Bunting, Eva L. (1897-1989) |
Worcester County Library: Local History and Genealogy Collection, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, MD
|
Interviewee: |
Eva L. Bunting (1897-1989) |
| Interviewer: | Bobby Kitchens |
| Date of interview: |
1982 April |
| Length of interview: | 18 minutes and 23 seconds |
| Transcribed by: | Sylvia Hamilton, Worcester County Library |
| Preferred Citation: |
“Name, Oral History Collection, Date of Interview, Worcester County Library, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, Maryland.” |
Topical Terms:
Worcester County (Md.)—History
Worcester County (Md.)—Social life and customs
Worcester County (Md.)—Women’s History
Location Terms:
Berlin (Md.)
Worcester County (Md.)
Interview Begins
INTERVIEWER: What is your complete name? What is your full name?
EVA: Eva Leila Bunting
INTERVIEWER: And your age?
EVA: Eighty-four.
INTERVIEWER: What was your maiden name?
EVA: Evans, Eva L. Evans.
INTERVIEWER: And do you remember your parents’ names?
EVA: George C.W. Evans and Roxy D. Evans
INTERVIEWER: Where would they be from?
EVA: Millville, Delaware.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember your grandparents’ names?
EVA: Let me think, one was James Evans, that was my dad’s father and my mother’s was Parsons.
INTERVIEWER: Ok, when you were a child what kind of chores did you have to do?
EVA: Work on a farm.
INTERVIEWER: What would that be like?
EVA: We’d have cows to milk and things to do in the yard, clean.
INTERVIEWER: Did you have a specific chore between just you or your whole family?
EVA: We worked together.
INTERVIEWER: You worked together? Did you ever have a job outside of home?
EVA: Yeah, I worked at the Acme store.
INTERVIEWER: How long?
EVA: When the war was going on.
INTERVIEWER: What did you do there?
EVA: I was the number 1 man. I took the number 1 place of a man.
INTERVIEWER: Mmmm.
EVA: In Philadelphia.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, Philadelphia?
EVA: Uh-huh.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go to school?
EVA: Did I go to school?
INTERVIEWER: Yeah
EVA: Yes I did.
INTERVIEWER: Where did you go?
EVA: In Delaware.
INTERVIEWER: Where?
EVA: In Millville, Delaware school.
INTERVIEWER: Who were your teachers?
EVA: I don’t know.
INTERVIEWER: How long did you go to school?
EVA: ’Til the school closed, when the school closed then changed into, you know, like Stephen Decatur, all those.
INTERVIEWER: Yeah what grade did you (unintelligible conversation)?
EVA: Eight.
INTERVIEWER: What kind of discipline would be given to someone if they broke a rule or something?
EVA: What?
INTERVIEWER: If somebody got in trouble, what would they do to them?
EVA: I don’t know what you mean by that.
INTERVIEWER: Like if somebody got caught cheating on a test or something, what would happen to them?
*INTERVIEWER: Do you remember what subjects you had?
EVA: Yes, I had reading, spelling, arithmetic, history, and geography.
INTERVIEWER: That’s all?
EVA: Then writing … we had writing (unintelligible conversation).
INTERVIEWER: Where did you go to church at?
EVA: St. George’s, Delaware.
INTERVIEWER: When you were there on a Sunday? How long were you there usually?
EVA: Church? We would go at 9:00 and be home by 12.
INTERVIEWER: Did church have many … ?
EVA: Attendance?
INTERVIEWER: Yeah.
EVA: Very good, yes.
INTERVIEWER: Were there a lot of church picnics? (Unintelligible conversation)
EVA: Yes.
Interviewer: So you?
EVA: Yes, yes, such as Sunday school picnics, yes.
INTERVIEWER: What did you do for fun and recreation when you were younger?
EVA: Anything the rest would do, I would try it (unintelligible) (chuckle).
INTERVIEWER: What kind of games would you play?
EVA: That I would be afraid to say ’cause we played so many.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever try ice skating?
EVA: No, I couldn’t do that.
INTERVIEWER: You didn’t? Did you try?
EVA: I tried it, but I couldn’t do it. I would fall down.
INTERVIEWER: (Chuckle) Yeah, yeah.
EVA: (Chuckle)
INTERVIEWER: Did you go swimming very much?
EVA: No.
INTERVIEWER: (Unintelligible)
EVA: We’d go but I couldn’t do no (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: What about when you would go dating? Where would you go?
EVA: Well, we used to have a theater in Selbyville, which we would go there, and I would go to Ocean City quite a bit.
INTERVIEWER: How many brothers and sisters did you have?
EVA: I had two sisters, no brothers.
INTERVIEWER: What were their names?
EVA: Lily and Mary.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever live by yourself? Support yourself?
EVA: Now, not until now.
INTERVIEWER: Yeah, ok. What were some major events in your community?
EVA: Well, we had (unintelligible conversation) Sunday school classes.
INTERVIEWER: Were there any main attractions in your town?
EVA: Not particularly.
INTERVIEWER: What about special occasions, like were there any special holidays in your town or anything?
EVA: Yes, we had 4th of July, Christmas, Easter.
INTERVIEWER: What if someone got married, was that a big town (unintelligible conversation)?
EVA: Yes, most of the time everyone got married in church.
INTERVIEWER: Can you remember any large businesses?
EVA: Such as what?
INTERVIEWER: Well, like the strawberry industry used to be big. What about anything like that or any large chicken factories or anything?
(Unintelligible conversation)
INTERVIEWER: Can you remember any of them?
EVA: Ok … I’d say no.
INTERVIEWER: You lived in town, right?
EVA: Uh-huh, yes.
INTERVIEWER: Did you travel much in town?
EVA: Not too much. There wasn’t as much going on then as there is now.
INTERVIEWER: When you did travel and why? Was there any special reason? Like to go to the store anything?
EVA: We had to go to market, shopping different ways.
INTERVIEWER: When you had to go to the market, did your whole family go at once or did you go like every day to get what you needed?
EVA: No, we would go maybe just once a week.
INTERVIEWER: Could you remember any (unintelligible conversation), like classes of people, like can you remember any really wealthy families or anything (unintelligible conversation)?
EVA: It was a mix, yes.
INTERVIEWER: It was all mixed. Do you remember the population of the town?
EVA: No, I do not.
INTERVIEWER: What about your law and order? Was it strict or what?
EVA: Fair.
Interviewer: Police and sheriffs, did they have a lot of control?
Eva: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember the horse and carriage?
EVA: Yes, I do, that’s what we drove to church (laughs).
INTERVIEWER: Did you enjoy it?
EVA: Yes, we did, yes.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever ride on train before?
EVA: Yes, I did indeed.
(Unintelligible conversation)
INTERVIEWER: On a train? Did you like train rides?
EVA: No.
INTERVIEWER: You didn’t? What was it like?
EVA: Every (unintelligible conversation) path, that’s what I didn’t like about it.
INTERVIEWER: Was it comfortable (unintelligible conversation) on it?
EVA: Oh yes, very much, yes.
INTERVIEWER: Yeah.
EVA: And we had an eating facility on it.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever ride on a steamboat?
EVA: What does that mean? You mean with an engine?
INTERVIEWER: Yeah.
EVA: Yes I have.
INTERVIEWER: What can you tell me about (unintelligible conversation)?
EVA: We used to go fishing at Chincoteague and many other places.
INTERVIEWER: What was it like on these boats? Did it hold a lot?
EVA: Very convenient.
INTERVIEWER: It was?
EVA: A lot of convenience.
INTERVIEWER: Did they usually have a lot of people when they went?
EVA: Yes, sometimes they would, sometimes there weren’t so many, sometimes there was.
INTERVIEWER: What about your first car?
EVA: It wasn’t a Hudson, but it was one of those that looked like a Hudson.
(Unintelligible conversation)
INTERVIEWER: (Laughs) What was it like?
EVA: It was a (unintelligible) car. It was (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Did it ride nice?
EVA: Yes, very nice. It was a nice big one.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember, when you got married, what your first car was?
EVA: It was a Ford.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember Public Landing?
EVA: Yes. We went there on picnics.
INTERVIEWER: What do you remember about it?
EVA: The last picnic I had, I went down with a group of people and we visited some friends in Snow Hill and we had a wonderful day, a grand picnic, and it was watermelon time.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember the big wooden (unintelligible) board they had there?
EVA: No.
INTERVIEWER: You can’t remember?
EVA: No.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go on Farmer’s Day? It could have be called (unintelligible) Day.
EVA: Well, I don’t quite remember what the day was called. We went on picnics.
INTERVIEWER: Have you heard of a place called Red Hill?
EVA: I’ve heard of it, but I haven’t been there?
INTERVIEWER: You haven’t been there? Do you know anybody that has been?
EVA: No.
INTERVIEWER: Have you ever gone to Assateague?
EVA: Oh yes, many, many times.
INTERVIEWER: Do remember, I believe it was called Scott’s Ocean House. You could eat there.
EVA: Right.
INTERVIEWER: Did you go inside there?
EVA: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: What did you think of it?
EVA: I thought it was nice. It was interesting.
INTERVIEWER: What can you remember the most about Assateague?
EVA: Well, we would see the ponies, that was the most (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Have you ever heard of any superstitions of the Pocomoke River?
EVA: Well, we’ve been on the Pocomoke River on a boat.
INTERVIEWER: Some people say it’s superstitious, have you heard of any of these (unintelligible)?
EVA: No.
INTERVIEWER: You haven’t?
EVA: No, no I didn’t.
INTERVIEWER: Have you ever been, there used to be these shipyards in Pocomoke and Snow Hill. Did you ever go to those?
EVA: No.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever see any ships being built?
EVA: Yes, I’ve seen ships built.
INTERVIEWER: You have? Were they big or what?
EVA: Some were large, some were small.
INTERVIEWER: Before the inlet, were there many ships that came around this area? In the bay? Around?
EVA: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: After the inlet, did the traffic flow pick up or what?
EVA: Slowly.
INTERVIEWER: Slow? Can you remember an animal named Jake in Berlin? It was an alligator.
EVA: No.
INTERVIEWER: You can’t remember that?
EVA: No, I’ve seen alligators because, when we lived in Florida, an alligator came right down the highway right up to my trailer. Oh, a great big one, tall as you, it was as tall as you are long.
INTERVIEWER: What are some superstitions or legends in this area?
EVA: In what way?
INTERVIEWER: Any way.
EVA: I don’t particular know.
INTERVIEWER: Can you remember any storms, snows, or hurricanes?
EVA: We’ve had those.
INTERVIEWER: What ones can you remember the most?
EVA: In 1932.
INTERVIEWER: What did it do?
EVA: It destroyed many, many places.
INTERVIEWER: Is that on (unintelligible)?
EVA: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: What about some large snowstorms?
EVA: Well, yes, I’ve seen several snowstorms, large ones, big ones.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember the dates on those?
EVA: No, I don’t remember those dates.
INTERVIEWER: What kind of music was popular when you were growing up?
EVA: Music?
INTERVIEWER: Yeah.
EVA: I don’t remember.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever learn to play an organ or a piano?
EVA: I tried. I took lessons and played before I got married, but since then I let it go.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go to the fairgrounds around here?
EVA: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: What were the fairgrounds out there that you can remember?
EVA: Sand Landing was one of them. It was a beautiful one. It was in Delaware, in Harrington, different you know.
INTERVIEWER: Can you remember if there were any outbreaks of diseases? Or anything around this area?
EVA: Well, they did have it in smaller children. We had chickenpox, the measles (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: Do you know of a person named (unintelligible) Lewis?
EVA: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: What can you remember about him?
EVA: He was a relative of my husband’s.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go to the circus or anything?
EVA: Yes I have.
INTERVIEWER: Where did you go to?
EVA: Harrington, I’ve been to the Ocean City circus too.
INTERVIEWER: Did they have them around?
EVA: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: Were they traveling circuses?
EVA: Yes they went in groups (unintelligible).
INTERVIEWER: What did they have in them?
EVA: They had wild animals.
INTERVIEWER: Like?
EVA: Elephants.
INTERVIEWER: Elephants? Stuff like that?
EVA: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: What about, did you ever go Ocean City?
EVA: Many times.
INTERVIEWER: When you went to Ocean City, why did you go there?
EVA: Well, we went during the summer for recreation.
INTERVIEWER: For recreation. Did you have any family down there?
EVA: Yes, I have sons living there now.
INTERVIEWER: Can you remember any places of business down there, when Ocean City was first starting.
EVA: Well, when it was first starting, I wouldn’t know any of the owners, but I know several now. McDonald’s, many places like that we go to.
INTERVIEWER: In Ocean City, what type of recreation was there?
EVA: Well, they had playgrounds, but I never was interested much in those.
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember the fish camps? Where the inlet is now?
EVA: Yeah, but I can’t tell you the names.
INTERVIEWER: What can you remember about them?
EVA: Well, you used to go see down where the big fish were hanging.
INTERVIEWER: Yeah. How was transportation to and from Ocean City?
EVA: Well, we had an old car.
INTERVIEWER: Did they have a bridge for just a car.
EVA: No, well, yes, they had a bridge of course.
INTERVIEWER: What about? Did they used to have a train bridge?
EVA: Yes, they did.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever ride across on that?
EVA: No, I never went across on that. I rode the train on the boardwalk, but I never went to Ocean City (unintelligible conversation) it.
End of Interview