Code,"6-digit code, ex. 518018"
Speaker,Name of Interviewee Irene Kusnyer (First and Last Name Capitalized) ex. Matthew Seaman
Date,Date of Interview ex. 3/30/2011
Interviewer,Name of Interviewer Haakon Bjoershol
Abstract,"Interview with Irene Kusnyer (born Szalay) about farming in the Cuyahoga Valley. The interviewee  tells the story of how her family came to settle first in the US and later on in the Cuyahoga Valley. She then talks about how the family got into farming, what farming and life in the Valley was like in the 1930s, and how they eventually came to focus on farming sweet corn. The interview contains rich descriptions of the types of crops and livestock that were used, farming procedures, descriptions of the farm house and barn, as well as where and how they sold their farm products, and who purchased them. The interview also contains stories about life growing up in the Cuyahoga Valley, including going to school, working, and leisure time activities. There are also some reflections on changes over time, discussing the development of the farm and comparing earlier times with the farm today.  Finally, the interviewee talk briefly about the Everett Ladies, specifically who they are and what they do."
Tags,comma-separated
Special Notes,"notes about high points, audio quality, etc..."
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0,"Name and birthdayplace, birth date"
1,"Born in Cuyahoga Falls, parents came from Hungary on different ships on the same day, did not know each other, Father went to New York"
2,"Mother went to Nebraska, father took boat from France, mother embarked in the Balkans, came to the country for economic opportunities"
3,"Father did not get work in NY, went to PA and tried mining, did not like this, ended up going to Nebraska to work in cattle business"
4,"mother's sister had moved to Omaha, Nebraska previously, mother went to stay there, mother was not treated well in Hungary because she was a stepchild, invited to join sister, both worked at Swift Packing Company"
5,"father went to live among Hungarians in Omaha, so both settled in same area at the same time, married shortly thereafter, mother was 16-17, father ca 20, had a little boy, decided to come to Ohio because father's brother - Paul Szalay- had settled in Ohio"
6,"Ended up in Ohio, came to Akron to work in rubber companies, father did not like it, moved to the country - Riverview Road, Akron, building the Sanitation Department in Bath, Ohio"
7,"Building a tunnel from Akron to the disposal plant, mother did all the cooking for the workers, father was overseer, did little farming at this time - just to keep family going"
8,"A tunnel at the bottom of Smith Road to get to family house, interviewee was born there, family lived there for a few years, then moved to Michigan - following the father's mother and sister who had moved there when coming to the country"
9,"Brother Paul worked in grocery store in Michigan, cutting meat, bought the store, father's sister had a store, sold it to the family, big depression hit, nobody had money, sold the store and moved to the Cuyahoga Valley"
10,"Moved to the Cuyahoga Valley in 1931, start of farming, father started the farm, mother did much work, no electricity in the Valley, bought an idle farm"
11,"the did not have a foundation, had to build a foundation, no running water, not electricity, 60+ acres to farm"
12,"Truck farming- corn, tomatoes, beans, all sorts of vegetables, cucumbers, strawberries, potatos, the start of the farm, mother did the planting,"
13,"Bought two mules, younger brother did not like the mules, mother also planted pepper plants, good farmers, mules used for plowing and field preparation, big mules"
14,"Mules did very well, harvested garden in the summer, took it to farmer's market in Akron and sold it to grocery men in the morning"
15,"Akron citizens bought vegetables for canning, also had a farm stand in the country where they sold vegetables, also had cows and chickens, sold cheese, milk, eggs, creamer stuff, mother passed away in 1942, mother got the farmer going with the dairy products"
16,"Word of mouth brought people who bought vegetables from the farm, most other farmers used horses, tractors only for the very successful"
17,"tractors came later, father had a storke around age 29, left him partially paralyzed, delegated and ran farm, older brother read much and kept track of things, mother did much of the work itself"
18,"sold dairy products until family got on their feet, slowly got into sweet corn farming, interviewee worked with beets, carrots and pick out weeds"
19,"brothers were plowing and planting, mother helped with the hoeing of the fields, mother put on slacks one time to go out and hoe the fields, farm also housed a number of elderly men from Cleveland who needed place to work, stayed outstairs in the house and also in the barn, stayed from Sunday till Sunday"
20,"mother hoed fields alongside the men, wore slacks, not common at the time, mother also cooked for the men - usually about 14 men working there, helping with the hoeing"
21,"Truck came to buy corn for New York, loaded up the truck, driver came back several times to take corn to New York, grocery stores also came to get corn for their stores, built the corn business of the farm, the area is known for good sweet corn"
22,"Slowly stopped growing other things due to lack of time, became sweet corn farmers, kept growing vegetables etc for self consumption, cucumbers, peppers, melons, watermelons"
23,"Homegrown produce, other farmers also brought produce to the family farm where it was sold,  to visiting customers, not many farmers"
24,"Not many farmers in the nearby area, other farmers out in Stark County etc, not in the Valley, pumpkin season - pumpkins"
25,"Sweet corn - Giant Eagle, ACME etc would call and order baskets of corn, 3 dozen ears of corn in a basket, family did much packing of corn, description of corn packing"
26,"Discription of corn packing, tedious work, work days were as long as need required, had to pack and load corn, took it to the market in Cleveland"
27,"Had to be up at 2 am to take corn to the market, returned around 8 am, eat breakfast if time for it, then back in the field to get corn ready, mentions Helen Toth, used to get beets and carrots and wash in the creek, packed them,"
28,"The water in the creek was clean then, would go swimming, had a lot of fun, had cows, bringing cows in to milk them, an angry bull making this an exciting activity"
29,"Mean bull, Riverview Road had little traffic making it possible to bring cows in, even climbed trees to avoid the bull, farming was main goal"
30,"Father and brothers would sit with books and figure on what corn would be best and when they would ripen, order types of corn, fertilizer, work was never done, machinery, comment on modern machinery"
31,"Went to school in the wintertime, father and brothers worked on books, brother worked in town in grocery stores, other brother worked on the railroad,"
32,"Went to college after graduating school, always jobs next to farming at first, couldn't make due with farming alone, once corn farming took off, took the winter off,"
33,"Description of farm buildings, no water or electric, big stove in the middle room, winter time was cold, warmed sheets and blankets by the stove then dashed for the bed, kerosene stove, no fridge, ice man came twice a week"
34,"Doing dishes after school, didn't use soap,"
35,"Used hot water to rinse dishes, used water to mix with the mush/grain they were feeding the pigs, then boiled water again to sanitize dishes, no soap"
36,"Butchered the pigs in the wintertime, also butchered cows, mother made gret stew, saved eggs; mothers puts eggs in a liquid and eggs stayed"
37,"On a hot day they rang a bell and all kids from Everett came over to go swimming, today the older brother John + nephew and niese -John and Georgia - are doing the farming"
38,"Today - many people coming and going, canned goods, only farming today is corn"
39,Machinery today makes short process of what used to take days and days
40,"Repeat people coming to the farm for around 60 years, kids would come and pick beans"
41,"Kids would puts rocks at the bottom of bean baskets as they were paid by the pound, sad that parents are not around to be there now when there's time for fun and not just work"
42,"Running water and electricity came to farm around 1939/40, got a stove and fridge, showers in the basement, went to the state fair, mother got leukemia"
43,"Mother enjoyed about two years of easier living before passing away in 1942 at age 44, father lived to be 58, died of cancer, had had heart problems before that"
44,"Father would play cards with his friends and with the boys, brothers were running the farm, interviewee only one left, just got back from vacation in SC"
45,"Talks about vacation in SC, looking at old family movies"
46,"Girls worked at farm after school was out, sorting and packing corn"
47,"Talks about the Everett ladies; all the other ones are related, much talk about genealogy"
48,"Everett ladies went to same school, book on genealogy"
49,Names of Everett ladies
50,"Names of Everett ladies, get together to chat and eat"
51,"Husband was a marine in the Pacific, did not like farming, they moved into town, husband passed away ten years ago"
52,"Answering question about when farm switched to sweet corn, building of the farm"
53,"Corn sold both at the markets and at the farm itself, still done to this day"
54,"Talks about sales at the farm when she was younger, involved in selling corn and vegetables"
55,"Interaction with customers, corn, tomatoes"
56,"People came at all times of day to get corn at younger brother and sister-in-law's house, younger brother's children, built a barn at River View"
57,"Favorite place - swimming in the creek, ice-skating on the canals, school,  a little bedroom"
58,A story with Helen - What to do on Sundays in 'the boondocks?' She and Helen would go for a walk and talk
59,"Went swimming a lot, Helen helped on the farm, Helen's family's farm"
60,"First years went to school with a horse and sled, father would take them there"
61,Story about a bull and a red apple
62,Interview ends