A Delta Story: The Old Post Office In The Company Store

Story and Photos by Dru Duncan

" The day was dusty hot as Gladys West walked along the gravel road and past her neighbor's homes. She was on her way to the post office inside the company store, only a half mile distance. Most days, she would stop along the way and share gossip with her friends, but today she was to pick up a shipment as soon as possible. The postmaster sent her a message of the arrival earlier that morning. He would be expecting her.

    Gladys entered the company store a bit out of breath. The screen door slammed loudly behind her as she nodded to the clerk and a couple of friends. She headed straight to the post office service window without stopping to exchange conversation with anyone.

   “I'm here to pick up my grandson," she told the postmaster. "His name is David. I believe he came by parcel post.” Mr. Holt looked up over his glasses and shook his head. “Yes, Mrs. Adams. He's right here beside me. Came in on Richardson's route.” 

    Little David was indeed there and had arrived through the post safe and sound. Gladys collected her delivery and headed home, telling the postmaster that her grandson would be returned in a week for shipment back to his parents. The price of stamps was a lot less than a train ticket. . ."

Want to read more?

Go to: 2018 Summer Issue Country Rustic Magazine

There you can download the complete magazine in E-MAGAZINE form.

Note: J. B. Richardson was the first postmaster in Dell, AR. Gladys and David are purely fictional.

Article was dedicated to Marguerite Brownlee, who was postmaster for over forty years and who donated the old Dell Post Office to our historic district.  

Hope you enjoy it!

A Company Store Spring

 *Note: This article was written for the Spring Issue of Coumtry Rustic Magazine in 2018. Parts of it are fiction, but it does present the real workings of a company store. As far as I know, Granddaddy never owned a company store, although he did have farm complexes at each of his farms. The store at the historic district was originally built by Granddaddy for the black community in Dell ca. 1919. The rest of the history is true as it was related to me by Mom in the 1990s. 

Permission to reproduce must be granted by Country Rustic Magazine. Link at the bottom of the page.

Story and Photos by Dru Duncan
In Memory of My Grandparents. . .

On a cool spring morning in 1919, Earl Magers stood on the porch of his newest company store. It had only been three years since he and his wife Alice, along with his two toddler daughters, arrived from Missouri to the newly opened farm land in northeast Arkansas.

  

They came in a Springfield covered wagon, drawn by oxen on roads that were little more than logs and mud. All their possessions were in that wagon. The money from the sale of their forty acre Missouri farm was well-hidden among barrels and house goods. On every side of the corduroy road was cut-over forest land, going for as little as fifty-cents per acre. It was the only land that Earl could afford. They were moving from a place of poverty to a farm of hopes and dreams. To an untrained eye, the land was a big gamble. It was nothing but swamp, filled with stumps left by the out-of-state loggers who came through and cut the vast forests. Only a farmer could see the possibilities beyond the present scenery, but Earl knew it would be choice cotton land one day. The soil was said to be so rich a person could plant a broomstick and it would grow. Now the stumps were cleared and the acres upon acres of swamp drained. The fertile farmland was finally ready for planting. He would rely on tenants to farm his land for many years to come, since he had been able to acquire more acres than he could personally work. Earlier in the year he mapped out the forty-five acre plots. He knew then, as now, that when the weather begins to warm after a long cold winter, the farmers are impatient to get into the fields, to plant the 'White Gold' that we know as Cotton. It wouldn't be long before the season began.

Almost one hundred years later, I stand on the same porch, looking out over farmland as far as the eye can see, just as my Granddaddy did that spring day. I'm anxious to hear the giant tractors arrive to plant this year's cotton crop and to smell the sweetness of the rich Delta soil as the discs break ground. The same excited hopefulness for the coming farm year hangs in the air. Yet, as nostalgic as it is on the old company store porch, it's even more so inside.

If you have never visited an old country store, no words can fully describe how it touches the senses. The well-worn wooden floors creak underfoot. A distinct aroma of a wood stove permeates the building, mingling with the scent of kerosene and leather, produce and fresh meat. Brightly colored cans, boxes and bags line the shelves with coffee, flour, sugar, cornmeal, spices, and tobacco. In the spring, bags and barrels of crop seed line the walls, their burlap and paper bags adding an earthiness to the mix.

Spring is the time of new beginnings for the farmer, and our old company store has seen many seasons come and go. Stories from its past seem to linger in the air. It was here that Granddaddy secured contracts with the tenants to farm his company land. A line of credit was also established so that each one was able to buy seed, hoes and farming supplies, knowing that charges would be settled in the fall when the crops were harvested and sold. Tenants couldn't plant their crops without the credit extended them. By spring, the money made from the previous fall was pretty much spent. They would live on credit until another crop was raised and taken to market.

The wives also appreciated the credit as they shopped for items such as wide-brimmed straw hats, sturdy gloves, and possibly a new, cotton everyday wash dress, since the old ones were faded and full of holes. In general, though, country people bought what they couldn't grow, shoot or make themselves. In buying seeds for the home garden, farmer's wives were particularly frugal. Throughout the growing season of the previous year, the ladies saved and dried as many seeds as possible to plant the next year. Okra, peas, squash, green pepper, tomatoes and watermelon seed were among the home inventory. At the top of their 'buy' lists were the seeds necessary to round out their own garden, seeds such as turnip, mustard and collard greens, celery, green beans, eggplant and hybrid corn. They knew far too well that vegetables would feed and nourish their families cheaply throughout the summer. Canning the extra produce would sustain them through another winter. For the farm wife, home gardens meant survival. The storekeeper knew this. In the spring, eye-catching seed boxes with their bright packets were brought to a prominent place along the aisle to tempt even the most frugal gardener. Seeds attractively packaged stimulated more interest and offered visual hope that this year's garden would be generous in produce. Seed boxes were packed according to regional interests and eye appeal, with much competition among various companies such as the Ferry-Morse Seed Company of California, the Shaker Seed Company of Pleasant Hill, or the W. Atlee Burpee Company of Philadelphia. Although the stores made little profit, the colorful open display drew the eye and imagination beyond the everyday staples.

 

The storekeeper also strategically placed more purchase possibilities among those boxes of seed. Nearby there were the pungent smelling onion sets, seed potatoes, and kitchen herbs in large crates and bins. Bee skeps stacked high were a temptation to spend a few extra dollars, knowing that nothing was better than cotton blossom honey drizzled over hot, buttered biscuits. New and shiny garden tools filled barrels, claiming to make the garden weeding more enjoyable. In the 1920s and on, a visit to Granddaddy's company store was like an adventure. At no other time was the store so well stocked with the promise of a new farming-and gardening-year.

        
Those days are gone, but Granddaddy's old company store remains the heart of our farmstead, now an historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. As in bygone days, the old store displays items appropriate for the seasons of a former time and teaches private tour groups about our Southern cotton culture. The senses are still touched with the lingering sights, sounds, and smells from decades of seasons coming and going. I often wonder what Granddaddy would think if he could see it now. Not only does the family continue to farm his land, but the history of his hard work and diligence has enriched so many others with our Delta history. I'll have to admit that many times, while working in the still, quiet of the store at the end of the day, I feel he is around, smiling and proud that after almost one hundred years, his legacy lives on.

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SEASONED SOUTHERN STYLE: WWII Rationing and Today, Plus Two Economical Cake Recipes

As most of us do each night, I was watching the news updates about this new war we are in--the COVID-19 war. I watched in dismay at the long food lines, empty grocery store shelves, and the hunts for toilet paper. One young man, sitting in his car in line for food over an hour and a half stated that he had $4 in the bank, so it was worth the wait to obtain food for his family. Between the falling stock market and the unemployment, I couldn't help but be struck by the similarities with the Great Depression. In most of our country, food is still available to buy, while some groceries are having a hard time getting shipments into their store in other places. Another thought occurred to me. Will we have to ration food again?

As an experiment, I decided in the fall of 2019 that I would go on a food ration diet, just to experience what it would be like. I was also interested because my health depends on how well I stay away from carbs and too many calories. In actuality I simply returned to the meals of my childhood. I have a cousin who is doing research, partially on our food and how it affects health. He has found that our bodies respond the best to the foods that are grown and prepared in the area in which we live. I found that to be true for myself. I also found that my ration diet was easy, as long as I had fresh vegetables available in the grocery store. What I wasn't prepared for was COVID-19 and the need to stay in for not just weeks but possibly months. My fresh vegetables ran out within ten days. At any given time I have frozen vegetables to fall back on because we live in a food desert as far as clean eating is concerned. My primary source for  grass-fed meat, organic veggies and fruit is an hour away. Even as we tried to shop for a few items locally, I found many parallels to WWII rationing, as some items were not available at all. My ration diet took on a new perspective, as I relied even more on family recipes to get us through and stretch our supply. But, as I have realized before, the recipes and foodways of my Delta family were carry-overs from the Great Depression and WWII rationing. It was a healthy way to eat. It was then and it is now. A healthy immune system is the body's biggest defense against disease.

In the spring of 1942, the Food Rationing Program legislation was passed in the United States. The federal government needed to control the supply and demand in order to prevent shortages and also to curb the purchase of commodities by those who had more money. Government ads, radio shows, posters and pamphlets urgently asked Americans to comply without complaint, for the war effort.

"Rationing regulated the amount of commodities that consumers could obtain. Sugar rationing took effect in May 1943 with the distribution of "Sugar Buying Cards." Registration usually took place in local schools. Each family was asked to send only one member for registration and be prepared to describe all other family members. Coupons were distributed based on family size, and the coupon book allowed the holder to buy a specified amount. Possession of a coupon book did not guarantee that sugar would be available. Americans learned to utilize what they had during rationing time.

While some food items were scarce, others did not require rationing, and Americans adjusted accordingly. "Red Stamp" rationing covered all meats, butter, fat, and oils, and with some exceptions, cheese. Each person was allowed a certain amount of points weekly with expiration dates to consider. "Blue Stamp" rationing covered canned, bottled, frozen fruits and vegetables, plus juices and dry beans, and such processed foods as soups, baby food and ketchup. Ration stamps became a kind of currency with each family being issued a "War Ration Book." Each stamp authorized a purchase of rationed goods in the quantity and time designated, and the book guaranteed each family its fair share of goods made scarce, thanks to the war.

Rationing also was determined by a point system. Some grew weary of trying to figure out what coupon went with which item, or how many points they needed to purchase them, while some coupons did not require points at all."

Life during the war meant daily sacrifice but few complained. They knew the men and women in uniform were making an even bigger one.

Sugar was the first commodity to be rationed, which probably plunged the general population into better health. Over the years, other items were added:

Sugar: May 1942 – 1947
Coffee: November 1942 – July 1943
Processed foods: March 1943- August 1945
Meats, canned fish: March 1943 – November 1945
Cheese, canned milk, fats: March 1943 – November 1945

With the rationing came recipes and tips on how to stretch the budget and the foods available. The government printed a monthly meal-planning guide with recipes and a daily menu. Good Housekeeping printed a special section for rationed foods in its 1943 cookbook. Numerous national publications also featured articles explaining what rationing meant to America. My collection over the years has included booklets from not only food companies but from appliance purchases and one from an insurance company, free cookbooks filled with ration-oriented recipes. Even Lysol offered a free "Victory Cook Book" of eighty-one recipes with every purchase. Ads in magazines and newspapers often included money and food stamp saving recipes. These types of ad recipes continued on into the 1950s and 60s.

As always, there were those who saw a way to profit from the rationing program. . .

"Then there were the food manufacturers who took advantage of the wartime shortages to flaunt their patriotism to their profit. The familiar blue box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner gained great popularity as a substitute for meat and dairy products. Two boxes required only one rationing coupon, which resulted in 80 million boxes sold in 1943. Food substitutions became evident with real butter being replaced with Oleo margarine. Cottage cheese took on a new significance as a substitute for meat, with sales exploding from 110 million pounds in 1930 to 500 million pounds in 1944."

Three years after rationing began, WWII came to a welcome end, but rationing itself did not end until 1946. My mother continued the techniques and recipes she had learned during the rationing period through her mother and her home economics courses, although she did add back desserts at every meal for her own sweet tooth.  Here are a couple from her booklet collection:

In this war with the COVID-19 virus, I must admit I do feel a bit of the WWII patriotism in providing healthy meals with limited ingredients. We have by no means gone hungry nor unsatisfied, but I do have to say that our waistlines are shrinking and our energy is higher. It has been fun making-do with the food on hand and the few items we found at the grocery.  I have also realized that we take unlimited supplies of groceries for granted. This has been a lesson for us all.

I'm thinking there might be more canning and freezing going on this summer. . .

How about you?

For more on the healthy WWII Ration Diet: CLICK HERE

I'll be back with specifics of the diet and more recipes.

SEASONED SOUTHERN STYLE: War Ration Diet Could Strengthen Immune System

Baker's Cabinet, ca 1900

I have been doing research on WWII and the rationing of foods in the U. S. After looking through the first few books, I realized that my own childhood and the way we ate was, in part, a product of the years of cooking with rations during the war. My mother was raised during this time of rationing, so it was a way of life for her. 

World War II affected how people cooked and ate all across the United States. Cooking for the family meant making do with as few ingredients as you had. Since most mothers had lived through the Great Depression, they knew how to stretch the food they cooked. Many redesigned the recipes from the 1920s and 1930s to fit what groceries were available.  Because of WWII, food rationing was a normal part of life. You couldn't just go to the grocery store and purchase whatever you wanted, even if you had the money. Items such as meats, sugars, and cheese were in rationed supply. This was so that the government could ensure that everyone was getting an equal amount of these items and that things were fair.

Candied Yams and Spinach

Now this isn’t a bad thing at all. In fact, it was noted that children and adults benefited from what is now called the food ration or war ration diet. Most were much healthier and had more energy. Many families continued the diet well into the 1950s, as did mine.

"World War II provided a graphic example of how the ravages of these diseases could be totally halted. Norway was one of several western European nations occupied by Nazi Germany during the conflict between 1939 through 1945.  The Germans removed all animal livestock from these occupied countries. The native population subsisted on whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruit. Almost immediately death from heart attacks and strokes in Norway plummeted. With the cessation of hostilities in 1945 animal products became available as well as an immediate return to the pre-war levels of deaths from these illnesses. It is a powerful lesson in public health about the cause and cure of our most common killer-heart disease." Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn

"But that wouldn't apply to us today. We have different foods now," I've heard others say. Well, I think it should apply. Our "different foods" have caused numerous diseases and 70% of the population is now obese. Besides that, we are in a WAR right this minute. The enemy is COVID 19, and your immune system probably needs a boost. It certainly doesn't need junk food.

Mom's Basic Soup Recipes

Consider the findings of the British historical reality television program made by Wall to Wall in 2001. The 1940s House was about a modern family who tried living as a typical middle-class family in London during the Blitz of World War III for nine weeks. It included rationed food. There are some valuable lessons we can learn from the WWII diet that could help us beat the biggest threats to health today. 

Rosemary Chicken

The Hymers family followed the War Ration restrictions, and meals were prepared from scratch from what we now call clean foods. A 2001 article in THE GUARDIAN made note of some of the surprising changes in the Hymers eating habits. Wendy Moore wrote:

"The proof of the pudding lies in the experience of the Hymers family who volunteered to go back in time and spend nine weeks surviving on austere rations for the series The 1940s House. . . Not only did all the adult Hymers lose weight and show modest health improvements by the end of the experiment but, six months after filming has ended, grandmother Lyn Hymers has stuck with her wartime regime and insists her health has benefited.

'I feel so much better,' says Lyn, 50. 'It really has become a way of life for me.' 

Taking up the wartime challenge was no easy option for the Hymers. The family - Lyn and husband Michael, their daughter, Kirstie, 29, and grandsons Ben, 10 and Thomas, 7- previously ate a typical modern British diet. Their staple fare consisted of ready-made meals, tinned and frozen convenience foods and takeaways. Lyn rarely cooked, had no idea how to bake a cake and enjoyed smoking and drinking. Not surprisingly, both she and Michael, 52, were overweight and unfit.

After nine weeks of spartan rations and, without the benefits of modern time-saving conveniences, heavy physical labour, it is hardly surprising the adult members of the family lost weight. But after just nine weeks, medical tests also showed their cholesterol, blood pressure and body fat levels had fallen moderately and their muscles grown stronger.

Light Jambalaya and Rice

More significantly, despite returning to their 21st-century home comforts, Lyn and Michael have continued their wartime regime, complete with Spam fritters and home-made cooking. While Michael feels more ambivalent about the benefits of his revolutionary lifestyle change, Lyn has now lost more than a stone, feels healthier, fitter and more energetic than ever before and has given up both alcohol and coffee, without the aid of any weight-reduction programme or exercise regime.

Instead of driving to the supermarket for weekly shopping, she now walks daily to her local bakery, grocer's and butcher's shops to buy fresh produce. She no longer buys convenience foods or ready-made meals, but cooks everything from basic ingredients. And while previously she threw away vast quantities of food each week, she now wastes nothing. One day for lunch she may make soup with fresh peas and the following day a broth from leftover pea pods. She is even converted to the delights of Spam, and although she still smokes, she has given up coffee and alcohol because she simply doesn't want them any more.

Grape Nuts Quick Bread

To her amazement, she has not regained the weight lost during the 40s experiment and feels healthier all round. 'I have battled weight all my life with different diets and going to Weight Watchers,' says Lyn. 'But whatever I did, the weight always yo-yoed back to its old level. This time it is just staying off and I am not hungry.'

In addition, she says, her teeth are whiter, her gums no longer bleed, her eyes are no longer bloodshot, she rarely becomes breathless and her skin is as clear as ever, without the aid of expensive creams.

The fact the Hymers lost weight and their short-term health improved confirms nutritionists' faith in the benefits of combining exercise with a diet high in (fresh vegetables and fruit) and low in fat. But more importantly, nutritional experts also argue that a return to aspects of the wartime diet could, for all of us, be the secret to surviving modern-day killers such as cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes."

Creole-Spiced Ham and Beans

Bottom line, if you don't have a good immune system and you're not in good physical shape, you're the one the new COVID 19 is looking for.  Besides washing hands and taking other precautions lined out everywhere in the media, I suggest you also throw away all the "junk" and eat good, healthy, clean food. Make meals with grass-fed meat, organic non-caged eggs, lots of vegetables and fruit, if you can. Start up the soup pot again and/or make bone broth for sipping during the day. Give up anything with high fructose corn syrup drinks and junk food, along with anything that has chemical additives. Read the labels! Think smart! Cook smart! and also Exercise daily. You'll be strengthening yourself and your family against this newest threat to our lives and health. And, you need to start NOW. . .

Grandmother's White House Cookbook

I'll be writing more about the War Ration Diet soon. I have adopted many of the recipes in cookbooks written during WWII into our own meals. Since I've pretty much cooked from scratch for many years, the biggest concession we made while testing the War Ration Diet was smaller portions at meals and no "grazing" in between, a habit we have all gotten into. Finding foods without additives and preservatives has become harder, too. But, it is more than worth it. 

For links to healthy, easy country recipes from my blogs, go to bottom of the page and look under SEASONED SOUTHERN STYLE and WHAT ELSE IS COOKING?

For a quick look at the diet of one British woman who inspired me to try the War Ration diet, go to: THE 1940S EXPERIMENT .

Stay Healthy. . .Stay Safe. . .

 

SEASONED SOUTHERN STYLE: A Christmas Relish

I couldn’t let this Christmas go by without sharing a VERY SIMPLE recipe for Christmas Relish. . .I made it with only a few ingredients from the last of the Summer garden. . .Sweet Red Peppers. . .Green and Hot Peppers. . .Green Tomatoes. . .and Onions. . .

It is true that this type of relish is popular in the South for bean and pea dishes. . .and it is much like the Two ChowChow Recipes  I shared several years ago. . .but there are some differences in it that makes it a wonderful topping for other dishes. . .It’s chunky. . .It has less spices so the flavors of the vegetables come through. . .There’s less sugar. . .It’s less processed, making it taste like freshly made. . .and It’s more festive. . .

It may be impossible to find green tomatoes now in your area. . .So, mark this recipe and keep it in mind for next year. . .It’s the type relish that can be served fresh or canned. . .You can begin to enjoy it in the Summer and carry it through the Winter. . .If you have any left, that is. . .

 

 Christmas Relish

Cut into chunks 2 quarts (8 cups) Green Tomatoes. Combine with ½ cup (canning) Salt. Cover for 24 hours, then drain liquid off. 

Chop and add 1 Green Pepper, 2 Red Peppers, 2 “Hot” Peppers, 1 Onion. Add in ½ - ¾ cup Sugar (I used Cane Sugar). Mix well and let stand.

In an enameled or steel pot, heat to boiling 1 cup White Vinegar, 1 teaspoon Cinnamon, 1-2 tablespoons Mustard Seed, ½ -1 teaspoon Pepper. Add Tomato Mixture and bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Pour into sterile jars and seal or refrigerate for several months. 

Makes 4 pints.

We’ll be celebrating Christmas Day with a Creole Christmas dinner. . .and this special Relish will be amazing on the Smoked Turkey and Sausage Jambalaya. . .I’ve already opened one jar and taste-tested it. . .Wonderful. . .