Many things have changed over the last 100 years. But just think, there are people that are alive now that have experienced some monumental changes in the way we live and work!
100 years ago, you could purchase land in Western North Carolina for a dollar an acre. From those acres, you could cut enough good chestnut logs to build a cabin that could stand to this very day! Of course, you would have to saw down the trees with a long saw, square the logs one at a time with a broad ax, cut the dovetail joints and set the logs in place.
Some logs could be split in half and used as flat puncheons for flooring, and long, straight tulip poplars could be transformed into rafters. The shingles would be split from oak, one at a time and carefully attached to the roof system.
Stones collected from the property would be gathered and assembled into foundation pilings, chimneys and fireplaces. Nearly every cabin would have a porch for sitting outside while doing chores such as shelling peas or churning butter.
Water was available from a clear spring or a hand dug well. As trees were cleared for crop fields, they would serve as material for constructing outbuildings such as chicken coops and smokehouses, and also cut and split for winter fuel.
Although there was little need for cash money, it took a lot of hard work just to survive. In the "Back of Beyond1" and the "Land of Do Without2" it was necessary to provide for ones own needs with whatever was readily available!
It was a hard life, but people survived and some even prospered. When we think of how bad things appear to be right now, let's look instead at all of the blessings that we have. These are incredible times, and we have come a long way in a hundred years!
Photo of the Cook Cabin in Little Cataloochee Courtesy of Richard Weisser and SmokyPhotos.com
- Horace Kephart, Our Southern Highlanders
- Ibid.
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Richard Weisser, Broker, Associate Broker, Auctioneer, E-Pro, CE Instructor |
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All content, including text, original art, photographs and images, is the exclusive property of Coweta Fayette Real Estate, Inc., and may not be used without the expressed written permission of Coweta Fayette Real Estate Better Homes and Gardens Metro Brokers, Newnan Georgia. All information is believed to be accurate but is not warranted, Copyright 2003-2009. Richard Weisser REOS, E-Pro. licensed Auctioneer. 770-827-6225.
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Hi Richard. It sounds like you have actually built a log cabin! My wife complimented your picture.
Ken
Hi Richard. You are so right. I was caught acting ridiculous the other day. I have a buyer who is a former Catholic priest. He and his new wife met in an impoverished country, fell in love, got married and the rest is history. He was referred to me by his sister, an affluent client of mine. She was trying to convince him that he absolutely needed an ice maker. He didn't think he did. Then I chimed in, saying "I couldn't live without an ice maker". He smiled at me kindly, but I could read his mind. How silly. There are many things perhaps that I couldn't live without, but an ice maker? The only ice my grandmom had was the ice the iceman brought to keep her "icebox" cold! And I can't live without ice on the door of my fridge? It was an eye opener for me.
Ken...
I have seen and photographed many, and read a lot about it, but I have never built one! Tell your wife "thank you very much!"
Susan...
How often do we say: I can't live without..." OK, I know your age because you gave it away here! How many things are there in existence today, that were not invented when we were kids, that we would say we couldn't live without? And yet, somehow, we lived without them in our former lives! lol
Richard-I love the richness and quality of this blog. I think a lot of things may have been harder back then but definitely much simpler with more of a innocence. It truly it such a different world now than 100 yrs ago. Some wonderful and definitely better and then some I'm not so sure about. We take a lot of things for granted nowadays that our parents and grandparents lived without and were better for it. It would be nice to be able to come back 100 yrs from now and see all the changes that would be so foreign to us as the past is now. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and insight.
Richard,
Always profound thoughts to ponder. My Grandma died three years ago.... She made it to 100 years. She remembered when you did without but she never really complained. It was a difficult life but a rewarding one. At least that is what Grandma said.
Ann
We do take for granted all of the modern conveinences we have so really, what do we have to gripe about.
Richard, I always enjoy your pics and skills.
Richard...your pictures WOW me every time I open your blog! The simpler times sound nice. I hate cell phones.....but they are a necessary evil in our business.
I am so glad we have the modern conveniences to rely on. Even if it does take a lot of dough.
Pat...
Thanks for all the kind words! Here' something that is unbelievable: from the time the Wright Brothers flew the first airplane at Kitty Hawk NC until the time the first man walked on the moon was only 66 years! Technology moves at an incredible pace!
Ann...
She did without a lot of stuff, and yet she lived to be 100! Makes you wonder how much WE can do without and live a long, healthy life!
Cameron...
We have so much! And thanks for the nice words!
Richard, so very true. Technology seems to almost be doubling every six to eight months for some items. Cell phone features are incredible...
Mandi...
I used to enjoy the onslaught of techno;logy ... now I hate it. Enough is enough. I spend more time learning than doing. I want to peel and core apples and spread them on a tin roof to dry! Thanks.
Pam...
I am going to write a blog one day about the greatest invention of all time! THX!
Carolyn...
I rarely use them ...the features that is! I like separate devices for separate functions, that way, if something goes awry, I don't have to worry about a HUGE expense replacing it!
Richard,
We all have to much stuff! but I do like the fact I don't have to put on my shoes to go outside to use the bathroom!
We take for granted the back breaking work that our forefathers had to do daily just to live. I tell my children every day that they are the lucky ones.
Darin...
I do believe that I have come to depend on the flush toilet! OK, so I'm weak, what can I say?
Laura...
And they believe you are making it up just like you thought YOUR momma was! lol and thanks.
Richard, you're right it was hard work 'back in the day', but I'm sure very rewarding. A couple of the comments made me think of George Carlin's comedy rant about 'STUFF'! :)
Likie my grandparents said...the good ol' days we very good, but very hard!
Richard- Someday I am going to right a memoir about my years on a 20 acre property in O'Brien, Oregon. We had a spring that was gravity fed to the cabin, an out house for awhile until we upgraded to a indoor bathroom! Our power was a generator that ran off propane as well as a propane refrigerator and stove. The cabin was there so we didn't build a cabin but we did do a lot of remodeling. We lived there almost 10 years. My 2 boys grew up on that property and thank us all the time for the opportunity to grow up a way that is disappearing rapidly. I know that I can live that way but would never choose it again. Been there done that!
Richard,
I expect we have lots of stuff we do not need. Similar to a child at Christmas, playing with the box instead of the toy. ;-)
Ann
This is an interesting way of looking at today's market. Perhaps I have been whining. I am glad I do not have to milk cows or pluck a chicken!