File #4277: "Transcription"

Transcription

Josh Leach
Hist 441
March 24, 207 Interview with Betty Dellinger
Josh Leach: Hello, I am Josh Leach, sitting here with…
Betty Dellinger: Betty Dellinger
Leach: It is March 24th, 2017. Alright, so my first question for you is just to describe what it was
like to grow up in the Bird Haven area.
Dellinger: Oh it was, it was my home all the time ya know I lived there, I was born there, not at
Bird Haven but in the Basye area. I went to work there when I was about nineteen and I
worked there for about nine or ten years, and then I had a baby so I quit working at that
time. It was a wonderful place to grow up, it was just, it was just, just a good place.
Leach: Could you describe some of the activities you’d do as a kid around the area.
Dellinger: I worked at Shrine Mont which is a seasonal resort from the time I was twelve years
old till the time I graduated high school. Just in the summer cause I went to school in the
winter and worked in the summer. And I worked all the time seven days a week ya know,
but that was the way that we did cause we had to do that to buy our things to go to school
ya know, so we worked in the summer time my sister and I both.
Leach: What did your parents do in the area?
Dellinger: My dad worked on a sawmill and my mom was just a housewife.
Leach: How did growing up in that area shape your childhood and the opportunities you had
after your schooling?
Dellinger: Well I never got really very far because I just moved seven miles away when I got
married. So I was in that section ya know most of my life. And it was just wonderful
people we knew everybody, and everybody, ya know neighbors, got along real good
together, it was just a good place. That was before Bryce came in.
Leach: Who’s Bryce?
Dellinger: Bryce is a ski resort.
Leach: Oh okay.
Dellinger: We lived close to the ski resort at that time.
Leach: Could you explain some of the events that lead you to enter Bird Haven as an employee?
Dellinger: Well I got married and I didn’t do anything for several months and then there was an
opening at bird haven and I applied for it and I got the job and I lived right there my

husband ran the community store right there at Basie so I started working. He run the
store and worked at bird haven
Leach: How did you meet your husband?
Dellinger: In school, we went to school together and he was from close, ya know close around.
Leach: What did you do in Bird Haven?
Dellinger: Well to start out with, we worked ten hour days which was a lot ya know at that time.
I started hand sanding, everything was hand-sanded ya know everything had to be
sanded. You know they made whatever they made.
The men you know used the saws and everything to saw it out and it came to us to be
hand sanded. So we sat there 10 hours a day hand sanding. And you know sandpaper, all
the time we had to keep our fingers wrapped up with Band-Aids all the time because they
would bleed from the sandpaper ya know. So we did that 10 hours a day to start with, and
then finally several years later I got in to the shipping part of it to you know to pack em
and ship em. We ship em all over. Texas and California and everywhere, we shipped out
of Bird Haven and they had to be packed. So I got in the packing and that's where I was
when I could work.
And the post office was right there. We just packed it and the post came and took em, the
post office was right there at Bird Haven. It was a pretty neat set up at one time.
And before that they made they made different things they made puzzles, and toys, and
things like that to begin with. But that was before I started working there. That's how I
got started.
Leach: How many different departments were there in Bird Haven? You said you worked in the
sanding and shipping department.
Dellinger: Yea the sanding, and then there was finishing, and we had a finishing department,
packing department, and production you know. And the men worked in different, they
had lathes that they turned this, these, you know the products on and they had different
buildings there. They had lathes and they had a part where they glued, you had to glue the
boards together you know to make like that table there had got, had to be glue. They had
places where they turn so the spindles and things, they just about everything and quite a
few buildings with different departments. And they did the glue, the men did the glue,
and then the sanding and they run em through something to finish em, a machine to finish
em.
Leach: Did most people like you switch from department to department?
Dellinger: No. The ones that did the finishing you know they had sprayers where they sprayed
the finish on. And if you got in that department you know, you know you had to be a
little bit more. You know you had to know what you're doing. So the women in there and
they, when they got there they usually stayed there. So it was quite a few different jobs

and you know different departments. You went from one to the other, so it was it was
quite an operation at one time.
Leach: Did you, could you describe some of the training that you would go through, did you go
through training process?
Dellinger: I didn’t go through any training when I started, I just started sanding. No, but packing
was a little bit you know, a little bit about you know numbers and things like that you
know orders that came in that was a little bit more. You know you had to learn a little bit
more about that. But no just sanding was sanding. And then they sprayed a sealer on it.
They had to be sanded again. So it was really sanding two or three times before. The
women would spray a sealer on and then it would you’d have to sand that off and then
finish it. So it was sanded a couple times before it got finished, quite an operation. Then
you had to let it dry you know. And then I did some inspection too, they had to be
inspected before they were sent out. So you know sometimes they had cracks and
sometimes they you know weren't sealed just exactly right. They had to be inspected
before they were shipped out. I got in on that too so.
Leach: What was it like between the workers and the overseers? What were the bosses like?
Dellinger: We only had one boss, he was okay. He was, I mean he was alright. He was good to
me I mean. His father in-law, oh no his step father is the one that really owned it. But he
was just you know he was a manager and he worked there. So I don't think he knew too
much about it sometimes that’s the way with a lot of the bosses. But he was all right. He
was good to work for.
Leach: What was it like between workers?
Dellinger: The workers got along real good. It was just like a, almost like a family you know
because most of them had been there long time. Some of them was all that they ever
really did and they live right around there too you know. Some of them even lived on the
Bird Haven property. It was just like a family working together.
Leach: How did that translate into family life around the area?
Dellinger: Pretty good family life, in fact my mother worked for the owners of the place as a
housekeeper. And you know in later years she, they had a big place you know, had big
house on there and she cleaned the house and did cooking and things for them. So it's just
like a family you know. It's just, well the people, you never change jobs and you know
nobody hardly ever quit when you went there you know, you stayed a long time. It was
just, just like a big family.
Leach: Were there any problems ever within the community because you guys worked so closely
together?
Dellinger: I don’t think so, not that I know of. Everybody knew everybody, and everybody were
related to someone at some point, so yeah, it was a pretty good set up.

Leach: You talked a lot about the workers and you guys sanding, and running the lathe, and
spraying. Were you well informed on the business side of it about who was buying and
where it was going?
Dellinger: Not until, not unless you got into the packing and the shipping part. You know I mean
the orders came through that. If you did, if you were sanding, until I started out there I
didn't really know a lot about it because the orders came through packing and shipping.
You know through the shipping department and the packing department, but if you were
just hand sanding our whatever you was doin, we didn't really know anything about the
orders. So you had to be in that department. So and it was about three or four women that
did that most of the time.
Leach: About how big was the total workforce there?
Dellinger: I was trying to count em up the other day and I couldn’t. I don’t know it was probably
about 15 or 20, something like that maybe 15.
Leach: In your department?
Dellinger: No in the whole place, whole place. And some of them were really aged you know
cause they’d been there the whole time. They were there I think still; most of them were
there when they closed you know. It wasn't real big but it was, I mean at that time which
was good because you know employment back there wasn’t you know at that time,
wasn’t too much you know. If you got a job you usually stayed with it for awhile.
Leach: Were most people happy?
Dellinger: I think so. I think the workers got along real good and they were happy. A lot of em
were family I mean some of em were family, husband and wife, and brothers. It was kind
of like you know just like a family.
Leach: What kind of lifestyle did that lead into people living? With the compensation that you
guys received, what were you able to do outside of work?
Dellinger: We didn't do a whole lot, we just worked. That's like, that's what it was you know. A
lot of people around there were farmers and you know how that was, you work from
dawn till night. It wasn't very much. Most people, well some people back around in there
went to Mt. Jackson on Saturday night. You know they had that movie and restaurants
and things like that, my family did that a lot. My dad worked at saw mill and on Saturday
evenings we would go to Mt. Jackson. But other than that most of em just stayed at home
you know cause a lot of em had big families, and you know small children, and they just
had to work all the time. My mother came from a big family my dad did too. You know I
just, just had to work. But you did have, we did have Saturday nights. We went to Mt.
Jackson on Saturday nights just to go to the movie and have a coke or a hamburger or
something like that, and that was a big deal. That was a big deal then.
Leach: Could you describe best for me the grounds of Bird Haven, like the buildings you would
work in.

Dellinger: The buildings were good. They kept them up real good at that time. I mean some of
em are old, but you know, and they built a new finishing part while I was working there
so that you know that, that was up to date. A lot of the buildings were old but they were
well-kept. And I understand some of fell down they are, but they were at that time they
were pretty good.
Leach: Explain to me some of the items that were most popular that you guys would ship out.
Dellinger: We did stools, cobblers benches, magazine racks, folding tables, racks, whatnot racks,
bowls; that bowl on the refrigerator is one of em, I got one the living room you'll see
that’s the bowls and what else I got? Crickets, back there in the corners a cricket they
made. I think that's about all I have. But Cobblers benches was, and you never, you've
never worked at anything till you sanded one of those because it was huge. And then we
had to sand all, you know, we had to sand everything because it was made there, made
everything. The bowls weren't made there. They were shipped to us but we finished em,
sanded and finished em, but everything else was made there. And the cobblers bench, that
was something shipped too and you had to have special boxes to ship that in and it
weighted, it weighed a ton almost you know. But that was something that was the biggest
part, biggest thing we made was the cobblers bench. I don't have one of them. I wish I
would have gotten one but I didn’t so, and they had to be stained. You know they had to
be stained and they stained em with a brush. And then when they were stained, then we
had to sand em off and then they had to be sealed, and sand that off. Then they got two
coats of finish on top of that. So you can see how much work went into one piece of
furniture.
Leach: About how long from production to finish would it be for average sized item?
Dellinger: Well if you had an order for em right away they went right through which would be
maybe a couple of days if you had an order. But if you didn't, you know and you did what
was ordered first and then the others just kind of came along and they were stored there
until they were needed. But if you needed them, you know, when they went through
pretty quick if you had an order for them. It all depended on if you had an order you
know what you have an order for.
And we made forks and spoons to go with the bowls, yeah. So we had to sand all that get
in the prongs of the forks and sandpaper it's quite a job.
Leach: What were some of the most popular items, what did people tend to buy the most?
Dellinger: I think the bowls were probably the most popular, salad bowls because they made this
big salad bowl and the smaller bowls and the forks and spoons to go with them. I think
that was probably the most popular. Yeah. The small, you know because they would buy
em in sets you know and made different size but bowls big and small ones. I mean we
didn't make them we finished making them. And they were quite popular at one time. We
shipped a lot of them.
Leach: What's your fondest memory of Bird Haven?

Dellinger: I guess the people, I like people. We all work together good. You have some really
good people to work with. It was good work. I mean you were inside you weren't
outside you know working. It was inside work all the time, was long days but he
people were really good, and they were good. We were all friends you know
neighbors, worked together in the church a lot. A lot of em you know were in
church with us.
Leach: How about your least fond memory?
Dellinger: Probably my fingers bleedin, cause you can't, you know your ends of your fingers
holding sandpaper it didn't take long for them to wear it through. So we have to keep
them bandaged all the time. So I think that's probably the worst part.
Leach: Could you describe to me what led you to leave Bird Haven.
Dellinger: I had a baby. Yeah I had a baby, that's why I left. I left in September of 61 and she
was born in November 61.
So that's why I left then I stayed at home you know for a couple years and I never went
back. I don't know when Bird Haven, somebody asked me that I really don't know when
they closed. I know I was working there in 61 so I don't know much about what year they
close by. I never been back. And I got on the job [inaudible] after a couple of years so I
never knew why, but it did close sometime around that time. But that's why I quit.
Leach: Did you stay in contact with some of your coworkers?
Dellinger: Oh yeah, oh yeah we went to church together. We were all good friends most of us. In
fact I just talked to one last Sunday. I think you all interviewed him, Leroy Polk.
Well he was one, I think he and I probably only two that’s left that, everybody was
workin there they all passed away. What we were talking about Sunday about Bird
Haven. He worked there I think he said he went to work there about '47 so he
worked there for a long time. He's up in his nineties now, I think were the only
two that’s left that worked there.
Leach: When you first started working there were you one of the younger employees?
Dellinger: Yes I was probably the youngest; all of em or most of em were older than me.
Leach: Was that the trend? Less young people were going there at the time that you did.
Dellinger: Yes because the ones that were working there had been there for years. I mean they
didn't hire, you know, they didn't hire very many. You know, just if you got a job there
you were pretty lucky to get one. And I was just, I was young I think about 19. Yea I was
the youngest one there.
Leach: Was it hard for people to get jobs in there?
Dellinger: Yeah because you know there wasn’t any turn over, you got a job they stayed there.
Some of em you know been there for years and years and years and didn’t have the turn

over, unless somebody passed away or something. People got a job they stayed. And it
was close to home for most of them, you know, they didn't have far to travel you know
they just stayed.
Leach: That’s interesting.
Dellinger: Yea I hadn’t thought of it in years until just recently.
Leach: How has working there impacted the rest of your life.?
Dellinger: Well I've worked probably, practically all my life and you know I said, like I said I
worked in the summertime. I just wanted you know wanted a job. I just didn't know
anything else but work really. And was close to home you know and I didn't, yea I was
driving at that time but I probably didn't even have a car. So you know it was just, just an
easy place to work.
Leach: What about after you left, how did it impact you?
Dellinger: Well I had a child to take care of, so that took up my time. And then I went to work
and she started to school. And so, I've known work all my life and there never was, until
just now since I retired, you know that I hadn’t been working. Then my husband passed
away too so that was kind of hard, but I live close to my daughter now. So everything's
working out okay. Just being by yaself is not any fun. We were married 63 years, you’re
around somebody that long takes a little while to be by yaself. But that's the way it is.
Leach: What did [your husband] think about Bird Haven?
Dellinger: Oh he liked Bird Haven. He run the community still back there so he was busy but,
yea he liked bird haven.
Leach: Did a lot of the workers frequent the community store?
Dellinger: Yes. Yes, because that was the only store in there at that time. Oh yeah, yea he had a
good business.
Leach: Could you describe to me kind of the layout of Bird Haven, in that were there separate
buildings for separate departments or was it all kind of lumped together?
Dellinger: No there were separate buildings. It was kind of you know they were kind of all
together but, close together but they weren't, they were different buildings. Where we
hand sanded and where they glued the boards together and everything was one part. And
when they run lathe was another part. And finishing was separate and packing was
separate It was separate buildings and it wasn’t all one big building. Lumber you know
they had to keep the lumber dry and they got loads of lumber in. And you know they had
to have a place to store that, so it was separate buildings.
Leach: Did you, did the different departments interact a lot?
Dellinger: No you were too busy. At lunch or something like that you might break or something.
But then most of time you were busy you were at it 10 hours a day.

Leach: How was it even affected by the outside world? Did you feel like there were there
economic pressures on you guys producing these materials?
Dellinger: No not really. It was kind of just by itself I mean just you know, just the only guy we
ever saw was the boss. You don't see him very often because he just kind of let you do
your own thing. But no I don't I don't think it was. I think it was kinda just like you know
like a community.
Leach: Can you describe to me a typical day, working there from start to finish?
Dellinger: Well when I first started, I started hand sanding and we went in at 7 o'clock in the
morning. And, you sit down right away went to work and then you got a break, probably
about 10 o'clock you got a break maybe 15 minutes or half an hour. And then when you
finished then you went back and started again. And then lunchtime. And then you had a
break in the afternoon too. So other than taking our breaks and lunch, you are at it all the
time. And the machinery was running you know all the time the machinery that the man
used. That was running you know all the time.
Leach: What was the atmosphere like? While you were working was there conversation?
Dellinger: Oh we could talk, but once you work [inaudible] when you were running those
machines you didn't, you know, you couldn't talk too much. And on some of them it was
just one man doing it you know like running the lathe. And it was just one man so other
than that to break time, lunchtime you didn't really get to see each other. But yeah I was
working with another woman, and we worked together, we could talk together while we
were working because we were working right there together. But with the machine and
everything running, and you didn't have too much of an opportunity.
Leach: Were you very close with the other woman you worked with?
Dellinger: Oh yea we were good friends, we were really good friends. And then we would go
down for lunch, when we would probably go, mostly we would go down to the finishing
department and if we didn't have sanding to do, hand sanding to do, then we would go to
the finishing department and do a sanding down there. You know sand off the sealer that
was on it if we didn't have, especially if you were rush for an order they would send us
down there to help with that too. So sometimes we were in both places. All depended on
the orders and when they had to get out the kind of thing. It was mostly hand sanding
though because you had, everything had to be hand sanded one way or the other one time
or the other. But I never did do any of the finishing or anything. I just, packing and hand
sanding is mostly what I did
Leach: Were there ever any major problems with work? I mean working with wood its
flammable so...
Dellinger: No I don't think so.
Leach: Were there a lot of safety precautions?

Dellinger: Well some ‘specially in the finishing department, had to wear a mask you know for
that spray came back on you, you know that kind of thing. Yeah there was there, but I
don't think that was for any of the other departments. You know just the people that were
spraying they had kind of little booths like they had to and take precautions for that.
Other than that I don't think, course you to be careful around that machinery you know,
and that was dangerous. I don't remember ever having really bad accidents or anything.
People, you know, people knew what they were doing because they were and had been
doing it for years so they really knew what were the proper precautions to take. No, other
than the spraying part, there wasn't any specifics.
Leach: What kind of lessons did you learn besides just the sanding and shipping? What did
working for Bird Haven teach you?
Dellinger: To get along with other people, I think it was most of it. Because I never did have any
problems you know. When you were close with people like that you know I think that
helped me in later years because in later years I was cafeteria manager in school. So you
know they taught me to get along with people. And just really nice people back there,
they were really, really nice people, all of em. Think that helped me a lot. Just because
when you’re a manager your main thing you have to get along with people. That really
helped me.
Leach: Did any of the jobs you had after bird haven resemble the stuff you were doing there?
Dellinger: No, nothing I ever, never had any other work like that. And then I worked at a school
so you know, I retired from the schools so it was it was quite different from bird haven.
Leach: If someone were to come up to you and ask you about Bird Haven what would be the first
thing you would tell them?
Dellinger: Say, I would say it was a good place to work. And you know I really learned a lot
there. It was, it was good to work there, people got along good together and never had
any problems you know. It was hard work but it was it was good work. Good place.
Leach: How long did you say you were there for?
Dellinger: I think about nine or ten years, yeah. Because I know I quit in ‘61 I think I went to
work there in ’51 or ‘52 may have been ‘52. So it was 9 or 10 years somewhere
around there.
Leach: How did they treat workers leaving?
Dellinger: Okay, I mean it was alright I’d have probably stayed if I wouldn't had to quit. You
know I had I stayed long you know long enough. So yeah you know not very many of
them quit. I think the one lady quit and went to the bank to work, so that, you know that
was okay if you got another job. They never said anything about that. Yeah it was good
people. I mean good people to work for you never got told about anything and that you
did everything wrong. So you didn't see the boss very much so you just kind of went on

your own but you knew what to do. So you just went with it. Yeah you could, he never
said anything if you had to quit, not very many people did.
Leach: When you did see the boss what would he be looking at, what would he say to you? What
was your relationship with him the boss?
Dellinger: Oh he was okay.
Leach: You said he doesn't Come around a lot?
Dellinger: So well maybe you could see him once a day maybe, but he lived there in the house
you know close. And he'd just come over and just well everybody knew what to do and
he just more or less went on his own. You know we'd see him maybe once a day maybe,
maybe not that often but he never said anything much to us just kind of let you go your
own way. So I guess he thought you knew what you was doing, so go ahead.
Leach: Is there anything else you'd like to add anything you think is worth telling about Bird
Haven?
Dellinger: Just that, you know I really enjoy working there. It's a great place to work and good
people to work with never you have any problems. So it was just, just a good place to
work I think.