14.. Current Activities and Comments

Bob Zybach: So you think the secret to a long and healthy l?fe is diet and exercise pretty much.

Charlie Olson: Dr. Lincoln started this same method. And Dr. Lincoln, of course, they put him out of business. But Hoxey worked with him. And Hoxey set up this one of his own, using the same method.

14. Current Activities and Comments

Bob Zybach: Can you think of anything else at this time? I guess one thing more I'd like to put on this is the fact that yesterday you were clearing land with a cat. I'm curious how many days a week you work now and what kinds of work you do? At this time.

Charlie Olson: Well, I have these 13 antiques [cars] that I'm going to try to get done. And that building is almost done. If I could get that done, it's mouse tight. And if could get, I had three of those antiques in that log cabin over there, and it is mouse tight.

Bob Zybach: What kind of antiques?

Charlie Olson: I've got three Hupmobiles. A '25, a '30, and a '33. And I have a '29 Model A. And I have a '26 Model T. Then I have a '25 Model T Roadster, and then I have a '26 Model T Coupe. And I have to try to remember these as they are in different buildings here. The three Hupmobiles, there's a '33 Out here, and a '25 out here and a '30 over in that log cabin over there. In that log cabin is a '20 Model T Coupe and a '40 Mercury.

Bob Zybach: Ah. A new car.

Charlie Olson: I bought it new.

Bob Zybach: Oh you bought it new, too?

Charlie Olson: I bought it new, and I've run it a long time. And when I started to have it restored, I was gonna just have it restored for a work car. And I didn't think that, I didn't know this, these antiques, the club, I didn't know that there was one. They'd just started it. And when I had that thing re-upholstered, I just had it re-upholstered so it would be beautiful.

Bob Zybach: Are you more interested now in getting things restored back to their authentic. .

Charlie Olson: No.

Bob Zybach: Just so it looks beautful?

Charlie Olson: It's too nice to tear up and restore to make it authentic. Everything else except the

Charlie Olson: upholstery is authentic.

Bob Zybach: How close are these cars to being restored? Are you just kind of starting on them, or kind of finishing them up, or are they in various stages?

Charlie Olson: I'm going to try to finish them so they'll be authentic. Authenticity or nothing. This Hupmobile out here, this '33, I've tried JC Whitney to get running board material that was authentic. Running board material that's on it is brand new, but it isn't authentic. And I sent them an order, it's the longest running board made, and they had nothing that long so I ordered two, I ordered two and a step plate where I could put it over the splice right by the front door. And it is a pretty slick price, I don't remember what it was, $700 or something for the two. And they didn't send it. And they didn't sent it. And I wrote, and finally they sent me a big package, about so big you know, and insulated inside of this. The mail carrier lady happened to be out there just at the same time as I was when she brought it. And there was a letter at the same time from them. And when I opened the letter she opened the package, there was nothing in it. And the letter was a little bit sassy: "I hope you're pleased with the service we're giving you." or something like that you know. And she told me that she was in the same boat, they were doing her the same way. That's why she opened that to look. And after a while I wrote them a letter and told them that I'd have to turn it over to the Federal Trade Commission or the Better Business Bureau, something had to be done. And then they wrote back and said you're too late. We're in receivership, we're taking bankruptcy.

Bob Zybach: JC Whitney went bankrupt. I didn't know that.

Charlie Olson: And today I can't figure out how in the hell they're still in business. They're still in business, the same business.

Bob Zybach: Other than restoring these vehicles here, having that as a hobby, you still work around the house and on the land don't you?

Charlie Olson: My work here?

Bob Zybach: Yeah.

Charlie Olson: Well, I'm doing everything that I need to do and can do on account of the weather. I wish we had time, I'd like to take you over here and show you what we did yesterday. We've got a pile of wood over there. If the wall, this wall was here. It

Charlie Olson: would fill this part right here clear to the roof.

Bob Zybach: Is that firewood? Do you still operate a chainsaw? You operate a cat.

Charlie Olson: Well, I have a chainsaw, and a cat, and Ted, that's my youngest boy, he had two other fellows with him. But they were not very husky, they should be, but from lack of that type of work you know. And then, I had a splitter. You pull a lever.

Bob Zybach: Oh, it was one of the hydraulic splitters.

Charlie Olson: Yeah. And they put out quite a little bit of wood. And there are so many other things that it keeps you busy. In this barn up here is this Model T coupe. '26. It's almost finished. And I'm rewiring it, when it's the weather so that I can't work outdoors and I haven't got anything else that I can get at, I got the wiring, but it isn't for that car. So I have to do a little bit of extra splicing in different places. It's for a different year.

Bob Zybach: How many days do you work in a week? On an average week.

Charlie Olson: If I didn't work on Sunday, I could keep track of the days. But I have to ask what day this is. Cause Sunday is the same thing, when I work on Sunday.

Bob Zybach: I'm the same way.

Charlie Olson: If there's something that we have to go to, that will put a landmark on that, then I could keep track for a few days.

Bob Zybach: But you usually do something almost everyday then? Do you get more tired than you did maybe 10 or 20 years ago?

Charlie Olson: I can't go around as much as I could then. When I get into the brush . . . this last tree, I'll give you an example, this last tree that I felled over here I couldn't see where it would be apt to go. The road comes in and the tree was down here and we've got an open area in here and this tree will reach the road if it doesn't go just right. And my chainsaw is only an 18-inch bar, and it didn't go clear through far enough. It leaned pretty hard, and the limbs was all on that side too. And the wind come from that direction. I cut the undercut, I think I had that undercut about right, but when I cut in on this side of it, I had to cut in a quite a little ways so that the saw would reach through from the other side again when I started on that side. And when I got about that far from my undercut, the Iefthand side it started to open up. And I figured I'm going to have to go pretty fast in order to get it over so it don't slip. So

Charlie Olson: I went around but it got in a hurry. So it broke about that much in the middle, and it didn't go quite where I had the undercut in it. But I started to limb it, I went around where I could get in with the power saw you know and just started to limb. And it was getting late. And Ted, I could see him off through the brush and he started to motion, you know, that it was time to go home. He looked at his watch. So I told him I'll saw a couple more of these limbs kind of out of the way and then I'll go around. And it was up a little over knee high, and I either had to walk on those and that's not very good because I can't keep my balance any more on anything like that so it took me quite a while to get out of there. I had the power saw. And I was about as far as from here to the wall, and he went in through the bush and got ahold of my power saw told me I had to get out. So I fought the brush a little more and got out. But I don't do what I used to. But I can keep going and I can do quite a little bit. My right eye is out and that is a little bad.

Bob Zybach: Well, I think we've covered everything as best we could. Can you think of anything at this point that you'd like to add.

Charlie Olson: You know, a fellow can't, when you try to think of something like that it don't come up. But all at once you remember something.

Bob Zybach: Why don't we finish this recording now, and I'll do the same thing as last time, I'll bring you a transcript, and you can got through, and then anything we add to this point we can just put it in writing?

Charlie Olson: I should have done that in the first place. I should have done that and had all of these things up here, just something you know to start with. And in doing that I could have given almost every exact date. And this way, to try to think back I have to associate it with something that will establish a date or like that bus that I picked up in Texas. That established the date. That was a 1942 bus. But it could have been '41 because, you know, that's just like an automobile, they always date quite a ways ahead.

Bob Zybach: Well, I think that's kind of an advantage. We've been kind of skipping around, but as we get it indexed and we get it in order I think it will be easy for somebody to put it and get the exact dates. And I don't think exact dates are so important as who was there and what occurred and your impressions of what was going on. I think those are the important kinds of things.

Charlie Olson: There's one thing I would like to emphasize. And I would like to have people go and take a look. I know that we had over 200 inches of rainfall up there at that time. Every year. And if people would only go and take a look where there was a creek. Now, they don't have to go clear up to my home. That Soap Creek school house, that creek would cross right below there and there was a bridge across it, right below the school house.

Bob Zybach: We stopped there and we talked about that on the first tour, so.

Charlie Olson: Yeah, I know. There's no creek there anymore.

Bob Zybach: Okay. And I know that's something I've discussed with people since then, so and I got the same information from Wanda Cook. She could remember that there was more fog and she thought more rain. And certainly the evidence is there like you were saying that there used to be creeks and the water used to be up further.

Charlie Olson: There's evidence that sometimes you don't think of in time. You know that house on the hill that we was trying to find the road that came down and go around the blacksmith shop?

Bob Zybach: Yep.

Charlie Olson: And across the little creek? There's something that I never thought of until later. In that little creek that doesn't exist today they had a ram.

Bob Zybach: Ah ha. So there had to be enough water pressure to operate the ram.

Charlie Olson: They had to have enough water pressure to operate that ram in order to push that water up to the top of that hill into that house. There's no creek there now.