One day we got our first car!!! The mule and wagon I guess were then simply farm tools!  I do not know what kind of car it was, but it  was black!!! At that time I think cars only came in black. I don't remember how old I was, just barely remember having a car.

We used to go to town a lot on Saturdays for grocery shopping and whatever else Mamma and Daddy needed to do in town. My favorite part of these trips was to get to go to the Dime store. There were two of them in Opp. They had a lot of stuff for a dime, toys, candy and my favorite, we could have a cone of ice cream!!!! It was soooo goood!!!! We could get a single cone, double or triple dip. I don't remember the price but I am sure it was very small or we could not have gotten one!  But it was just a lot of fun to see all the fun and different things they had in that store. V.J.Elmore was the favorite, but L.M. West Dime store was good too. There was a Jewish Mercantile store downtown too. It was odd to see Jews as they looked a little different. He was a nice man named Leo Finkelstein. They sold fine clothes and other items.

As a matter of fact, when my Momma was just a young girl (before she married my Daddy) she worked in Elba at the L.M. West Dime store, I think she was a manager at a very young age. She boarded somewhere in Elba cause they lived out in the country.. She was working there when the flood of 1929 hit the town of Elba. She got caught in town and could not get out and spent 2 or 3 days and nights on the Courthouse downtown with a lot of other folks that got caught. I think she said she stayed on the Courthouse and it makes sense as it was just across the street from the store where she worked. The Courthouse was the tallest building in town. She told the story of how scary it was and upsetting to hear the cows, pigs, horses and other animals that were floating in the water, and lowing, squealing and sounding so pitiful. I know it had to be a horrible experience for her!!!
I forget how many days they stayed up the on the roof top, but she said that one day they started bringing people out by rowboat. She said she was beside herself with happiness when she looked across the Pea River bridge and saw her Papa waiting to pick her up and take her home.

Side Note:  My husband Bill King"s great grandfather Ephraim King sold the land on which Elba is situated  to Elba. Just thought that was interesting! This would be interesting research for a history buff!!

There has been two more major floods in Elba since the 1929 one, 1990, 1998.

Back to adventures of the car next time, kind of got sidetracked!