a tale of tails, tenacity, and tedium, as told by me, usually barefoot and bellowing

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

My Hubby's Town...

Guion, Arkansas was the town where Hubby grew up.  It wasn't the town it used to be but it still had two stores and two sand businesses.  Guion is a sand mining town.
It was quite busy in the early days.  The railroad came through town and it was the only way to travel for many. On the edge of White River, you could drive twelve miles on gravel to reach a main highway. Years later, they had a ferry to cross the river, now they have a bridge.

When the mines opened, payday was on Friday as in most jobs.  Behind the tracks and the depot, many games of craps were played, much liquor drunk and a few brawls broke out every weekend. 

Come Monday morning, for some families, there was nothing left of the paycheck to feed the family.  The wives got together and visited the wife of the owner.  Ms. Mertie, as she was known to every one, solved the problem.  Paydays would now be on Wednesday and since the men had to work on Thursday, there were no drunken games.  This enabled the woman to buy what the family needed before party time behind the box cars.

Payday for the existing mine today is still Wednesday.

15 comments:

John Going Gently said...

where does the name of the town come from?

An English Shepherd said...

What a great story & clever ladies :-)

Country Gal said...

A great piece of history ! leve it to the women to make it work lol ! Have a wonderful eve.

Farm Girl said...

That is great, I love hearing history like that.

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

Yep, leave it to a woman to come up with a perfect solution. What can I say.....we rule!!!! :o)

Have a fantastic evenin' sweetie!

Irene said...

Just think of how irresponsible those men were. It was that way the world over.

Amy Dingmann said...

Now OBVIOUSLY it would be a woman who would solve that problem! HA! I think its funny that payday there is still Wednesday. :)

carolina nana said...

We women can always out smart any man !
Blessings
Marilyn

Tamara said...

Wonderful story! History and Historical are my favorite subjects. I think it's fun looking at old photos of areas and people, gets my imagination going. Thanks!

24 Paws of Love said...

Smart woman!!

Debi said...

Those clever gals! I can just hear that conversation. Wonder what the men thought about that? Good history story.

CiCi said...

Women have had some practical and humane solutions all through history. This is a wonderful post about where your husband lived as a child. I truly enjoy reading stories about when women get together and know who to go to for help with a problem.

Buttons Thoughts said...

Oh I just love history and the way problems were solved. B

LindaG said...

What a great story. Thanks for sharing this with us, Gail.

There is a similar tale of drinking in hubby's family.

Hope you all have a good day!

Far Side of Fifty said...

Great history..I enjoyed it. Women together can change things for the better:)

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