MARY: No.
INTERVIEWER: How about your transportation? Was it horse and carriage?
MARY: Horse and carriage and a buggy driven by a horse.
INTERVIEWER: How about the train? Did you just ride the train to Ocean City? Did you ever go anywhere else?
MARY: The first time I rode on a train, I got on at Costen Station and was going to Pocomoke. It cost me ten cents. Well I was afraid the conductor would forget to put me off, so I kept saying to him, “Have we had gotten to Pocomoke yet.” I asked him that about three times. He said if you don’t keep quiet I’m going to put you off right in the river before we get to Pocomoke.
INTERVIEWER: How about steamboats? Did you ever go on a steamboat?
MARY: Oh yes. I used to go to Baltimore on a steamboat.
INTERVIEWER: Wasn’t that a long trip?
MARY: Overnight. I had to stay overnight on the boat.
INTERVIEWER: How about your first car? Do you remember your first car?
MARY: Do you mean when I was first married or after? When I was living as a child do you mean?
INTERVIEWER: Mm-mm
MARY: We didn’t have cars. My daddy didn’t have a car.
INTERVIEWER: You didn’t have a car until after you were married?
MARY: Uh-uh.
INTERVIEWER: What was that like? Did a lot of people have cars before that?
MARY: Not out there in the country.
INTERVIEWER: Was it a Ford?
MARY: Um-mm
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go to Public Landing when you were young?
MARY: Oh yes. I was a chaperone for a house party down there one time.
INTERVIEWER: A lot of kids went down there didn’t they when they were younger?
MARY: Yes, this time, course I was married then, and I was chaperoning. We used to have house parties down there for (audio not clear).
INTERVIEWER: How old were you when you got married?
MARY: Twenty-one.
INTERVIEWER: Was that considered late back then? A lot of them were married when they were fourteen and sixteen.
MARY: Yea. That was late enough. I was last to be married in the area.
INTERVIEWER: How about Red Hills? Have you ever heard of Red Hills?
MARY: Oh yes. I used to go down there and go in wading.
INTERVIEWER: Was that a popular place back then?
MARY: Yes, very popular.
INTERVIEWER: How about Assateague? Did you go to Assateague?
MARY: No. I’ve been there but I hadn’t been there before I was married.
INTERVIEWER: How about Pocomoke River? Did you ever hear any stories about it when you were younger?
MARY: Oh yes. I went skating on that one time. It froze over one winter. That was in, I think it was 1912 or something like that. But it’s never been frozen over enough since then for anyone to go skating on it.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go swimming in it or anything?
MARY: Not in the Pocomoke River.
INTERVIEWER: How about the shipyards? Did you ever go to the shipyards?
MARY: Well Mr. Jimmy Tull had shipyards which employed quite a few people.
INTERVIEWER: Was that one of the biggest employers around here?
MARY: Uh-huh.
INTERVIEWER: How about any storms or hurricanes or anything like that?
MARY: Well, when I was child, I don’t think we had hurricanes. We had thunderstorms and all that.
INTERVIEWER: Wasn’t there a big storm that came, it’s been a while back and it really messed up Ocean City?
MARY: Hazel. That was called Hazel.
INTERVIEWER: It was before that. What kind of music did you listen to?
MARY: Piano and organ.
INTERVIEWER: Did you have a radio that you listened to?
MARY: No, not in my childhood days.
INTERVIEWER: How about any bands that played at dances or anything like that?
MARY: Well my favorite, do you have anything on there about the Pocomoke Fair?
INTERVIEWER: That’s the next question.
MARY: That was my favorite music. It was the first time I ever heard Hawaiian music and oh, it just thrilled me so, and I have liked it ever since.
INTERVIEWER: What did you do at the fair? I mean, what was it like?
MARY: Just walked around. And I used to go on the merry go round. I just loved that.
INTERVIEWER: How about, was there a lot of booths with homemade baked goods.
MARY: Yes, I went around and looked at all the food.
INTERVIEWER: Did a lot of people come from different places?
MARY: Yes. Pocomoke Fair was quite an event in those days.
INTERVIEWER: What was the population of where you lived? How many people do you think were there?
MARY: Do you mean when I lived on the farm? You see, I was raised on a farm.
INTERVIEWER: Were there a lot of houses surrounding your farm?
MARY: No. We lived there near the church and we had an uncle lived across the road from us. It wasn’t very populated very much.
INTERVIEWER: Have you lived in Pocomoke all of your life?
MARY: No. I told someone I was born and bred and wooed and won at Quinton at the same house.
INTERVIEWER: But did you move anywhere else?
MARY: Then when we were married, we moved to Baltimore and we lived there for a while, and then we moved back to Pocomoke. Then we went to Baltimore again, and in 1933 we moved back to Pocomoke from Hagerstown and I’ve been here ever since.
INTERVIEWER: Was it a big change going from Pocomoke to Baltimore?
MARY: Oh yes. I would rather live in Baltimore than anyplace I’ve ever lived.
INTERVIEWER: When you were married, what was it like when you were married? Did you have big weddings?
MARY: No, I was married at home.
INTERVIEWER: Were a lot of people married like that? At home?
MARY: Uh-huh.
INTERVIEWER: Did the church have a lot of activities or did you just go there on Sundays?
MARY: We had summer school and we used to have festivals, they called it, out at Quinton, once a year.
INTERVIEWER: What did you do at these festivals?
MARY: They just sold ice cream and cake.
INTERVIEWER: Was it anything like the Pocomoke Fair?
MARY: No.
INTERVIEWER: Just small?
MARY: Just, I don’t think that’s worth recording (laughs). I’ll be criticized for that.
INTERVIEWER: Is there anything else that you want to say?
MARY: Well you don’t even have my husband's name on there anywhere do you?
INTERVIEWER: It’s Clarence.
MARY: Uh-huh. Clarence E Duncan. We had one son, Wilson, you know him. Did you have him as a teacher?
INTERVIEWER: No, I know he taught at school.
(This series continues next Saturday with recollections of another longtime resident.)
