Hillbillies were originally Irish hill farmers from Michigan. From the area known as the Irish Hills, and a resort rather than farming area for the past 100 years or so. Hence the comeback to the hillbilly comments.
Oh for crying out loud, Graywolf - what on earth have you been reading!!!
I was born and raised in Adrian, Michigan - right smack dab in the Irish Hills. The old time locals were either English or French descent - there are a lot of old French settlers in Michigan (like the folks who founded Detroit). names like Francour and Cousino (I was always confused with the Cousinos.)
My New York City Italian parents moved there in the mid 50's, who knows why. I can't remember meeting any other Italian Americans in the area.
When I was growing up, a whole bunch of people from Kentucky and other Appalachian areas moved up to the area. The Detroit papers actually wrote several articles about it. At the same time a lot of Chicanos who were migrant workers on the local farms settled down in the area. As A kid I lived just on the edge of downtown Adrian and used to walk into town when Cesar Chavez showed up to hold rallies (didn't understand a word they were saying, but the music was great.)
In the mid 70's when I was in High School I had a friend who was a physician who lived in the only house (an old farm house) in a huge but failed housing development called 'Loch Erin" that was set up to bring some life to the Irish Hills. Back then, the only people who made money in the Irish Hills were the farmers. This subdivision was supposed to change all that, and they made this big artificial lake, started to build a community center, but went bust. My friend lived in the original farm house that sat on the land. He also was a farmer of sorts, though he could always write scripts when his crop failed.... My friend also happened to be a true Dubliner - a bit too wild for rural Michigan (he was basically ridden out on a rail) but while he lived there he found it profoundly ironic that he lived in a place called the 'Irish Hills" but was the only person of any Irish ancestry there... He had a perpetual party going at his place, true early 70' style but rather odd for rural Michigan. Probably the most 'resort' activity that the Irish Hills has ever seen!
Back then, the Irish Hills consisted of some ice cream joints, the WigWam bar (I never stepped foot in it) and tourist traps like the Prehistoric Forest (animated dinosaurs that lunged at the small gauge train running through the park) and Mystery Hill (water flows up-hill in this building built 45 degrees askew...) Again - it was in no way a successful resort area. People grew corn, wheat, or pot to make a living, or raised cows or pigs. These days, pot production has probably been supplanted by meth labs.
I worked in a local factory (Merillat Cabinets, back when Orv Merillat owned it) and by chance the vast majority of my co-workers were self described 'hillbilly's. They derived their identity by having moved up to Adrian from Appalachia. I was a local - I was born there - but by their standards I was in no way a 'hillbilly' - a term they used to define themselves. Most of them were not born in Michigan.
A month ago I spent a couple days touring the whole Irish Hills area with my brother, who has a crazy notion about buying a business in the area. The Michigan International Speedway has been a big boon to the area, but the weekends when it's not running are still pretty slow. Loch Erin is no longer a failed subdivision, as people form Ann Arbor (a city that is lucky enough to have about highest housing costs in the country) gladly commute the 30-40 miles to work. Michigan weather makes commuting interesting, so I'm sure they don't mind. But it a still is no resort area.
AFAIK, the whole term "Irish Hills" is just some real estate agent's made up name. Maybe some Irish guy owned a farm there or something. There are actually a fair number of Amish fold there - but 'Amish Hills" probably is not a good commercial name.
I think real Hillbillies come from places where they mine coal and sell liqueur in mason jars. But by no means do they come from the Irish Hills of Michigan!
I'd go on some more, but granny is making soap and needs my help.
- MCC
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Mark Cassino Photography
Kalamazoo, MI
www.markcassino.com
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----- Original Message ----- From: "Graywolf" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 8:35 PM
Subject: Re: Totally OT: It's tax time!
Just my sense of humor, Don.
Obscure knowledge makes a kind for of joke I find very amusing, one where someone pretty much has to be in the know to get it. Of course you have to feel that there are some in the audience who will get it, or it pretty much flops.
In fact all my posts in this tread except the one about finding your IRS joke funny have been intended humorously, however I long ago found that I need to put in a lot of (GRINS) for most folks to recognize I meant it humorously, but since the thread has become one about humor in general I figured I could omit them. Maybe not.
graywolf http://www.graywolfphoto.com "Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof" -----------------------------------
Don Sanderson wrote:????
So why are you insulting Michigan hill farmers now? You have something against the Irish maybe?
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