Mike Colten, Store Manager of WalMart in Pikeville, Ky. said, "We are getting hundreds of calls for Confederate flags and so is our store in Logan. Everybody wants to be a Hatfield or a McCoy. We got in Billy Bob teeth and they literally flew off the shelf. Everyone is wearing them. I everyone here has bad teeth, now -- instead of just MOST everyone."
Marshall President Stephan Kopp said, "We have had hundreds of people suddenly wanting to speak hillbilly after watching The Hatfields and McCoys. Starting next Ssmester we'll be offering Hillbilly 101 as part of our foreign language study. We're keeping it seperate from the English Department because most Hillbilly is pretty distinct from The Queen's English."
Barney Baxter, owner of Tug Fork Tours, said, "We now offer a special tour where you go rafting down the Tug River and we fire shotguns at you in period costumes. There's a pig in each raft so the story is you're stealing it and trying to get away! It gives you the feeling that you were really there. Tours are selling out. We also reccommend that you wear our special Hatfield and McCoy diapers if you go on the tour because some people have had the urge to go to the bathroom immediately when the shots were fired. One of our ex-shooters wasn't too good of a shot ...or maybe he was too good -- anyway, he hit one of our boats and sunk it. Not to worry, everyone was rescued - even the pig."
Landau Eugene Murphy, West Virginia's hottest singer has headed into the studios to record an album of Hatfield and McCoy based bluegrass songs and has released "Roseanna Don't Cry For Me" as a single. Currentlly available on iTunes.
Jesco White's DVDs of "The Wild Wonderful Whites of West Virginia" and "The Dancing Outlaw" have been seeing a surge in sales. Mike Hasco, of Budget Tapes and Records in Charleston, said, "Everyone loves hillbillies, now. I am getting calls and visits from people from all over that suddenly want anything by a Hillbilly. I'm even selling Alligator Jackson CDs."
Erma Haskins, of The Roadkill Grill in Bradshaw, WV said, "we are getting orders from all over the world for our Famous Baked Pavement Possum, Buzzard Breath Chili, and Roadkill Stew with a little Skunk, Deer, or whatever we find by the road that morning."
Local entrepreneurs are also getting into the act, developing lines of products that include books, posters, t-shirts, hillbilly hats and moonshine. Senator James Manchin said, "Finally people are starting to get West Virginia pride. Every one suddenly wants to be from West Virginia."
