The Red Flannel Rag

Next the hogs were scraped clean of bristles and hung on the wooden tripod hog

hangers, hind feet up. When a hog weighed 300 to 700 pounds, it was a difficult task to

raise it to the top of the tripod. It often required the efforts of several strong men.

Halves of hogs hanging on tripods until a young man carried them to the cutting boards.

The hogs were now in position for butchering. First, the main butcher took a

long sharp knife and removed the heads. Uncle Jake stood by and grabbed each head as

soon as it snapped off. He took them, one by one, to his head-cleaning table that was set

up away from the major activities. He cleaned the hogs’ heads, cut out the jowls and

brains, and prepared the scraps of meat for the pudding. He was the “head” man, a job

nobody else wanted.

I remember watching him as he rolled the hogs’ heads around and wondering if

he got that job because he had a face that looked very much like the one he was

trimming. He was fat, too. One time I asked Mom, “Did Uncle Jake get the head -

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