I’m sharing another riddle from “Way Down Yonder on Troublesome Creek Appalachian Riddles & Rusties” by James Still.
Black when they dig it
Red when it’s used,
Gray when it’s thrown away.
—-
The last riddle I shared was from “Way Down Yonder on Troublesome Creek Appalachian Riddles & Rusties” by James Still.
Beefhide, Zilpo, Mouthcard, Stop, Sideway, Redash, Spoutspring, Drop, Select, Tobacco, Eighty-Eight, Dimple, Sixty-six, Soldier, Threelinks, Sample, Gad, Gabe, Wisdom, Zag, Weed, Speck, Stepstone, Bigbone, Snap, Bent, Keck, Bromo, Blackjoe, Sip, Honeybee—
How many are in Ken-tuck-ee?
A few folks got the answer: all are towns in Kentucky.
Last night’s video: Alex Stewart Portrait of a Pioneer 6.
Subscribe for FREE and get a daily dose of Appalachia in your inbox
Coal!
Riddle 37……Answer: coal
Tipper I thought of coal too . Everyone just about wrote coal❤️
Charcoal is not dug; so the answer has to be coal.
Robert, you paid attention to detail, and I did not. Way to go.
Surely, it’s coal!
While coal makes the most sense, my first thought was clay – if it is dug from a very wet area it can look very dark, though not truly black. When it is being turned and during early use it often takes on a red tone. After being used for many years and left out in the sun, it can take an ashen look. With so many varieties of clay, it only fits the clues in the riddle in special situations but I thought I’d throw my thoughts out there for folks to ponder. Coal is still the best answer to the riddle.
Coal: black when it’s dug, red when it’s burning and ashes are gray
What is white and black and read all over?
A Newspaper
Correct. My grandparents use to ask the above question and the riddle reminded me of this riddle.
I will be surprised if it is not coal. Some only see coal as a problem with the environment. I always saw it as so much warmth in the winter, because it burned hot. Some never got rid of their coal furnace down through the years. Coal was picked up along RR tracks by some, and enough fell off the coal cars to help an ambitious teen keep his family warm. We used to put a mix of ammonia and bluing on coal in a bowl, and it would form beautiful crystals. There was also a by-product of coal called “red dog” which used to make a wonderful red coating for lanes and driveways. Folks have come up with better options nowadays. It is just as well, because red dog was tough on bare feet back in the day. If the answer is not coal, then I sure went off on a tangent. 🙂
I have just finished reading the book, Running On A Red Dog Road by Drema Hall Berkheimer It is about being a a young girl growing up in early 40’s living in West Virginia with her Pentecostal grandparents and having a Red Dog paved road in front of their house. Her best friend went to a Methodist church and she said she was going to be a Methodist when she grew up, the Pentecostal church had too many rules that she kept breaking.
I’m guessing charcoal??
Gloria, I have just read your comment from yesterday. I meant what I said about visitors to be funny and poke a little fun at us Baptist. What you said is true, I have also seen members get mad if someone set in their seat. It is also true that I have sit on back pew on right side of my church for the last 50 years. I like to joke and tease all in fun. A lot of you know my wife of 49 years passed away last year. I write this with tears in my eyes but I would tease her and tell her in January 1972 while sitting in back of church one Sunday night checking out the girls instead of listening to the preacher my eyes locked on her and never left. I would tell her God was punishing me for this, in truth he blessed me beyond measure. When you have got the best why look at the rest? Our secret, Tylenol cheaper than lawyers and Exodus chapter 20, Thou Shall Not Kill. My eyes no longer see her but she will be in my heart and mind until I draw my last breath.
Randy, I am so sorry for your loss. What a special, sweet story about your wife. I also met my husband of almost 46 years at church. Our pastor’s daughter had a crush on him, and I didn’t know it and he asked me to go to a church Christmas party and it broke her heart. I felt so bad for her, but she got over it and we all remained friends, but I have to say it sure did seem like her dad while he was preaching kept his eyes on us, LOL. Four years later he married us in that same church. We also met in 1972. I can’t imagine life without him. God Bless you.
Tipper
Possibly, both coal and charcoal. I would lean toward charcoal because the only residue it leaves is gray in color whereas coal leaves both a gray residue and cinders?
Coal
That would be coal.
Sounds like charcoal.
Coal
Coal !!!
My first thought was coal. I remember heaating with coal. That’s is how I picture it.
Coal. I enjoy the smell of charcoal. When visiting family in the Ozarks, I always look forward to driving by the factory where they make it.
Coal???
I’m guessing coal.
Answer: Coal – – My Grandfather (Pap) and both of his brothers, were coal miners in southwestern Pennsylvania. As a child, I remember hearing this little riddle quite often. I also remember riding in the backseat of my grandparents car and driving past the “Coke Ovens” near Pittsburgh. This is where coal was burned to produce “coke” which is a grey by-product of coal which is then used in the smelting of iron. The “industrial era” was a fascinating time in American history and makes for a very interesting and educational read. Thank you so much Tipper, for sparking these wonderful memories of my childhood. Blessings… Ann
It’s got to be coal.
Has to be coal or my miner ancestors will return to haunt me. Anthracite or bituminous? My grandparents burned it not only in their furnaces but also in the fireplace. My great-grandparents burned it in their pot-bellied stove.
Lump of coal
Got to be coal!
Coal?
coal? Reminds me of what is black and white and red all over?
My first thought is coal. Coal is black when it’s dug from the ground, turns red when you burn it and is gray after it has cooled off after it’s been burned. However, riddles are not always what it seems to be, so who knows for sure but the author…..but I’m thinking I might be right.
Re: Cities in KY.
I feel the same as the ole man who once said, “Who would have thunk it”!
I think it is coal.
I would say coal also….
I say coal to. Black until burned then red embers becoming gray ash.
My guess is coal.
It has to be coal
A lump of coal?
I m thinking charcoal. My son uses it and so I see it turn quite often.