🎄Pick up Paul and Pap's Songs of Christmas cd here: etsy.me/3ouwg0O

Never apologize for letting a wonderful memory roll down your cheek. What a sweet story.

It good to see country people come out of the dark and be proud of their history thanks for step up for us all

We were so poor the o ly thing I ever remember getting for Christmas was a old sock filled with tangerines or oranges hard candy and walnuts . But we always had a Turkey and homemade sage dressing mashed potaoes and mincemeat and pumkin pie ...but that was good enough for us ...you dont miss what you never had . Still great memories and still love tangerines snd walnuts...just the smell of dressing and tangerines bring back great memories

I liked your story about Lenore and the pinecone. I noticed you getting chocked up at the end of the story. You don't need to apologize for that. This shows me how real you are and I like that.

My family wasn't broken but definitely a little bent. 😊 Christmas is and has been always special for me. It depends on your outlook. As long as Jesus is the center, the details will work out.

My favorite memory was one Christmas the young people at our old country church went caroling in an old sled pulled by 2 work horses. There was thick ice and snow on the country road, so we had little traffic. Bitter cold, we covered ourselves in blankets on top of straw. The horses had bells on, and I remember the sounds and sights to this day. A full moon, a light snow falling, seeing the breath of the horses in the air, and a beautiful starry night. Oh, to go back in time. Beech Fork, W. Va. Now made into a State Park. Those places under water now behind a dam. Our beautiful log home long gone.

Tipper, I remember as a child that oranges were always a big deal. We didn't have oranges often but we always had them at Christmas. Wonderful post, I love hearing you talk about the beautiful traditions of Christmas!

The people in this part of the USA are the salt of the earth. Good honest people who knew the meaning of surviving and thriving

My Christmas Tree never comes down until the Epiphany. When I was little, I asked my mom why the tree came down specifically on Jan 7. She said that was the day the wisemen found Christ. I have kept this going into my adult years. Catholics celebrate Old Christmas as the Epiphany. Eastern Orthodox (Greek, Russian, Antiochian) Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7th. I love the term Old Christmas. I always loved dipping pine cones in Elmers glue and then rolling them in glitter when I was young. I make Sugar cookies every Christmas. Half are covered in sugar and half are frosted. The frosted are for me and the grandkids the sugar sprinkles are for hubby. Spritz cookies are common here in New England also as well as Anisette cookies. Gathering greens is common here as well. A lot of people put them in window boxes and put lights in them. Candles in the window is a very common New England tradition.

I grew up in the Blue Ridge mountains in southwestern Virginia but I married a Russian woman and they observe "Old Christmas" which is Christmas according to the Julian calendar. I like to combine them because it's appropriate to worship Jesus any time and I also can honor both traditions.

Hello, I am from Vermont and every Christmas Eve, after church at midnight, we would go to Nana's house. She spent two days making the cookies and pies. Her favorite dishs were Baked Oysters, with heavy cream,1/2 & 1/2, 3-4 boxes of Ritz Crackers and 3lbs. of butter..There were at least 30 family showing up for a bite before heading home...always goodie bags for the kids to enjoy on Christmas morning...Cheers from Maine.

I enjoy your ability as a story teller top notch. Engaging and heartfelt. We need more of those. thank you and god bless.

My brother told me about your videos. He has OCD and he has had a rough time with it all his life. He’s 60 now and he just wants to talk about growing up in the Wilkes County mountains! All the things you talk about reminds him of growing up doing a lot of the same things! The men in our family always shot dynamite on Christmas Eve. A lot of family and neighbors would gather at our house and play games like, scissors crossed and uncrossed and Upset the Fruit basket. We had always heard the cows bowed and prayed and talked on Christmas Eve! Thank you for helping us remember all this good stuff. We love it!! ❤️❤️

What you call serenading, we in England call Wassailing. Men went house to house banging pans ringing bells and generally making a racket. They would be given cider in return for their visit. They would then make their way to the orchard to bless the trees to ensure a good harvest next year. It’s a very jolly happy time, that dates from pagan times 😊

Im a cherokee indian we have alot of traditions.hope you have a blessed Christmas.

Sometimes our heart overflows out of our eyes....it's called pure love. We always had seafood gumbo for Christmas eve. The whole community had luminaries lined up on the road thru out the whole neighborhood. then we would all walk down to this old bridge and sing Christmas Carols. Some would play whatever instrument they could carry, and copies of songs in a little book would be passed out and someone would call out a song and the voices would commence. It would last about an hour or a little more, then we would go home and have gumbo. This tradition started in the 60's and continues to this day. Thank you for bringing up this memory. We were truly blessed to have a close family...

I listen while at work. When I heard the story of my bigmama (lenora) I just had a little happy cry. Thank you so much for this. Special indeed ❤

Sweet lenore. An earth angel she made the world a better place...now making heaven brighter

I grew up in southwest Virginia, and oysters on Christmas Eve were common in many, many homes. My grandmother and her generation remembered when, decades ago, the oysters came to our area packed in barrels and shipped in train cars. Our family served them scalloped or fried, not as a stew, and a lot of people included them in the dressing for the turkey. I went to university in central Virginia, and the people around there had the same tradition.

I’m so hooked on your videos I watch on my iPhone my iPad and both TVs I’m loving learning about Appalachian culture. I’ve also watched many documentaries on Appalachia and I’m just a learning more and more daily. ❤️🙏🏾

Never apologize for your sweet feelings for people that brought you joy.🤗

My grandma made a fruit salad for Christmas. My parents and my hub and I read the story of Jesus in the Bible on Christmas morning before opening gifts, and we go to Candlelight service Christmas eve. It's my favorite time of year also. 💖🎄

My Mother use to celebrate Little Christmas 🎄 on January 6th. She said this was the day the Three Wise Men made it to the stable to see Jesus and offer there gifts 🎁. She would not take the tree down till after Little Christmas on January 6th.

Fascinating!! I'm a 40 year old man and I feel like I could sit in the floor and listen to you talk all day and night just like a kid. Thank you so much!! Keep warm and may God bless you and your family!!!

A good book that was written by Georgia doctor Ferrol Sams is "Christmas Gift!". He wrote it as a remembrance of how Christmas was celebrated in the old South for his children. Anything he wrote is good.

My mom was from Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and oyster stew was something she ate every Christmas Day. Dad, my sister and I passed on the stew. It is still a fond memory of mom and Christmas.

Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January, according to the Julian calendar that the church follows. Christmas eve is on the 6th, Christmas day - 7th. The two calenders are 2 weeks apart, the Gregorian being the one we follow on a daily basis, the later is used in church and to mark religious events. Some countries that follow this Orthodox Christmas tradition are Greece, Russia, Serbia etc.

Just found your channel. My Mom hailed from KY and I'm considering the Appalachian region for retirement. The channel is highly informative and you're a great host. Just a point of information; it's an Italian tradition to serve a big seafood dinner on Christmas Eve. I doubt there is a nexus between that and your oyster stew on Christmas Eve. At any rate great stuff, and be blessed in your endeavors.

I read the story and it was so touching. It brought tears to my eyes bc it made me think of my great grandparents and how much I miss them. We didn’t spend Christmas there but we did go on Easter Sunday. And what fun we had with all my cousins. Every September we still get together for a family reunion. And I’m so thankful we do to keep those memories alive. My Mother would be so happy about that. She sure loved this family and they loved her. She’s in heaven now with grandma and grandpa. I can’t wait until I join them and our family is back together again! Thanks Tipper!❤️😊💐

please don't ever feel the need to be forgiven for caring for/about another human(it is after all what makes us human/created in the lord's image) Lenore's story was beautiful Thanks for sharing

Traditionally my family has Scottish shortbread, sugar cookies, date square, mincemeat tarts, matrimonial bars, snowballs, butter tarts, fruit cake, and Christmas pudding. Love hearing about your traditions too! ❤

The stories of Appalachian life remind me of my childhood, except my childhood was in the southwest desert of this great nation. There are plenty of mountains, valleys and a lot of scary times exploring my area. My family did not have any automotive transportation, did ride the school bus though. We had a bicycle and tided the wagon to it for the trip to the little store for essentials. Put the old milk can in the wagon and went down to the well to get water. Mom did the baking thing also. I have fond memories of the pralines and sweet cakes, Christmas cookies and such. I had a wonderful childhood and I am happy for that time some sixty five years ago. i am happy still. I thoroughly enjoy your posts, thank you. Bless you and yours. Another point, Old Christmas, January 6th, was called Little Christmas in my time. And from what I have learned from you today is the reason my Mother always waited until January 7th to put the tree out. Thanks again.

I remember going out to cut a red cedar tree for granny to put in the front room to decorate for Christmas.

I’ve heard of “The Twelve Days of Christmas, but never heard of “Old Christmas”. My dad used to cut cedar for Christmas trees or decorations. It smelled wonderful. We usually had turkey for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I’m finding that your videos are so enjoyable. I love learning about other families and their heritage. I am Italian so for Christmas I make a big pot of my homemade sauce with meatballs and sausage and make a lasagna. It’s not Christmas until the lasagna is baked. I serve it with salad, crusty Italian bread.(the good kind- crusty on the outside and soft in the center) Of course there are sweets galore! Fudge, Italian cookies etc. thanks for sharing

I loved the pinecone story; that made me cry! It's a beautiful story! ❤

I'm 59 years old and I don't remember a Christmas Eve without eggnog. My dad always made it until just a few years ago when he passed the tradition to me. Now our grown children are making it along with us, and soon it will become their job. Christmas Eve is the only night of the year that we make eggnog. Also, I still have a few of the ornaments that hung on my grandfather's Christmas tree when he was a child in the early 1900's. A couple of those still hang on our tree every year, though they are rottening and falling apart.

You sure don’t need to apologize for tearing up when talking about how sweet Lenore was. She seems like a person who touched all. May she rest in peace. Growing up, we used to collect what we call running cedar, Holly, Magnolia and all kinds of pine boughs and cones. My daddy worked as a florist after the war. He made all kinds of beautiful wreaths and decorations. We used them in our home and carried them to friends and neighbors to enjoy. We did lots of baking. Mom had her cookies and daddy made treats from his German upbringing. One thing my brother and I loved was grinding nuts. We had (I still have it) a little mill that screwed onto the table. You put nuts in the top and turned the little handle and the ground up nuts came out. Of course part of the fun was cracking the nuts. Christmas is such a special time. Those memories make it all the sweeter. Merry Christmas!

My mother grew up in Middlesbrough Ky and told me that she and her brothers would gather greenery for making Christmas wreaths and they would sell it door to door.

My side of the family used to do family used to do Christmas all together on Christmas Eve, but when Mama died, that was over. Now my husband, daughter, and I have our own traditions. My sisters are so different and just don't really get along. It's sad. Oh well, we do what we have to don't we?

I love 💕 hearing about the Appalachian life, as some of the beautiful traditions I have heard growing up. I'm so happy to have found this channel

Old Christmas as you called is still celebrated by millions of people in the world. That's when people some of who I know in other countries celebrate, and where we get the 12 days of Christmas. It's always been celebrated on the 6th for them.

Happy belated New Year from London England! Loving all this. Charming and warming! So pleased to have found you!

It's mid-June as I watch this and listen to some of your delightful Christmas traditions, Tipper, but still thoroughly enjoyed the post! When I was growing up, my siblings and I always found a shiny new dime in the toe of our Christmas stockings. We couldn't wait to empty out all the fruit, nuts and hard candy to find that dime! When my three children were young and still living at home, we baked a cake on Dec. 24th and called it "Jesus' birthday cake", decorated with tinted frosting and candles, as a reminder of the Reason for the Season, like you do the breakfast muffins.

My favorite Christmas movie is The Homecoming, the pilot for The Walton's. It has a lot of our Appalachian traditions you have just spoken of in it. I was born and raised in the hills of Tennessee and wouldn't live anywhere else. Thank you for these memories.

Love the story about the muffins and singing Happy birthday to baby Jesus.

The longleaf pine tree drops the big cones. A girl I know used to sell them to people “up north”. I remember hearing that she made lots of money. She paid others to pick up the pine cones for her, & paid them 5 cents per cone to bring to her. This was in ‘70’s !!!

oh lordy i haven't seen an aluminum christmas tree in years.

My family always made cookies for Christmas we had oatmeal cookies my mom would make them so thin a crispy. We would attend midnight mass on some Christmas Eve's...we call Old Christmas..Little Christmas Jan 6th. My sister was born on Little Christmas 🎄 we always felt special having her birthday on Little Christmas usually all the cookies we're gone by then I bet she made 10 dozen too..lol 😆

I live in Alabama and am a floral designer. Everything I use or sell is gathered from the forrest and wild spots beyond my home. I recently moved North to Straight Mountain. My work is always in demand but its basis is a gift from God and so carefully cared for. I’’m at the bottom end of the Mountains. It is a wonderful place. So much more Appalachian culturally than he city where I’m from ( Birmingham ) I am in love with the people and the culture and discovered your wonderful channel not long after my move!

Good afternoon, the creativity and cleverness of the Appalachian people never ceases to amaze me. Along with your hospitality and friendly personaity, it makes for great family traditions and holiday memories. Thanks for a great video. You take care and stay healthy.

So many of the traditions you have spoken about I believe to be old English.I came from Tasmania Australia and I am 73 now. I grandparents held a lot of these traditions and they were from English heritage. So lovely to remember traditions from our childhood.

Don't apologize for showing your emotions. That was a sweet story. Jeri Whittaker

'Don't wash clothes between Christmas and New Year, you'll wash one out of the family.'

I've always loved moss too & boxwoods are my favorite scent out there. Love love love it!!

So many wonderful and interesting cultural stories. Most of these have a ring of truth in them. I come from Australia, now live in California, in Australia, we cut down our own trees to decorate, we decorate our homes with greenery and holly and mistletoe and the children all go around the neighborhood on New Years Eve, banging saucepans with wooden spoons, to scare away the bad spirits of the previous year. Had never heard about old Christmas before but going to look it up and also listen to your video on the animals kneeling at midnight on Christmas Eve. Just love your videos, have a wonderful day.

I just love to watch your video's!! I love to hear about the way other people do things. You cry if you want too and don't apologize. It was a sweet story!!

We would be arrested firing a gun . But I remember as a child them being fired off. We also went caroling at Christmas. It’s a lost tradition. In the 90’s I took my campfire girls caroling in a development that were all seniors . Oh they were so happy.

Best time of the year when I was a kid in the Ky part of Appalachia,,fudge, divinity , cookies , cakes and the love of the Lord ! And usually about a foot of snow !

Okay, now I’m getting teary eyed because you got teary and emotional. Don’t apologize for feeling.

Yep, oyster stew is a handed down tradition on my mother’s side. South eastern Ohio. Since 1790s.

My Dad is passed away now , but told stories about the animals kneeling on Old Christmas at midnight. He and my Mom also told how for Christmas they would get a bag with candy and an orange. They were both from Eastern Kentucky.

That was a great story about the pinecones and the sweet lady, brought a little tear to my eyes. Rest In Peace❤️your stories are endearing. I’m so happy to hear them🌻

its not just the heartwarming experiences and family traditions you describe, its the way you tell the story that makes it so nice.

I really enjoyed this, my wife is from N.E. Alabama. It is beautiful country with sweet people. God bless.

Growing up we would always decorate with cut greenery. Holly with the red berries and pine branches. We always took our guns and shot down mistletoe to hang over the door. We always went hunting for our Christmas tree. We would find one, cut it down and bring it home to decorate. Precious memories.

In our family, we have fried oysters and champagne for breakfast Christmas morning. Then more fried oysters for Christmas dinner.

Thank You Ma'am, You and Your Family bring me back home and to great and wonderful memories that I had growing up.

One of my favorite Christmas stories that l loved to read to my students was “ The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree” written by Barbara Cooney ( l think ) the illustrations are so pretty and the story was lovely. The way of life was another world to me as l grew up in a town 30 miles from NYC. Little did l know that my biological family came from the mountains of NC and WV. They were coal miners and one ( the black sheep) allegedly was a moonshiner. My life could not be more different, but yet l have always bern drawn to this lifestyle weather in literature or movies even before l knew my ancestors. I love watching your videos. Thank you.

Such a sweet story about the pinecones.🌲 My 2 youngest children decorated pinecones this Christmas 2021 for my brother & neighbor I’ve known since I was a kid, they spread the p.cone with peanut butter & rolled it in bird seed & wrapped the end with string to hang up. They wrapped Pringle’s chip cans with wrapping paper & put them inside.🎁

My father grew up in a hard working woods & farm family in N. Michigan. He always said the cows knelt & lowed in prayer at midnight Christmas Eve.

I’m not sure where it came into our family traditions but we observe that oyster stew tradition too! Until this year, everyone is gone from my family to the point where I’m forgetting all the great memories until people like y’all bring those precious memories back to life! Thank you thank you Tipper!

From my old slavic roots , we began saving egg shells fromoctober on , to decorate and paint with intricate designs, and hand on the tree.We had to puncture the top and bottom of every raw egg we used, and blow out the contents, and put the shells to dry for decorating..that was a fun Christmas tradition.

It seems that Christmas decorations that involve an all natural origin I think started by inspiration with Appalachia first. Every time I have seen all natural (even synthetic versions) have a true Appalachia appreciation. I'm not from Appalachia, but I am from an area that has deep respect for faith and hope despite how difficult the world can be. We are all Appalachia even if by a few paychecks if you think about it. True love for nature and family comes from exposure to it. I wish your community a great big of thanks in giving what a true sense of USA by pride with family and trust in telling the whole truth about nature being equal to Christ's message. Happy Thank You. Kindest Regards, Aiden Alamo.

I found the book on Thrift books and purchased a copy. 😊 Thanks

Wow, my grandpa always made up oyster stew for New Years, and also oyster dressing with our Turkey.

I love to make Christmas ornaments and give them to the older ladies at church on Christmas Eve.

I love watching and listening. Faith is so important. ❤

Our Church always has Laying of the Green. Everyone brings greenery and we decorate the sanctuary. The first Saturday of December we gathered all of the preschool and up to third grade to make sugar cookies. I was a preschool teacher for many years and I loved this. All of the teachers made several batches of sugar cookie dough. The kids all rolled it out, cut them and decorated. Some of the youth loved to come help cleanup and bake cookies. Of course the pay was broken cookies. The older elementary and Jr. High kids made cookies for different functions. Usually they were served after laying the greens.

Come to the coast! Long Leaf pines are all over and have huge cones. I grew up in the foothills and we would collect what we called running cedar.

One Christmas my cousin & I put mistletoe in a wagon & went through the neighborhood to sell it. People were very generous. At first we were taking off the berries til people started asking for it so we left them on. A happy memory. My children & I used to sing happy birthday dear Jesus for the same reason.

I grew up in the part of Appalachia that the Santa train ran through. I will never forget the feeling of being with a crowd of people waiting for the Santa train. We also got little brown pokes with treats after the Christmas play at church. We got usually an orange and a tangerine, a handful of mixed nuts in the shells and a peppermint stick. My dad's family ate oyster stew but my mother didn't care for it, so she changed it. She put the oysters in the dressing for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Edit: oh and one more thing, I remember mother and daddy first fretting over getting the oysters every year and then them fretting over how expensive the oysters were after the holidays were over. Every year.

I really enjoyed listening to you! You just came up in my feed for some reason and I’m glad you did. I’ve always been fascinated with Appalachia and the people. I love the music! God bless you!🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻

Bless your heart. You telling the pine cone story touch my heart when you were feeling the emotions it stirred in your heart.

Great video! I use to harvest Bittersweet and sell it to the florist shops when i was younger.

My Grandma Sadie would make Coconut cake from scratch. She lived in Anniston Ala. My dad, her oldest son lived in Florida. We would bring her coconuts from Florida. She would shred the coconut and soak it in sweetened condensed milk then make a frosting with it. Oh how I wished I had that recipe! She also make chocolate cake and orange but my favorite was the coconut.

I’m sure glad I found your videos, I love your stories about Appalachia, my Dad an his family grew up in Wise County, Va an Dad was born in a mining town, Pardee, Va before moving to Central Virginia, a community called Hadensville where I was born in 1949. I heard a lot of those same stories from Grandad an Grandma, I loved listening to them at family gatherings Thanksgiving an Christmas, one of my earliest memories was sitting by Grandmother while she played hymns on our old upright piano. We had the best meals those days and your breakfasts remind me of Moms an Grandmother’s, we all lived together in an old farm house. God bless you all, Bob

This is the best heart felt KZfaq channel that I have ever watched. Thanks so much for sharing.

My late son Brendan was born 12/25/66. He passed in his sleep from pneumonia in 2011. That was my best Christmas the day he was born.

I love the caroling memory. When I was in the church choir years ago, we went caroling. Wonderful memory! And the "old Christmas" and "new Christmas" section was marvelous! Thanks for yet another wonderful share.

May daddy made oysters every Christmas Eve. He and I were the only ones that would eat them. I didn't know this was an Appalachian tradition.

My friend made the orange slice cake this year. I loved it.

We’re new to the area, I enjoyed this very much. Thank you. From NE Tennessee

My great grandparents and grandparents did the oyster stew in rural northern Illinois. I always thought they were the only ones who did it too!

My mama came from the Ozarks. I guess eventually my daddy’s family was there for a while before moving on. I got sent to my Grandmas an awful because I was the youngest and not in school yet. I was always going outside and going fishing etc when I had been told to stay in. I reckon I was a lot of trouble for mama while daddy was overseas. My mama made the BEST oyster stuffing. I would drive into town the day after Christmas just to have cold oyster stuffing for breakfast. I have some of the fondest memories ever of growing up-especially when I was in the mountains. Thank you for reminding me of how truly blessed I am.

My Grandmother use to gather moss, galax and other plants every year when I was young and sell her finds to a local florist. Even as a young child I had so much admiration and awe at how smart my Gram was on ways to make a few dollars...she sold eggs and other things as well...she always said the Lord provided all she needed it was just up to her to do the work. Blessings🙏🏻💖

I love love love your utube channel. I do not own a TV and you and your family are such a clean treat for me. I can relate to a lot of what you cook and do. You just popped up on my lap top this afternoon. I have had a very nice afternoon. thank you. God Bless you and never leave where you are. Stay safe and in the arms of Jesus.

Traditions for my family growing up we opened our gifts at midnight. I didn't continue this when I got married. We opened our gifts Christmas morning. We did let our kids open one gift Christmas Eve. It was usually pajamas. We loved stringing popcorn and cranberries. Every year the kids were able to choose one new decoration. When they moved I gathered their ornaments for them to take. You would have thought I was kicking them out! Finally they each chose one to take and left the rest. They just couldn't imagine the tree without their ornaments. We always made a birthday cake for Jesus and sang Happy birthday to him.

One of my favorite things was attending the hanging of the greens at church.