1 50 1 https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/6954a572792bd70c120b2f894413f90f.pdf 810d79cc1c7d367165cbc84c6725ac45 PDF Text Text Interview with Mrs. Ethel Burns by Pat Morgan I. Childhood A. B. C. II. C. D. E. F. V. VIII. (L) Made small profits on large sales Sold from catalogues Not so money conscious Did not take advantage of the rich (S) Older people with no children Not many young people her age Years being discussed A. B. (L) Community club Carnival in the Park 1. jobs for local people 2. money for library Feeling of inferiority of local people Holthozers were accepted in their homes Tourists as church workers Local people's living depended on tourists Types of tourists A. B. VII. Born in Rowan Co. Moved to Blowing Rock Father's business A. B. C. D. VI. (S) Relationships to tourists A. B. (S) 1915 - '20; age 10 or 12 Born in 1908 Change to need for money (S) A. (S) Independent man Story about Mrs. Cone His love for mountains His desire to build an inn Father's background A. B. IV. Family Involvement with tourists Feelings about tourists 1. "summer people" 2. tourists in the home Father's attitudes toward the tourists A. B. C. D. III. (S) Father not money minded ) �B. C. D. IX. Sunshine Inn and Mrs. Burns A. B. X. XII. XVI. (S) No interference from government Health department standards (L) Paid as a team--$25/week Increase in pay over the years--$100/wk each Loyal and hard workers Discipline A. B. (S) Not cut out to be a boss Did not scold individually Work done by the Burns A. B. C. (L) Year-round job Waitresses went to school Cooks went home 1. John and Maggie Jones 2. Room behind kitchen for summer The Jones A. B. C. XV. (S) Nothing in town Playing of games in dining room Inn grew A. B. XIV. Description Everyone was part of the family Did all their own work Waitress work Guests stayed sometimes two months $15.00 per week to stay Meals at the inn Closing at Labor Day A. B. C. XIII. (L) Entertainment A. B. (S) Father built in 1929 The Depression: the move to Blowing Rock The inn A. B. C. D. E. F. G. XI. Others started seasonal rates Yen for money grew Father was a fair businessman 1. Taught children not to use credit 2. Most important lesson (S) Husband was dishwasher She was maid Work got easier �XVII. Guests' attitudes A. B. C. XVIII. XIX. E. C. D. (L) Jones felt too inferior to associate Very humble Jones boy could not play with Burns boy Maggie couldn't understand any kind of segregation John was afraid 1. Experience when Holthozer's store was built 2. Negroes were stoned (L) No bookkeeping Not much attention to profit or loss Experience taught her to estimate Salesmen started to sell by portions 1. Bigger profit for inn 2. She didn't like that method Wanted only enough money to get through winter 1. No money in bank 2. Watauga Savings and Loan Change in tourist business A. B. XXIII. Couple had too much breakfast Complained and unsatisfied Left without paying Business attitudes A. B. C. D. XXII. (S) Jones' relationship to the guests and the Burns A. B. C. D. E. XXI. (S) Jewish family unfriendly Another family criticized service Funny things A. B. C. XX. Stayed long time Mr. Dillon 1. disappointed at first 2. began to like it 3. came back year after year Most of the guests were satisfied Unpleasant things A. B. (L) (L) 1969--retirement after 40 years work Transits people 1. Biggest change 2. Always on the go 3. More incontentment Trade has more than doubled 1. Land of Oz 2. Tweetsie Still room for improvement Advertising (S) �A. B. C. .XX:IV . Difference in family- owned and non- family-owned business (L) A. B. C. D. E. XXV . B. D. Senator ' s son was coming Mrs . Burns agrees to impress him He came early 1 . tables wer e shoved together for lunch 2 . very informal He didn ' t seem to mind (S) Didn ' t have any Mr . Burns fixed up intercom Bad response--idea dropped Auctions Movies Other Interference from government A. B. C. D. E. X.XX: . (S) Guests found other entertainment A. B. C. .XX:IX . Different games 1 . "Pig" 2 . Post Offi ce Disturbed a guest one night 1 . he complained 2. soon forgot about it Music A. B. C. XXVIII . ( S) Informality of the Inn A. B. C. .XX:VII . Different attitudes in money making Local people sold out because of a good offer Real estate out- of- sight Nothing like that in earlier days Martin House and Green Inn Games A. XXVI . Chamber of Commerce 1 . posters in other states 2 . tourists came and were let down New sign--" Sunshine Inn" Use the money more wisely 1 . happy cust omers spr ead the word 2 . best way to advertise (L) Privilege license Sales tax Social Security Withholding tax Told how to run the inn Getting out of the business (S) (S) �A. B. XXXI. Glad because of the things involved Sad because customers were let down One family in particular--the Butlers A. B. C. (S) Came there for honeymoon Came every summer after that until closing By that time they had a daughter �With Ethel Burns on January the fifth, 1975 at her home in Blowing Rock with Pat Morgan with the Appalachian Oral History Project at Appalachian State University. PM: Could you give me your mother and father's names and your brothers' and sisters' names? EB: Yes, you mean their full names? PM: Their full names, as much as you can. EB: My father was William (inaudible middle name) Holtho zer, and my mother, Laura Ellen Holtho· zer. ~•• t My brothers and sisters suppose I just give you their first names? PM: Fine, that'll be fine. EB: June, Katie, the one you know Peg, Howard, Mary, Eugene, and William Luther. PM: Very good, that's a nice, a nice sized family. Mrs. Burns, we have been talking abo'ut tourism and what it meant to this section of the country, can you tell me when did you go into the tourist business as such? Just tell me as much as you can about what you've done. EB: Well, personally, my time dates from 1929 when I ac- tually got into the tourist business, but, of course, we were affected by the tourist business all of our lives. My father being in store business--merchandise--of course, came in constant contact with the tourists then. We spoke of tourists then as "summer residents",. and "the summer people". That's the way we referred to them, we didn't call them tourists, we just says they're "summer residents" or "summer people". And while there was a difference, we realized that these were �2 people who stood a little above us socially, and financially, and at the same time they accepted us and we accepted them as, really, people of Blowing Rock. There was that feeling of really high opinion of them because they did take an interest in our .•• oh, little everyday things that happened to us here, the local people here in Blowing Rock. that dates way back to my childhood. So, of course, Then there were so few places around that people would take the tourists into their homes. They didn't have a business, but just their private homes, and this brought us in, of course, closer contact and association with the tourist people. But I Slept on the floor many a time in order to give my room to some tourist. At the time I may not have liked it, but it was just a thing that we accepted and did. Then when we went into business-- really what we would say "the tourist business"-- it was no great change, it just seemed like we just opened our home to you the public, and we wasn't thinking of it in terms of making alot of money, but really just of taking care of the people who came to us. time. I think this was a change made in the Then the season, really we opened in May, but we didn't expect a rush business--and when I say "rush", it was rush then, but certainly not like a rush would be today--really didn't start until about the first of July. ~.c.k Then we closed everything--everything in BlowingAclosed--definitely at Labor Day. After that time if you would see a stranger on the street everybody would run out to see this new person on the street, you know, and what he was doing because it was a curiosity to see anybody on the streets after Labor Day. So, �3 that's changed tremendously, you know, from the past. PM: Well, tell me, in your childhood did your father ever talk to you about tourists per se, or "those summer people"? EB: Oh yes! Dad had a mind of his own really, and he was very independent. While he knew, as everyone else knew, that we were dependent on as I said we called them "the summer people" at that time, still Dad was a person that wouldn't let them walk over him at all. I know you've heard of the Cone (spelling?) Estate, and the Cones. Of course, Mister and Missus Cone were living here at the time. My father's store had a basement and many, many times he would go to the basement to maybe measure out potatoes or do work down there and leave the store doors wide open, you kn ow, with noone up there. One time Miz Cone came in and she was a little irritated because there was noone there to wait on her. So, Dad eventually came up from the basement and Mrs. Cone says, "Mr . Holthozer, don't you know somebody could walk off with everything you've got?" He just sort of grinned a little bit and says, "Well Miz Cone, I didn't know you were in town, or I wouldn't have been down there." Of course, there is a lot of humor with it, too, but Dad never let any of them, even though he was a very humble person, and very kind person he still felt his ••• his authority and his own individuality in his relationship to the summer people. I think this love for Blowing Rock and this life in the mountains really, probably we inherited that from Dad because he really loved the mountains~ And I told you that his ambition was to build a place where people of moderate �4 means can come and enjoy the climate and the scenery. PM: He was from where? EB: Rowan County. And he came, I think , because of malaria; bad health conditions, there was alot of mosquitoes at that time so his father moved his family here to avoid that situation. PM: Can you think of any other examples as a child in Blowing Rock of your relationship to the summer people? Perhaps another story like the Cone story? EB: There are so many really pleasant associations with the summer people. They organized then a community club, which consisted of some of the local people and the summer residents, too. And they really did a great, a great work for Blowing Rock. And they had every summer there a carnival in the park. In order to, I think, really to have have better relationships between the local people and the summer people, they drew the local people into jobs in this project that they called the Carnival in the Park. head of it: But they were really the they put it on, and all the money was donated to the community for the library. The reason for us having the x good library that we have now •.• so, I'm not thinking of humourous things now, but really things that were so helpful to the community. PM: You said they probably had the summer festival in order to have better relationships with the peoplecithe area, did you ever sense that people from the area, not necessarily in general, but different ones, resented these people coming here and spending their time during the summer, while they went �5 about their own labors? EB: I don't think there was a resentment, but I do feel like the local people had a tendency to feel a little inferior to the summer residents, because if they were invited into their home socially, we thought we were up in the world. We felt like that was a great honor. So, I'm sure there was a certain amount of class distinction there; that we did think they were a little above us socially, and, of course, we knew they were financially, there was no doubt about that. PM: Did anyone ever tell you that, that gave you that im- pression? Say, when you were in school did any teacher talk to you about this difference? EB: No, no, and I think probably I felt it less--and please don't think I'm saying this egotistically at all--but my family, the Holthozers, were a prominent family then. So, probably we were accepted into ' the homes of the summer residents more than others. But I remember my friends say, "Hmmm, think you're somethin', don't ya?" being invited to any of their social functions. And we really felt like we were getting up in the world when we were invited into their homes. But I don't think this was the feeling among the summer residents, because we had such a high, really high class people as summer residents that you certainly wouldn't associate any class distinctions within their minds, you know, because they were anxious, really for us to come in their homes and be a part of them. You said you were so familiar with Flora McDonald, we had the Bardells, who for years and years were residents of Blowing Rock, summer resi- �6 dents. And then the Cones and the Cannons. These names are familiar to you I'm sure, aren't they? PM: Yes, ma'am. EB: So we had such a .•• and they were church workers, they worked in the church. Dr. Bardell supplied in our church during the summer for years, and years and years. So, to them this was home, and they were really citizens of Blowing Rock from their standpoint, and of course, from our standpoint, too, we accepted them. PM: Were there any feelings at all about the fact that these people were coming to your Blowing Rock to stay for se~eral months? Did you have any real feelings either negatively or positively about that? EB: Not then, not as a child, because we thought it was great when they would start coming back. We looked forward to the time when they were coming back and we'd say, "oh, the lardells are here" , or "the Cannons are here", and it was really something that we'd looked forward to. Now, whether or not we unconsciously were conscious of that fact that our living depended upon them, that everything we had ~e was dependent on this business, that mayAhad something to do with it, though at the time certainly I didn't think about that. And I don't think my father did either, because my brother-in-law was working in the store, my father's store, Missus Cannon came in to buy a rug which was then a fantastic price for a rug, I think around ten thousand dollars. Well, to me that's a big price even yet. of business through catalogues. But Dad did a lot He would keep the catalogues �7 and order for the people from the catalogues. come in to select a rug. So she had I think on a ten thousand dollar rug maybe he would make a profit of maybe ten dollars. By that time people beginning to get more and more financially conscious, you know: make money, make money. But I remember Dad saying why should he take advantage of Miz Cannon just because she had money? It, really, didn't cost him anything but a three-cent sta•p, and he was perfectly happy with his profit of ten dollars. So, the local people then didn't try to take advantage of the people just b ecause they had money. PM: Do you recall ever having any friends, children of the summer people, who you looked forward to seeing come back every year? Any type of relationship like that? EB: That's something I expect would really give you an insight into the tourists, the' type of tourists that Blowing Rock had during that period, early period, because it seemed to be older people who had no children, or people with grown children who maybe wasn't too enticed to be in Blowing Rock, that came, and so really I don't remember people of my own age, like playing with them, or those things. I just don't remember it at all, because it seems that it has been really a place where elderly people came, and retired people, the and notAyounger generation. Even that early there was definitely that because there was really not much for young people to do, and I think they preferred the beaches, you know, and so we just didn't have many young people. And while I haven't thought of it, I really don't remember �having playmates among the summer residents. PM: Approximately what were the years that we've been talking about? EB: Was it 1919? '20? '30? Yes, I expect from 19 and 15, '20, because these were the things that I remember when I was ten maybe twelve years old. PM: Could you tell me when were you born? EB: 19 and 8. PM: 1908. Okay, you gave the example of your father or- dering the ten thousand dollar rug and you mentioned that at that a~ ~s~~ time people weren't that interested in making all that much money, they hadn't quite reached that point, do you have any feeling as to when they began to feel like they needed to make more money on that ten thousand? Using ten thousand just as an example, as a figure, when did people's attitudes begin to change, and maybe you have a feeling as to why it changed? EB: I don't think I could see the change, I can see it maybe not in myself because I don't think my family was ever money-minded too much. a lot of money. Really our aim wasn't money, But I could see the change in maybe public places changing their rates from ••• like they would have seasonal rates, you know, then they certainly had an idea they'd make more money at one time .•• They were money-conscious. I think the fact that they did change their rates during certain periods. Now, of course, the horse show has always been one of the busiest periods during the summer and many of the places would up their rates due to the fact they �9 knew they were going to have a lot of people , there was no doubt about it, and they would get as much money as possible. And to me that's taking advantage of people. And so you see, this yen for money certainly growing all the time. PM: Did your father ever speak or talk about the jump in prices? EB: Were they going on when he was running his business? I never heard him talk about whether he would make a big profit or a little profit. fair-minded man. He was reall y such an honest, He said "a fair profit", and while he was a good business man, from this standpoint my brother when he worked in the store, Dad would caution him: "Now, you give absolutely accurate measure. Don't you give a bit over, or don't you give a bit under." This was honest, and while he wouldn't give an ounce he didn't take an ounce from the other person either. And he definitely felt an over-charge was not a fair profit. PM: Can you thi nk of any particular saying, or any particular principle that your father taught your brothers and sisters? Well, sometimes we've been told certain a saying like "a penny saved is a penny earned•, do you recall any of those sayings that stuck with you? EB: We were certainly brought up with this: Dad was con- stantly telling us never to buy anything you couldn't pay for. You're aware of the credit cards and all of this, we was brought up on that:"Don't buy anything unless you can pay for it." And we didn't, and this influenced me all my life, and really now I just never buy anything on credit, as popular as it is to do that. In fact, the salesmen at �10 the Inn would get thoroughly disgusted with me because I insisted upon paying for everything as it was delivered to me. Credit companies would not take my name as a reference because I never gone in debt on anything. But that was really the outstanding thing that I remember my dad teaching all of us, and certainly it has paid off in the long run. PM: Well now, let's get to about 1929 and just tell me a- bout how you got ••• What you were doing in 1929 and the business that you got into. EB: (bo; I+) · It was during the Depression and my father had filled the place. I think a fulfillment of hopes, thinking of it as it was when he came in: you never dreamed it could be operated as a public place because it had none of the conveniences of a tourist place. But my husband and I came up not long after the place was completed, and we just went in and started cooking, really, like we did at home. So, we gained the experience as we went along. PM: Your father built ••. What did he build in1929? EB: The Sunshine Inn. PM: The Sunshine Inn. And what was his reason for building the Inn? EB: In order that people--and he really had this on his heart, I think--that people could come to Blowing Rock and enjoy it without having to pay such fabulous prices. And for that reason all through the years we kept our prices down when they were going up all around us and people said, "Why don't you go up? You have to." I think knowing Dad's dream of that kept me from going up on prices all through �11 the years. PM: Now, how did you get into the business of the Sunshine Inn itself? Was there anything happening in 1929 that got you back here? EB: The Depression. My husband was laid off, he was working at the Southern Bell, and he was laid off. out work: we had to do something. So, we were with- And like I said, we knew nothing about this but it was something to hold on to and we were thankful that it happened just at the .time that Dad needed someone to operate this Inn. And while we were ig- norant at it, the tourist people then were not very choosey. I mean, they accepted things as they were, and if things were not convenient, if we had just one public bathroom, if everyone ate at the one long table, they accepted that and thoroughly enjoyed it. PM: Describe what the Inn was like in 1929 and how you actually operated it around 1929 . EB: Well, we added to it later, but from the beginning I think we had a fairly large kitchen with just a home range and we cooked on a coal stove. The pipe was constantly getting clogged up with soot and we'd have to take it down, clean it out every week. But we had no cabinets. I think groceries and things probably we just shoved under the table, I don't remember. But we certainly had none of the cabinet space, and the storage space, that you would think of that a hotel or inn might have. room. We had about eight bedrooms, one bath- One bathroom • • Everybody used the bathroom, bathroom. that one And the dining room, we had one long table and �12 everybody sat at this table. Really, it was just like one big family because they seemed to enjoy this type of .•• We didn't have a menu. We would carry the food and put it on the table whether they liked it or not, but they really seemed to like it, and people would comment how nice it was just to have the food served and not have to be bothered deciding for themselves from a menu what they wanted to eat. And the people just really seemed to enjoy the simple things. And I feel confident about this that while we may not have a had.Avery expensive and exclusive hotel, we had people prefer to stay with us rather than go to Mayview Manor. (Begin Side Two) PM: We were talking about the Sunshine Inn that your father built in 1929 and you just described the Inn. Can you des- cribe some of the people that came to see you? Tell us something about some of those people. EB: Well, when they came of course, they were perfect strangers, but they didn't stay strangers long . hecause in no time they were just part of the family and accepted us as the family. Now, we had cooks, the colored couple, that cooked for us for thirty years, and we had at that time a local girl, two, we only used two then, as waitresses. They girls not only wait on the tables, but they helped with all the cleaning up the rooms, you know. thought of using canned food. Of course, then we never We peeled our own potatoes, and we peeled our apples, we made our cakes, our ice cream, we killed and dressed the chickens, and the girls even helped with those things. And I paid them five dollars a week. �13 Five dollars, and they gladly did all this extra work. They changed there later. I remember one girl who ••• This was years later, but to see the changes that went about, we gradually had about ten waitresses and maybe by that time we were using busboys, too, or at least one busboy. But this young girl, waitress, and I think probably she was the- only one that was not a local girl that worked for me during all the years--but she decided their work was too hard and she thought I should hire a helper for every waitress. That is, this extra girl would carry the food in and place it on the table, and thereafter the waitress had gotten their drinks and the meal was finished, then her helper would clear the table and reset the table. Really, what it amounted to, the girl was picking up the tips and not doing the work. That was just one unusual waitress that I had and she didn •t stay with us long, because most of the girls stayed year, after · year, after year, and they, too, became part of the family. PM: Now, how long did a guest stay at the Inn when they came to stay? EB: Oh, they came probably the first of July and they stay July and August until we closed it Labor Day. PM: And back in 1929, around that period, what would it cost someone to stay at the Inn? EB: Around fifteen dollars a week, including three meals a day, and let me explain "three meals a day." Breakfast was big, they would eat a huge breakfast; then we didn't say "lunch", we said "dinner" in the middle of the day and that �14 consisted maybe of a meat and seven, or eight, or nine vegetables, and a salad and dessert. And the~e thing was what we called "supper", only it wasn't dinner it was "supper." We would serve maybe two meats and maybe as many as nine vegetables. I was holding up we always did. the I remember I used to count to be sure standard and having as many things as Usually about nine, including the fruits and vegetables, you know. three meals a day. And the people ate consistently I think invariably they gained weight during the summer, but they enjoyed it, so that was all right. PM: What would these people do for two months while they were staying here at Blowing Rock? EB: There was no entertainment of any kind at Blowing Rock, no attractions, no movies, no auctions, nothing they could do at the inn except for getting out and walking and taking hikes. If the weather was bad they stayed at home and sat around and talked to each other, or else if they became restless and wanted a little more activity they would get in the dining room and play games, and even move back the chairs and dance, just entertain themselves. PM: So the guests would entertain themselves, and would mingle and mix with all the other guests? EB: Oh yes, oh yes, and I think we were really so fortunate in having this type people who did enjoy other people, and it wasn't long until at the end of the season when they would begin to leave and go back home, they would say to each other, "See you next summer," and next summer they �15 would see each other because they looked forward to coming back with the same crowd that they had enjoyed the summer before. PM: So, we had the same people year after year, after . year. What would happen during the non-season after you closed at Labor Day? What all happened around the Sunshine Inn? EB: We just hibernated practically. we looked forward to that; In a way, of course, as much as we enjoyed the tour- ists we did look forward to everything being quiet and not having to work so hard. Really, though, you may not think pf it as a year-round job, but it was~ because we're do-it- yourself people and we did our own work. We'd start painting rooms, or doing repair work, or things that we ~ould do during the period that we were closed that we couldn't do during the summer. So really, it was more or less a year- round job. PM: What happened to your waitresses .and help? What would they do during the winter? EB: The girls were usually high school girls, so, of course, they in school during the winter. Our cooks had a little home down off the mountain and they did what everybody else did, we ..• Somehow or another, I never knew, but we managed to make enough money in the summer to survive the winter, so our cooks, the old colored couple, would just rest up during the winter. PM: Now, where would they stay during the summer? EB: We had a room right back of the kitchen and that was Maggie and John's room. �16 PM: Maggie and John, what was their last name? EB: Jones. PM: And they stayed with you throughout EB: Throughout the summer, yes. summer? They had their own room: just real convenient, just open the kitchen door and go right into their room. While I'm sure at first they must not have had their own bathroom, eventually we did add their own bathroom and also another room for additional help. So, we grew, and, of course, then we did everything on our own. The government--the state, the county, the town--didn't bother us. They could have cared less how we run and operated, and run our business, and we were entirely on our own. We didn't have to bother . with Social Security, sales tax, privileges, licenses, unemployment tax, which we did have to bother with later. And, of course, then, the health department was beginning to take an interest in the public eating places, and establishments, so we had eventually to change to their standards. They were very lenient with us, I think they were with the older places, but we certainly had to make certain changes and adjustments and probably that's the reason we put in more bathrooms, and changed equipment in the kitchen to meet the standards of the health department. PM: Do you recall how much Mister and Missus Jones were paid when they were working for you? EB: Did they start in1929? Yes, and I paid them together, as a husband and wife. They were a team so I paid them twenty five dollars a week in addition to their meals and their room, which they thought was great, and r~ I thought it was pretty good myself really to have paid them that much. But before they left I think I was paying them �17 instead of the combined salary of twenty-five dollars a week, anywhere from eighty to a hundred dollars each a week: that's how much things changed during that period. PM: What do you recall about Mister Jones and Missus Jones as they worked around the Sunshine Inn? EB: Oh, they were just so loyal to the business. In fact, they were just as concerned and interested in the business as we were, and certainly so conscientious about their work. to do and they felt responsible for that job. the cooking. They had a job It just wasn't Every morning John would go in and light the stove and while the stove was heating up he would go out and sweep all the walkways in the front, and the front porch. They seemed to take it for granted this was their job, and they did it. And if you happened to help them out, or to do some of their job, they resented it, because they felt like, ''Well, I'm not living to my bargain to do this job," and they really resented it. And they felt a concern if business wasn't good, in fact, they hesitated to take their money if we wasn't doing a good business. They said, "You haven't made this, so I hate to take the money that I know is hard for you to pay." But this was their attitude toward us and toward the business, too. PM: Did you ever have to discipline any of your employees, not only Mister and Missus Jones, but any of the other employees? How would you all settle the problems? EB: I think just like a family. If the girls 9ave us any pro- blems, I always hesitated on pointing out a girl in something that she had done that was not quite what we wanted her . to do, but I don't think I was ever cut out to be a boss. Even though �18 I felt they needed corrections, I was very hes·d .tant to correct them. I would sort of beat around the bush, you know, and call all the girls together for a"family conference", and we would sit down and somehow or other I would work around to this thing that had bothered me and not point out that "You're the guilty one," but it was something that had to be adjusted. So we had no hard feelings then between our relationship and the same way with John and Maggie. Invariably people are going to make mis- takes--sometimes burn up something, or burn some food--Maggie would be so distressed about this. She'd say, "Missus Burns, if I were in your place I wouldn 't put up with me. fire me." I would But then I had that feeling of closeness to Maggie, I would say, "Maggie, if I never made a boo-boo myself then I might fire you, but as long as I make them myself then I can't condemn you for making them." we had with our help. That was the relationship that In fact, I never says, "You work for me. You work with me." PM: Is that what you would say? EB: Oh y.es, and that really works. You get more loyalty from your help, and more work, really. PM: Did you work just as hard as they did? EB: Oh yes! I nev.er would ask them to do anything I wouldn't do myself, and I can't think of a single thing that I didn't do sometime or other: from a-waiting tables, cooking meals, washing dishes, and cleaning rooms. I went into every, every bit of it. It didn't bother me. PM: And was your husband doing the same thing? EB: Oh yes, oh yes. PM: Did he ever wash a dish? �19 EB: At the beginning of the season and in order to cut down on things financially while things were slow, he was the dishwasher. He .was the dishwasher. And I was the maid. Here such a good relationship existed between our guests and us, that while I did all of the maid work ... And we had a lot of fun with it because I'd knock on the door and say, "This is Mary the maid, may I come in?" Invariably they'd open the door and say, "Well, you don't have to bother our room, we've already made up our beds and straightened up our rooms, so there's nothing to do." maid work got easier and easier. So, my That's the type of people we had; that they really looked after themselves. PM: They'd continue to come back over the years? EB: Oh, year, after year, after year, after year. PM: Now, what was the shortest time, do you recall, right at the very beginning that people would stay at the inn? EB: Oh, people just never came for any less than two weeks. just didn't have any overnight guests. We If we were thinking from a financial standpoint that would have been great because you had to change sheets constantly, you had to clean rooms constantly, and really, it was good for us to have people come and stay for a long period of time, both from the work standpoint and from a financial standpoint. To see how people liked the simple things and the simple way of life, and the plain food and everything, it came to me from a man that we had .•. Of course, alot of people wrote in for reservations! they were coming to. They had no idea what kind of place But we had a Mister Dillon from Florida who, I think was awfully disappointed when he came in. He evidently was pretty wealthy, and he had written to us for a reservation, and we �20 had confirmed his reservation. His son brought him up, he didn't drive, he was rather an elderly man, and I sensed the minute he came in that he was disappointed, that he expected a little more elaborate accomodations, you know. Also, his son was, I think, at first skeptical. But it was a little late so they spent the night. But the next morning, and this he told me later, "We went over to Mayview Manor and looked around, and, r• he says, "we both had a feeling that Sunshine Inn wasn't quite up to what we thought it was going to be, so we went to Mayview Manor." But the man didn't drive, and he told his son, "Since I don't, I'll just go on and stay down at Sunshine for a few days anyway." So, it wasn't but. about two or three days until he was just the happiest old man. He said the simplicity had really been great for him, and the friendship, because we had a lot--I guess we'd say--"old maids" who were delighted in entertaining this old widower. His wife had died just a month or two before and he was really depressed, but he came out of it and thoroughly enjoyed it. And he told me later that he wouldn't stay anyplace else for anything in the world and he came back as long as we were in business, every summer. PM: How long did he come? Do you recall? EB: I believe about twelve years. And that was the nice part about our business because we kept having the same people over, and over, and over. And they seemed to fit in perfectly. Of course, everybody· has a few instances when things are not too pleasant. PM: Can you give me an idea of some of those unpleasant things? EB: Well, we had one family come in, and I say this through no reflection of the Jewish people, but they were Jewish and they �21 asked to see the rooms and they were very, very critical. And they were not at all friendly to the other guests, which horrified me. They had accepted the rooms, though and were going to stay, but I just had a feeling I don't know whether this is going to work out too well or not. So, I said to him as we went to the door, "I don't believe you're going to like it here. I just don't think you're going to like it here at all." I says, "We have the nicest, friendliest people, most congenial guests in the world, and I just don't believe you'll like it." So, that was one instance where .•• It just didn't happen often because it seemed like we were unusually fortunate in having the cream of the crop. PM: Can you recall any other unhappy--we don't like to think of all the unhappiness, but I think it kind of gives a balance, we do have those times when it's not happy. EB: Oh yes, I know we have to face them because they do exist, and too, I think it shows not always when there's criticism, and it has taught me certainly to be very lenient and understanding of eating places where things might happen that you certainly don't want to happen. Oh, we were just swamped! But we were so rushed one night. And I think really that I was aware, but not entirely aware because I was in the kitchen, and this family sat in the dining room and evidently didn't get but a few of the thing$that we served for our evening meal. I was rushing between the kitchen and the cash register and I went out with a big smile, you know, expecting him to say he had enjoyed the meal, which I had grown accustomed to. let me have it. But boy! he He said I ought to be ashamed of myself for �22 cheating the public like that. And he was really, really in- dignant about it. And my feathers fell just like that, but it was due to the rush and the girls just didn't get around to serving him, and serving him all the food we had and he was too impatient to wait for the food. Those things happen at every place, I'm sure of that, too. But I think about the funniest thing that happened: s~aying A couple came in to eat, they were not in the house, but they just came in to meals, and they had been coming in for several days and on the morning they · were leaving they came in for breakfast. Very nice, and had really complimented the meals everytime they'd eaten there. On that morning, though, that they were leaving they came in and ate cantiloupe, and they ate oatmeal, and we served as an order, too, eggs and two slices of bacon, or sausage, they ate that with toast. Then they ate hot cakes, then they ate French toast, then they ordered another order of eggs. Now, we never hesitated to give people everything they ordered because we advertised all they can eat, and all you want, for the same price. So, they ordered the second order of eggs and when the girl took it in they started fussing. suit them. The eggs were not fixed to They were either too soft or too hard. Well, she took that order of eggs back and got another order and she brought those and they just wouldn't do at all. worst tasting eggs they ever saw. times. They were the She took those back. Three Really, the people at the table next to them said it was just really terrible the way they talked to the girl in their criticism of the food. Of course, everybody knew they'd eaten so much nothing could taste good to them at that stage. The �23 girl finally sent for me to come in and talk to them myself, so I went in and I said, "Really, we'd do everything we could to please them and get their order straight, but if they were not happy with it then we · money." certainly would not take their So, they ended up by not paying for their breakfast. I think that was the point all the time. But you run into that, invariably you have a few who are very critical, and impatient, but we certainly were fortunate in having very, very few through the years. PM: What was the relationship that Mister and Missus Jones had to your guests? Did anything happen that would kind of give us an idea of what that relationship was as far as segregation goes? EB: Oh, Certainly Maggie and John had no thought of associat- ing with our guests. They would have hated that more than our guests would have resented it because the guests would come into the kitchen and talk with Maggie and John and compliment them on their cooking abilities, but Maggie and John would never, in any way, take advantage of what they thought their place was then. As colored people they felt like they had a place and they stayed in it, even to the extent that if we who felt as close to them as anyone could possibly feel, like they were part of our family, but they, in their humility, if we'd sit down at the table while they were eating they'd put their plates in their laps. PM: They'd still sit there and eat? EB: Sit there there yes, but not with their plate on the table. Now that I don't know whether it was just part of their humility �24 or if they felt the difference in the color, or why they did that I don't know. But to me it was significant of the ••• being the difference between the black and the white, as it was considered back during those days . PM: What about the relationship with their children and your children? They did have one son? (Begin Tape #2, side one) PM: We were talking about the Jones' nephew who lived with them and just the relationship that the nephew had with your own children as he was growing up. EB: It was just like brothers, especially my younger son, and believe it or not his name was Sweet. We called him Sweet. They had no ••. no consciousness that one was black and one was white. They could see no reason why they couldn't eat together, they couldn't sleep together, they couldn't take trips together. They saw no reason at all why they couldn't associate just as brothers. And they did, really. But at one point where they wanted to go off on a trip and spend the night to a ballgame, Maggie, bless her heart, she was just the greatest, she took Sweet aside and said, "Sweet , you just can't do do this. just don't do this." You She says, "Colored people just don't go off with white people like that," she says, "You just can't do it." And the same thing she told him when Ronnie wanted to spend the night in Sweet's room, "No, that just won't do. You're black and he's white and that won't do." But Maggie accepted it as such. PM: Did Maggie ever make any statements as to how she felt a- bout being segregated? �25 EB: Just one or two times. Not so much on segregation, the difference between the black and the white, as people not associating together, even the whites with the whites, which seemed down through the years people became more and more, I guess the word's selfish, they wanted to be by themselves. So, if there was any problem with that someone sitting with anyone else at a table, she couldn't understand that. wonder She just would what they would do when they got to Heaven. But and too of course, I heard her then so many times say that the nurses of the families that had Negro mamies to look after their children and they, too, seemed to have such a close relationship and Maggie would remark that she just couldn't understand how that relationship could be so close and yet be such a difference in their social standing, and in their opportunities. So she did feel it to a certain extent. PM: What about her husband, did you ever have any feelings that he felt that way? EB: John, he was I think maybe just really afraid to say any- thing along this line. Now John told me this, I don't know I that it's true, but way back when my father was building the ~ store and they were making brick to buildAstore, John says he helped, came up from his little place down there and helped make that brick, and he said there was such a feeling even then between the blacks and whites that he was afraid to stay up here, and that there were times when they had gotten stoned, I mean had rocks thrown at them, you know. So, John seemed to have a fear there of ever expressing his own opinion. back from that period. Maybe it dated �26 PM: Well, tell me about your attitude about business. did you approach making · money as such? Let~s How put it this way: how did you keep books, and how did you determine the prices that you were going to charge? EB: Well, to begin with, we didn't keep any books. Like I said, it was our own business so if we made some money all right and if we didn't then that was our bad luck, too. But as far as bookkeeping, we just didn't keep any books, or we didn't have a cash register. Then, of course though, as we bought wholesale I was conscious of prices in terms o.f the menus that we were serving. For instance, I knew that for two dollars we could not serve T-bone steaks, and I was conscious of the fact that certainly while country ham was one of our main attractions, especially on Sunday ·morning, the time came when we could not serve country ham at seventy-five cents for breakfast, you see. And I was conscious of prices from that respect, but during all those years I don't think I ever sat down and figured actually how much a meal would cost me and if we took in enough money to take care of the cost of the meal that I had served . PM: Well, how would you price breakfast, for example? What would go through your mind when you would finally say that this breakfast is going to cost seventy-five cen~, or a dollar, or however much it cost? EB: I guess really through, from experience. I thought,"Well, we're not going to lose money on this breakfast, we may not make any, but we're not going to lose money on this breakfast." I guess I thought more of volume that anything else, because if we had enough people then we'd take in more money and that would take care of the cost of the meal. As for actually sitting down �27 and estimating the price of the meal and our profit, later, of course, all bf the salesmen began to push portions, well , you know, "a portion of meat will cost you so much," but I'd get real irritated with them and said, "Well, I'm not concerned in portions," because our meals, , meats, were put on platters and we'd put enough portions on that until we had no doubt. We just didn't want.' to run out,so portions didn't mean a thing to me. And it was hard, really, to estimate the price of maybe a twenty-five, thirty pound roast in regard to portions because some people ate so much more than others. we couldn't count on that, you know. The way we served We'd let people have as much as they wanted• PM: Why do you suspect that the salesmen were pushing portions, and encouraging you to go by the portion route? EB: Profits. To really give us a bigger profit, I think. Then I would know just exactly how much my meat was costing me. that was the big item of course, the meat, it ~s Well now; it was then. So, I guess really, the way I estimated . was I paid a hundred dollars for the meat for a meal. Well, we'll serve maybe a hun- dred and fifty people, so I guess that's the way I really judged whether or not we were going to lose money or make money. Be- cause we could estimate then on the people we were going to serve. If this amount of meat will serve that many people, then I'm not going to lose money or I'm going to make money. PM: When you say I'm going to make money, would you say twenty per cent, or fifty per cent? Were you trying to just make a little money, or a lot of money, or break even? EB: We were trying to make a living, that was about it and �28 really we were pretty well satisfied with the living because we felt like if we made enough during the summer to live on during the winter we were doing pretty well. PM: When you say "to make enough to live on," do you mean enough to buy your own food, to buy your own fuel and have a little spending money throughout the winter? EB: Yes, and we thought we were doing pretty well to do that. And when you think about it, that's pretty good to work those months in the summer and ·then loaf the rest of the time, although we really didn't loaf. wouldn't rou That you can say is pretty good, say, really? PM: I feel good about it. EB: We didn't have money in the bank. In fact, I don't think really either of us thought about how much money we were making, we just took it as it came. If we made some money, okay, if we didn't,okay. PM: Did you save money over the years? EB: Yes, at the end of the season I sort of estimated how much would it take for us to get through the winter and if we had it on deposit and if I felt like we could afford a hundred or two dollars I'd put1in Watauga Savings and Loan, and it's amazing if you put it there and forget about it what it can do. That's part of my living today I'll tell you. PM: Well, can you tell me how has the tourist business changed over the years and when did you retire, 19 .•• ? EB: About five years ago. PM: That was 1969? EB: Sixty-nine. �29 PM: From 1929 to 1969, that's forty years, how did the business change? EB: The good and the bad? Well, I think the biggest change was the transits people that came in, people who were on the go. We had alot more over- night guests than we had back in the old days. And then in the contentment--I guess contentment's a good word--people were so content with the simple things, I mean not much entertainment, they didn't have to be entertained. But as years went on, it seems that that was the main thing they looked for in a tourist town was all the attractions, the recreation facilities, and the entertainment. this line?" "Well, what have you got to offer along So, that definitely was the biggest change, the restlessness of the people and their demands for entertainment and recreation facilities, which was unheard of in the earlier days. PM: You know, this area has certainly changed in those ways and they offer people quite a few things I think to do. you see that as positive? EB: Do Is that good or is that bad? Why certainly, it's helped the tourist business, there's no doubt about that. Whereas I would say it has doubled, the tourist business, over doubled since we first started. And I expect it's certainly due to these attractions that have come in: Land of Oz and Tweetsie. We still, if we want to progress as a tourist town, have a long way to go in attractions for the young people. Of course, from years back we had horseback rid- ing and hiking, those were things put on the brochures about Blowing Rock, but the young people don't care for that now. They want actual entertainment, some kind of amusement, and we've �30 cJI'"& got a long way yet to entice the young people in. And we Astill sort of a retired, older people's tourist town. PM: Can you recall any particular effort you were involved in getting more and more people to come here, maybe through the Chamber of Commerce, or •.. ? EB: We contributed to the Chamber of Commerce, but I don't think I was very cooperative in the advertising. Their ways of advertising to me, they would put all the posters, and do all the advertising in other states and along the highways. Then people would come here but be disappointed becau"'e they didn 't have the recreatio be they had expected . faciliti es or attra ctions that may- It was the same way at the Inn. very little advertising. Just in this past summer you see a great big s ign, "Sunshine Inn", dmm here. new. Well, really, that's That's new, \'e didn't have anything like that. like rather than We did I felt spend money putting out signs and advertising, if I could put that mane place more attractive for into something that would make my the people who came there, to me that would be a bigger advantage than all the signs that I could put out on the hig ways , because then tho se people were happy and satisfied and they would go and tell others, and to me that's the best way to advertis • And I felt like this as the same with Blow-i ng Rock, though certainly we cooperated with the Chamber of Commerce and all the projects that the town et forth as the aim to bring in more touri s t trade. PM: Your Sunshine Inn was a family-owned, run, operation, there were other attractions or homes t hat were not family-owned, could you tell a difference between the family-owned and the operations �31 that were not family-owned, in the way they wer EB: operated? Yes , yes , the people who-- I hope I ' m not s ying something that sometime later anybody might resent--but this certainly is refle cted on the local people a d their attitud e toward business . Because i r ecent years we have gotten so many , es- pecially from Florida , m .n or people who have come in and ought motels , or have go e into businese here. They seem purely t think of it fr o "We a financial and this is our aim, a n tandpoint: ant to make mo ey , r gardle "' s we 're going to ma ke mo ey." The local people, when it' s a local person, he doesn ' t have that attitude at all . It ' s more th inst ad of making tation . i te e t of the entire town , and alot of money , j u t have a good repu- So that local feeling toward bu ines~ how s I thi k in all the places , the e s tablis ments , that we have now . PM: Are there 1 any establi shment s r n , or different o~med by people fro or different state· , owned by them area~ have them op rat by s omebody el~e? nd th n they Do you know of many like that nO\<V ? EB: Do you mean that th PM: Rig t . EB: Yes . lo aJ people have sold out t o? It' s happening more and more an very, v ery few, eve local people . rig t now there s the motelR that are -""d and People fr o oth r se ction s o ght th em , and operat e them. f p erated by t he countr h v come in nd It ' s dist re ssing t me that o mariy of the busi e s e s and the shops up the street , 0 all of them are going out of the hand s of local people. PM: Is there any particular r aso that loc al people ar busines 0 for it other than the f ct ju . . t getting 'tired of their and selling to .hoever com s in? OvJri particular �32 Well , EB: y s and I '"' .r . talkine; about it t is morning i ur f eel ing toward the tourists and them taking the b sinesses in Blowing Rock. He says it ' not that feeling of" res tment, b t it's the feeling that the e people can have money , mo tly retired p ople , a a f ford. 1~0 can afford alot more tha the local peopl e And thy will offer maybe such a f nt f r a buf'i es s , t at th lo a J peopl for that pri ce , and they ' ve got the oney to do it. O\I But this And this is what rese ts becauce he and his wife c:ir- e li ing i apart el'.1t ric will certainly sell it has re ulted in real e tate going out of sight. my so t ic a litt r h re now of min, and they 1ould like v ry much t o hav . ah me, yet he s ayc all th ese p eople with so much money come in her an pay such fanta tic prices for thing no chance in the world he can have a home, real no~ there's at the price of state. PM: You didn't sense th·s back when you were a young girl? RB: No , oh no ! PM: Prices weren ' t being pushed up? EB: No , no and certainly local people o n d and operat ed m s t of the busi e s es, if not all of them back then, I expect th id. r M: Do they operate them with the same philosophy that you did of having a good busines caring about maki g EB: You know, I t i and a good reputatio lot of money? I can say tru.thfully that i of the local people becau e I think of now the and the inn right above us, th t e attitu e Marti Hol:.... , Green Inn, it seemed that they really enjoy d operati g their pla e in, not wit v..itl cut really and having the tourist the idea of making alot of money. come I r ally belie e �33 t hat wa the att i tude of most of t e l ocal people . Back then especiall y. PM: One th "ng I j st wanted to hit on , you ' v e already t al ked a bout it, can you r e call any of those game people played , in your pa rlor I guesc , when t hey came in as tourist s , a s summer peopl e ? EB : There ' s one they ca ll ed " Pi g" and I cannot r e e ber t he details of t he game , but I remember it wa s ver y hilar ious and evident l y t he pi g woul d put h i s f inger by th e s ide of hi s nose and t hen t here wa s a l ot of holl ering and whooping. On e t ine we had a senator, v·e ry eld erly, ret ired s enator there with hi s wife , and his health wasn't good and he had a nurse the r e with him . All of t he guests were in the dining room playing Pig, and of course, there were other games we played as children that you wouldn't think that they would enjoy, but they thoroughly enjoyed. You know Post Office and all this, they tho- roughly enjoyed it. But one night I think everybody was es- pecially having fun, it was sort of noisy you know, laughing and talking, and this old senator had a room on the same floor as the dining room and he was a rather dignified person anyway, ~( 'ffil ; ~ and suddenlyAin the room got quiet, just quiet as could be, nobody made a noise, we looked up and in the dining room door stood this old man in knees. his night shirt that just came to his And he was a little withered up sort of man anyway. He looked like something out of a story book standing there in the dining room door, but he was just as stern, he wanted to know what was going on in there, that his sleep was being disturbed. He went back to his room, but the next morning he came �34 to me, "Miz Burns, you weren't in there last night in all that noise, were you?" I sort of hung my head and said, "Well, I was in there." PM: What did he say about that? Did he ask you not to do it again? EB: No, no he didn't. but he soon got over it. Evidently he was irritated at the time, They had been used to a little more formality than we were able to offer at the Inn. bit His son, too was a political figure, so they were looking for him to come up and they wanted us to put on just a little extra, you know, when he got there. So, I had agreed with his wife that I would put bread and butter plates on, you know, and really put on a little bit, spread it on for him. It happened that he came in right while they were eating the noon meal and they were ready for the noon meal so instead of all that formality nothing could have been w0rse because we just took two tables and shoved them 811 together withAthe informality. It had no dignity to it at all. But he was perfectly happy. PM: What was the music that they liked? Was it local people coming in performing for them, playing the instruments that they play, or phonograph, or record player, or did they have any music when they played these games, or when they entertained themselves? EB: No, we just didn't have any music. If ever anybody wanted to tap their foot and clap they did it, but not any real music. I think that was one thing that we ••• Down through the years when you walked into a dining room you expected to hear music of some kind, the soft music you know, we never used it. Just the last �35 few years my husband got interested in intercom and he rigged up something where we could have it, but the reaction we had to that was certainly not good, because any number of people said, "Oh, why did you put in that music?" because one thing they enjoyed about coming there was the quietness and peacefulness, you know, and that they didn't have to listen to all this music. And so that was sort of symbolic to me, too, of what people, of what they enjoyed. You know , I wonder some- times if it's good to people to have all this music and noise while they're eating? PM: Do you recall from 1929 on when people began to change, and didn't play the parlor games and entertain themselves? EB: Just about the time, now, I don't remember dates, I don't know how many years it's been that the auctions came in. Of course, then, people begain instead of staying home in the evening and sitting around talking or singing--they sang, but no musical instruments--they would go to the auctions. And before we retired the house had been entirely empty, as quiet as a mouse after dinner. Everybody'd be gone to the auctions, or a movie, or up on the street window shopping, or off to see some kind of entertainment. PM: As time went on and you were in business, you said at the beginning you really didn't have to worry about the government, the town, the state, as far as running your business, how did that change over a period of time in terms of your relationship to the work, what you EB: ha~e to do? I just don't remember how long we operated without, shall I say , "interference" from the government or the state, that �36 certainly it was over a good many years. And I think maybe the first thing came the privilege license that we had to pay to operate and that we had to pay for every chair that we had in the ~ining room. This came as a privilege license from the state, and then later from the town, too, we had to pay the license from the town. (Begin Side Two) PM: We were talking about the different licenses and the af- feet the government had on business ..• EB: Like I said, I can't remember exactly when it started, but I do remember that gradually these men began to come in and ask ahouf questionsAyour business, and if you were doing so-and-so, and if you were ... Really, it seems to me like when the sales tax started, that thing;tbegan to get complicated then because they were constantly checking. They were doing their jobs, but at the same time taking alot of our time and alot of our money, too. For many years, what we made was ours, we had no taxes of any kind, but then before we closed ther~ocial Security, s~l<S there waSAtax, there was withholding tax--that I resented more than any other tax--there was withholding tax, unemployment compensation, that's the one I mentioned, though. You know the expression, it took a Philadelphia lawyer to keep books after that because these reports had to go in. And not only were these taxes put on us, but they told us exactly how to run our business, too. Now, this was true. They told us how many we could hire, how long they could work, under what conditions they could work, they could work so many hours and that's hard when you're not working by the hour as you don't in the �37 tourist business. And at what age you could hire someone. Really, I guess if I would say I was thankful to be out of it that was the reason because of the things that were involved in a small business like that. lie PM: Come 1969, you were glad toAgetting out of the business? EB: From that standpoint, yes. For sentimental reasons, and certainly tradition, made me very sad to . leave i~. And I think the fact that we had been there forty years, that we'd build, and it wasn't just that that I hated it, too, because we'd left so many disappointed people. These people that had been coming to us for years and years and counted on spending their vacation with us, they were without a place to stay because you know it's hard to accept a new operator after being used to one for forty years. You know, no matter how well they do, your old people are going to find something that's wrong. So, about their management, I not only felt hurt in a way for my ownself, but to think that I had let these people down, which I was getting really to the point where I had no choice. We had been in business long enough and we were giving out under it. But you feel, "Oh, they're going to be so disappointed this summer when they come back." PM: Is there any one particular family, or couple, or single person, that you recall came back more than anybody else did? EB: Well, we had any number of people who came as long as ten, twelve years every summer, but I suppose that one that really stands out is Mister and Missus Butler. He was a busi- ness manager at Elon College and he and his wife spent their honeymoon with us when they were married, then they never missed a summer, until we went out of business and then by that �38 time they had a daughter, I believe about twelve, fifteen years old. . PM: Well, I've certainly enjoyed talking to you and hope you've enjoyed it. EB: I've thoroughly enjoyed it, but I'm afraid I haven't been much help. (The End) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews Description An account of the resource In 1973, representatives from Appalachian State University (ASU) began the process of collecting interviews from Watauga, Avery, Ashe, and Caldwell county citizens to learn about their respective lives and gather stories. From the outset of the project, the interviewers knew that they were reaching out to the “last generation of Appalachian residents to reach maturity before the advent of radio, the last generation to maintain an oral tradition.” The goal was to create a wealth of data for historians, folklorists, musicians, sociologists, and anthropologists interested in the Appalachian Region. The project was known as the “Appalachian Oral History Project” (AOHP), and developed in a consortium with Alice Lloyd College and Lees Junior College (now Hazard County Community College) both in Kentucky, Emory and Henry College in Virginia, and ASU. Predominately funded through the National Endowment for the Humanities, the four schools by 1977 had amassed approximately 3,000 interviews. Each institution had its own director and staff. Most of the interviewers were students. Outgrowths of the project included the Mountain Memories newsletter that shared the stories collected, an advisory council, a Union Catalog, photographs collected, transcripts on microfilm, and the book Our Appalachia. Out of the 3,000 interviews between the three schools, only 663 transcripts were selected to be microfilmed. In 1978, two reels of microfilm were made available with 96 transcripts contributed by ASU. An annotated index referred to as The Appalachian Oral History Project Union Catalog was created to accompany the microfilm. The catalog is broken down into five sections starting with a subject topic index such as Civilian Conservation Corps, Coal Camps, Churches, etc. The next four sections introduced the interviewees by respective school. There was an attempt to include basic biographic information such as date of birth, location, interviewer name, length of interview, and subjects discussed. However, this information was not always consistent per school. This online project features clips from the interviews, complete transcripts, and photographs. The quality and consistency of the interviews vary due to the fact that they were done largely by students. Most of the photos are missing dates and identifying information. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Collection 111. Appalachian Oral History Project Records, 1965-1989 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965-1989 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview. Morgan, Pat Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed. Burns, Ethel Interview Date 1/5/1975 Location The location of the interview. Blowing Rock, NC Number of pages 43 pages Date digitized 9/22/2014 File size 27.4MB Checksum alphanumeric code 26038cec110dad3b109b51bc825c7ab7 Scanned by Tony Grady Equipment Epson Expression 10000 XL Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright for the interviews on the Appalachian State University Oral History Collection site is held by Appalachian State University. The interviews are available for free personal; non-commercial; and educational use; provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Appalachian State Collection 111. Appalachian Oral History Project Records; 1965-1989; W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection; Special Collections; Appalachian State University; Boone; NC). Any commercial use of the materials; without the written permission of the Appalachian State University; is strictly prohibited. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived AC.111 Appalachian Oral History Project Records; 1965 - 1989 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 111_tape353_EthelBurns_transcript_M Title A name given to the resource Interview with Ethel Burns [January 5, 1975] Language A language of the resource English English Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Morgan, Pat Burns, Ethel Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a title="Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews, 1965-1989" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/195" target="_blank">Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews, 1965-1989</a> Subject The topic of the resource Watauga County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--20th century Depression--1929--North Carolina--Watauga County Mountain life--North Carolina--Watauga County--History--20th century--Anecdotes Burn, Ethel Description An account of the resource Ethel Burns grew up and eventually took over the Sunshine Inn, an establishment that housed "the summer people" or the upper-class tourists who came to Blowing Rock over the summer for vacation. They housed them and provided three meals a day for fifteen dollars a week. She recalls that everyone felt a sort of reverence for the summer people but her father "still felt his authority and his own individuality in his relationship to them." The tourists didn't have much to do in Blowing Rock in those days, only hiking and walking and spending time with the other residents. bed and breakfast Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce community club Ethel Burns Great Depression Land of Oz Rowan County segregation summer festival summer residents The Sunshine Inn tourist business Tweetsie