Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Spring/Section33/Don J. Mashburn

Overview
Don Mashburn was a World War 1 United States Army veteran, tire shop owner, and an interviewee for the Federal Writer’s Project in 1939.

Early Life
Don J Mashburn was born on June 29th, 1893, in Asheville, North Carolina, and was the only son of four children. He was raised on a small family farm in the mountains and attended school as normal until leaving his hometown to “seek his fortune” in Colorado at his aunt and uncle’s house. Don worked as a miner, rancher, and clerk in multiple states before finally joining the Army in 1918 during the final years of the Great War. Don was a part of the medical division during both the Great War and the Spanish flu outbreak where his hospital had “1800 beds but over 4000 patients.” He was stationed in both France and Germany, where he experienced rather harsh living conditions and was honorably discharged at Camp Lee, Virginia, on July 26, 1919. Mashburn’s philosophy on war at the time was "There ought not to be any. Well, unless somebody invades your country. Then you've got to fight.”

Professional Life
When he returned from the Army, he briefly visited his hometown before heading to Akron, Ohio, to work at the nation’s largest rubber factory. Mashburn would meet his future business partner Myers while working at the factory. Together they opened a rather small tire shop on Stroup Street in Asheville, North Carolina. Their business location was only a few miles away from Don’s childhood home. However, It would take less than a year before severe disagreements would cause Myers to leave the shop. Don decided against closing the tire shop despite the current economic hardships the country was facing during the 1920-30s. At the time of the Federal Writer’s Project interview in 1939, the business had been running for 17 years and had 8 employees. In 1923, Don got married and had three children, an elder daughter, and two younger sons. Mashburn was also known for being an avid bowler, fisherman, deacon, and active member of the American Legionnaire Association.

The State of North Carolina in the Great War
North Carolina saw major shifts in industry and policies during World War 1. Before US intervention in the War more than half of all North Carolinians lived on farms in small, rural communities, with the majority opposing US intervention in a “European War." Claude Kitchin, the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives at the time, like many other North Carolinians, vocally opposed America intervening in the war. When the US announced its alliance with the allied forces many North Carolinians would still favor neutrality and disagree with Woodrow's famous address to Congress that the focus of the war was on spreading democracy. Tar Heel(North Carolina) natives like Kiffin Yates Rockwell(French airforce), James R. McConnell(French airforce), and Benjamin Muse(British Army) were already fighting in the War before America officially deployed troops. The biggest surge in North Carolina troops came from a draft in May of 1917 which required all men, regardless of color, between twenty-one to thirty-five to enlist. In total, North Carolina sent “86,457 soldiers overseas to fight for the United States” alone. By the end of the war, “629 Tar Heels were killed in action, another 204 perished from battle wounds, and a final 1,542 succumbed to diseases.”



The Start of The Automobile Industry in North Carolina
During the early 1900s, North Carolina saw enormous increases in automobile ownership. In 1909, the first year of state licensing, North Carolina had an estimated 1,600 motorized vehicles. In the upcoming years, North Carolina’s automobile registration numbers rose from 1,600 to 6,000(1912), 109,000(1919), and 473,623 registrations by 1928. <ref.Ibid During the Great War, the United States government significantly increased vehicle and tire production to advance the war front. This can be seen with the rapid increase in car ownership by lower-middle-class Americans as a result of decreasing prices caused by wartime production. The rubber/tire industry in North Carolina concurrently benefited from this surge in vehicle ownership. Rough dirt roads and frequent tire blowouts helped the demand of tires, as “the vast majority of cars in those days came equipped with two spare tires, and the more expensive models even came with four spares.” However, the Great Depression dramatically lowered the rate at which automobiles and other industrial goods were being purchased due to the high unemployment rates that plagued every county in North Carolina. “During 1930, industrial unemployment tripled, with an estimated 100,000 out of work by the following year. By 1932, more than 144,000 heads of family were on relief in North Carolina, about 25 percent of the population.” North Carolina industry would continue to experience great economic hardship during the upcoming decade as Roosevelt’s New Deal and World War 2 only shifted the underlying economic problem in the Tar Heel state.