Living the High Life

I am sure you have heard the phrase, “living the high life!”  Where did it come from and what does it mean?  Is it a life style?  Is it a dance?  Is it a product?  Different people have different ideas.  But, what did it mean on the mountain in the 1930s?

Some people think of the high life as being carefree or economically well-off.  It may have derived from another phrase, “eating high on the hog”.  The idea of eating high on the hog is that rich people can afford the more pricy cuts of pork and those more expensive cuts are located higher on the pig’s body, like pork chops or tenderloin.  These cuts are located along the back bone and are the most expensive cuts of pork.  So, if you can afford to buy these, then you are living “high on the hog”. 
 Others tell me that high life refers to Miller’s beer.  It has been around for a long time and the phrase high life has been part of their advertising for as long as Miller’s has been nationally advertised. During the 1960s the high life referred to getting drunk or blitzed on drugs.  I think as they burned up brain cells the term was shortened to just getting high and is still a common phrase today.  Still others talk about a dance style that came out of Africa in the early 1900s.  The dance combines African rhythms, horns and Western culture into a wild frenzy of dance.  However, there was another product in the early 1900s that has been nearly forgotten.

 Around 1900 a druggist, T. H. Lewis, in Dilley, TX, began bottling and selling carbon disulphide under the name “High Life”.  The purpose of the concoction was to protect dried grains or beans from weevils and ants.  During those early days, the food that was raised on the mountain was about the only food consumed on the mountain.  Other than a few staples like coffee, flour, sugar, and salt, most food was grown and processed right on the farm.  One problem was storing the food and keeping both large and small critters out of that storage.  A large tub of shelled and dried beans or peas would get a small dose of High Life stirred throughout.  That kept bugs from getting into the beans and if any did the High Life would kill them.  The secret was to get enough stirred into the beans but not so much High Life that it made the beans hard and tough so they would not cook or make the family sick.  You had to be real careful when putting in the High Life not only to get the measure just right, but to be certain you did not get any on your skin.  Undiluted High Life is an extreme skin irritant and burns like a red hot iron if it touches your skin.  That extreme burning sensation gave a whole new purpose for the product and a whole new meaning to high life. Just ask Grandpa.

Grandpa Dewey drove the school bus for a number of years.  The bus was always parked here on the mountain when it was not in use.  I guess that made Grandpa the mechanic, too.  In the winter months, he would back the bus up the steep drive all the way to the garden gate.  That way, if the bus did not want to start on one of those cold mountain mornings, he could roll her down the hill and pop the clutch out to jump start the thing.  The strategy worked real well and there were not too many mornings when the bus failed to make the run to school.  The unique parking location did attract attention from some neighbors.  Not so much from the people.  No, it was Ben’s cows who seemed to be most curious and attracted to the bus.

Neighbor Ben was not known for keeping his fence in the best state of repair and his cows would get out pretty much anytime they wanted.  In fairness to Ben, open range was still pretty common in the area.  So, cattle not being kept under tight fence was not a big deal most of the time, and it certainly was not uncommon for cows to be out.  I suspect the real issue had started earlier when Ben complained that those James kids rode down the fence.  Ben kind of sputtered when he talked and blinked his eyes continually.  He must have been intimidated by Dewey that day when he sheepishly told Dewey that the kids were riding down his fences.  All it took was a hint of criticism about a James kid to set Grandpa off.  “Ben. I’ve got twelve kids and I sure as h@#$ can’t know where every one is and what they are doing every minute, but I am sure they did not damage your $!#%$^&* sorry fence!”    Ben blinked and sputtered and went back home.  Dewey and Ben were not good friends before that time and there was little if any conversation between them after that day.  Many frosty mornings, Dewey would go to start the bus and find some of Ben’s cows bedded down around and even under the bus.  Maybe they had the big yellow bus confused with the big red barn.  Cows are probably color blind anyway.  Not only did Grandpa have to deal with the cows, he had to deal with the fertilizer deposits they made all around the bus.  Can’t you imagine the colorful words of description coming out of Grandpa’s mouth as he ran the cows off and then stepped in a super sized pie!  Well, if you can’t imagine it, just ask one of his kids.  They can describe it for you.

One morning, Dewey decided that he’d had enough.  Several cows were bedded down around and under the bus.  “I’m going to fix those d#$%d cows!” Grandpa walked among them with a bottle of High Life putting a drop or two on each cow’s backside as he went.  He even sprinkled a little on the ones under the bus.  Seconds later the herd exploded into a stampede.  The bus nearly turned over and could have been torn to pieces as the cows lying under the bus tried to jump up and run. Tails switching, calves bawling and hooves thundering, they went over the hill toward Ben’s.  I expect they did not respect the fence anymore going back to Ben’s than they had coming over to the James place.  Most say that the cows never came up around the bus after that.  They also say that this episode did nothing to improve relations between Dewey and Ben.

Apparently, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.  If Dewey could use High Life to motivate animals to a new high speed life, it would only be natural to expect some of his kids to do the same.  You know that if dad does something his boys are more than likely going to give it a shot as well; but, what about the girls?  The poem says, “Sugar and spice, everything nice, that’s what girls are made of…”.  Evidently that poet either did not spend any time on the mountain or he was a fiction writer.  Those James girls could hold their own, if not whip most boy,s and their mischief was definitely not limited by their gender.

One day, Jean and Goldie were home alone and just a little bit bored. They were on the porch and a bunch of goats were in the yard.  These were not Ben’s goats, either. They belonged there. It was their home.  Jean looked at Goldie and said, “Wouldn’t it be funny to High Life those goats?”  Goldie replied, “Sure that would be funny, let’s put a little bit on them!”   Goldie says that’s the funniest thing she can remember about the goats…running, jumping and bleating, trying to get away from the burning sensation caused by High Life.  In fact, it was so funny they gave a dose to every animal they could get close to that day; dogs, cows, chickens, whatever they could get close to or whatever came close.  It is probably a good thing that no one else was home that day.  They probably would have High Lifed them.

So, if one of those James sisters tells you she is bored, you better find something for her to do before she finds something to do to you.  Thank goodness they took up quilting and High Life is no longer sold!

It is my theory that ole T. H. Lewis first test marketed his product in Africa.  The instructions were not properly translated and you guessed it; the African High Life Dance was born. I have to wonder if this inspired the “happy dance” the girls do when they finish a quilt?

The statute of limitations for these and most other events on the mountain have long since past.  So, please, you are free to share your High Life memories.

And that's the way I heard it on the mountain,
Tony Peoples