It’s ironic that hocks and fatback are what people of limited means bought from the butcher. Yes, pricey from your butcher, but rationalize you paid for the special labor to prepare and smoke. And if you’re getting a pound of meat from each, that *is* good eating. A happy & prosperous New Year!
I had many discussions with my dad about hog killings and butchering because he grew up on a farm where they had to slaughter their own hogs. They never had or used “bacon” the way we do now. I guess bacon didn’t even come about as a cut of meat until it was a marketing ploy sometime in the 1940s? He told me they ate salted ham...kept a big side of it hanging in the smokehouse and they would cut chunks off it for breakfasts. The hocks, fatback etc. were used for flavoring stewed dishes and usually weren’t consumed directly. I think he told me they usually gave away the tripe, chitlins and jowls because they didn’t eat them, but often other neighbors who had helped with the hog killing would take them.