The department of the company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry, presents the Cavalcade of America, transcribed in Hollywood. Tonight's star, Ethel Waters. Tonight's story, 16 sticks in a bundle. To the Cavalcade of America, dear sirs, some time ago you asked me to tell you the story of my family. I will do the best I can. As it all began back in 1907, some 45 years ago. Do you, Leah Sikes, take John Young as your lawful wedded husband? I do. After we were married, John and I started out on our share crop farm in South Hampton County, Virginia. We had nothing, just our four bare hands and faith in the future, but we had each other. And then two years later, our baby Flossie was born. It means we'll have to work harder, John. She's got to go to school. But she's only two days old. Just the same, she's got to go to school. I want her to have security. Once she gets it in her brains, nothing can take it away from her. I'll help. I'll plant a vegetable garden. We'll need more help than that, Leah. And I was just getting ready to ask for it. Dear Lord, thank you for sending us our baby. And please help us to rear her to be God-fearing and intelligent. Lord, help us to give her an education. Not just grade school, high school, where dreaming big. That is, if you can manage it. Amen. The Lord did bless us. Before we knew it, Flossie had seven brothers and sisters, eight healthy children. Three of them in high school. The farm was doing well, the house was paid for, smokehouse full of ham. Oh, we were so happy. And then one night... Fire? Fire? Fire! Fire! Children! Flossie! Josie! Otis! It's all right, Mama! The children are here! Our clothes, Mama! Can't we get our clothes? No, Josie! No! Out the door! All of you! Where's my new sweater? One, two, three, four, five. Where's the baby? Where's the baby? Flossie has a baby! Hurry, Mama! The house is going! All right, all right! Children, is everyone? Get everyone out of the door! You too, Mama! Hurry! Hurry, Mama! Come on! Well, Papa? It's gone. What are we going to do? Now, now, don't cry, honey. Your Mama's going to take you to your Grandma's. I know. Your Mama's going to stay right here with you, John. Where? Everything's gone. The chicken house? It's gone. The smokehouse? That too. All my ham's gone? I'm sorry, Mama. Oh, never mind. We've all got each other. We'll make out. Sure we will. The boys and I start building the house again in the morning. I'll take the girls to Grandma. Come, children. Come on. There now. The floor's solid, Otis. Now for the post. Over there, Papa. The post and the roof and then... Papa, look! There's Flossie and Josie and Bernie and Papa, the whole family! Mama, what you doing here? Morning, Papa. My, how nice your floor looks. Oh, John, I brought Mr. Collins from the bank with me. Morning, Mr. Collins. I was coming to see you later today. I'm sorry about your trouble, Mr. Young. The others at the bank asked me to tell you how sorry they were, too. Well, thank you. We'll just have to start again, I guess. Well, that seems like more than one family should bear. First the fire, now your savings. Savings? I don't understand. He means... John, he means the bank has failed. Failed? With all our savings, all our money. What? Seems like everything's washed away at once. Oh, my... Oh, it wasn't anybody's fault, John. It just happened. Oh. Mr. Young, I came to tell you that I'd make you a personal loan myself if I could. If you need help with your house. Well, my back is strong. Oh, thank you, Mr. Collins. I appreciate that, but I've got some pretty good helpers and sons here. All right, Mr. Young, sure. But if there's anything any time, well, you let me know. Goodbye, all. Bye. Bye, Mr. Collins. Is that why you brought the children back today, Mama? Because you heard the bank had failed? No, that's not why I came back. Last night, I got to thinking. Thinking about sticks. Sticks, Mama? Mm-hmm. John, one stick can be broken. Just one good crack over your knee and it's gone. Even two sticks. But whoever heard of breaking a bundle of sticks? And that's what we are, John. You, the children, and me. Ten sticks in a bundle. Together, nothing can break us. That's why we come back. Hmm. Ten sticks in a bundle. Ten going on eleven, Papa. Eleven. Mm-hmm. Then you'd better get that house built soon, John. I'll be over in the garden planting the seeds. Leaves. Oh, my. Otis, Early, where are those posts? Come on, we got to get going here now. Where are the nails? And where is the hammer? Here, Papa, right here. Now, where's Mama? Flossie, Josie, and me, we'd like to talk to her. Oh, she's in the garden planting seeds. Planting seeds? Mm-hmm. But Papa, that won't do any good. That ground's burnt out. The seeds won't ever know, son. Your mama plant them and pray over them so hard, they'll never know they weren't supposed to grow. Bless these little seeds, Lord. Make them grow fine. There's so many to feed. Mama, Mama, can we talk to you? Oh, of course, Flossie, what is it? Mama, Josie, Otis, and I, well, we in high school. Yes, I know. Well, we're not going to be any more. What? We want to help you and Papa now that we're poor. Poor? Why, Josie, we're rich. I thought the bank failed. Oh, that bank. You mean we got another one, Mama? The best. And it's right between your ears. Your children are going to grow up to be fine, educated men and women. That's our riches. That's how you can help. Now, you and Josie better get the fire going under that stew. And Flossie? Yes, Mama? Don't just cook enough. Cook more than enough. Somebody might become alone hungry. Yes, Mama. Bless these little seeds, Lord. Make them grow fine. Lord, bless all my little seeds. Make them all grow fine. Like always, the Lord heard and helped. The years went by, honest years filled with hard work. I helped as much as I could. I even made dresses out of feed sacks, bleached and dyed with sweet gum bark. Mama? Now hold still, Josie. Mama, how many buttons you going to put in the jacket? Three. But the picture in the catalog shows four. Then we'll have four. Flossie says can she have an over-the-shoulder handbag. Is it in the picture she picked out? Well, it's in Maisie's picture, but Maisie wants the one in my picture, and I like the one in Flossie's. Flossie can have the one in Maisie's. It's easy when you think of it that way, don't you think? Uh-huh. Now hold still while I'm working around your waist with these pins. Can you make an over-the-shoulder handbag, Mama? How is that? Too tight? Oh, no, it's fine. Can you sit down without it bunching? Sure. Look. Oh. Oh, sorry, Mama. Oh, that's all right, Shippet. Just pick me out another child. I'll cut it down for her and make you a brand new one. Which child do you want? Well, it's ripped right to the knee. Better pick me out a small one. And if you can't find one small enough now, well, just put it away and wait. Can you make an over-the-shoulder bag, Mama? The way I see it, Josie, if it's sewn and can be done, your Mama can do it. I guess that's why the teacher said that your daughters were just about the best dressed in school. I can't explain it exactly, but I feel so good when I'm wearing something nice. I guess we're all like that, Josie dear. In a pretty cotton dress, any woman can look like a queen. That's what I mean, Mama. That's just what I mean. And the years went on. We were poor then, but we never took time to think much about it. Until one Christmas. You see, once a year at Christmastime, Papa always managed to buy at least one present for each of the children. What this particular Christmas? I came by the children's presents this year. Well, don't worry about it, Papa. How can I explain it to them? Maybe we won't have to explain it to them. Let's pray. Pray, Mama, for presents? Yes, for the children, Papa. The Lord gave them to us. They're His children. He won't forget them. Okay, Mama. Lord, again we seek You. We need eight presents. Papa has worked hard, but we just can't manage those presents without Your help. Please, Lord, again, as You always have, help us. Amen, Mama. Two days before Christmas. Mrs. John P. Young? Yes? I have a package for you. A package? For Mr. and Mrs. John P. Young and family from York, Pennsylvania. It's heavy. Let me carry it in for you. The summer before, some tourists had car trouble near our house. The boys went out and helped fix it. That was six, seven months ago, and now this. Here they went and sent us a box. A box full of toys and shoes and food. Through those good people of York, Pennsylvania, God had answered our prayer beyond our foundish dreams. How safe it is to trust in His goodness and His mercy. And still the years went on. We laughed and sang, prayed and grew. On Sunday mornings we worshiped God in the church, the church that Papa and the boys had built. There were nine children, then ten, eleven, twelve, then fourteen, sixteen of us, sixteen sticks in a bundle. Way down in each of the land, there was a barrel to let my people go. And in the evening around our fireside, we sang again. Oh, it seems like you children and your Papa sing prettier every year. And I guess we've got something to sing about. Flossie finished with high school and the others moving right along. Pretty soon you and I can just sit down and sing all the time. But the Lord had other plans. That evening. Mama. Yes Flossie? Mama, you and Papa always said, that when we want it, something, we should pray for it. That's right. Mama, I want to go to medical college. College, college. One of hours in college. Well, why not? John, John, are you awake? I can't seem to sleep. We've got to help her, Mama. We'll help her. Papa, do you remember when we prayed that God would help us send Flossie to high school? Yeah, I remember. And we thought that was dreaming big. We taught Flossie to love learning. We taught them all that. If Flossie wants to go to college, the others will too. Well, what's wrong with that? I don't think you understand. Most folks, even rich folks, have all they can do to send two or three. Oh, well, we'll just worry about them one at a time. Right now, let's just worry about our Flossie. Oh, I don't know if we can manage. We'll find a way. But fourteen. Well, what of it? John, you can do as much as you dare to. In this good country, you can dream as big as you wish, and the Lord willing, make that dream come true. So we'll find a way somehow. Somehow, we'll find a way. You are listening to the Cavalcade of America, starring Ethel Waters, sponsored by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Makers of better things for better living through chemistry. So Gussie the cow went into hock again, along with the brood sow and my geese. Flossie sewed up the loose soles on her Sunday shoes and was ready to set off with Papa and me for St. Philip's Nursing School, the Medical College of Virginia. One of my children was leaving home for the first time. A family gathered to pray. And now the registration fee, Mr. Young. Registration fee? Why, we didn't know there was one. That's right. It's the rule, Mrs. Young. Oh, but Mr. Superintendent, we haven't got the money. Really? Oh, I'm sorry. Well, isn't there anything we can do? I'm only the superintendent. Believe me, if I had the authority, I'd forget the registration fee. Oh, we don't want you to forget it, but if we could wait. Wait? I don't understand. Papa's asking you to trust us, Mr. Superintendent. Until after the crop's in. Oh, I see. We can pay you out of Papa's soybeans in my garden. I don't know. It's highly irregular. Not my garden. By one year, there wasn't a green pea between here and Petersburg, except for mine. I don't doubt your ability, Mrs. Young. It's not my ability, Mr. Superintendent. I just plant the seeds. It's the Lord that makes them grow. Then you want me to trust in the Lord? Please. All right, Mrs. Young, I will, if you'll help him. In the days that followed, family life continued at home. We cooked, sowed, harvested, sang, and settled family disputes by jury trial. Order in the court. This time, Maisy was on trial. Papa was the judge. Here's a guy. I appoint you prosecuting attorney. Mama, you attorney for the defense. Now, what is the crime? Did Maisy have the right to hit Laverne on the head with her history book because Laverne wore Maisy Stockings to school? She most certainly did. Mama, you out of order. Proceed, here's a guy. Now, Verne took Maisy Stockings by mistake. She was in a hurry to get to school, so she put on Maisy Stockings. She explained to Maisy, but Maisy hit her anyway. Is that all? Yes, sir. The prosecution rests. Mama? What was the class the plaintiff was hurrying to get to? Why reading class? Uh-huh. Then you do admit that the plaintiff can read. Of course he can read. But what's that got to do with it? Then why didn't she read the name tapes in Maisy Stockings? The defense rests. The jury will please take the case. Uh-huh. All right, all right. Have you reached a verdict? Yes, Papa. Maisy's guilty. Guilty? Yes, Mama. I'll take you to the Supreme Court, Papa. The Supreme Court upholds the verdict. Worse punishment. Maybe she went to the mailbox and back. In the dark, it's scary out there. And just so we know, she really doesn't. She's got to hit the mailbox three times with a stick. Mama? Oh, I'm sorry, Maisy, darling, but you've got to. It's the law. All right, Mama. I'll wait for you. I'll run. Mama! Mama! What is it, Maisy? What is it? It's a letter, Mama. A letter from Fluffy. Give it to me. Give it to me, Papa. Now, now, don't get excited, Mama, here. Sit down right here. Now. Dear Mama and Papa and all of you, I... Oh, Mama, read it out loud. What's she saying? Oh, well, listen. It says, Dear Mama and Papa and all of you, the soles of my shoes come loose again. But no one here knows how near-barefooted I am as I'm walking real careful. But right now, I got those shoes stuck under a study table and I'll make out. Oh, my baby. Boy, Mama, you're crying. What is it, huh? It's nothing, Papa. I'm all right. It's just that the house seems so empty without my flossing. Empty, Mama? You know what you're saying? You've got thirteen of us left. Yes, I know, baby. But the Lord gave me enough love for fourteen. Oh, Mama. And so the years went on. Meanwhile, one by one, the children went off to school. They received honors, too. One, the best of all. Mama, it's a special delivery from New York. Open it. My daughter, Lily, won a free trip to New York and the Waldorf Astoria in a flour company's national baking contest. Well, what does it say? Oh, Mama, she baked an apple cobbler in front of hundreds of people. And Mama... What happened? She won. She won? The top prize, eleven hundred and twelve dollars, and an electric stove, a mixer, and a dishwasher, and she's bringing it all home to you. Yes, college is wonderful. But you want to know something? That particular apple cobbler, my Lily learned right here at home. Yes, you can do as much as you dare to in this good country. You can dream as big as you wish, and the good Lord willing, make your dream come true. It is New Year's Day, January 1st, 1952. Our children are men and women now. All fourteen attended grade school, high school, most of them college, and their father's father was a slave. So we rejoice and give thanks to God that we are still together, looking forward with faith in the future and confidence in ourselves. Amen. Good Lordy. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. Amen. Amen. That's the story of my family, friends. I don't know even if it is a story, but if it is, it's God's story. For without His help, we could have done nothing. Thank you for asking me to tell you about it. Humble in Christ, Mrs. John P. Young. Good Lordy. Amen. Amen. Amen. Our thanks to Ethel Waters and the Cavalcade players for tonight's story, Sixteen Sticks in a Bundle. Tonight's Tupon Cavalcade, Sixteen Sticks in a Bundle, was written by Edith Sommer and Robert Soderbergh and was based on an article by Richard C. Davids published in Farm Journal. In tonight's cast with Miss Waters, Jester Harrison was featured as Mr. Young. Original music was composed and conducted by Robert Armbruster. The program was directed by John Zoller and transcribed in Hollywood. This is Cy Harris speaking. The Cavalcade of America is sponsored by the DeFont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. Next, Hollywood theater stars Claudette Colbert on NBC.
