"Baseball, religion, work, death, and the company store - these figured eminently in the lives of Southern cotton mill workers and their families during the early decades of the twentieth century. In this firsthand account of his native Bladenboro, North Carolina, George G. Suggs, Jr., captures the world of a thriving cotton mill town where the company was dominant but workers had forged a strong community. Here the focus is on the workers - their interests, personalities, and values - in their best and in their darker moments. Ultimately we see the many dimensions of working-class culture and taste a way of life that has vanished." "Drawing upon childhood memories and his father's recollections, Suggs covers events in Bladenboro during the 1930s and 40s."--BOOK JACKET.