Photo from Southern Appalachian Digital Collections taken by by Edgar S. Purdom
Traveling from Pineville to Harlan, Kentucky, a gentleman stopped at a local blacksmith. Hot and thirsty, he located the fresh spring water for a drink. The ever present community gourd dipper was in the hands of another traveler, who had just quenched his thirst and was wiping his tobacco-stained chin with the back of his hand. The newly arrived gentleman was offered the gourd, but before taking his turn he slightly swished some water around and tossed it aside. Then he carefully turned his arm in an awkward position to drink backward from the dipper so as not to drink in the same spot the other man had. To his chagrin, the tobacco chewing man turned and said, “I’ll be john brown, yer the first un I ever did see drink just like me.”
—Appalachian Livin’ Summer
I hope the little story from the book made you smile. It sure put a grin on my face when I first read it.
I’ve always been a big water drinker. Pap really stressed to us kids the need to drink water. Whenever he was feeling bad he’d get a big glass of water and drink it all at once. No matter what was ailing him he said drinking water made him feel better.
I learned the benefit of drinking water for my health when I was pregnant with the girls. I had a difficult time for a variety of reasons. Thankfully I had a wonderful doctor who helped me carry them for 36 weeks and a couple days. They were both born healthy and what a blessing that was.
I was on strict bed rest from five months on and had round the clock fetal monitoring. Looking back it was really high tech although I was to worried about the babies to think much about it then.
There was a belt that I strapped on at certain times of the day and wore for 30 minutes or so. If I was having contractions it recorded them. I took a portion of the belt off and popped it into a machine connected to the telephone that was sort of like a fax machine.
The recording was sent to nurses who were monitoring me all the way in Gainesville, Georgia. If there were any sign of contractions they called me to let me know and then asked me to drink a large tumbler of water. They had given me the large cup on the day the equipment was set up.
After drinking the water I waited 30 minutes and did the recording again. Every single time the water stopped the contractions.
Since then I’ve followed Pap’s advice and the advice of the nurses I had when I was pregnant. Any time I’m feeling bad I get a big glass of water and drink it. Most of the time it helps.
Last night’s video: The Shed is Taking Shape.
Tipper
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I grew up like this, but when daddy built us a house we had a well dugged and running water. There were spring houses for our milk. It kept everything cold even in hot weather. For the most part, we had JUST what we needed. Moma always made do. We always used Mason jars for drinking at the dinner table. Good memories. God bless everyone. We have been in Bible School and seven children got saved last night. praise God.
That made me giggle out loud. I just love that little story.
I too have found memories of everyone drinking from the same dipper. One side of our family had a metal dipper and the other side of the family had a porcelain dipper, both long handled. I believe my brother has the porcelain one now. Lawzy Dazy people would fall over with a heart attack if they drank after each other like that today.
Miss Tipper, I’d just like y’all to know everything went well today. My dear husband came through everything with no problems. His biopsy was okay and he has to continue to be watched. He’ll have an M.R. I in the months. These types of cyst can become cancerous and need much attention. Thanks to everyone for your prayers , call out to Jacky M.(Grammy from Texas)also. Feel very relieved and exhausted for sure. Love ya all.
My Papaw used to say that the last wars will be fought over water not oil. He passed before anyone knew anything about climate change. No one except the oil companies, that is.
That’s so true. He was a wise person.
Oh boy! If I had a dollar for every drink from a water bucket using a metal dipper! Never had “running water” in the house growing up except for a few weeks, then the newly-laid line broke and we couldn’t find where. At Grandma’s also well, bucket, dipper. And at church, except someone brought that from home, at least I do not recall a spring. Tipper, you sure did invest in your twins and gave them a good start. I think just their knowing that alone has made a difference in their lives.
I remember one time we were hoeing corn and went to the spring for a drink of water. The first one there, I can’t remember who it was, grabbed the gourd dipper and dipped it into the spring and drank deep.
His eyes opened wide and he said, “I think I swallowed a lizard.” About the same time heaved a big barf and the lizard came up and went back into the spring.
Since that was the only spring for some distance the rest of us didn’t hesitate to drink from it. However, never again did I ever drink from a gourd dipper without hitting on the handle….just in case!
I’ve seen gourd dippers before, and gourd birdhouses…but we’ve never had either one. My daddy used to keep a metal dipper by the sink to get a drink of good ole well water with. It may have been aluminum or something I’m not sure, but it was really light weight and man it sure made it seem like the water tasted better! I’m a big water drinker myself. I’ll take it over a soda or juice any day! The tourists look at us like we’re crazy when we stop and get a drink from the creek….they don’t know what they’re missing. The best water in the world is drank straight outta the creek on a hot summer day
I have fond memories of drinking water from a gourd dipper. My granddaddy made them and when he drew up a bucket of water from the well, I remember those dippers and how cold that water was. It was probably some of the best water I ever had. I still drink a lot of water. Thanks for stirring up sweet memories Tipper!
This was such an interesting post, Tipper! The story made me smile. 🙂 I don’t think we realize how important water consumption is. Something that used to be so innate, and now lost in modern times. I saw a title at our local library recently that said, “You’re Not Sick, You’re Thirsty.” I think you and your Pap are right, that dehydration is a major factor in MANY things that ale us. Thanks for the important reminder to drink more water!
I have told this before. My Granddaddy Kirby would draw buckets of water from his well and carry it to the convicts on the chain gang when they were working on the road in front of his home on those hot summer days in the south. The guards would sometimes let the convicts take a break and set under the shade trees in Grandaddy’s front yard. If it was the time of the year for him to have ripe watermelons and cantaloupe he would give the convicts some along with the water. I can only image how good that cold well water must have tasted to them. My Grandaddy lived his life by the words in the song “A Beautiful Life.”
Our convicts had trusties that went to people’s houses and asked for water from their springs. Those prisoners kept the ditches cleaned out and the brush cleared from the road right of way. They came through every year and did a great job. They got more water breaks than I did!
Now contractors come through and do a ½ (donkey) job mowing the shoulders. In the meantime the trees and kudzu vines grow over the roads and make you feel like you are driving through a tunnel.
Yes it is the same way here. Now the convicts stay at the prison playing basketball or other similar things while the county pays road maintenance employees to cut the grass with tractors and bush hogs. The grass and saplings that can’t be reached with the side mounted bush hog are left to grow.
funny you guys are talking about the working and non working convicts because just this morning I read that here in Oklahoma a female warden from one of our correctional facilities heard about a woman and her kids who have been trapped in their home for a week because of last weeks storms and tornados causing roads to be impassable and there was oddly enough no road crews who could or would do the job so the family could be rescued–so she picked out several of her prisoners and within a few hours had that mama and her kids rescued from their home—and can you believe people wear complaining because now fugitives know where a woman lives with her kids in a secluded place with no ‘man’ to protect her, this family had been trapped for a week and not even neighbors worked to free them (and I use to think had hurricane Helene hit here that fellow Okies would have helped one another like they did in North Carolina) Thank God for the female warden who had the compassion to want to help and the trust in that bunch of prisoners to believe they could get the job done.
Randy, your grandpa sounds like a fine fellow. I doubt there is anyone on here that needs to hear this but this is what Christians and good descent people do for each other.
This is my world I grew up in and experienced for the most part because I was sheltered.
Anyway thanks for bringing back memories of my own father, grandpa, and a couple of my friends dads and their kindness.
Yes, I did smile as I read today’s story!
I have never drank water from a gourd but too many times to count from a metal dipper.
I try to drink at least 44 ounces a day to stay hydrated.
Everyone have a great day!
What a funny story that was probably true. I hate drinking water, but I am trying harder since my annual wellness test caused me to make several trips to a kidney specialist, only to find what I suspected all along: dehydration. My issue wasn’t as serious as my cousin’s, as she has been admitted to the hospital twice due to drinking too much water that depleted her sodium. Now she splits her daily consumption between Body Armor and water.
That’s a fun story, Tipper. I drink a lot of water compared to some people. I grew up drinking spring water from an aluminum dipper in a cedar bucket. I have the bucket and a couple gourd dippers, one from my great-grandparents dating back to the 1800’s, but I never used those.
The story reminds me of a family happening several years ago after a brother-in-law, his wife and his little boy visited my husband and me. The little boy’s mother was a city girl who was very particular about her furnishings and clothes and most everything around her. She was most particular about brushing and flossing her teeth. Several days after the visit the little boy watched her routine and told his mother, “ remember when we visited Uncle Tom and Aunt Sallie? Well, your toothbrush fell into the potty, but I fished it out!” I can only imagine her reaction, like the man who went out of his way to drink from the back side of the gourd dipper.
I drink about two quarts of water a day mainly to keep my kidneys hydrated. I have kidney problems (brought on by the high-risk meds I take daily for rheumatoid arthritis) and had surgery six years ago to remove infection and stones from the right kidney. I had sepsis following the surgery and had to be in the ICU. My urologist emphasizes drinking “lots” of water and I make sure I drink plenty. We have a well and I was raised with a well so I’m particular on the taste of water. My earliest recollection of drinking water is when I lived in Ky my first four- and one-half years. We had a well on the side of the house. A metal bucket was filled with water and a metal dipper available for all to drink from. I remember the water being cold and satisfying. I never saw a gourd but have heard of them being used as bowls and dippers. My family never had inside plumbing either. I used an outhouse the first seven years of my life. Most of my Ky relatives did not get it until the 70s. The well is still located on the side of the house we lived in but it is not used any longer.
I’m not a big water drinker. I often go days without drinking any and when I do it’s distilled water. I drink coffee in the morning with my medicine and buttermilk with it at night. I don’t drink store bought juices because, if you read the ingredient list, they are “from concentrate” and contain lots of things that are not necessary.
I do eat lots of watermelon, oranges, grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers and other fruits and vegetables that contain plenty of water. I don’t miss out on my daily intake of dihydrogen monoxide, I just eat it instead of drinking it.
Morning sweet friends. Hope all is well with y’all today. Miss Tipper thanks for this wonderful memory today. At my grandparents home, when we visited them they had a bucket of good old cold deep well water. What I wouldn’t give to have a wonderful drink, in that large tin ladle, of that water right now. More so, I’d like to be with my grandparents there. What a joy that would be. Please give prayers for my 84 years old husband today. He’s having a complicated biopsy today and we’re about ready to be going. We’d appreciate prayer and also for the drive to the hospital we have to go to. It’s 2 1/2 hours from our home. Many thanks.
Jennifer, I will pray for him and for the trip.
Thank you dear friend. You are so very kind. Give your sweet momma a hello for me and to the rest of your sweet family too. Jennifer
Praying for you and your husband to have safe travel today. Praying your husband’s biopsy to go smoothly. Grammy from Texas
Awe, thank you Grammy from Texas. We surely appreciate that you are doing this for him. I’m a one time Grammy too and we’re a 3 times Great Granny and Grandpa. ☺️
I was taught a long time ago that much of what ails us on a daily basis is, more often than not, the beginnings of dehydration. Got a headache? Drink a glass of water and wait a little while, then decide if you need a pain reliever. Are you really hungry, or would a glass of water satisfy your stomach? Feeling lethargic? Try a glass of water and it may revive you enough to get something done. Water can be our best medicine sometimes. The use of hot and cold compresses or hot and cold showers are some of the simplest but most beneficial treatments for many medical conditions. And, of course, spending time in, on, or near bodies of water can be very restorative to our spirits, as well as our bodies.
We didn’t drink water from a gourd but from a tin dipper. I tell people that I have turned into my Mother. Every time she goes off in a car she always had a glass or thermos of water with her and I can’t hardly leave the house without a glass of water with me.
My wife of almost 53 years was the youngest in a family of five siblings. She was raised in the country and as far back as she can remember, her mother had a metal dipper hanging in the kitchen. When her mother passed away, my wife got that dipper. It has hung in our kitchen for over 20 years.
We used to have our maternal grandparents but I don’t know what happened to it???
Tipper this post warmed my heart. My Daddy’s family is from Pineville Kentucky. I’m the first generation born outside of Kentucky in his family. I grew up with mountain language, cooking and ways. I’ve carried them on to my children and still have a Bell county accent and ways. Drinking from a gourd or tin cup is wonderful.
I follow you and the girls channels on YouTube. It’s one of the sweetest blessings God gives me everyday!
Conniesue, yes that’s a Hillbilly name and I love it. Celebrating Appalachia every day! ✝️❤️
Conniesue-thank you!!
I remember the water bucket very well because till I was 19 years old it was the only way at our house to get a drink of water. We filled it at the spring or drew it from the well .
All 9 of us drank from the same bucket and dipper I have dad’s last dipper.
Thanks for the memories.
I know that as we age it is especially important to take in a goodly amount of water. I have heard doctors say that dehydration leads to a lot of health problems with older people. I’m a coffee (black), unsweetened tea and water drinker. I don’t drink soft drinks as I have never been a fan. Lately, when I drink my coffee I follow it with a large glass of water. I feel a lot better.
That’s a funny story indeed. I try to drink lots of water too. All of my grandchildren travel with refillable water bottles. Except for milk, and occasional apple juice for one, they all just drink water which is great. Hubby and I both grew up with well water. It was so cold and delicious. We keep a Brita water container in the refrigerator full of cold water at all times. I agree with Randy—I don’t like to drink from the plastic bottles.
I’m a big water drinker too. It keeps you hydrated and your system cleansed. I can definitely tell when I’m not drinking enough water.
That story is hilarious. My grandpa is from Harlan and I’m sure he’ll get a kick of it when I tell him. I agree about water. My husband is very good about drinking enough and always on me to drink enough because I’m not great about remembering it, but I’m getting better. I’m trying hard to pass that into the kids as well.
I also like to drink water but have never drank from a gourd dipper. It was a metal dipper. I keep a jug of cold water in my refrigerator year round. I do not worry about buying it and drinking it out of these plastic bottles like so many do today. I can’t afford it, I drink too much. The source for much of this bottled water is municipal water anyway and there is suppose to be something in the bottle plastic that is bad for you. For many years we drank water from a well. My maternal grandparents never had inside plumbing and had to draw their water with a windless from their well, no water taste better than a fresh bucket of cold water just drawn from the bottom of a well on a hot summer day.