Oscar Woodrow "Woody" Stanley (C)
(6:21) Mr. Stanley talks about his school days, Franklin D. Roosevelt and his dad's experience working on the streetcar on the Tennessee River. This interview is part of an oral history project funded by a grant from the Alabama Historical Records Board, managed by the Alabama Department of Arc...
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Florence-Lauderdale County Public Library
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| Online Access: | https://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/oral_hist/id/132 |
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Electronic |
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Oral Histories Collection |
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Florence-Lauderdale County Public Library |
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Florence-Lauderdale County Public Library |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts Oscar Woodrow "Woody" Stanley (C) Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts Schools; Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano) 1882-1945; Street railroads |
| description |
(6:21) Mr. Stanley talks about his school days, Franklin D. Roosevelt and his dad's experience working on the streetcar on the Tennessee River. This interview is part of an oral history project funded by a grant from the Alabama Historical Records Board, managed by the Alabama Department of Archives and History staff, using funds provided by the National Historical Preservation and Records Commission.Florence- Lauderdale Public Library Digital Archive
Interview with Oscar Woodrow “ Woody” Stanley April 22, 2009 Florence, Alabama Conducted by Rhonda Haygood and Patti Hannah
( Also present: Lou Letson, Mac Letson)
Clip 3 of 7
Rhonda Haygood: How was it— the, ah, people you hired to work at your drive- in. Were they students, young people that would work for you?
Oscar Stanley: There’s one girl, in my book, she, there’s an article in there she wrote, it’s in the book, about, about her working at the Woody Mac. Primarily students from, mostly students from, ah, Sheffield, Muscle Shoals and Florence.
RH: How did they do as rule, as far as work? Were they pretty good workers?
OS: Yeah, we had some good kids, some good waitresses, some good carhops. Course they mostly relied on tips for their money. And some of them would make, make good tips. Over at the first Woody Mac on the corner there, there’s a loan office in the building now. But, the ladies from the courthouse in Tuscumbia used to come over there four or five days, four or five days a week and eat at lunch time. And, ah, we had a couple of boys, one of them— their names were Butram, B- U- T- R- A- M, they were Sheffield boys. And one of them was named Cunny and he was just as cute a little a rascal as you’d ever see. And they just fell in love with him. And, you know, there’s a phone- in, and wait on them every day and he’d get them tips.
RH: Where did you go to school, ah, once you came back to this area?
OS: Oh, ah, LaGrange school was built out there and it, it was a dandy school, but I’d done, I’d done past that. I went to school at Spring Valley. Spring Valley school.
RH: What was it like when you went to school?
OS: Well, it was a dandy little ol’ school. Ruth Berry was my, my room teacher and the only whipping I ever got, she, was from her. She told, told us boys that if we moved out of our seat we was gonna get it. And, so I forgot and carried some paper to throw in the wastebasket, that didn’t, it didn’t help me cause I was doing a good deed.
RH: Awww.
OS: I got a whipping, too. Sam Sherrod, was at Tuscumbia, he and his sister, Miss Nettie Sherrod, and Miss Grace Brown lived in Tuscumbia, they all three taught at Spring Valley and Sam was a math teacher, arithmetic, he was extremely good. Fact is, ah, I just went to the eighth grade. But, most of the time now, I can add in my head, while, you know, math, figures while somebody else is getting ready to take a pencil and figure them up. I, I mean, he was some more teacher. And, ah, which has been beneficial to me over the years.
RH: What did you do after eighth grade? You said you went through school to the eighth grade? What did you do after?
OS: Oh, well that’s when WPA was going and I built that little country store out there at Old Bethel.
Patti Hannah: So, you were really young when you did that.
RH: So, how—
OS: How young? Married when I was sixteen, then son born when I was seventeen and one born when I was nineteen, and Lou was born when I was twenty.
RH: Tell us what towns were like, as far back as you can remember. Trolleys—
OS: The towns?
RH: The towns.
OS: Well, when I hitched- hiked from Spring Valley through Sheffield to see Franklin D. Roosevelt, course that was at the height of the Depression. I doubt if, if you stood on the corner in Tuscumbia and was going to hitch- hike to Sheffield, you might stand there an hour before a car come by. There was just no car, no traffic hardly. There was two cars in all of Spring Valley and I’ve said over the years, I was so, so anxious to see Franklin D. Roosevelt, I don’t even remember who I caught a ride with.
RH: Did you have a pretty good view when he came through? Could you see him well from where you were?
OS: Yeah, there’s, in the, in the book, it’s got a picture of him in there, you know, and it tells how many, I think it says there’s like maybe four thousand people or something, I forget. Of course, the train was up high and oh, you could see him good and his speak was, speaking was meticulous and articulate and a Harvard graduate, you didn’t speak better than Franklin D. Roosevelt, yeah, “ again and again and again.”
RH: What was your favorite subject in school?
OS: I guess it’d be math. Arithmetic we called it back then.
RH: Now, your father worked on the trolley; is that right?
OS: My dad worked, ah, yeah, on, I think it’s on the back my book or in there it shows the streetcar on the bridge crossing the river. You can even see the trolley pole sticking up over the streetcar. The trolley cable run across the river and this trolley pole got its power off of that cable and he told one time when the wind being so strong that it blew the trolley pole so hard that it come, come off the trolley cable and he had to climb up on the streetcar and jiggle that pole back and get it on the cable for it to get power to move on. He said he worked, I believe it was three years, and they had three wrecks and three fights and killed a dog and a billy goat.
RH: Did you ever go to work with him? On the trolley?
OS: Oh, no, you see, let’s see, how old would I have been then? Probably three years old.
RH: You were little.
OS: Yeah. During that time was the great flu epidemic. There was four in our family then, my brother Malcolm, well, he wasn’t born then, but somehow or another we, we made it through. We didn’t know it, none of, anybody in the family get the flu, but you know, over the nation there’s thousands died. I guess it’s in the millions, I forget what, how many they do say died with the flu epidemic.
RH: Did y’all take special precautions when that was happening? Did you do anything—
OS: Don’t, don’t know it if we did. You know back then moms and dads had, had remedies. I know my mother would, she thought coal oil, kerosene, coal oil, if you had a bruise or a skinned place on your foot, that’s the best thing you could use. I don’t know what they used, precaution.
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| title |
Oscar Woodrow "Woody" Stanley (C) |
| titleStr |
Oscar Woodrow "Woody" Stanley (C) |
| author |
Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
| author_facet |
Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
| id |
FLCPLoral_hist132 |
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https://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/oral_hist/id/132 |
| thumbnail |
http://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getthumbnail/collection/oral_hist/id/132 |
| _version_ |
1782468788063567872 |
| spelling |
Oscar Woodrow "Woody" Stanley (C)Schools; Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano) 1882-1945; Street railroads(6:21) Mr. Stanley talks about his school days, Franklin D. Roosevelt and his dad's experience working on the streetcar on the Tennessee River. This interview is part of an oral history project funded by a grant from the Alabama Historical Records Board, managed by the Alabama Department of Archives and History staff, using funds provided by the National Historical Preservation and Records Commission.Florence-Lauderdale Public LibraryFlorence-Lauderdale Public LibraryOscar Woodrow "Woody" Stanley2009-4-22sound; textaudio/mp3; text/pdfEnglishIs part of the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library collection.Contact the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library for permission to use.Florence- Lauderdale Public Library Digital Archive
Interview with Oscar Woodrow “ Woody” Stanley April 22, 2009 Florence, Alabama Conducted by Rhonda Haygood and Patti Hannah
( Also present: Lou Letson, Mac Letson)
Clip 3 of 7
Rhonda Haygood: How was it— the, ah, people you hired to work at your drive- in. Were they students, young people that would work for you?
Oscar Stanley: There’s one girl, in my book, she, there’s an article in there she wrote, it’s in the book, about, about her working at the Woody Mac. Primarily students from, mostly students from, ah, Sheffield, Muscle Shoals and Florence.
RH: How did they do as rule, as far as work? Were they pretty good workers?
OS: Yeah, we had some good kids, some good waitresses, some good carhops. Course they mostly relied on tips for their money. And some of them would make, make good tips. Over at the first Woody Mac on the corner there, there’s a loan office in the building now. But, the ladies from the courthouse in Tuscumbia used to come over there four or five days, four or five days a week and eat at lunch time. And, ah, we had a couple of boys, one of them— their names were Butram, B- U- T- R- A- M, they were Sheffield boys. And one of them was named Cunny and he was just as cute a little a rascal as you’d ever see. And they just fell in love with him. And, you know, there’s a phone- in, and wait on them every day and he’d get them tips.
RH: Where did you go to school, ah, once you came back to this area?
OS: Oh, ah, LaGrange school was built out there and it, it was a dandy school, but I’d done, I’d done past that. I went to school at Spring Valley. Spring Valley school.
RH: What was it like when you went to school?
OS: Well, it was a dandy little ol’ school. Ruth Berry was my, my room teacher and the only whipping I ever got, she, was from her. She told, told us boys that if we moved out of our seat we was gonna get it. And, so I forgot and carried some paper to throw in the wastebasket, that didn’t, it didn’t help me cause I was doing a good deed.
RH: Awww.
OS: I got a whipping, too. Sam Sherrod, was at Tuscumbia, he and his sister, Miss Nettie Sherrod, and Miss Grace Brown lived in Tuscumbia, they all three taught at Spring Valley and Sam was a math teacher, arithmetic, he was extremely good. Fact is, ah, I just went to the eighth grade. But, most of the time now, I can add in my head, while, you know, math, figures while somebody else is getting ready to take a pencil and figure them up. I, I mean, he was some more teacher. And, ah, which has been beneficial to me over the years.
RH: What did you do after eighth grade? You said you went through school to the eighth grade? What did you do after?
OS: Oh, well that’s when WPA was going and I built that little country store out there at Old Bethel.
Patti Hannah: So, you were really young when you did that.
RH: So, how—
OS: How young? Married when I was sixteen, then son born when I was seventeen and one born when I was nineteen, and Lou was born when I was twenty.
RH: Tell us what towns were like, as far back as you can remember. Trolleys—
OS: The towns?
RH: The towns.
OS: Well, when I hitched- hiked from Spring Valley through Sheffield to see Franklin D. Roosevelt, course that was at the height of the Depression. I doubt if, if you stood on the corner in Tuscumbia and was going to hitch- hike to Sheffield, you might stand there an hour before a car come by. There was just no car, no traffic hardly. There was two cars in all of Spring Valley and I’ve said over the years, I was so, so anxious to see Franklin D. Roosevelt, I don’t even remember who I caught a ride with.
RH: Did you have a pretty good view when he came through? Could you see him well from where you were?
OS: Yeah, there’s, in the, in the book, it’s got a picture of him in there, you know, and it tells how many, I think it says there’s like maybe four thousand people or something, I forget. Of course, the train was up high and oh, you could see him good and his speak was, speaking was meticulous and articulate and a Harvard graduate, you didn’t speak better than Franklin D. Roosevelt, yeah, “ again and again and again.”
RH: What was your favorite subject in school?
OS: I guess it’d be math. Arithmetic we called it back then.
RH: Now, your father worked on the trolley; is that right?
OS: My dad worked, ah, yeah, on, I think it’s on the back my book or in there it shows the streetcar on the bridge crossing the river. You can even see the trolley pole sticking up over the streetcar. The trolley cable run across the river and this trolley pole got its power off of that cable and he told one time when the wind being so strong that it blew the trolley pole so hard that it come, come off the trolley cable and he had to climb up on the streetcar and jiggle that pole back and get it on the cable for it to get power to move on. He said he worked, I believe it was three years, and they had three wrecks and three fights and killed a dog and a billy goat.
RH: Did you ever go to work with him? On the trolley?
OS: Oh, no, you see, let’s see, how old would I have been then? Probably three years old.
RH: You were little.
OS: Yeah. During that time was the great flu epidemic. There was four in our family then, my brother Malcolm, well, he wasn’t born then, but somehow or another we, we made it through. We didn’t know it, none of, anybody in the family get the flu, but you know, over the nation there’s thousands died. I guess it’s in the millions, I forget what, how many they do say died with the flu epidemic.
RH: Did y’all take special precautions when that was happening? Did you do anything—
OS: Don’t, don’t know it if we did. You know back then moms and dads had, had remedies. I know my mother would, she thought coal oil, kerosene, coal oil, if you had a bruise or a skinned place on your foot, that’s the best thing you could use. I don’t know what they used, precaution.
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