Interviewer(s): Emily Bernier; A. Gardner. Houma, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Peanut, as family and friends refer to him, has worked with and been friends with F.J. Matherne for over 30 years. He worked at Kerr McGee as a flunkie and then went to Texaco for 36 years. When I called him to set up an interview he sounded excited over the phone; he also asked if F.J. put me up to this. When I drove up to the house, I was astounded by the number of plants sitting in the car port, around the car, beside the house and on boards out in the yard. I then noticed a small faded sign by the door that said, "Plants For Sale." Peanut answered the door with a quick smile. He and his wife were sitting in the living room watching television, as it was rainy that day. I soon found out that his wife was the gardener; she talked very excitedly about her plants to me for 10 minutes. Peanut brought out a number of photos to share during the first interview (July 20, 2001), so Andrew Gardner returned five days later to scan the photos and conduct a photo interview specifically about the photos.

James "Peanut" Crochet was born in 1927. He was drafted into the service in 1944 and toured Marseilles and Belgium for 20 months. His first job was at a factory called "Weatherhead." It was a canning factory in Houma. In 1949 he got a job with Kerr McGee as a flunkie and then moved onto roustabout after a year or so. After Kerr McGee he went to work inshore for Texaco. In the 1970's he worked as foreman for a few years. During the downturn of the early 1980's, he was transferred to work on a clean up barge by the name of Barge Lawrence.