Recollections from generations past (Elmer A. Brittingham -9)

 

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

Interviewer: Was there a sheriff? Did you know the sheriff for the whole

 Worcester County?

Elmer: Yes, we had a high sheriff. And then we had deputies in each of the

 districts. 2 or 3…at least 3 or 4 deputies.

Interviewer: They had horse and carriages? Did you have a horse and

 carriage?

Elmer: When we lived on the farm, we did. When we moved in town we didn’t

 have any.

Interviewer: So you got a car when you moved into town?

Elmer: Yeah, I got a car when I got 21 or so.

Interviewer: What kind of car was that?

Elmer: I got a Pontiac. That’s all I ever had, the first 5 or 6.

Interviewer: Was she a nice car?

Elmer: Yeah, my brother and I bought the first one together. And then…I

 guess we bought the first 2 together.

Interviewer: Did you drive around to different towns?

Elmer: Oh yeah, and of course, I think the first 4 were Pontiacs. Just before

 the war I had a Pontiac. It was about a year old and a black ran into it. He

 didn’t have any lights on his car and tore it all up and I had to buy a new one.

 A 1944 (?) Pontiac Torpedo…it was the sport of the age…$1000

 (audio not clear).

Interviewer: Yeah, I’d like to find me a car for that price. Did you have your

 driver’s license when you turned 21?

Elmer: I already had a driver’s license

Interviewer: When did you get your driver’s license? When you turned 16?

Elmer: I imagine so. Oh, yeah, you had to be 16. I had my motorcycle license

 before I had my car license.

Interviewer: When could you get your motorcycle license?

Elmer: 16

Interviewer: 16?

Elmer: Yeah, and I had 2 motorcycles. From the (audio not clear) boys down

 there. They were both Harley Davidsons. The first one was a single burner.

 Then I got a twin. I don’t know…the twin was a small twin, not a big Harley. I

 rode those for 2 or 3 years. One of them. The other one, I think, I got rid of. I

 had 2 for a while.

Interviewer: How much did they cost when you bought them?

Elmer: I don’t know…they didn’t cost much in those days, like they do now.

 They were both used. But when I got the car, my brother and I were both

 working…(audio not clear)

Interviewer: Did you ever ride the steamboat?

Elmer: I never rode on the river in a steamboat, but I went from Crisfield to

 Baltimore in 1934, I think. I was a company commander and we had a blizzard

 in the middle of the winter, in February or January. And we were supposed to

 have this meeting, all the company commanders and officers of the National

 Guard and officers. So all the phone lines were out and all the railroads

 weren’t running for 3 or 4 days on the lower shore. But this regimental

 commander, Colonel Markey (?), ordered us to come to Baltimore to this

 meeting (audio not clear). He found out we could go from Crisfield by boat,

 by steamer. The steamer came up from south of us somewhere and stopped

 at Crisfield. And my lieutenant went with me. And we had a medical officer

 here then. Captain Massey was just attached to us. And he drove his car. And

 so locally, we could get to Crisfield alright. He got a good room, Captain

 Massey. But my lieutenant and I just had a room over the damn engine, the

 boiler. It went “whomp whomp, whomp whomp” all night long. It didn’t bother

 me too much, but he was scared to death. He had never much been on a

 boat. But we had a good meal. And we took the car up with us. And then

 when we came home, we had to drive all the way around.

Interviewer: But it was nice on the boat? It was like a passenger boat?

Elmer: Yeah, the cabin was nice. It was comfortable enough, but of course it

 was so cold and there was so much ice in the bay, it was a blizzard, that

 everybody was worked up a bit. But we made it fun.  

Continues next Saturday here at The Pocomoke Public Eye.