Hog killing was done when the weather had turned biting cold. There was no radio or television to give a weather report so the farmer had to depend on his instincts to know when the weather was just right. Since he had no refrigerator or freezer he had to depend on natural cold for preserving his meat, at least until it could be salted away and cured.

They had been feeding the pigs all year and some of them were fat and weighed several hundred pounds. Pigs and hogs were a matter of pride and when we had company usually the menfolks would go to the pig pen to see how the “pork on hoof” was progressing. Farmers prided themselves on nice hogs - the bigger the better. Our pig pen was certainly no show place. It was always filthy as the hogs had to wallow in mud and we fed them “slop” from the kitchen dishwashing. (Lye soap used in dishwashing was supposed to be good for them).

On the “just right” morning everybody was up early. I can remember the fire under the big black pot in the yard showing before good daylight. Plenty of scalding hot water must be ready before the hog was killed. A tripod had been set up with a big metal drum near it so the hog could be hung up. A rifle shot rang out and we heard the final squeal and we knew the hog was ready for a sharp knife to be thrust into his throat and he would bleed just right.

I was spared seeing all this. I didn’t think I could watch. Usually a neighbor who was a good butcher was present and also nearby kin came over. People had a reputation for such work but try as I might I can’t remember who usually helped. I can remember them sharpening knives and being ready to go to work scraping the hair off the carcass. Pretty soon that mud lover would have all the hair off and be snowy clean. If the hot water was applied just right, the hair scraped off fairly easily. The insides were taken out and the womenfolk were ready to start work. When I got big enough to do this I enjoyed it. The liver, lipe, kidneys, and sweetbreads were soon put into a big pot to boil (some of the liver was retained for frying and to be made into pudding mush or scrapple). The skin must be cut from the intestines for soap lard and always we children hoped the bladder would be saved intact. This we filled with air and tied so that we had us a basketball. This was played with until it got old and dirty.