How Granny Made Her Own Egg Money — 12 Old Appalachian Ways Mountain Women Kept Money of Their Own

My granny raised a family on a mountain that never paid her a wage, and she still kept a little money of her own that nobody in the house knew was there. We think of a mountain woman as having no money at all. She had her own, every cent of it, and she made it herself and answered to nobody for how she spent it. They called it egg money, and it was a great deal more than eggs. It came out of the henhouse and the garden and the churn, off the hillside and out of the oven. And most of it was never cash at all. It was trade, and the book of it was kept in her head. I'm Ada Fugate. I was raised on Rockhouse Creek in Letcher County, Kentucky, and I did most of my growing up at my granny's stove up Laurel Branch. In this one, twelve ways she made money that was hers alone: the GARDEN when it got ahead of us — wild BLACKBERRIES and dried apples — the CHICKENS, and not just the eggs — BUTTER with her own mark pressed in the top — spare MILK for the folks caught between cows — HERBS and 'SANG dried in the rafters and sold to the wagon man — her apple STACK CAKE, spoke for at every wedding and every funeral — feeding BOARDERS off the timber crews — QUILTING through the cold months — JARS traded at the store — the ROLLING STORE that came up the creek, and why she hardly ever touched a coin — and the EGG MONEY itself, the one money in the house that was hers to decide, and what she did with it. It was never really about the eggs. It was about having a little that was hers. Tell me down in the comments whether the women in your family kept a little money of their own, and how they made it. Was it the eggs, or the butter, or something else. Tell me what county her kitchen was in, and what her name was. Granny's kitchen year, the cooking and the getting by both, is going into a book. It's coming soon. CHAPTERS: 0:00 The money nobody knew Granny had 2:07 12. The garden, when it got ahead of us 2:54 11. Wild berries and dried apples 3:44 10. The chickens, not just the eggs 4:25 9. Butter with her own mark 5:22 8. Spare milk for the neighbors 6:01 7. Herbs and 'sang from the hillside 6:55 6. What she baked to order 7:41 5. Feeding the boarders 8:33 4. Quilting and mending through the cold 9:16 3. Jars traded at the store 9:55 2. The trade, and the rolling store 10:55 1. The egg money, and what it was for 12:14 Her dozen, and where to start #eggmoney #appalachianhistory #oldways