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I HAD AN AUNT NELLIE
WHO HAD A WOODEN BELLIE
AND WHEN SHE TOUCHED IT,
OUT POPPED JELLY.
Where learned: CANADA ; ONTARIO ; OAKVILLE
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Lyrical Verse Lyrical Verse BELIEF -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
{THE FATAL HAIRDO}
THERE WAS A WOMAN WHO WENT TO THE BEAUTY PARLOR TO GET A "BEE HIVE"
HAIRDO. THE HAIR IS RATTED AND PLACED ON A WAXED PAPER CONE AND
BUILT INTO A HIVE SHAPE. THERE WERE COCKROACH EGGS ON THE PAPER
AND THE WOMAN DIDN'T BOTHER TO WASH HER HAIR FOR A FEW WEEKS,
THE EGGS HATCHED. THE WOMAN AT FIRST THOUGHT THE ITCHING WAS DUE
TO HER NOT HAVING WASHED HER HAIR FOR SUCH A LONG TIME. IN FACT,
THE COCKROACHES ATE THROUGH TO HER BRAIN AND SHE DIED. PEOPLE
DISCOVERED THE COCKROACHES AFTER SHE HAD DIED.
Submitter comment:
THE INFORMANT HEARD THIS STORY WHILE LIVING IN A SMALL TOWN IN
WESTERN OHIO, BELLEVUE, AROUND 1959.
Where learned: OHIO ; DETROIT ; BELLEVUE
James Callow Keyword(s): DEVASTATING COCKROACHES, NOT SPIDERS
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 09-20-1972
SPIDER IN HAIR
A TEENAGE GIRL RATTED HER HAIR AND DIDN'T COMB IT OUT FOR TWO WEEKS.
SHE DIED SUDDENLY. AN AUTOPSY HAD TO BE PERFORMED TO DETERMINE THE
CAUSE OF DEATH. THEY FOUND THAT SPIDERS HAD MADE THEIR HOME IN HER
HAIR AND HAD EATEN THEIR WAY INTO HER BRAIN.
Submitter comment: HEARD SEVERAL TIMES ON U-D CAMPUS.
Where learned: DETROIT
Keyword(s): DEATH INSECT LAZINESS ; FATAL HAIRDO
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses |
SPIDER LADY
A GIRL WAS GOING TO A BIG PARTY AND HAD HER HAIR DONE AT A SALON.
IT WAS FIXED IN A BEEHIVE WITH LOTS AND LOTS OF HAIRSPRAY. SHE LIKED
IT SO WELL THAT EVERYDAY SHE JUST PUT A LITTLE MORE SPRAY ON AND
NEVER TOOK IT DOWN OR WASHED IT. ONE DAY SHE SCRATCHED HER HEAD AND
BLOOD TRICKLED DOWN. SHE WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL WHEREUPON
EXAMINATION IT WAS REVEALED ANTS HAD COLONIZED IN HER HAIR.
Where learned: DETROIT
Keyword(s): FATAL HAIRDO ; INSECT HAIRDO
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 02-20-1968
MEDICAL SCHOOL LEGEND
THERE WAS THIS TEACHER AT JEFFERSON, HE MUST BE DEAD NOW, WHO WROTE
ON THE BLACKBOARD WITH BOTH HIS LEFT HAND AND HIS RIGHT HAND AT THE
SAME TIME. THE THINGS HE WROTE WOULD BE FROM TWO DIFFERENT TRAINS O
THOUGHT.
Submitter comment:
STORY TOLD TO ME BY MY FATHER FROM WHEN HE WENT TO THOMAS JEFFERSON
MEDICAL SCHOOL IN PHILADELPHIA. THIS STORY IS TOLD IN COMPLETE
SERIOUSNESS BUT I DON'T BELIEVE A WORD OF IT.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; BLOOMFIELD HILLS
James Callow Keyword(s): AMBIDEXTERITY
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Secular hero PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- School |
Date learned: 00-00-1936 ; 09-00-1979
ONE TIME IT WAS AUGUST 15TH, ASSUMPTION DAY. WE WENT TO
CHURCH IN THE MORNING -- MY MOM AND MYSELF. I HAD A NICE
DRESS ON WITH NEW SHOES AND EVERYTHING. I WENT TO THE
BINGO AND I WAS ALL RIGHT. I STARTED TO GO TO THE
HORSERACES, BUT I COULDN'T GO. I STARTED GETTING A
HEADACHE AND UPSET STOMACH. MY MOTHER SAID, "WHAT'S THE
MATTER WITH YOU." I SAID, "I DON'T KNOW." SHE ASKED,
"DID YOU EAT TOO MUCH AT DINNER?" I SAID, "NO," AND SHE
SAID, "I BET YOU GOT THE EVIL EYES." SHE CALLED THIS OLD
LADY. THE LADY SHE COMES OVER. SHE SAID A PRAYER AND
POURED SOME OIL IN A DISH OF WATER. IF THE OIL SUNK YOU
HAD THE EVIL EYES, IF IT FLOATED YOU WERE FINE. THE OLD
LADY SAID, "IT SUNK; YOU GOT THE EVIL EYES." SHE SAID A
PRAYER AND I FELT BETTER RIGHT AWAY.
Submitter comment:
INFORMANT DOES NOT KNOW WHETHER OR NOT TO BELIEVE THIS,
HOWEVER, SHE DID FEEL MUCH BETTER. THE NEXT DAY WAS JUST
LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; ALLEN PARK
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
EVIL EYE
IF WE GOT SICK OR NAUSEATED DURING THE DAY, MOTHER WOULD
SAY "SOME ONE HAS CAST THE EVIL EYE ON YOU." SHE WOULD
GET A PAN FILLED WITH WATER. THEN SHE WOULD TRY TO
REMEMBER WHO WAS THERE DURING THE DAY. SHE WOULD SAY
THE NAME OF A PERSON WHO HAD BEEN VISITING AND DROP A
CINDER IN THE WATER. SHE WOULD SAY, "NOW THAT WAS
SO AND SO THAT WAS HERE, WAS HE GUILTY?" IF THE CINDER
FLOATED, HE WAS INNOCENT, IF IT SUNK, HE WAS GUILTY.
WHOEVER'S NAME IT SUNK ON, MOTHER WOULD SAY "HE'S
THE GUILTY ONE." TO RID US OF THE EVIL EYE, SHE WOULD
TAKE THE WATER AND SPLASH IT ON OUR FOREHEADS AND SAY
SOME HOCUS POCUS. SHE SAID, "HOCUS POCUS IN THE NAME
OF SO AND SO, I PASS THAT PAIN OUT."
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
IRISH LEGEND
IT SEEMS THAT MY GRANDMOTHER KNEW A WOMAN IN IRELAND WHO TOLD HER
THE STORY OF HER SON. ONE DAY WHEN THE LITTLE BOY WAS BEING CHASTISED
HE RAISED HIS HAND IN ANGER TO HIS MOTHER. SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE
LITTLE BOY DIED. A FEW DAYS AFTER HE WAS BURIED HIS MOTHER WAS CALLED
TO THE GRAVE SITE. THERE WAS THE LITTLE BOY'S HAND STICKING UP OUT
OF THE GROUND. A PRIEST WAS SUMMONED AND AFTER A SERIES OF RITUALS
AND APPLICATIONS OF HOLY WATER THE HAND RECEDED INTO THE GROUND. THIS
INCIDENT OF COURSE WAS AN EXAMPLE FOR THE TOWNSPEOPLE OF WHAT
HAPPENS TO CHILDREN WHO DO NOT RESPECT THEIR PARENTS.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): BODY PART
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: 00-00-1937
THE RUBBERBAND AND THE HAND
THERE WAS A LITTLE GIRL WHO GOT INTO THE HABIT OF WRAPPING RUBBER
BANDS AROUND HER WRIST BECAUSE SHE LIKED TO LOOK AT THE IMPRESSIONS
THEY LEFT ON HER SKIN WHEN SHE TOOK THEM OFF. ONE DAY SHE FORGOT SHE
HAD THE RUBBER BANDS ON AND KEPT WEARING THEM.
YEARS LATER THE GIRL'S
HAND TURNED BLACK SO THEY TOOK HER TO THE HOSPITAL WHERE THEY
OPERATED ON HER HAND. THE DOCTOR CUT OPEN HER WRIST TO SEE WHY THE
BLOOD STOPPED FLOWING INTO HER HAND AND HE FOUND THE RUBBER BAND. IT
SEEMS THE RUBBER BAND HAD BECOME IMPRESSED IN HER SKIN AND EVENTUALLY
THE SKIN GREW OVER IT. THE GIRL PROMISED NEVER TO WEAR A RUBBER BAND
ON HER WRIST AGAIN.
Submitter comment:
TOLD TO THE INFORMANT BY HIS MOTHER WHEN HE WAS A CHILD TO BREAK
HIM OF WEARING RUBBER BANDS. HE SAYS IT WORKED.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): FEAR ; FUNCTIONAL SCARE STORY
James Callow Keyword(s): FUNCTION
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 03-03-1967
THE FATAL HAIRDO
WHEN THE BUBBLE HAIR DO FIRST BECAME POPULAR MY MOTHER IN LAW
WAS GETTING HER HAIR DONE REGULARLY FROM AN UNLICENSED BEAUTY
OPERATOR IN A HOME BASEMENT. ONE DAY SHE CAME HOME WITH THE FOLLOWING
STORY WHICH THE BEAUTY OPERATOR TOLD HER HAPPENED TO THE NIECE OF ONE
OF HER CUSTOMERS. THIS GIRL GOT A BUBBLE TYPE HAIRDO AND HAD IT
RATTED SO HIGH THAT SHE DIDN'T WANT TO WASH IT LEST IT LOSE ITS
TEXTURE. A LONG PERIOD OF TIME WENT BY (I'VE HEARD FROM TWO WEEKS TO
TWO MONTHS) AND SHE BECAME ILL. THE DOCTORS FINALLY EXAMINED HER
BUT IT WAS TOO LATE. A NEST OF SPIDERS HAD DEVELOPED IN HER HAIR
AND THEY HAD BURROWED INTO HER SKULL, CAUSING AN INFECTION WHICH
RESULTED IN BLOOD POISONING. SINCE THE INFECTION WAS SO CLOSE TO THE
BRAIN THERE WAS NOTHING THE DOCTORS COULD DO AND THE GIRL DIED.
Data entry tech comment: THERE ARE TWO OTHER STORIES LIKE THIS.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): THE FATAL HAIRDO
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 00-00-1960
AFRICAN TRIBE TALE
A CERTAIN BIOLOGY PROFESSOR WAS DELIVERING A LECTURE AT MICHIGAN
STATE ON A TRIBE IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. THE SUBJECT UNDER DISCUSSION WAS
THE ABNORMALLY LARGE "PRIVATES" OF THIS TRIBE. TWO PRUDISH SORORITY
GIRLS EMBARRASSED BY THE CRUDE LECTURE ABRUPTLY LEFT THEIR SEATS
AND STARTED FOR THE DOOR. THE PROFESSOR STOPPED THEM WITH THIS
COMMENT, "WHAT'S YOUR RUSH GIRLS, THE
BOAT DOESN'T LEAVE UNTIL MORNING."
Submitter comment: TOLD TO ME AS ACTUAL FACT IN 1960.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; LIVONIA
Keyword(s): CLASSROOM HUMOR ; COLLEGE PROFESSOR LEGEND
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Human Being PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 00-00-1960
THERE IS A STORY IN OUR FAMILY REGARDING HOW MY GRAND-
MOTHER GOT A FLAP IN HER EARLOBE. MY GRANDMOTHER ALWAYS
TOLD US THAT WHEN SHE WAS A CHILD IN LEBANON, VISITING
THE MARKETPLACE, A THIEF STOLE HER GOLD EARRING BY PULLING
IT RIGHT OFF OF HER EAR.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Outlaw Criminal Bandit Pirate PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 00001940'S
GHOST STORY
"A LITTLE BOY GOT KILLED BY A TRAIN WHEN HE WAS PLAYING
ON SOME RAILROAD TRACKS. HE HAD BEEN TOLD NOT TO PLAY
ON THE TRACKS. THE TRAIN HIT HIM REAL HARD AND PULLED HIM
FOR A REAL LONG WAY. THE TRAIN CUT HIS BODY UP INTO
HUNDREDS OF PIECES. HIS MOM AND DAD WENT UP AND DOWN THE
TRACKS PICKING UP HIS BODY PARTS. IF YOU LISTEN AT NIGHT
AT THE TIME THE BOY WAS KILLED, YOU CAN HEAR HIM CALLING
TO HIS MOM AND DAD. HE SAYS,'MOMMY, HERE'S A PIECE OF ME.
AND HERE'S ANOTHER PIECE OF ME.'"
Where learned: PENNSYLVANIA ; SHAMOKIN
Keyword(s): DISOBEYED PARENTS
James Callow Keyword(s): DISMEMBERMENT BY MISFORTUNATE ACCIDENT
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 00001934CA
IT WAS ME, MY SISTER, MY 2 STEP BROTHERS
AND 2 GIRLS WHO WERE OUR FRIENDS.
WELL, IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER WHEN WE WERE PLAYING OUR WEEGIE
BOARD, WE STARTED PLAYING AND WE COULD FEEL COLD SPOTS AND I HAD
SEEN A MOVIE THAT SAID THE WEEGIE BOARD WAS THE DEVIL AND I DID
NOT WANT TO PLAY. IT SAID IT DIDN'T WANT TO PLAY MORE AND IT WAS
GETTING PISSED OFF. SO IT SPELLED OUT SLAM JEFF, AND JEFF GOT A
WEIRD FEELING AND CAT WENT WEIRD AND THE CONVERTER WENT OFF THE
TV AND AFTER THIS EVERYONE WAS WORRIED AND EVERYONE WANTED TO
STOP PLAYING AND IT STARTED GOING FAST AND WANTED TO LEAVE BECAUSE
THE DEVIL WAS COMING AND STARTED GOING REAL SLOW AND WE ASKED
WHO WAS THERE AND IT SAID SATAN AND ONE GIRL WANTED TO CONTINUE
AND SHE RAN OUT OF THE ROOM AND STOPPED AT THAT POINT AND WENT TO
BED. SHE FELT A BIG COLD SPOT BEHIND HER AND FELT LIKE SOMEONE
WAS BEHIND HER.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; CANTON
Keyword(s): DEVIL IN WEEGIE BOARD
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Devil Demon PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Use of Object |
Date learned: 05-00-1985 ; 11-18-1987
TWO SISTERS IN THE DAYS BEFORE DESEGREGATION, IN THE 1940'S,
THEY STOPPED IN THE TOWN OF MT. CLEMENS MICHIGAN. BOTH GIRLS
WERE BLACK, ONE WAS LIGHT SKINNED AND LOOKED WHITE THE OTHER
GIRL WAS DARK. THE LIGHT SISTER TRIED TO SNEAK OUT OF THE CAR
TO A BAKERY BUT THE DARK SISTER FOLLOWED HER. THE LIGHT
SKINNED SISTER TURNED TO THE OTHER AND SAID, "YOU CAN'T GO
WITH ME, THEY DON'T ALLOW COLORED PEOPLE".
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; NATCHEZ
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote |
THE GREEN THUMB
ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A MAN WHO HAD A GREEN
THUMB. HE WENT TO THE DOCTOR TO SEE WHAT WAS THE
MATTER WITH HIM. THE DOCTOR TOLD HIM THAT IF HE
DIDN'T CUT OFF HIS GREEN THUMB THAT HIS NEXT
FINGER WOULD BECOME GREEN. THE MAN DIDN'T LISTEN
TO THE DOCTOR. THE NEXT MORNING THE MAN GOT UP
AND SAW THAT HIS NEXT FINGER WAS GREEN. WHEN HE
WENT BACK TO THE DOCTOR THE DOCTOR TOLD HIM THAT
IF HE DIDN'T LET HIM CUT OFF THOSE TWO FINGERS
HIS NEXT FINGER WOULD TURN GREEN. THE MAN STILL
DIDN'T BELIEVE THE DOCTOR. THE NEXT MORNING THE
MAN GOT OUT OF BED AND FOUND OUT THAT THE DOCTOR
WAS RIGHT, HIS NEXT FINGER DID TURN GREEN. THIS
MAN KEPT ON DISBELIEVING THE DOCTOR UNTIL HIS
WHOLE HAND WAS GREEN. THE DOCTOR TOLD HIM THAT
IF HE DIDN'T LET HIM CUT OFF HIS HAND HIS WHOLE ARM
WOULD TURN GREEN. FINALLY THE MAN LISTENED TO
THE DOCTOR AND LET HIM CUT OFF HIS HAND. THAT
NIGHT THE DOCTOR AND THE NURSES HAD A PARTY.
THEY MADE FUN OF THE GREEN HAND. THE GREEN HAND
CAME TO LIFE AND KILLED THE DOCTORS AND THE
NURSES BECAUSE THEY MADE FUN OF IT.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 00001970S
Content filter on this entry.
Historical record from James Callow Folklore Archive.
This guy wants to marry this girl so he goes to
ask her father's permission. The father says to
the guy "I think there is something about my
daughter that you should know. She has acute
angina." The guy replied, "I realize that and her
tits ain't bad either!"
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; LENNON
Keyword(s): Heart disease
James Callow Keyword(s): Confusion of angina and vagina
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses PROSE NARRATIVE -- Stupid man or woman |
Date learned: 00-00-1984
A boy raised his arm to hit his mother and God struck him dead
in his tracks. When he was to be buried, his parents were unable
to close the casket because his arm had remained above his head in
the position to strike his mother. The parents eventually had to
break the boy's arm to close the casket.
Submitter comment:
This was told to children to prevent them from ever raising an
arm to strike a parent.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
James Callow Keyword(s): FUNCTION
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Gods PROSE NARRATIVE -- Outlaw Criminal Bandit Pirate PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Gods BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: 10-00-1991
ONCE THERE WAS A LADY WHO WAS BURIED ALIVE. AFTER BEING BURIED
TWO DAYS, SOMEONE DUG UP THE GRAVE. THEY OPENED THE COFFIN AND
THE CLOTH WAS TORN OUT. HER FINGERNAILS WERE ALL GONE FROM
SCRATCHING AND THEY WERE BLEEDING.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; PEABODY COLLEGE ; NASHVILLE ; COLLEGE ASSIGNMENT
Date learned: 03-07-1969
RITA MILLER, A STUDENT AT WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY, WAS HIRED
TO ENTER SOME PAPERS FOR A SEMINAR INTO THE COMPUTER VIA THE
ADMINISTRATIVE TERMINAL SYSTEM (ATS). THE PAPERS WOULD THEN BE
RETYPED ON ATS IN A STANDARD FORMAT WITH NO ERRORS. AS WAS
THE PREVAILING STYLE, RITA'S HAIR WAS QUITE LONG. SHE BENT
OVER ONE OF THE ATS TYPEWRITER TERMINALS WHICH WAS BEING USED
TO OUTPUT A PREVIOUSLY ENTERED PAPER, AND HER HAIR GOT CAUGHT
IN THE MACHINE. THE TYPEWRITER CONTINUED TYPING UNTIL SOME-
ONE HAD THE PRESENCE OF MIND TO SHUT IT OFF. BY THAT TIME,
RITA'S HAIR WAS COMPLETELY WRAPPED AROUND THE ROD WHICH HOLDS
THE TYPE ELEMENT, AND RITA'S CHEEK WAS NEARLY RESTING ON THE
COVER OF THE TYPEWRITER. ALL ATTEMPTS TO FREE HER BY THE
PERSONNEL IN THE OFFICE FAILED, AND IT BEGAN TO LOOK AS THOUGH
HER HAIR WOULD HAVE TO BE CUT. HOWEVER, A CALL TO THE IBM
CUSTOMER ENGINEER (WHO LATER SAID IT WAS THE MOST INTERESTING
CALL HE HAD EVER RECEIVED!), RESULTED IN A DISMANTLING OF
THE MACHINE AND IN FREEING RITA FROM HER TEMPORARY BONDAGE.
RITA NOW HAS SHORT HAIR.
Submitter comment: THIS EVENT OCCURRED IN THE SUMMER OF 1971.
Where learned: KENTUCKY ; BOWLING GREEN
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses PROSE NARRATIVE -- Woman CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- School |
Date learned: 06-00-1973