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  brown gold   My Aunt Jennie loved coffee.  She kept large quantities of it in her basement.  That’s where they found her that fateful October night.  She was lying in her underground treasure trove of coffee and sugar.  To my Aunt Jennie, coffee was gold.

    Nancy Jane “Jennie” Courtwright was born July 18, 1894.  She was the oldest of William and Saddie Courtwright’s fifteen children.  Her father was a farmer, and a teamster...no, he didn’t belong to a union.  A teamster was a farmer who had a team and rig that he could rent out to neighboring farmers. It was hard labor, and times were tough.  This left an indelible impression on young Jennie.

     Jennie never married, but she had two sons, one of whom was confined to a wheel chair for almost his entire life, due to polio.  She worked as a domestic servant to provide for the family’s needs, but there was little money.  There would be many difficult times to face. During World War I, rationing made wheat flour and sugar, family staples, difficult to obtain.

     In 1920’s, Prohibition caused coffee sales in the United States rise drastically.  Coffee soon became an important part of daily life. When the stock market crash of 1929 began the Great Depression, many goods, including coffee and sugar, became difficult to afford.  This made these simple pleasures into greatly valued commodities.

    Throughout the 1930’s money remained tight due to the depression.  By the end of the 1930’s, the Depression was coming to and end, but another problem loomed...World War II.  People remembered the rationing, and the inability to get food during the First World War.  When war was declared on December 7, 1941 people began to stockpile food.  They didn’t want to be caught without an ample supply.  My Aunt Jennie was one of the hoarders.  She hid coffee and sugar in her cellar; the way a squirrel hides its nuts for winter. My Uncles, who spent extended periods of time with her, began calling her crazy Aunt Jenny behind her back.  They couldn’t understand her need to keep such large amounts of coffee and sugar in the basement.

    Aunt Jennie’s fear of being without food would haunt her until her death, on October 14, 1967.  Firefighters found her in the basement of her home surrounded by her stash of coffee and sugar.  They surmise that when she discovered the house was on fire, instead of fleeing, she went downstairs in an attempt to save her most valued possessions.  

     The next time you want to complain about the cost of a cup of Java, remember...there was a time when coffee was gold. Ask someone who was there about it...if you still can.
Amy lives with her daughter Alisha and her parents and grandparents in small town Pennsylvania, a place where everyone knows the value of a good days work... and a cup of coffee.
 
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