<Begin Segment 3>

RP: Can you describe to us the farm itself and where the house was?

TK: Well, we lived in a comfortable, good-sized home. But as far as I know, right then and there, I swore up and down I would never work on a farm. 'Cause I see them working all year around, and at the end of the year, you've got nothing to show for it. It always was barely making a living. But that's about it.

RP: Did your father own the land that he farmed?

TK: I think we were leasing it. And I think one or two years before the war started, our vineyard was infested by, we called it mealy bugs, some kind of aphids. And our farm was the only one that got caught. So we couldn't ship any grapes, 'cause all the grapes were shiny and sticky. Only way we could get rid of the grapes was to send 'em to the winery. So we couldn't ship any, so my dad took my two sisters and went to work in Lodi picking grapes. You know, they had these labor camps, some people from Florin, they had these labor camps so they went over there and worked. So those three worked, and my mom, since I was still going to high school, my mom stayed and she tried to pick, she looked all over and picked some grapes that were uninfected, but there weren't too many. We used to send, ship two or three hundred crates a day. Well, when the bugs got 'em, maybe two or three boxes, crates, that's all. So anyway, she stayed and took care of me while the folks, other sisters and whachacall were working. And at the end of the year when they got paid, my dad says, "You know, it's ridiculous. We made more money this year working for somebody else, than doing our own." He said, "We should have done this a long time ago." [Laughs] But that was about three years before, then the war broke out. So anyway, he had this farm, he says, "I'm going to give it back to the owner." Told him, "You could have it back," he said, "we quit." Then, so let's see. About October or November, before the war broke out, we moved to the town of Florin, rented a house. So we dropped everything at the old farm. So that's how we got out of farming.

RP: It was pretty marginal. Like you say, some years you would get a good crop, and other years...

TK: Yeah, and the only time I remember, I think there was one summer, 1937, I guess, crops were real good, '37. And we made pretty good, you know, we shipped lot of crates before Labor Day, we made lots of money. But right after that, down. So he says, "Boy, it's not worth it," after all these years.

RP: Most of the grapes that you grew were primarily for, for table grapes?

TK: Yeah, table grapes, Tokay.

RP: Tokay?

TK: Yeah.

RP: That was the predominant variety.

TK: Yeah, that's all. That's all they had in Florin, Tokay. And strawberry was Oregon Plum and that's about it. We didn't have too many acres of strawberry, maybe two acres. But rest is all grapes, forty, fifty acres.

RP: The house that you lived in, did it have all the modern conveniences of the day, indoor plumbing?

TK: No, no indoor plumbing, just cold water. We didn't have no heater.

RP: You still had to go out to the outhouse?

TK: Yeah, outhouse. They all had that.

RP: And Frances was describing the Japanese bath.

TK: Yeah, outside, in a house by itself, little shed. And then you heat the water...

RP: What were your jobs or chores around the house or on the farm that you recall?

TK: Well, when I got old enough to drive a tractor, I enjoyed that, plowing. You know, I got to drive the tractor. And other than that, picked grapes and strawberries, that's about it.

RP: You picked enough to, like you say, decide that you didn't want to do that?

TK: Yeah, 'cause at the end of the year, we have nothing. Says, "You know, it's ridiculous." You know, after I graduate, I wanted to work for the state. So I took up typing when I was a sophomore and junior year. And last year, senior, I took up office (practice) and I was pretty good in typing. Then the war broke out and there goes my job. [Laughs]

RP: So you were already planning for your...

TK: Yeah, I was thinking.

RP: ...your career when the war came along.

TK: 'Cause some of the people I knew went to work for the state. And they were, at that time, I guess, they were making, I don't know what the, forty, fifty dollars a month, and that was pretty good money those days. Said, "Hey, I'd rather do that." So I was all set to take a test, and then the war broke out, and then there goes the job.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.