Christmas in Appalachia (1964) - Revisiting the CBS Special Report by Charles Kuralt with updates 

I'm 75 and had a rough time at Christmas. My father was an alcoholic and would come home from the bar drunk and on several occasions would either knock down the tree or pull the light plugs out of the wall and throw the tree across the room. I would get an orange and usually one gift and that was it. We didn't have much either, but I didn't look for anything. I'm alone now and never decorate anymore. The moral of my story is to be grateful for what you do have, love your family and be kind to others. My love to all.

I was 2 years old when this was filmed. I went to school with some of the children of these families. Today I live maybe a half mile from Pert Creek. It's a lot better. The funny thing about being raised in these mountains is no matter where in the world you go your never content until your back home. I am proud to be Appalachian.

I live on Pert Creek near the mouth of the 'holler.' I just wanted to say that the people featured in this film were/are some of the finest. sincere and honest you could ever hope to meet. The Bakers, Sandlins and Wests are still represented in our little community. Jimmy Baker, brother to Nathan and Freddy still lives on the homeplace. I also want to say that I am proud to come from Pert Creek and just as proud to call the members of these families my friends!

Wealth is meaningless. These people are as sweet and genuine as they come.

Thanks for posting this video! I'm one of the children singing in the front row. 😊

How I so admire Charles Kuralt. Who else did stories like this on a regular basis to show us the real America? How I miss him. A true journalist.

I am English and I have visited this area many many times , not just the nice places but the small villages and the backwaters . I have always found the people to be genuine, kind, generous, honest and good folk . I would rather live with them than the money people and their false way of life . God bless them all m

My Uncle Jack was a child of parents that traveled the South picking cotton for a living. He was moved from school to school and teased for being so poor. One teacher told him not to come back to school until he had nicer overalls, and a pair of shoes (he went barefoot). He told her "Ma'am these is the only overalls I got, and I ain't got no shoes." She said "Then don't come back here." (Breaks my heart!) My Uncle Jack was the sweetest man you could ever meet, and even without a formal education, he fought in WWII, and became a loving minister for the remainder of his life.

I saw a magazine spread about the poverty in Appalachia as a kid. It looked just like my home, except we had an indoor toilet that froze in the winter. I was shocked to realize we were poor. I just don’t know how I didn’t notice…Dad’s back was broken in a work accident. Mom was pregnant with her 6th child. I was the first woman from Creek County, OK to ever enlist in the military. It was my ticket out of poverty.

well this is sure heartbreaking for sure. But I was raised in the hills of WV. Yes there was moonshine sold to make ends meet sometimes. But we ate squirrels, we raised hogs chickens and planted a garden and put up for the winter We dug coal out of the bank accross the creek and used it for heat momma made our clothes from the pretty feed sacks flour came in. Daddy sold hogs for new shoes for us or sold a calf for shoes We didnt have water in the house but our house was scrubbed and clean and we hauled water in for heating on the stove for baths and momma made soap from lye made from wood ash we churned our own butter but we werent poor daddy made our toys he whitteled out wood and momma made dolls for us. Daddy traded for books and an Brittania encyclopedia with only a few letters missing. By the time I was 10 I had read Charles Dickens and Mark Twain books. School was sometimes not all the time. We were rich not poor. Clean not dirty.

My mom and dad got fruit and nuts for Christmas. They grew up to become the Greatest Generation. They actually learned subjects in school, weren't able to graduate high school, survived the Great Depression, and won World War II. They led America into the greatest years of its history. Not a bad legacy for people who grew up without Christmas trees.

I’m Native American, when I was very young I remember living on government Commodity foods. My favorite was when my mom made pancakes and use corn syrup. I had no idea that the Appalachian areas also got commodity food. Also thank you for this video. I’ll be watching all other videos any thing about Appalachian documentaries. By the way my parents took us off the reservation. We settled in Idaho. Where my dad started working for a farmer and had income coming in.

I B( Iven Burel) Johnson and Calvin ( Much) Johnson are my Great-uncles. The house over Goldie's shoulder with smoke coming out the chimney is where I grew up. I was born in 1961. Mickey and Rita are my cousins. Mickey lives at Bevinsville KY. He is a retired coalminer. Rita moved away for work. And the last account I had of her is she married a KY State Trooper and lived in Owensboro KY. The little girl looking at the catalog ( Paula) passed away a few years ago . She had a gallbladder surgery and had complications from that. The lady sitting beside her ( Patty Rodgers) her Mom. Passed away from Covid-19 in 2020. Yes we were poor. To most. But we were Happy. And Thankful. Things did get better for everyone. As far as stuff or things, however you want to say it. But a lot of the simple things and Happiness.Well it's kinda gone. I myself married and left Weeksbury when was 18 years old. I ended up living just outside Nashville Tennessee for about 10 years. I have since moved back to the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. Yeah things got hard sometimes. My memories are bitter sweet. We didn't have much, but we really Loved each other. We knew that people were more important than things. And guys God always makes a way. I still have my Hope even today.

My grandmother was born and raised in the northwest corner of the lower peninsula of Michigan. She passed two weeks before her 100th birthday five years ago. She always told stories of her childhood. She was the youngest of five children and her mother passed when she was only five years old. Her eldest sister who was 14 became the fill-in mom for the children and especially to my gma. She told of many years, her Christmas gifts were an orange, maybe a peppermint stick or a handful of walnuts or perhaps a new pair of socks or mittens. There wasn't anything frivolous. What she always wanted was a baby doll and she never got one. She did have a rag doll or two over the years. In the early 1980s when she was in her 70s, my mom thought it was finally time and gave her a baby for Christmas. My grandpa started to say something and my mother made a noise and gave him a look that told him that he best not say a word. Gma's eyes filled with tears as she hugged her baby doll and placed her on her pillow every single morning. Mom had found a porcelain dolly that was a replica to dolls from the late teens, early 20s. She was lovely and made Gma very happy.

My grandma who is passed, but was born in 1903 use to tell me about a hair bow she got for Christmas. It made her so happy and that was all she got.

My dad grew up just like this on the Tennessee/Georgia line. I have a hell of a lot of respect for folks that lived like this. Always will.

My mother grew up with 11 siblings in rural Alabama. My grandfather was a sharecropper, so money was always tight. But my grandparents somehow managed a new coloring book and crayons for each child, and an orange and apple in the stockings with some peppermint. They were dirt poor, but my mom said she didnt know any better until after she had grown.

I was 14 when Christmas in Appalachia was filmed. When I saw the boy with his shoes hardly covering his feet, I wanted to reach back in time and help so he could attend school. Automation was the downfall of these people who worked so very hard and forced them into terrible poverty. Seeing this film made me realize how absolutely wonderful my childhood was.

My Dad was a Coal Miner and I grew up In Appalachia, Virginia.....this video was so hard to watch I cried all the way through it. Thanks for sharing ....

I wish the people of today that actually have it really good, but do nothing but complain about how bad they think they have it , would watch this.

I come from a family of 8 children. I am number 7 in the line-up. We grew up in a prosperous little midwestern town, but we were poor. My parents worked hard all the time to barely make ends meet. When it is talked about in this documentary about the one family getting $56 per month in food stamps I gasped. My daddy spent $28 per month to feed ten people. I remember those days all too well. I remember not putting a stocking out for Christmas because I knew there would be nothing in it come Christmas morning. Christmas was just another day in our house. A few years in my growing up we had a little for Christmas, but it was rare. I haven't forgotten where I come from and where I am now. I am grateful for all that was taught to me on how to survive with grace. I haven't forgotten that my parents were generous to others in need when we barely had enough for ourselves. I knew others who were poorer than we were. It was a silent thing in our community. The poor were never spoken of. The poor were left to their own resources. The poor were left out of the community. We were lepers even though we were humans just like everyone else. Sometimes even the hardest working people fall on hard times. I wish I could say we didn't feel the sting of our hard times, hard life. It's a sad life to be poor monetarily. I thank God the Father I no longer live that way. None of my siblings live that way. We grew up, got jobs, made a new life for ourselves. But, none of us has ever forgotten where we came from.

I grew up during this time period. Not in Appalachia but for a time we were very poor. My favorite Christmas memory is the year we didn’t have any decorations for the tree but my mom was able to buy a small Christmas tree at the hardware store. She bought some glitter, sequins and plastic cups. We made our own decorations that year. My brothers and I sat at the kitchen table with Elmer’s glue and styrofoam cups making bells for the tree. We got stocking that year with fruits and nuts. It really was the most wonderful Christmas ever. Things don’t make you happy, relationships with your loved ones do.

I grew up poor in WV. I had no idea I was poor until middle school and I didn't even care because all my friends were poor, too. My whole street was poor, but very well kept. Every yard was clean and mowed. We cared about the little we had.

I would've been around 6 yrs old when this documentary was made. Reminded me so much of the way a lot of folks lived in Belspring, Parrott & Highland. Its weird but I can remember Charles Kuralt being on TV. I remember my great-aunt who had a wooden leg would have to come stay with us & I slept in same bed with her. It would fascinate me to watch her take her leg off at bedtime & spit her snuff out in a spitoon beside the bed. Our house was heated with wood & coal, mama cooked on a wood stove until daddy redid the kitchen & added on the bathroom. We had a cistern out back we'd pump our water from. I can remember holding my hand under it & getting a drink of the best cold water ever! Mama did laundry on an old wringer washer & I loved to help her! Then the clothes would be hung up on a clothesline to dry. That was another thing that caught my attention in the documentary. We didn't have any indoor plumbing until I was 13! But we had a 2-seater outdoor toilet! I remember there always was a huge garden I helped in, we had chickens, fruit trees & hogs my daddy raised & killed around Thanksgiving & would kill & clean them for others too. We had a smokehouse daddy treated ham & hung in it & we had a cellar below it where all the canned stuff was kept. I don't ever remember being without food or clothes. Daddy & mama drove a dump truck loaded with coal out of WVa at times & mama would pick up copper wiring out of junk to sell. Then daddy got a job at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant & things got a little better for us. My sister is 7 years older than me; mama was 37 when I was born in 1958. My oldest sister was 17 when I was born & got married the next month. I also have a brother who is 12 yrs older than me! So now we are 79, 74, 69, & I'm 62! I never got to know my grandparents & feel like I missed out on so much there, especially after having my own grandson. My mama grew up in Montgomery Holler in Pulaski County not far from where I live & my daddy's parents moved to Belspring from Patrick County. He had several kin folk in Floyd, VA too. I remember when he passed away in 2004, my husband took me out riding one day & I had him stop at an old cemetery up from Mayberry Funeral Home in Floyd. I was able to use a cane then & remember finding several graves that had my daddy's last name on them. I called my oldest sister from my cell & was asking her if she remembered any of the names. I did find my daddy's cousins' graves. She asked me what in the world was I doing walking thru a cemetery & I told her I just wanted to know more about family I'd missed out on knowing. I like visiting old cemeteries for some reason. We've stopped at several on the Parkway. I think its just missing part of my family I don't know about. Sorry for this being so long, Shane, but the documentary really touched my heart. Thank you so much for all you do. God bless you.

I was 4 and living in New York at the time when this was filmed. At that age we didn't know/learn about those who were much poorer than us. Even when we grew older we never did. I always thought at my young age that everyone got a dolly or a record player or new clothes under the tree. We never wanted for anything at Christmas. When I became a parent I did learn about those much less fortunate than we were and I instilled that onto my 3 kids...now adults and I'm happy and proud to say that they are so thoughtful and giving. We always donate our time and money to those less fortunate. That's what Christmas is to us. Giving and not receiving. Happy Holidays to everyone. 12/19/22

Jag var två år när denna film spelades in, och med en syskonskara på 11 barn, var vi så långt från välfärd som man bara kan komma, trots min uppväxt i landet Sverige, som räknades även då som ett välfärdsland. Det fanns och finns fattiga människor även i dagens Sverige tyvärr. Det som slår mig när jag ser denna film, är hur strävsamma, stolta men framförallt hur varma och vänliga dessa människor var (är). Jag vill tacka så hjärtligt för denna film, som visar hur situationer och omständigheter kan vara lika världen över. God Bless You

I think if I was Charles Kuralt and I did this story, there is no way I could leave there and not get at least one small gift for each of those kids. And I would have bought each family a ham or chicken or something.

My family is all buried in Harlan (Resthaven) now. Georgia and Ben Baker were my grandparents. I was born in the miners hospital in 63 and remember the smell of the coal stoves when I was young. My family sure could cook. Honestly, everybody up in the mountains could cook ❤️❤️

I'm so glad the CBS documentary ended with the mother reading the story of the birth of Jesus, and also the way in which Charles Kuralt summed up that picture of faith being instilled in the little girl. Thank you for your words in the close of the overall video as well. The story of "Christmas" is for everyone, it is the birth the savior Jesus Christ: it is eternal hope. It was this woman reading that story, in the midst of her and her family's grinding poverty, that reminded me of this. It is a gift, Jesus Christ and his salvation is the gift...the only gift. It is a gift given to all, available for all to receive. Thank you so very much for bringing me back to this perspective. It is sad that there are so many who feel that Christmas is afforded only for those able to purchase & give gifts. Christmas is for everyone and this woman who read the story to her daughter gave more than can ever be purchased from monetary means.

Born and raised here in eastern Kentucky myself I can say that this really hit me hard. My father was a coal miner (yes I am a coal miners daughter's and proud to be) he worked his life away underground until developing the black lung disease. He did the work just like it showed in this video until all the equipment came in. He sacrificed his life for his family, he went underground everyday not knowing if he would come out. I was fortunate to be born in 82' so we had a decent big school and buses so we didn't have to walk to school. My dad and mom made sure we had great Christmas's together. We were not rich by any means but I never had to go through what these kids did. Breaks my heart to see this but it also reminds me of my roots and and where I come from, which is a place filled with loving caring people. These people have always needed help but yet never really got the help they deserved. Anyone that has had to struggle for what they got has a different kind of way about them, and I think that is why I love the people here so much. They have endured hard times but they are not bitter about it and try to make the best of it. 💕 💔

I wish everyone would watch this! The shop keeper was a wonderful man. The little girl, I just loved her and her mother. I wish I could have reached thru here and gave that little boy some of my grandsons clothes and shoes and that I could buy that baby a wagon.

Elzie Hall is my father-in-law. He's a great guy. Elzie still lives in the area where he was raised.

I was 2 weeks old when this was made. My Mom comes from WV. 60 miles from the Kentucky border. She lived in a shack with a dirt floor. Her Dad was a drunken coal miner and her Mom was a house wife trying to keep food on the table and clothes on there backs. It was a horrid upbringing. My grandma died of lung cancer when my Mom was 13. Her Dad jumped ship so she became a Mom at the age of 13. Taking care of 4 kids from the ages of 9 months to 11 years. Her older brother was 16 and went to work in the mines to take care of the family till about 2 years later when there grandma called welfare and had them all taken away. They ended up in different places. My Mom was 15 her younger brother was 10 and had polio. They got sent to a farm where an old farmer and his wife took in kids and used them for slave labor. The work was hard and with my uncle's disability he couldn't keep up and the old man started beating him so Mom picked up a shovel and beat the old man till some other kids pulled her away. He ended up in a trauma unit. They sent my Mom to a Catholic Nunery in Wheeling WV. With very little official schooling my Mom was self taught and graduated valedictorian of her class in 1958. My Mom moved to the YMCA and got a job working at the front desk at Wheeling hospital. She met my Dad in 59 got married in 60. Had 5 kids by 68 and was a housewife till she died in 2014. I remember stories Mom would tell me when she was growing up. There was no extra anything. For Christmas she got jacks and an apple if that. She told me when welfare came she didn't have any underwear and how ashamed she was. She hated where she grew up. She didn't go back till I was 8. It was the first time she'd seen her all her brothers and sister in 20 years. That was the only reason she went back was to see them. All her brothers became miners. We went to my Uncle Ronnies for the summers. It was fun for us. We'd never seen anything like that. They still had an outhouse. My uncle had livestock. A huge Veggie garden. Chickens, horses, pigs and it was all new to us. Not for my Mom tho. It brought back to many horrible memories. She loved seeing her siblings but everything about it she could have done without.

This made me feel so incredibly grateful for what I have. That store owner was a saint. Thank you, truly.

Wow this video really touched my heart that little boy with his shoes I had tears coming down my eyes I've had kidney problems this year and I wasn't able to afford a Christmas dinner or any presents for my daughter she is 13 I woke up Christmas day and she said Mommy look underneath the tree there's a present and I said there's a present?? Well yes Mom it's for you she had made me a keychain from school because I lost my keys and I needed a new keychain that is the best present I have ever had in my whole life we ate regular food that day and we watched Christmas movies and that was just the best Christmas I've ever had point blank thank you for sharing this God bless and stay safe everyone

There are too many places like this all over the United States. I only give to charities that only help people in the US. I believe in helping our own before helping the world. 🇺🇸

My parents were born in Appalachia mountains in Virginia in the 1930s. They tell me stories about growing up in that time. They were very poor but they didn't know it at the time! As children, they were grateful for what they had and were lucky to get a new pair of shoes for Christmas. Living back then was very hard but it raised up those people to be tough as nails.

I'm from the Appalachian region of NC. This paints a bleak picture, but there's also joy in that region. My heart lifts when I head up the mountainside. There's no place like it in the world.

I lost my dad a week before Christmas to the coal mine, back in 1948. We were poor and destitute. Mom took a job in a factory far away while my grandparents kept us until mom could find a home for us all. She managed to put together Christmas the year dad died and every year afterwards. Life did get better but loosing dad affected sis and I all our lives. When this film was made I was on my way to Nam. I saw Christmas in the jungle.

This brings back a lot of memories for me, some good, some not so good. We mainly had a hard candy Christmas. My favorite present was always a stocking filled with candy, nuts, Oranges and Tangerines. Simple things that we never got through the year, but meant the world to us at Christmas.

The lady speaks with such gentleness and meaning. What a lovely thing to hear her again.

I was 13 in 1964 and I am grateful for the Christmas joy my Mother and Father were able to give us. Family was the most important part but we had music, presents and church. A lot of our gifts were things we needed like socks and underwear but the children also each got toys and books. Also, I grew up understanding Christmas was about giving, today I give to charities with my money and time to the best of my ability. When my father died times were harder for a while, I was 17 but we made it through. Most people go through lean times, there is no shame in accepting help if you need it, especially for the children.

In this era (I would have been 13 in 1964), on a trip from PA to TN to see relatives, my parents drove us through some very poor areas in the Appalachians and I was so surprised to see rusted old tar paper shacks with people actually living in them with rundown appliances on their porches, soft coal hunks all over their dirt yards, and raggedly dressed kids. It was a real eye-opener for us kids who lived comfortable, not wealthy, lives. We had a nice house, plenty to eat, did chores, excelled in excellent schools, with well-trained teachers, had good medical care, church-going, enough books to feed our intellects and imaginations, etc. You would think these interviewed people in the Kuralt program lived in such poverty during the Depression but this is 1964! Nowadays I think there are a lot of urban poor people -- the kids getting free breakfasts and lunches here in Florida. Yes, there are more organizations that collect and distribute free school supplies, and there are charity shops where you can get pretty good clothes for cheap prices. But in these KY hollers there weren't Goodwills, you had to travel to get food, there was so little available. NO wonder the little girl is so pleased with her books she brought home from school. And these folks were proud, like anyone else, and didn't want to be beholden to anyone. That teacher who taught seven grades in one room, cooked the lunches, cleaned the school -- what a SAINT that woman was. Thanks for this. Kuralt was a fine telejournalist back in the day. This was an important documentary that more comfortable Americans NEEDED to see.

There is NOTHING wrong with these people! Hard working everyday folks! I grew up in east TN. We got by! It's all we knew. If ya never had much,then a person didn't know what it was like to have just the nessessary items and utilities! Everyone was poor,so there was not as much envy or condescending remarks about not being rich or wealthy. We. Helped each other in those days,now it's everyone out for themselves! These people are very proud too. Wouldn't ask for nothing from much of anybody! The meek shall inherit the earth. God helped these folks,because they are very religious! Had lots of children to help each other. Work the garden and livestock,to feed the family!!!!!

I am 76. I remember so much being little. Always wore hand me downs from welfare. I remember when someone would bring a basket of food at times. Thinking of my parents now my heart goes out to them. Dad would go to work sick or not. Grand father and uncles would work in mines too. I still remember the bean soup and corn bread. Two of my favorite food even today. God bless all the people that still live up in the mountains.

I was a senior in high school when this was filmed, I went to a 3 room elementary school and my school mates, many in such financial constraints they had no shoes or coats and in western Maryland it got very cold. My dad had a sawmill and milled crossties for the B&O railroad. He employed 5 or 6 men from the community. Most of the community didn't have jobs. Where this community was better off than the one portrayed in the film it was still poor. My mother was the postmaster for the community, made all my clothes except formal wear and made sure any clothes that no longer fit went to families that could use them. Dad would give firewood to families who could not pay. At 75 I am ashamed that I didn't appreciate the generosity of my parents.

I was born in 73 but I sure remember living exactly like them. Here in VA we had to Walk to the creek and get water and burned wood for heat.. I remember so much... like that ringer washing machine and the outhouse, cooking on that wood stove.. I think after we ate breakfast we had to put a pot of beans on to have for dinner.. I just love to watch things like this it makes me get into my own Life And feelings .

I was born in 1969, we lived pretty close to that. I remember being so completely grateful for my Christmas sock that had an orange, some peanuts and a candy cane in it. Usually one small toy and new gloves and a scarf. We just had a lot of love.

What never ceases to amaze me is how this cycle repeats itself over and over thruout history,even to today. Workers continually exploited,used up then discarded. Whether it be because the land has been stripped bare,automation or cheaper labor has been found elsewhere. It's good to see workers today trying to take back some of that power dynamic.

Wow, you have put together some really great videos. My family was from Letcher county just over Pine mountain from Cumberland, Ky. in a small town called Gordon. My grand father, Henry Sumpter owned a grocery store/ Texaco service station. He kept little book pads where people bought on credit. And like at Mitchells grocery store lots of them never paid their bills before moving or passing away. But he never let anybody go hungry. He also accepted script from people that were paid that way from the mines. My grandfather was from the Defeated Creek and Turkey Creek area before moving to Gordon. I remember we used to get a peppermint candy cane and nuts like English walnuts, Brazil nuts, hazel nuts etc. in the shells for Christmas. We always went out in the woods and cut a tree every year. I am one of the fortunate ones to have migrated from the hills of Kentucky and received an education for a better life. My older (84) brother passed away this year in Gordon after suffering from black lung as did other family members. Thanks soooo much for the memories. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The gentleness in the women’s eyes and voice at 6:10. What a lovely, dignified woman.

Goodness, this brings back memories of my dad's people. He was born in the Depression in southeast Kansas. For a few years, his daddy was a lead and zinc miner and the large family lived a decent life in Joplin, MO for a few years - even had running water. Both of my grandparents were from the Ozarks in Missouri, and Grandma just couldn't handle living in the "big city" of Joplin and said she would go back home unless she could live in the country. Ouch! She meant it and actually took off for home and her mama. Grandpa quit that good job and took work as a caretaker for "the man in the big house" outside of Baxter Springs, Kansas. I remember the house. It was tiny - a tiny kitchen, tiny sitting room and one tiny bedroom with an outhouse in the back. They didn't have a bathroom until the grown kids put one in sometime in the early 1970's. I suppose the ten kids bedded down wherever they could. Grandpa supplemented his income by being a truck farmer. They grew vegetables and he'd sell them in town from his truck, kept a hog or two each year, and I think they had a milk cow. A childhood picture of my dad surfaced a few years ago and it's heartbreaking. Hand-me-down pants that were 3 sizes too big tied up with a scrap of rope, shirt full of holes and no shoes. I remember he said he used to be jealous of the families that took welfare because at least they had shoes. Grandpa wouldn't hear of taking welfare. Not no way, not no how. All the children got a good education in spite of it all, and ended up living decent middle class lives. Some stayed in the area, others moved on, my dad being one of them. My grandparents both lived into their 90's, which amazes me considering the mining pollution in the area. One of my biggest memories of that old house was the stink of sulfur. It got into the well shortly after my dad was born, and that's what they had to use to drink, wash and cook with. No bottled water back in those days. Lord. I've written a book. Sorry about that. This video really got me in the guts.

Children are so dear and should be loved and protected always.

The staggering thing besides the needles abject poverty, is the dignity that all of these people had despite their circumstances! It's a kind of dignity rarely found across all class lines today.

Thank you for posting. I really liked your video about the people in Letcher and Floyd counties during the December 1964 Christmas season. Also, I appreciate your statement towards the end: "Don't confuse having material things with happiness . . . They had family, they had love, they had each other." I remember my family growing up in the San Fernando Valley in California in the early 60's. We didn't have much, but we had one another. And, most importantly, we knew that God existed. God bless you Leslie and your family!

Amazing. These folks, many only went to school through the 2nd grade, and their command of the English language is far superior to the college graduates of today!!

Great message at the end. Especially about the loss of faith. Faith pulled me through some excruciating times and also brought me to move mountains with a mustard seed. I have seen relatively well off family members as dark and unhappy as any people I have seen and they had loss their faith and they could never get enough money, property, sexual gratification or attention. I almost fell into that trap, but by the grace of God I was stricken off my high horse and reminded that I can't happily endure this terrestrial existence without Christ. Life and health issues will always throw boulders in our path. It makes it easier to ask God to help you cope with the struggle navigating around them.

It is a Beautiful message how humble as a child I came from 14 children I remember getting an orange and maybe a pair of white socks I was raised in Ireland great lesson and shared

It's important to preserve the history of Appalachia and for us to appreciate whatever it is we do have. My father was born in 1919. All my Uncles works in mining at one time or another. My Dad said he wore overalls his mother made out of flour sacks. The 1st time he went to Morgantown, he saw people wearing store bought clothes. He stoked the furnace at Morgantown U to pay his tuition.

Mr Karault had one of the most distinctive voices in the business. He clearly could have been the voice of the nation. Even when reporting on a difficult story as this, there is something authoritative and comforting about it. He is truly missed.

I remember there were times when things were bad for the family. My dad moved us to Florida to help my step-mom's mother. Dad had a promise of a great paying job from mom's friend but it was a lie. While dad was still up north getting ready for shipping and selling the rest, mom, my step-brother, brother and I for 2 months lived on one sandwich every other day. When we all moved to rural area for 1 year it was potatoes and beans and servings were small. A man who worked for Dandee delivered sandwiches to convenient stores and he would give us the out of date ones. We ate what was still good and gave the rest to a hog we had. That is until we finally started getting government commodities. My clothes came from where people dumped their trash in the woods. My shoes were 3 sizes to big and wore lots of socks to make them fit. We washed clothes with an old wringer washing machine, but despite all this we were happy. We finally had a large garden, chickens, hogs, cow, bull, and rabbits to eat.

I can almost see Loretta Lynn coming out of one of those cabins. My mom grew up dirt poor in North Georgia. She said they didn't ever get any gifts for Christmas. The best they ever got was one Christmas paw paw brought them all an orange. But there was plenty of LOVE. They would sit on the porch and play the fiddle and banjo. Can you imagine that? What a wonderful life. I remember my granny making the best peanut butter cookies out of the gov't commodities. The best cheese, flour, sugar, peanut butter.

I believe the lady that had lost her faith, was deeply depressed. I hope she got her faith back before leaving this world Thanks for sharing this I live in Virgie, Ky Pike County

Bless you, brother... thank you for this! -very moving, very humbling.

"He's too poor to leave, and she's too kind to make him"

My heart was saddened by the little 2 year old girl, saying what all she wanted in the Christmas 🎄 catalog. Just knowing that she wasn't going to get the gifts, made me want to hug her.

I was 11 years old when this special ran. I remember it. You have to understand, we only had 3 network channels, a local station, and a PBS channel if you were lucky enough to live in the Chicago television area. I remember it well. Before this special, the adults thought Welfare recipients were a bunch of lazy, good-for-nothings. It was the height of the strongest economic era our country has ever experienced. There were many more jobs than there were workers. Any MAN who didn't have a job were "drunks", or lazy, or scary folks living on the fringes. This Charles Kuralt Special program really opened our eyes. What's odd is that my father was from good Appalachian Stock. My Grandfather lived in a coal mining area outside of Pittsburgh, Bel Vernon, Pennsylvania. He moved to the Chicago area to work in the steel mills because it was "safer", he could make more money and give his two-year-old son a better life. Can you imagine? Working in the steel mills in the 30s was very dangerous, but not as dangerous as working in the coal mines. This television special was part of President Johnson's War On Poverty Initiative. It was a watershed event. People were horrified. They had no idea these people even existed, and that was the problem. Johnson's initiative as well as the completion of the Interstate System opened up these pockets of extreme poverty as well as bringing electricity and telephone service into these areas. There is no way you could convince me that this television program wasn't the pivotal impetuous.

I've stumbled across your channel only recently on the wave of my interest in Appalachian culture. Thank you for bringing that movie back to life, it was really valuable to hear those people. In my country there had been areas with such level of poverty, but I think it was way before 1964. Greetings from Poland.

I wish every young person could watch this video. It might make them appreciate the things they have in contemporary America. I was 5 years old in 1964, and believe me, I remember those days. I grew up in the Mississippi River delta, in Arkansas. Thanks for the video.

Thank all of you for sharing your experiences! Although I’m not from the Kentucky Appalachia area, I can relate to the poverty and the lack of most things….heat, food, Christmas trees, and on and on. My dad was an alcoholic and couldn’t hold a job. My sweet mother finally took me out of the hills when I was in first grade. Even with all the sad memories, I still feel a need to go “home.” I have no family there to speak of, but I have memories of my grandmother to remember.

I watched this as a child and I cried then and I cried today after rewatching it! This should never have happened in the land of plenty!

We will be wishing we had the skills these folks had in the very near future.

For a bit of background, I am from East Tennessee and the time period I am speaking of was the mid-60's. I am the youngest of eight children and one thing I can attest to is that being poor does not mean being lazy and because someone does not have an education does not mean that person is not intelligent. I was raised in a home with no telephone, no television, no indoor plumbing and no running water. I always carried my lunch to school because we couldn't afford to buy a hot lunch. I wore clothes that mom got at a secondhand shop in town where she could get a blouse for a quarter and a skirt for maybe 50 cents. I quite often went to school wearing shoes with holes in the sole and dad would cut an innersole out of the cardboard of an old cracker box so my feet wouldn't touch the ground. Our Christmases were very lean. In fact, the worst Christmas I can recall was when my mother called me in a couple of days before Christmas and told me that things were so bad that I would not get anything much in the way of presents. She went on to tell me that I would get only one pair of underpants for Christmas. There would be no games and no toys, and other than the underpants there would be no clothes, and she didn't want me to expect any and be disappointed. Every Christmas my mother would bake a chicken (it was cheaper than a turkey) and we would have lots of vegetables because we always put out a huge garden and mom would can everything she could possibly can so at Christmas we had enough to eat. In fact, unlike the little children in this video, we ALWAYS had enough to eat but that was only because of our garden because my parents had to keep the groceries they purchased to a bare minimum. I also very well remember going back to school the first day after the Christmas break and the teachers said that we would each get up and tell the class what we got for Christmas. The other children got up and told how they got clothes from their grandma, and they got a puzzle and a jewelry box and a doll and a bike. If you think I got up and lied to my class about what I got, you are 100% correct. I was not about to tell them "I got one pair of underwear" so I got up and rattled off a list of things I got. Looking back on that, I imagine some of those other children who were listing all the gifts they got were also lying but at the time I didn't think that. I was sure that I was the only one who basically got nothing for Christmas. Despite the way we were raised, we always knew that though we were born poor we would not stay that poor but that meant that as soon as we graduated from high school, we HAD to leave home and go to the city where we could get a job. I also knew that I would go to college, but I knew mom and dad could not help me. When I got ready to leave home, mom and dad scraped together all the money they could manage to spare, and they gave me $7.00. Yes, that's SEVEN DOLLARS, not seven thousand or seven hundred or even seventy and with those seven dollars I headed off to college. My brother was home from the Air Force, and he was going to drive me to Nashville where I would go to school. On the way he asked me how much I had, and I told him $7, and he said, "I don't think that's enough" and he gave me ten more, so I started school with $17.00. The college gave me a temporary loan to pay for my first quarter but that had to be paid by the end of the quarter or I could not enroll for the next quarter, so I went looking for a job and found one at a local hospital. My entire time at college I worked full time and went to school full time, and always took out temporary loans that had to be repaid so I could enroll the next quarter and I graduated with a degree and got my teacher's certificate and started teaching. There was a girl in the same dorm I lived in and one day as I walked by her room, I saw her crying. I went in and asked her what was wrong, and she said that daddy couldn't afford to pay for her next quarter's expenses, so she was going to have to drop out for a while. I couldn't manage to work up a lot of sympathy for her because she was not working, and she didn't even consider working that one quarter to pay her own way and give dad a break. I flat did not understand her...at all. I must add that ALL of my brothers and sisters left home to get a good job so they could have a better life than we had as children and three of us graduated from college. Our parents did not contribute to ANY of our expenses, not because they didn't want to but because they simply didn't have the money. One of my brothers got a scholarship but another brother and I worked our way through school. And of course, having worked hard to pay my way through school, I am now told that I will be expected to be responsible to help pay for the education of those who were not willing to work their way through school. Life is really strange!

This was heartbreaking for many reasons, but I think the biggest takeaway for me from this documentary was that back in the mid 1960's, poor white working class folks, though not educated themselves, valued education and dreamed of their children benefiting from a good, well rounded education so they could live better lives. Now, not so much, it seems. Instead, ignorance and conspiracy theories have taken root. In tandem with that, the US government no longer seems much interested in helping lift up the poor and providing opportunities to get a better education. Americans no longer have hope for a better future, and that is probably the saddest thing of all. Thank you for sharing this window into the not so distant past.

This was so evocative. My grandmother would talk about getting an orange for Christmas. Thank you for putting this out there, and your kind attitude.

Just heartbreaking! I was born in 1964. Growing up we always had Christmas and birthday gifts, my parents worked didn’t make a lot of money but I always thought we were rich! I can’t imagine living in this era! Poor little boy who couldn’t go to school because he didn’t have clothes and shoes😢😢😢😢 I live in southern Indiana, not too far from this area. Thank you for sharing!

This really was an eye opener for the times I look at others with envy. I don’t have much but have a small cute mobile home that’s all mine,food on the table, a car and a good job. The kids in this was really cute and I think they had more of a sense of appreciation of things that they had.Does anyone know of a way to donate to the families of Appalachia, I can’t do much but would like to help my father had to work in the coal mines when he was in his late teens to help his mom and siblings. He never gave up and had a wonderful life with lots of love and was an amazing father!

I've lived in Arkansas my whole life, close to Fort Smith. I went to North Carolina last year and that was my first trip through Appalachia. This video is priceless and a beautiful representation of the human experience. When I was in elementary school (1977/78 or so) school lunches were only $.50... I wouldn't have thought that $.20 was the price in those areas. Amazing story.

My daddy was 8 when this was filmed. Born & raised in East Tennessee, he told me a story about when my granddaddy was building a house for a wife & 6 kids while living in that house. My dad & his brother slept in the same bed & woke up on Xmas morning with a layer oof snow on thee blanket bc it had blown in under the eaves, which had yet to be finished. They didn't have indoor plumbing at that point. What a different world he grew up in. I think that's why he worked so hard to make sure I had everything I needed & wanted. Thank you for sharing this video. 💜

What a moving documentary and what struck me most was the gentleness of the people. It is apparent that their poverty and forced acceptance of their lot had worn them down. I do hope life improved for them all and that they were eventually able to enjoy family Christmases. Thank you for posting.

This was so interesting and heartbreaking…I’m from Knott county and so many of my family members still live there so I go back very often to visit. I keep trying to convince myself and hope the crew that were there filming and documenting helped those families out with money to help them for Christmas at least to make it more merry for the kids…especially with clothes for those kids that had to quit school just because they were ashamed, that hurt my heart so much for them.

Kuralt was a gem. I grew up and saw same thing. 1964 was a couple years that begin a time of change in USA . Great video I am going to send it to my Euro friends.

Our Christmas was based on if GE were my father worked was on strike or not. The Christmas that he was on strike was sad. My and my three other siblings didn't go outside to play with the other kids who had toys. Our school would have Christmas parties with food clothing and one gift per child. When my father wasn't on strike we'd have a Christmas that was good. I as a child didn't understand why I didn't get anything. I'd tell myself I was a good girl but Santa passed me by. Now that I'm older and have 2 children I see how hard it is to for parents to make ends meet. This film is so sad. Even today the proverty is still prevalent it seems nothing has changed. This proverty is especially hard in the delta and the proverty bowl so to speak. This country must do better. It's fine to help other countries who are in need. But we must help our nation. Even though this was filmed in 1960 its still the same. .

Really makes you feel so thankful for what you have. I think in these days of social media and people flaunting their possessions it's easy to begin feeling envious and always want more instead of being happy with what you have. Those folks would have thought they were royalty if they'd had even half of what we take for granted nowadays. Next time I'm not feeling particularly grateful I'm gonna come watch this again and knock myself down a peg or two and remember what's important

This is heartbreaking. The thing is my parents and grandparents grew up in these mountains. Really heard life. I appreciate you sharing this. The government gets richer and the poor gets poorer. The thing is they had JESUS and when they left this world now in heaven where our FATHER owns it all. GOD BLESS you and your family.

At the end when he talks about town kids I remember having to explain to teachers all throughout school why I was unable to complete project assignments it was either because we didn't have any money for the supplies or because we didn't have a trip into town to get them. All the other kids looked at me like they didn't understand what I was saying.

I’ve seen this video a while back! It’s very touching! I was born in 1988. I think of the kids today with very expensive toys, games, ect. Have a fit when they don’t get it. Those children were happy they had a full stomach, a warm place to live. They should play this video in the schools, it may touch some of them, and make them think how very lucky they are! I could go on but I think I have said enough! Thanks for sharing!👍❤️🙏

So amazing. People are not grounded anymore and the love is what makes Christmas. I blame TV, media and advertisement that has distorted the mass culture. Conscience and passive society is a huge mess

Would that we had journalists like this today. I am part of the Appalachian community, in VA, my Mother's people. There helping the country since the 1700's. So proud of them.

I grew up in the hills of West Virginia in the 1970s. I remember the tar paper houses and dirt roads. It was a huge event when the rock trucks came through and turned those dirt paths into real roads. We had no power or running water but we always had plenty to eat because we worked hard to insure it. I didn't even know we were poor because we had all we needed, food shelter and love. I have fond memories of that time.

I love this series...it takes me back to my grandparents and my mom and her siblings telling us stories of hard times and beautiful times and that mountain music...thank u... ..

They can put a man on the moon but some kids don't have shoes, is something wrong with society ?

Great video. Thanks for sharing it. I think everyone should watch it near Christmas time every year to help keep things in perspective. Another note that you eluded to about happiness doesn't all come from material things. That little girl interrupting the interview with her mother was smiling and giggling happier about Christmas and the baby Jesus than probably most kids in our country and here she is one of the poorest. Makes ya think 🤔! 😀

Good vlog episode! I grew up here in Michigan and was 4 in 1964. It wasn't until I became a teacher that Appalachian poverty was really made known to me. Jesse Stuart's stories and poetry touched on this portion of life, culture and poverty. I used his body of work to bring this piece of US American history to my students. Thanks for the episode!

I grew up in less than a mile from an off shoot of the Appalachia trail. I grew up poor but growing up poor in a rural area is far better than growing up poor in an urban area. At least for me it was because I could roam the woods to my leisure and watch wild creatures who watched me.

Most precious children and faith-filled families i have ever seen! God Bless their strength, their proud strong Mama’s and Daddy’s ❤️

Thank you Shane. My Dad moved us out of Baptist Valley in the 50s but some of my fondest memories surround going back home and feeling the peace and joy with family.

Both me and my husband work last year we were able to get our grandkids something of $25 each this year who knows. We don't have much but we are grateful for what we do have every day

Charles Kuralt always had first rate shows. He was a good man and this one certainly showed that. Through faith, these people kept their quiet strength' yet seemed almost resigned to the fact that this was their lot in life at times. I hope things improved for all of them but was so sad to hear of the shopkeeper's early demise. He was the glue that helped keep the community together and his passing must have been a terrible loss of a great man with a heart of gold. The stories that people have written in have also been so fascinating to read. Finally, thanks for the thoughtful words you expressed at the end of the show.

This was wonderful! My mom was from WV and grew up much like this. I grew up in Ohio but these are my people! 💕💕Good folks!