Gypsies did camp on my grandparents’ farm back in the 20s. My dad tried to run away with them. They brought him back.
Regarding lunch money, don’t feed them. One or two meals and the bill would be paid. This is recent. Our granddaughter is 18 and I remember getting called to come bring lunch money to her grade school.
I’ll bet your brother got teased about that for awhile...
I’m pretty sure if there were any gypsies in that part of W Texas, they weren’t European/Romany, but the Irish Travelers that live in parts of Texas and in some Southern states-my grandparents lived in the Valley, and were friends with an Irish Traveler couple who had a carnival that followed fairs, rodeos, etc all over the US Spring to Fall-they also had a very nice home and citrus orchard in the Valley where they Wintered every year-they said it was cheaper than Florida and just as nice-as kids, we were fascinated with their lifestyle-it just seemed so cool-Most Irish Travelers seem to be paving-and-construction scam artists now...