Some of my first experiences in the big wide world with pretty lights outside of Rising Star, Texas…
Growing Peanuts during World War II
It was here in Amity, Texas in the middle of World War II, that we made more money in growing peanuts than we ever had in our lives –something like $4,000 one year. We, like most of the farmers in the area, drove teams of horses for peanut production. Several of our neighbors had tractors and many were just getting enough money to move into mechanization.
The way that peanuts were cultivated and harvested was a rather long and arduous process as the peanuts had to be planted and grown in long rows that, hopefully, would touch (or lap) in the middle. After full growth, they would be plowed up and wind-rowed with a machine that combined several rows of peanuts into one much larger and continuous pile of peanut plants.
Farmers and their families would then use pitchforks to separate the peanut plants in this large row by shaking out the sand and placing them into individual piles, 20 to 30 feet or so apart, so they could thoroughly dry before being picked up for thrashing. After drying, the owner of the peanut thrasher would bring the machine into the field and set it up in stationary position so that thrashing crews of 20 or 30 farmers with teams of horses and wagons or tractors pulling trailers could pool their resources and help each other.
They would pick up loads of these dried peanuts and take them to the thrashing machine and feed them onto the conveyor belt and into the machine which would then separate the peanuts from the plants. The result were sacks of peanuts coming out of the machine on one side and bales of hay out of the other.
The wife and other family members of the farm whose crop was being harvested would furnish a big lunch for the thrashing crew and they were usually pretty good. Most of the farmers on the thrashing crew were obligated to assist all the other farmers who had helped them with the thrashing of their crops. Much of the work was a bartering system as most farmers did not have a lot of money but were willing to trade their much needed labor with their neighbors in exchange for their service.
I was only about 10 or 11 years old at this time but I was paid the full $2.50 per day to help with the stacking of the peanuts into piles to dry after they had been plowed up and put into wind-rows.
This was in the middle of World War II and there was a severe shortage of adult laborers. With the help of my Dad and my two brothers, I was able to stay up with the other adults in doing my job. I also remember helping with the sacking of the peanuts but I may have been just watching and thought that I was doing more than I was.