My stepfather (now 94) was plowing all day behind a 2-mule hitch when he was 8 years old. He was raised on an Arkansas share-crop, one of 16 children, in a drafty old house. Most evenings through the summer they had cornbread and milk for supper, followed by melons they grew of berries they'd picked. His mother passed when I was 13, and I miss her dearly. Even at 84, she could fry-up a huge skillet of chicken, make mashed potatoes, homemade biscuits, green beans she had grown herself, sliced tomatoes, and cookies for dessert. Sometimes I sit and wish I could have known her when she was younger. She had a hard life, but her faith in Jesus sustained her til the end.
Morning sir my granddad told me when the depression hit he never realized it was going on except more hobos came by looking for work of course he was as poor as they were but he raised a big garden and shared it with them he always said if you can eat what I eat you're welcome to share with me have a blessed day young man
Mr Fugitt, That's an excellent philosophy, a great "Whorl'-view"; "If You can eat what We -- or I -- eat, You're welcome to share..." The Spanish Folk are famous for the same hospitality. One of Their sayings is, "My House is Your House." Others carry it on in other ways: "My tobacky is Your tobacky". As long as We're a workin' together, We're share and share a like whatever We've got. 🙂 Rick Bonner Pennsyltuck
Good morning 🌞 my grandmother owned a little country store when I was growing up and many older men would sit in the rocking chairs and talk about the great depression and I would be amazed about it. One older man brought my grandmother a brown paper bag full of vegetables from his garden and he looked down at me and said you should pay attention to your great grandmother and grandpa growing there garden because you might have to grow a garden yourself one day . His words stand very true to me till this day 😊
Thank you for sharing your story, reminded me of my parents and how poor we grew up. we were pretty young when my sisters and i stayed working. sometimes we couldn’t go to school because we had to work in the fields.thanks to God we never went hungry. my parent’s did the best they could.l was very proud of them. thank you and God bless you sir.
In the inner city of New York, we had limited basic needs, we didn't waste and didn't buy unnecessary stuff. Fast foods was a treat every once in a while. When I did sports, I became aware of how economically challenged we were in. To this day, I am frugal and buy what I need. It's a pleasure watching this video, because my Maternal Grandfather, Grandmother, my mother and her sisters have Appalachian MALUNGEAN ancestry (Via Winston Salem North Carolina.❤😂🎉😅😊
Mr. Laws, I am the youngest of 15 children. Some people say I was spoiled cause I was the youngest. Not so, I had more chores than the older girls because they were on their way to making their own families. It is true that we had a bit more money cause the bills weren't so high and we needed less groceries. Thank you for this reminder of times gone by, and I agree it seems that history is about to repeat itself.
My Daddy was born in 1929. I asked him one time how the depression affected them. He said they never even noticed it. They had land, so they were able to save seed for the next year’s crops, and they had cattle, hogs, and chickens that would produce the next year’s bounty. They hunted and fished, and trapped for variety. They foraged for greens and medicinal plants. Canning, smoking, and salting preserved meats and vegetables and fruits, and crocks of lard covering meat kept the meat good for a long time.
@@catherinepraus8635 My mom was born in '26, my dad in '24. They lived in the Pacific Northwest, not Appalachia, but for them it was pretty much the same. As my mom said. "Everybody was poor. You didn't really notice because it was just the way things were.". My dad spent a lot of time on his grandpa's farm, and when I was growing up I learned to grow my own garden from the age of 4. I grew up to be a white collar worker - better than just "well off" - but I still grow my own garden and share the crops it yields with my neighbors. It's just the way I was raised.
I didn't grow up during the depression but my parents did. We were very poor during the sixties when I was a boy. Jobs were very rare here in Southern WV and even when you were lucky enough to find one the pay was very small. My Dad and his two brothers cut pulp wood through most of the sixties. I remember that they got approx.$30.00 a load back then. Their equipment amounted to a flat bed truck, a chain saw, and muscle. Dad and Mom compensated for the lack of money but planting a very large garden. Through the summer months we lived on fresh vegetables and in the fall and winter we ate caned vegetables that Mom had canned the previous summer. Meat was a rare delicacy we usually only got on weekends.When I got old enough to own a gun I would go out and bring Mom some squirrels or some fat rabbits for dinner. We also ate many a plate of brown beans with hot homemade biscuits over the years. Thanks to the hard work of Dad and Mom my sisters and I never went hungry.
I hear you I was in the Midwest and my parents were victims of the Great Depression. They saved everything. At Christmas I would get a present wrapped in a cereal box. I was shocked later in life when I met this old guy my dad's age from Southern Illinois near Kentucky. He grew up during those years, and told me about all the stuff they did. The stories indicated poor people in a poor neighborhood. I asked him about the depression. He said we didn't know there was no depression
My father's family were sharecroppers when the Depression started. He had 3 older brothers who hunted, so I suppose they occasionally ate rabbit or squirrels. They could fish if they had time. But mostly they lived on beans, greens, and cornbread. (Cornbread is more filling than biscuits; it stays in the belly longer.) They might have been gifted some pork after a hog killing or a ham at Christmas; they might have occasionally had fatback to season their meals. If they had anything sweet, it was probably sorghum, since that was local, and they could have worked a day or so cutting the cane or pressing and boiling syrup, in exchange for a can of sorghum. I do believe they had cakes for birthdays; there were 5 kids at home when my father was small, although the big boys moved away while he was still young. So birthdays and maybe Christmas would have been the only times they would have had a dessert, unless it was cornbread or biscuits (they did have them occasionally) with sorghum. My mother's family were more prosperous, and they had a big garden and 7 kids to do the gardening, egg gathering, and milking. During the Depression, my grandfather got paid a lot in goods of various kinds, and he always took what they had. My mother was fond of frog legs because he had a client that would go gigging in order to pay what he owed. I suppose she ate whatever was brought, which would probably have mostly been rabbits, squirrels, and birds (or frogs) with the occasional bit of venison. Granddaddy didn't have time to hunt and none of his kids took it up. I was telling somebody earlier my parents' early years were a lot like the Waltons' from _The Homecoming._
Im a WV boy who grew up in the 70s and 80s......we ate a lot of beans and had a very large garden.....my dad was depression era......I still think soup beans fried potatoes and cornbread make.a mighty fine meal..... And although I have plenty of meat both canned and in the freezer.......I still eat beans at least a couple of times a week
@@gregwestfall6585 that's what my niece was saying. The other day I was complaining about meat prices, saying, "we're gonna have to live off beans, greens, and cornbread," and she said, "to me, that's a treat." Add some fried taters and it doesn't get much better.
Sometimes I think about all of the knowledge and stuff that our grandparents had they lots of love and their faith in jesus. I am blessed to have those days and memories 🙏
Through the years my Daddy would talk about an uncle of his who lived in Colorado during the depression. This uncle would send two fifty pound sacks of Colorado grown pinto beans to my Daddy's Oklahoma family of 10 every Christmas. My Daddy said they would have starved if not for the generosity of his uncle. I was amazed that Daddy continued to love pinto beans all his life!
@@donnielaws7020my family grew, then dried or canned "brown beans". Their technical name is cranberry beans, but they'll always be brown beans to me!! They were good with just about everything, especially green tomato ketchup! YUM!
The brown beans we ate were pinto beans. My husband's family loved pintos, but my family had always eaten great northern beans. After we married, the only way I cooked great northern or navy bens was as bean soup, with carrots and celery added, flavored with ham. Pinto beans were eaten with bacon grease, and sometimes just salt, if we were watching our weight. We also refried them. I don't cook, now, but I have cooked many good meals from practically nothing!!!
My pops made us bean cakes, potatoes cakes, zucchini fritters, corn pone, fry bread, lots of soup beans, fried potatoes, and cornbread. We'd have big thick slices of tomatoes, cucumbers, vinegar, and onions, greens, chow chow. ----and commodities. The cheese was delicious!!
I am 70 and when I was a child you didn't understand what a deprived childhood was as we were all the in the same boat. We didn't have a tv till I was about 8. Presents came on birthdays and Christmas and you were lucky to have sweets once a week. We always had food on the table and decent shoes and clothes but nothing like the kids of today.
We raised 3 acres of vegetable garden all the time that I was growing up. We canned everything to have food for the Winter time. I stringed a lot of green beans in my day, hoed a lot of corn and potatoes too. lol. We'd have never made it without our garden each year. A family with 6 kids growing up in the SouthWestern part of Virginia with little to no money meant a lot of hard living, and a lot of doing without, but we had all the things that really mattered. We got by. We didn't have new clothes, shoes, toys, and all that, but we had love, family, and we understood the value of hard work. It was a pretty good trade-off, all things considered
Before spring gard3ning, when the weeds began coming up in the garden̈, we ate fieldgreens. The weeds. Even canned a few for winter, Al ways had gardens and farm a imals. Mi.ked two cows before school. Had fruit trees. Gathered herbs to sell for money. Picked berries for canning and wine.
Everyone should have a garden. But the last thing anyone needs is to have their mind poisoned by religion. You kidding? You talk to your invisible freind, but it's a one sided conversation. Haven't you noticed that prayers are NEVER answered?
Those were some hard days, Donnie. My mother was born in 1942, and she remembered 1954 as one of their toughest times. If it hadnt been for fish in the creeks and squirrels in the trees, they would have starved. And if there's anything better than a pot of beans and a pone of cornbread, I don't know what it'd be. God bless you.🙏❤️
@@michah321 I know, I do remember my parents mentioned that it was a troubled time's. I believe that they lost some money and then later during the national coal strike and I found out that it was an international coal strike in the 70's and then time magazine made them look like fools I have never touched Time magazine since that one issue, and still haven't.
@@cyankirkpatrick5194 I was little in the 70s but I remember the recessions and how things were really bad in the early 80s because all the factories closed. I get upset when people say those generations had it " so easy" and they blame people for being poor in retirement when it's just because they worked so hard for so little. My parents worked very hard, and when they passed they didn't have anything but they took care of us and helped us through college and when we were in our early 20s.
My Mother grew up during the depression in the Appalachia area of Kentucky There was 12 children in the family. Papaw and Mamaw raised a big garden and did the best that they could, but the times were tough. My Mother told me that her and one of her sisters would go to the woods and catch birds in a trap that they made and would roast them on a fire and eat them and eat them there. I remember crying when she told me that. She said that they were so hungry. So many people had a rough time trying to live.
My father grew up under similar circumstances. He learned to fish very early to supplement their food supply. Neighbors regularly gave him goats milk to drink to help him (he was obviously under nourished). But he was intelligent, hard working and very determined. He became very successful BUT we always had a huge garden and fruit trees and a chest freezer filled with local beef and pork. Fear of hunger never left him, long after the problem was resolved.
And the lovely God worshipping folk regardless of how bereft times were ... didn't go out stealing , robbing and such. They worked harder, longer and used their spare time resting sore muscles and thinking up new ways to make money. A good cup of coffee in the morning before a long days work and on the porch at night was looked upon as one of God's blessings. 🙏🙏
Thank you, Donnie, for sharing precious memories from our past. Videos like this make me homesick for my childhood. I remember Daddy plowing with our neighbors mule for a portion of the crops that our fields would produce. My sister's and I washed many jars for Mother to use for canning. She told us that God made our little hands, especially for washing jars .I'm thankful for these memories and for people like you who keep memories like these alive so we can revisit them every now and then. God bless.
Same here. My Grandmother always said “Hands to work and hearts to God”. We would share garden produce, milk, bread, and apples from the orchard with the hobos we found spending the night in the barn.
Donnie, this video brings back my fondest childhood memories; visiting my grandma and grandpa in Tishimingo Mississippi. They lived in a split log house with a fireplace, cast iron stove, smoke house, well on the porch, and surrounded by deep pine woods. Just like the depression in Appalachia, my grandma grew vegetables and canned them. Those childhood memories are the best I have! I got to experience what life was like 200 years ago. I've lived in Iowa now for most of my life, but no place will ever be as special as my grandparents cabin!
I really would like to have a garden. I've tried to grow different kinds of vegetables and herbs. I live in a townhouse so I don't have a lot of land to work with. I just can't seem to grow anything around here I'm sorry to say.
You can't beat good, country cookin' . My great grandfather had a pair of mules he was fond of. Harold and Mattie May . I dearly loved sitting around with my precious grandmere, and shelling purple hull peas and helping her can vegetables and fruits. I was probably in her way mostly, but she had that sweet way, of making this little cajun girl feel like she couldn't have done it, without my help . Thank you Mr Donnie 💕
I grew up in a little Irish settlement in Michigan. These stories sound exactly like the stories my grandma would tell me about the depression. We were doing these things when I was a kid too. Because the land was so much like Ireland they knew how to cultivate, plant, and harvest their own food. I’m so thankful that I grew up on a farm. It taught me so much.
@@lakeshoreshepherds741 it was an Irish settlement between Watervliet and Hartford. East of County Line Rd. It’s about 10 miles east of Benton Harbor. More specifically our little farm was on 68th Ave. 🙂 My grandfather, before I came along, was the president of what was known as the Irish School which was a little one room school that was on County Line Rd in an area known as Bainbridge. We attended St Joseph Catholic Church in Watervliet and my grandpa used to say that the money used to build the Catholic School came from the priest’s poker winnings he took from him!😂
My family is from Eastern Kentucky. I remember my grandmother picking the meat of the turkey off the bone and there was nothing left when she was done. They learned how to survive and are strong people. Thanks for sharing, and God bless 🙏💙 hope you are doing well.
We can still do many things they did back when. For example, roast a big turkey every year. Cook the bones down into a broth and put up jars of turkey in broth and broth alone. Both are great as a soup base. Broth alone makes wonderful gravy for biscuits and gravy, open face sandwiches, or whatever else you want to make. While we have power, a turkey roaster and a Presto electric pressure canner make that much easier. If we have no power, then we need a wood cook stove, a pan big enough for the turkey, a big pot to cook it down in, and a pressure canner we can use on top of the stove. Some use propane or gas stoves. That may work if you can still get those fuels.
I’m on the sunny side of 80, so my relatives from Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma survived the same way. I have had a set of Fox Fire books for many years now; they are one of my “treasures”. This video was a great gift to anyone interested in real history. It may be very relevant to the present and the future. People would be wise to pay heed.
Couldn't agree more. Us oldens should teach these things to the youngers. I do, as a "just in case". I would hate to think the generations coming up behind us didn't have these skills.
I passed through several isolated communities in Appalachia when I was at school in the U.S. many years ago. I’ve lived on four continents, but seldom met kinder and more hospitable folk than the people of Appalachia...perhaps I have a special affection for all mountain folk because I myself was reared in a poor, isolated Greek mountain village.
Thank you for this! To me, these were the smartest people on Earth. I'm 60 years old, and my Dad was born in 1932 in Oklahoma. My Grandparents lost their farm during those Dust Bowls and my Dad nearly died from the dust getting into his lungs. Grandma would put his cradle that Grandpa built, on the opposite side of the house from the direction the dust walls would come in. Shed put wet towls all over his cradle to catch the dust. He survived. She would boil onions that they grew and put a little surger in it, for him to drink. It took away his collic. They didn't get to go school past the 5th grade, because they too grew up on Farms! They were the smartest people i ever knew. Even when i was in 1st Grade, I knew we weren't learning the important things in school, and I told them that too. I wanted to learn what they knew. If you ask me, schools should be teaching kids these things. Today especially, they are learning very useless crap. It sure is sad that all this knowledge seems to be gone. In my opinion, our futures are looking scarier and scarier. How to survive whats coming our way, nobody knows how to. I respect these people more than anyone else that ever lived. The people who knew how to survive through anything. Thank you for all your work. I love your channel! ❤
My faith in Jesus and the KJV/Bible came from my Appalachian grandparents and my mother. I could not make it through what I am go8ng through right now if I did not have a strong and growing faith in my Jesus and in the Word of God.
Thank you Mr Laws. My grandparents on my Mom's side taught me about farming and being self sufficient. My Mom's side of the family didn't have much money, but there was love and respect. I learned how to shoot with an octagonal barreled one shot 22 when I was 3 years old. The rifle was taller then me. Sometimes the old german shepherd dog and I would go hunting and put meat on the table. Precious memories. Youngsters now just don't know. The old ways are that I learned are going extinct. God bless Mr Laws. Precious memories.
Good morning. My grandparents grew up in Western PA during the depression. My family were coal miners, farmers, and did whatever they did to get by. My Nan said they were dirt poor but not dirty poor.
My family lives i🎉😢n the central pennsylvania mountains. Everybody had a garden, chickens, a hog or two and anything we could gather off the land. During the depression the anthracite coal mines went bankrupt and people scavanged coal from the coal lands to keep warm in the winter and feed the kitchen cook stove year round
My dad grew up in Western PA during the Depression too. He told me they never realized they were poor because everyone was poor. His grandpa had an enormous garden that helped feed them all year. He said one of the most special treats he ever got to eat as a kid was a slice of bread with butter and sugar on top.
This brings me back to when I was a child visiting my Mamaw and papaw on their farm . Although I did not grow up during the depression we were not rich people. Momma worked hard . My young years the best years were on the farm . I remember climbing on the old tractor going across the road to slop hogs and bring back water from the spring to drink just a old hand pump in the old farmhouse a potbelly stove news paper to cover the cracks in the walls. Love them growing up years . Children nowadays don’t know how to have real fun . So thank you Brother Donnie for sharing this video. And refreshing my memory of days gone by . God Bless you.
I love your stories. I from Florida. My uncle who raised my dad farmed and raised cattle and hogs. No fences but free range. They branded the cattle and marked the hogs ears by notches ,swoop and swallow cuts. Each rancher had his own marks. When they penned them they would turn out other families animals. He would load a wagon with fresh vegetables he grew and haul them to CedarKey a coastal town . 40 miles one way . He would trade the vegetables for mullet and salt. He would clean the mullet and salt them down . Haul what salt extra back home..It was a 4 day trip with the wagon and mule camping on the way there and back. . I can go there now in 30 minutes with my truck. They had a hard life but they survived. Your right they passed down their trades from generation to generation. My kids today knows how to garden, can , hunt and work. The knowledge is slowly being lost. Thank you for the video.
I'm 51 and live in East Tennessee. I'm proud to have the knowledge of plowing with a team of mules for the garden we had. Even remember Gee for the mules to move to the right and Haw for the mules to move to the left. Those were the best times of my life growing up on a farm and working hard.
Love this video Mr. Donnie. You keep me in contact with my roots. I have heard my grandparents speak of the depression many times. Thank the good Lord for gardens, chickens, cows and hogs. I honestly think the country people had it a little easier than those who lived in the cities. 😊😊😊
My grandparents were from Vevay, Indiana (SE Indiana) which is the on the edge of Appalachia. My grandmother has told me stories very similar to this, Grandpa hunted and brought home rabbits or squirrels or would fish and if not she would kill a chicken. They were poor but not city-poor, they could eat and sell produce. They grew tobacco which is how they made money, also sold milk. We grow a small garden in the summer. In fall we collect black walnuts and have sold some and keep some for ourselves and we just cleaned 2 quarts of black walnuts for ourselves which will last until next year.
Your story reminds me of my mom born in 1928 and still alive. She lived in eastern KY in Horse Branch. I was able to see them garden with Mules and grandpa behind driving them. I have eaten squirrel my uncles shot. Grandma was the best cook ever and her cornbread the best! It was hard times but as my mom said “they didn’t know they were poor because most of,the others were similar.” I have lots of stories and memories. How blessed is my life!
One of my happiest memories as a child (I'm 70) was a day when the neighbors brought in their green beans and corn. There were so many people, old and young, snapping beans and destringing them, shucking corn. In the meantime, us kids took turns hand cranking the old ice cream machine and when we were all done, there was homemade peach ice cream with just a pinch of rock salt that had gotten into the machine. It was wonderful!!!
Thanks Donnie I'm From North Appalachia Mountains and Growing Up In The 60's-70s They're was 7 of Us in The Family 8 When Grandma moved in with Our Family I Brought home Squirrels Rabbits Grouse.Deer Most Years Always Had Big Garden and Chickens 2 Milk cows milked By Hand Raised 3 Hogs 1 Went to Butcher to pay for butchering and smoked meats Mother and Grandmother canned veggies and jams and fruits alot of work but we ate good Brought back Memories Thanks Again. Blessings And Please Be Safe ✌️
I can see that you've jogged the memories of alot of others on here with this video. My Grandparents are looking over my shoulder while I watch this. God Bless You and Yours.
Oh, Donnie, I now have a hankering for some shuckly beans and corn bread with a big glass of cool buttermilk. Yum!. Those were hard times, but looking back, they were good times, too. Thanks for a great video.
Thank you for sharing this Mr Donnie ❤ I don't think people realize how easy they have it now❤ I have a feeling we are getting close to having to live that way of life again ❤ God bless you ❤
So many people don’t have the land to do it on, or the knowledge of how to do it. There isn’t that spirit of helping others anymore either. When it gets hard to live, people will have to change to survive.
I remember my Daddy talking about living during the Depression and saying the same things! Wonderful memories listening to him and Mama talking about growing up 👍😢
I just got back from Kentucky visiting my 93 year old father. He has a lot of the same stories. Nobody had nothing except each other. Everyone grew sweet potatoes and had fruit trees. Dad hunted rabbit and fished almost every day in the Ohio River. They had resources we don’t have today and knew how to make things work. We unfortunately were not trained the same way as modern things came into being after the war. Thanks for the video.
Good morning Donnie. My mom and her brothers and sisters were born in a log cabin in Grayson Kentucky duringthe1920s. Both of her parent's had passed away when they were small and they all grew up in a children's home. She Told us stories about the home struggling to feed everyone and clothe them.
My ancestors tracking from Ireland into N.Carolina and finally settling in East Tennessee have been our family's inspiration of sheer resilience. I remember my great grandparents and things they taught me as well as my grandparents. Boy I'm glad they did and that I understand what that meant because it's a needed necessity in these times. Great video and God Bless
My pawpaw used to tell me that they ate everything from the rooter to the tooter on a hog. They ate everything except the squeal. Good stuff Mr Donnie. Greetings from Alabama.
My grandparents came from Appalachia, Kentucky, my dad was born there too. He said they ate collard greens, pulled from the roots ( they were farmers), & allot of potatos, tomatoes, green beans, onions, corn, & cornbread & occasionally fish if they could catch any in a creek, or snapping turtles, frogs, & ocassionally possums. Most of the time it was cornbread, fried potatos & beans. Breakfast, dinner & supper. For a snack, it was a cold potato.& they drank water, no pop, or milk, or they made their moonshine. I used to love listening to my grandparents talk about those days, I am so happy the Lord has blessed me, where I didn't have to eat possums, or a ground hog or squirrels or rabbits.
@@1M005E1 I bet if you had been able to have the chance to eat a Rabbit, Squirrel, Groundhog, or a Possum, you would have discovered one of more was your favorite thing to eat!
My grandparents lived the same way on their farm in Oklahoma. Biscuits, gravy and Quail was my favorite dinner. I shelled so many peas I had dreams about it. This video sure brought back my favorite time period in my life, mid 50's to late 60's! Thank You Donnie! okie man
My folks are gone now. Father was born in 27’ Mother was born in 24’ watching this episode made me think of them and how they grew up. This channel you’ve created is so good. Thank you so much.
Good morning Donnie. Great video this morning. My grandparents grew up during the depression and this video reminded me how they lived. They ended up doing very well in life after the depression, but still farmed and raised their food as if they were still in the depression. I guess that's what made them so successful just not wasting money when they could grow it.
Good morning Donnie,Thanks for another look back in time to how our forefathers survived and thrived in the Depression Era and beyond by literally living off the land for everything from food to clothes etc. It never ceases to amaze me just how resilient they were and had to be to survive. I hope you have a great weekend and God Bless my Friend.😊❤🙏🏻
My Momma's Daddy's people were from the Appalachian mountains. My Grandpa was a very tough and resilient man, always farming, fishing, hunting. He knew how to live off the land. Boy did he believe in very large gardens!
This brings back a lot of memories of things my grandma and mother would tell and why we would can, hunt and forage in the woods. Hard but good decent times! Thanks for the reminder! God's blessings!
Good morning friend 😊 I miss those days with my grandma used to grow her tomatoes I'm following the tradition by growing my own food I just wish she was here to see it
Lil' Ocasio, The Good Book, in the book o' Hebrews, chapter 12, talks of "... a great cloud o' Witnesses..." in heaven, watching those of Us that're still Livin' here on the good Earth. I dew dare venture to say that, Your Gran'Ma -- and Others of Your Ancestors -- are amoung that "great cloud o' Witnesses" glad to be keepin' an eye on You an' Yours in particular, and are cheerin' You on. 🙂 Rick Bonner Pennsyltuck
Good morning Donnie! That you for taking us to a step back in time for a reminder of how resilient and hard working Appalachian folks were and still are in hard times.
Good morning Mr. Donnie....hope this finds you doing well. Love these Ole timey stories. Reminds me of when I was growing up. My granddaddy and grandma that raised me as their own who I called Momma and Daddy use to churn their milk and butter.....ringing chickens necks and cookin em.....milking the cows....raising chickens for eggs.....killed their own pork....but back then when I was growing up if I seen the animal being killed I wouldn't eat it. I love animals for pets not to eat....lol.....I ate meat if my grandma bought it from a store which was rare. I guess I'm weird that way. However I turned vegetarian/pescatarian back in 2001.....I eat all kinds of vegetables and seafood....but I guess each to their own when it comes to that. Well have a blessed day.
Good morning Mr Donnie thank you for this video. I'm sure times were really tough back in those days. I'm afraid if prices of things keep going up today it's gonna get really bad. It's terrible how the cost of stuff has went up. Mr. Donnie hope you have a wonderful and blessed day ❤
Thank you Danny for bringing back more the old memories from my childhood and growing up. I remember my grandma and grandpa living about a mile down under a Hilltop and they had no electricity until I was in high school and the 6 early 60s. We got the water from the Spring Branch and if it was dried up we'd walk miles to another Spring Branch. I remember peeking out the window watching our mother and Dad's and aunts and uncles kill Hogs and put up the meat. you really brought back the memories this time. Thank you so much.
Hey 👋 Hey brother Donnie. I know you can remember picking the shots out of the wild game. Most often after it was cooked. Chipped a few teeth. We used to get a lot of Beavers 🦫 too. Sure miss the Good Ole days 😪. God Bless Everyone and Trust in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 🙏 ❤. What this Old World is missing is Love ❤️.
Amen! True happiness is knowing, loving and serving Jesus Christ! No matter how hard life gets, He always provides what we need and fills our hearts with love!
Thank you DL for everything you've done to open the eyes and ears on our grandparents back when . A big thank you for bringing history about real life back then
Thank you for your videos, I love listening to the history and also learning what seems to be the better way to live. A lot of this my grandparents still have or used and I’m so thankful I’ve grown up in these mountains!
young folks today have no idea how good they have it! we struggled just to get my one month at a time! I wish they had a clue! thanks for the video brings back a lot of memories!
Thank you Donnie! But now I’m as hungry as a pack of wolves looking at all that good food! Haha. I remember my grandma had an old wood stove and my momma always warned me to not get under granny’s feet or near that stove when she was cookin. But my granny knew how much I loved to put the little wood pieces in through the stove on the burner sides so she would always motion for me to come in the kitchen and I sneak in there and she lift one of those heavy iron lids and hand me a few pieces of wood, and I’d throw them in there, and I thought I had died and gone to heaven! I was so excited and so happy. My granny always said a good table and boy we had lots of food and like you said there was nothing like it melt in your mouth! I sure do miss my grandma and grandpa they’ve been gone for many many years. But I will never forget those memories just like I know you have Donnie. Thank you so very much Donny for making these videos and giving us the memories and things back long ago. Yes our generations are dying off and with them go the abilities and wisdom to do things on your own and not depend on others. I was always too little to work out in the field when my daddy had his form, but I sure wanted to ride with him on that tractor sometime and I wanted to go hunting with him, but he wouldn’t let me because it was dangerous. But he would take me fishing when he had time and I love that! I love just being with my daddy more than the fishing or anything else. My dad died when I was 15 and I miss him till this very day and I’m 74 years old.
Good morning and thanks for posting this. My grandparents in Indiana did most of this. The cellar was always full of the canned fruits and vegetables. They had many crops and fed many hobos during the depression.
❤Thanks, Donnie, for sharing . I grew up in the 70s .never knew we were poor. Dad hunted and fished all the time. We😊❤ were never hungry. The good old days!!
I am so proud to have Appalachian ancestors. Before the war my daddy's people were in western North Carolina, and after the war they moved to eastern Kentucky. By the time of the Depression they were in Texas, but before and during and after the war they were mountain people. Some have called me a hillbilly (though I'm not one) because I'm so obviously a Southerner, and I consider it a badge of honor. This video reminds me of the old, old saying: Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. 21:40 I ate a ton of beans and cornbread and fried taters growing up - and it was good food, too.
Mine too. Grandma took in and washed and ironed clothes for others and baked bread to supplement income from the small family farm. My father did the same, sold/traded lots of eggs and homemade butter. People would give us clothes that we would take apart and tailor/adjust them to fit us. We used cardboard in our shoes when the soles wore through, and we never ever threw anything away. Poor on paper but rich in love. ❤
Thank you again Mr. Donnie for that waltz down memory lane 🐿️. Between my Dad and 4 older brothers,I learned all of the things you spoke of. We never steel trapped. I think all of us thought that was too cruel. Hunting was a swift death,nearly painless. In all of my years I only knew of 2 deer being wounded. They were tracked (no matter how long it took) and put out of their misery. That was back before 4 wheelers. Might have to drag that deer for a few miles to the nearest road…but it was done. Nowadays they field dress them and put the good parts in a tarp. Back then it ALL came home. The entrails were buried in the garden for next years fertilizer. Lower legs/hoofs for the hounds to chew on. Etc… nothing wasted. Squirrels were lots bigger than it seems. Lots of red squirrels. Now it is mostly gray squirrels. I miss fishing so much. All of my old fishing holes were ruined by surface coal mining. So haven’t fished in years. But knew the different fish,how to clean them,how to cook them. Lord,I miss that life. If I make it to heaven,I pray I will be able to live it out in bliss like childhood. God Bless you and yours Mr. Donnie and God Bless all that come here.
What a great video! I remember my dad telling me about hopping boxcars on trains, riding up and down the East coast looking for work during the depression. He went as far north as Maryland, and down to North Carolina. He found work in a textile mill in NC, and ended up working there 47 years until he retired. Although we were basically a city family, dad's brothers were country boys, and I loved going to visit them. I can vouch for the comments in this video; they saved everything, nothing wasted. I'd ride uncles mule as she plowed the tobacco fields, I fed chickens, worked in the gardens. Rarely wore shoes or a shirt due to the heat. I have memories of sitting on the porch with auntie, shucking corn, shelling butterbeans and snapping beans. It was a tough life, always working, preparing for the days and months ahead. Believe me, we all slept good at night! My auntie had a wood-burning stove and I swear she could regulate the heat as well as any modern electric or gas stove. She made the best cornbread on the planet on that stove, I've never tasted anything close to it. I've almost repeated everything the narrator said but one more thing, he is spot on about the squirrel meat. Auntie would make a stew with squirrel, or a squirrel gravy and pour it over a hot buttermilk biscuit and nothing beats it.
I suffer from chronic anxiety, but your voice and method of story-telling put me right at ease. I had to skip through the parts about hunting and especially trapping, though I do understand there was a need for it back then. Thankfully the need is less now. Would really love to see a video talking more about the women's role: processing and cooking the food, gathering wild plants, sewing, knitting, child-care, etc. Wonderful video, thanks so much for sharing! Loved the photos.
Good morning Bro Donnie.Groceries are up 40 percent here in Louisiana.Praying for a big change this fall to save our wonderful country.Ty for a wonderful video 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
@@letsgobrandon1300 Voting Republican is what put that embarrassing stain on democracy in the White House. Donald Trump is the reason we’re all struggling. By the way, he isn’t a Republican. He’s only calling himself one, because he knows he can lie to people like you with impunity.
There has never been any one in America as unAmerican as DJT. Wake up and listen to the people who was in his administration and the military career Generals and Admirals that have spoken out trying to warn you that he shouldn’t be anywhere near the oval office. 98% of his former senior staff feel this way. He’s not going to do anything to help you! The economy goes through cycles regardless who is president! The whole world has had inflation and the USA has faired better than any other nation. Oh btw FOX so called news is never going to inform you of anything you should hear. They lost 1 lawsuit for lying and paid over $700 million. What else do you need to know?
Good morning, Donnie! Thank you for sharing the past. My grandfolks went through the great depression. I can't imagine what they went through. Your video showed exactly what it was like for them. I appreciate everything I learned about canning, sewing, hunting, etc. We have so much to appreciate and all our blessings from above. God bless you my friend! 🙏
Good morning Donnie…I pray you are doing well 🙏🏻…Thank you for such a informative and truthful video…Our ancestors had a work ethic and common sense….Something today’s generation doesn’t have….Take care….God Bless & Lord willing I will see you next time 🙏🏻💯❤️🇮🇱☦️
Good morning Mr Donnie thanks for the memories i grew up on a farm back in the fifties my daddy was a sharecroppers we lived just like the people in your video good old days thank you and God bless you all
My stepfather (now 94) was plowing all day behind a 2-mule hitch when he was 8 years old. He was raised on an Arkansas share-crop, one of 16 children, in a drafty old house. Most evenings through the summer they had cornbread and milk for supper, followed by melons they grew of berries they'd picked.
His mother passed when I was 13, and I miss her dearly. Even at 84, she could fry-up a huge skillet of chicken, make mashed potatoes, homemade biscuits, green beans she had grown herself, sliced tomatoes, and cookies for dessert. Sometimes I sit and wish I could have known her when she was younger. She had a hard life, but her faith in Jesus sustained her til the end.
Awesome my friend. Thanks so much for sharing your memories. God bless you.
So many wonderful and some sad stories. 😢
If JESUS IS ALL I HAVE THAN THATS ALL I NEED !
@@mikejordan6036 Amen my friend.
I love her already. I miss my grandma too. She was the exact same way. God bless they're souls.....
Morning sir my granddad told me when the depression hit he never realized it was going on except more hobos came by looking for work of course he was as poor as they were but he raised a big garden and shared it with them he always said if you can eat what I eat you're welcome to share with me have a blessed day young man
Good morning my friend. Thanks for sharing your memories and story. God bless you.
Mr Fugitt,
That's an excellent philosophy, a great "Whorl'-view"; "If You can eat what We -- or I -- eat, You're welcome to share..."
The Spanish Folk are famous for the same hospitality. One of Their sayings is, "My House is Your House."
Others carry it on in other ways: "My tobacky is Your tobacky".
As long as We're a workin' together, We're share and share a like whatever We've got.
🙂
Rick Bonner Pennsyltuck
@@richardbonner2354thanks I feel the same way
It by by by by
@@richardbonner2354beautifully said. Sharing is caring.thank you for sharing 🙏🏼👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻God bless sir♥️♥️♥️
Good morning 🌞 my grandmother owned a little country store when I was growing up and many older men would sit in the rocking chairs and talk about the great depression and I would be amazed about it. One older man brought my grandmother a brown paper bag full of vegetables from his garden and he looked down at me and said you should pay attention to your great grandmother and grandpa growing there garden because you might have to grow a garden yourself one day . His words stand very true to me till this day 😊
Good morning my friend. Thanks so much for sharing your memories and story. That's so true. God bless you.
Thank you for sharing your story, reminded me of my parents and how poor we grew up. we were pretty young when my sisters and i stayed working. sometimes we couldn’t go to school because we had to work in the fields.thanks to God we never went hungry. my parent’s did the best they could.l was very proud of them. thank you and God bless you sir.
Truly, words of WISDOM ... Then and TODAY, as well!
In the inner city of New York, we had limited basic needs, we didn't waste and didn't buy unnecessary stuff. Fast foods was a treat every once in a while. When I did sports, I became aware of how economically challenged we were in. To this day, I am frugal and buy what I need. It's a pleasure watching this video, because my Maternal Grandfather, Grandmother, my mother and her sisters have Appalachian MALUNGEAN ancestry (Via Winston Salem North Carolina.❤😂🎉😅😊
@@sd247 WOW!
Mr. Laws, I am the youngest of 15 children. Some people say I was spoiled cause I was the youngest. Not so, I had more chores than the older girls because they were on their way to making their own families. It is true that we had a bit more money cause the bills weren't so high and we needed less groceries. Thank you for this reminder of times gone by, and I agree it seems that history is about to repeat itself.
WOW Thanks so much for sharing my friend. God bless you. Your very welcome.
Everyone loves the baby!!❤
My Daddy was born in 1929. I asked him one time how the depression affected them. He said they never even noticed it. They had land, so they were able to save seed for the next year’s crops, and they had cattle, hogs, and chickens that would produce the next year’s bounty. They hunted and fished, and trapped for variety. They foraged for greens and medicinal plants. Canning, smoking, and salting preserved meats and vegetables and fruits, and crocks of lard covering meat kept the meat good for a long time.
WOW Thanks so much for sharing. They didn't need the money. They had all they needed. God bless you.
My mother was born in 26 I asked the same question she told me they always poor so not much different everything they had was homemade
@@catherinepraus8635 My mom was born in '26, my dad in '24. They lived in the Pacific Northwest, not Appalachia, but for them it was pretty much the same. As my mom said. "Everybody was poor. You didn't really notice because it was just the way things were.". My dad spent a lot of time on his grandpa's farm, and when I was growing up I learned to grow my own garden from the age of 4. I grew up to be a white collar worker - better than just "well off" - but I still grow my own garden and share the crops it yields with my neighbors. It's just the way I was raised.
@@mirozen_ that’s funny my dad 1910 and we live here in Oregon we were probably neighbors or related lol
God provided them and many others a rich bounty, for sure.
I didn't grow up during the depression but my parents did. We were very poor during the sixties when I was a boy. Jobs were very rare here in Southern WV and even when you were lucky enough to find one the pay was very small. My Dad and his two brothers cut pulp wood through most of the sixties. I remember that they got approx.$30.00 a load back then. Their equipment amounted to a flat bed truck, a chain saw, and muscle. Dad and Mom compensated for the lack of money but planting a very large garden. Through the summer months we lived on fresh vegetables and in the fall and winter we ate caned vegetables that Mom had canned the previous summer. Meat was a rare delicacy we usually only got on weekends.When I got old enough to own a gun I would go out and bring Mom some squirrels or some fat rabbits for dinner. We also ate many a plate of brown beans with hot homemade biscuits over the years. Thanks to the hard work of Dad and Mom my sisters and I never went hungry.
WOW Thanks so much for sharing your memories and story my friend. God bless you.
I hear you I was in the Midwest and my parents were victims of the Great Depression. They saved everything. At Christmas I would get a present wrapped in a cereal box. I was shocked later in life when I met this old guy my dad's age from Southern Illinois near Kentucky. He grew up during those years, and told me about all the stuff they did. The stories indicated poor people in a poor neighborhood. I asked him about the depression. He said we didn't know there was no depression
My father's family were sharecroppers when the Depression started. He had 3 older brothers who hunted, so I suppose they occasionally ate rabbit or squirrels. They could fish if they had time. But mostly they lived on beans, greens, and cornbread. (Cornbread is more filling than biscuits; it stays in the belly longer.) They might have been gifted some pork after a hog killing or a ham at Christmas; they might have occasionally had fatback to season their meals. If they had anything sweet, it was probably sorghum, since that was local, and they could have worked a day or so cutting the cane or pressing and boiling syrup, in exchange for a can of sorghum.
I do believe they had cakes for birthdays; there were 5 kids at home when my father was small, although the big boys moved away while he was still young. So birthdays and maybe Christmas would have been the only times they would have had a dessert, unless it was cornbread or biscuits (they did have them occasionally) with sorghum.
My mother's family were more prosperous, and they had a big garden and 7 kids to do the gardening, egg gathering, and milking. During the Depression, my grandfather got paid a lot in goods of various kinds, and he always took what they had. My mother was fond of frog legs because he had a client that would go gigging in order to pay what he owed. I suppose she ate whatever was brought, which would probably have mostly been rabbits, squirrels, and birds (or frogs) with the occasional bit of venison. Granddaddy didn't have time to hunt and none of his kids took it up.
I was telling somebody earlier my parents' early years were a lot like the Waltons' from _The Homecoming._
Im a WV boy who grew up in the 70s and 80s......we ate a lot of beans and had a very large garden.....my dad was depression era......I still think soup beans fried potatoes and cornbread make.a mighty fine meal..... And although I have plenty of meat both canned and in the freezer.......I still eat beans at least a couple of times a week
@@gregwestfall6585 that's what my niece was saying. The other day I was complaining about meat prices, saying, "we're gonna have to live off beans, greens, and cornbread," and she said, "to me, that's a treat."
Add some fried taters and it doesn't get much better.
Sometimes I think about all of the knowledge and stuff that our grandparents had they lots of love and their faith in jesus. I am blessed to have those days and memories 🙏
Amen my friend. God bless you. They always wanted the best for us. Thanks for sharing this.
Blessed by your post. Thank you. ❤ I agree 100%.
Through the years my Daddy would talk about an uncle of his who lived in Colorado during the depression. This uncle would send two fifty pound sacks of Colorado grown pinto beans to my Daddy's Oklahoma family of 10 every Christmas. My Daddy said they would have starved if not for the generosity of his uncle. I was amazed that Daddy continued to love pinto beans all his life!
WOW Thanks so much for sharing your memories my friend. God bless you.
@@donnielaws7020 ...and God bless you for sharing!
@@donnielaws7020my family grew, then dried or canned "brown beans". Their technical name is cranberry beans, but they'll always be brown beans to me!! They were good with just about everything, especially green tomato ketchup! YUM!
The brown beans we ate were pinto beans. My husband's family loved pintos, but my family had always eaten great northern beans. After we married, the only way I cooked great northern or navy bens was as bean soup, with carrots and celery added, flavored with ham. Pinto beans were eaten with bacon grease, and sometimes just salt, if we were watching our weight. We also refried them. I don't cook, now, but I have cooked many good meals from practically nothing!!!
My pops made us bean cakes, potatoes cakes, zucchini fritters, corn pone, fry bread, lots of soup beans, fried potatoes, and cornbread. We'd have big thick slices of tomatoes, cucumbers, vinegar, and onions, greens, chow chow. ----and commodities. The cheese was delicious!!
I am 70 and when I was a child you didn't understand what a deprived childhood was as we were all the in the same boat. We didn't have a tv till I was about 8. Presents came on birthdays and Christmas and you were lucky to have sweets once a week. We always had food on the table and decent shoes and clothes but nothing like the kids of today.
WOW Thanks so much for sharing your memories my friend. God bless you. I was the same way.
I relate Completely..Iam 71..
Same. I was the oldest of 5
Thanks for keeping the history alive. Those people didn't know they were poor and they really weren't. They were blessed beyond measure.
Amen my friend and. Well said. God bless you. Your very welcome.
We raised 3 acres of vegetable garden all the time that I was growing up. We canned everything to have food for the Winter time. I stringed a lot of green beans in my day, hoed a lot of corn and potatoes too. lol. We'd have never made it without our garden each year. A family with 6 kids growing up in the SouthWestern part of Virginia with little to no money meant a lot of hard living, and a lot of doing without, but we had all the things that really mattered. We got by. We didn't have new clothes, shoes, toys, and all that, but we had love, family, and we understood the value of hard work. It was a pretty good trade-off, all things considered
Awesome my friend. God bless you. Thanks for sharing this.
This is so inspiring
Great story
Before spring gard3ning, when the weeds began coming up in the garden̈, we ate fieldgreens. The weeds. Even canned a few for winter, Al ways had gardens and farm a imals. Mi.ked two cows before school. Had fruit trees. Gathered herbs to sell for money. Picked berries for canning and wine.
You were truly blessed. Living today, we older folks really miss the simpler times. 💞
Thank you. Everyone should have a garden these days. This world needs God and nature. 🙏🏻
Amen my friend. Thanks for sharing. Your very welcome.
Amen, I so agree❤😊
More so we need repentance
I agree with everything g said here😊
Everyone should have a garden. But the last thing anyone needs is to have their mind poisoned by religion. You kidding? You talk to your invisible freind, but it's a one sided conversation. Haven't you noticed that prayers are NEVER answered?
Girls were taught how to hunt as well. I've spent many a night in the woods hunting with my uncle. Loved it
Awesome my friend. Thank you friend for sharing.
Those were some hard days, Donnie. My mother was born in 1942, and she remembered 1954 as one of their toughest times. If it hadnt been for fish in the creeks and squirrels in the trees, they would have starved. And if there's anything better than a pot of beans and a pone of cornbread, I don't know what it'd be. God bless you.🙏❤️
WOW Thanks for sharing. I completely understand. God bless you.
My parents mentioned that the 50's were bad.
@@cyankirkpatrick5194it's weird because all we hear is how the 1950s was the only perfect decade
@@michah321 I know, I do remember my parents mentioned that it was a troubled time's. I believe that they lost some money and then later during the national coal strike and I found out that it was an international coal strike in the 70's and then time magazine made them look like fools I have never touched Time magazine since that one issue, and still haven't.
@@cyankirkpatrick5194 I was little in the 70s but I remember the recessions and how things were really bad in the early 80s because all the factories closed. I get upset when people say those generations had it " so easy" and they blame people for being poor in retirement when it's just because they worked so hard for so little. My parents worked very hard, and when they passed they didn't have anything but they took care of us and helped us through college and when we were in our early 20s.
My Mother grew up during the depression in the Appalachia area of Kentucky There was 12 children in the family. Papaw and Mamaw raised a big garden and did the best that they could, but the times were tough. My Mother told me that her and one of her sisters would go to the woods and catch birds in a trap that they made and would roast them on a fire and eat them and eat them there. I remember crying when she told me that. She said that they were so hungry. So many people had a rough time trying to live.
God bless them my friend. Thanks so much for sharing your memories and story of them hard times.
My father grew up under similar circumstances. He learned to fish very early to supplement their food supply. Neighbors regularly gave him goats milk to drink to help him (he was obviously under nourished). But he was intelligent, hard working and very determined. He became very successful BUT we always had a huge garden and fruit trees and a chest freezer filled with local beef and pork. Fear of hunger never left him, long after the problem was resolved.
Number one reason for poverty is having more kids than you can afford
And the lovely God worshipping folk regardless of how bereft times were ... didn't go out stealing , robbing and such.
They worked harder, longer and used their spare time resting sore muscles and thinking up new ways to make money.
A good cup of coffee in the morning before a long days work and on the porch at night was looked upon as one of God's blessings. 🙏🙏
@@LesterMoore Amen!
Thank you, Donnie, for sharing precious memories from our past. Videos like this make me homesick for my childhood. I remember Daddy plowing with our neighbors mule for a portion of the crops that our fields would produce. My sister's and I washed many jars for Mother to use for canning. She told us that God made our little hands, especially for washing jars .I'm thankful for these memories and for people like you who keep memories like these alive so we can revisit them every now and then.
God bless.
Thanks so much for sharing your memories with us my friend. God bless you. Your very welcome.
Agree❤
Same here. My Grandmother always said “Hands to work and hearts to God”. We would share garden produce, milk, bread, and apples from the orchard with the hobos we found spending the night in the barn.
You're a good man for keeping our history alive!
Makes me miss my father and grandparents who were raised in the mountains of East Tennessee. Loved their stories. Thank you.
Thank you friend for sharing. Your very welcome.
Donnie, this video brings back my fondest childhood memories; visiting my grandma and grandpa in Tishimingo Mississippi. They lived in a split log house with a fireplace, cast iron stove, smoke house, well on the porch, and surrounded by deep pine woods. Just like the depression in Appalachia, my grandma grew vegetables and canned them. Those childhood memories are the best I have! I got to experience what life was like 200 years ago. I've lived in Iowa now for most of my life, but no place will ever be as special as my grandparents cabin!
Awesome my friend. Thanks so much for your precious memories. God bless you.
I really would like to have a garden. I've tried to grow different kinds of vegetables and herbs. I live in a townhouse so I don't have a lot of land to work with. I just can't seem to grow anything around here I'm sorry to say.
You can't beat good, country cookin' . My great grandfather had a pair of mules he was fond of. Harold and Mattie May . I dearly loved sitting around with my precious grandmere, and shelling purple hull peas and helping her can vegetables and fruits. I was probably in her way mostly, but she had that sweet way, of making this little cajun girl feel like she couldn't have done it, without my help . Thank you Mr Donnie 💕
So true my friend. Thanks so much for sharing this. God bless you. Your very welcome.
I grew up in a little Irish settlement in Michigan. These stories sound exactly like the stories my grandma would tell me about the depression. We were doing these things when I was a kid too. Because the land was so much like Ireland they knew how to cultivate, plant, and harvest their own food. I’m so thankful that I grew up on a farm. It taught me so much.
Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing your memories and story. God bless you.
Hi, I'm also from MI. Where exactly was the Irish settlement you spoke of?
Hi, where was the Irish settlement? I'm from MI too.
I’m from Michigan as well. Where is this Irish ☘️ place you speak of?
@@lakeshoreshepherds741 it was an Irish settlement between Watervliet and Hartford. East of County Line Rd. It’s about 10 miles east of Benton Harbor. More specifically our little farm was on 68th Ave. 🙂
My grandfather, before I came along, was the president of what was known as the Irish School which was a little one room school that was on County Line Rd in an area known as Bainbridge. We attended St Joseph Catholic Church in Watervliet and my grandpa used to say that the money used to build the Catholic School came from the priest’s poker winnings he took from him!😂
My family is from Eastern Kentucky. I remember my grandmother picking the meat of the turkey off the bone and there was nothing left when she was done. They learned how to survive and are strong people. Thanks for sharing, and God bless 🙏💙 hope you are doing well.
Thanks for sharing your memories with us my friend. God bless you. Your very welcome.
We can still do many things they did back when. For example, roast a big turkey every year. Cook the bones down into a broth and put up jars of turkey in broth and broth alone. Both are great as a soup base. Broth alone makes wonderful gravy for biscuits and gravy, open face sandwiches, or whatever else you want to make. While we have power, a turkey roaster and a Presto electric pressure canner make that much easier. If we have no power, then we need a wood cook stove, a pan big enough for the turkey, a big pot to cook it down in, and a pressure canner we can use on top of the stove. Some use propane or gas stoves. That may work if you can still get those fuels.
I’m on the sunny side of 80, so my relatives from Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma survived the same way. I have had a set of Fox Fire books for many years now; they are one of my “treasures”. This video was a great gift to anyone interested in real history. It may be very relevant to the present and the future. People would be wise to pay heed.
Couldn't agree more. Us oldens should teach these things to the youngers. I do, as a "just in case". I would hate to think the generations coming up behind us didn't have these skills.
I had those books and they disappeared. I wish I could find them but it's been 20 years since I saw them last.
I passed through several isolated communities in Appalachia when I was at school in the U.S. many years ago. I’ve lived on four continents, but seldom met kinder and more hospitable folk than the people of Appalachia...perhaps I have a special affection for all mountain folk because I myself was reared in a poor, isolated Greek mountain village.
Thank you for this! To me, these were the smartest people on Earth. I'm 60 years old, and my Dad was born in 1932 in Oklahoma. My Grandparents lost their farm during those Dust Bowls and my Dad nearly died from the dust getting into his lungs. Grandma would put his cradle that Grandpa built, on the opposite side of the house from the direction the dust walls would come in. Shed put wet towls all over his cradle to catch the dust. He survived. She would boil onions that they grew and put a little surger in it, for him to drink. It took away his collic. They didn't get to go school past the 5th grade, because they too grew up on Farms! They were the smartest people i ever knew. Even when i was in 1st Grade, I knew we weren't learning the important things in school, and I told them that too. I wanted to learn what they knew. If you ask me, schools should be teaching kids these things. Today especially, they are learning very useless crap. It sure is sad that all this knowledge seems to be gone. In my opinion, our futures are looking scarier and scarier. How to survive whats coming our way, nobody knows how to. I respect these people more than anyone else that ever lived. The people who knew how to survive through anything.
Thank you for all your work. I love your channel! ❤
Like when they did away with home ec
@@abou8963 yes exactly.! I had home ec in high school in the 70's & I'm greatful for that but it's all gone now 😢😢😢
Me2!!@@@janethompson2305
My faith in Jesus and the KJV/Bible came from my Appalachian grandparents and my mother. I could not make it through what I am go8ng through right now if I did not have a strong and growing faith in my Jesus and in the Word of God.
Squirrel dumplings with corn bread and apple pie for dessert. Can't get better than that.
Awesome my friend. Thanks so much for sharing.
I've heard of opossum dumplings.
@@davidarwood6264 ain't never had it. Rumor is to catch them and feed them sweet taters to get rid of the gamey taste since they'll eat dead stuff.
Squirrel gravy and biscuits, can't go wrong
Fried squirrel is pretty darn good too!
Thank you Mr Laws. My grandparents on my Mom's side taught me about farming and being self sufficient. My Mom's side of the family didn't have much money, but there was love and respect.
I learned how to shoot with an octagonal barreled one shot 22 when I was 3 years old. The rifle was taller then me. Sometimes the old german shepherd dog and I would go hunting and put meat on the table. Precious memories. Youngsters now just don't know. The old ways are that I learned are going extinct. God bless Mr Laws. Precious memories.
Awesome my friend. God bless you. Thanks so much for sharing this. Your very welcome.
Good morning. My grandparents grew up in Western PA during the depression. My family were coal miners, farmers, and did whatever they did to get by. My Nan said they were dirt poor but not dirty poor.
Good morning my friend. Thank you for sharing your memories. God bless you. I completely understand my friend.
My family lives i🎉😢n the central pennsylvania mountains. Everybody had a garden, chickens, a hog or two and anything we could gather off the land. During the depression the anthracite coal mines went bankrupt and people scavanged coal from the coal lands to keep warm in the winter and feed the kitchen cook stove year round
My dad grew up in Western PA during the Depression too. He told me they never realized they were poor because everyone was poor. His grandpa had an enormous garden that helped feed them all year. He said one of the most special treats he ever got to eat as a kid was a slice of bread with butter and sugar on top.
My grandpa was a coal miner ❤
@@maryohmaryoh My Mother in Law from western PA. said the same thing. She said she grew up poor, but didn’t know it.
This brings me back to when I was a child visiting my Mamaw and papaw on their farm . Although I did not grow up during the depression we were not rich people. Momma worked hard . My young years the best years were on the farm . I remember climbing on the old tractor going across the road to slop hogs and bring back water from the spring to drink just a old hand pump in the old farmhouse a potbelly stove news paper to cover the cracks in the walls. Love them growing up years . Children nowadays don’t know how to have real fun . So thank you Brother Donnie for sharing this video. And refreshing my memory of days gone by . God Bless you.
That's awesome my friend. Thanks so much for sharing your memories. God bless you. Your very welcome.
I love your stories. I from Florida. My uncle who raised my dad farmed and raised cattle and hogs. No fences but free range. They branded the cattle and marked the hogs ears by notches ,swoop and swallow cuts. Each rancher had his own marks. When they penned them they would turn out other families animals. He would load a wagon with fresh vegetables he grew and haul them to CedarKey a coastal town . 40 miles one way . He would trade the vegetables for mullet and salt. He would clean the mullet and salt them down . Haul what salt extra back home..It was a 4 day trip with the wagon and mule camping on the way there and back. . I can go there now in 30 minutes with my truck. They had a hard life but they survived. Your right they passed down their trades from generation to generation. My kids today knows how to garden, can , hunt and work. The knowledge is slowly being lost. Thank you for the video.
I'm 51 and live in East Tennessee. I'm proud to have the knowledge of plowing with a team of mules for the garden we had. Even remember Gee for the mules to move to the right and Haw for the mules to move to the left. Those were the best times of my life growing up on a farm and working hard.
Awesome my friend. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Love this video Mr. Donnie. You keep me in contact with my roots. I have heard my grandparents speak of the depression many times. Thank the good Lord for gardens, chickens, cows and hogs. I honestly think the country people had it a little easier than those who lived in the cities. 😊😊😊
Thank you friend. That's so true my friend. Thanks for sharing. God bless you. Your very welcome.
I was blessed to be exposed to this from my parents and grandparents we need more of this today
Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing. God bless you.
Grandparents lived in the country 1890& 1907, then parents 1920 & 1922, me 1941 and I still use all the frugal ways that I was taught.
My grandparents were from Vevay, Indiana (SE Indiana) which is the on the edge of Appalachia. My grandmother has told me stories very similar to this, Grandpa hunted and brought home rabbits or squirrels or would fish and if not she would kill a chicken. They were poor but not city-poor, they could eat and sell produce. They grew tobacco which is how they made money, also sold milk. We grow a small garden in the summer. In fall we collect black walnuts and have sold some and keep some for ourselves and we just cleaned 2 quarts of black walnuts for ourselves which will last until next year.
WOW Thanks so much for sharing your memories and story my friend. God bless you.
Any tips on getting black walnut nut meat out? Thank you
@@Jared_Albert Not really my friend.
Your story reminds me of my mom born in 1928 and still alive. She lived in eastern KY in Horse Branch. I was able to see them garden with Mules and grandpa behind driving them. I have eaten squirrel my uncles shot. Grandma was the best cook ever and her cornbread the best! It was hard times but as my mom said “they didn’t know they were poor because most of,the others were similar.” I have lots of stories and memories. How blessed is my life!
One of my happiest memories as a child (I'm 70) was a day when the neighbors brought in their green beans and corn. There were so many people, old and young, snapping beans and destringing them, shucking corn. In the meantime, us kids took turns hand cranking the old ice cream machine and when we were all done, there was homemade peach ice cream with just a pinch of rock salt that had gotten into the machine. It was wonderful!!!
Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Donnie I'm From North Appalachia Mountains and Growing Up In The 60's-70s They're was 7 of Us in The Family 8 When Grandma moved in with Our Family I Brought home Squirrels Rabbits Grouse.Deer Most Years Always Had Big Garden and Chickens 2 Milk cows milked By Hand Raised 3 Hogs 1 Went to Butcher to pay for butchering and smoked meats Mother and Grandmother canned veggies and jams and fruits alot of work but we ate good Brought back Memories Thanks Again. Blessings And Please Be Safe ✌️
I can see that you've jogged the memories of alot of others on here with this video. My Grandparents are looking over my shoulder while I watch this. God Bless You and Yours.
God bless you my friend. Thanks so much for sharing this. Your very welcome.
Oh, Donnie, I now have a hankering for some shuckly beans and corn bread with a big glass of cool buttermilk. Yum!. Those were hard times, but looking back, they were good times, too. Thanks for a great video.
Awesome my friend. Thanks so much for sharing. God bless you.
Thank you for sharing this Mr Donnie ❤ I don't think people realize how easy they have it now❤ I have a feeling we are getting close to having to live that way of life again ❤ God bless you ❤
Thanks for sharing this my friend. I pray not my friend. God bless you. Your very welcome.
So many people don’t have the land to do it on, or the knowledge of how to do it. There isn’t that spirit of helping others anymore either. When it gets hard to live, people will have to change to survive.
@@mightywind7595the elites don't want unity and community they want mad max.
I remember my Daddy talking about living during the Depression and saying the same things! Wonderful memories listening to him and Mama talking about growing up 👍😢
Awesome my friend. God bless you. Thanks for sharing.
I just got back from Kentucky visiting my 93 year old father. He has a lot of the same stories. Nobody had nothing except each other. Everyone grew sweet potatoes and had fruit trees. Dad hunted rabbit and fished almost every day in the Ohio River. They had resources we don’t have today and knew how to make things work. We unfortunately were not trained the same way as modern things came into being after the war.
Thanks for the video.
WOW Thanks for sharing this my friend. God bless him.
Good morning Donnie. My mom and her brothers and sisters were born in a log cabin in Grayson Kentucky duringthe1920s. Both of her parent's had passed away when they were small and they all grew up in a children's home. She Told us stories about the home struggling to feed everyone and clothe them.
Good morning my friend. Thanks so much for sharing this. God bless you. That's so sad.
Donnie, I've been feeding my laying hens less laying pellets and more hickory cane and blue hopi corn I grew, they love it.
Awesome my friend. Thanks so much for sharing this.
My grand parents lived like this,so did my parents. I also lived like this up until I was about 17 years old. Love your videos brother, God bless you.
WOW Thanks so much for sharing this my friend. God bless you. Your very welcome.
My ancestors tracking from Ireland into N.Carolina and finally settling in East Tennessee have been our family's inspiration of sheer resilience. I remember my great grandparents and things they taught me as well as my grandparents. Boy I'm glad they did and that I understand what that meant because it's a needed necessity in these times. Great video and God Bless
Awesome my friend. Thanks so much for sharing this.
My pawpaw used to tell me that they ate everything from the rooter to the tooter on a hog. They ate everything except the squeal.
Good stuff Mr Donnie. Greetings from Alabama.
My grandparents came from Appalachia, Kentucky, my dad was born there too. He said they ate collard greens, pulled from the roots ( they were farmers), & allot of potatos, tomatoes, green beans, onions, corn, & cornbread & occasionally fish if they could catch any in a creek, or snapping turtles, frogs, & ocassionally possums. Most of the time it was cornbread, fried potatos & beans. Breakfast, dinner & supper. For a snack, it was a cold potato.& they drank water, no pop, or milk, or they made their moonshine. I used to love listening to my grandparents talk about those days, I am so happy the Lord has blessed me, where I didn't have to eat possums, or a ground hog or squirrels or rabbits.
WOW Thanks so much for sharing your memories my friend. God bless you.
Ground hogs, sqirrels, rabbits and turtles are good eating.
@@1M005E1
I bet if you had been able to have the chance to eat a Rabbit, Squirrel, Groundhog, or a Possum, you would have discovered one of more was your favorite thing to eat!
My grandparents lived the same way on their farm in Oklahoma. Biscuits, gravy
and Quail was my favorite dinner. I shelled so many peas I had dreams about it. This video sure brought back my favorite time period in my life, mid 50's to late 60's! Thank You Donnie! okie man
Awesome my friend. Thanks so much for sharing. Your very welcome. God bless you.
I sure wish my grandma and grandpa would have written me a book!
Thank God they taught me everyday, I was blessed that they raised me ❤
Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing. Pass it on. God bless you.
What a way of life back then. It would have been a very simple life too. Thank you for bringing it to life Mr. Donnie.
That's true my friend. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing.
My folks are gone now. Father was born in 27’ Mother was born in 24’ watching this episode made me think of them and how they grew up. This channel you’ve created is so good. Thank you so much.
God bless you my friend. Thanks for sharing. Your very welcome.
Sounds like the stories my parents and Grandmother told
Good morning Donnie. Great video this morning. My grandparents grew up during the depression and this video reminded me how they lived. They ended up doing very well in life after the depression, but still farmed and raised their food as if they were still in the depression. I guess that's what made them so successful just not wasting money when they could grow it.
Good morning my friend. Thanks so much for sharing your memories. God bless you. Your very welcome.
Good morning Donnie,Thanks for another look back in time to how our forefathers survived and thrived in the Depression Era and beyond by literally living off the land for everything from food to clothes etc. It never ceases to amaze me just how resilient they were and had to be to survive.
I hope you have a great weekend and God Bless my Friend.😊❤🙏🏻
Good morning my friend and. Your very welcome. God bless you.
One of your Best,delivered in your soothing voice;I feel better already!❤Great way to start my day!
Awesome my friend. God bless you.
Yes donnie just out did himself this morning. . God bless friend
@@MacnigMacgregor-jr3yu Thanks so much my friend.
My Momma's Daddy's people were from the Appalachian mountains. My Grandpa was a very tough and resilient man, always farming, fishing, hunting. He knew how to live off the land. Boy did he believe in very large gardens!
Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing.
This brings back a lot of memories of things my grandma and mother would tell and why we would can, hunt and forage in the woods. Hard but good decent times! Thanks for the reminder! God's blessings!
Good morning friend 😊
I miss those days with my grandma used to grow her tomatoes I'm following the tradition by growing my own food I just wish she was here to see it
Good morning my friend. God bless you. Thanks so much for sharing.
Lil' Ocasio,
The Good Book, in the book o' Hebrews, chapter 12, talks of "... a great cloud o' Witnesses..." in heaven, watching those of Us that're still Livin' here on the good Earth.
I dew dare venture to say that, Your Gran'Ma -- and Others of Your Ancestors -- are amoung that "great cloud o' Witnesses" glad to be keepin' an eye on You an' Yours in particular, and are cheerin' You on.
🙂
Rick Bonner Pennsyltuck
@@richardbonner2354 Thank you so much that means a lot to me!
She does see it, looking down from above.❤
Good morning Donnie! That you for taking us to a step back in time for a reminder of how resilient and hard working Appalachian folks were and still are in hard times.
Good morning my friend. Your very welcome. Thanks so much. God bless you.
Good morning Mr. Donnie....hope this finds you doing well. Love these Ole timey stories. Reminds me of when I was growing up. My granddaddy and grandma that raised me as their own who I called Momma and Daddy use to churn their milk and butter.....ringing chickens necks and cookin em.....milking the cows....raising chickens for eggs.....killed their own pork....but back then when I was growing up if I seen the animal being killed I wouldn't eat it. I love animals for pets not to eat....lol.....I ate meat if my grandma bought it from a store which was rare. I guess I'm weird that way. However I turned vegetarian/pescatarian back in 2001.....I eat all kinds of vegetables and seafood....but I guess each to their own when it comes to that. Well have a blessed day.
WOW Thanks so much for sharing your memories my friend. I completely understand that. God bless you.
Good morning Mr Donnie thank you for this video. I'm sure times were really tough back in those days. I'm afraid if prices of things keep going up today it's gonna get really bad. It's terrible how the cost of stuff has went up. Mr. Donnie hope you have a wonderful and blessed day ❤
Good morning my friend. I understand that . Thanks so much for sharing. God bless you.
Another tribute to humanity - Thanks Mr. Donnie!
Thank you friend. Your very welcome. God bless you.
Thank you Danny for bringing back more the old memories from my childhood and growing up. I remember my grandma and grandpa living about a mile down under a Hilltop and they had no electricity until I was in high school and the 6 early 60s. We got the water from the Spring Branch and if it was dried up we'd walk miles to another Spring Branch. I remember peeking out the window watching our mother and Dad's and aunts and uncles kill Hogs and put up the meat. you really brought back the memories this time. Thank you so much.
Of course that should say Donnie.
Thank you friend and Thanks so much for sharing your memories. God bless you. Your very welcome.
Love you Donnie! Thanks for the look back.
Thank you friend. Your very welcome. God bless you.
Good morning. I was there
My people were there.I was there😊❤
Good morning my friend. Thanks so much for sharing. God bless you.
Thank you for taking us on that trip into the past and spending some time with some very resilient folk.
Your very welcome my friend. God bless you.
I'm a 68 yr. old city boy. I love these country stories.
Awesome my friend. God bless you.
This was an amazing look back . So true only thing I'd at to the good ole country cooking is a hot biscuit.boy them are my favorite.
Thank you friend. I understand that. God bless you. Thanks for sharing.
Hey 👋 Hey brother Donnie. I know you can remember picking the shots out of the wild game. Most often after it was cooked. Chipped a few teeth. We used to get a lot of Beavers 🦫 too. Sure miss the Good Ole days 😪. God Bless Everyone and Trust in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 🙏 ❤. What this Old World is missing is Love ❤️.
Yes sometimes while eating it. Thanks so much for sharing this. God bless you. Your very welcome.
Amen! True happiness is knowing, loving and serving Jesus Christ! No matter how hard life gets, He always provides what we need and fills our hearts with love!
@@sandyspears9197 Amen my friend. God bless you.
Thanks for the video Mr Donnie after this I can see how blessed we are.I hope you and your family have a blessed weekend.
Good morning my friend. God bless you. Thanks so much for sharing. Your very welcome.
Thank you DL for everything you've done to open the eyes and ears on our grandparents back when . A big thank you for bringing history about real life back then
Your very welcome my friend. God bless you.
Thank you for always taking me back to the sweetest memories. Have a wonderful weekend and God bless you!
Thank you friend. Your very welcome. God bless you.
Really appreciate your stories. As my parents were from Carbo, VA and East Tennessee, it brings back so many memories. ❤
Awesome my friend. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Morning Donnie, I hate to say but things are only gonna get worse and the Bible tell’s us so
Good morning my friend. Yes the Bible will be fulfilled. Pray and vote my friend. God bless you.
Thank you for your videos, I love listening to the history and also learning what seems to be the better way to live. A lot of this my grandparents still have or used and I’m so thankful I’ve grown up in these mountains!
Awesome my friend. Thanks so much for sharing this. Your very welcome. God bless you.
young folks today have no idea how good they have it! we struggled just to get my one month at a time! I wish they had a clue! thanks for the video brings back a lot of memories!
I understand my friend. Thanks for sharing. God bless you.
Thank you Donnie! But now I’m as hungry as a pack of wolves looking at all that good food! Haha. I remember my grandma had an old wood stove and my momma always warned me to not get under granny’s feet or near that stove when she was cookin. But my granny knew how much I loved to put the little wood pieces in through the stove on the burner sides so she would always motion for me to come in the kitchen and I sneak in there and she lift one of those heavy iron lids and hand me a few pieces of wood, and I’d throw them in there, and I thought I had died and gone to heaven! I was so excited and so happy. My granny always said a good table and boy we had lots of food and like you said there was nothing like it melt in your mouth! I sure do miss my grandma and grandpa they’ve been gone for many many years. But I will never forget those memories just like I know you have Donnie. Thank you so very much Donny for making these videos and giving us the memories and things back long ago. Yes our generations are dying off and with them go the abilities and wisdom to do things on your own and not depend on others. I was always too little to work out in the field when my daddy had his form, but I sure wanted to ride with him on that tractor sometime and I wanted to go hunting with him, but he wouldn’t let me because it was dangerous. But he would take me fishing when he had time and I love that! I love just being with my daddy more than the fishing or anything else. My dad died when I was 15 and I miss him till this very day and I’m 74 years old.
WOW Thanks so much for sharing your memories and story my friend. God bless you. Your very welcome.
Love your story, sounds like you had a wonderful family m
Good morning and thanks for posting this. My grandparents in Indiana did most of this. The cellar was always full of the canned fruits and vegetables. They had many crops and fed many hobos during the depression.
Good morning my friend. That's so awesome helping the needy. Thanks so much for sharing this. God bless you.
❤Thanks, Donnie, for sharing . I grew up in the 70s .never knew we were poor. Dad hunted and fished all the time. We😊❤ were never hungry. The good old days!!
Awesome my friend. Thanks so much for sharing. God bless you. Your very welcome.
Sir you are a wealth of knowledge. Wonderful story teller too. Thanks so much
Awesome my friend. Thanks so much for saying this. God bless you. Thank you. Your very welcome.
I am so proud to have Appalachian ancestors. Before the war my daddy's people were in western North Carolina, and after the war they moved to eastern Kentucky. By the time of the Depression they were in Texas, but before and during and after the war they were mountain people. Some have called me a hillbilly (though I'm not one) because I'm so obviously a Southerner, and I consider it a badge of honor.
This video reminds me of the old, old saying: Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.
21:40 I ate a ton of beans and cornbread and fried taters growing up - and it was good food, too.
Hey Donnie, love that family helping family, and neighbors helping out your neighbors, you don't see that these days.
Hello my friend. That was true. Thanks for sharing.
I could listen to him talk all day!❤
Good morning Donnie. Thank you for the awesome video..I truly admire the way these people lived..have a great weekend.
Good morning my friend. Thanks for sharing. Your very welcome.
My mom and her family lived through the depression. She told me many stories of how they lived
Hard times for sure my friend. Thanks so much for sharing.
Mine too. Grandma took in and washed and ironed clothes for others and baked bread to supplement income from the small family farm. My father did the same, sold/traded lots of eggs and homemade butter. People would give us clothes that we would take apart and tailor/adjust them to fit us. We used cardboard in our shoes when the soles wore through, and we never ever threw anything away. Poor on paper but rich in love. ❤
Thank you again Mr. Donnie for that waltz down memory lane 🐿️.
Between my Dad and 4 older brothers,I learned all of the things you spoke of. We never steel trapped. I think all of us thought that was too cruel. Hunting was a swift death,nearly painless. In all of my years I only knew of 2 deer being wounded. They were tracked (no matter how long it took) and put out of their misery. That was back before 4 wheelers. Might have to drag that deer for a few miles to the nearest road…but it was done. Nowadays they field dress them and put the good parts in a tarp. Back then it ALL came home. The entrails were buried in the garden for next years fertilizer. Lower legs/hoofs for the hounds to chew on. Etc… nothing wasted.
Squirrels were lots bigger than it seems. Lots of red squirrels. Now it is mostly gray squirrels.
I miss fishing so much. All of my old fishing holes were ruined by surface coal mining. So haven’t fished in years. But knew the different fish,how to clean them,how to cook them.
Lord,I miss that life. If I make it to heaven,I pray I will be able to live it out in bliss like childhood.
God Bless you and yours Mr. Donnie and God Bless all that come here.
WOW Thanks so much for sharing your memories and story my friend. God bless you. Your very welcome.
I love hearing about these wonderful people! Thank you Donnie for sharing!♥️♥️♥️
Awesome my friend. They need to be remembered. God bless you. Your very welcome.
@@donnielaws7020 God bless you my friend!🥰♥️♥️♥️
Morning Donnie, thanks for sharing this great story of the past.
Good morning my. Your very welcome.
You missed off the moon shine! Great video. Thank you. Peace and goodwill.
Thanks for sharing this my friend. They couldn't eat it, but they sold a lot of it.
The joy of the harvest after a long summer of working the garden is something I still remember fondly about my childhood and growing up dirt poor!
What a great video! I remember my dad telling me about hopping boxcars on trains, riding up and down the East coast looking for work during the depression. He went as far north as Maryland, and down to North Carolina. He found work in a textile mill in NC, and ended up working there 47 years until he retired. Although we were basically a city family, dad's brothers were country boys, and I loved going to visit them. I can vouch for the comments in this video; they saved everything, nothing wasted. I'd ride uncles mule as she plowed the tobacco fields, I fed chickens, worked in the gardens. Rarely wore shoes or a shirt due to the heat. I have memories of sitting on the porch with auntie, shucking corn, shelling butterbeans and snapping beans. It was a tough life, always working, preparing for the days and months ahead. Believe me, we all slept good at night! My auntie had a wood-burning stove and I swear she could regulate the heat as well as any modern electric or gas stove. She made the best cornbread on the planet on that stove, I've never tasted anything close to it. I've almost repeated everything the narrator said but one more thing, he is spot on about the squirrel meat. Auntie would make a stew with squirrel, or a squirrel gravy and pour it over a hot buttermilk biscuit and nothing beats it.
I suffer from chronic anxiety, but your voice and method of story-telling put me right at ease. I had to skip through the parts about hunting and especially trapping, though I do understand there was a need for it back then. Thankfully the need is less now. Would really love to see a video talking more about the women's role: processing and cooking the food, gathering wild plants, sewing, knitting, child-care, etc. Wonderful video, thanks so much for sharing! Loved the photos.
God bless you my friend. So glad you enjoy them. Thanks so much. Your very welcome.
@@donnielaws7020 ❤
Good morning Bro Donnie.Groceries are up 40 percent here in Louisiana.Praying for a big change this fall to save our wonderful country.Ty for a wonderful video 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Good morning my friend. I understand. God bless you. Thanks for sharing.
Vote republican! God bless America!
@@letsgobrandon1300
Voting Republican is what put that embarrassing stain on democracy in the White House. Donald Trump is the reason we’re all struggling. By the way, he isn’t a Republican. He’s only calling himself one, because he knows he can lie to people like you with impunity.
There has never been any one in America as unAmerican as DJT. Wake up and listen to the people who was in his administration and the military career Generals and Admirals that have spoken out trying to warn you that he shouldn’t be anywhere near the oval office. 98% of his former senior staff feel this way. He’s not going to do anything to help you! The economy goes through cycles regardless who is president! The whole world has had inflation and the USA has faired better than
any other nation. Oh btw FOX so called news is never going to inform you of anything you should hear. They lost 1 lawsuit for lying and paid over $700 million. What else do you need to know?
Thank you so much for these videos.
I I look forward to every one.
Your very welcome my friend. Thank you. God bless you.
Good morning, Donnie!
Thank you for sharing the past. My grandfolks went through the great depression. I can't imagine what they went through. Your video showed exactly what it was like for them. I appreciate everything I learned about canning, sewing, hunting, etc. We have so much to appreciate and all our blessings from above. God bless you my friend! 🙏
Good morning my friend. Thanks so much for sharing your memories. God bless you. Your very welcome.
This video brought back many memories from my childhood.😊 Loved this one😊
Thanks so much for sharing this my friend. God bless you.
Very interesting - awesome share
Thank you Dave. God bless you my friend.
Good morning Donnie…I pray you are doing well 🙏🏻…Thank you for such a informative and truthful video…Our ancestors had a work ethic and common sense….Something today’s generation doesn’t have….Take care….God Bless & Lord willing I will see you next time 🙏🏻💯❤️🇮🇱☦️
Good morning my friend. That's so true. Thanks for sharing. God bless you.
Good morning Mr Donnie thanks for the memories i grew up on a farm back in the fifties my daddy was a sharecroppers we lived just like the people in your video good old days thank you and God bless you all
Good morning my friend. Thanks so much for sharing this. God bless you. Your very welcome.
Could listen to stories about the great depression all day. Thanks so much. This is my favorite video from you.
WOW Thanks so much for sharing this my friend. God bless you.
I've got an OLD picture of my pawpaw,pop with the mule planting the fields, hard work, wonderful life.😊
Enjoyed again, Donnie, Bless weekend, little Ricky Dirty Dan, ,lucky critters 😊
Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing. God bless you.