From an oral history I took with my grandfather.

When I first went to the University of Tennessee [1935-36?], I didn’t know how to dance and they had mixers where they had boys and girls would come and learn to dance and learn to meet each other.  Maybe I already knew how to dance then, I don’t know.  But it was at the gymnasium – old gym – Alumni Memorial Gym at the University of Tennessee.

At that time nobody’d ever heard of air conditioning and they had great big fans.[1] There were lots of people there dancing.  Lots and lots of ‘em.  There was a little short girl, her name was Sadie something, I’ve forgotten what, from Opaloosa, Louisiana.  I was dancin’ with her, and of course I chew mints all the time now, but back then I don’t think they had mints and I chewed gum all the time.  It was hot and I danced over and got in front of one of those fans so we could cool off.  She was a little short girl and her head came up just about under my chin and I was a-chewin’ away on the gum and danced over there to that fan and her hair blew up in my mouth.  It got tangled up in that chewing gum and I didn’t know what in the world I was gonna do.

I think I told you or some of ‘em later on that I got so hot that the gum melted but actually what I did, I started chewing with my teeth and I chewed her hair in two that was on the gum.  I don’t know whether she ever missed the hair or not.   I don’t know whether she ever figured it out or not.  Sadie, I’ve forgotten her last name.  But that was a hot night in more ways than one.  It was.  It was.