Georgia BIOS:  Mrs. Bryant   
   U.S. Work Projects Administration, Federal Writers' Project (Folklore
   Project, Life Histories, 1936-39); Manuscript Division, Library of
   Congress.Copyright status not determined.
   
   00012
   
   [DEL: March 10, 1939 :DEL] [DEL: Mr. and Mrs. L. S. Whitehead (Whit
   :DEL] [DEL: New Way Dry Cleaning and Laundry :DEL] [???] tickets he
   addressed [incoming?] desk, and I will check them. I can do that and
   talk too." The girl did as she was instructed. "Now, go on [?] told
   the girl, if you [DEL: are going :DEL] want to see the baby, because
   [DEL: some one lese :DEL] others will want to go [?] and you can take
   their [DEL: place :DEL] places."
   
   She was wearing a red crepe dress, blue checked sport coat blocked in
   red, tan hose and black [DEL: suade :DEL] suede slippery. She is of
   medium weight and height , and has black hair and brown eyes.
   
   "Now, what is it you want me to tell you? Oh, I don't mind that, I
   have always thought I would write my own life history and send it to
   the True Story Magazine, [DEL: Company :DEL] . I was born right here
   in Clarke County, on a farm, and have worked all my life. I have done
   field [DEL: worked :DEL] work [DEL: in the field :DEL] , [many a day
   *1] such as carrying water, [*1] as well as doing other necessary
   things . I have even picked cotton.
   
   "I went to school first at Princeton, and after I finished grammar
   school there I came to Athens high school one year. Then / I / quit
   school and went to work. My folks didn't like it one bit . However ,
   one of my brothers was in college and another in high school, [DEL:
   therefore :DEL] I felt like it was too much of an effort for my
   parents to send me any longer.
   
   "My father gave up farm work and moved to town. My first job was at a
   dime store ,/# I worked in that store [about two years, *2] as a clerk
   [*2] [DEL: than :DEL] then they made me floor [DEL: [?] :DEL] lady.
   After being on this job six [DEL: minths :DEL] months, I quit to take
   a vacation. They paid me [DEL: $1.00 :DEL] $1 a day as clerk and $10 a
   week when they promoted me to the floorlady job. My first money was
   spent on clothes and I sent money each week to my brother in college.
   I would buy clothes if I didn't have anything else. My husband says
   that is all I do anyway spend everything I make 00023[DEL: [?] :DEL]
   [DEL: [?] :DEL] on them. I didn't have to pay board ,[?] and I could
   do as I pleased with my money.
   
   "My second job was as saleslady at [DEL: [??] :DEL] [??] Department
   Store. I started in for $8 a week and was making $12 when I quit to
   get married. I though I couldn't keep house work too. I worked until
   [DEL: five :DEL] 5 o'clock Christmas Even and was married at [DEL:
   nine :DEL] 9 o'clock that same night.
   
   "The way I met my husband was [DEL: , :DEL] like this. I had a date
   one night with a boy I didn't like. We were double dating with another
   couple. They were telling me about Stephens Bryant. I expresses a
   desire to meet him. Than they dared me to write him, I took the dare,
   and did it. Stephens and the boy I was with worked at the same place.
   Mother heard us and told me later I had better not do [DEL: [?] :DEL]
   such a thing. It was too late because I had all ready written the
   note. If she had told me that before I had, [???] [DEL: it :DEL] would
   have been called off. I [DEL: wrote :DEL] told him [???] how much I
   knew about him and said I would like to meet him - Signed,X Betty.
   That was on Monday after the dare was made on Sunday night. I really
   met him the last Sunday in June of that year. There were four girls in
   the car and all of us were introduced to him as Betty. After sizing us
   up he knew I was the one who wrote that note.
   
   "He wanted a date and I gave him one for the following Saturday night.
   He made me so mad that night I could have murdered him. We were going
   to the show, I was sure he was going to put his coat on, but he
   didn't. I thought there was no excuse for [DEL: gim :DEL] not wearing
   it. We [DEL: had a date :DEL] dated [?] from [DEL: than :DEL] then on
   until we married. /# Infact fact every night he could get off. He
   worked on the night shift at the bakery and never knew when he
   00034[DEL: [?] :DEL] could get away [DEL: as he worked at night :DEL]
   . He made real good money working at the mixing machine. At the time
   we married he had a nice little bank account, and a good car.
   
   "We lived on here in Athens for four months. [DEL: than :DEL] Then his
   boss sent him to Milledgeville to take charge of a bakery there. [DEL:
   We :DEL] During [ we lived there *3] the eighteen months *3. [DEL:
   While we were living there :DEL] our first child was born, and we got
   just what we wanted, a black-headed girl. [*4] I did all my own house
   work, and carried lunch to my husband every day. [That summer I canned
   250 cans of fruit. *4] One day [DEL: I was going :DEL] [DEL: to take
   my husband his lunch. :DEL] I put the baby in her carriage, and sat
   the lunch [DEL: in the [??] :DEL] on the foot of it and started out. I
   had on a new pair of shoes [DEL: , :DEL] and when I started [DEL: [?]
   :DEL] down the [?] steps [???] of our house [DEL: there were about six
   :DEL] [DEL: in all :DEL] , my feet slipped. I let the carriage go
   [DEL: , :DEL] and it went flying down the steps and bumped into a
   tree. I was scared out of my wits for fear the baby would [DEL: be
   [????] :DEL] killed, but instead the food was knocked out on the
   ground. [?????] We soon grew tired of that place, as we had very
   little social life and no relatives living there, so my husband gave
   up his job and came back [DEL: to Athens :DEL] H[??] y.
   
   Mrs. Bryant stopped talking [?] to answer one of [DEL: phone :DEL]
   phones.. In fact , it seemed to me that [?????] [DEL: it :DEL] rang
   constantly. There are two in the office and at times both are ringing.
   The machinery never stopped [DEL: runing :DEL] running even at lunch
   time. ∥ She began [?], "After we came back here my husband went
   into the restaurant business [DEL: , :DEL] and [DEL: we :DEL] made
   good [DEL: and sold it at a :DEL] [DEL: profit :DEL] . While [DEL: [?]
   :DEL] he was operating this cafe I helped him with it. One day a woman
   came in and tried to get Stephens to have a date with one of her grown
   daughters. It made me [DEL: made :DEL] mad enough to fight. I didn't
   let her know it and took it like a good sport, because she 00045was a
   good customer. [????????]
   
   "We decided to arm [DEL: after we sold the restaurant :DEL] . [DEL:
   [?] :DEL] We rented a house and four acres of land way out on Prince
   Avenue. It was a large house so mother and dad moved in with us. Each
   of us had our own garden about an acre in all and farmed on the other
   three. We made real good and our rent cost us very little. During the
   time we lived there, [DEL: when :DEL] my husband [DEL: [???] :DEL]
   worked at the post office. ∥ When I lease expired in December,
   Stephens went to Atlanta to find work. Lee Baking company had just
   opened their plant and my husband was the first man that company hired
   to work in their plant. I followed about a month later. We rented a
   small three-room apartment, but had so much company to drop in on us
   we had to get a larger place. While we were living in one section of
   the city I was scared to death. I knew somebody was snooping around
   the house at night but was never able to find out who it was. Whether
   white or black. I got my brother-in-law and his wife to come and stay
   with me. One night he went to the kitchen and saw the man looking in
   at the window. My brother-in-law didn't let on he saw him, but went
   out of the kitchen, crept around the house to catch him. Just as he
   grabbed his coat the man pulled away from him and ran. We came to the
   conclusion it was only a 'peeping-tom.' We moved from that section,
   that was the only scare I ever experienced in Atlanta. We lived in
   Atlanta two and [DEL: one :DEL] -half years. I came back before my
   husband did in order to be with my mother when our little boy was
   born. When the baby was two weeks old Stephens gave up that $65 a week
   job and came back here to live. While we were living in Atlanta my
   husband's mother died. There was a [DEL: brother :DEL] brother00056and
   [DEL: four sisters :DEL] [??] left at home. Her death was a great blow
   for us, for she was a fine woman and I loved her almost as much as I
   did my own. It took Stephens a long time to get over his great grief.
   
   "One thing that made him quite his Atlanta job was that the plant
   changed managers and a man from out west was sent to Atlanta to take
   charge. He had a friend he wanted to work in, Stephens didn't like him
   so decided to quit before there was any trouble. he packed up [DEL:
   hag :DEL] bag and baggage and moved back here with my mother, who was
   than living about six miles from town.
   
   "Stephens first experience with a laundry was in 1930. While we were
   living with my mother in the country he got a job with a laundry here
   in town . That called for buying a truck . However, we [DEL: had :DEL]
   kept our own car and have never been without one more than three [DEL:
   , :DEL] months of our married life. He worked strictly on [DEL: [a?]
   :DEL] commission [DEL: [?] :DEL] basis and [DEL: worked :DEL]
   [covered?] all the small towns out of [DEL: Athens :DEL] this city.
   While he called on people soliciting business and picking up laundry
   and dry cleaning he had a [DEL: [body?] :DEL] boy to do the driving
   for him. He [DEL: made about seventy five :DEL] averaged making [DEL:
   dollars :DEL] $75 a week on that job. In June of 1931 we moved back to
   town so we could be near his work. He continued his work at this
   laundry about a year, than decided if he could make that much for the
   other fellow he could do even better for himself.
   
   "He went in partnership with another man [DEL: , :DEL] and rented a
   building a couple of blocks up the street from where we are now. [DEL:
   Installed :DEL] As soon as the the machinery was installed we [DEL:
   and :DEL] opened up for business. The first week , we [DEL: opened
   :DEL] [DEL: we :DEL] took in exactly $218 [DEL: . :DEL] , and [DEL: a
   couple of weeks later :DEL] before the month was out our collections
   amounted between four and five hundred dollars a week. [DEL: I went in
   there :DEL] My task was [DEL: to :DEL] check any *5 in and out [the
   dry cleaning *5]. I saw to it that [DEL: all :DEL] everyone the
   garments 00067were clean and inspected [DEL: [????] :DEL] before I
   entered them on the books. I have worked many a night until one and
   two o'clock before I went home and was back on the job next morning at
   [DEL: eitht :DEL] eight o'clock. That was the first [DEL: [?] :DEL]
   time I had ever been inside a dry cleaning plant. Our partner, his
   wife, my husband and I , and one Negro were all that worked in [DEL:
   [?] :DEL] the plant. [DEL: [?] :DEL] [DEL: [?] :DEL] in the beginning.
   
   "A short time after we opened up for business we found ourselves in a
   terrible condition. We had spent all our cash and were [DEL: was :DEL]
   $11,000 in [DEL: [?] :DEL] debt. In order to cut expenses we moved in
   the house with Stephens folks. We paid them the small amount of $10.00
   a month [DEL: . :DEL] for rent. We had our own cow, chicken , and
   garden.
   
   "Our business grew and grew until we [DEL: [?] :DEL] had to get a
   larger place, [DEL: than :DEL] then we bought this building with our
   own personal money. When we started in the dry cleaning business we
   didn't have but one truck . At the time we moved into this plant we
   had six trucks, three in town and three in the country , and we had
   [DEL: with :DEL] fifteen employees inside the plant.
   
   "Just about the time we moved our plant and got started my husband was
   taken sick with a terrible kidney trouble. I was not working when he
   was taken ill. We were not able to hire a nurse, and I couldn't [DEL:
   leave him and :DEL] come to the plant in his place, [DEL: as :DEL] for
   I [DEL: could not :DEL] couldn't leave him more than fifteen minutes
   at a time. The children even upset him and their noise made him so
   nervous I had to send them to his sisters' to stay. He was sick a
   month before he was able to come back to work. [DEL: We got lots of
   dry cleaning :DEL]
   
   00078
   
   "We [?] [DEL: got :DEL] lots of dry cleaning from a North Georgia town
   so we decided to open a plant in that place. [It was a paying [DEL:
   propersition :DEL] proposition. *6] There were two other plants in
   that town besides ours. They got together and paid us to get out of
   business there. *6 We [DEL: [?] :DEL] accepted it. Nowwe have our
   business all under one roof. With twenty [DEL: folks :DEL] people
   working for us." [DEL: "The telephone rang :DEL] Mrs. Bryant answered
   [DEL: it :DEL] [???.] After the conversation was over, she told [DEL:
   the :DEL] a man who was standing near. "Do you remember yesterday when
   Mr. Palmer called and asked about a bill fold [DEL: [?] :DEL] that had
   been left in his pocket? I told the girl who inspects the clothes to
   check and see if it was in his clothes . [DEL: ' :DEL] She told me it
   was not. [DEL: ' " :DEL] Well, it has been dry cleaned and delivered
   [DEL: [?] :DEL] without being removed from his pocket." ∥ The man
   made no reply [DEL: , :DEL] to that [?] [DEL: [??] :DEL] card, [?]
   make [a?] note of this. I found $8.50 in [DEL: this :DEL] a man's
   pocket [DEL: . :DEL] this morning."
   
   Turning to me she began again. "Our plant is run by steam and
   electricity. [DEL: The Negroes does :DEL] The ironing in the laundry
   is done by [DEL: We :DEL] [DEL: have :DEL] eleven [DEL: in all :DEL]
   Negroes." [DEL: Just :DEL] At this time a large Negro woman in a blue
   uniform brought a shirt to the office with the bottom part torn from
   the yoke. "Why, Lucindy , what did you do that for? [DEL: [?] :DEL]
   Without a word the woman spread the shirt on the corner of he desk,
   covered her face with her hands , and walked away.
   
   "All the ironing is done by steam preasure and they are touched up by
   hand. That is what the Negro women [DEL: does :DEL] do. We have one
   [DEL: Negroe :DEL] woman who does nothing [DEL: [?] :DEL] else but
   fold, inspect and sew buttons on shirts. Oh, we have to buy [DEL: them
   :DEL] buttons by the wholesale. [DEL: Whenever the trouble comes in
   replacing them, :DEL] People will even send 00088whole suits of
   clothes as well as other garments to us without a button on them. We
   replace [DEL: them :DEL] [??] free of charge. [DEL: "In dry cleaning
   the clothes. :DEL] When [DEL: they are brought in :DEL] [?????] they
   are searched and all articles [??] saved for the customers. [DEL:
   [The?] :DEL] They are brushed and pre-spotted, [DEL: than :DEL] then
   they are cleaned and taken to the second floor for inspection and
   spotted again, before they are [DEL: taken to be :DEL] pressed. We
   have a man who does nothing else but inspect and [DEL: spots :DEL]
   spot the dry cleaning.
   
   "We can clean fifty suits at one time in the same [DEL: cleaning :DEL]
   tub , [DEL: They are :DEL] what [?] sometimes called the wheel. After
   they are taken [DEL: [?] :DEL] from the wheel they are put in an
   extractor. This takes out all the [DEL: [?] :DEL] surplus [DEL:
   solvant :DEL] solvent. This machine makes 18,000 revolutions a minute.
   After that they are put in a tumbler, [?] which [DEL: has :DEL] hot
   air [DEL: going through it :DEL] [?]. They are tumbled until the [DEL:
   solvant :DEL] solvent [DEL: oder :DEL] oder is out of the garments.
   After this they are taken to the second floor, inspected again , and
   steamed pressed. [DEL: than :DEL] Then they are inspected by two girls
   to see if all spots are removed and pressed correctly before checking
   out. When they are checked they are placed on their respective
   route-men's line. We also do repair work at a small charge. If there
   is no material used we do not charge for repairs.
   
   "The laundry is handled practically the same way. Each driver has his
   own laundry vat, and every family had [DEL: their :DEL] [?] own mark.
   The smaller pieces are put in a net [DEL: and [?] :DEL] with the [DEL:
   [?] :DEL] mark on it.
   
   "When we first moved to this building [DEL: it :DEL] was just a
   one-story [DEL: plant the business :DEL] [?] was growing rapidly. Our
   partner started drinking .
   
   00099
   
   Finally when he was on one of his drinking sprees, one night somebody
   backed a truck up to the back door, broke in and took off every
   garment we had in the plant. They were dry cleaned and hanging [DEL:
   onx :DEL] on the respective drivers' [DEL: line :DEL] lines. The
   clothes stolen amounted to over $3,000. [DEL: After this :DEL] My
   husband and the police searched everywhere for a trace of the clothes.
   They only found three of [DEL: them :DEL] the garments. They were in a
   pawn shop in Atlanta. When the search was ended we paid our partner
   his part of the business and ran him off.
   
   "Taking the [DEL: business :DEL] plant in charge ourselves, we worked
   hard day and night to build up our business and [DEL: at the same time
   :DEL] paid [DEL: very :DEL] every one of our customers [DEL: back
   :DEL] for their [DEL: [?] :DEL] loss ?????. [in a years time?]
   ∥[????] a friend of ours [DEL: wanted to :DEL] come into business
   with us as a partner. [DEL: After they came in the :DEL] [?] business
   out grew the ground floor. [DEL: Than :DEL] Then we added the second
   story. We surely have had to work hard [DEL: to :DEL] [DEL: get :DEL]
   for what [?] we have [?] and it has taken cooperation on the part of
   [?] us to [DEL: [?] to make our business a success :DEL] build up our
   business. We do have a nice [?] business and take in between eight and
   nine hundred dollars a week. Our [DEL: pau :DEL] pay roll run around
   [$300.00?] a week.
   
   "Since we have added the second-story the business has increased to
   the extent it has enabled us to buy a hundred acre farm with a good
   house and out buildings on it. There is a nice pasture and good
   farming land. We rent the house we live in [DEL: [?] :DEL] here in
   town. However, our partner [DEL: [?] own :DEL] owns his home here
   [DEL: in [??] :DEL] He has a wife and three sons, one of them are
   married.His wife works in the plant every day. [??????]001010[DEL: [?]
   :DEL]
   
   "We are members of the Methodist church, I was brought up to go to
   church and Sundayschool, and still enjoy attending our church here.
   [DEL: here in Athens. :DEL]
   
   "Last year we decided to speculate and go into another business . We
   tried selling fish and poultry. We found out we [DEL: could :DEL]
   couldn't handle two businesses successfully. After three months we
   [DEL: [?] :DEL] gave that up finding we had sunk $15,000 in that
   enterprise with no hopes of getting it back. [DEL: [?????] :DEL] We
   contributed that failure to our entering the business in an off
   season.
   
   ["In the last few fears *7] [DEL: [???] :DEL] *8 some nice trips *7,
   [DEL: of :DEL] [DEL: which :DEL] [Our business [?] afforded [DEL: the
   :DEL] as the pleasure of *8] We [DEL: want :DEL] went to Florida,
   Detroit, Charleston and Savannah. We take lots of trips on [DEL:
   Sunday :DEL] Sundays and always take our children with us. [DEL: I am
   :DEL] I'm not the kind to want to leave them at home while we are
   [DEL: runing :DEL] running around. [DEL: [?] :DEL] We do enjoy the
   privilege of a family car.
   
   "Going back to our dry cleaning and laundry, we decided our pick-up
   [DEL: [?] :DEL] business in the country didn't bring in [DEL:
   sufficiant :DEL] sufficient revenue so we have called some of our
   drivers [DEL: [?] :DEL] in . Now , we have four trucks working in town
   and it surely keeps us busy keeping up with them and their work when
   [DEL: tey :DEL] they come in [DEL: fromx :DEL] from gathering laundry
   and [DEL: xdry :DEL] dry cleaning. We are very proud of our business
   and hope it will continue to grow."
   
   "Veona," called Mr. Bryant, "hurry and [DEL: go to the bank and :DEL]
   deposit this money before [DEL: it :DEL] the bank closes." He came in
   the office with a [DEL: handfull :DEL] handful of checks. ∥ "Now ,
   if we have finished with the story, come on and I'll give you a lift.
   She said, [??????] [DEL: I got :DEL] in the [DEL: [?] :DEL] Studebaker
   [???] " Oh, what a nice car !" I said [DEL: to her :DEL] . ∥ "This
   don't belong to us ," she said with evident amusement.001111[DEL: ours
   :DEL] "Ours is a Packard, [DEL: it is :DEL] it's in the garage being
   overhauled to take a trip in Sunday. I do hope it won't rain. ∥
   [We [DEL: had :DEL] reached the post office.?] This is where I get
   [DEL: our :DEL] out I told her ," [DEL: "You don't have an :DEL] [DEL:
   office in the post office do you?" No, in the court house. "Oh, :DEL]
   [DEL: I see," was her parting remark. :DEL] As I closed the [?] door,
   [???? she [DEL: put the :DEL] [DEL: gear in :DEL] changed gears first
   and was [?] on her way to the bank.

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