Hillbillies?

[Wilma]

On another thread I made a reference to Elk County hillbillies.  Nobody seemed to take offense at the term and it was not meant to be derogatory.  But when we moved to Elk County from Sedgwick County in 1947, it was very different from what I had known all my life.  You wouldn't think that there was even a difference in the way people spoke and talked.  After all, it was only a matter of about 70 miles.

I was used to wheat fields that extended half way into the ditches.  Over here there was a 10 foot uncultivated strip just inside the fences.

I was used to flat land and one could see for miles.  Over here there were the hills and the trees.  Fields of Christmas, er--cedar trees.  They were beautiful and I still enjoy seeing them even though they take up valuable pasture space.

About the only hunting was rabbits.  Over here there were quail, prairie chicken, ducks and geese, not to mention the other wild critters that I never did learn to like.  Fishing was in creeks and rivers.  We didn't know anything about farm ponds.

Trees were not plentiful except along streams and rivers.  We never saw colorful trees in the fall except for maybe the cottonwoods.  Over here, lots of trees and the hills that fall were exceptionally beautiful.. Having never seen anything like it before, it was a treat to me and still is.

There was never any question of going to high school.  It was a given.  You graduated from the eighth grade and went on to high school and a few even made it to college.  Over here the boys were more likely to stop school after the eighth grade if they even made it that far.  And nobody thought anything about it.

But what created the term hillbilly in reference to Elk County people was the way they talked.  As I have said before, my mother would not tolerate poor grammar.  She said it made us sound trashy and she was bound that we wouldn't be thought that.  Ain't was a forbidden word in our house as were the 4 letter words that are so common now.  In fact, my grammar and manner of speaking was so that I was chosen to play the part of the visiting English woman in our senior play.  Elk Countians were much more relaxed in their speech and more colorful.  I had never heard anything like it except in movies.

And how do I feel about it now?  I am still here, aren't I?

[Diane Amberg]

Yep, yo' sho' is!

[Judy Harder]

Just think, Wilma........I am a product of the big city of Topeka.
Use to city bus routes  and wall to wall people.......and traffic
and lots of places to shop and attend concerts and lots of different
and varied entertainment.

what there wasn't  was the relaxed nature of people...and the fact that we can
be who we are and accepted as that. (course, we all want to fit in) But, I
really blossomed when I got to this rural area of Kansas.

After all they call this area the foothills of the Ozarks and I love going barefoot and
tried at one time to smoke a pipe...........corncob don't you know.....didn't have enough wind
to inhale..LOL

Love where I am and altho I like to go visit and do know my way around Topeka and am getting use to
Kansas City traffic........I am always happy to be home and just one of the hillbillies. 

thanks for the reminder that I do like it where I am.  I get grumpy some days and then start to
think about heading back up there.

Hugs and God bless