Any One Here Read any of the Fox Fire Books?

C

cddogfan1

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Jul 15, 2008
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I have just discovered this forum a couple months ago and heve been lurking mostly. But long enogh to get hooked. I have notices a lot of people making refrence to reading the turn of the century writtings of Kephart and Nesmuk. I was wondering if any any one here has reads any of the Fox Fire series books. They are full of lots of good info. The deal with them is they started years ago 50's or 60's. A high school english class started interviewing older people in the North Georgia Mountains (start of the Appalichain) and they recorded the old ways of doing things. Mountain Living style. Anway a lot of good information that carries over to bushcrafting , wilderness survival and primative living. They are still published today but the earlier versions are the best.
 
Seems like I read one back in the 60s or 70s. Whenever the Whole Earth Catalogue was popular. It's all a bit hazy.
 
Yes, I have a couple of the books and still dig into them on occasion looking for some hard to find information. Good stuff.
 
Aye, I think I've read most of them, and I know I've got one (either #5 or #7 I want to say) in one of my half-dozen bookcases here somewhere. I think I'll check the rest out of my local library again though, thanks for bringing them up! Some great reading in those books.
 
I may be wrong, but I think I remember a how-to on making black powder. It showed how to extract salt peter (potassium nitrate) from bat guano. I guess you were supposed to find sulfur around hot springs or something.
 
Do not rember the gun powder. I have not read all of them but there is all kind of great stuff butchering, food preservation, trapping, hunting, log cabin building and on and on. My great grand father was interviewed a couple of time.
 
there should be more collections of that info. My mom works with seniors who love to tell stories of settling the land (most are the children of homesteaders). Plus all the stories of making moonshine whiskey during prohibition, and hiding from the police. cool stuff, and lost secrets.
 
cddogfan1 said:
My great grand father was interviewed a couple of time.
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That's pretty cool!
I was very taken with the Foxfire books back in my hippie days. Think my Dad still has some of my old ones at his place; he became a fan of them too.
 
I had a real collection of them when I was in the service. Started around '77 and bought them whenever they appeared in Germany on the post bookstore. I should have a lot of them around somewhere but I don't know exactly where or how many have survived. I do remember wanting to try some of the stuff that they wrote about.

Keith
 
DOC-CANADA said:
Foxfire Volumes 1-4 are free downloads here. Just scan down the page a bit. Lots of other free downloads, too.

Doc
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That's very cool Doc. I remember reading various Firefox books, and I recall that the first three or four were the most interesting to me as a younger man. So I will definitely check this link out, and see if they still as good as they once were.
 
The 60's and 70's were a bit hazy horn Dog? Sounds like you had an interesting time back in the day. I think the quote was "if you can remember it you weren't really there".
 
I have a complete set and injoy the old time atitude of the people as much as the information.
I came acros 2 volumes of a similar type book called The Loblolly Book it has a more East Texas flavor which is close to my heart.
 
I've never read them, but do remember when I was when in 8th grade, one of the other guys did one of his book reports on them. When he presented his report, he handed out instructions on how to make moonshine...
 
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