Americana and History Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

The time-travel ad

By John Silveira Issue #125 • September/October, 2010 It's become a minor Internet phenomenon. The ad reads: It's also been read by Jay Leno on his late night TV show, on National Public Radio more than once...

Remembering what grandma used

By Marjorie Burris Issue #57 • May/June, 1999 My grandmother, Mary Etta Dillman Graham, was one of those frontier women who took life as it came; extremely practical, resourceful and inventive, she was always, always ready...

Who were the best…and worst U.S. Presidents?

By John Silveira Issue #49 • January/February, 1998 It was one of those days I love. We were between deadlines and Dave, Bill, Mac, and I had gone fishing on the lake. Dave, of course, is...

Presidents’ wives of the past Part 4 — Cunning, vindictive, and one may have...

By John Silveira Issue #35 • September/October, 1995 (This is a four-part series. Click the links to navigate to parts one, two, three, and four.) Do you think we'll ever have a woman as President?" I asked....

The greatest American who was never President

By John Silveira Issue #60a • November/December, 1999 "The election's next year, right?" I asked. Dave Duffy, the publisher of Backwoods Home Magazine, was editing a rather lengthy article on water. I don't know if he didn't...

Fried chicken for breakfast

By Danny Fulks Issue #88 • July/August, 2004 Danny Fulks, 71, is one of those rare writers capable of painting a vivid picture of life back in another time. His stories focus on the 20s, 30s,...

The barnyard scramble

By Michelle Hampton Issue #106 • July/August, 2007 Each year during our local county fair, one of the best-attended events happens when farm animals, donated by local ranchers, are let loose in the big rodeo arena....

Biological and chemical weapons through history

By John Silveira Issue #81 • May/June, 2003 The weather here on the coast of Oregon is nice almost all year-round, and there almost always seems to be some kind of fishingsalmon or winter steelhead running...

Presidents’ wives of the past Part 3

By John Silveira Issue #34 • July/August, 1995 (This is a four-part series. Click the links to navigate to parts one, two, three, and four.) Do I have to stay and help you?" my 12-year old son...

The Great Depression — A reminiscence

By Alice B. Yeager and James O. Yeager Issue #115 • January/February, 2009 I was a girl of 8 when the stock market crashed in 1929. It was the Great Depression, and unless you were living...

Catfish Biscuits

By Danny Fulks Issue #87 • May/June, 2004 Danny Fulks, 71, grew up in southern Ohio where his parents worked the land and milked cows, and his tightly written stories paint a vivid picture of life...

Was the first government gun confiscation attempt foiled by an unsung colonial heroine?

By John Silveira Issue #119 • September/October, 2009 Gun control people don't seem to get just how deeply etched into the American psyche gun ownership goes and that the resistance to being disarmed by their own...

Grandpa’s justice

By Tom Kovach Issue #65 • September/October, 2000 Having the best vegetable garden in the village might put food on the table and make some money at the market, but it also can cause some problems....

The summer of ’35

By John Graesch Issue #64 • July/August, 2000 Sixty five years ago I was living in that part of Seattle, Washington, known as South Park. Few places had as much natural beauty as "The Park" as...

James Polk — A model for modern presidents

By John Silveira Issue #32 • March/April, 1995 It was snowing and three of us were up at the office. Dave Duffy, the fellow who publishes BHM, and I were trying to get some work done...

Gee-Whiz: Presidents

By O.E. MacDougal November/December 2016, Backwoods Home I could spend all day coming up with interesting trivia about the Presidents and those who surround them — wives, children, assassins, etc. I could literally fill this magazine...