Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #55 The Clampetts were Paleo when Paleo wasn't Cool!

pqtd 55 The Clampetts were Paleo when Paleo wasn’t cool

I am old enough to fondly remember the Beverly Hillbillies!  An immensely popular show starting in 1960, when real hillbilly types of characters still existed in America, the show’s premise was that of a man, Jed Clampett, finds oil on his land “back in the hills”.  He sells if for 25 million dollars, which was even way more back in 1960 than it is now.  His kin folk convince him to move out to Beverly Hills, California, where they have “swimmin’ pools- movie stars!”  It’s a clever premise, and as I said, incredibly popular throughout the entire decade.

You might want to catch some of the old reruns, because you might pick up some “paleo tips”!  Granny is always cooking up some “vittles”, like possum stew with greens, and you know that the Clampetts certainly ate “nose to tail”!  Ellie May and Jethro were both amazingly fit and strong, presumably from eating such a wonderful natural diet, and from extremely active lifestyles.  Even Granny stayed fit and active, cooking and cleaning and washing, and even had the first “treadmill chair” in the Clampett truck- a rocking chair she’d rock as they all drove!

By contrast, the banker- Mr. Drysdale, and his wife are quite poorly adjusted, and Jane Hathaway, Mr. Drysdale’s secretary, is positively emaciated- three very neolithic, agriculture dependent people if ever there were any!  So are most of the folks you see from Beverly Hills- hyper civilized and largely phony, their so-called sophistication is shown to be hollow over and over by the authentic, early Paleo types of people that are the Clampetts!

So- men, get yourself a dirty, practical hat like Jed- the brim works as well as blue blocking glasses!  Go around bare foot like Jethro and Ellie (paleo yet again!), and do lots of physical work- hunt wild game, cook over wood fired pots in the open air, and wash your clothes by hand in the cement pond- Now, you are Hillbilly Paleo!  And, since many people don’t like the term “Paleolithic” about the ancestral diet and lifestyle, now you have another term to describe yourself and the way you live and eat:

“Me?  I guess I’m just a Hillbilly!!”

There- that’s much more socially acceptable!

Ya’ll come back now, y’hear?


Check out this episode!

PaleoJay's Smoothie Cafe #85 Be a Paleo Redneck!

If you think about it, paleo folks are kind of old school rednecks- they tend to hunt and fish their food, are outdoors almost all the time (hence the “red neck”), tend to be rural dwellers... kind of like hillbillies used to be before welfare and Walmart.  Kind of like Jed Clampett and Jethro, or Little Abner from the old newspaper comic - quite fit and self reliant, since he provided for his own simple needs and that of his family and community all by himself!

There is a lot in small town and rural America that is the very best that this country and its civilization has to offer.  Our major cities are amazing in their size and structures, but at what cost?  They are increasingly unsafe and crime-ridden, bankrupt, and absorb most of the revenues of the country and each individual state they are in... large areas of our major cities are actual, living nightmares of smog, crime, bad chemicalized water and air, and hugely overcrowded.

Elvis is a good metaphor for what has happened to America.  The young Elvis Presley was a paleo redneck- a good kid from a rural, small town upbringing- slim and fit very good looking... and, of course, with a great ear and voice!

Then, just as all of the US started doing in those years after World War 2-

He got too much, too fast, and way too long!

Lil Abner

I mean too much of everything he thought he wanted.  And, he simultaneously lost what was really valuable to him- his privacy, his ability to walk around unnoticed, the quiet of the rural nature he was accustomed to, small town life, real friends that liked him for himself... he lost everything by gaining too much that was just glitzy and fake.

So did all of us, just to a lesser extreme.

We all take for granted in the western world now that we have enough to eat; too much actually. Too little movement, too much sitting, too much money even!  I mean, most would disagree, but think about it: in the 1960’s, families only had one car.  All meals were prepared and eaten at home.  One black and white television, and an AM radio in the car (with Elvis on it).

Now little kids have smart phones, computers, iPads, and big screen TV’s- and this includes welfare kids!  Cars are common to be owned by 16 year olds, and MOST meals are purchased at fast food and other convenience outlets.  And now, the husband AND the wife are expected to work full time, and much of the salary of the second income goes to taxes, which mainly go to support failing big cities...

And now most of us, just as Elvis did, have become fat, sick, addicted to all kinds of prescription and non prescription drugs, are depressed and feel like we have no time, so we stay up late to “have a life” and watch our big screen TVs, leaving us not enough time for quality sleep...

the Clampetts

So hey- the future is in our past!  We know what we need to to, and it is already just beginning to start to happen. The move OUT of the big metropolitan areas, back to smaller communities.  Small local farms and ranches, smaller churches, local credit unions and banks, local government over big government, state over federal, county over state...

PaleoJay Redneck

It worked wonderfully before, and it will again!  It won’t be exactly the same, but it will be quite similar, just with different and better technologies, but we will be restored and rejuvenated as- PALEO REDNECKS!