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BLUE MIST

IT IS BELIEVED THAT UPON A CERTAIN STREET IN GROSSE ILE, AT A
CERTAIN TIME, THE BLUE MIST DESCENDS UPON ANY CAR THAT TRESPASSES
THERE.

Submitter comment: THERE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE A STORY AS TO THE WHY OF THIS.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; RIVERVIEW

James Callow Keyword(s): GROSSE ILE IS AN ISLAND IN THE DETROIT RIVER ; GROSSE ILE, MICHIGAN

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew
BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal

Date learned: 01-00-1974

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THE WITCH OF METRO BEACH

A WOMAN WHO DIED IN A CAR CRASH AT METROPOLITAN BEACH HAUNTS THOSE
WHO COME THERE TO PARK.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Sterling Heights

James Callow Keyword(s): DETROIT, MICHIGAN

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter
BELIEF -- Marriage Dating Courtship

Date learned: 11-15-1973

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THIS IS A WESTERN CUSTOM, ORIGINATING IN HORSE AND BUGGY STAGE,
WHEN A MAN WOULD WALK ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE LADY SO IF ANY DIRT WAS SPLASHED ON THEM,
HE WOULD GET IT INSTEAD OF THE LADY.

Where learned: DETROIT

Keyword(s): STREET ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT'S STUDENT UNION

Subject headings: CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank

Date learned: 04-01-1971

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GHOST STORY

ON A STREET CALLED TANGLEWOOD ON BELLE ISLE IN DETROIT
{MICHIGAN}, TEENAGERS USUALLY WENT AT NIGHT TO HAVE
DRINKING PARTIES. THEY SAID THEY ALWAYS SAW A GHOST
DRIVING A WHITE OLDSMOBILE. ONE NIGHT A TEENAGE GIRL
WAS DRIVING ALONE--OUT TO MEET HER FRIENDS ON TANGLEWOOD.
AS SHE WAS DRIVING SHE SAW THIS OLDSMOBILE WITH A GHOST
WHITE DRIVER AND SHE GOT SO SCARED SHE CRASHED INTO A
TREE AND GOT KILLED. NOW THE KIDS SAW THIS AND THEY
SAY THAT IF YOU GO THERE AT NIGHT AND TURN YOUR HEAD-
LIGHTS ON INTO THE WOOD YOU CAN SEE THE YOUNG GIRL
WANDERING AROUND. THEY ALSO SAY THAT HER MOTHER WENT
CRAZY AND ALSO WANDERS AROUND IN THE WOODS AT NIGHT
DRESSED IN WHITE.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Keyword(s): TANGLEWOOD, BELLE ISLE, DETROIT, OLDSMOBILE, HEADLIGHTS

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter

Date learned: 04-05-1972

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GHOST STORY

ON A STREET CALLED TANGLEWOOD ON BELLE ISLE IN DETROIT
{MICHIGAN}, TEENAGERS USUALLY WENT AT NIGHT TO HAVE
DRINKING PARTIES. THEY SAID THEY ALWAYS SAW A GHOST
DRIVING A WHITE OLDSMOBILE. ONE NIGHT A TEENAGE GIRL
WAS DRIVING ALONE--OUT TO MEET HER FRIENDS ON TANGLEWOOD.
AS SHE WAS DRIVING SHE SAW THIS OLDSMOBILE WITH A GHOST
WHITE DRIVER AND SHE GOT SO SCARED SHE CRASHED INTO A
TREE AND GOT KILLED. NOW THE KIDS SAW THIS AND THEY
SAY THAT IF YOU GO THERE AT NIGHT AND TURN YOUR HEAD-
LIGHTS ON INTO THE WOOD YOU CAN SEE THE YOUNG GIRL
WANDERING AROUND. THEY ALSO SAY THAT HER MOTHER WENT
CRAZY AND ALSO WANDERS AROUND IN THE WOODS AT NIGHT
DRESSED IN WHITE.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Keyword(s): TANGLEWOOD, BELLE ISLE, DETROIT, OLDSMOBILE, HEADLIGHTS

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter

Date learned: 04-05-1972

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Language

Tongue Twister Verse:

As I was passing through Arkansas, I saw a saw that could outsaw any saw I ever saw.

So, if you're ever passing through Arkansas and see a saw that can outsaw the saw I saw, I'd like to see the saw you saw as you were passing through Arkansas.

Data entry tech comment:

Motifs added by TRD

Alternative possible spelling of Collector's last name: Datson, Datser

James Callow comment:

Already typewritten as Prose.

Keyword(s): Arkansas ; Detroit ; GAME ; Language ; Prose ; PUZZLE ; Saw ; TONGUE TWISTER ; VERSE

James Callow Keyword(s): Prose ; TONGUE TWISTER ; VERSE

Subject headings: Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Speech Speech

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Tongue Twister Verse

As I was passing through Arkansas, I saw a saw that could outsaw any saw I ever saw.

So, if you're ever passing through Arkansas and see a saw that can outsaw the saw I saw, I'd like to see the saw you saw as you were passing through Arkansas.

James Callow comment:

Already typewritten as Prose.

Keyword(s): Arkansas ; Detroit ; Prose ; PUZZLE ; Saw ; TONGUE TWISTER ; VERSE

James Callow Keyword(s): Prose ; TONGUE TWISTER ; VERSE

Subject headings: Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Speech Speech

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Tongue Twister Verse

As I was passing through Arkansas, I saw a saw that could outsaw any saw I ever saw.

So, if you're ever passing through Arkansas and see a saw that can outsaw the saw I saw, I'd like to see the saw you saw as you were passing through Arkansas.

James Callow comment:

Already typewritten as Prose.

Keyword(s): Arkansas ; Detroit ; Prose ; PUZZLE ; Saw ; TONGUE TWISTER ; VERSE

James Callow Keyword(s): Prose ; TONGUE TWISTER ; VERSE

Subject headings: Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Speech Speech

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Tongue Twister Verse

As I was passing through Arkansas, I saw a saw that could outsaw any saw I ever saw.

So, if you're ever passing through Arkansas and see a saw that can outsaw the saw I saw, I'd like to see the saw you saw as you were passing through Arkansas.

James Callow comment:

Already typewritten as Prose.

Keyword(s): Arkansas ; Detroit ; Prose ; PUZZLE ; Saw ; TONGUE TWISTER ; VERSE

James Callow Keyword(s): Prose ; TONGUE TWISTER ; VERSE

Subject headings: Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Speech Speech

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Tongue Twister Verse

As I was passing through Arkansas, I saw a saw that could outsaw any saw I ever saw.

So, if you're ever passing through Arkansas and see a saw that can outsaw the saw I saw, I'd like to see the saw you saw as you were passing through Arkansas.

James Callow comment:

Already typewritten as Prose.

Keyword(s): Arkansas ; Detroit ; Prose ; PUZZLE ; Saw ; TONGUE TWISTER ; VERSE

James Callow Keyword(s): Prose ; TONGUE TWISTER ; VERSE

Subject headings: Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Speech Speech

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Content filter on this entry.

Greetings

Historical record from James Callow Folklore Archive.

Greeting an Intimate:

Among Negro adolescents of Detroit, greetings of "Hello, Momma," and "Hello, Daddy," exchanged between a boy and a girl indicate that they are sexually intimate. HOwever, a boy greeting a girl as "Hello, Momma" as a proposition is likely to get swatted with a purse.

Submitter comment:

The informant observed this while teaching in the Detroit Public School system.

Data entry tech comment:

Motifs Added By TRD

James Callow comment:

T?

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT ; Surowiec, Jerry

Keyword(s): Daddy ; Detroit ; GREETING ; Innuendo ; Intimate ; Momma ; PROPOSITION ; Sexuality ; SLANG

Subject headings: SPEECH -- Formula
Filter - Mature Content

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LE GNOMME ROUGE

THE CITY OF DETROIT HAS A FRENCH ORIGIN. BOTH CADILLAC AND
FATHER RICHARD GREATLY AIDED THE CITY'S FOUNDING. BOTH OF
THESE MEN WERE ADVISED BY "LE GNOMME ROUGE". THIS LITTLE
MAN HELPED IN MAKING IMPORTANT DECISIONS. MANY OF THE CITIZENS
SAW HIM FROM TIME TO TIME. HE WAS LAST SEEN IN 1806 DURING THE
DETROIT FIRE AND IN 1943 DURING THE RACE RIOTS. AT THAT TIME,
SOME CITIZENS SAW HIM, OPENLY SOBBING, WALKING THE STREETS
OF DOWNTOWN.

Submitter comment:

BILL GORMAN HEARD THIS, I WOULD THINK, FROM TRADITIONAL SOURCES.

Data entry tech comment:

SPELLING CORRECTED BY KEYPUNCHER.

Updated by TRD

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DEARBORN ; Gorman, William

Keyword(s): Detroit ; FRENCH ; Le Gnomme Rouge ; Legend ; Lore ; The Nain Rouge

James Callow Keyword(s): COMPARE THE GRAY CHAMPION OF NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

Subject headings: Favorites
BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter

Date learned: 07-08-1964

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CEMETERY BELIEF

IT WAS BELIEVED THAT AFTER EIGHT 'O CLOCK AT NIGHT THE DEAD
WOULD WALK
AROUND MT. ELIOT CEMETERY IN DETROIT.

Data entry tech comment:

Updated by TRD

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT ; Morrison, Hugh James Sr.

Keyword(s): BELIEF ; Dead ; Detroit ; GHOST ; Legend ; Lore ; Mt. Eliot Cemetery ; SUPERNATURAL

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal

Date learned: 11-12-1968

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CEMETERY BELIEF

IF YOU ARE OUT IN THE EARLY EVENING AT MT. ELIOT CEMETERY
AT 6 MILE ROAD, AND YOU FACE THE WEST SIDE OF IT, YOU WILL SEE
A GLOWING RED TOMBSTONE, WHY THIS PARTICULAR TOMBSTONE GLOWS,
NO ONE KNOWS.

Data entry tech comment:

Updated by TRD

Where learned: NOT RECORDED

Keyword(s): CEMETERY ; Detroit ; Glow ; HAUNTED ; Haunting ; Legend ; Mt. Eliot Cemetery ; Tombstone

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal

Date learned: NOT GIVEN

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NAMING A RIVER

THE RIVRE ROUGE RUNNING THROUGH DEARBORN WAS NAMED BY
THE FRENCH EXPLORER LASALLE, BACK IN THE
17TH CENTURY, WHILE TRAVELLING
SOUTH ON THE DETROIT RIVER, LASALLE SAW A TRIBUTARY AND
PROCEEDED TO FOLLOW IT INLAND. NOTICING THAT IT HAD A
REDDISH COLOR, HE NAMED IT "LE RIVRE ROUGE". THE WATER
APPEARED RED BECAUSE OF THE RED CLAY RIVER BASE.

Submitter comment:

MR. BARRY IS A FORD MOTOR GUIDE, AND I BELIEVE HE
LEARNED THIS, OR INVENTED IT, DURING HIS YEARS ASA
TOURIST GUIDE.

Data entry tech comment:

Updated by TRD

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DEARBORN ; Barry, James

Keyword(s): Detroit ; ETYMOLOGY ; FRENCH ; Lasalle ; Naming ; Red ; River Rogue

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Explanation of a name

Date learned: SUMMER 1963

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LE GNOMME ROUGE

THE CITY OF DETROIT HAS A FRENCH ORIGIN. BOTH CADILLAC AND
FATHER RICHARD GREATLY AIDED THE CITIES FOUNDING. BOTH OF
THESE MEN WERE ADVISED BY 'LE GNOMME ROUGE.' THIS LITTLE
MAN HELPED IN MAKING IMPORTANT DECISIONS . MANY OF THE CITIZENS
SAW HIM FROM TIME TO TIME. HE WAS LAST SEEN IN 1806 DURING THE
DETROIT FIRE AND IN 1943 DURING THE RACE RIOTS. AT THAT TIME,
SOME CITIZENS SAW HIM, OPENLY SOBBING, WALKING THE STREETS
OF DOWNTOWN. BILL GORMAN HEARD THIS, I WOULD THINK, FROM TRADITIONAL
SOURCES.

Data entry tech comment:

Updated by TRD

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DEARBORN

Keyword(s): Cadillac ; Detroit ; ETYMOLOGY ; FESTIVAL ; FRENCH ; Gnomme Rouge ; Legend ; Nain Rouge ; Origin ; RACE ; Riots

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Explanation of a name

Date learned: 07-08-1964

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showing 16 items

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