This is a story about growing up in the 1940s during the Second World War—of being poor but not knowing it.

The setting is the small mill town of Cooleemee, North Carolina. The story is told by William Franklin Milholen, or Billy as his mama called him. He was the seventh child born to Myrtle and Tom Milholen. He attempts to talk about life for a young linthead, as workers from the cotton mills were called. By the standards of today, Billy’s family would be considered poor. But his daddy had a job, there was food on the table, clean clothes washed by his mama every week, and plenty of family to love. They worked hard but had fun—even with homemade toys and no TV.

If you are fortunate enough to have grown up during this simpler time, maybe these stories will recall fond memories. Maybe you also were poor and grew up not knowing it!

--William F. Milholen

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