I am glad they use the word Hollow. I grew up in the Shensndoah Valley and the word was Hollow, but where I live now, in East Tennessee, they say and spell it Hollar. Which I say means yell. One local woman told me that they were called Hollars because people had to yell to each other. I told her where I grew up, a hollow was a small valley. We did not communicate well. Kitty ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carole D. Bryant" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2012 3:57 PM Subject: Re: About bedcovers... was inventory > "Hollow Folk" ! I reckon those folk were anything but "hollow" ! Such > living most often results in solid personal character -- the kind of > people > some of us would like to have for neighbors ! ! ! Kind and generous, > honest > and faithful, God-fearing and spiritually strong. > > I know my comment is a bit "off subject," but I couldn't resist. The term > just jumped out at me. There are exceptions, of course, but generally > our > "soft living" today is producing an unkind and greedy, deceitful and > incompetent, immoral and spiritually dead society ! Give me the old > "hollow > folk" ANY day ! > > Carole D. Bryant > > > > > In a message dated 11/18/2012 3:19:52 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, > [log in to unmask] writes: > > Carolyn, what a nice response. Many of my kin came to the Shenandoah > Valley in the 1730s. I can't imagine how tough the conditions were while > they tried to put up a cabin. I look at how spoiled I am (can't be too > warm or too cool) and wonder how, genetically, my line survived. > > Your comments reminded me of a book I read ...Hollow Folk by Mandel > Sherman > and Thomas R. Henry. It was written in 1933 and tells of life in the > hollows on the Blue Ridge Mountains. From the tone of your email....I > think you may enjoy it. > > Regards, > Madaline > > > > On Sun, Nov 18, 2012 at 10:11 AM, Carolyn Bruce <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> Quantities of blankets, quilts, and coverlids (a.k.a. counterpanes or >> "countypins") were necessary in homes in which there was no central > heat... >> and if the fire went out, no heat at all. Most homes were of wood and >> had >> no insulating materials. In addition, kinfolks might come to stay >> awhile, >> often around the holidays... maybe with numerous children, which would >> require providing pallets or some form of bedding to be able to sleep >> everyone comfortably. Straw or corn shucks would be stuffed into "straw >> ticks" which made rudimentary mattresses that were laid on the floor to >> accommodate visitors, especially young un's. >> >> My mother told of growing up in a house with all her brothers and > sisters >> (there were ten) at home at one time, sharing beds among them, two or > three >> in a bed. There were two upstairs bedrooms, one for the boys and one for >> the girls... but come fall of the year, teachers often boarded at their >> house, and the boys were pushed out into an attic space. Cold wouldn't > even >> come close to describing the conditions. At times it was truly freezing > in >> the bedrooms and they would have to break ice on top of the water in the >> wash bowl and ewer to wash their faces when they arose. >> >> In the time frame of your "wagoner", it was even colder than in the 20th >> century, at least in the U.S. and Europe. Around 1700, it was so cold in >> the area known as Alsace-Lorraine, it is said that birds froze in flight >> and fell from the sky. Heavy snows fell in most of Europe, and canals >> and >> streams froze. Remember Hans Brinker, the poor boy (and his sister) who >> competed in the traditional speed-skating race from one town to the next > on >> the frozen canal? And all those snowy Currier and Ives prints from that >> period? That was during a centuries-long dip in temperatures that >> started >> in the early 1300s and ended about the mid-1800s... called the "Little > Ice >> Age". So your wagoner would have been most appreciative of having a >> large >> stockpile of warm blankets and other bedcovers, as would most of his >> neighbors. >> >> Thank goodness for central heat. >> >> Carolyn >> >> -- >> Carolyn HALE BRUCE >> Virginia Beach, VA >> >> >> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the >> instructions >> at >> > http://listlva.lib.va.us/**archives/va-roots.html<http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html> >> > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html > > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html