The decline of oral story-telling
When I was a young boy, my dad used to take me with him to Scranton, about 2-1/2 miles east of our farm over the county line in Callahan County. In warm weather there were usually old men, telling stories while sitting on the porch of either Morgan’s Store or Gattis Brother’s Store. Morgan’s faced west, providing shade in the morning. The Gattis store was situated eastward, making it a cooler afternoon spot for conversation. A lot of little towns had gathering places like this. In some communities in the South, the old men played dominoes. But in Scranton, these geezers did nothing but talk. And chew tobacco. And spit on the ground. There were usually brothers Felix and Lee Boland (Uncle Drake, husband of my dad’s aunt Lena) and brothers Arthur Baily (husband of my dad’s great aunt Nancy Elvira) and Jim Bailey (husband of my mother’s aunt Grace – In those days, most people in Scranton were related either by blood or marriage). Add to the mix of regulars farmers with chores ...