Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-05-06
An Interesting Letter

Our Country Home" readers will
recall my article on the "piggins
and pals" used in ante-bellum
terms, and also the efforts that were
made in the Tri-Weekly columns to
aid a Confederate soldier. all in the
issue of March 25.
Since that time I have had nu-
merous letters about the pals and
piggins. from aged people who rec
olIect them. Tinware was very
scarce in my early childhood, and
We had to use homemade pals and
piggins, for domestic purposes.
Since March 25, l have received
the following letter, which I feel
sure will again interest our aged
readers.
We also recollect the mammoth
gourds that were in universal use,
to hold soap grease, salt and also
lard. These giant sOurds had a
small opening carefully cut near the
blossom end and when the gourds
were filled with salt or lard, the
piece cut out, was carefully re.
placed to keep out dirt or flies. They
were indeed very useful and accept
able to the masses Of the people.
sumner, ~, ~ III IL 49, LOHA'
Mrs. w. III. FELTON,,
Care of the Atlanta Weekly
Journal, Atlanta, Ga.
My Dear Mrs. FELTON,:
MY friend, Hon. w. o. Cain, of
Sumter, Route 2, has kindly sent me
a clipping from your paper of March
25, 1922, in which you inserted most
of my recent letter, in regard to Mr..
ONl in addition thereto.
other interesting matter of the days
of "Auld Lang Sine" which 1 en-
joyed reading very much, and l am
writing you now for two entirely
different reasons.
In the first place l wanted to beg
you, if possible, to secure for me five
copies of the Weekly Journal OF
March 25th, as 1 desire to send cop
les of that issue to the various per
pie who helped me get up the proofs
of Mr.. Roberts services during the
Confederate war, which may result
in securing new subscribers for The
Journal.
I especially enjoyed your editorial
in regard to the "Piggin" and l
want to tell you about another con-
venience for the dairy which 1 can
recall, to-wit: The keller "a negro
name for cooler, 1 SUPPOSE on my
grandmother's plantation when [
was a youngster. l do not know
that [ spell it right or not, but as 1t
was before the days when large tin
pans were common. They were
shallow tubs three or four inches
deep. but from twelve to eighteen
inches in diameter and made Of ce-
dar or juniper wood, used as milk
pans or containers, until the cream
had risen.
These containers had the advan-
tage of having no metallic substance
about them, were made exactly like
big tubs with slaves, and held to-
gether with light hickory hoops, and
tid not contaminate the milk at all,
besides keeping it cool for a greater
! length of time than either metal or
earthenware.
| have looked in several different
dictionaries to find the proper way
| TO spell "keeler" but dod not succeed
in finding it.
While we are on this subject I
also can add that not many years
Since an old gentleman from Berke-
! ley county, South Carolina, told me
| that many of the sO-called Indian
urns which people thought they had
found were really made for cooking
utensils by old negro women who
| had been brought from Africa or
young ones who had learned the art,
and especially for the purpose OF
cooking okra gumbo, as there is no
metallic substance about them to dis.
: color the contents, and that okra
and tomato gumbo or soup was far