Okay--I watched a show on the History Channel last night about Appalachia, and a guy (I think it was the historian from Johns Hopkins) said that the origin of the word redneck came from when coal miners first began to unionize; I missed the exact date but will guess approx. 1930 based on the vehicles. The ones in unions wore red bandannas around their necks to indicate that they were members.

Now--I thought I remembered us discussing the origin of the word somewhere on here, so I went a-Searching. I didn't find that, but I found this thread, one of the earliest where this word was mentioned, and I resurrected it for the sheer enjoyment of the thing.