A book animal care, banjos and dulcimers, hide tanning, summer and fall wild plant foods, butter churns, ginseng, and still more affairs of plain living
When I borrow a house in the mountains and this is on the bookshelf: these are my people. The banjo and dulcimer section was extra fascinating. I’ve been reciting a steady stream of these facts and stories for two weeks. Now I’ve got to fill in the gap with Foxfire #2 that’s on my own shelf.
I found this volume less interesting than the first two. The banjo and dulcimer chapters were of especial interest, but lacked detail that someone who had no experience building would have trouble finding value in. They did however have some entertaining and inspiring anecdotes.
A Great Series on how on people use to do thing when they were mostly self sufficient, and not store dependent different volumes cover everything from snake handling. to log cabin building to planting by the seasons, a must for DIY'ers and survivalists. Check out amazon.com for individual contents.
I truly enjoyed this book. It could be used as a reference book or just a comfortable read. The people presented in the book are interesting but I just skimmed through some of the how to make things. Instructions are both in writing and pictures. I believe I could make an object, such as a butter churn but I would need materials and tools.
Loved the stories told by old-timers in this book! Filled with know-how and life knowledge! I always thought these books were just a series of “how-to’s”. But the folklore gathered and told here by students is just a pleasure to read!
Another interesting collection of Appalachian folkways from the Foxfire folks. I found the instructional sections in this section to be better written than those in the first two volumes. I walked away from this volume feeling that if I had the materials, the tools, and the time, I could follow the instructions in this book to make a banjo, a cornshuck doll, or a broom. In the previous volumes, I couldn't possibly have made anything using the instructions. (That's not to say that they couldn't be useful to the right person.)
This series holds up very well; this volume is every bit as interesting (and practical) as the first two. I once read a science fiction novel in which a group of people were setting out to settle a new planet - knowing that they would be operating in many ways on a pre-Industrial-Revolution level, one of the characters brought along the Foxfire collection. Some of these activities would also make great projects for students and teachers or for children and parents to do together.
Foxfire 3: Animal care, banjos and dulcimers, hide tanning, summer and fall wild plant foods, butter churns, ginseng, and still more affairs of plain living (The Foxfire Series #3) by Eliot Wigginton (Editor), Foxfire Students (Anchor Press 1975) (917.58). More transcribed interviews by the students at Rabun County High School in Georgia with their rural elders. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 1975.
It was either deliriously quaint or mind-bogglingly long. This is basically part of an Amish Living encyclopedia set; the part about identifying wild plants was particularly informative and useful, but since I have no future plans on making a dulcimer, I probably could have spent my time better elsewhere.
This book is totally sweet. The stories of people are the real strength of the book - the how-to's are good too, but the people and the lives they lead are what make for good reading. I'll be getting more of the Foxfire series!
Excellent series of books. Very informative. Gives me a very nostalgic feeling of growing up in the country when I was a kid. Makes you miss the feeling of community togetherness that is practically extinct today.
Not much to add beyond my review of The Foxfire Book, except to say that I especially enjoyed Eliot Wigginton's introduction discussing the challenges of handling the fame surrounding the Foxfire project.
An oral history collection from the Appachian Mountains region. Tells what life was like in the early 1900s. Wild plants used by the residents are among the oral histories.