The way we did our teeth, there was a fella that had a pair of forceps—or tooth pullers, they called it. If you had a bad tooth, you’d go up to his house and he’d get you down and take your tooth out. That’s what we did in the dentist business. The last’n he pulled for me. I went to his house and he was hoeing corn in the field. He sent one of his children to the house to get his pullers. He got me down between the cornrows and took my tooth out.
We took care of a lot of our own problems and didn’t even call a doctor. One time we was peeling tanbark and something stung me on the foot. I thought it was a bumblebee sting. After a while, it wouldn’t quit hurting. I looked down and there was two punctures. I told my dad I believed that I was snakebit. He looked at it and said, “I believe you are.” So I went down there where the snake had bit me and I looked and there was a copperhead laying there. “Well,” he said, “you go to the house but you take your time and don’t get hot.” The house was down the hill and in about five minutes, I was there. I told Momma a snake bit me. She went and got the turpentine and held the bottle to that place. Then she got a gallon of kerosene and set my foot down in it and soaked it for a while. Then she made a poultice out of a soggy paste of hot water, meal, and salt. She mixed it up and got it real hot and put it on there with a cloth around it. She left it on there till the next morning. That was it. My foot swelled up but I never did get sick.
—Foxfire 9
Today’s Thankful November giveaway is a used copy of Foxfire 9. To be entered in the giveaway leave a comment on this post. Giveaway ends November 17, 2025.
Last night’s video: Appalachian Meal from the Land.
Tipper
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I am fortunate to have the Foxfire series, so please do not include my entry in the drawing, and best of luck to all. This post brought to mind something my grandma( born mountains of NC 1917) told me as the truth about her great-grandpa. She told me he worked as a blacksmith in the area. But the interesting part of her story was that he would also pull teeth for anyone who came in needing such services! Said he kept a chair in his shop and had made some sort of pliers so he could provide this community dental service. I cannot even imagine! But I never knew my grandma to spin a tall tale.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Continued prayers for Granny.
I absolutely loved these Foxfire stories and the comments as well. I find old remedies just fascinating.
Good morning, Tipper and Tipper fans! Oh my, yet another Fox Fire book being offered!! Maybe I’ll get lucky this time. I loved reading these books way back when with my late husband, so if my name is drawn I’ll be enjoying a walk down memory rain! God’s blessings on everyone, but hope Granny gets a special one!!
My grandaddy told me the tale of his snakebite when he was twelve (1925):
He and his daddy were in the woods cutting railroad ties (12 yr. old boy and grown man/hewing 5 ties per day at ten cents each). He stepped over the log and a Copperhead bit him on the ankle. His daddy gave him a chew of Brown’s Mule Chewing Tobacco and told him to chew it and to swallow the juice. He was reluctant to do this as he had been sick at an earlier attempt at “chewing”, but he did as he was told. Then his father picked him up in his arms and carried him two miles by road. Once home and tended to by his aunt and mother, his daddy walked to town and got the doctor (5 miles) and rode back home with the doctor in a buggy. Back at home my grandaddy said his aunt placed his foot in bucket and poured kerosene to the level of the bite on his ankle. Not long after, the “coal oil” had turned as “green as grass”. Shortly the doctor arrived gave him “some pills”, but assured the family the tobacco and coal oil had worked their magic and saved his life (I doubt that today, but at that time in those conditions………). After a few days the boy would be fine and he was. Besides the richness of the story their is a lesson to be learned and a good practice to follow.- as my grandaddy explained to me in his speak; “don’t step over a log without looking where your stepping . A lot of times an old snake me be waiting there”.
that dad must have been real sure of his wife’s ability to take proper steps for the copperhead bite since he did not carry the child to the house but instead sent them to the house on their own accord….I think my dad would have probably got out his pocket knife sliced an appropriate x where I was bit then sucked out the poison (or tried to) and then either taken me to the house for the kerosene dunk or to a hospital
I really enjoy hearing about some of the old ways of doctoring! I wonder if I won that Foxfire book what kind of wonderful things I could learn?
Enjoyed this Foxfire story. In my day, Mercurochrome and Turpentine was the cure all for everything. A great-grandmother recommended Paregoric for my daughter when she was a baby. When I finally found some to buy, the ingredient label included 26% alcohol!! Thank you for Thankful November.
The house I grew up in had some dirt in the yard that was lacking grass. I came down the wide porch steps once barefooted and was fixing to go to the toilet. Often for fun, I would jump from one exposed tree root to another while on my way. When I had my right leg raised to take a second (or third) jump, I noticed a flicker of movement. That one “root” had a forked tongue. It didn’t take me long to back up to the porch steps and was able to climb up a couple to sit down. I was too weak to make it inside and was in shock so I couldn’t yell to tell anyone. It was close to dinnertime so someone came to the door when I didn’t go in or answer. All I could do was point. A hoe was gotten and that copperknocker was chopped into three pieces. It was lifted into a wooden box with a lid. ALL the rest of the day, you could hear it flopping up and hitting the lid of that box. I don’t think a bear would have scared me as badly!
The house I grew up in had some dirt in the yard that was lacking grass. I came down the wide porch steps once barefooted and was fixing to go to the toilet. Often for fun, I would jump from one exposed tree root to another while on my way. When I had my right leg raised to take a second (or third) jump, I noticed a flicker of movement. That one “root” had a forked tongue. It didn’t take me long to back up to the porch steps and was able to climb up a couple to sit down. I was too weak to make it inside and was in shock so I couldn’t yell to tell anyone. It was close to dinnertime so someone came to the door when I didn’t go in or answer. All I could do was point. A hoe was gotten and that copperknocker was chopped into three pieces. It was lifted into a wooden box with a lid. ALL the rest of the day, you could hear it flopping up and hitting the lid of that box. I don’t think a bear would have scared me as badly!
I love stories like these!
My deceased husband loved the Foxfire books & had several of them. He would try to get me to read them or he would tell me things he had read, and I was not the least bit interested in the books. He was several years older than me & I guess I had not caught up with his maturity. But later I wished I had read them. I don’t know what happened to them. Loved Matt’s video of cooking deer meat. I’ve never been much of a meat eater, except occasionally I would & do eat chicken or turkey. It’s just a thing about me loving animals so much & I couldn’t stand the thought of eating my friends. BUT, I would venture to try Matt’s deer meat at least one time. Prayers still going up for your family & sweet Granny. My Dad told me about the Milk Stone that was held by one family in his community in North Mississippi. If you got bitten by an animal with rabies, they would send someone to get the milk stone. It was a stone they would soak in milk & put on the bite. Dad said the stone would stick to the bite, and when it fell off they would soak it in milk & do it again over & over. Dad said it worked, but I told him I bet the animal didn’t have rabies to begin with.
Love it!
One thing is certain, one had to tough or lucky or both to live to old age back then.
Once again, would love to win a copy of any of the Foxfire books. What a story. No wonder there are so many young people in old graveyards. Am very grateful for modern medicine.
Have you read Foxfire 7? It was published first in 1980. My father-in-law Rev. Clyde William Nations Sr. and his son, my brother-in-law, Rev. Clyde Jr. were two of the preachers featured in it. I have a copy of the book but it is a recent printing.
Ed, I have but it’s been a good while. I’ll have to go back and read it again 🙂
oh the stories of foxfire…i love that series…id love that one too…
Crazy story. I’ve never run into a poisonous snake and I hope I never do! Love hearing about all of the home remedies our ancestors used.
I can’t imagine getting a tooth pulled without painkiller.
I would enjoy reading a Foxfire book.
We moved to Michigan when I was three, but my parents were born and raised in western North Carolina as was their parents. I remember some of the remedies my dad would use on us was sweet oil for our earache, a spoonful of Fletcher‘s Jr. Castoria for those stubborn bowels, a little bit of paregoric rubbed on our toothaches! I would enjoy reading the Foxfire books!
I can’t imagine letting somebody pull my tooth without numbing it up first. Ouch! I reckon I’d let it rot outta my head before I’d do that. I’ve had 1 tooth pulled at the dentist and even with plenty of numbing shots it was awful…thought ole doc was gonna pull my whole jaw off trying to get that sucker out lol. People were just tougher back then. My daddy has pulled out 2 or 3 of his own teeth and says it ain’t that bad, better than a toothache and alot cheaper than a dentist!
Thank you for continuing to write your blog. It’s always great and the comments are fun to read. And it starts my morning off on the right foot.
At one time the area around Greenville, SC was known as the cotton/textile capital of the world. The lifeblood of many people and towns was the cotton mill. My Daddy worked 25 years for the Reigel Cotton Mill in Ware Shoals, SC at their peak this mill had over 3,000 employees. I can not prove this, but I believe the first dentist (Dr. Lake) me and the children of many of the other employees began seeing regularly had a credit plan worked out with the mill to have a small amount of money taken out of the paychecks each week or month to pay for the dentist bill. I do know the dentist office was across the street from the mill. Dr. Lake was among some of the best Christian men I have very known.
So interesting, but oh my word !!!
Love & prayers for all .
My mama believed in mercurochrome and peroxide for all our boo boo’s.
Last nights video of your supper meal looked wonderful. Wish I could try some of Matt’s deer meat.
As always, prayers for Granny❣️
I remember my brother having a toothache and took some pliers and pulled it out. It’s a wonder he didn’t die from bacteria. We used kerosene, Epson salt, turpentine. There was a doctor here in town that recommended a mixture of honey, whiskey and lemon juice for a bad cough. Mama kept Vick’s and if we were really sick, she had us put a dab in our mouths to help. It’s a wonder we all didn’t die but maybe we were tougher back then.
Such a different way of life for these people! I can’t imagine getting my tooth pulled like that. It’s devastating getting a tooth pulled anyway let alone the way they did it. What courageous people❤️
Wow that was some tough people, but they were probably a lot healthier and happier than we are today.
For the past hour, I’ve been reading everyone’s comments about tooth pulling, snake bites, and old-timey remedies. That Foxfire 6 story really impressed all of us! Thank you, Tipper, for sharing these interesting books with us.
The snake bite and home treatment doesn’t sound very pleasant to me! We had no ‘professional’ kind of medical folk where I grew up either. Whatever ailment we got we tended to ourselves, sometimes – if thought to be needed – with the help of a neighbor who might have some prescribed medication they had been given. Our nearest ‘professional’ was a few hours travel away. If a baby was due, one had to birth at home or find a place to board before the due date in the town of nearest hospital. Still today I tend to look after myself – even when 2 years ago I broke some metatarsal bones in foot and then bones in hand and base of thumb – I just bought whatever braces and support needed and let it all heal itself.
Wow! very brave, tough people. That’s so interesting about the snake bite remedy. I would love to read this book. I have books 1-3.
Before moving from Florida with our four cats to Murphy we had a handyman build an outside enclosure for our indoor cats to play in. So for the past 13 years when our cats want to get some fresh air and sunshine they just go through the pet door and enter their catio. Several years ago one if my cats came running in from the catio and she seemed really scared. I went outside and entered the enclosure and searched the area. I soon found a copper head snake. I liked it. We took the cat to Andrews to our Vet to get checked out. The Vet gave us some pain medication for our cat but said she probably wouldn’t need it because the bite of a copper head snake was not deadly to animals. My cats face was swelling up and the Vet said the swelling would go down in a day or two. By the next day the swelling was gone and the cat never appeared to be in pain. That was our first experience with copper heads. And not the last. Two years ago we went to the Foxfire museum and really enjoyed it. Praying for Granny and all who need prayer. Prayer works. Have a blessed day.
Learning the “old ways” needs to be studied carefully. I’d be very interested in learning the science behind why this snakebite treatment worked!
Likely the copperhead bite was what is called a dry bite, no venom was injected. No way to know for sure, but dry bites are fairly common.
Mom doctored us a lot, don’t remember many times that we went to the doctor but do remember going in later school years.
Those descriptions of what people had to endure was disturbing! How far we have come in so many ways! Would cherish a copy of Foxfire 9 too.
Karen, the worst pain I can remember enduring was toothaches. By the time I was able to begin going to a dentist on a regular basis, many of my teeth were in bad shape. I would often come home from my grandmothers on Sunday afternoon with a toothache, she usually kept candy corn on hand, after eating some I would have a toothache. I don’t remember cuts or scrapes getting very sore, I guess something about kerosene helped keep them from getting sore.
Kerosene played big part in my mom’s doctoring on us. From cuts or scraps and soar throats, it worked.
I already have the Fixfire books. Don’t put me in the drawing.
We were fortunate to live in town so we had access to Drs and dentists. Back in the day when the Drs made home visits when you were too sick to go to the office. Now my husband has a similar story to most of the comments. They didn’t go to Drs, only in emergencies. My MIL knew all kinds of home remedies for cuts and bruises. Poultice’s, sulfur, kerosene and whatever they had on hand. She raised 7 children and they’re still all strong and healthy. I love reading the Foxfire stories!
That tooth-pulling fella would have had to do more than ‘get me down’ to pull a tooth; knocking me out would have suited me just fine. Daddy was bitten by a snake when he was a little boy. He said his mother cut an X on the site and sucked the venom out. I am so thankful I was able to be treated at a wound care center when I was bitten by either a snake or a poisonous spider in 2019. My at-home remedies caused a delay that almost cost me my leg and also kept the doctors from identifying the culprit.
My thoughts exactly about ‘get me down’ to pull a tooth! Just reading about it was painful enough.
Would to God, folks were more self-sufficient today! I think we’d be a lot better off. I’m thankful for the wonderful advances in areas such as treatment of major injuries (I’ve had a hip replacement) but I think far too many folks depend on pills to treat ills! We need to eat better, exercise, and spend more time outdoors! That’s what our ancestors did!
Yikes! We didn’t have much growing up, but if one of us kids got really bad my Granny would pay for us to see old Doc Green. I hated going there, smelled funny (clean) no matter what, we got a shot in the butt, and a pat on top of the head.
As always, praying for Granny.
OUCH!!!
Goodness! Snakebit and didn’t even raise a fuss about it! I would not have been so brave. Hoping you all have a beautiful day! Pryers for all and Granny! ❤️
All I can say is wow! I know a lot of issues were taken care way differently then they are today and I’ll say today’s treatments are better. At least for pulling the tooth the dentist will numb you up.
Very thankful for the medical care we have now! Enjoyed Matt’s video last night. God bless!
I still try to avoid Drs today! LOL
Growing up, my brothers and I didn’t have regular dental care. We used toothache remedies sold over the counter. Army dentists pulled several of my front uppers and made me a partial denture. They were anything but gentle, but they did have Novacain. I can’t imagine the pain of home extractions of permanent teeth, let alone those performed in a cornfield. Tough times call for tough patients.
I read all the posts so far. Awesome stories! We did not go to the doctor much but the dentist always! My dad had dentures as far back as I can remember. I heard that when he was in the Amy in the Phillipines, the Army dentist drilled some cavities but before he could fill them they had to leave the area due to enemy activity. My dad didn’t get them filled until much later! CAN YOU IMAGINE THE PAIN! He made sure we went to the dentist! My mom always encouraged us to not only brush our teeth but floss also.
We did use some old fashioned cures. If you had a sliver or glass in your foot, you would put a piece of bacon fat and a bandage on it. The next morning it would be out of your foot. The best ever cold remedy was honey, lemon, and a little whiskey in hot water and drink it down. You always woke up feeling better.
I guess that just shows you modern medicine has changed the way things are treated but the old remedies were just as effective although more painful. In many countries, the old remedies are all that is available and accessible to many. Would love to own a copy of this particular Foxfire book. Thanks so much for thankful November and I enjoy all the reader comments. How’s Granny? She’s in my prayers.
Anne-thank you! She is about the same.
We tie kerosene soaked rags around our wrists and ankles before picking blackberries. Keeps the chiggers away.
A friend & I were just talking about how things have changed in the medical world. When I was growing up, we had one doctor who did everything for you. He would cure the simplest cold to go into to surgery to take out your appendix or deliver your baby. There were no specialists & no sending you from this “specialist” to that “specialist”. He did it all! I remember getting a boil on my knee once (or twice) & my folks put some gooey, thick black stuff on it to draw out the pus. It smelled terrible but worked.
Praying for Granny!
The area where my mother grew up, they had a doctor like that. My great grandmother was his nurse for many years. But that gooey, thick black stuff made me grin. He used it too. In a small metal tin with ‘Black Salve’ handwritten on a little label. Almost one hundred years later and that tin of Black Salve is still in the farmhouse. It is still used by all of us today who gets a splinter or a bad cut to pull out all of the bad stuff!
That made shivers run up and down my spine. When we were kids, we had to pick a lot of blackberries. Momma gave each of us a little bucket to pick in. The littlest two would go with me and my sister. Momma would tell us to watch out for copperheads. Thank goodness the good Lord was with us. As far as teeth, back when we were little you really were never taught how to brush your teeth. I hated to go to the dentist and still do. It gives me some anxiety to this day. We love watching you and Matt every night on TV. Lucky will watch a few of Gunsmoke while we wait for your post. He will say “See if there is a new post on of Tipper.” Well, got to run, God bless.
My family didn’t use doctors much, but none of us were snakebit! I was born at home, although the doctor from town did come out to help with the delivery. I’m thankful for better medical care now.
My family didn’t go to doctors or dentists either unless it was something that couldn’t be fixed by Mamaw or mama. I used to get earaches so bad that I cried and only home remedies were used, which didn’t really help. I used to lay on my bed with my ear on a hot water bottle and that gave some relief. I was told by Mama that she used to receive groundhog oil in her ear when she had an earache, but she didn’t have any. Blowing smoke in your ear was also used. I saw a dentist after I was over 19 and fortunately my teeth were in good shape. We didn’t eat much sugar, and my parents reinforced the importance of brushing your teeth. I remember being in the area behind our house in the woods where tin cans and other junk was thrown. I was bare footed and a sharp lid from a can cut the top of my foot. I ran home and all that was done was the two edges were pulled together and a rag wrapped around my foot. It’s a wonder I didn’t get an infection. When I was around five or six, I caught lice from my neighbor playmates. Mama used turpentine to soak my head and took a very fine-toothed comb and removed the “nits”. I remember yelling about it hurting. I have very thick hair, and she went all over my head combing them out, then shampooed my hair. I remember the smell of that turpentine to this day. She wouldn’t let me play with the children again until the mother solved her children’s lice problem. School nurses did a lice check once in a while and would send home those with lice. I went barefoot a lot and cut my foot by the creek. Mamaw mixed up some lard and Sulphur, applied it to the cut and wrapped a rag around my foot, the area was almost healed up the next day.
Mercy, I think the snake bite would be worse than the tooth!
My goodness, that person was pain tolerant! I know I would’ve been panicking and crying about getting snake bit.
It seems that everyone knew what do though for ailments and snake bites, and I’m sure knowing home remedies saved them a lot of money.
As a kid I was always getting skinned up, cut, bruised, etc. Dad would look at it and either say, “You’ll be ok. or Go show it to Grandma.” She could take care of most anything.
Wow! I read the Foxfire books in high school, and loved them! Even in the late 80s, my deep Eastern Kentucky parents were patching me up with home remedies. Thank goodness, my teeth haven’t needed work til now in my 50s! Home pulling would be wild!
I enjoy reading the post’s from the Foxfire books. I would like to win this book.
My great grandmother would always tell us how wimpy we were when going to the dentist. She said in her day, the didn’t use novacaine, she said he just drilled and filled or pulled it. She had dentures all my life (born in the 1890s). I’ll take being wimpy all day long. I’m so glad the Lord placed me at this time in history! Continuing prayers for Granny and all y’all. Much love from SC. Jane♥️
We took my daddy back to were he was born in Kentucky, they lived back in a hollar and I asked him where did they go to the hospital if someone had a heart attack or even an appendicitis. He pointed to a church building. He said that is where you went and 6 men carried you if it was something they couldn’t take care of themselves. That was very sobering. But they were hardy resilient people. Proud to be from that stock.
Wow! I’ve never been snake bit but, if I had been, I know I wouldn’t have been so calm.
Well, after reading this post, I am so very thankful for my dentist…with his medicine to numb you before he gets to work in your mouth! . We didn’t go to the doctor for much when I was a kid either. It had to be a broken arm or something terrible like that. But if I ever get a snake bite, I had better be taken right away, because I will probably have a heart attack if the snake doesn’t kill me!!!
I also remember when we didn’t go to the doctor or dentist very often. Those old home remedies worked well for us and Mom and Dad would pull any tooth that needed coming out. I think money was in short supply back then.
The good ole days sometimes aren’t always so good. My Mom, at 97 loves remembering her summers spent with her grandmother in the Kentucky hollars. She was just a kid so her days weren’t like the adults just trying to get the next meal on the table. But there was tons of love.
We are so blessed to have modern medicine, but some of the old practices were effective.
Praying for Granny.
Enjoyed reading about how you were all self sufficient and took care of each other. Those days were the best to me.
Whew doggies I’d hate to be bit by a snake. I’m scared of any ol snake let alone a poison one.
Momma’s family was like this and used the same remedies. I remember my Papaw pulling his own teeth with pliers.
We rarely went to the doctor as Momma’s family didn’t. We had to be awful bad to go and it had to be with something Momma couldn’t fix.
I can hardly wait to read the conversation today! This will be so interesting!
God bless all y’all! Our temperature is headed back up after being in the teens. We had the most beautiful views of the Aurora Borealis two nights ago. I’ve prayed a long time to see it one day and the Lord blessed me right out front of our home. Even the Heavens declare His glory!!
That’s the way I was raised. If you weren’t dying, you didn’t go to the doctor. We did go to the dentist, though. My Mom said she never wanted her children to suffer with a bad tooth.
Mercy, pullin’ teeth. We did it by tying sewing thread around the tooth and the other end to a door knob an then slamming the door quickly. Bam! tooth out.
I was watching your New Years video 2025 and you were making Orange Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread. That zester is great but I found one easier. Microplaner Zesters are the easiest zester on the planet. Look on Amazon and see what you think of then.
Y’all are ever in my prayers. Love ya. -Barbara
I know a few people that have pulled their own teeth, and a few have had some others pull them for them, sometimes you have to take another drink of whiskey, it helps with the pain, thank you for praying for my brother Bennie, he is suffering great fatigue and weakness from the chemotherapy, he had to go back to the hospital because of parainfluenza, take some more medications, he has been released to my sister’s house again, thank you for praying for my brother, may the good Lord bless you and your family, and God bless Granny Wilson
Oh my gracious!!! I cant imagine someone pulling a tooth like that, or GETTING BITTEN BY A SNAKE!
Love all of your posts, feel like you are family!
I remember having kerosene used on scrapes and cuts but thank goodness for modern dentistry.
I expect we would have gone to a doctor if we had been snake bitten, but for cuts, nail in foot and similar things we would tie a kerosene soaked rag around the cut and just go on with our everyday life. We would soak a bruise or sprain in warm water and Epson salt. I never remember going to dentist until I had my permanent teeth and was older. The truth for my family and other families was there was no money for doctors and dentists. Going to them was a last resort after our home cures had failed. We did use some “store bought” medicine along with home remedies. I talked to a lady about a week ago and she was telling me about her Cherokee Indian grandmother having a cure for nearly everything using medicine made from wild plants.