The Treadway's

Trish
You know, my dad and mom did both use this word as I recall, but I guess my intrigue was reading history of the courage, daily lack of communication with other people and the numerous emotions of the women who made the trek between the Eastern area and the midwest is what actually cemented the word in my mind.
How strange that I did not readily recall, before now, my own family (from the midwest) actually using it themselves.
Yes, My dad wore overalls for most of my life. I never remember too many times he wore regular pants/shirt. If he felt he needed to dress up...he simply put a suit coat over the overalls. HA! HA! He left off wearing the straw hat when he went back to Arkansas then Oklahoma (where he lived the remainder of his days), and started wearing the cowboy hat that always looked too big for his head.
The story of the only time I recall that he really needed a hat that big goes like this:
My dad most always had a good sense of humor and loved telling stories and laughing. One day when I was in Cosmetology School my mom called and told me to come home because she needed a perm. After giving her the perm, my dad wanted me to use a razor to cut his hair. I had not at that point ever used a razor. He went out and bought one. I proceeded to cut his hair and he thinking I might be too nervous started telling me a funny story. When he got to the punch line the stupid story was so funny I was shaking with laughter. Well, I accidentally cut a big swatch out of his hair and by then even that was funny to me and I bumped his scalp again cutting another swatch.
We called it 'rat bites' and my dad laughed and said, 'never mind just shave it all close and my hat will cover it up"........and sure enough it did. (the next hair-cut time though....he was pretty quiet). Ha! Thanks for helping me recall a funny story about my dad.
Julie