Speaker 1: This is Lee Habib and this is our American stories.
Speaker 1: They show where America is the star and the American people.
Speaker 1: Up next a story from our regular contributor out of Iowa.
Speaker 1: A listener Joy Neil Kidney, and she listens on who
Speaker 1: in des Moines a great iHeart station. Joy is the
Speaker 1: author of Leora's dexter Letters, the scarcity years of the
Speaker 1: Great Depression, and today she shares the story of a
Speaker 1: unique meal her family eight during those tough financial times.
Speaker 1: Take it away, Joy.
Speaker 2: When I heard about someone having to eat raccoon or possum,
Speaker 2: I thought of poor folks in the Deep South. Dad
Speaker 2: wasn't a hunter, and having grown up on an Iowa
Speaker 2: Hogen cattle farm, I couldn't imagine having any kind of
Speaker 2: wild meat instead of good old pork and beef. But
Speaker 2: from old family letters, I learned that both raccoon and
Speaker 2: possum shut upon the table of my mother's family during
Speaker 2: the Great Depression. Some family members reported enjoying them. Clay
Speaker 2: and Leora Wilson had seven children, five sons and two daughters.
Speaker 2: Clay taught his sons to trap and hunt pelts could
Speaker 2: be sent to Sears, Roebuck and Company in exchange for
Speaker 2: food and clothing. Clay insisted that his boys wait until
Speaker 2: they were twelve and could demonstrate safe handling of a
Speaker 2: gun before he was allowed to carry one to go hunting,
Speaker 2: and no animal was to be killed just for sport.
Speaker 2: Squirrel and rabbit were their main sources of protein during
Speaker 2: those days. The saying was that Leora would cook any
Speaker 2: thing the hunters brought her, as long as they were
Speaker 2: already skinned, cleaned, and ready for the skillet or the
Speaker 2: roasting pan. Clave taught the boys how to do that
Speaker 2: and to stretch pelts to cure. During the hard weeks
Speaker 2: of winter, Clay hung carcasses on the porch, where they'd
Speaker 2: freeze until they were needed. Dinner and supper also included
Speaker 2: fruits and vegetables from their big garden. Fresh during growing season,
Speaker 2: leoricnned hundreds of glass mason jars filled with produce anything
Speaker 2: she could put up for winter. Because of the depression,
Speaker 2: Claive had no steady job. The two oldest Wilson brothers,
Speaker 2: Delbert and Donald, graduated from Dexter High School in nineteen
Speaker 2: thirty three. No jobs for them either. A classmate had
Speaker 2: joined the Navy and was happy having a full belly
Speaker 2: days filled with activities and an income. Leora said that
Speaker 2: the boys with not enough to do would probably get
Speaker 2: into trouble, so she and clave okayed the plan, only
Speaker 2: asking them not to get tattoos. Those boys in the
Speaker 2: navy were so good to write home. Young siblings followed
Speaker 2: their world travels on a map. Their mother saved all
Speaker 2: those family letters. What a joy for me to read
Speaker 2: through and transcribe them decades later. One was from Leora
Speaker 2: on her forty fifth birthday, dated December fourth, nineteen thirty five. My,
Speaker 2: what a wonderful present from my navy boys. Thanks a lot. Boys.
Speaker 2: They had sent a card in some candy. We had
Speaker 2: roast coon two years ago today, remember, Leora went on,
Speaker 2: that would have been just before Dilbert and Donald enlisted
Speaker 2: in the navy. You caught the last one on December third,
Speaker 2: and the folks that would be her mother and brothers
Speaker 2: from Omaha came and surprised me. But the next day
Speaker 2: was the fourth, and we had that nice fat coon.
Speaker 2: Their next brother, Dale, age fourteen, wrote about a football
Speaker 2: banquet and added, today we had possum and sweet taters. Boy,
Speaker 2: it was sure good. Dale's twin Darlene, enclosed her letter
Speaker 2: in the same envelope. The sun is shining beautifully this morning,
Speaker 2: she wrote, Dad and the boys are out trapping this morning,
Speaker 2: so Mom and us girls clean house and get dinner
Speaker 2: ready for the hungry hunters when they come. They come
Speaker 2: in with two possum yesterday and today we're going to
Speaker 2: have a possum and sweet taters. Yum, yum. She chatted
Speaker 2: about her twin playing football, older sister Doris playing basketball,
Speaker 2: younger brother Danny being old enough to hunt with their dad. Well,
Speaker 2: I'll write more after having a piece of good old
Speaker 2: opossum with the fumes just to oozin out, and some
Speaker 2: gravy and some sweet potatoes. A possum were good for
Speaker 2: something else than food. Clay wrote just before Christmas that
Speaker 2: he'd shipped eight skunks and five opossum to Sears in
Speaker 2: trade for goods from the Male Order catalog. Two years later,
Speaker 2: in November nineteen thirty seven, Dilbert rode home from the
Speaker 2: USS Chicago. You boys coming home with all that game
Speaker 2: makes me sort of hope sick. I thought for a
Speaker 2: while you boys weren't going to take to hunting and trappin'
Speaker 2: so well, But it looks as if you boys will
Speaker 2: break downs in my records, go to her boys. It's
Speaker 2: good outdoor exercise and a lot of fun. Sure like
Speaker 2: to sink my fangs into some coon meat for a change.
Speaker 2: In spite of Dale's and Darlene's comments about how good
Speaker 2: powesome and sweet taters were, and even Delbert's memories of
Speaker 2: coon meat, I'd have to be desperate as they were
Speaker 2: during the Depression to try Annie. Just in case you
Speaker 2: want to try roast coon or possum with the fume
Speaker 2: zoosan out. You can find recipes for both of these
Speaker 2: these days on the internet.
Speaker 1: And great job is always by Monte Montgomery on the
Speaker 1: production and a special thanks to joy Neil Kidney, a
Speaker 1: fan of the show and also one of our best contributors. Hawesome, raccoon,
Speaker 1: and rabbit all showed up at the family dinner table
Speaker 1: during the Great Depression years. The kids they all knew
Speaker 1: how to trap and hunt, and Mom well, she'd cook
Speaker 1: anything that was shaved and clean. Dinner and supper included
Speaker 1: food from the garden they came and any and everything.
Speaker 1: The story of Joyneil Kidney and her family during the
Speaker 1: Great Depression. Their food measurement here on Our American Stories.
Speaker 1: Lee Hibibe here the host of our American Stories. Every
Speaker 1: day on this show, we're bringing inspiring stories from across
Speaker 1: this great country, stories from our big cities and small towns.
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