Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2021/Spring/105/Section 88/Caleb Carter

Overview
Caleb Carter was a white man born on July 1, 1893 in Asheville, NC. He was interviewed for the Federal Writers’ Project on April 8, 1939 in Asheville, NC. He held several occupations over the course of his life, but was a mushroom grower at the time of the interview.

Early Life
When he was young, Carter attended a private school, and later transferred to Bingham Military School. He worked for several years after graduating from Bingham, mostly at the Y.M.C.A. as a clerk and handyman. Carter then went to college. He studied electrical engineering at Tech, and then transferred to A. & M. to study civil engineering after a year. Carter never graduated college. After leaving college, he worked in naval-stores in Georgia. He then worked with a traction company in St. Petersburg until World War I. Once the United States entered the war, he enlisted in the National Guard and was appointed as a sergeant due to his military training.

Later Life
After World War I ended, Carter was discharged from the National Guard. He then worked for some time as a civil engineer in Bridgewater. There was a land boom occurring in Florida at this time, so Carter moved to Florida to work as a real estate agent. He initially earned a large amount of money, but lost everything when the land boom ended. He then borrowed a stamp to reply to an advertisement to join the mushroom growing business. His eventually successful mushroom growing enterprise began in the basement of his father’s house. Despite this rough start, Carter worked hard to expand his mushroom farm into the most state-of-the-art in the South at the time.



Career
At the time of the interview, Carter’s mushroom plant consisted of three 3,000 square foot rooms that he built himself. Each of the rooms contained insulation and automated heating that kept the rooms within two degrees Fahrenheit of the correct temperature for growing mushrooms. One of the rooms also contained automated cooling, and this is the room that Carter grew mushrooms in during the hottest parts of the year. His plant also had electricity and running water. Carter installed the water system himself.

The first step of Carter’s growing process was to put compost- which he would make himself- into the growing beds. Carter then would heat his rooms to 140° Fahrenheit in order to eliminate anything that may cause a poisonous mushroom to grow. Then mycelium that Carter ordered from expert cultivators was broken into chunks, and each was planted five inches apart from each other and two inches deep into the compost. The beds would then be covered with soil and left until the mushrooms matured, usually about four months. During this time, the temperature of the rooms had to remain at 55° Fahrenheit and Carter had to water the mushrooms often.

Experience of World War One
World War I was caused by growing tensions in Europe that resulted from an increase in nationalism. The climax of these tensions came when the archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated by a terrorist while visiting the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The war began on June 29, 1914 when Austria attacked the capital of Serbia, believing that Serbia was responsible for the assassination.

Citizens of the United States became outraged after a German submarine sunk a British passenger liner called the Lusitania. President Wilson wanted to avoid war, but warned Germany that the United States would not remain neutral if they continued unrestricted warfare. Germany promised to no longer attack, but eventually sunk American cargo ships. President Wilson realized the United States could not continue to stay neutral and asked Congress for a declaration of war.

The war lasted for four years and claimed 10 million lives. An additional 21 million people were wounded during combat. Towards the end of the war, the Spanish flu pandemic took many more lives. Between the war and the influenza outbreak, many families lost loved ones and many peoples’ lives were changed.



Economic Issues During the Great Depression
There were many causes to the Great Depression. The most prominent of these was a major decrease in spending that resulted in a stock market crash in 1929. Risky investments by stockbrokers and banks at this time had also damaged the economy. Another cause of the Depression was the failing of the gold standard after WWI. The combination of these factors had wrecked the economy and 1929 was considered the official starting year of the Depression.

The most prominent effect that the Great Depression had on Americans were high rates of unemployment. Even citizens who had managed to keep their jobs often suffered lower wages and feared eventually losing their job. It was difficult or impossible for many people to afford food, clothing, and shelter. Long-term unemployment and long, unsuccessful searches for jobs wore down the mental health of many Americans.

The food industry, the industry in which Carter worked, happened to be less affected by the Depression than other industries. Canned foods, which Carter produced, were in high demand at the time due to their low cost.