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• HOME • GENERAL STORE • NATURAL HERITAGE • HISTORY, CULTURE & CRAFTSMANSHIP |
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History, Culture & Craftsmanship
• Storytelling |
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| Storytelling Index OZARKS ORIGINALS • James’ Footprints • Horses Runnin’ CHICK ALLEN • Bonnie & Clyde • The Yocum Dollars LOUIS DARBY • Pirate of Point Chretien • In Louisiana, 1901 Culture Index • Agriculture • Book Learning • Cooking • Craftsmanship • Faith in the Hills • History • Music • People of the Hills • Storytelling • Tourism |
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Interestingly enough, my dad had a lot of colorful stories. And if I don't bore you with one, I'll tell you how things were in Lousiana when he was a kid..
My dad was born in 1901, in Sunset, Louisiana. When he was a little boy, his uncle, John, had money.
And Uncle John, once a year, would make a trip to New Orleans to buy supplies. John would take a charcoal pen, make the kids line up on a piece of cardboard and he would outline their feet.
Then he would take it to New Orleans to buy them shoes. Dad would say sometimes they'd outgrow their shoes before the end of the year and have to cut the toes out. Thank God they lived in Louisiana where it was warm.
But Uncle John would also buy fabric for grandma and everything else. As a big treat, he'd go to the ice house and buy 250 pounds of solid ice packed in sawdust. And then he'd travel by train and by horse-and-buggy and by mule-and-cart all the way back to the middle of Louisiana where my folks were born and raised.
By the time he'd get to grandma's, he would take that block of ice out, clean the sawdust from it, and there was just enough that hadn't melted for grandma to make homeade vanilla ice cream.
My dad said what a wonderful treat that was — to be able to have ice cream in the summertime. He remembered it so vividly. It's amazing how things have changed in the last 100 years. In 1901, in our culture, he was glad to be able to have ice cream once a year.
And new shoes.
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My dad was Irish but his first language was French. And he was actually punished at school for speaking French. But that's another story.
He used to tell me a funny story about the first time he ever saw an automobile.
It came down the road and scared them to death! They didn't know what it was. A neighbor's calf was in the road and that car hit it.
Well, that neighbor came out, saying, "You gonna pay for that calf! You gonna pay for that calf!" The driver said, "Yes, ma'am, I'll pay for the calf." He then tied a rope around the little calf's neck and started to take it off down the road.
The owner says, "Where are you going with my calf?" And he answers, "If I'm gonna pay for it, I'm gonna take it with me!"
All that little calf did was roll up on the bumper and roll off. There was nothing wrong with it.
— Louis Darby, Branson, Missouri
Louis Darby, originally of Opelousas, Louisiana, has lived in the Branson area since 1987.
A two-time Louisiana State Fiddle Champion, Darby became well-known in the Ozarks-region as part of the Cajun Connection.
Today, he is a senior executive of Darby, Cooper and Associates real estate company. He also plays regularly at the Circle B Chuckwagon in Branson.
I still remember the first time I saw him fiddlin' up a storm at the Riverfront Playhouse one cold December afternoon over at Silver Dollar City.
And another afternoon, not so long ago, I sat down with Louis in his real estate office to talk about the Ozarks.
These new, editorial-style columns are the result. — Joshua Heston
December 27, 2007