Wayne Haggard and Shannon Haggard (A)
(5:52) Wayne and Shannon Haggard discuss brailing and diving for mussels. Wayne Haggard discussed his early days in the mussel industry. This interview was conducted as part of a joint project of the Music Preservation Society and the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library. This project focus was ora...
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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/214 |
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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 Wayne Haggard and Shannon Haggard (A) Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts Mussels |
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(5:52) Wayne and Shannon Haggard discuss brailing and diving for mussels. Wayne Haggard discussed his early days in the mussel industry. This interview was conducted as part of a joint project of the Music Preservation Society and the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library. This project focus was oral history interviews with area residents who had lived or worked on the Tennessee River.Florence- Lauderdale Public Library Digital Archive
Interview with Wayne Haggard and Shannon Haggard
November 19, 2007
Waterloo, Alabama
Conducted by Patti Hannah and Rhonda Haygood
Clip 1 of 11
Patti Hannah: Okay this is Patti Hannah and Rhonda Haygood and it’s November the
Rhonda Haygood: 19th
PH: 19th , a little after 10 in the morning and we are interviewing
Wayne Haggard: Barry Wayne Haggard
PH: All right, about his mussel diving experience . You said you’ve done this quite often?
WH: Oh, yes, ma’am. I started, I started in the shell business in 1960 and back in them days we did not dive for shells, we used what they called a brail.
PH: Okay.
WH: We had a brail boat. It had three brails on it and the boat was about 22 feet long and 8 foot wide. The brails were, the three brails were that long. We dragged two brails on the bottom of the river at one time. And when the shells got on the brails it would get heavy and it would swing the boat around. So, we would throw the third brail in the river and the current would carry it down and we would take this on a pulley. I don’t know what they called it, I don’t remember. But, we’d wrap a rope around it and it would bring this brail up. And we had two racks, and we’d put it on a rack. And the shells were just hanging, hanging on it.
PH: My goodness.
WH: This is the old way before diving got into practice.
PH: Right.
WH: But while the other two brails were dragging on the bottom of the river, picking up shells, we had to take all these shells off this brail that we just picked up. And they were just hanging on, I’ve got some around there, some brails I’ll show you. Basically, how they were made. These are new, are new type things. Old, same old practice. And back in them days, the only shell we could sell was a pigtoe. That’s all they wanted, and we --
PH: What is that?
WH: Huh?
PH: What is that?
WH: That’s this. That is a pigtoe. Ever shell has got a different name. Ever shell that you see here has got a different name. One or two of them are just alike. That’s a banana shell and I’ve got one on the board other than that you know. And let me say this, there’s a few of these shells that are on the extinct list, endangered species. I picked these shells up before they become endangered. This is my son, Shannon.
PH & RH: Hi Shannon.
Shannon Haggard: Hi.
WH: He can tell you more about this diving because I’m getting too old to do it and he still does it. We’re going to get him in here in a minute. Like I say, we, I started in the early 60s, probably 1960 with the brails. And then along about in the 70s I guess it was when they first started.
SH: About ‘ 80
WH: About 1980, I don’t even remember exactly when.
SH: ‘ 78, ‘ 79 or ‘ 80.
WH: But that was when you could walk on shells on the bottom. You could pick them up, they brought big money. Everybody in that country went to diving. They’s people that quit cutting timber, they quit driving trucks, they quit their jobs. I almost quit my job. I worked at TVA. I almost quit my job to go to diving. I was working the evening shift. I went diving one morning, come in and sold my shells and then went to work. I sold $ 696.00 worth of shells I got that morning. That’s how good it was. But anyhow, time progressed. If you eat a cake you know and you start licking the icing off, eventually you gonna get all the icing. And the shells got fewer and fewer and then they come in with a size limit on us. Back when I started picking them up you went out there you find the shells, you rode in, you sold it. That’s why we made so much money. Then, they come in with these size limits and each shell that we sell has got a size limit. For instance, like on a washboard, it’s four inches, it’s got to be four inches. And the way we do that see, you can see that shell’s over four inches. That ring is four inches, if a shell goes through there, you lay that shell back down exactly where you picked it up, don’t bother it. Can’t sell it, it’s illegal. And Dickey Wallace loves to give tickets, they’re not cheap.
PH: Oh, no.
WH: What is the first fine on one shell?
SH: I don’t know, $ 350.00.
WH: $ 350.00, I believe for one shell.
SH: Next ones like five fifty and
PH& RH: Whoo
WH: You got ten shells, you can ten times that.
PH& RH: Whoo
WH: Many, many divers have got caught. If you get one that just rubs, you better lay it back down. It’s got to hold its own weight in that ring. And just hope he don’t check you. ( laughter) And then these others I’ve got, like this is two and three- eights. Uh, say for instance that one right there if it goes through that ring, it’s too small. And that is a little Asiatic clam. They ain’t nothing but fish food. I just you know, brought it in just for
SH: Millions of them
WH: Millions of them things. You can dress catfish and them things, they’ll have the whole shell in the stomach. I’ve got another Asiatic clam somewhere. Somewhere on here. This is the biggest one. What I tried to do here, I found the biggest shell I could get and the smallest shell I could get. Which now, the small shells are illegal, but when I got them you know, you could pick up anything.
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Wayne Haggard and Shannon Haggard (A) |
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Wayne Haggard and Shannon Haggard (A) |
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Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
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Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
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FLCPLoral_hist214 |
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https://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/oral_hist/id/214 |
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http://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getthumbnail/collection/oral_hist/id/214 |
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1782468788537524224 |
| spelling |
Wayne Haggard and Shannon Haggard (A)Mussels(5:52) Wayne and Shannon Haggard discuss brailing and diving for mussels. Wayne Haggard discussed his early days in the mussel industry. This interview was conducted as part of a joint project of the Music Preservation Society and the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library. This project focus was oral history interviews with area residents who had lived or worked on the Tennessee River.Florence-Lauderdale Public LibraryFlorence-Lauderdale Public LibraryWayne Haggard and Shannon Haggard2007-11-19sound; textaudio/mp3; text/pdfEnglishIs part of the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library CollectionContact the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library for permission to useFlorence- Lauderdale Public Library Digital Archive
Interview with Wayne Haggard and Shannon Haggard
November 19, 2007
Waterloo, Alabama
Conducted by Patti Hannah and Rhonda Haygood
Clip 1 of 11
Patti Hannah: Okay this is Patti Hannah and Rhonda Haygood and it’s November the
Rhonda Haygood: 19th
PH: 19th , a little after 10 in the morning and we are interviewing
Wayne Haggard: Barry Wayne Haggard
PH: All right, about his mussel diving experience . You said you’ve done this quite often?
WH: Oh, yes, ma’am. I started, I started in the shell business in 1960 and back in them days we did not dive for shells, we used what they called a brail.
PH: Okay.
WH: We had a brail boat. It had three brails on it and the boat was about 22 feet long and 8 foot wide. The brails were, the three brails were that long. We dragged two brails on the bottom of the river at one time. And when the shells got on the brails it would get heavy and it would swing the boat around. So, we would throw the third brail in the river and the current would carry it down and we would take this on a pulley. I don’t know what they called it, I don’t remember. But, we’d wrap a rope around it and it would bring this brail up. And we had two racks, and we’d put it on a rack. And the shells were just hanging, hanging on it.
PH: My goodness.
WH: This is the old way before diving got into practice.
PH: Right.
WH: But while the other two brails were dragging on the bottom of the river, picking up shells, we had to take all these shells off this brail that we just picked up. And they were just hanging on, I’ve got some around there, some brails I’ll show you. Basically, how they were made. These are new, are new type things. Old, same old practice. And back in them days, the only shell we could sell was a pigtoe. That’s all they wanted, and we --
PH: What is that?
WH: Huh?
PH: What is that?
WH: That’s this. That is a pigtoe. Ever shell has got a different name. Ever shell that you see here has got a different name. One or two of them are just alike. That’s a banana shell and I’ve got one on the board other than that you know. And let me say this, there’s a few of these shells that are on the extinct list, endangered species. I picked these shells up before they become endangered. This is my son, Shannon.
PH & RH: Hi Shannon.
Shannon Haggard: Hi.
WH: He can tell you more about this diving because I’m getting too old to do it and he still does it. We’re going to get him in here in a minute. Like I say, we, I started in the early 60s, probably 1960 with the brails. And then along about in the 70s I guess it was when they first started.
SH: About ‘ 80
WH: About 1980, I don’t even remember exactly when.
SH: ‘ 78, ‘ 79 or ‘ 80.
WH: But that was when you could walk on shells on the bottom. You could pick them up, they brought big money. Everybody in that country went to diving. They’s people that quit cutting timber, they quit driving trucks, they quit their jobs. I almost quit my job. I worked at TVA. I almost quit my job to go to diving. I was working the evening shift. I went diving one morning, come in and sold my shells and then went to work. I sold $ 696.00 worth of shells I got that morning. That’s how good it was. But anyhow, time progressed. If you eat a cake you know and you start licking the icing off, eventually you gonna get all the icing. And the shells got fewer and fewer and then they come in with a size limit on us. Back when I started picking them up you went out there you find the shells, you rode in, you sold it. That’s why we made so much money. Then, they come in with these size limits and each shell that we sell has got a size limit. For instance, like on a washboard, it’s four inches, it’s got to be four inches. And the way we do that see, you can see that shell’s over four inches. That ring is four inches, if a shell goes through there, you lay that shell back down exactly where you picked it up, don’t bother it. Can’t sell it, it’s illegal. And Dickey Wallace loves to give tickets, they’re not cheap.
PH: Oh, no.
WH: What is the first fine on one shell?
SH: I don’t know, $ 350.00.
WH: $ 350.00, I believe for one shell.
SH: Next ones like five fifty and
PH& RH: Whoo
WH: You got ten shells, you can ten times that.
PH& RH: Whoo
WH: Many, many divers have got caught. If you get one that just rubs, you better lay it back down. It’s got to hold its own weight in that ring. And just hope he don’t check you. ( laughter) And then these others I’ve got, like this is two and three- eights. Uh, say for instance that one right there if it goes through that ring, it’s too small. And that is a little Asiatic clam. They ain’t nothing but fish food. I just you know, brought it in just for
SH: Millions of them
WH: Millions of them things. You can dress catfish and them things, they’ll have the whole shell in the stomach. I’ve got another Asiatic clam somewhere. Somewhere on here. This is the biggest one. What I tried to do here, I found the biggest shell I could get and the smallest shell I could get. Which now, the small shells are illegal, but when I got them you know, you could pick up anything.
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