Time Frame: 1929-1945

Tom Woodruff: Well Dad had very much of a regiment for all of us to go through. And that was for everything from cleaning the house and dusting to doing the dishes to doing the chores. And I don’t recall too many arguments. It was designated and we did it.

Dorothy Buffington: You just did. You know, my sister, she did, she got married, and then I took over. You never grouch, you just did. And you had your chores, things had to be done, with no electricity. You know, we didn’t have the things they have today.

Verana Grant Johnston recalls a day she and her mother served dinner to the neighbors who had come to help build a barn on their farm. Preparing meals was just one of the many chores Verana and her siblings were expected to do.

Verana Grant Johnston: We had to work hard and I think we instilled that in our children too. They all know how to work. And I don’t begrudge it all because mother and dad were good to us, but they were strict and we had to work. We had to do our chores, which was good.