Fantastic work and dedication to keeping history alive ( )

My Dad owned these and I want to replace them. Lent to MHS Library and they dissapeared.

FROM AMAZON: First published in 1972, The Foxfire Book was a surprise bestseller that brought Appalachia's philosophy of simple living to hundreds of thousands of readers. Whether you wanted to hunt game, bake the old-fashioned way, or learn the art of successful moonshining, The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center had a contact who could teach you how with clear, step-by-step instructions. This classic debut volume of the acclaimed series covers a diverse array of crafts and practical skills, including log cabin building, hog dressing, basketmaking, cooking, fence making, crop planting, hunting, and moonshining, as well as a look at the history of local traditions like snake lore and faith healing. ( )

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.