Kentucky Folklife Program

Rural Heritage Development Initiative Central Kentucky Cultural Survey in partnership with the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology at Western Kentucky University

Field Notes

I had called Mrs. Traynor a week before to schedule our interview after getting her name from community scholar Bev Cox. I had spoken with Bev about our interest in interviewing homemakers in the area. I was particularity interested in speaking with canners. I think Bev Cox had gotten her name from the Boyle County Extension Agent. Mrs. Traynor was very happy to do the interview and we scheduled for Thursday afternoon. A few days before I was to head to Boyle County, she called and invited me to her Homemaker’s Club chapter meeting that morning at 10:30. It was an offer I could not resist and so decided to leave Bowling Green at 7:00 in the morning to make it there. I have also written separate field notes for the Homemaker’s club meeting which can be found with the other paperwork related to Boyle County.

In talking with Mrs. Traynor on the phone, I learned that she is an expert canner and often wins the grand champion award for a variety of her canned goods. She also gardens and wins ribbons for her vegetables each year. After speaking with her on the phone, I was sure that she would be a wonderful person to speak with about homemaking traditions and food preservation in the area.

My drive to Boyle County that morning was very nice, although I did experience construction near Dunville (not to be confused with Danville). After the Homemaker’s Club meeting was over, I followed Mrs. Traynor back to her home only a few blocks from Woody’s restaurant where the homemaker’s met. The Traynor’s live in a beautiful newer home at the end of the road in a subdivision. Walking into their front room, it was clear that they love antiques. Their front living room was filled with Victorian era furniture in soft colors, and there were collections of antique plates hanging on the walls. The plates, I quickly learned were the collection of Mr. Traynor, a minister at a nearby Baptist Church who loves to shop for antiques and collectibles. While Mrs. Traynor and I did the interview, he was working out in the shop getting ready for their garage sale on Saturday.

Before we began the interview and before Mr. Traynor went to work on the garage sale items, I got to meet the Traynor’s two beautiful Burman cats. The Traynor’s loved their cats and called them their babies. First Mrs. Traynor took me out to see where she keeps her cans. I asked if it was okay if I recorded her talking about her canned goods and she agreed. I thought this would be a good idea because it would allow for us to discuss in detail the process of canning. Her pantry is a small narrow closet area off the side of the garage with shelves filled with canned goods. They are beautiful and so well organized with jams and jellies in dark shades of purple at the top and green beans down at the bottom. In between are jars of salsa and relish and tomatoes juice. We discussed in detail the different kinds of things she cans and what time of the year she cans them. As you can see from the photos, many of the jars still have their winning ribbon and other jars that are getting ready for the upcoming fair have labels on them denoting that they may be possible for the next year’s fair entry.

After we spoke about the cans in the pantry we made our way back to the sitting area to do the more formal interview. We spoke about how Mrs. Traynor began canning but the conversation also drifted to her work as an occupational nurse at a factory and what it is like being a minister’s wife. Our conversation went so well; I did not realize how the time had flown. By the time we finished our interview it was time for me to head to the next interview I had scheduled for the day at Joyce Zinner’s house. Luckily Mrs. Zinner lives very near to Mrs. Traynor. Mrs. Traynor was kind enough to give me both a jar of hot salsa and some squash relish which I plan to share with the Cultural Conservation class.