Document text
Week Na. grAit
Item No. al /2.
Words 3,000
DUPLICATE Deocuber 12, 1939 .57J4t- Pi- A
MY('
Percent
Received
Aocredited
r Not writc, Fr This Srn,le
FORM A
Circumstances of Intervie-
NAME OF NOPKER Stan !y A. Kula ADIA-7,Sr' 1374-35 Ave,
DATE 1:iv-ember 22, 1939
SUBJECT Folk1T re
1. Name and address of informant Ls. wa1erPinkus, 2710-8 St.
Cplumous, Nebr.
2. Date and time of interviewNov. 20, 1939, 1:00- 4:30 p .m
3. Place of interview 1Whe of in t.erviewor
4. Icamc,- and address of person, if any, who put yo,u in touch with
informant KO One
5. Name and address of person, if any, accompanying you NI One
6. Description of room, house, surrcundins, etc. Vele 'house, is a. five
bunialow, not nioderr, except for ruYnino -ater. It ts
eituFted in 09.e soutla-west corn ,r lir the block., f-4cin4 the
soL;th:, it is painted a cream color, trimmed in &reen.
The room is also pain et a cr am color, it is the kitchen.
A cook stove ofs 7s,d rr desin is here, ti urnitire•is very
coftmon. TAe is a wirf3nw to t'e a-ld one tem wet. On
th.. north iF a pantry arH another little te wash rum
To tie out Is he entrance to tne dinin4. room, which is
located to tt outiwest of the kitcen. Directly o-posite to
i,.nE east, if-. a oedroorl
Triers is a lawn ir fwont yard, with flo-ers an
sAruGe of .J-.ny differentkins. rohe -Al is sandy where it is
di'fic'A't to raise a
in the 1.ear is a frder plot, where is raise the veget-
ables for .t: table. Also a Chicn yard, *her; tlere are
aoout y.) or ,JO Chickens visinle, and a chicken coop is located
at tie far end of tie lot.
DUILICATTI COPY
20R11 C
Text of Intervievr (1`ne,7ited,
oF 7.1-6pTcp Stanley A. "c.u.•L-;
N Verfi.r-r„ ST113,77,crn. II; re,
ZUJIXPES..) TT:e07.1.1.E.:71.,,i;,;r E. Waiter Pi nkue.i.A7,1),- 8 St.
Colunnow, Neer.
Poland, where I was born i!7as a woneerAll place, the land was
fertile, different xinos of wild fruits grew an takine evertning
into consieeration, the ceopl- w,,re happy but for t:)e most nart
very poor.
My -c.rents wefe likewise or. 1-Towever, tf-v see,viee to fine
tr to tell to ie- and 1ui, whi -orkin seeming t at tnev
were contented with havinE enotin to -:at. That w th, first 71r1
ct ilm,00rtant tnin. Act'r tne harvest, tne crop beinz a good
ore, evoryore rer to about Fil%„n or wnistli- there seed
to oe 9 fe lim,1 of sec).rity in toe t:nouit t tAere w'E.nie-ty to
eat
The f., tint y parents live' n -n,a a enla I one, consist in,;,
of 4 or 5 acre.-- about O crs in the Arrlricari iy o r.rasurement.
forms 0- tie overae were larer tlan that, but the folks didn't
try to Pe- j'AC)IN Iw,ch land tney could acquire, they worked ar,1 saved
and enjoyed Yms1vec, wniie raisir, tneir fAily -)f 5.
Sn tlis little far,f1, I w.-. o-rr. We didn't to school. on
account of n ,..reat distance fro'i, 'Iorrie to scnool, ,esides every-
one nad their particular work to do. Tn ople, at that time
Oidn'et think tiat education .,:as of 1 -.eat innortarce, The in
toir INL,s to learn how to work arld -arn alivirbeda')F-e
there would ee a fLii lv of t-leir own to feed. So eecqtion; .wps
vot coridered of it ixportanee, -rhEre wmtd one use it in th7.
rurA. area. Tne thc,.,qt of 4,sin, to to city and beivi.g a business
man, or t.7::ache.r in tn_e 414,ner claces of le:,.rnin 04110b did not
enter the min. The youn :eople were contented ,nere they were.
About the first L in, I the line wo'k, tnat I -as required
to h7 wae to nerd ,,eese. This seemed to m E to lo*: a 7,:-reat responsib-
ility, latter -,,Jew to be quite tireso:,e. Of courc.e tnere was
no use of co-mplainin, necause if one rue, more often than n.7 -t,
iicini was dealt ot and tn w-rk bein done ,ny-ay. Se, it didn't
tke lorv, nd there nr)compimin n.7o-ever, sem=t nes oter
children would come to bipy and te worker rorvA nie an'. surely
softhin went wron,, a lidkins:', w,s giver the dhild for his rot
payinr'attenti7,n to his work. 'Mckiri w€re e-ealt n-Jt often, even
to the 1,-r childen for this
(1)
A I I c. in, was easy to (.:e 11,_ -•ti there, tic people all.. e (1 this
fu of t'oe t for, as they rut it, the ed cat ion of e eh ildren.
Titis was not only a punishment for children, the grownups were
wipe' for different ra ev3 e arn o r when sentence -1 --r)v the court.
I etare e to w-Tk fo-r 1,77 -,u7te
w2r, 1 ,I,r1rpqt.
f t E e, In t R 7 o The be 1 n s.'n'4 11
was token ofl by t- e parents, ,an chri.!•"ren to fin -I work,
which was r-i:t 'ia.rd to do. The o•-• ty •ck 'Fa tic P-11
ont -oay.
wns r•- €:r I1A'ent to ,/i7crik for t'ne lord of d.istricu
ly :Jo, was in th.-. stable.. rre I h. 4-1 to arise very erl and. wash
the cows froo Rea to foot, not only wash 'out scrub as well. They
to he s:botless.Ly clean. After wnI ch they were fe,i and ii ked.
Toe ml lvd .1s/Ft taken to Le city and sold Woe to t le person that
w '_shed a cow and founri to be irty o ..-ewiere by boss. Without
qustior oe would. 9,71.---ninistr F—vere o whiopin;.
T'oe lord, havin„., Vr e eet•abl shrrient and the ‘..,ork, be ing done
2-!ostly o,h-nd, 494 bosses and workers. There was a boss for
the horses, ore [..•:•-r. t,- cattle, oie for toe gardens, or., for the
farm -work, ne f -r to, forest, ore for toe ore ard an etc. There-
ver re as a certa in kin-! of work, tie re a certain oo9e for
LIntphrticul,.ar wor.
The lord h Liee lf id little or none of act.a1 boss in If
o-,ci ar peci orders he would ive tne ad f'..)re..ri give to
orders to tie cc:Fses. The U dEirdii fiy 1 i i I i fe of ea
an vi1tirL. 0- rare -)ccas ions, t. -le lord --out' o Rro.in-3 ond
lo.n.c over the d fferent pl.-irte nis 1,4nd or '..ot barns aild horses
and IIF catU .1-.ind .1, Ii Ke. w-ulrl watch for im and i_vher ie
clo e to T wuLd t to-, riorio ke.t nrir1y fo r tit
purpose. On t et-- occas.1( would ive lne a 1,3 ollar as a present.
lriy boss lab t like tole r t as it --?_s allrigOt lt ci lord he
didn't say inuch. e d id tell r ot to do was sure-
ly a d.-2.11ar ii it f:r me and I tied the lo r-4 with 4., is rihbon every
coa, ce T 1
YOW I don't cnea.n toFR:,. t- at win t'hrous:-h with the cows
t •-os do- h -.d e 1-o reond t're re wh.e re
''re io rt. '7' -orkerF.., b ta un -ork to t3kc care of
the cows. ''.'ne!-e h.,d to -ne three t a cl Ay. work
WaS from eat ly morn to larli, sever d ysweek. Por this work I
rece ived about '-!'•4') or ar.
I stayed i• re an wooked for a o,.fr i o t tor e
I it a ir e 0. mt 9 1 an tic r e o f St nislaus
Wileynt.441 ,wi '!ranti tr marry me. I 151Lice' tii yo r .-;R, and:
f iTove..nber ..2f
I had R little o y ilary, sw tai! '''"9 what fily
band lad we st'Trted out -rorc- n 6 acres of t 1.1 't he received
fro,r, tn. lord. A no,.1s, b•J'it. a c .ronv thin 9 bo.ght
but s,omwoD`.*: alon re I was stort ifl.. o home of :Iv own and
things would f-UreLy. out swell for us. Surely, toe '4,") rk would be
third but wor'r.s. was hard any so to ,t was of no concern, It
would) be n '2 re oif2:-.1..a-r-it to work wito tne yo.) 1 ove.
(2)
namoLind. r:,:ceived Li- f fro'. toe tor.' to do this he
te put ir hie ap-i;li cat i on. It was ,ranted or ay for tois 1. and
(about 6 acres) my 1.unnd ar.reed. to ,,vork e 1or t oree days
;er :eeek for so many yeas. In this time toe could ne paid
for
ThiS "\,E. the: custom In fo land, for a youn,,-; fellow to do if
he ha rio re 5,-.;x‘c..ie e of his own. In to i e way he eventua lyhad a
vto.:1;e ri t ere ',as no inol.-,a to worry about
If t:le o'l.'ner of s,--ch afs-, ad a lo t of -1{. of his own, and
couldn't i;o himeelf, ne woul(7 oave to hire so -e.!.≥nP to in his
p Hoe. If coulin t 1 re anyo o, e had co h is work
and o to he lo rd and fair i 1 1 ai -,--art of' tie reement. what
would happen if oe didn't nv would he hrouaht in court,
cared with tio(, isdea-n-anor Tie son tence obably be,
to :nany stri-:es i This didn't 'ha -pen very often auce
t,Le ncr. ant when toey were supposed to go. s work was olso
fro ri dawn to dusk.
We ,Ne e too poor to ia ye any hr:rsen -v-y work had to
ne iire ne Tb7 en,neo-ne woo had. In return.Via l to ay oack
oy rkir '..,ureives for t.o one to .t d id tie 1.914 in.- or iatever
it h•:.iopened to ne.
Because 1.-d the areernot i to the L rd, we •oad to oe
a, 'Irorkin,„ f r Forieone eise durin_z--, toe ,3ay and toe work in our
far had to oe d erne _mostly at n14.ht
1/any t imes I took ny lit tie baby into toe field with lie and
rot w rk1r, tkir c it as best could. This did not
seL inue Aa1419- becau-e everyone O--4to d^ the same, but now as
one looks oack, it seems al.est impossible.
Once in a whi le to- f toe lord came to see why a certain
lad,- d id riot LeL. rt fo L- I f ne found the 1 ar'.y at hor, cusy
wit a chi1 he would lock the bay r, the house and :1-1,3-ke
to ti e lord as Sqe was fu-ol-.)o F,ed to do This was very
infrequent, but it did n --n ee.
The stoves we aFi were ;al -de of ;,r ick. Af ter these
were pace #pt,. they kept th, houee warm for a long time.
For 'oroa the stove 'as first e not very -hot.
Then to- fire 1:as taken out and tle stove cra.nei. Inot this would
oe put toe 'bread arid o•-ked with.:t any nore fi re. This WetiCita f ire-
opx oven 'Yield about lb 1.•r.e loaves at one time. z'o unless one
had a very v:am ly, the -bsk in.:, was done once every two weeks.
The oreac was dork, beca se the flour was n -t leached and the
.1,illf-tre 'lid not :<TV!IN 1.01V to bleach it. iny times it ,,,as ground
at home
Th e hoe ri11_ was ..Yi;.--4de of two stones. T -,e bottom stone was
round ard the 'larger of the two. The ton one, was the thickest and
the orTy.qler of the two. Both of the stenes were flat. By an
arrangement above these stoner the mill was turned by an. The
flour that was milled in this mill was the- who le -wheat after the
grIn41n, it had to be sieved and re-si eyed to ,,et the bran and
shorts out of it. oIs did a crude job of it o t many UFA -s that
was best that co,;,lh be don- at t ie
This .Lat,
other rai 3 IN 1.
Teere were memy wild fruits and berries of all kinds.
Most of theee could be dried bet a few could be had only in season,
and 'amid not be dried.
There were wild pleas, wild cherrtes, raspberries and various
other fruit. We also ited numerous kinds of Mushrooms. These
were very hardly and picked in quite large quantities. In season
thee. were prepared freee and at other time they wsuld be taken
fre the drysteck.
In a way the pc -pie were raired on a vegetarian diet, meat was
not to be ead very often. A piece of perk was very delicious and
eaten only on special holidays. Net that it was aeainst the law
buL the common people 'mould not fford wuclit delicacies.
Cvleese was also or the diet, a form of cottage cheese. If this
was made correctly, it mede a wholesome tidbit. Very delicious.
Fir the milk Would De allowed ti curdle, care taken enat it would
not become toe eter. Then thc whey would be drained off and the
cheese salted. and pressed. To this mixture would be added some
cream in e daw or two. After a couple of weeks it would be ready
to eat.
The country in thf: early spring was a eatherine of many differ-
ent kinds of 'len& birds. Early in the morning could be heard the
Varoeis epMge awn everutjeme'seeMed to be happy and joyous to be
alive. There le no comparison td the senebirds in this ntry
to Lhe birds we had in the sle ceuntey, eoth ir the num-eers and the
different kinds.
The stork was e visitor every ear. It we a large bird, and
not to well adapted t,o the building of a home. The men would eften
put and old Waeen wiled' in a tree or on a heuse to helptheee birds
start a nest. On tnis they (the birds) would put' a few sticks
and some grass- this was, a very crude nest cemeared to some of
the etner bird "IONCE,.
Tee peoplr tere never bothered the 'rest or the stork itself.
The legend of he people was Lhat the stork was the product of men.
it see me that in the time of Christ, the Lord commanded some men
to eet out of his way- and today there is the bird the stork.
Seeties the storks would arrive so earl:- in the sprine that
the people had to feed them and care for them until mild weather.
The stork was, also known to be ae ey'ert forecaster of the kind
lyear that WEF in t'nc ffin. If he raised two children, the
people knew that the year would be a successful one. If however,
he threw one of th ch3ldren out, the ,ear was to be a hard one,
and if he threw both of the children out and eidn't raise any, the
season weuld almwt be a failure.
Me mother often _elated stories abeeit tel Polish level .cise.
At that tine sne WEIS workin, for one of Lne lertile in the community
beine only aoeut eiehteen die.
Tate revolution was to be aeainet the tmperer but in a very
short tim turned to be a revolution aetainet the lords. Most of
the men took whatever they Could erah and went wherever they thought
they could fine a lord. Most of the tie le was killed and any
times so badly beaten that he died in a short tiTe. Metryr says
that they cerried scythes, pitch -forks, whips, hoes what have
you/
(4)
I thine it ie etrierful A711 the ,oeernaent or tele country
takes care of it's people -and het e tnem if they need
help, b t in the old country it was eifferent. You either took
care of youreelf or starved. If one starved he was juet dead
ane that's as far as the gevernment cared.
Mot er says, "teat fatter sold a co* I town, not being able
to bee anything Jr tee lin'or eats brought the none aria throw-
in e it or th table, eaeine, hete children is some gold- '-m=ke some
thine to eat out of it, I coulent buy 'anything in tiownt'.
This_ must have been a very desperate meeent in fateers' life,
not being able to buy anything for tiqe family to eat, are probably
starvine himself.
when working in the field', een and _e woe* wtrked in
teeir bere feet. Tkat was the eustom. Of csurec they had shoes
but taeee had to be saved for Sunday. (A pair of eeses wae very
expensive) Even in the Winter, when it wa, not toe cold the men,
women an children went about b=,rd-footed. Sometimes the men
would tee eLraw and wrae teeir feet teen, seeeliind of clot: i en
the outside to hold the strew in piece and go about doind their
work in this manner.
Even on Sunday, when gting to and from Church the men and
women would carry their e oes, stopping to put them en as they
ntared the Church.
The people woule, 'e the same when geine to thr city, as they
neer e vl city, ,0,11 sit r o th. si h v:,a4
put their -he-s on to the m rket in full dress.
UPen 1 PlrinZ the eheee came off at the ede of town end the return
journey ra=msde barefoeted.
Most of th business was oonducted by tee Jewish resple, it
was they that went to school end Could see te peseleiliti-- or
—;elee nev r Jwie- re
work erd, they always seed ts have a eocd education and command-
ed the toed jobs. The common people ceuldn't see that far and
then the rich didn't want the common folk to raise themselves but
to stay and not know anything, but wht their stomachs taught
them. Se echoslin, ="as of secondary importance, and I receiving
eone. The only education I have was gathered from the childree
after they were going to schsel here in this country.
After farming our little farm In Poland for a period of sbout
seven yeers, we decided to sell our property and come to the
United Statee or America. The land of promiee, We had many
friends that had coae etre and word came back that aost of
them becaee wealtity.
After selline our haleinge we ret out for the new werld.
Takine two of our thileren with us we were on our way. We arrived
in Columbue, Nebraska, in the eprine of 1893. By thie time our
fueds had depl-ted to tee grand sum of $100.
Here we were ane no place to ge. We steyed with friends for
about a year, decidine to buy a eaell property intown and mekine
cur home.
This we die by purchasine a lot in thr city of Columbus and
building e frame etructure, coreieting of twe'r IT, are no even
havine rely pleeter or siding. In this wF lived for five y -ars.
(6)
By this time we, built a bEtter and larger home. Thir heme
was plastered and had sidine. We lived in this for rive yearn.
Then we built the third home, which wae the best one. In this
here', 7cr. Witeynski reseed to his rewar3 on Oct. 22, 1023.
eTe never was whet one might say iealty. He lived to a
fairly eld age by takin, care if himself. Tie was -oast 70 years
when he eaesed away.
loin s weren't easy for me here in thi' count I did
washin for different aeople bar intown. T7 to this I had to
0 tot their home, an. 6h py was around $1 per day. New it is
se much per pound.
At that time tee -ashina was done on e scrub -board, all by
hand. There e.ere no electric washing 1719CA es EIF there a:e today.
But I stayed rieet with it and complained not, gled to ;et the
work.
My husband stayed et hoxe and took care or the children, thus
leaving me free to o and de t.is work. His health prevented him
from dein., very heavy work.. Anyway all the we k that there eas
for eeeciner ar:und hEre was on tne railroad and away from
home. After eayigg his board and ratua he w uldn't have much left.
I thought teat I coul m ke more at waehine shile na took care f
the little °tiles.
In 1926 I married Mr. Water Piatkee, this is where I live at
preseet. Mr Pinees cen find no work eecau e he is too old
I am too old to ,e out ana', do eeavy work. This makes it very
hard for us to maee a ea of ,hinee. But we just pleug away from
day to ey.
At present I heve foer children living. The other f911/' have
passed aeay.
2w* of my boys 1Le here I- Columbus, one on the farm and
the other in town.
The two iris- are married and have femili s or their own.
They Loth liv away free here, one live, in Omaha an th ether
in Texas.
I received a letter from t'-i% one in Texas the other day. In
it she -tater- that the veeetables are ripenine and hew teey like
their new home. Accerdine to the letter, teey are never coming
peck to lebraeka to liFe.
Even for ey 75 y-ars, I de all my own w:erk around the house
and find tiee te go out and take care oP my few ceicke.e. In
the summertime I also do mach of the work i-• the garden. Watching
things grow is a real pl'asure to me.
The past numb r or ars th ro uit re It h -rd to reise
anyt lin,, even -.haug-m we out a great aalount water on it. The
air is just too dry.
Last year, we had ro potatoes w atever. The other garden
vegetables grew fairly well but not like if there was plenty of
rain.
It weuldn't be se d, but for the last several years it's
dry an the next y ar it's drier. What will the weather be next
year? Sure does look bad at present, and they say teat "it will
be another dry year next year. Let's hope ane pray ee th Lord
will bleee ene p_ralit us ao raise a crop again.
(7)