Caleb Knies
HS580
Dr. Fowler
12/13/2010
CUSP Interview Transcription
On 12/9/10 I, Caleb Knies, interviewed Rhonda Comrie for her submission to the CUSP project. Her items were a sauerkraut/slaw maker, a large granite-style tin pan, and a wire-top Ball canning jar. There is some audio static early in the recording that muffles some of the interview, but I have done my best to recreate the wording exactly. Also, from this point further I will abbreviate names with intials (Rhonda Comrie= RC, Caleb Knies=CK).
CK: This is Caleb Knies, and I am in Alumi Hall on December 9th at 3:35pm. We are in office number 330* (Office number is actually 3330). And I am going to be interviewing Rhonda Comrie. So I need to you put, say your name and spell it. Um
RC: My Name is Rhonda Comrie. And itsR-H-O-N-D-A and last name is C-O-M-R-I-E.
CK: Thank you very much. Uh, First off tell me what your object is.
RC: My object is a combination of three items.
CK: OK
RC: And it is a large granite ware dishpan, and it contains a very old sauerkraut cutter. And a wire jar that would have been used to preserve the sauerkraut.
CK: Alright, Um. So who gave it to you? How did you come across this item?
RC: I came by this when, um , it was my, it was in my mother’s possession. And soafter she and my dad were, umm, had passed away then. When we divided her estate it was one of my treasures. But It came to her from her mother. So she um, had, this dishpan, the granite ware from, probably, mom received it most likely in the 60s or 70s, but my grandmother would have had it since the early 1900s.
CK: Alright. And um, why does this object inspire you? What’s inspiration do you claim as…
RC: Well, you know it’s really a very strange object. It’s a dishpan and, uh, a kind of rickety, oooh, sauerkraut cutter and a jar. But they, they take me, umm, to the way of life that women lived in, um, rural America. So that, um, they grew up in, all this was in a little town in Illinois in FayetteCounty. And the community is called St. Paul. All that’s left in this community is a church and a school. It’s in the middle of the country so it’s off any major roads. There’s no highway that goes through it, there’s no railroad that goes through it. But this is where they made their home. And then, over the years as, um,towns moved, where the bigger, you know bigger, um, thriving towns were along the actual highways. So when the highway system was built then the communities that lived along those highways were the ones became more commercial the ones in the country just kinda disappeared. So, um, so the setting is this very rural farming community. And um, it so happens that, uh, my grandmother had, my grandma and grandpa had three sons a daughter, three sons a daughter. My mother was the first of their daughters. But, uh, um, my grandfather wasn’t able to work and he didn’t have a farm. So essentially they lived on a small farm where they had a garden and everything that they grew was preserved so that they would be able to feed their family for the entire year. And then, um, ya know, for, um, meats and that sorts of that stuff, um, I’m sure they helped out with. His brothers had farms so I’m sure they had a lot of them, uh, meats and horses. But they raised chickens, raised eggs. So um, that way of life I think is, is so important for us to remember. That, um, it’s, um, to me it’s almost coming a little bit full-circle. But looking at how we can cut-back, reduce, recycle, reuse. And they had very few objects, very few possessions. But what they had was, uh were, essential possessions, and that was how they survived and thrived and raised their families. So, it’s a very simple object, but to me it, it takes back, it takes me back to what the real, umm, meaning of survival was. And what the real meaning of what it was to be a, um, mother and a housewife. And how she really looked out to, um, feed her children and would do as much hard works as she had to do to make that happen. I don’t think we would, I certainly wouldn’t want to use this to make the sauerkraut because, you, it’s a dangerous object.
CK: Yeah I hear you.
RC: If you slide the blade back, you put the cabbage in here and you slide it. And You might cut your fingers off. But they took those risks, they worked hard. And that’s why this is meaningful to me.
CK: Well that’s good.
RC It’s kind of ridiculous looking. But there’s a whole lot in there that doesn’t show.
CK: Mmhhmm. So that’s why, that’s why we’,re doing this and looking to uncover these uh things. I know you said you don’t really, uh, use it anymore and it doesn’t, uh, seem uh, to be, that, uh, that viable for use anymore. But do you, uh, display anywhere in your home, or uh?
RC: Umm. Not right now. In fact, uh, I pulled this out of my basement storage room. And Uh, We um put everything away. Um, when you divide households there’s quite a number of things that come like that. So somethings you just put away because you don’t know what to do with them.
CK: Right.
RC: But you don’t want to get rid of them. You’re not a hoarder, but you don’t want to rid of them.
CK: Right, Right, my mom has gone through the same thing with her, her mother’s estate.
RC: Mmhmm..
CK: (inaudible)
RC: Eventually there’s some things I did let go. That had, that really, umm were just things. But then this is the kind of thing, uh, I think it’s really important.You were collecting these, uh, thoughts and purposes to why they’re important to us. Because I didn’t realize until I started thinking about it how much this represented, uh, my family’s, uh, the women’s history in my family. I know my mother would have used this to make cole slaw, and or, uh, sauerkraut.
CK: Right
RC: Ya know.
CK: Uhh. So then when it came to, uh, uh, you know, picking items to decide to, to get rid of or to keep: What made you keep this, Why did you keep this and not…
RC: Umm, Uhh, probably the things I got rid of were, um, more likely to have been. Um. How do you say that? Things that are made and there’s tons and tons of them made, so. You know it’s not something you can buy again.
CK: Mass-Produced
RC: Mass-Produced. That’s the word I can’t think of. Umm. Perhaps this pan was, but it has. You know, it’s a granite ware pan and so, um, to have made it would have been, umm,this is probably from the 1800s or the turn of the 1900s. So to me, there are ways they made these that they, don’t use those, uh, techniques anymore. And and nobody makes these crazy things anymore. Umm, I kept it because it, because it was something I just wasn’t ready to get rid of. Because you see, you see it cost 2 dollars and 40 cents.
CK: Oh yeah. (Inaudible) I see that.
RC: Yeah.
CK: I’ll make sure I get that in the picture.
RC: Yeah! And then the Ball, uh, the Ball company used to make this kind of a jar. And those aren’t made anymore either.
CK: The old wire tops.
RC: Yeah you would put the those kind of a ring there, and then you would uh, seal it in the pressure cooker. And.
CK: My grandma still does her own jarring and canning.
RC: Yeah, so you’ve seen those kind of jars.
CK: Oh Absolutely.
RC: You can’t buy them. You have to get buy them on auction.
CK: (inaudible)
RC: Then these two things and then I thought that’s the end of the story.
CK: Right. Well that’s good. I do appreciate that.
RC: Yeah.
CK. Ummm.
RC: So you’re familiar with, uh, home canning too?
CK: I am, uh, a little, I haven’t uhh, processed anything myself. Or seen anyone else do it. Uhh, I’ve seen, uh the fruits of, uh, my grandma’s labor.
RC: Uh-huh
CK: Um, Jellies, uhh, tomatoes, juices, uhh all types of things. But it’s great. I love it, Best food ever.
RC: Yeah. I grew up helping make those things. So.
CK: Mmmhmm..
RC: So um. In rural America that’s what you think of. That’s what you think people do. I didn’t realize until I grew up that’s what my family did. I grew up on the farm and the girls that lived in the community didn’t do that with their moms. And then I moved to St. Louis, and uhh, one of my collegues, uh, um. Was interested in um, uh canning. And I thought – Well everybody knows how to can. Don’t, You mean you don’t know what this is. So you just, you say Yeah I would do this we would put up beans and we would put up corn. You know, the whole, um, garden could be preserved.
CK: Mmhmm..Right
RC: And it was then, I probably around, around 30 not quite 30. That when it struck me how unique that um, how unique it is really to put up your whole garden. Yeah
CK: That’s great.
RC: Yeah
CK. Well thank you very much. I appreciate it. I appreciate you sharing your Ubject with myself and hopefully with others as our uhh, display comes uhh, kinda ____
RC: Exactly.
CK: But alright.
RC: Exactly.
CK: Well thank you. It was a pleasure.
RC: Oooh what a treat. I ____
CK: _____ it was, it was good.
RC: Didn’t think I would but.