| Show The prunes were packed in the old shop on First South Street in Ephraim Father had provided long tables which held the prunes while they were being packed There wasraissd cleat on either side of the table to keep the prunes from rolling off The packers were young girls or women An empty crate was handed to each woman The crates were square with four baskets smaller at the bottom square of silk paper was provided to place between each layer of prunes the smallest ones at the bottom in straight rows stem end down then the niddle-sized ones thensheet of paper and thentop layer of the largest ones withsheet of paper to fold over the last row to keep the prunes from showing through when the 1id was nailed on When each woman had finishedcrate she would call out andwould putmark by her name thus 1111 until she had five marks which made it easier to count when it was time to figure up how much she had earned The carpenter boy would give her another empty crate and take the full one away and nail the 1id on They were then hauled down to the depot and placed neatly inrailroad refrigerated car to await shipment to William Roylance fruit dealer in Provo Utah This went on forweek or ten days while the prunes were at their peak and until the railroad car was filled ten nuch the the donremember how much the women were or fifteen cents per crate It was my job each woman had earned and to see that she money that had been provided by my father boys and men paid Perhaps to figure how was pald from Father paid This washappy sociable time The girls and women enjoyed getting together It was almost likequilting bee visiting overlarge quilt Only they were earninglittle while enjoying the association of their friends Many young people looked forward to this prune-packing time because they enjoyed it so much One year there were more prunes than it took to fill one car load so father gave the extra prunes tovery resourceful man withlarge family This man put the prunes throughlye process to crack the skins and then put them indryer he had made himself He builtframework overcookstove where he had many shelves By keepingslow fire in the stove the prunes dried He would move the bottom shelf to the top -127 |
