Searching For The Appalachian Whangdoodle

"Primitive Things of Toil and Love" 3 Pictures of Some Items Mentioned in Article Following Upper left, J-Grab a safety feature Lower left, meal scoop with thumb print Upper right, plow made from tree fork Lower right, Satan hand-carved plaque 4 Searching For The Appalachian Whangdoodle by FRED J. CARTER I am the founder and director of Cumberland Museum, Inc., Clintwood, Virginia. This museum is a non-profit corporation that seeks to preserve mountain man's culture and heritage. The museum displays a tremendous collection of those "primitive things of toil and love" formerly used in our area and, more generally, the Appalachian mountain range. Visitors from almost all states have visited the museum, saying such things as, "Wonderful, nothing like it anywhere, the best in Virginia by far," etc. The man that came this day was different: in his thirties, dark hair, black eyes, sharp face, something a little cynical about him. After thoroughly examining many displays, items and crafts, he approached me with a slight frown: "Are you the one that got this all together?" "Yes," I said, 'Tm the man." "All this?" He waved his hand in a sweep that took in most of the museum. "AU this, and the second floor, all this is yours? You did it all?" "Yes," I said. "How many years have you been at it?" He looked at me sharply and continued, "A hell of a lot of money in this!" "Yes, twenty years and a lot of money." Again his brow wrinkled, and he asked in a tight voice: "May I ask why? Why? Why did you do it? All this effort, the time, the money—why?" "Isn't it obvious, the answer why?" I replied. "The museum speaks for itself, it shows how it was, the tools they used, their way of life. AU of this should be preserved —it simply needed to be done." He seemed a little agitated: "Frankly, I think it's all a bunch of junk! True, it would bring a lot of money to sell it to other collectors. But really, what value is it? To save mountain man's culture—what was his culture? What heritage has he left you? What was the Appalachian way of life? What is there worth saving? You would not do what he did! Would you have his way of life—even if you could?? Isn't all this reaUy a myth?" I said, "It's clear you are not a mountain man. I am Carter, director of this museum. Where are you from?" "I am Tony Sacko. I teach at the University of Kentucky. I have a degree in computers , and teach it. A lot of my students are from this area, and talk of the mountains, and some mention your museum. It is amazing and incredulous to me that anyone should do what you have done here. Wolfe said it: 'You can't go home, again.' You cannot go back. Who wants this? I repeat, of what value is it?" His face became sharp, his voice tight once more, his shoulders hunched up with tension. "My grandfather raised me in the shadows of the Chicago stockyard. Each time I go back in time I can smell my past. He was able to obtain meat by devious means and sell it through his little o meat shop. He weighed everything to the half ounce and threw nothing away. The meat he could not sell he saved for us. Such things as brains, guts, testicles, lungs, kidneys he made into a stew, saying that the vital organs were the best part, and did special things for us in special ways. He soaked the blood from the floor with sawdust, then mulched his garden with it. Every thread, every pin, every nail, he saved." "This grandfather, who was so stingy, did he send you to college?" I asked. "Yes, he did, but I am not grateful, not at this time. I am still so close to 'my culture' that I do not like to think of it. What is Üiere of my culture of value? Would it be worth saving? Who could it possibly help? I want...