I had the great privilege of interviewing Ms. Robbie Moore recently. She is the first of a collection of 100-year-olds that I will document as part of a personal book project.
Ms. Robbie, as most people call her, is as young as anyone can be at 100 years old. She’s mostly on her own and not too many things, other than failing eye sight, stop her from doing whatever she wants to do.
She told me about growing up in a house as one of eight children, having to share a bed with 2 sisters and always having to sleep in the middle. She talked about how guests would always fill her childhood home, which sat between 2 railroad tracks in Palestine, TX, and how her mother always fed everyone, despite their poverty.
“I didn’t know I was poor until I was grown,” said Ms. Robbie.
As a young woman, she started to work in retail and ended up spending over 20 years on the sales floor at the original Neiman Marcus store in downtown Dallas.
Ms. Robbie spent many hours at work helping glamorous celebrities like Zsa Zsa Gabor and John Wayne while working in the hosiery and handkerchief departments. She started working in the 1950s when it was taboo for a married woman with two children to have a full-time job.
“I applied for the job on Saturday and explained my situation and then I started working on Monday,” she said.
Her husband was ill and couldn’t keep a steady job, so it was up to Ms. Robbie to provide for her two children.
There’s much more to Ms. Robbie’s story, but I will save that for the book.
This centenarian book has been on my mind for a couple of years now and I’m so excited to have an official start on it! Centenarians have always been close to my heart. I remember my great-great grandmother’s 100th birthday party and my great grandfather’s 99th. It’s so precious to be able to hear first-hand stories about what life was like 100 years ago.
If you know a 100-year-old in Texas who might make an interesting addition to this collection, please comment below or email me at ashley@landisimages.com. Please note that they must be able to speak clearly enough to be understood and recorded.
Also, I am working on a way to fund this project. If you’re interested in contributing, please contact me at ashley@landisimages.com.
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