By Larry Hypes

June 12, 2017 - It was always the greatest month in the coalfields and it happened every year. “It” was vacation and although the month was actually a pair of two-week periods, families and business focused much of their annual efforts around it.

The major companies – Pocahontas Fuel (Consolidation Coal Co.) and U.S. Steel (formerly U.S. Coal and Coke) split the time so that not all operations were idled at once.

Coal could not just “stop” because the steel mills and electric generating plants, among others, were necessary components of the nation’s daily life. Construction kept the economy moving. Electricity maintained not only a standard of living but often life itself. From home kitchens to operating rooms at hospitals, keeping the lights on meant keeping people alive.

That ripple effect radiated out to the railroads – the Norfolk & Western, Virginian, Southern, Clinchfield, Chesapeake & Ohio, Baltimore & Ohio. Train crews on the locomotives, cabooses, in the roundhouses, on the yards, track maintenance and others also had to plan for miners’ vacation days. Many of the rail workers used the same period.

Each major work force had two weeks off. For some – as outlined in “Rocket Boys” that meant an annual trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was quite a trip, usually taking an entire day or more to do just the driving. That did not count the packing up, fixing food and taking care of final chores around the house.

In the days before what is now called “fast food” planning for such a trip started at the grocery store – not the drive through. Company stores in the outlying areas away from larger West Virginia towns like Welch or Bluefield provided the supplies. In the 1950s, picnic baskets and not-so-fancy coolers were usually the containers. Sometimes the coolers were metal, round and even had “Scotch” decoration on the outside.

Potato salad, macaroni salad, deviled eggs and fried chicken were often on the pack-up menu. Corn bread was popular. No Mom ever left without peanut butter and jelly stashed somewhere. Naturally, a cake or some fried apple pies were necessary for the dessert. Back then, waxed paper was a staple for packing the food.

Cars and pick-up trucks were almost always given a quick check-up, too. Spark plugs and belts got a look-see. Nobody would take off without making sure the transmission fluid, oil, anti freeze and brake fluid levels were OK.

There were no rental cars – it was the family chariot that everyone relied on. Tires were another matter. If at all possible, no “re-caps” would be relied on. A good spare tire was another key item as well as a reliable hand tire pump and a patch kit in case of the inevitable flat. The tire jack and 4-way lug wrench had to be accounted for.

Often, the work week would end on a Friday and by the time everything had been put together departure took place sometime Saturday or maybe even Sunday morning. Driving south, especially, virtually ensured that no garage would be open for a day or two so the necessary items simply had to be ready or it would be a “wait ‘til Monday” operation.

It was a long way starting up Route 52 and winding across East River and Big Walker Mountain to get past Wytheville, Virginia just to begin the great journey. Any extra problems were to be avoided.

A few brave people would take off without sun tan lotion. Most times, Mom would pack some calamine lotion just in case poison oak was contracted and there would usually be a tin of band-aids and maybe some iodine, too. Often, a needle and some thread would be packed in the suitcase to help with those inevitable rips in swimming trunks or shorts.

Remember that not everyone made it to Myrtle Beach. Quite a few local folk simply decided to visit the sand that extended out into the water at Hungry Mother Park at Marion, Va. After all, there were cabins to be rented and campsites available just across Route 16, some 33 miles from Tazewell.

Almost everyone could make that trip within a half day no matter where they lived in the area. It was clean fun and seemingly a world away from the grime of the tipple and coal train.

Ah, the miner’s vacation sales and related activities extended to the vacation destinations, too. The carnivals and rides and ice cream trucks followed the travelers. Car dealers had special deals for those fellows needing a better car to make the trip. It was an amazing time.

As always, not everyone left. Quite a few families got chores done that were left until summer to complete.

Many worked in the gardens and around the house, especially those with not so much money. When the main mining operations were idled, it was also a time for the company to “catch up” on repairs.

Skeleton crews worked on equipment in the shops, track was often realigned and necessary general maintenance was done in that brief window of opportunity each year.

All too soon (for the children) the grand time ended. It was soon time to get home, wash the clothes, put the kitchen back in order, mow the yard, start weeding the garden and prepare to get Dad back to work.

Everyone understood. Business owners, for example, would hold a bill for a few days until the next pay check, understanding that the extra “vacation pay” in the last envelope had been used for a little long-awaited fun.

Back to work, everybody.

Larry Hypes is a teacher and Bluefield Daily Telegraph columnist.