The Foxfire Book: Hog Dressing, Log Cabin Building, Mountain Crafts and… (1972)

Great insight into old crafts and trades of easy times for humans ( )

This series is so much more than a “how to” guide for people interested in homesteading or living off-grid. There are, of course the very interesting and useful step-by-step instructions—log cabin building, chair and basket making, and chimney building are all featured in the first volume, complete with diagrams and pictures. There is useful lore that has been collected, such as the use for different types of wood and different recipes. These are, to someone looking to add to their homesteading skills, practical guides.
But there are another set of “affairs of plain living” included in the book. Some of them are downright impractical. For instance, many of the home remedies include the direct application of turpentine, kerosene or a mix of the two on to the body. And please don’t follow the snakebite remedies. These sorts of things are included because the Foxfire books are much more about rejoicing in a culture that was much maligned in the first half of the 20th century as a poverty-stricken backwater. This book can appeal to a wider audience outside of the off-grid community because of these other aspects of Appalachian life that are included. Descriptions in firsthand accounts of planting by the signs and faith healing give depth and life to the people interviewed. It can be difficult to read some of the interviews that are not “translated”; it takes a little time to get used to the accents, but I think that the choice of the editors to leave it in dialect makes the books better. The Foxfire books are unconsciously part of a movement to rediscover and celebrate the positives of the Appalachian region old way of life, and in this goal they are successful. ( )

Hog dressing, log cabin building, mountain crafts and foods, planting by the signs, snake lore, hunting tales, faith healing, moonshining, & other affairs of plain living.

This was a reread for me but once I started I couldn't put it down. My Grandmother lived in Rabun Gap. This had me reminiscing about the less industrial days. So many skills are already lost. I'm so glad someone thought to capture what is left. ( )

This was a reread for me but once I started I couldn't put it down. My Grandmother lived in Rabun Gap. This had me reminiscing about the less industrial days. So many skills are already lost. I'm so glad someone thought to capture what is left. ( )