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IF A SPIDER DROPS DOWN ON YOUR TABLE WHILE DINNER
IS BEING SERVED, IT MEANS THAT YOU WILL HAVE COMPANY
FOR THE NEXT MEAL.
Submitter comment: MRS. D. LEARNED THIS AS A CHILD.
Where learned: HOME
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank |
IF YOUR NOSE ITCHES, IT IS A SIGN THAT SOMEONE IS
COMING.
Submitter comment: LEARNED FROM HER YOUTH.
Where learned: INDIANA ; South Bend
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank |
Date learned: 11-23-1967
IF YOU DROP A FORK, A WOMAN WILL VISIT.
IF YOU DROP A KNIFE, A MAN WILL VISIT.
IF YOU DROP A SPOON, A CHILD WILL VISIT.
Submitter comment: I LEARNED THIS AS A CHILD FROM MY MOTHER.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; GROSSE POINTE PARK
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
TO TAKE A SECOND HELPING BEFORE YOU ARE THROUGH
WITH THE FIRST, MEANS THAT SOMEONE IS COMING WHO
IS HUNGRY.
Submitter comment: LEARNED FROM HER MOTHER.
Where learned: INDIANA ; Hudson Lake
| Subject headings: | 686 Seconds / Twice / Two Observation |
Date learned: 11-25-1967
IF A WOMAN OPENS AN UMBRELLA IN THE HOUSE, SHE WILL
NEVER MARRY.
Submitter comment: LEARNED FROM HER MOTHER.
Where learned: NEW YORK ; JAMAICA
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Marriage |
Date learned: 01-01-1964
IF YOU SING AT THE DINNER TABLE, YOU'LL GET
A CRAZY WIFE.
Where learned: NOT GIVEN
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Marriage |
Date learned: 10-17-1967
WHEN WASHING CLOTHES, IF YOU GET WATER ON THE FRONT
OF THE CLOTHES THAT YOU ARE WEARING, YOU WILL MARRY
A DRUNK.
Submitter comment:
THIS WAS TOLD TO MR. PICKETT AROUND TWENTY YEARS AGO
BY HIS GRANDMOTHER. THEY WERE LIVING IN ST. LOUIS,
MISSOURI AT THE TIME.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Marriage |
PREDICTION OF BABY'S FUTURE
MY SISTER TOLD ME THAT IF A BABY WAS BORN WITH A
TOOTH, HE WOULD BE A SCHOLAR.
Submitter comment: TOLD TO INFORMANT BY HIS SISTER, MRS. LA MOUNTAIN.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; BLOOMFIELD HILLS
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Birth |
Date learned: 00001940-1950
IF YOUR PALM ITCHES, OR YOUR FINGERS ITCH, IT MEANS YOU
ARE GOING TO COME INTO SOME MONEY.
Submitter comment:
THE INFORMANT IS AN AMERICAN GIRL WHO LEARNED THIS
BELIEF FROM HER IRISH GRANDMOTHER ABOUT TWENTY YEARS
AGO.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; BIRMINGHAM
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Body part Senses |
PASSING ON STAIRWAY
I WAS ONCE WALKING UP THE STAIRWAY, WHEN MY GRANDMOTHER
WAS WALKING DOWN. SUDDENLY, SHE SCREAMED AT ME,
WHILE ALMOST IN A STATE OF TERROR, THAT I COULDN'T
IMAGINE WHAT WAS TROUBLING THE ELDERLY WOMAN, TO GET
BACK DOWN THE STAIRWAY. SHE COULDN'T BELIEVE THAT I
HAD ACTUALLY INTENDED TO CROSS ON THE STAIRWAY, AND
SHE QUICKLY PROCEEDED TO THE BOTTOM, TO VENT HER WRATH
ON ME.
THE STAIRWAY WAS MORE THAN ADEQUATE TO LET US PASS.
I COULDN'T IMAGINE WHAT WAS WRONG. SHE TOLD ME THAT
ANYONE CROSSING ON THE STAIRS WOULD DEFINITELY HAVE
NOTHING BUT BAD LUCK. I TRIED TO MAKE HER SEE HOW
RIDICULOUS THIS WAS, BUT SHE FIRMLY BELIEVED THAT
ANYONE ENTERING A STAIRWAY AFTER ANOTHER PERSON, AND
CROSSING ON THE STAIRWAY WAS IN FOR MUCH BAD LUCK.
THE NEXT BIT OF BAD LUCK THAT BEFELL THE PERSON, SHE
NATURALLY ATTRIBUTED TO PASSING ON THE STAIRS.
Where learned: VERMONT ; SAINT ALBANS
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Fate Destiny Luck Chance |
BIRTH PREDICTION
THIS ENTRY WAS MADE JAN. 17, 1967 FROM MRS. SWEROCK WHO,
UPON VISITING HER EXPECTANT NIECE, PREDICTED THE SEX
OF THE UNBORN CHILD. SHE LEARNED THIS METHOD OF
DETERMINING THE SEX FROM HER MOTHER, A NATIVE
OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA.
IF THE WOMAN IS POINTED IN THE FRONT, SHE WILL HAVE
A BOY; IF SHE IS BROAD AND WIDE FROM BEHIND, THEN
SHE'LL HAVE A GIRL.
Where learned: MICHIGAN, ASSUMED ; WYANDOTTE
| Subject headings: | Observation CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Birth |
WHEN A PREGNANT WOMAN BAKES BREAD AND THE DOUGH RISES
QUICKLY, SHE WILL HAVE A SON.
Submitter comment:
STORY TOLD TO INFORMANT, MY NEIGHBOR, BY HER AUNT WHO
WAS RAISED IN THE MONTREAL (CANADA) AREA. MM MY MOTHER'S
MOTHER WHO WAS IRISH, TOLD ME ABOUT THIS. WHEN YOU WERE
EXPECTING A CHILD, THE GARMENT YOU WERE SEWING ON WHEN
THE BABY WAS TO BE BORN WOULD PREDICT THE SEX. I DON'T
REMEMBER IT ALL, BUT SOMETHING LIKE, WOOK, A BOY; COTTON,
SILK, A GIRL.
TOLD TO ME BY MY NEIGHBOR.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; BLOOMFIELD HILLS
| Subject headings: | Observation CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Birth |
Date learned: 00001940-1950
IF YOU WEAR YOUR RUBBERS IN SCHOOL, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR
EYESIGHT.
Submitter comment: MRS. D. LEARNED THIS BELIEF AS A CHILD.
Where learned: HOME
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Means of Causing or Avoiding Illness |
Date learned: 11-22-1963
IF THE HEM OF YOUR SKIRT IS TURNED UP, YOU WILL HAVE
BAD LUCK.
Submitter comment: MRS. D. LEARNED THIS AS A CHILD FROM HER MOTHER.
Where learned: HOME
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 11-22-1963
LINE OF NAVAL PRISONERS
HERE IS ANOTHER NAVAL TRADITION I LEARNED WHEN I WAS
IN THE SERVICE. IF THERE'S A LINE OF PRISONERS
THAT ARE GOING TO BE SENT TO THE BRIG, AND
SOMEONE BREAKS THROUGH THE LINE, EVEN IF IT IS AN
ACCIDENT, HE WILL GET THE LONGEST TERM OF ANY OF THE
MEN IN THE LINE.
Submitter comment: INFORMANT LEARNED THIS IN THE U.S. NAVY.
Where learned: NAVY
| Subject headings: | Observation |
Date learned: 05-19-1965
SEA
MRS. JESSICA BUCKLEY'S HUSBAND WAS AN IRISH SEA CAPTAIN. HE WAS
OUT TO SEA AND NOT EXPECTED BACK FOR QUITE A WHILE. ONE NIGHT MRS.
BUCKLEY HEARD A STRANGE KNOCK AT THE DOOR. WHEN SHE OPENED THE
DOOR SHE SAW A MAN DIVE INTO A PUDDLE, IT HAD BEEN RAINING OUT.
THE NEXT MORNING SHE FOUND A PAIR OF SEA BOOTS AT THE DOOR FULL OF
SEA WEED AND WATER. LATER SHE FOUND OUT THAT HER HUSBAND HAD DIED
AT SEA.
Submitter comment:
MR BOZICH HEARD THIS TALE FROM HIS WIFE'S GRANDMOTHER, MRS
JESSICA BUCKLEY. MRS. BUCKLEY AND SEVERAL OF HER CLOSE FRIENDS
SWEAR THAT IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. MRS. BUCKLEY IS STILL ALIVE AND
LIVES IN WHITTIER, CALIFORNIA.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Observation Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: 12-00-1963
SUPERSTITION
TO PREDICT VISITORS: IF A SPOON DROPS, A BABY WILL COME TO VISIT;
IF A FORK DROPS, THE VISITOR WILL BE A WOMAN; IF A KNIFE DROPS, THE
VISITOR WILL BE A MAN. WHICHEVER WAY THE UTENSIL DROPS WILL BE THE
DIRECTION FROM WHICH THE VISITOR WILL COME.
Where learned: DETROIT
James Callow Keyword(s): POSITION DIRECTION
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Use of Object |
Date learned: 00-00-1981
BAD LUCK OMEN
IF YOU DROP A KNIFE, TOU WILL HAVE MALE COMPANY. IF YOU DROP A SPOON
YOU WILL HAVE FEMALE COMPANY.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Observation |
Date learned: 00-00-1947
BAD LUCK OMEN
IF YOU SPILL SALT, THERE WILL BE A FIGHT BETWEEN YOU AND ANOTHER
PERSON. IF YOU SPILL PEPPER, MONEY WILL COME TO YOU THAT DAY.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Mineral BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Measure of quality Monetary systemMoneyWealth |
Date learned: 00-00-1946
PREDICTION
DOWN SOUTH, OLD FOLKS FEEL A BABY,S HEAD TO SEE HOW SMART HE,S
GONNA BE. IF HE,S GOT A ROUND HEAD HE,LL BE REAL SMART.
Where learned: NATIONAL BANK OF DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Observation |
Date learned: 09-00-1981