Insulation and decoration. Getting anything else would have been an expense they couldn’t afford - Appalachia was (and, for that matter, still is) one of the poorest regions of the USA.
A lot places didn’t. My family comes from a rural location and there were places without telephone service in the 70s.
I grew up in southern Appalachia, and the 90s my grandma would take me with her sometimes to check in on this elderly woman who lived alone in a house without running water. She had a well in her front yard and hauled all her water by hand. She lived into her 90s there taking care of herself. She did have electricity, but not AC.
Now for clarity this was EXTREMELY unusual which was why my grandma would check in on her a fair amount, along with other members of the community. But it’s definitely not that far in the past in some areas, for some families.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwIvn27PgsA
They say in Harlan country, there are no neutrals there. You’ll either be a union man or a thug for J H Blair
Insulation and decoration.
Pardon the late reply, but what would the walls themselves be made of? They almost look like layered cardboard there. Or maybe sheet metal.