Ila helping Mary with her slingshot
I registered for the nature studies class months ago. I didn’t tell Paul about taking the class and he didn’t tell me he was going to be doing Morning Song with his band last week.
When I looked at the schedule I was pleased and surprised to see Hickory Stand on the list of Morning Song performers. Sort of made me feel like I had picked the right week for sure!
Ila taught us how to make sling shots. The finished product wasn’t up to par with the ones Pap made Steve and Paul when we were growing up, but they were fun to make and we all enjoyed trying to shoot small plastic beads with them.
Paul became quite good with the slingshot Pap made him. He could mostly hit whatever he wanted from a pretty good distance away. He said the ones Pap made were a hundred times better than store bought ones. They shot harder and were easier to use because they were made with real rubber.
A few years back I wrote about slingshots and Paul shared the following with me.
“It’s amazing how accurate you can get with a slingshot when there are no sights and you don’t aim it. It’s sort of like pitching a baseball or a cowboy shooter who shoots with the gun down by his hip, just a muscle memory thing. I saw a local news spot on TV back when we still watched WLOS and the Knoxville Channel. It showed two old men who made them in their barn, and they each shot Coke cans off each other’s heads. Although it was short distance, I would never have tried that! As good as I got with one, I can only imagine what Pap, Harold Kernea (one of Pap’s closest childhood friends), and guys like that would have been like back in the day when they used them constantly. It’s all about the rubber, and the way it’s shaped. Store bought ones are no good because it isn’t real rubber and it’s formed as a tube that resists against itself as the pad holding the rock goes forward. The flat, strap-like way of cutting the rubber doesn’t have that resistance against itself. Pap had one inner tube of real rubber left that he was saving in the basement. It was placed up in the floor joist, held up by the X bracing. Sadly, Steve thought it was just there to start fires and burned it. From then on, we didn’t have any good slingshots because they always break eventually and you have to put on new rubber.”
Another serendipitous thing that happened last week. Hickory Stand sung a song about a boy with a slingshot on the very day we made our’s in class.
Here’s Pap and Paul singing the same song many years ago.
“Gone Like A Candle In The Wind” written by Leroy Drumm and Pete Goble
There’s two country graves on a hillside
And a farmhouse that’s wasting away
Fields that I know a man once tended with love
Grow nothing but tall weeds today
The old barn is sagging and falling
Roses grow wild ore the land
The old place don’t look like it did when
It was the pride of my momma and her man
Where is the boy with the slingshot
Who guarded the homestead back then
And where is the life that I used to call mine
It’s gone like a candle in the wind
I’ve seen daddy work in the cornfield
Till sweat soaked the shirt on his back
Making a living the best way he could
With hands that were callused and cracked
Time has made so many changes
In these forty years, I’ve been gone
Well I told mom and dad that some day I’d be back
But, I guess I’ve waited too long
Where is the boy with the slingshot
Who guarded the homestead back then
And where is the life that I used to call mine
It’s gone like a candle in the wind
Now mom and dad are just a memory
And here I am standing alone
Sadly remembering the line someone wrote
That said you can never go home
Where is the boy with the slingshot
Who guarded the homestead back then
And where is the life that I used to call mine
It’s gone like a candle in the wind
Last night’s video: Cooking a Feast, Foraging, Crafting & Music…Nature Studies Class at JCCFS Was a BLAST!
Tipper
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Hang in there Mr. Norman. As it is said “this too shall pass.” God bless you and heal your aches and all the pain. May God please in the name of Jesus, heal Mr. Tony. Take his hand and be with him on this journey he is facing and fighting. Lift him up and heal him removing his cancer. All in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen. Paul and his father did a great rendition of that song. I just really liked it. Thanks Tipper and Paul. God be with y’all and may he bless everyone today, tomorrow and forever.
We loved watching the video yesterday. I had never heard of drying cabbage leaves. What did they make from them? I loved making homemade jellies and jam. I have no way of getting the wild berries now. I did pick my lemon blueberries today. That jelly is amazing. This is the 2nd year I was able to get enough for a few jars. Raspberries look good. I also grew up with slingshots.
I just finally got around to asking my hubby if he ever made slingshots. He said yes, that he and his dad made them when he was a kid. They used an old rubber inner tube and the leather tongue out of his dad’s old worn out coal mining boots. He used to shoot rocks with them. I know he spent lots of time in the woods by his house climbing trees and playing with sticks. Now I also know that he played with a handmade slingshot.
What a great song. I always enjoy hearing Paul and Pap singing.
Tipper,
I so enjoyed the nature course you took! I can see why you like the Folk School so very much! What fun!
If I lived close enough, I’m sure I could find a course to take.
I didn’t know that Paul was part of a band. I always enjoy his voice and talent!
I made slingshots with real rubber salvaged from tire innertubes (another long-gone relic) just after WWII. IIRC some of them were red in color.
A few years ago, a young boy in the neighborhood who visited daily saw me shooting with an old one I have. He wanted one; so we found a good ‘fork’. I bought some surgical rubber tubing from Amazon. It worked at least as good as the old rubber ones from my boyhood . . . maybe better. I had some leather scraps and the twine on hand. IIRC we used tongues from worn out shoes when I was a boy. For ammo I bought some steel bearings of different sizes. One good thing about steel is that a magnet will help you retrieve spent ammo. Of course, it’s much more expensive than the rocks we used so long ago.
Love this song! I have wonderful memories of my brother making slingshots. The last one that he made before he passed was for my son. It holds a special place in his heart.
I loved the video last evening. Your whole week taking classes looked like so much fun, and what a treat to get to listen to Paul’s band one of the mornings. I have never seen a homemade slingshot that I can remember. I will have to ask hubby if he or his dad ever made one.
Goodness! Between you and Paul you all ’bout made me cry today. We called slingshots “flipguns” and in the two years we lived with our Grandma we were never far away from at least two apiece. To this day (about 50 years later) I am apt to notice a good flipgun stock in the woods. I see the one you picture is a mountain laurel fork. They are one of the best sources long with dogwood, though if you look.long enough nearly any shrub or tree may have one. I have recently made myself one (to defend if necessary the corn.) But my shooting is very rusty. The fork is from a crepe myrtle trimming but I bought the tubular straps at Tractor Supply. They are very strong and I keep forgetting to practice. I could hit the side of a barn if it stood still. Wish I had a picture of my brother and me with our flip guns around our necks. Somebody somewhere should have competitions though I doubt shooting Coke cans off a person’s head would be on the list. There is – or was – a YouTube video of a man who was a phenomenal shot. The videographer asked if he could shoot down a tall weed and he said, “Which way do you want it to fall?” And he proceeded to do both of those two things. It was odd to watch because there was no aiming just a quick offhand casual shot. Makes me wonder also how a contest between slingers and flipguns might turn out; however, the bible says the left-handed Benjamite slingers could sling at a hairs breadth and not miss.
Sweet story and song! Paul can come sing to me if he wants another older woman to play for. I’m right down the road.
Tipper – the song you shared by Pap & Paul in ’22 – ‘Going Where My Hearts Been’ – kinda goes along with song shared today. 🙂
I enjoyed the foraging week video – what a fun and interesting week! Sad but so true are the words to this song. As I have grown older my memories take me back to my childhood home and life back then, which as the song says, once I left, I never returned for any length of time – and now I often think how wonderful it would be to go back and relive just a day – but as the line in this song also says: ‘you can’t go home again’ – plus sometimes the memories are much better to have then to see the reality of changes of ‘home’ as it is today. Question: I may have missed any updates you may have given, but how is papa Tony doing? The Lord bless & keep you and yours Wilson Holler family.
He’s about the same. Thank you!
I so enjoyed your videos of your days at JCCFS and looked up the catalog online to see the offerings. It’s a bit “rich for my blood”…there’s an old saying for you haha…but I’m certain is worth every penny to learn and experience what all is taught there. I think it’s wonderful that it’s nearly in your backyard. Many years ago, the late 80s, early 90s, my ex was very interested in the sustainable ways and got very interested the the magazine called Mother Earth News. We took a week long vacation to Cherokee, NC and visited throughout the area. It was a wonderful experience. Who knew, so many years later, I’d find your blog/channel and become so invested in your community. I was so close to you all and had no idea how important you’d become to me. I sure do miss Granny’s excitement over her green beans and am keeping Matt’s dad in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you again, for sharing your days with all of us. It truly is a labor of love!
Thank you for sharing. What a precious song! Nice job Paul.
♪ No, the candle not gone,
no, it’s only the flame!
Someday someone will come along,
and relight the candle again! ♫
I really enjoyed this post today! Will Ira be the recipient of your sling shot you made, Tipper? I can imagine he’d like that a whole lot! How NEAT that Paul’s band ended up performing the week you were there. I think it’s so special it was a surprise to you and God just lovingly arranged that. My brothers had sling shots as young boys and they were also a good shot! What Paul said about it being muscle memory was interesting. Your post also made my mind turn to a young and faith-filled young man (David) who took on a mighty giant, fulling believing his God would come to the rescue. Such a powerful story!
Yesterday turned into such a busy day for us that I didn’t get time to comment! We had a neighbor stop by to thank us for a bundle of asparagus we left on their porch and we ended up visiting for some time and not even 30 minutes after he left a good friend of my husband’s asked if he could stop over. He’s facing a lot of financial struggles with his farm and just needed a listening ear. I was trying to think of what I could make with just 30 minutes notice, and you know what came to mind? Granny’s quick coconut pie! I quickly put on a pot of percolated coffee and whipped together that pie. I tell you what, Tipper, it was an incredible blessing and comforted him in more ways than one. He said that it reminded him of a vanilla custard his mom would make when he was young. I can’t thank you enough for all of the many ways you bless our lives, but sharing your heritage and Appalachian ways with us. God bless you!
Wonderful Allie! Thank you 🙂
I really enjoyed yesterday video. What a great opportunity to take such a class. I could see Korie liking those classes as well. I wish you might have showed your cornhusk doll making. Just not enough time for everything.
Your Appalachia is so beautiful this time of year.!
As always, I continue to pray for Papaw Tony.
I love the words to that song! Tipper, I could tell you really enjoyed learning from that class.
Praying for Norman to hear from the Dr today!
I watched your video last night about the class you took. I know you had such a great time, learned some new things and actually learned to like hot tea! I was surprised after all these years it was because of the honey after taste in the tea that caused you to not like it. It made perfect sense to me because I do like hot tea, but when I’ve used honey to sweeten it I thought it didn’t taste good, but I thought it was because it wasn’t sweet enough so I just started using stevia to sweeten my tea. It just never occurred to me that it was the honey aftertaste that caused it not to taste good and wasn’t because it wasn’t sweet enough. Anyway, loved your video and saw Paul’s video too last night singing Gone like a candle in the wind. He did a great job singing it. I will say after hearing him sing with Pap on the attached video I loved the beautiful harmony him and Pap had together. It just seems to complement the song’s tune and words, if that makes any sense. The words, You can never go home again, are so true. The last time I drove by the home I grew up in, it was nothing like I remember. In fact I thought it was gone, until my husband said it was the correct address. I was devastated of the condition of the house and yard. All I could think was my mom would be heartbroken if she were alive today to see it. She worked so hard to make our home beautiful inside and outside. All the beautiful flowers she had planted in the front and side yards were now nothing but tall weeds and trash. The front porch was rotting, roof bad, siding bad, and the back yard looked like a jungle from what I could see from the side road. What’s sad is people actually live there. I cried. So it’s true, you can’t go home again, because in my case, the home I grew up in just doesn’t exist anymore, it’s now a dump. Breaks my heart, it wasn’t just that house, it seemed to happen to the entire neighborhood. Driving through the old neighborhood just broke my heart. What happened to people having some pride in keeping up their homes? It doesn’t take much to pick up trash and mow your lawn. I just don’t get it. Ok, thinking on some good memories now… As kids I remember playing with my brothers slingshots, but I’m pretty sure they were store bought, because they never lasted very long. Thank you for sharing all that you learn with us, so we can learn too.
Those sad-but-true lyrics could have been written by several people I know. I agree that after forty years, you can never go home again. Homemade slingshots were in the hands of all the boys I grew up with, and some of us girls used them as well. Pap and Paul’s harmony on that song is amazing!
We made lots of slingshots but we called them flips
I may have written this before, but the weapon you pictured was a flip when I was a kid. You stretched the rubbers and released to FLIP the rock. A sling shot was two leather straps and a pad for the rock. You twirled it around and released one strap to SLING the rock. I don’t think rubber had been invented when David killed the giant with his sling. Like Paul most of us could do pretty well with our flips and bows and arrows. I killed rabbits many times when I caught them sitting still. At about age ten I graduated to hunting with a 22.
Daddy tried to make a slingshot for me, but it was not much good because he did not have any real rubber to make the bands. The words or message of the song are so true for me, with my depression, I often look back to how it used to be and want to go back. It just seems like my life as more peaceful in the past. Late yesterday afternoon, I got a phone call from the long care nursing home my sister in is telling me they had to take her to the hospital, something going on, they think she may have blood clots. I am not able to go see and check on her like I want too. It seems like I never have a day anymore when something does not get me worried or upset. I know there are many other members having their own problems, many concerning their own health or the health of their loved ones.
I couldn’t really tell you the first thing about sling shots. I decided long ago if I was going to fire weapons, I’d make it REALLY worth the effort so I became an expert with an M16. I’ve also had the pleasure of firing an M60 and grenade launcher too. I still like to shoot although I don’t anymore. However, I cannot throw a grenade worth a hoot. When I was a kid, slingshots had a bad wrap due to kids putting other kids eyes out and hurting birds and cats. I know a lady whose brother shot her in the eye with a sling shot and it took her pupil right out of her head when she was a toddler. Yikes! It looks like Paul was one of the GOOD BOYS behaving with a sling shot. Lol I’m sure yall are good cause your parents watched over you and wudda used the switch to snap your attitude right back like a sling shot… I’m glad in all my years there’s been very few sling shots around. Lord knows I got enough troubles without wrong aim of such a thing. Let me end by saying I’m sure it’s a lot of fun if you have the right materials and right people around…I think you Wilsons had a superb upbringing cause it shows in all you do…kindness and goodness and hard work and morals-thanks to PAP AND GRANNY LOUZINE!!!
Rufus Taft Hussey (March 12, 1919 – February 24, 1994) was an American marksman. He grew up in Randolph County, North Carolina. He was known as an expert marksman with a slingshot (also referred to as a beanshooter). In 1952, Hussey began selling and giving away beanshooters to preserve the dying art of the beanshooter. His beanshooters were sequentially numbered by a serial number.
Hussey was well known in his home county and saw his big break on the national scene when he was invited to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Hussey appeared on the episode that aired on January 23, 1986. Hussey was on the air for almost 10 minutes with Carson, where he talked about beanshooters, displayed his considerable skill, and shot an object out of Carson’s hand.
Hussey was also featured in the CBS Saturday Morning news segment “In the News” that aired in the Fall of 1986. This short segment showcased Hussey, his brother, and their homemade “beanshooters.”
Hussey has been called a “Slingshot Expert” and “the World’s Most Accurate Slingshot Assassin.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Hussey
It is well worth looking up the Johnny Carson appearance. Rufas was quite a character! Got the best of Carson with his home spun wit several times.
Good morning.
Do you remember the type of wood that Pap used? I can’t recall but my dad was very particular about the shape of the fork in the wood and it’s type.
Thank you.
Dough he used Laurel most of the time 🙂
There was not an inner tube safe at our house in green hill (Canton) . I used them to shoot squrrels and rabbits. I think it was a good handle and the length of the rubbers that counted , as well, to insure the power and how long the sling shot lasted .
When I was a kid we made the same article but we called them “flips”
Bill Prather. Blue Ridge
I have Daddy’s childhood slingshot with a hand carved smooth handle and a red rubber strap that has gotten hard and cracked over the years. He laid aside his toy weapon and picked up a real weapon when he served honorably in World War II – really still just a boy at 17. He kept a handwritten note with his treasured boyhood toy weapon. ,, “Made by Ray King (1935) age 14 yr. Roaring Creek, NC, Avery Co. My best friend. Killed 1943 WWII. (Forward observer ARMY.)
Roaring Creek, is that on the road to Minneapolis. My son-in-law grew up near Newland.
Still waiting on doctors and dentist!!!
God help, please,in Jesus name
God bless Papaw Tony with deliverance from sickness and disease please Lord heal his body and make him well in Jesus name
Norman I hope you hear something today. I’m praying for you! Thank you for praying for Papaw!!
I am praying you get relief soon, Norman! I am so sorry it’s taking you so long to get your dental work done. It shouldn’t be this way. God bless you!