The 1974 Winter Edition of the Foxfire Magazine contains a compilation of newspaper articles written by Harvey Miller. At the time of the magazine’s publication Miller’s weekly column had been around for sixty years and was till being published in the Tri-County News located in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
Here are a few October excerpts from the magazine.
1961
I have always heard it said if you want to rid a place of rattlesnakes, just turn loose some hogs and they will soon clean up the poison serpents.
It is reported that the most kind of the one herb that has been collected here for the Botanical market this season that is now closing appears to be the beadwood (witch hazel) leaves.
The extra high price paid for this particular item, which was 14 cts. a pound is probably why there was more of it dug and prepared for the market than there usually is.
Also another large seller here this year was the black cohosh or rattle-top root which was 8 cts. per pound. But the blue cohosh roots was only 4 ct.s
10/12/61
1966
Donald L. McCoury of the Byrd Creek section purchased last Saturday a Chevrolet Car from Lawrence Barnett of Johnson City. Mr. McCoury has been employed in Johnson City for several months.
Scott and Shirrell Griffith of Tipton Hill section has been moving their cattle back to their home pasture from their pasture at Will Gouge place.
Mose Miller of the Brummetts Creek section sold a blacksmith anvil one day last week to a man who lives in Haywood County, N.C. The anvil, Mr. Miller said, was real old. He said the anvil was used by some of the early pioneer blacksmiths.
10/13/66
1968
It is reported that wild ginseng on the market this year has already went to an all high price of forty-some dollars a pound.
There is many tourists coming to this area at this time and viewing the leaf coloring. The way it looks here now, the leaf coloring should be at their best during about the last part of this week.
One old timer here has just reported to the writer that the predictions of the katydids as to the first frost was again about right this fall.
10/17/68
Always good to check in with the bygone days of Pigeon Roost. Selling plants and other items from nature provided much needed cash money for folks in those days.
A new car being noteworthy enough to make it into Miller’s article is a sign of that lack of cash money.
The leaves are changing fast in Wilson holler and they seem to be falling just about as fast.
Jump over to the Foxfire website and poke around. They are still publishing the magazine and those wonderful Foxfire Books too.
Tipper
Tipper, what did those katydids have to say about frost down your way? I know you like those little critters so I thought maybe you’d heard how they predict frost. I’d love to buy the Foxfire books some day…. I’m sure there’s a plethora of knowledge contained within those sweet books… Blessings to all and I hope and pray that mulberry weed allergy has gotten better for you. It ain’t long now til a hard frost I reckon near Mt. Rogers. It was white in some spots a little after sun up…
Sadie, I haven’t found the folklore to be true about our frosts here 🙂
do yall dig or use wild ginseng ms tipper?
Teresa, we never have but my brother used to. You can hear him talk about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTP9fUxxqaE&t=1s Thank you!
The acorn mast here on the Cumberland Plateau is as heavy as any I can remember. It may not mean anything, but all the wooly worms here are solid black.
I love reading the excerpts you posted this morning. The price of ginseng sure has went up since the 60’s. The last time I heard anything, it was at least $300 a pound for wild ginseng. I am busy making your recipe of pear preserves this morning. The house smells wonderful. A friend just dropped us off a few packs of deer burger and deer sausage. This was a welcome gift for sure. Hubby hasn’t gotten to go deer hunting yet. We sent him home with a jar of honey and a small jar of apple butter I made in the crockpot this year. It’s nice to have friends to share with.
That was a fun read. It reminded me of our weekly newspaper The Tomahawk. Back when it was published and printed in Mountain City, TN there was a woman in a little Iron Mountain community named Shady Valley that wrote local “news” for that week. It was always such a pleasure to read. We had another big frost this morning and when the sun came up in the east over Doe Mountain around 9am the frost began to melt and “Smoke” (hence the name Smoky Mountains). But something else began to happen, it was still below 40 degrees outside and as the steam/smoke hit the cold air it rained back down in a dusting of feather light diamonds. It was awesome. Prayers for everyone to recognize the Awesome in today’s GODLY Glory. I love Y’all.
Is Doe Mountain in the Smoky Mountains? I’ve never heard of it.
I remember when The North Georgia News from Blairsville had a little column written by someone from each district. I think maybe Lovelle Owenby wrote the news for Ivy Log.
Very interesting, thank you!
As always praying for Granny!
Could the writers of the radio “news” segment on Hee-Haw have been influenced by Miller’s down-home reports from Pigeon Roost? I have to think so.
My mom use to get the Foxfire books and magazines when she was living. I think she loved all the stories that reminded her of her childhood in the hollers of WV or maybe stories told by her relatives that lived throughout the Appalachia Mountains. I kept one she had marked after she passed, but not sure if I still have it now. I’ll have to go look for it.
Can’t figure out how “beadwood leaves” are “dug”? I must have missed something. This is just the time of year to look for some American bittersweet. But it likes limestone ground so it was been years since I saw any with those orange three seed pods. According to a drought map a friend sent this AM, we need about 6″ of rain to get caught up. The leaves have just now fell enough to turn the yard brown. Time to start blowing and raking here. That will last until just before Christmas.
Ron , I don’t know where you live, but Southern Greenville County, SC has been dry and hot during the summer and except for a week in late August very dry. Northern Greenville County has had more rain but not a whole lot more. I passed a 300 acre cornfield this morning, I don’t think it made enough corn this year for the farmer to harvest it. I know it is 300 acres because of remembering when it was sold about 30 years ago. I haven’t checked to see how far we are behind in the yearly rainfall. I saw the winter weather prediction for here last week, above normal temperatures and below average rain or moisture.
The leaves are falling fast here in North Georgia. We have an abundance of acorns. You sure couldn’t sneak up on anyone in our front yard.