Ezra Cade

Forgotten Appalachian homemaking and farm skills in 25-item countdowns

Older and rural-minded viewers in the US who like nostalgic mountain cooking, crafts, food storage and thrifty home know-how, plus viewers interested in the history and science behind old household methods (inferred from titles, descriptions and the about text; no audience statistics).

• Realistic avatar
• A photorealistic elderly man with a long white beard, camouflage cap, red plaid shirt and blue denim overalls, shown in a log-cabin kitchen with a woodstove or in the woods, usually waist-up with an expressive face.

26-30 minute countdowns, usually 25 items from 25 to 1: an opening anecdote of an outsider doubting an old mountain way, a teaser of three 'twist' items, each item backed by a number or science check, then a challenge, a question and one mention of the author's book.

25-item lists 24–33 min; 35-item lists 34–38 min

• Kitchen craft: cooking, sourdough, sausage, cheese, butter, seasoning
• Textile crafts: quilting, knitting, embroidery, rag rugs, dressmaking
• Food storage and homestead skills: root cellars, smokehouses, woodstoves
• Frugality and women's work: mending, nothing wasted, ways to earn cash
• Wild medicine plants, gardening and farm animals
• Vanishing objects and customs: old kitchen tools, supplies, Christmas

• 25 [GENIUS] Appalachian [X] Tricks Grandma Never Wrote Down
• [25 or 35] Things Appalachian Women [Did X]
• [N] [X] Only Appalachian Women Knew
• 10 Old Appalachian [X] Getting Harder to Find
• 25 MORE Appalachian [X] Tricks Grandma Never Wrote Down

The same bearded man (camo cap, plaid shirt, overalls) fills one side of a glossy cabin or forest scene next to a prop (pie, biscuits, eggs, jar); 9 of 10 carry a bold 2-5 word caption, often with one word in red or yellow, and 4 start with MAMA'S.

• One repeatable title formula: 18 of the 30 latest titles use 'Grandma Never Wrote Down', as do 4 of the 10 most viewed (top video: 435,103 views)
• Numbered countdown titles: all 10 top titles and all 30 latest contain a number; 26 of the 30 latest are '25' countdowns
• High output: 54 videos since Jul 28 (about 4.7 a week, median 28.6 min), with +5,300 subscribers and +704,001 views in the last 30 days
• Both caption excerpts open with an outsider doubting an old method, tease three 'twist' items, and close with a challenge and a question for viewers
• Nostalgia paired with a science check: the about text promises old ways tested against research; both excerpts cite temperatures and protein levels