]:But I had never heard of 'em, you know. People who liked country music had. I mean, he was hot. I found out he was hot. (laughter) Both of 'em quit. [Mrs. Cole]:You know you don't associate him with country music, you know. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. [Mr. Skaggs]:No. [Mrs. Cole]:So I mean really that's his start. [Mrs. Skaggs]:That's where he started. [Mr. Skaggs]:But then I began to listen to the Louisiana Hayride on Saturday nights and when he would come out, I mean they would go nuts like I used to do Frank Sinatra when he would come out. The girls would swoon and fall out and all that kind of stuff. [Mrs. Cole]:He was so good looking. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes. [Mrs. Cole]:He was an attractive boy. [Mr. Skaggs]:Frank Sinatra, his agent, when that first started back during the war, he paid some girls to swoon and to faint and it just caught on throughout the country and that's how that got started. Just a few little girls got paid for that. And then everybody started doing it - all the teenagers and it followed Elvis Presley later with that. [Mrs. Cole]:Just picked up on that. [Mr. Skaggs]:Yes. [Mrs. Cole]:Well there's quite a tradition of country music here and it, I mean it's something that we need to develop and have people be aware of it. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right, right. [Mr. Skaggs]:This is a real interesting area here. There have been some talented people come through here. Got good golfers now - David Toms and Hal Sutton…and then Terry Bradshaw. Terry Bradshaw was here in Shreveport. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I think this is wonderful though that y'all are doing this. I really do, to pass down to future generations. [Mrs. Cole]:Yes, well as I say, if you have pictures of the Little Banker, that would be great because I had not heard about that. [Mr. Skaggs]:I wish I did have a picture of that. My brother might have. [Mrs. Cole]:Maybe your brother might have some. [Mr. Skaggs]:He probably does. [Mrs. Cole]:He must. [Mrs. Skaggs]:We'll ask 'em and see. [Mrs. Cole]:You know we're working toward Bossier City is going to have a centennial in 2007. So we're working toward, you know, course we do it anyway, but you know we're trying to do a push for that. You'd be amazed at how few photos we have of Bossier City. Nobody, people say, "Well, why don't we take pictures of Bossier City?" It's not like Shreveport that has large commercial buildings, you know, and used it for advertising and that kind of thing. Bossier was really kind of a small town. So nobody really took any pictures. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I'm trying to think if I've got any pictures of the bank. I mean, I've got some taken by the side of the bank… [Mrs. Cole]:Even just like on Barksdale Boulevard, or your house. See that's another thing, we just really don't have any pictures of Bossier City. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I've got a picture (I don't know what you can see in it) but I know it's of me. (laughter) It was like for a homecoming parade and I'm riding in a truck with a cow! [Mrs. Cole]:Oh yes! Oh, now see there you go. (laughter) A homecoming parade. We don't have any pictures of that. That would be great. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, yes. So it would have been the '48. [Mr. Skaggs]:I don't think I've seen that one (laughter) you riding with a cow. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Yes, I don't where it is. I have to, you know, have to look. [Mrs. Cole]:Please go rustle them out because really we'll start to fill up those cases that we have out there, you know, we want to start doing that. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Let me see if I understand this correctly. What I send, I meant, I don't know some of the stuff whether you'll be interested in it or not. But like I was telling you if I send you those letters that I got when I graduated, is that something… [Mrs. Cole]:Yes. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…that you would want. [Mrs. Cole]:Yes. Anything that's Bossier Parish specific. [Mrs. Skaggs]:That's Bossier Parish. [Mrs. Cole]:Since you're the city, I mean, Bossier City specific 'cause that's what our mission is, you know, we're strictly to Bossier City. Anything that's not, you know, that's why we have the problem with the Printing Press… [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. I understand. Sure. [Mrs. Cole]:…itself because see we just really don't have the facility for it although I, you know, if there is any possible way…in fact, I have a call in tomorrow to Marty Young at Pioneer Heritage to talk to him about that because… [Mr. Skaggs]:You ever see any of those printing presses in the old movies with the… [Mrs. Cole]:Yes, yes. [Mr. Skaggs]:…that's what he's got. [Mrs. Cole]:With the big wheel on it? [Mrs. Skaggs]:With the big thing is this. [Mr. Skaggs]:It rolled, rolled down. He did everything one at a time, one at a time. [Mrs. Cole]:Right. Handset. [Mr. Skaggs]:He moved right one at a time. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Handset the timer. [Mrs. Cole]:Well see Marty, he's the curator at the Pioneer Heritage Center. We gave you Marguerite Plummer, she's the director there. But Marty, he's, you know, a young guy, just got married and he learned blacksmithing. And so if, you know, if he wants to learn how to be a printer, he would be the one to do it because then they use it for educational programs. That's what they do over there at Pioneer Heritage and we just don't do that. [Mrs. Skaggs]:No, that would be… [Mr. Skaggs]:You ought to see someone like that typeset. [Mrs. Cole]:Yes. [Mr. Skaggs]:They pull 'em out, pull 'em out and set it in there like that, lock it in, you know, like were we could get on the computer and do it in two seconds. They had to pick out each letter and they know right where that letter is. [Mrs. Cole]:And yes can go for it. So does he have all the type too? [Mrs. Skaggs]:He has the type but sad to say… [Mr. Skaggs]:It's all in bad shape right now. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…it's not in good shape. It's not in good shape. [Mr. Skaggs]:Now it could be cleaned up. [Mrs. Cole]:Right. [Mrs. Skaggs]:But yes, the type is all still there. [Mrs. Cole]:'Cause that's the kind of thing, as I say when he does demonstrations for children, you know, he could do their school, you know, and show 'em how to print. I mean, it makes a wonderful educational exhibit. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh definitely. Well I know 'cause daddy used to, like I said, daddy would make our boys cards. [Mr. Skaggs]:He'd make a little name tag, you know, little things like that. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Printing everything like that. [Mrs. Cole]:It's too bad that he's not here 'cause then Marty could talk to him… [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. Right. [Mrs. Cole]:…you know, in person. [Mr. Skaggs]:They might be interested in the write-up they had… [Mrs. Skaggs]:Well, I was going to send that too… [Mr. Skaggs]:…in the paper. [Mrs. Skaggs]:…that was in the paper. Let me ask you this: If I get together a lot of stuff and I don't know when we're going to actually be coming back up this way, if I mail it to and whatever's in there if you don't feel like it's what, you know, you need I meant you would not have to just turn around and mail it back to me. You could just keep it and the next time I come up here I could pick it up. [Mrs. Cole]:That would be easy to do. See my little pile I have over here. (laughing) That's exactly what these piles are over here of things you can see this pile here. This is a scrapbook that I got yesterday from a lady who graduated from Bossier High in 1931. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Really! [Mr. Skaggs]:'31? Is that right? [Mrs. Cole]:And this is hers. I haven't even had a chance to go through it. [Mrs. Skaggs]:To go through it. [Mrs. Cole]:She's 92 years old. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Oh my goodness! [Mrs. Cole]:Her daughter is the one that worked for Harry's and she graduated in '52. Mrs. Bryan moved here in 1924 with her family so she's got her graduation picture, you know, 'cause the yearbook was not published until 1945. [Mrs. Skaggs]:'45? [Mrs. Cole]:So we don't have anything from Bossier High from the '30's. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I've got two or three yearbooks that I have. [Mrs. Cole]:Now we have, I told you I think we have Miss McKnight's collection was from '45 through I think '62. So we don't, you know, after '62, we don't really have, actually '66 is as far as we go. We need to start working on later years. [Mr. Skaggs]:We left here in '55 so she'd have '55 and back. [Mrs. Skaggs]:No, I just got '48. [Mr. Skaggs]:Oh you've got '48. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I think I just got '47 and '48. [Mrs. Cole]:When you graduated. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Right. That's all I've got. Well, I will go back and start going through some of my stuff and see exactly what I have. [Mrs. Cole]:Well great. [Mrs. Skaggs]:But, you know… [Mrs. Cole]:Photos. Call your brother or write to your brother or next time you talk to him. And actually, if you're still in touch with people you went to school with, you know, tell them what we're doing. [Mrs. Skaggs]:Tell them what you're doing. I am. I'm going to. I surely am because I think it's wonderful myself. [Mr. Skaggs]:We'll do what we can. [Mrs. Cole]:Ok. Great. [Mrs. Skaggs]:I know my sister-in-law had said, "Maybe you ought to keep that stuff in the family." I said, "Look, if I keep it in the family, my own family here will have access to it." But that's it. Where if I take it there, my sister's family, my brother's family, anyone else that's interested, if I understand it, can go there. [Mrs. Cole]:Plus they'll split it. That's what tends to happen is we'll 'cause they'll feel like, "Oh I can't take all of this, you know, so you take this part and you take this part. And it doesn't mean anything 'cause it's been displaced. [Mrs. Skaggs]:That's right. [Mr. Skaggs]:That's right, yes. [Mrs. Cole]:And that's what we're trying to keep people to realize we're open seven days a week. We're run by the parish; we're not going anywhere. We do have a vault. In fact, let me turn this off. Thank you both so much for your time. I really enjoyed our conversation and I learned a lot about Bossier City. I look forward to seeing some of your photos and materials. END TAPE |
People |
Christine, Lillie Knowles, Irma Lucille "Peaches" Jones Knowles, Joseph Millard, Sr. Skaggs, Jim Skaggs, Joyce Knowles West, Boss |
Search Terms |
Bossier High School Bossier Strip Davis Theater Food Glass Slipper Club Ko-Ko-Mo Drive In Louisiana Hayride Oil Oral history Quilting Rations Restaurants, Amber Inn Restaurants, Harry's Barbecue Restaurants, Kickapoo Cafe Restaurants, Little Banker Cafe Restaurants, Rendezvous Cafe Restaurants, Stork Supper Club V-Mail World War II World War II Home Front |
Lexicon category |
8: Communication Artifact |
Lexicon sub-category |
Documentary Artifact |
Inventoried date |
2024-04-22 |