Eliot WiggintonCritiques

Fantastic work and dedication to keeping history alive

A Foxfire Christmas: Appalachian Memories and Traditions by Eliot Wigginton
Amazing stories from the 1900's of people who lived near woods and farmed like Appalachains.
There were no toys to buy or decorations so they made their own. Love stories of the serenading, caroling as we know it by.
So fun and smallest items created were the best. They tell you how to make poppers, firecrackers and garland from paper and using foil for a star.
Love sand candles and how they are made as I've watched my mom make them in the 70's. Holly adds just that perfect touch as you go outside to collect a branch or two.
Love harmless pranks played also.
Storytellers are given credit with their name being stated.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

For those who enjoy verbal and tangible how-to books, the Foxfire series is an amazing collection of skills and lore out of Appalachia. An English teacher sought to make a magazine with his class where students went to the elders in Northeast Georgia to learn about homesteading, wildcrafting and stories of the local area past down generations. The language in the books keeps space for local ancestry and the Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center in the Chattahoochee National Forest has artifacts and archives from this series and the people who shared their stories. English teacher Eliot Wigginton received a MacArthur Foundation fellowship for in 1989 his work creating the Foxfire project.

My Dad owned these and I want to replace them. Lent to MHS Library and they dissapeared.

FROM AMAZON: First published in 1972, The Foxfire Book was a surprise bestseller that brought Appalachia's philosophy of simple living to hundreds of thousands of readers. Whether you wanted to hunt game, bake the old-fashioned way, or learn the art of successful moonshining, The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center had a contact who could teach you how with clear, step-by-step instructions. This classic debut volume of the acclaimed series covers a diverse array of crafts and practical skills, including log cabin building, hog dressing, basketmaking, cooking, fence making, crop planting, hunting, and moonshining, as well as a look at the history of local traditions like snake lore and faith healing.

Great collection of interviews.

Great insight into old crafts and trades of easy times for humans

This series is so much more than a “how to” guide for people interested in homesteading or living off-grid. There are, of course the very interesting and useful step-by-step instructions—log cabin building, chair and basket making, and chimney building are all featured in the first volume, complete with diagrams and pictures. There is useful lore that has been collected, such as the use for different types of wood and different recipes. These are, to someone looking to add to their homesteading skills, practical guides.
But there are another set of “affairs of plain living” included in the book. Some of them are downright impractical. For instance, many of the home remedies include the direct application of turpentine, kerosene or a mix of the two on to the body. And please don’t follow the snakebite remedies. These sorts of things are included because the Foxfire books are much more about rejoicing in a culture that was much maligned in the first half of the 20th century as a poverty-stricken backwater. This book can appeal to a wider audience outside of the off-grid community because of these other aspects of Appalachian life that are included. Descriptions in firsthand accounts of planting by the signs and faith healing give depth and life to the people interviewed. It can be difficult to read some of the interviews that are not “translated”; it takes a little time to get used to the accents, but I think that the choice of the editors to leave it in dialect makes the books better. The Foxfire books are unconsciously part of a movement to rediscover and celebrate the positives of the Appalachian region old way of life, and in this goal they are successful.

Hog dressing, log cabin building, mountain crafts and foods, planting by the signs, snake lore, hunting tales, faith healing, moonshining, & other affairs of plain living.

fiddle making, springhouses, horse traing, sassafras tea, berry buckets, gardening, and further affairs of plain living

Animal care, banjos & dulcimers, hide tanning, summer and fall wild plant foods, butter churns, ginseng, and still more affairs of plain living.

Ghost stories, spring wild plant foods, spinning and weaving, midwifing, burial customs, corn shuchin's, wagon making and more affirs of plain living.

This was a reread for me but once I started I couldn't put it down. My Grandmother lived in Rabun Gap. This had me reminiscing about the less industrial days. So many skills are already lost. I'm so glad someone thought to capture what is left.

This was a reread for me but once I started I couldn't put it down. My Grandmother lived in Rabun Gap. This had me reminiscing about the less industrial days. So many skills are already lost. I'm so glad someone thought to capture what is left.

This fifth volume celebrates the survival techniques and resourceful heritage of Appalachia, featuring sections on ironmaking, blacksmithing, horseshoes, cowbells, shovels, bellows, barrells, furnaces, flintlock rifles, and bear hunting.

This fourth volume celebrates the home life and creative heritage of Appalachia, featuring sections on fiddle making, springhouses, horse trading, sassafras tea, berry buckets, knife making, wood carving, logging, cheese making, and gardening.

This third volume celebrates the lively and homespun heritage of Appalachia, featuring sections on animal care, banjos & dulcimers, hide tanning, summer and fall wild plant foods, cornshuck mops, butter churns, apple butter, building a lumber kiln, and ginseng.

This second volume celebrates the rites and customs of Appalachia, featuring sections on ghost stories, spring wild plant foods, corn shuckin's, spinning and weaving, midwives, granny women, old-time burial customs, witches and haints, and wagon making.

This volume, the original anthology, celebrates the home life and creative history of Appalachia, featuring sections on hog dressing, log cabin building, soap making, basket weaving, planting by the signs, preserving foods, making butter, snake lore, hunting tales, faith healing, and moonshining.

I was given this set of books by a friend, and found them interesting, though not compelling to keep. The interviews are good, the picture of the past is informative and the instructions on how to make things very detailed, however, I hope I don't need to be doing any of it any time soon. I have passed them along to another friend who is interested.

I found this collection to be interesting. My favorite being the ghost stories. The section on midwifing and burial customs were fascinating also. I rather skimmed over wagon making, spinning and weaving, but on the whole it was charming.

I love this series and am collecting them one-by-one. While I don't hail from Appalachia, I come from nearby and hail from stocky, rural, holler kin. Eliot Wigginton did us all a favor with this pervasive collection of knowledge from Appalachian mountain folk.

One day I hope to cozy up with this series and learn something new. I love reading the stories from the community elders. They are so great!

I see LibraryThing has the same problem as newspaper reviewers had with the Foxfires: after you get past six books or so, there's really nothing left to say...

Awesome reading!

Historical narrative of Christmas memories from people who grew up in Appalachia. Reading it reminds me of how much I take for granted.

Loved the remedies. Have actually had some tried on me as a kid. Some worked.