Isolation
It has long been a bone of contention with Eastern Shore natives that they have to contend with “come heres”. They have a good argument in that people come here from off the Shore because they like the life style, the climate and the amenities. But the problem lies in the fact that as soon as they get here, they treat the locals like a bunch of bumpkins and try to change things. Before the Bay Bridge was opened in 1952, the Eastern Shore was fairly isolated.
I remember my grandmother telling me that the Depression went overSalisbury virtually unnoticed. We had everything we needed without outside help. She said the only difference was that more men showed up at her back door asking for some work to do so they could earn some food.
The Eastern Shore had plenty of things to eat that are grown right here on the Shore. There were fish aplenty wherever you wanted to go to get them. The Atlantic Ocean was bountiful, as well as the many rivers and streams for fresh water fish. My grandfather used to go to Roaring Point down by Nanticoke and fill a bushel basket with rock fish in a half hour. I never saw a can of cat food until I was grown. All our cats were fed fresh fish.
For those who chose to hunt their food, there were deer in the forests. Rabbits and squirrels also were a staple in some families. In the spring and fall the Atlantic flyway sent enough ducks and geese over the Easter Shore that you could get all you could carry home any time at all.
The late Bill Phillips from Party Line on WICO grew up in CarolineCounty. I once heard him say that he never saw any money growing up. When it came time to go back to school at the end of summer, his mother used to go to town and barter eggs and butter for his new school shoes. Everything else he wore, she made. Many a farm wife had their husbands bring home feed sacks from the farm supplier in identical patterns. Many times she would accompany him to make sure he got the right pattern. From these feed sacks, she made her dresses, curtains, bed clothes, shirts and what ever else she needed.
What we had here on the Shore was enough to sustain the population. With the Bay Bridge and now the Bridge-Tunnel, we have lost forever that feeling of independence we knew for so many years.
I remember my grandmother telling me that the Depression went overSalisbury virtually unnoticed. We had everything we needed without outside help. She said the only difference was that more men showed up at her back door asking for some work to do so they could earn some food.
The Eastern Shore had plenty of things to eat that are grown right here on the Shore. There were fish aplenty wherever you wanted to go to get them. The Atlantic Ocean was bountiful, as well as the many rivers and streams for fresh water fish. My grandfather used to go to Roaring Point down by Nanticoke and fill a bushel basket with rock fish in a half hour. I never saw a can of cat food until I was grown. All our cats were fed fresh fish.
For those who chose to hunt their food, there were deer in the forests. Rabbits and squirrels also were a staple in some families. In the spring and fall the Atlantic flyway sent enough ducks and geese over the Easter Shore that you could get all you could carry home any time at all.
The late Bill Phillips from Party Line on WICO grew up in CarolineCounty. I once heard him say that he never saw any money growing up. When it came time to go back to school at the end of summer, his mother used to go to town and barter eggs and butter for his new school shoes. Everything else he wore, she made. Many a farm wife had their husbands bring home feed sacks from the farm supplier in identical patterns. Many times she would accompany him to make sure he got the right pattern. From these feed sacks, she made her dresses, curtains, bed clothes, shirts and what ever else she needed.
What we had here on the Shore was enough to sustain the population. With the Bay Bridge and now the Bridge-Tunnel, we have lost forever that feeling of independence we knew for so many years.
29 comments:
It is not that the people that come to the shore want to change things. It is that unless you're third generation, you are treated like an outsider.
The bunch who are here now have no idea of how to provide for themselves.You and I have the disadvantage of recalling when resourcefulness ruled and everyone had a garden & knew how to hunt & fish.The ferry ride across the Chesapeake (replaced by the bridge tunnel) was wonderful to experience.Dolphins jumping and military ships enhanced the trip.Once I even saw a nuclear sub pass app 1/4 mile from the ferry.Thanks for this post.
That explain why things are so backwards here. Only had access to civilized people for 60 or so years.
"It is that unless you're third generation, you are treated like an outsider."
Unless you are a third generation you are an outsider.
I've been here for about 40 years , I was always treated as a come here , and people wouldn't even speak to me. The shore was to me the most unfriendly people ever . The black people treated me with respect and invited me to all functions. The white people were walking around with their noses in the air.
All of the sudden in 1985 I was their boss and leader at a large facility . It was only then they started speaking to me , but too late . Now the shoe was on my foot , I booted many out that didn't perform and got rid of all the good ole boys. They hated me because I demanded productivity (the whites), however I did try hiring some from the union places that closed up in the Bury. They couldn't perform because they never learned to WORK. A very laid back attitude around here , but not now. I retired , also I'm proud to say , I helped open the eyes of this disgruntled bunch of eastern shore rebels. Just remember , all of you , every one of you were a come here , you had to come from some place!
The Eastern Shore had one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation during the depression. Almost double what it was in the rest of the state.
Couple of points. To the 'come heres' who want to make the Eastern Shore a big city or have all the things the 'big cities' have; we really DON'T want that, so STOP IT NOW.
1:58 that's the point, we might have had high unemployment, but we could still sustain ourselves and we helped one another. get it??? The cities couldn't do this.
To the 'come heres' who had a bad time and didn't like the people on the shore; if it was that bad go back to where you came from. Why suffer??? OR YOU could have really tried harder, be a friend to make a friend. There are plenty of things you could have done to assimilate in a new area. It's true, citizens in small communities are NOT the same and don't live in the same culture as 'city folk'. There's more but I think you see MY points...
Thanks again George. I do remember the hard part. Raised on a farm that was to small to support a family of 5 children. Anyway the hunting helped us to survive the winter. My sisters all wore feed bag dresses. Don't miss it because it was hard, but I think it made me appreciate where I am today. Sam
George, your article was great. I also remember my grandparents and parents talking about how things were here back in the depression era. None of it was good, but the very difficult times taught everyone to work together in order to survive. Talk about recycling, every part of a hog was used nothing went to waste. People and families actually helped each other and shared supplies to keep warm, have enough food to feed the family, and everyone went to the church of their choice and were grateful to GOD above for HIS guidance and provision.
Folks today have no idea how to do any of this and only want to make fun of those who did suffer and survived to relate the stories to us.
I look forward to your next article. Merry Christmas!
Folks on the Shore during the Depression would feed their laying hens roadkill when they couldn't afford corn or mash. Also the Depression nearly decimated the whitetail deer population here due to the fact that so many local good old boys were taking to the woods to feed their families. Ask any old timer who lived through it (still a few left) they'll tell you it took many years for the deer to rebound. If you lived on a farm you worked hard, but you had it better than most. You had the means to feed yourself and your family. People today couldn't hack it. If it occurred again this country, and maybe the world is through. We had 140 million people then. Today we have 320 million not counting illegals. 94 million Americans today do not work. Everyone knows the government lies about the rate of the unemployed. The true number which should include those whose benefits have expired and have ceased to search for work is well over 15%. At the height of the Depression the number of unemployed was 25%. Roosevelt didn't end the Depression, WW2 did. One reason we mobilized as quickly as we did was that during the Depression many unemployed men knew our Armed forces could provide "three hots and a cot" and enlisted.
Not everyone that comes here comes from the city. In the early 70's we moved here from rural Georgia. Ya know, real southerners not mason dixon line huggers. Nonetheless, we still had similar experience as 12:32 for the first 20 years.
You sound like a liberal, I'm sure your attitude is why most people didn't speak to you.
Maybe it was your attitude, real southerners would have no problem here....bless your heart.
2:32 PM - To the 'come heres' who want to make the Eastern Shore a big city or have all the things the 'big cities' have; we really DON'T want that, so STOP IT NOW.
That's because you never went out of the city limits to see what the world had to offer. Like real entertainment, real festivals. For real, you cook chicken in the mall parking lot and call it a festival? Ghetto man. Pathetic.
I have been here 10 years and it took that long for me to identify why your politics is in the toilet. Because in everyday life the born here's conduct themselves exactly like their city keepers do.
It is laughable that you all whine about it when you conduct your business and daily lives the same as your politicians and good old boys. Mirror images.
The gossip, back stabbing, lying, and law breaking. It is the culture of the Eastern Shore. If you aren't running your mouths about someone, bringing them down, you aren't happy.
When I moved here, my neighbors wouldn't talk to me because "I was from the city". Then without knowing me she went house to house on the block making up gossip and lies, so that people would not socialize with me.
That's the burys official welcome wagon ways.
9:13 AM That's a lie. Because the real southerner just said they were treated the same. Another born here that can't read.
You shun anyone that wasn't born at prmc.
Joe,
Third Friday just is not very good anymore. Come from OC for this event past few years, but maybe never again.
Seems like they paid someone to do it instead of volunteers and it just went downhill. It needs some energy and better vendors. Less hippies and for gods sake better policing. Last Night people were smoking weed and riding bike through the crowd. I doubt we will ever go again. Just was not a safe environment for kids.
Sorry I did not know where else to post this.
Tammy Fitzgerald
"Come here's" don't want to change things; and if the do, those "born and raised here" will shut them out. Most "locals" are friendly and welcoming to those who found their way to the Eastern Shore. The clash comes when folks who have come here choose to "live and let live." Different values and beliefs from local customs and way can leave "come here's" feeling rejected. It would be nice if everyone could simply enjoy the beauty of land between the Bay and the Ocean and live and let live.
Because you are
Leave then
Because we don't care to. Maybe we have attended and it isn't what we like. Go back to the city for your real entertainment and leave us alone!
9:43 AM ha ha ha, what a funny post. Most "locals" are friendly and welcoming to those who found their way to the Eastern Shore - Funny! That's why you mentally challenged midgets label people as born here/come here. Renter vs Owner. Do you consider that welcoming??
You one of Jakes shills?
Life changes, daily. The born heres are mentally stuck and fear anything different. Even if it is a good change. Go stick your head back in the sand
All I can say is the Eastern Shore is the best place I've ever lived and I'm thankful to be here.
Joe, .
Strange. I saw nothing as 10/21.17 @ 9:39 describes it last evening at 3rd Friday. Nice evening, good crowd.
12:11 PM Don't get out much, eh? A crime ridden ghetto with no livable wage jobs, a 70% rental rate and no future?
My family are real southerners and had no problem being welcomed here.
I was born here during the depression. 5 generations back were WATERMEN. The glue that held people together was the Churches. ALTHOUGH it was noticeable that "foreigners" did not speak "Eastern Shore lingo." Go to Smith Island for an example. In any country you a foreigner until you learn the language and stop making fun of the local speech.
I came here when I was eighteen and have made it my home for fifty-one years. All my children are born heres, grandchildren too. I have never had any problems. I have enjoyed life here in Salisbury.
last night I marveled at how 3rd Friday has grown. it is one thing being done right. Earlier in the summer I visited another local town's Friday night arts celebration for the first time and was disappointed and shocked by the lack of participation. I won't mention it's name as that could only go against improvement and success. The Shore is a great place to live.
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