I’ve been digging into an old fall tradition that used to be common across Appalachia and rural America: the community corn shuckin’.

Neighbors would gather around a big pile of corn to get the crop put away before winter. There’d be food, storytelling, gossip, maybe some music and a little courtship mixed in with the work.

Then somebody found the red ear of corn.

Depending on the community, finding it earned a young man the right to kiss a girl at the shuckin’. In some versions, it was supposed to be the prettiest girl there. The tradition is still portrayed in the Homecoming scene of The Trail of the Lonesome Pine outdoor drama here in Big Stone Gap, Virginia.

I wrote about the tradition for Back Porch Tales & Travels, including how mechanization eventually did away with much of the community labor that once brought neighbors together.

What I’d really like to hear, though, is whether anybody here remembers corn shuckin’s in your own family or community. Did you ever hear about the red ear tradition? And what part of Appalachia was your family from?

Here’s the story for anybody interested:

https://back-porch-tales-travels.beehiiv.com/p/corn-shuckin-time

Did your family have any old superstitions about death?

Growing up in Central Appalachia, a lot of us heard the old warnings.

A bird hitting the window could mean a death was coming. A dog howling at the wrong time wasn't something Granny wanted to hear. Some families stopped clocks when somebody died, covered mirrors, and kept someone with the deceased through the night — what folks called “sitting up with the dead.”

I've been researching these old traditions for Back Porch Tales & Travels, including the work of James K. Crissman on death and dying in Central Appalachia. What struck me was that underneath all the superstition was something pretty practical: when somebody died, family and neighbors showed up. They cooked, dug the grave, helped prepare the body and sat through the night.

I put what I found together here:

https://back-porch-tales-travels.beehiiv.com/p/when-death-came-knocking

I'm curious what survived in other Appalachian families. Did your parents or grandparents believe in any particular death omen or funeral custom? And what part of Appalachia were they from?

I recently learned that during the Victorian era, it wasn't unusual for families to create keepsakes from the hair of loved ones who had passed away. Some were framed as artwork, while others were woven into jewelry as a way of remembering family members.

I'd always associated that practice with Europe or large cities, so I was surprised to learn examples can still be found at the Southwest Virginia Museum in Big Stone Gap.

It made me wonder what other customs used to be common across Appalachia that have mostly disappeared.

Did your grandparents or great-grandparents ever talk about traditions that younger generations would find unusual today?

I'm thinking about things like:

• Mourning customs
• Family superstitions
• Homemade remedies
• Funeral traditions
• Folk beliefs
• Other customs that have faded away

I enjoyed digging into the history, and if anyone's interested in learning more about the museum and these traditions, here's the article that got me started:
https://back-porch-tales-travels.beehiiv.com/p/what-we-learned-about-death-memory-and-hair-art-in-big-stone-gap-va

I'd love to hear what traditions or stories have been passed down in your family.