My great grandfather was a miner in Jenkins KY and when his wife left him with 9 kids they were living in a company house. It burnt down and they were forced to live in a tent in the winter. The heavy snow made the tent cave in and someone took pity on them and let them live in their chicken coop. My grandfather lived in Wise Va and had to quit school at age 9 and go to work in the coal mines to support his grandmother who was raising him. Kids know nothing about hardship today. They think a low battery on their cellphone is tragic.

This is my family history! My grandfather was a coal miner in Smith Kentucky. Family of 19 children. He only went to school until 4th grade. Had to work in the fields to feed the family until he was lucky enough to get the coal mining job! Tough people. Thank you for sharing the history. Folks now days can't hardly cook themselves a meal let alone grow their own food. I'm proud to be a coalminer's granddaughter!

My father, who was born in 1920, was sent to Colorado with the CCC to plant trees in a national forest. He sent most of his pay home to his family, as he was one of 13 children. He told stories of missing school in the winter because he didn't have shoes to wear. Not many of us have any idea of that kind of poverty.

I’m from West Virginia but I married and moved to Missouri and I’m crying watching this. I miss my people, they’re hard working, humble and the most giving people, even when they don’t have it to give they’ll do their best. My family worked the mines of West Virginia and got baptized in the river come summer when the water warmed. We’re survivors. I learned to plant food, mill grain, tend to chickens, make soap, knit and sew and put up food from a early age. I’ve been out pulling potatoes, getting carrots and beets in the ground, starting my fall seeds under grow lights and running my water bath canner and the smoker today in triple digit heat because it’s what I’ve always done. I don’t have a big city life but I have piece of mind and the ability to grow and raise our food. I’m Appalachia strong!

We’d all be a much happier people by working hard and having gratefulness. Thankful to the Lord. People have too much stuff now but have nothing.

My grandparents lived through the depression and never threw anything away because of that. They have both been gone since the late 80s and I live in their house and to this day I still find useful things in the garage like tools or what have u that I also use. The best part of being a kid is that even if u were poor, u never knew it.

These videos should be submitted to Public Broadcasting stations so we can all learn what life is/was like in the mountains. Thank you, Mr. Laws.

This really makes you realize how fortunate we are today and how soft we have become. Thank you for making this.

My granddad was a farmer when the depression hit and he lost it all. His first wife took their child and left him. He ended up joining the military which became his career and met my grandma...7 kids later they lasted just over 50yrs when they passed within 5 months of each other.

I really admire the way you tell your stories. Our local and national history is important. Please keep telling your stories ❤️❤️

Times got hard for my grandfather, he packed up the family and took off west. The only problem was the money ran out and he started robbing banks. Well needless to say that didn't work out so well. But he did become the boxing champion of San Quentin Prison 😜

My grandparents were born in 1902 and 1904. Imagine the things they saw! Some things from the depression never left them. My gram always used her tea bags twice, she never threw a rubber band away, you couldn't rip wrapping paper- you just popped the tape. Pop was so mad when we came off the gold standard. I was just a kid then and I remember how mad he was. I wish they were still here, but somehow I'm glad they're not. They would be so disappointed. 🙏♥️🇱🇷

When I was young, everyone in my family had a large garden. We all helped each other harvest and can; we traded what we'd put up for meat sometimes. All the women sewed and made everything from blankets to pot holders to clothes, which they either gave as gifts or sold. I was the fisher of the family; I'd always come home with at least 3 or 4 fish. All of the men in my family worked for the TVA. Later, when we entered WWII, all the men in my family volunteered and went to war. Others in my family actually worked in Oak Ridge on the bomb. I'm thankful I listened to my grandparents' stories so I have to them to share with my own children.

My mother, now ninety-five, grew up during the Great Depression in a small town in North Dakota. For sure, like many of her generation, she is of very tough stock and her steadfast attitude has always been one not to hold grudges but to carry a big stick. During the Great Depression my mother's father worked odd jobs while maintaining his tenure at the rail yards as an train engineer. During the summer "hobos," men chiefly who rode the boxcars looking for work, would arrive in town. He would greet them and tell them where they could go for an evening meal and bag lunch for the next day, provided they were willing to work all day for it. Where? . . . his house! Boy, those were different days. He never had a single problem with them. When the depression came on strong in 1930 he dug up every bit of his lawn right up to the curbs and added extra garden space to an already large garden. My mother remembers many long hard hours spent working this extended food patch and helping with the canning that came from the sweat of their brows. These hobos would come and work all day in the garden and then eat a sit-down meal at the picnic bench set up near the back door. When dinner was done they were to be on their way with a sack lunch for the next day. My grandmother oversaw all this charitable work with a cheerful smile and loaded 38 revolver in her apron pocket. During the depression all was not peaceful in her small town, however. Though it was a staunchly Christian town packed with churches the theft problem was huge, and chiefly accomplished by towns folk . . . and not the hobos. Whenever produce from the garden was canned, they had to have trusted neighbors keep an eye out on their place should they leave the house for even a short while. My mom said that if it was not nailed down it was soon gone. They stole more than food, however, as they stole whatever they could to sell for a few silver dimes. This was small town rural America in a time when most folks had strong Christian morals. It appears that even "good" folks would rather steal than go hungry and many were not prepared by any means nor willing to work by the sweat of the brow. Theft was easier . . . the default position of fallen man when pressed into a corner. Our now overtly pagan culture has moved light years into depravity from then. I shudder to imagine what will transpire when our dying economy hooked on the heroin of welfare comes crashing down. Sadly, that will be none too soon. You make an excellent observation about the rural folk of Appalachia, they knew how to live off of the land no matter the times, good or bad.

I’m the granddaughter of two coal miners. I know and love the people who raised me by the values of the Appalachian mountains. It’s not an easy life but the love and resourcefulness of the mountain people is not lost to me. I’ll be returning soon. Much love and god bless.

I am 70 years old and never experienced these times, but my parents did and being frugal stayed with them all of their lives, even when things got better. i learned some of this from them and have been called cheap by my wife and daughter.

You pretty much explained our way of life back then and a lot of us still gardening and canning and dang sure hunting! I tell you something else they had back in the old days .... love ! Family friends and neighbors loved 1 another and because of that the rest fell in place! Great stuff buddy ! Salute

A 70 year old Grannie from South Australia here. What a brilliant presentation!! So much wisdom in this man, gratitude, hard work and ingenuity in those mountain people. It brought me to tears. I used to watch a lovely woman called Clara who was in her 90s and made KZfaq episodes about Depression cooking while she reminisced those times. God bless you as you have blessed this old Aussie girl today.

My dad was born in 1915 and my mom in 1933. Born at home. Mom's family had land and she told how her grandfather or great grandfather gave away some of his land to help people have some place to live during the depression. They didn't have much but the got by. Mamaw made really nice quilts out of floursack. And she was extremely good with a needle. They never borrowed money. It was considered sinful I think. You saved up and paid for it. You made it or did without. Papaw farmed and had chickens and milk cow (Bessy). He helped a neighbor slaughter pigs and was paid in hams and bacon that he smoked in the smokehouse himself. They also raised chickens and laying hens. The rooster was my mom's pet. She said she would ride it around the yard on the front of her little wheelbarrow and it would crow. And my mom's job was to churn butter and make cream and curdled milk. and her favorite chore was to fetch butter or milk from the creek house because her reward was to sample the cream! Some nights supper was soup beans with fatback or streaked meat (similar to bacon) and hot cornbread with cold curdled milk poured over it. With slice of raw onion and tomatoes if they were in season.

My father was born during the great depression in the mountains of Kentucky. After his dad passed away, he had to go into an orphanage until my grandma remarried and they could financially support all seven children at home.

We sure have it easy today. I wish the good values people had back then weren't being destroyed today.

These are such great stories Donnie!! I love hearing about these times and I completely agree that people forget the past or refuse to learn from it. My father grew up during the depression. He came from a wealthy family but due to some of my grandfather’s bad investments his family lost pretty much everything. Growing up with my Dad I always found it so strange why he would spend so little when he had a great job and made good money as always saved everything. I remember him telling me that times were so hard that you dare not waste anything. You are absolutely right when you say how resourceful people were. My mother could take a 30lb Turkey and get about 5 or 6 huge meals out it for a family of 6 even boiling the bones down for Turkey soup. Although I was born in the 60’s my parents always had a garden where they canned vegetables and wasted nothing. The Depression must have been more difficult on my Dad as he would tell me some stories but didn’t like to talk too much about it as you could tell it really must have traumatized him. My grandmother taught him to sew growing up and he had one of those old sewing machines with the peddle. He would repair torn clothing for me all the time. I remember I opened the drawer on the sewing machine once and found these little pieces of thread that were extra from his sewing. He would wrap these little pieces of thread around his finger in little circles so he could reuse it. If we ever had bike tires where the inner tubes were shot and couldn’t be repaired he would take the inner tube and cut them across and make rubber bands out of them. Those rubber bands would last forever!😂 He even had a little notebook that he kept in his pocket as long as I could remember, and I think he was able to write down every check he had ever written in his life in it. He would write really really small so he could save the paper and still had plenty of paper in the notebook to spare. When you grow up seeing a parent do these kinds of things you know it must have affected them greatly. We live in a society where so much is wasted and thrown away that it’s mind boggling, especially with so many people going hungry and have so very little. Most people in our society these days appreciate nothing and have the mentality that these things will always be here. The Depression is really a wonderful lesson in humility as it reminds us all not to take anything we have for granted and a warning from God that unforeseeable events befall us all as there is no guarantee of tomorrow. Thank you so much for all of your wonderful heartwarming stories as they are such a pleasure to listen to.😊❤️

My Grandpa quit school at age 10 to join the fire department, that must have been around 1912 or 1913. They couldn't officially add him on the payroll, but they paid him in food for him to take home to his Family. I'm guessing that must have helped them alot back then. He worked there for 54 years I think it was. There's an old 1932 pumper truck that was his, he drove it out of the boxcar at the train station when it arrived. I remember crawling all over that thing when I would visit him at the fire station when I was a Kid. And when he passed, they laid his casket on the back and there were firemen who sat on either sides all the way out to his final resting place. Just remembering the scene of that brings tears to my eyes. I was his favorite and he was my first Hero. I still smell the cigar or pipe smoke from him sometimes, then I know he's visiting and checking in on me. I made a video about that very thing on my channel. I sure miss that Man. Bless his heart!

My Mother's family was from Alabama and lived through the Great Depression, although she said there was nothing great about it. They were so poor , they barely even noticed. My Grandfather killed himself due to the Depression. Grandma was a nurse and always had employment. She was basically a single mom with five kids, and all turned out ok. She had help from family, not financial, but love, moral support, and food.

Thank you. I really enjoyed listening about your life. I, myself grew up in a logger's camp. The cabins were pushed together to make up our home. We grew up poor but the whole town all looked after each other and helped one another. It had a tiny grocery store, a post office, a school, church and dance hall. We ran three miles everyday down to the creek and went swimming. Fished for our dinner, lived on deer meat. It was a wonderful childhood. How I miss the good ole days!!! 60 families lived there till they burnt us out. The powers to be always ruin what you have in love. Yes, history has a way of repeating itself. It's too bad... I'm too old to farm now. This will be called The Great Tribulation which is going to hit us all soon unless everyone stops credit cards uses cash on everything and starts their own banks and communities near waterways. Loved your true story. Thank you.❤🙏🕊🔥🧎‍♀️

Father-in-law told me that his family didn't know there was a Depression. He said they'd always been poor so nothing changed in the Applachian mountains where they lived. He said they raised what they needed and would trade for things they didn't have like sugar and salt.

In one of your other videos, I watched a bunch of them yesterday. You mentioned how the media only portrays these folks in one light, poor, uneducated. You are very correct. I live in Canada and I must say that is exactly how they were shown to us. Even searching videos here the first you find are the " poor and uneducated, needy ". I dug deeper and started finding the stories and videos about their real life, their heart, their independence. I have watched many but I still appreciate stories from folks like you who tell the whole story, the truth. These people were unbreakable, witty, smart to their own needs. I have a completely different understanding of these folks. I think they were resilient, self supporting, hard workers and didnt take shit from nobody. I appreciate your stories, sir. I have developed almost a fascination for these folks !

Allot of mountian people who lived way back in the hills never knew about a depression. They lived off the land hunted fished. Had a garden. And done a little logging to make ends meet. That's what my granddaddy. Said. He said We was to,poor to know what the depression was all about. We didn't live in towns we lived in the mountians and hollers. Kept our money in a mason jar not a bank. So it didn't effect us he said,,,

America's greatest generation! Absolutely.

My great grandma said the same, she didn’t really notice a depression her family were poor farmers around harrogate TN. She talked about kids thinking she was rich at school because she was able to have a pork chop in her lunch pail. Funny enough when I was 6 years old I told her I’m never getting married and never moving to Ky. (I was raised in MI) well I turned 18 got married and live in a holler in Ky 😂

Collecting Pop Bottles I was born in the 50s I collected them sometimes 3Cents sometimes 2Cents I would store in are old garage in Michigan. When I had a few I would walk down to the corner store and buy a 5Cent Candy Bar. I have lived in Wonderful WV since 1974. I love the people of WV. Kind and friendly and would give you the shirt off their backs.

My folks lived through this time and never changed their ways.

My mom told me stories about standing in line for food and finally getting to the front and being told they were out of what she needed. Neighbors shared and traded with each other. People were different then and took care of each other.

My grandparents were some of those hard working resilient people of the depression era living in the smokies of NC. I can recall the stories about the hard times my Granny would share about all the work and she would say you worked the fields from sun up to sun down or the family wouldn’t eat. They also raised all the animals for food and did their own processing…They always bartered in those days rarely using $$ to get what they needed. She said we was so poor we didn’t know there was a depression back then. But everyone always had a warm place to sleep and plenty to eat . They were rich in many ways when you compare what some families endured for sure! There was never a better time to be a mountain farmer than in those days! I so enjoyed this vlog! Thanks and blessings🙏🏻💖

I’m so glad and Thankful that I grew up in the last of the 60’s I can survive but most people today 35 years old and younger would starve to death if something happened nowadays. It’s the truth.

Great video, Donnie. My grandparents raised six kids through this time period. My uncle's were part of the CCC. They all hung in there until the war broke out, then joined the services or worked in airplane factories. They were tough, and knew how to stretch a buck. My dad taught me much of what I know and practice still today in cooking, stretching our pennies, and making do. Based on what I see going on in this present time, I don't think most of the younger generations know how to survive. Things have dramatically changed for the worse. The photo of the family praying at their sofa brought tears to my eyes. Yes indeed. It's a different, and a much darker world. I am so grateful that I know Jesus. Blessings...

It is good to hear about how people managed back then. My parents and grandparents lived through it, in a mill town in New England and had it hard, too. I'm worried we're going to see hardship in our own times here, coming up. We should remember these ways of resourcefulness and coping and survival of our forebears so that hopefully, God willing, we will be able to survive what is coming for us.

Love hearing about the history of Appalachia. My grandfather started working in the mines when he was 10 years old. My mom went to school until 6th grade and then she went to work in the shirt factory. When she worked she handed her whole paycheck to the family so they could survive. Many people like me have no idea what the people of Appalachia went through but we live a great life today because of their hard work. Thank you Donnie for these awesome videos.

I AM WATCHING THIS AGAIN I KNOW THEY WORKED SO HARD AND I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY DID IT BUT KNEELING ON THE COUCH AND PRAYING I KNEW THEN HOW THEY DID AND I THOUGHT IT WAS BEAUTIFUL,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

My family was part of this time in Estill Cty Ky. My mother was born in 1910. She told me about the hard times and the food coupons.

I remember going into the front room where the “Warm Morning “ heater was. The old farmhouse was drafty and the floor was cold in the winter time. When daddy remodeled the living room, he got a three stack 220 electric heater and got rid of the wood and coal burner. The house stayed cold and the light bill went up.

I live outside the NC mountains. I'm in my 40s and I can our foods. People my age and younger don't know how to can anymore. I get so many people tell me I'm a old soul. I just see it as surviving and better food than the stores sells. Family hunts and fish too.

Very enlightening. God bless all those folks and I hope we never wind up like them. I don't think today's people have the heart and soul to go through what they did. Many thanks for your history lessons.

Such a wonderful presentation period of how folks made it during the Depression

I remember my Papaw plowing with a mule. My Mamaw pumping water out of a cistern in the kitchen. No indoor plumbing till 1958. Never lacked for food. Most people have never heard of a root cellar. Great memories. Enjoy your videos

I love listening to you tell the story - it just flows along - no sudden drop off , smooth as silk . Good job !

Great vedio!!! My family grew up in the country in central nc. I was born after WWII but we had it hard while I was growing up. I lived just like they did up in the mountains. We grew our own food, we had chickens, hunted, fished, trapped. We name it whatever it took to survive, we did it. I was a good life. Simple. We walked to church about a 1/2 mile away. We enjoyed the simple toys and made up our own entertainment. We climbed trees, walked on tin cans wrapped around our shoes, and so many other fun things. We loved our family, had a lot of company. Some stayed a day while others came and lived with us. No one was turned away!!! Now I live a simple life in the mountains. Doing a.lot the same things I did growing up. I enjoy all of it. My Lord Jesus and I spend a lot of time learning and preparing. God Bless You!!! Tks for this look into out past.

LOVED this walk down memory lane! If we can teach the younger folks some of these "old time" skills it would be so helpful. (I have been teaching my grandkids to garden, can, cook, bake, cross-stitch, sew etc. I pray that it will help them when I pass). God bless you & yours.

My Grandpa had lost both parents by age 15 and had to raise his 5 younger siblings during the Depression. He told me with shame one time of stealing some food. It was the only time he ever stole in his life. He raised by dad on a farm and saved every penny he had working 3 shift as a janitor at Mayo Clinic. He died a very, very wealthy man. His farm was full. Took my dad and his siblings 9 months to clean out the farm. Everything was useful. He died in his sleep at 92. Was a wonderful, wonderful grandpa. His only rules were clean your plate and pick clean in the garden. Leave nothing behind. I miss him. Thanks for these video. I love the old stories.

I am hooked watching and listening to your stories.

My family fathers family were from Scotland. The lived in eastern Kentucky for many years. They have and always will be very clan like. Recluse . Education was not a hall mark but hard work was and has been forever. And making do and not complaining about what you don't have. Just always being greatful for what you had. My father was in Missouri when the depression hit. They were poor but always feed and lots of love. My grandparents were very poor. My grandfather couldn't read or write. But he could fish, hunt, and make anything out of nothing. My father quite school at the age of 14 to go too work on the railroad. Because he needed to pay his way. They were very stoic people. Tears and emotions had too be kept in check most of the time . Because crying ain't gonna do yeah no good. I learned alot of of the ways and it sure has helped me out over my lifetime. Mercer was a very well know name in eastern Kentucky once upon a time.

I wish we could go back to those times...great story telling Donnie, people like you are keeping our history alive

This is why Farmers are. So important. And God. Is the main ingredient.

I live in W.Canada but many things were similar. I am enjoying the old photos. At 71, these bring back many memories for me of my upbringing. Thank you Donnie for bringing these to us.

My father and mother's families moved from the Appalachian mountains in Tennessee in the 1860s. The carried Appalachian culture with them. During the Depression my father's family of 16 lived in Wise County, TX. There were no jobs. They farmed, gardened, fished, trapped and hunted. My father travelled on freight trains looking for work. Eventually, the government created CCC camps that provided jobs building roads and dams. My father moved with his family to Haskell County by covered wagon to farm.

Thank you for this. I was born in 1958, child of Depression era children and grandparents. They never forgot and passed it on. For 13 years now, I’ve run a horse rescue - usually about 40 horses at any time. We are very blessed to own our property and have many supporters. The business is structured on rehabilitating horses for an affordable lesson program and this is very successful. Our lesson program is full and we have a good reputation in the area. This said, there is never enough money for feed, shavings, hay, the vet, among other things that go along with having 40 horses and 26 acres of pasture. My parents raised me with thrift and I’ve never take those lessons for granted. We can cut corners, but most wont notice. I grow a garden and can most of it, some of which are gifts for our benefactors, most just to eat or trade. We neighbors share our bounty, whatever that may be. As neighbors, we also come to each other’s aid when needed - no matter when or what - and protect each other at all times. We also have loose plan for a crisis, which makes me feel safe here in our rural GA back road.

Such a beautiful and upstanding Christian people. It's a hope of mine that our nation always retains the work ethic, self-sustainability, ingenuity and Christianity of the Appalachian folk.

My family lived in the mountains during that time. They ate very well. And there was faith and magical times that words can't fully describe.

You did a great job of telling the story of this time in our history. I love listening to your stories and how you always seem to find the good in every situation.

This is definitely a good video, i remember my granny(great granny) telling me stories of back then. She was glad they was farmers

Thank you for this wonderful video. My grandfather worked the mines in Letcher county Kentucky in the 1920's and 1930's. My father grew up poor but never had a bad thing to say about his childhood. He remembered with fondness how they worked the land and did with very little. I hope the lessons from this era are never forgotten.

My grandpa on my mother's side grew up around Flat Gap or Blaine, Ky area. He told me about alot things that happen when he was a child. Sunday after church they had dinner on the grounds then after that they had singin school. He had a voice that I could listen to him sing forever. Didn't know it as a kid but we know today as bluegrass music. Oh! By the way. During Roosevelt presidental time my Dad's brother was in the 3 C camp and help build bridges. Some of those bridges if they are still standing would have a concrete sides with WPA and the year stamped on them. Thanks for these stories. Getting alot of memories from my Grandpa told me about.

In most areas of this region, it wasn’t too much different before the depression. There wasn’t a lot of jobs and most people worked on the farms. There wasn’t a lot of money in circulation. Even less after the market crashed. So most people would trade work with each other for food or if they had something they had for something that they needed. One man had a farm a day’s wages was either a bushel or potatoes or a bushel of corn or so many pounds of meat. About once a week he’d pay them 50 cents to use to buy coffee, salt , baking powder or whatever they needed. They made whatever or grown most of their food. The cut wood for their fire. A lot of people had a small coal seam would dig it and use it with their fires. My Dad and Grandparents and Great Aunts and Uncles told me so many times how they lived that I feel like I lived those times myself. Everyone needs to listen and learn about those times. Hopefully we’ll won’t see times like that. It doesn’t hurt to learn to be prepared.

Another awesome video. I remember my family telling me stories about that time. They worked hard but they fed and took care of their families. I think you and I have a lot of the same memories. Great job and thanks.

Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us! I found your channel by searching for info about the Melungeon people and now I'm binge watching. My mom's family is from that area, and I've heard them say that they didn't even know there was a depression, though that could also be on account of moonshine consumption lol. Sadly, the country store is going extinct. I love Sheetz and Wawa, but there's just something about the backwoods cash only gas station where the local retired farmers hang out all day that we don't miss until it's gone.

Chiming in from Dickenson County. My grandfather was a farmer. Their family stories were similar to those here. A proud legacy.

Thanks for your educational videos. The Depression brought my Grandpa to Gary WV. He got hired to work in the mines and within a few weeks he went back to Basset Va to get Grandma and the baby. The baby would become my Dad and he also went to work in the mines. The story you tell is the story of my family and our lives. You have a talent for teaching this huge part of American history. Your voice sounds like the voice of a brother. My Grandpa would often say the Depression would be back. He never got over it and worked over 35 years in the McDowell county mines.

Lovely! My grandfather (WW1 vet) lived in & worked at norfolk southern community. Grandmother gardened, raised beef & pork. Had dairy cow & laying hens. My Mother said they had meat only on Sundays. Until they passed away, they were SO thrifty it was painful to watch. I've missed them every day for more than 40 years. Can t wait to hear more!

I love your videos and story telling. My daddy grew up very poor in the Tennessee mountains. He said they didn’t even know there was a depression because they never had any money anyway. They took care of themselves and traded. They always had a garden,

Born and raised in innercity LA and i really appreciate this channel. Sometimes these videos are my escape... Thank you.

We also had a warm morning stove lol I remember mom waking us up and telling us to stay in bed until she got a fire built and the trailer warm... We didn't have much or much food to eat but from the time I can remember I was out working in the garden 7 days a week raising food and we eat off that through the winter and every meal was potatoes and beans and cornbread and we lived in Appalachia mountains the lower southern end bordering Kentucky but it molded me into who I am today and I could survive when the normal person couldn't but I left and I've not been back and Don't plan on ever going back to live unless I'm retired or they take me back in a box God bless you sir

Donnie thanks for the history lesson.The great depression devastated virtually all nation's. Not to sound gloom and doom, but the way the world is heading especially the United States. One time a God fearing country a hard working country, and compassionate for humanity. I could keep on going what made America great. But all of that has diminished in parts of the country. Not all has forsaken in God we trust or our fellow man. If people don't turn back to God because I believe he is speaking to those that have an ear to hear. But it looks like the way things are going. We could see another great depression. It will be a repeat of the past depression. Folks that don't know how to farm or garden, hunt and fish will suffer the consequences. I pray it don't happen God bless

My dad dropped out of school at 14 and as the oldest male of the house went to work in the mines to help support his family at 17 he went in the army. He was born and raised in alpoke West Virginia

My grandfather had two farms along the Clinch. TVA bought him out and he moved to a farm north of Knoxville. Every year my grandparents and their daughters would return to the site of where their town of Willow Grove had stood and to the local cemetery to visit their ancestors.

Too many folks today take everything they've got for granted. They don't have any interest in history, or they want to re-write it and erase the rough parts. Those folks back in the depression times were tough and resourceful. Most people today couldn't even handle standing in lines like some of those you showed. Kids walking barefoot down the dirt road to get water or go to the store for things they actually need, rather than just want...can you imagine most of today's kids doing that?

I really enjoyed hearing you tell this story. My father & mother, lived through the Great Depression. They tried to impress upon all of their 7 children, me being the oldest, to NOT be wasteful, but saw that we always had more than we needed, with the help, from my mother's two sisters. We today, do not really understand, what they went through. My parents, and my 2 wonderful Aunts, are gone, but I will always remember, what a wonderful life, that they made for us, their children.

I love this! I was born in 1950 in West Virginia. So much of this is familiar, based on my parents' and grandparents' stories.

Once many yrs ago we were driving by my aunt's house when my dad saw her overheated plow horses. Dad stopped on a dime jumped out to brush, water down, and remove their bits from the plow horses which my cousins left geared up and tied to the shed. I couldn't hear dad racking out my young cousins but it wasn't pretty I am sure. My dad was a great hard working man and his love/respect for GOD still brings tears to my eyes. This channel is pure gold.

Excellent video. Beautiful, resilient people, thankful to God always 🙏 we modern folks could learn alot from them. Not trusting the bank's - wise.

I love these stories, thanks so much for sharing them

My pawpaw told me that it wasn't no depression in the mountains because everyday was always a struggle in the hills and hollers of Kentucky and West Virginia. He said they barely even noticed it. They just kept living like they always did and did just fine! But he did say that the city folk suffered terribly because they wasn't used to that kind of living and they didn't know what to do with theirselves during the depression. I'm just glad they survived. Otherwise I'd not be here today. Lol. May my Pawpaw and Mawmaw and Daddy R.I.H.! So proud they taught me what they knew. I'm better off for it!

23 year old man on the edge of Appalachia in Alabama thank you for your vids I can really relate to what you post you remind me of my grandad a lot the way you talk true Appalachian down in Alabama it’s similar to the Tennessee talk like you

Reminds me of my grand parents. Granny gardened on a hillside she terraced with mule and logs.it was still there when she passed in 1985.

I really enjoyed this video. My last grandparent that lived through the Great Depression passed in 2012. I do miss my grandparents, very much so. My grandfather grew up poor on the southern end of long beach island here in NJ, many decades before it was the vacation destination it is today. My grandmother was from Pittsburgh, PA, and I would have to ask my mom again how my grandparents met so long ago. Neither came from wealthy families, both knew hardship before the depression. As a young person, my grandmother worked at the J & L steel mill in Pittsburgh and my grandfather's family lived off of what came out of the Atlantic ocean and Barnegat bay. My grandfather's 99th birthday would've been January 12th

You tell the stories so well! Your voice & accent are very authentic & perfect for the subject matter. Thanks for sharing…. Keep ‘em comin’!

Thank you so .uch for this account of what it was like. My mom grew up in Viper, KY. She was born in 1919; one of 7 kids that lived. My grandparents farmed and they kept a soup kitchen going in their backyard. My father, born in 1923, grew up in Nebraska. His mother died of blood poisoning in 1929 when he was going on 6. His father died of pneumonia when he was 16. Dad was very much the youngest of 7 children that lived despite having 6 much older siblings, he raised himself. He and rhenext oldest, a sister 4 1/2 older than him, had a little wagon; they took eggs in it and sold them to help make it. My payments generation were truly strong and marvelous.

My Grampa and his two brothers left Jacksboro/Lafollete Tenn. area during the depression and came to Monroe County, Michigan and stayed till they died... I was born in '54 two generations removed from the mountain life, but I still feel it rooted in my DNA 💪

Thank you so much for putting all these together. My mom's side of the family are from the mountains in nc ( when i was small we lived in the blue ridge mtns nc. i live in the foothills now but my heart longs to return to those beautiful rolling hills and high rock outcrops) and the fact that you sound a lot like my grandpa just makes it that much more special. So thank you

Wow, another great documentary perfectly narrated. Thank you again Donnie!

My grandad had two railroad warehouses in Durbin WV filled with seed he would let out enough seed so his friends could keep their farms most lost their farms my grandmother told granddad why not take their places like everyone else he said we're not like everyone else were ok the house is paid for I couldn't hold my head up if I did she said if they're your friends they'd pay u he said they don't have money to pay she left him n moved n with dad unannounced n lived off him for 15 years she was the female Mr Potter of it's a wonderful life my dad n grandad were saints

Hello Mr laws I live in the mountains of North Carolina Ashe county NC to be exact and I am 53 years old and your story's bring back alot of old memories of my mom and my grandma and I want to just say thanks and was wondering if you have done any story's on the type food they raised back then.i can remember picking beans as a kid and my mom and grandma would can beans and tomatoes corn and they would string beans up on a string in the house if I'm remembering right they called them leather britches. We'll thank you so much for your story's me and my wife love and miss the old days when we were kids helping our family in the garden and eating that good ole apple butter.it was a completely different world back then.may God bless you and yours.

I got recommend your channel last night and been watching continuously since. I really enjoy your knowledge, wisdom and all the history. Thanks for sharing.! I'm located in NW Oklahoma and my mother's side great grand parents were farmers during the dust bowl.! It was a rough time. My great grand father went and played professional baseball for the Yankees. LoL But on my father's side was from your neck of the woods!! Yes that's where I get most of my Cherokee blood from. I've never gotten to come see all that beautiful area but me and my wife of almost 25 years pray one day we will get too..!! Thanks again and look forward to more of your content.! I pray the good Lord continues to Bless you and your family..!!

My grand parents were farmers during the depression and they taught me many of the things u talked about/ they were very smart people to be able to keep what they had during that time

Real American stories and history. The greatest generation ever, I pray their strength is passed down to us for todays trials. Thank you so much for sharing. Hard work is missing in the vocabulary today.

I learned a lot from your videos mr Donnie. Thanks for sharing with us your mountain hospitality!

Donnie my heart hurts watching this video. but is happy at the same time that your bringing back what I want more than anything and that is family ways.I’m 51 this year and have seen families that don’t even speak to each other anymore. So disrespectful and cruel. I have 4 grown children and haven’t seen 3 of them in over a year. They never come see me or their mom and we are just now realizing this has caused us both health issues from all the stress. We make mountain medicines and live off the land but a person has to get their emotions together and that’s what we are working on. I say all that to say your videos are the recipe to show people we can make it through all these tough times. Those hardships are what made people depend on each other and respect one another. Today not so much. So again thanks for your stories and you are making a difference at least I can feel the spirit you have!

Yup, country folk know what hard work is all about

I love listening to your stories. My grandparents lived through the depression and my mom was born right at the end of it. But she picked up what grandma learned during that time. Lots of canning and saving. My grandma had a 4th grade education, but you couldn't tell it. I remember as a kid going mushroom foraging in Kentucky with her and grandpa. Best memory of them.

My parents were born 1928 & 1929 Finger Lakes NYS. Wore shoes with cardboard bottoms. Had numerous fruit trees and a huge garden. As kids we had to get lost when the assembly line of canners were in the kitchen. My nephew, family name sake, hunts today. Venison every year. Every dime matters folks. Trade, barter today. Traded fire pit wood for a neighbor's squash recently. Stay united.

Hillbilly ingenuity is making something out of nothing. A HR lady once asked me at a job interview what was my strong point. I said Resourceful. Thank you momma and daddy ,Mamaw and papaw for teaching me.