John: When I was working for the power company I’d go over there at night and I made my son a kiddie cart. Then two or three years later, after our kids got big enough, we bought three used bicycles from a friend. (This was when we just had two boys and a girl.) I worked on those bikes night after night up at the power company shop and put on new seats and sheepskin seat covers and new handle grips. I painted them and put a new tire on one of them. I was up there just about every other night working on those darned things!
I brought them home Christmas Eve and put them in one of the bedrooms. On Christmas morning there wasn’t a whole lot for the kids, but when everybody was getting a little discouraged and kind of disappointed, I opened that door and told them to come in there. You never saw three kids go crazier! If they’d been brand new bicycles, they couldn’t have been any happier.
—A Foxfire Christmas
I remember one Christmas we woke up to a bicycle under the tree. I don’t really remember that it was for Paul or me specifically, but for both of us to share. Maybe Granny and Pap thought I’d ride it and then when I tired of it Paul would be big enough to ride.
We had other old bikes that folks had given us or that Steve had out grown and we loved to ride them.
I don’t recall how old I was when I learned to ride, but I do remember how I finally got the hang of it.
I was a cautious child who didn’t want to get hurt and I wanted to figure out things in my own way. That’s a nice way of saying I wouldn’t allow Pap or Steve to help me very much.
One of older cousins convinced me that it was easier to ride down a hill and that he’d run alongside me and make sure I didn’t fall. He said he’d keep his hands right on the bike the whole time. Of course he didn’t. We got to the top of the hill and he give me one good push and I was off 🙂 But by the time I reached the bottom I could ride the bicycle by myself so I couldn’t be too mad at him.
Today’s Thankful November giveaway is a used copy of A Foxfire Christmas. Leave a comment on this post to be entered. *Giveaway ends December 6, 2022.
Last night’s video: Family Fun Decorating the Tree in Appalachia.
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I would love a copy of this! I have been building my Foxfire collection out of $ I earn babysitting. I remember coming off the bus in elementary school to a brand new bike for my birthday; “The Seastar”, with tassels & a banana seat. Huffy is still making the ol’ Seastar & hubby & I just bought one for our annual Toys for Tots donation. I remember being soooo excited & it was the most beautiful bike in the world to me. It was still kicking around when I moved back into the old homestead & both my girls rode it until the handlebars rusted off, mid ride! We have a funny old home projector movie of my dad learning to ride a bike as a little boy. Naturally, the bike was way too big for him. The poor little duffer kept going down the same hill over & over & just falling over at the bottom. He never attempted to pedal or catch himself. We laugh every time my dad fires up the projector (he gets huffy about it) and make him play it. And it looks even more hilarious because movie projectors always play things so sped up.
I remember riding my cousin’s bike with a banana boat seat. It had breaks on the handle bars one on each side, which was new to me. I was going fast down a gravel hill and put on the front tire break and I flipped over face first. I had tears mixed with gravel dust running down my face. My uncle picked me up and carried me to the house. I had gravel in my gums and my chest and knees were scraped but I was okay.
I remember the year that I got my first 10 speed bike. my mom had had me go with her to pick out a bike for my brother. woke up on Christmas morning to be surprised with a bike for both of us. I was not expecting that my mom was raising the seven of us alone since my dad had passed. I was very very excited to receive that bike. my brother and I rode all day long snow and all, what a great memory
When i was a kid we had a Schwinn bike. Didn’t think about it at the time, but it was so out of character for our tight-as-the-bark dad to put out for something like that. I was 9 years old when i finally learned to get started on it. Years later my older brother told me Daddy had somebody to get it for us on a trip to Memphis. If finally occurred to me that maybe he had yearned for one when he was a kid. Sure would enjoy that book!
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I got my 1st bicycle when I was about 30 years. My wife bought it for me because she thought I was too fat and needed to burn some of it off. I rode it every day for a while but decide walking was more my style.
I was raised on the head Wiggins Creek, a place not conducive to bicircular forms of motation. Footpaths through the woods and cow trails on the hillside pastures are too precarious to negotiate. The washed out gravel road wasn’t much better. Gravel is angered by sudden impacts and imbeds itself in your chin as punishment forever.
Even if the terrain were more favorable my parents hadn’t the money for such luxuries. We had plenty to eat and clothes enough to cover our nakedness, ordered through the mail from Sears & Roebuck. Their catalog had bicycles too but they were only the things of dreams.
I did learn to ride a bicycle when I was young but it was not my own. My cousins, 3 boys, who lived at Lauada all had bicycles. I waited patiently until one of them got tired of riding then I would get to ride for a while.
I got Missy a bicycle when she was 4 or 5. She didn’t need to learn. She hopped on and was gone. She has always been that way. We got her a trampoline at about 8. She climbed up on it and started doing backflips. She learned that when she was little, she would climb up on my back while I was sitting the edge of the couch and I would reach back, get her by the back of her neck and flip her over my shoulder out into the floor. She’d always land on her feet without even a step. She could walk on her hands, too. Not for a few seconds like most kids do but all day if she wanted to.
How did I get here? I guess I just wandered off!
Tipper, had a very similar situation as you when learning to ride a bike. My 2 older female cousins did the same and pushed me down a hill. Guess it shows we can do more than we think we can when given
“just a little push in life” Would love to read the book.
Tipper,
I had a experience much like yours. lol My brother took me to a huge hill while my Mom was at work. ( He was supposed to be watching me and we were supposed to stay at home. )
He pushed me down the hill, but neglected to tell me how to stop. . Needless to say I crashed and a stick stabbed through my bottom lip.
My brother was in a panic because he didn’t know what to tell my Mom.
Great story of the bicycles Miss Tipper, you took my mind back in time as we rode our bicycles all over the place. We used them to just ride around the neighborhood bumping hills and ditches as well as riding them down to the swimming & fishing holes as well as racing each other on them.
I remember one particular Christmas when I got a 10 speed bicycle and when I laid eyes on that thing, if it had been a Cadillac I wouldn’t have been anymore excited. I thought I was walking in high cotton then lol
When I was young I was riding behind my sister on a bicycle and got my ankle caught in the spokes. I had a bad cut and still have the scar. I would love to read A Foxfire Christmas.
My dad’s sister had him on the back of her bike. His foot got caught in the spokes & she could NOT figure out why the “bike just would not go” and kept horsing on the pedal. My gramma said that when they cut his shoe off of him, he had just about lost his toes. We asked him, “Weren’t you screamin’?” He said he was, but his sister just didn’t put two & two together. It was his shoelace that got caught and tangled up & dragged his whole foot right in.
I never had a bike as a child. A few years ago, my husband bought me a three-wheeler. I like riding with my grand-daughter.
I remember the Christmas my brothers and I got bikes. We rode the tires off those darn things. The boys got Evil Knevil bikes and I got one that was pink with a white banana seat. In the summer our street was covered with tar and stone. I wrecked and got stone in my knee. I still have the scars to this day. Oh the war wounds of childhood…
I really enjoyed hearing about the bicycles, brought back memories. Theres a real freedom of learning to ride a bicycle. I miss that carefree feeling of being a child who was loved and safe and happy. It’s a magical time.
I didn’t know foxfire had a Christmas book! Id love to read that!
I don’t remember where I got the bike but I rode it for a long while and then my front tire went bad and couldn’t afford another tire so I took it and the tube off and rode it a while again until the wheel was bent so bad I had to quit riding it and where it ended up then I don’t know. It was fun and challenging to ride it on the blacktop but I managed to do it, will always remember that bike.
I remember the Christmas my sister and I got bicycles. We took them outside and rode them up and down the street in the snow (and in our pajamas).
I’m a recent subscriber to this site and so glad I found it!
I love the FOXFIRE books, I’ve had a set for years now, maybe I should reread them. I didn’t know there was a Christmas one though.
It’s funny but there are few movies I will watch more than once , but I’ll reread favorite books over and over. Go figure, lol.
I was the only girl with three brothers. They managed to scavenge old bikes & get them usable but I didn’t have that talent so I never had a bike and to this day I’m not a good bike rider. My brother Mike realized this when we were talking about bikes several years ago. For Christmas he gave me a little wooden bike with a sweet note saying I finally had a bike.
Love the story today! There’s nothing more exciting than to see a bicycle under the Christmas tree. That was my first bicycle with training wheels. My brother had the wonderful idea to take them off and teach me to ride without them so off I went, right into a huge holly bush, thorns and all. But with persistence, I learned. It was like having your own car to drive. So much fun.
I had my own bike as a child around 8 yrs old and rode it everyday till I out grew it around 14 yrs old. After that I just walked everywhere until I was 18 and was allowed to drive my mom’s car. I don’t remember who taught me to ride my bike, but I’m sure it was one of my siblings. I’d put playing cards pinned to the tire spokes with clothes pins to make a loud noise. They worked great, until mom missed some of her clothes pins and I had to give them back. Good memories!
Another bicycle story for you: I was learning to ride a bike in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas – you don’t get much flatter than that! Like you I took everything nice and easy, very cautious but also very independent (at least most of the time). That particular summer as I was just getting the hang of bike riding, the whole family (3 generations) decided to go to visit my cousins (Dad’s brother) in Knoxville, Tennessee. After all the greetings and back-slapping (my family was not into hugging) someone mentioned that I was growing up so fast, – even learning to ride a bike. My cousins, all older than me, wanted me to prove it and took me around to the garage where their bikes were and said we could all go for a ride. I probably don’t need to mention that Knoxville is quite hilly with their house at the top of one of those hills. Problem is, hills were not something I had encountered before. They put me on a bike and before I knew it I was soaring down that hill screaming at the top of my lungs. I remember my cousins laughing but don’t remember anything after that until I woke up bloody and hurting bad in a bed with my aunt complaining that I was messing up her sheets and my grandmother telling her she could get the blood out.
Apparently the grown folks heard my screams and came running around the corner of the house in time to see me hit a curb, get thrown into the middle of the street, and nearly hit by a car coming up the hill ’round a blind curve.
Two days later I stiffly went to church covered with scabbing wounds and a huge black eye. When the Sunday School teacher asked what happened, my cousin disgustedly said, “Well, she’s a big fat liar – she told us she could ride a bike!”
Tami-what a story! I’m sorry you had that experience and see why it stuck with you all these years!
Tipper, I would love to have a copy of Foxfire Christmas.
When I was about 9 years old I asked my dad and mom to get me a bike. I wanted a 24 inch like my friend Pat’s that I had ridden.
When summer came I got a brand new black bike. But it wasn’t a 24 inch. It was a 26 inch. I was so short at the time I couldn’t get my leg over it. So, each time I wanted to ride it I would push it down the sidewalk to the Methodist Church and pull the bike up close to the steps. I’d step up on the first step and then I could get my leg over the bike. I had to do that for about 6 months before I got tall enough to get my leg over the bike without standing on the church step. LOL
I loved that old bike and rode it till I outgrew it and gave it to my younger nieces and nephews to use.
I hadn’t thought of my bike for many years. Thanks Tipper.
BTW, I sure enjoyed your Youtube post of your family putting up your Christmas tree. It’s been years since we went out and got a real tree. I remember the smell all through December. And I wish my older brother Tom were still alive to see Matt put the antlers on the top of the tree. That would have been right up his alley. He was a serious hunter too. And although he always went deer hunting he was known more as a Coon hunter. On second thought the tree would look kinda funny with a coonskin cap on top.
And it was fun seeing the sparkplug ornament. As I told you earlier, for the last 45 years or so we have been putting a sparkplug on our tree as well. It’s smaller than yours and the top is red instead of black. My oldest nephew Tom jr. put it on as a joke when he was just a kid. I wonder how many other acorns have a sparkplug on their tree?
Many precious memories come flooding back of my childhood a growing up years. I lived almost smack dab in the middle of town when I was born and until going into 8th grade. It was wonderful having my bike and just riding about a block and a half to the “Library” and about the same to the big park in town. Of course, I could walk too but learning to ride my bike was pretty easy and I loved it. When I was going into 8th grade, we moved a little out of town and my parents bought me a 10-Speed Schwinn bicycle. Oh my goodness, how I could fly on that bicycle. I loved it!! When I married and we had our children I remember the excitement when we gave them a little push and off they went on their bikes.
Many years ago, I bought some of the Foxfire Books for my Daddy. He would have been 107 this year but I remember him saying “this is just how we did it.” He was referring to the Foxfire Books. I don’t have the Foxfire Christmas book but I would love to.
It was fun to see ya all decorating the Christmas Tree too. In my teens, I thought my Mother was the greatest tree decorator there ever was. It was always beautiful to me.
I remember wrecking my bike at my granny and pawpaws house when I was about 9. It skidded out from under me on their gravel driveway and ripped a chunk out of my knee…I was all to pieces because there were little pieces of the gravel in the wound and granny had to trick me to allow her to clean it. She said now hold still I’m just gonna put a little bit of this peroxide on it…then proceeded to pour half the bottle on it to boil out the debris haha. If they’d had any neighbors close enough to hear they would have thought she was killing me the way I screamed and carried on! Good times
I found two Foxfire books over the years and none since. I have borrowed several from the library but it’s not the same as owning them to read over again and reference. I didn’t know there was a Christmas book and I’d love to read it. Your video last night was so wonderful. I found myself smiling through it all.
Living on a dirt road in sandy Florida makes it very hard to ride a bike – not fun. So the best Christmas we had is when we sold a piece of unused tractor equipment to enable us to buy a used, dirt track, go-cart for our son. We decorated the tree with go-cart parts and tools and he was the happiest kid on Christmas morning. We set up a course with empty milk jugs filled with water and everyone at the table got to take a ride – even his 3rd grade teacher who was a way to old to be having that much fun. LOL It was the best Christmas and enjoyed throughout the year as our son got to change out parts and “soup up” his race car!
I love the Foxfire Books, I have a couple of them but have not seen the Christmas one. I would like to read it . Thanks. I love your blog and UTube Channel. I watched the one where you all put up your Christmas tree. The glass bulb that you got from someone in West Virginia was made close to where I live. Pilgrim Glass of Kenova West Virginia made them. I have a blue one made just like yours. My cousin worked there until they shut down, he was a glass blower . Keep on keeping the old ways alive, the younger generation may need that knowledge you never know.
When I was about 5 my Dad took me on down the dirt road to try riding my bike without the “training wheels” on. I was terrified but he promised to hang on to the back of the seat as I pedaled and he ran behind. I remember asking, ” Dad, are ya there?” as I started out. ” Yes.” he replied. Once again I asked, ” Dad, are ya still there?” ” Yes.” he replied again this time with a little puffing. The third time I asked I received no reply and I turned my head and saw Dad way, way back there. I was doing it! I was riding by myself! I was so excited! I will never forget that day and the smile on my Dad’s face. He told that story over and over! Great memories! ❤
Good story! love to read this book!
Bicycles were a big part of Christmas at our house. My daddy repaired and repurposed bicycles. We always had a basement full. Thanks for the memories.
I so love your YouTube channel. I feel like n back in Brasstown visiting again. Some day we hope to make it back.
Happy holidays to you all!
I was never a big bicycle fan but pretended it was a pony. I had a big imagination when I was a kid. I watched every western and the program about a big black stallion Fury. It was my favorite. So my bicycle memories are somewhat unconventional.
I rode my bike all over the place, to friend’s houses, to the local country store, or just around the neighborhood. It was my ticket to independence and freedom. I remember the feeling of coasting down our steep driveway and turning onto our gravel road headed out on my bike, ready to explore. Sadly, I don’t see many kids riding bikes these days.
My daughter asked Santa to bring her a ten speed for Christmas when she was about ten years old. She didn’t identify her request as a bike and assumed Santa would know. The mountain speed bikes were the rage at that time, even for little girls who lived in a subdivision. I never owned a bike and daddy dared me to get on my cousin’s bike when I spent the night there. He was always fearful of things that his kids could get hurt on. My daughters caused a lot more worry when they got older and ditched their bikes for go-carts, dirt bikes, motorcycles, and fast cars.
This made me remember the excitement and joy that parents feel when their children finally get their balance and take off. Then they would turn their heads to see if we were still back there and get wobbly again.
I don’t remember when I got my 1st bike although I tk it was for Christmas. And I don’t remember a time in my childhood when I did not have a bike! I have so many fond memories associated w/ bikes, from racing through the woods on trails we kids craved out (way before the BMF thing), jumping over ditches, building ramps and just riding all over town! I also had many cuts, scrapes and bruises….and even a fractured skull from being hit by a car. But I would not trade those days for anything!!
Amazing how happy we were to receive something used. A little cleaning up and the used item became a treasure for us. I loved my bike, used, but spritzed up gave me many years of pleasure.
I rode friend’s bikes as a kid but was in college before I had my own. I paid $15 for it and rode it for about four years until a lady pulled out in front of me and I bent the front wheel on the door of her car. The officer convinced her to give me $20 and watch out for any traffic before entering the roadway. I then bought my own NEW bike for $36 at Walmart. I’ve worn out several bikes since then but gave that up about 15 years ago. I’m not too old – I just don’t want broken bones at my age.
I ‘rode’ – actually coasted – on my sister’s baby blue girl’s bike when I was too small to reach the pedals. I’d push it up the driveway, up one hill, around the corner and up another hill. At the top I’d ‘take a runnin’ go’ and leap on. The goal was to make it all the way to the barn about 400 feet away. If I had any speed left, I’d run into the barn to stop. (Not good, it warps the rim!)
In later years I think us two boys had at least one bicycle between us but I’m not even sure. We really didn’t have a good place to ride, just red dog road or sand. What we did have ’bout all the growing up years was a wagon, just one. We got a lot of work done with it. I wish I had one still. I could use it in the yard and the garden but have no place to store it.
I love the foxfire books. I have read the Christmas one and it is so wonderful.
We had a deep hill we all used to ride our bikes down. We called it “the gulley”. It was paved and had a little creek running under it at the bottom. It is a miracle that none of us were seriously hurt going down it too. I doubt that even entered our minds! We used to have such good fun!
I remember my dad doing that one year at Christmas for my younger sister. it looked brand new when he was finished with it. she was thrilled.
I have exactly 1 Foxfire book I found in a used book store. I have read it over and over.
They still sell the books and have a magazine also. https://www.foxfire.org/shop/category/books/
I’ve not heard of this series before. Sounds interesting!
I never received a bike for Christmas, but I did get one for my birthday one year. I still remember the excitement of going to the department store downtown with my mom and dad. We picked out a pretty purple one with a white wicker basket on the front. It had chrome fenders and rims with training wheels. I was so proud and owned it many years. I remember dad adjusting the training wheels up until I graduated to getting them removed to a 2 wheeler. Over the years we would adjust the seat and handlebars as I grew taller. I wander how many miles I put on that beauty?
I really enjoyed the bicycle story because it’s a prime example of the APPALACHIAN and perhaps AMERICAN spirit. There’s been a many a time I had second hand furniture or household goods. I’d wash, scrub and sanitize- then the next thing you know it was as good as new or maybe better since I was so proud of my accomplishments! I bet that’s exactly how that hard working daddy felt on Christmas when he came filled in as SANTA’S helper! I remember a Christmas we all got new bicycles. Mine was orange and sister’s was tangerine. I had a bad toothache and was complaining in pain. I’m pretty sure mommy popped my rear end and put me in my place. “Just cause you feel bad gives you no excuse to be so ungrateful! You better shape up!” I still remember that Christmas cause I got scolded. When I was little I kept earaches all the time and toothaches quite a bit too from eating watermelon candy which id “sneak” in the buggy when I went to the store with Bobby. You knew he knew what I was a doing…. lol
I have already made a long comment but this time of year makes me think of the Western Auto store in Honea Path, SC owned by Mr. Andrew Ferguson. I think most of this area’s children had their Christmas toys bought at this store on credit on up into the 80’s. I would be afraid to guess at the number of bicycles along with other toys sold at this store each year. Mr. Ferguson was one of the finest Christian men you could ever know. My friend worked in a cotton mill and he was going through a slow period of work one year at Christmas and Mr. Ferguson asking him if his two young girls were ready for Christmas and him telling him they would not be able to have much for Christmas that year. He said Mr. Ferguson got him by the hand and begin walking through the store picking up toys for his children and telling him your girls are going to have a good Christmas and you can begin paying me whenever your work picks back up, don’t worry about it. I wonder how many stores or store owner’s would do that now.
Thanks, Randy, for that story. It tugged at my heart. The Dad of my best friend in high school worked at the Western Auto. All three are gone now.
Your memorial to Mr. Ferguson made me pause and think, what stories of me will those who knew me have when I am gone? If we knew, I think we would be surprised at what different ones found memorable and why.
About your bike story – I understand about carrying regrets. I think most of us do carry them. That we have them means we have grown beyond where we were when we caused them. The finer discernment of the effects we have on others doesn’t take the regrets away, but it is a partial redemption and some more is in knowing we never intended harm.
Randy, my brother’s first job (besides working on the farm) was putting together bicycles at Christmas time for Western Auto. He loved it and put together quite a few. The store is no longer there but when I pass by where it used to be, I still remember that very well. Also, I saw your other post and I also had a banana bike as I called it. My cousins were moving and offered it to me. It was purple with a white banana seat, high rise handlebars. I thought it was the neatest bike I had ever seen.
My reply is for you and Ron. I have passed the old Western Auto store at Honea Path several times this week and even though it has now been closed for a long time , I never pass by without it bringing back memories. I sure do miss it. One memory is of men sitting on an old church pew or turned up Coke cola crate in back of the store drinking the small 6oz cokes and watching a baseball game on Saturday afternoon on a repaired TV while their wives shopped. Allan Jackson’s song about the small town man reminds of Mr. Ferguson and other store owners like him and how many of us (me included) ran to the big chain stores and forgot about the Small Town Man.
Bicycles were such a great gift as a child. We would ride and use our imaginations , pretending we were in race cars, motorcycles, airplanes, mail delivery. Still ride them today , mostly for exercise but have fond memories of that first bike. Enjoy “areading “this with my coffee every morning .
Operator error (me) is not letting me comment on your above referenced video, but the comment from ‘no name’ resonated deeply with me:
No name said, “this video hits those who had families once but don’t any more and can’t experience this any more … decorating a Christmas tree with family-handed-down ornaments, snow coming down outside; everyone laughing and cutting up. I’m glad ya’ll uploaded this so we could live vicariously through your love.”
My dad passed 21 years ago on Dec. 23, and my mom this year. I have been widowed almost 14 years. The memories are certainly bittersweet! I love Christmas, but these days it almost hurts to bring out my childhood ornaments and those my husband and I collected throughout the years. You as parents are so blessed to have your grown children close by.
Cheryl-thank you! My heart goes out to those who are alone. I appreciate the reminder to enjoy every last minute of today too 🙂
Cheryl, in the past 10 years my mother, daughter, and wife have passed along with around 8 members of my wife’s family who were just as close to me as my blood kin. The memories are good but for me and others like you they also hurt and can cut like a knife. My daddy passed away in 1991 and I still miss him. This goes back to a blog a few days ago but I have a piece of firewood put up that he cut with his ax while I was cutting him a load of firewood the day before he died. I often said if it was big as a matchstick daddy wanted to cut it.
I love the precious wisdom and the interviewees in the Foxfire books. I have only been able to obtain a used Foxfire #4, and have read through it many times. Searching for affordable used Foxfire books is definitely a quest!
A Foxfire Christmas would be wonderful!
Cheryl (&others) use the website ThriftBooks.com!!!! I have been able to get Foxfire books for $8 or $9 a piece sometimes. You just have to check often. They are sought after books, but that website gets them regularly & also lots of other hard to find books. you can earn points by buying books. My kids & I often are getting books for free by earning up points to be redeemed for books in a certain price range. To buy a whole set new is too expensive. I almost always buy books used. I have used this site to also find Jesse Stuart books that Tipper has recommended. Got one for $4! I am a book addict.
Thriftbooks.com = Amazing!
Maybe it’s just my age and where I’m at in life, but but I sure enjoy reading this blog and the other closely ties to it. I can relate in some way to every post. I usually feel inspired and blessed pondering the daily post. I’ve had used bicycles and new bicycles, and appreciated them all the same. I haven’t looked at a Foxfire book in awhile, but you’ve ignited yet another spark. See ya tomorrow.
My Dad used to have a small collection of the Foxfire books, I don’t remember him having the Foxfire Christmas. I’m going to see if he still has them and reread some during the winter months. I’ve always enjoyed the Foxfire series of books.
I’ve read many of the Foxfire book series but I don’t remember ever seeing or reading the Christmas book. My Dad used to have a small collection of these books, I’m going to have to get with and see if he still has them, with winter around the corner I’d like to reread them.
PS…. My granddaughter Laurel Ann arrived at 4:49 this morning…..I’m so happy, thank you Jesus!!
Lorie-Congratulations! So wonderful 🙂
I know I don’t know you, but, Congratulations on your new granddaughter! What a blessing!!!
We got new bikes at a store called Coast-to-Coast, wow I can’t believe I can remember that name, that store hasn’t been around for probably 45 yrs? The thing I remember the most about my bike was riding it (after the chain guard had come off,) with my favorite plaid elephant ear pants…..hahaha. I got those pants tangled up in that chain so many times my mom finally said “ next time you get those pants in that chain the pants are gone!” Sure enough not long had passed and I got those pants in tha chain, and she made me throw away the pants! I cried all day. I guess crying all day sounded better to me than keepin the rubber band on my pant leg, to keep them out of the chain though?
One of my dad’s brothers would go to the city dump and collect bicycle parts and put them together and make bicycles. He had six kids and they all had bikes. One Christmas in 1965, he brought three bicycles to my brothers and me. It was the best Christmas we had ever had.
I remember getting a new bike for Christmas. Such fond memories!
Loved the bicycle story. Where there is a will, there’s a way.
I remember my dad running beside me as I learned to ride my bike. I also remember falling into the small hedge that lined our sidewalk. Owww!!!
My first bicycle was a used one daddy got from someone he worked with, later on I got a new larger bicycle for Christmas. I have a huge amount of regret over that bicycle, daddy was going to buy me just a plain cheaper bicycle but I wanted the more expensive one with the chrome fenders, light, and carriage rack. He bought the more expensive one even though it caused more of a hardship for him. My regret comes from me stripping all of those things off later on. He never said anything to me for doing this but my punishment comes from the regret and sorrow I have carried all of my life now knowing how much of a hardship it was for him to even buy me a bicycle. Everyone in my generation rode bicycles sometimes for miles in the country to a friends home. God had to have been looking out for us because we rode without helmets, barefooted, broke/busted pedals and sometimes with someone else sitting on the handle bars. Anyone remember the 20 inch bikes with the banana seats and high rise handlebars that were built to look like a chopper motorcycle? These were made in the 60’s. I bought and paid for one these with my own money made from cutting grass and doing other jobs for farmers in my neighborhood.
Randy – your point about kids riding in ‘dangerous’ circumstances got me to thinking about a story of my husband’s….We laugh about it now, but it sure was terrible when it happened (according to him). He had a friend over to play. The boy lived around the corner & rode his bike over. His parents came to pick him up when it was time to go home, but they could not fit the bike in their car. They were going to follow him with the car while he rode the bike home. Unfortunately, the bike’s foot pedal had broken off at some point & so riding the bike was a struggle. I am sure you can see where this story is going….
As he struggled to pedal, one footed, up the steep hill directly by hubby’s driveway he wobbled & went down. His parents, following in the car, ran over his leg & broke it. My husband & brothers were standing in the driveway & watched the whole thing. To this day, my husband can’t believe how incredibly dumb the parents were. He never could figure why they didn’t just give him a ride home & worry about the bike later. We’ll never know. But that day has lived on in my husband’s memory since. It seems funny now, even tho I know it is not. But I can just watch the whole thing playing out in my head as he tells the story!
Tipper, like you I was a cautious child. My first bike ride was down a hill because “it was easier.” Yep, it was easier, but like Miss Cindy, I couldn’t remember how to stop. I stopped by running into a telephone pole at the bottom of the hill and breaking a front tooth. Thank goodness it was a baby tooth! I didn’t let that first solo ride stop me. I am just glad that was before the days of multiple gears, shifting, and hand brakes. I probably never would have learned to ride even a three speed. Twenty five years later, when my kids were old enough to ride bikes, I did manage to master a 10 speed.
I only received one bicycle for Christmas as a boy. That bike gave me countless hours of fun and freedom to roam. Just recently, I bought another one and what they say is true, you never forget how to ride a bike. At 69 I’m enjoying riding again.
Tipper, in one of your posts I heard you refer to the book called, “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.” I had read that book & really liked it but then I do love stories about the people who live in the mountains. Did you know the author has written another book called, “The Book Woman’s Daughter?” I happened on it at my county library recently. I found it to be as entertaining as the book about her mother. If you haven’t read it I hope you will & enjoy it as much as I did. I just love your blog & all the videos. I sit of an evening & watch you & the girls along with Matt, Austin & Nick. 🙂 You all are so comforting. The girls make me laugh out loud sometimes. Katie & her funny faces & Corie & Olive. They are delightful. Thank you.
You have such sweet memories and I love that you share them with us ‘Acorners’. And I do love the Foxfire books…such a wealth of information. God Bless
I have enjoyed your videos on YouTube what a talented family. Tipper you and your husband have raised two fine daughters. I was watching for about three weeks everyday. The thanksgiving and now Christmas I am going good to get a shower. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis that slows me down but it hasn’t stopped me. I am in an intense Bible study class. If I was taking for credit it would be at least a four unit class. I put in a lot of time and research God has gotten my attention. I listen better when I don’t move so fast. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to learning from your gardening cooking and especially you readings. Thank you for sharing your gifts. God bless you all.
I got my first Foxfire book in 1977, and have been gradually collecting them through the years, mostly used. The Foxfire Christmas book would be a nice addition to my collection. Periodically I like to reread them all.
The Foxfire Museum is about an hour from us, and we love visiting several times a year. In fact, we love everything Foxfire! The museum, the festival, Foxfire books. The Book of Appalachian Cookery is filled with wonderful stories and information. I would love to read A Foxfire Christmas!
Receiving a bike is quite special. I remember receiving my bike for my birthday and using it a great deal to visit friends, going to the city swimming pool for lessons, etc.
I didn’t have any trouble riding my first bicycle what I couldn’t figure how to do was stop so I’d ride my new bike to a specific spot in the yard and jump off. Not a great plan but it worked till I learned how to stop it. I was never considered a very coordinated child!