[fintstone]

We were rich compared to these folks. My mother had an entry-level clerical job in the city and drove our old truck there each day. The photographs above were from an article written about the rural poor. The photojournalists bought them some new clothes and bedlinens for the photos and then filmed them wearing their new "finery." The article was not kind. They did not realize that they were being put down. If they did, the city folks would be buried on the ridge behind them.

I was in the 5th grade with one of the boys in this photo. He was already about 15 or 16, about 6 ft tall and had a 5 o'clock shadow. A nice kid. I was 10. He could have bullied us but didn't. He played on my intramural basketball team that year. I remember well because he did not have any sneakers and had to play in socks. We beat everyone up to the 7th/8th grade travelling team because he towered over the rest and could jump...but really had no shooting or dribbling skills. I was able to do the rest. They did not pass kids unless they completed the requirements, and he missed a lot of school. That may have been his last year. I don't recall him in any higher grades. Even us poor folks looked down a bit on those that were even poorer and made fu of them a bit behind their back. I am ashamed of that now. I did not realize we were poor until I went to high school and spent my time with folks more like the photos posted here.

The neighbor on the other side of us had a two-room cabin made of rough sawn boards, (not logs) sawn on site in the 30s, but similar otherwise. No insulation. They burned wood and had water that came in through a window (a pipe) that simply ran all the time into a sink in the kitchen that drained outside. They also had no toilet/bathroom/shower/tub. Just an outhouse.