Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for P684 returned 334 results.
When yellow-green air is present take shelter, a tornado is near
by.
Where learned: OHIO ; CLEVELAND
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Wind Whirlwind Hurricane Cyclone Tornado BELIEF -- Color BELIEF -- Weather sign or control |
Date learned: 00-00-1953
If a black cat crosses the road in front of you and it is
crossing to the left, that means something bad is going to
happen. If the cat crosses to the right then that means
something good is going to happen.
Submitter comment:
This was told to me by my mother while we were in the process
of running into the back of a bus on the way to school one
morning. She said the reason why this happened was because of
the black cat we saw crossing to the left.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Lansing
| Subject headings: | Favorites BELIEF -- Mammal BELIEF -- Color BELIEF -- Good luck BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1965
Never wear white to the funeral of an elder because it is
disrespectful to the family.
Submitter comment:
I traveled by plane to Alabama to go to my aunt stepmother's
funeral. As we dressed that morning to go to the funeral I asked
my aunt, "What should I wear? I said, "Maybe I will wear my
white dress." My aunt said, "No, you do not wear white to the
funeral of an elder because it is disrespectful to the family."
Where learned: ALABAMA ; Dixon Mills
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Color |
Date learned: 00-00-1983
Old Polish Belief
Children with red hair are cruel and mean, and have a bad
temper.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; HAMTRAMCK
James Callow Keyword(s): PERSONALITY
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Color |
When a black cat cross your path while driving down the road,
you should turn around and go another way, because you will have
something bad to happen to you if you don't.
Where learned: LOUISIANA ; New Orleans
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Mammal BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Color BELIEF -- Bad luck BELIEF -- Conversions |
If a horse has one white hoof, buy it. If the horse has two
white hooves, take a chance. If the horse has three white hooves,
think hard before you buy. If the horse has four white hooves,
don't buy it.
Submitter comment:
This saying is popular in horse circles. There is some truth
to the saying that white hooves frequently seem to be weaker than
darker hooves.
James Callow comment:
See Wayland Hand, North Carolina, no. 7633, for parallels from
Ontario, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Illinois, and in particular
Pennsylvania, where "a horse with one or more white feet is
considered more or less impaired in value." Hand seems to think
that such horses are called "white-stockinged"; but our
informant/collector notes that a stocking applies to the leg, not
to the hoof or foot. Also see the OED, s.v. "stocking."
"A horse with one white foot is always weak in it; and if he
goes lame, it will be that foot." -- Hyatt, Illinois (1965), no.
2530.
See Hyatt, Illinois (1
Date learned: 00-00-1956
When my mother was approximately 10 years old she was told by
her mother that white shoes were never to be worn before Memorial
Day or after Labor Day. My mother, in turn, told the same thing
to my sister and I as we grew up and to this day we still follow
the rule of the white shoes.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Date learned: 00-00-1950
Luck
Two things you should always eat on New Year's Day: Greens
and Black-Eye Peas. Greens for money and Black-Eye Peas for
luck.
Where learned: OHIO ; CLEVELAND
James Callow Keyword(s): Homeopathic Magic -- green
Date learned: 00-00-1931
Unknown
Do not kill any white spiders because white spiders are good
luck.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Color BELIEF -- Good luck |
Date learned: 05-31-1981
If you paint the bedroom walls blue, you will sleep your
best.
Where learned: HOME ; MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD
| Subject headings: | Favorites BELIEF -- Measure of time Sleeping BELIEF -- Color |
Date learned: 02-07-1992
How To Become Invisible
Find a black cat. On a full moon go to where the roads cross
and boil a kettle of water. Drop the cat into the water. Boil
the flesh off the bones. Put the bone between your eyes and then
in your mouth. This will allow you to become invisible. Take
the bone out of your mouth and you will become visible again.
James Callow comment:
See Hyatt 5: nos. 10061, 10076, 10078, 10082-10086, 10091-
10095, etc. for the invisibility (disappearance) effect. Also
see Hyatt 1: 74-97 for an earlier section on the black cat bone.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Lansing
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration Favorites BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Mammal BELIEF -- Moon BELIEF -- Sign Geometric figure Cross and its various modifications BELIEF -- Color |
Date learned: 02-10-1992
I was told that if you killed an ant, especially a black ant,
it would cause rain to come.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): Bug superstitions
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Insect BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew BELIEF -- Color |
Date learned: 01-00-1978
Entry filtered.
Butter
Someone picks a yellow dandelion flower and places it under
someone's chin. If their chin showed yellow, they liked butter; if
it did not, they did not like butter. After this was established,
the head of the dandelion was popped off into the person's face.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; ROSEVILLE ; Neighborhood children
James Callow Keyword(s): DIVINATION
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Plant BELIEF -- Color |
Date learned: 00001950S
White toed sox
A good luck charm to ward off bad gremlins, was socks with
white toes. The Irish say that these socks will keep a person from
being tripped by "little people."
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; ROSEVILLE
James Callow Keyword(s): Apotropaic clothing
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Fairy Elf Goblin Gnome BELIEF -- Color BELIEF -- Good luck |
Date learned: 00001969S
Bad Luck. Anyone who is in possession of a yellow lighter will
have bad luck and misfortune. It does not matter whether the
lighter is found, purchased or received as a gift, the owner of the
lighter will have bad luck. The only way to rid yourself of the
bad luck is to destroy the lighter by blowing it up!
Submitter comment:
The informant claims not to believe this story to be true, but
laughingly stated that she will never own, or even use, a yellow
lighter just in case it has some validity.
Where learned: DETROIT AREA ; stranger in a night club
Keyword(s): Cigarette Lighters
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Color BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00001990s
White Spiders
If you see a white spider descending from the ceiling, it is
good luck to catch the spider in a paper bag and throw the bag
away.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Color BELIEF -- Good luck |
Why are barns red?
When driving through farm country, we notice that many barns are
painted red. Why red? Wouldn't any other color be just as effective?
The answer stems from one of the original ingredients of paint - iron
oxide.
Late in the 1700's, farmers in New England, Wisconsin, and Minnesota
began using a mixture of iron oxide (readily available from the soil),
lime, linseed oil, and skim milk to produce a superior paint that
quickly hardened into a bright red, plastic-like coating. The paint
adhered well and lasted for years. Iron oxide, a rust-related
compound, gave red paint its distinctive pigment, one more durable
than any other natural pigment. As an added benefit, red paint
absorbed the sun's rays in winter, keeping the barn warm. Red paint
became the traditional color for barns.
Recently, though, with the advent of prepainted metal structures,
farmers have begun to use color to fine-tune internal temperature. In
cold regions, dark colors besides red, such as brown, green, and blue,
are common now. In warmer regions, white, cream, yellow, and other
light hues are more prevalent.
The following 1835 recipe (from a farmer's periodical) makes about a
gallon of iron-oxide paint. A medium-sized barn will require about 10
gallons:
4 lbs. skim milk
8 oz. lime
6 oz. linseed oil
1.5 lbs. iron oxide (available in solution at
most paint stores
2 oz turpentine
James Callow comment:
cf. Puckett, Ohio, no. 1029: "A pregnant woman should never look
at a red barn, or the baby will be born with strawberry marks."
cf. Puckett, Ohio, no. 33147: "Paint the barn red to frighten away
evil spirits."
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; LINCOLN PARK
| Subject headings: | ART CRAFT ARCHITECTURE -- Animal housingBarnPen BELIEF -- Color |
IF YOU DREAM OF A BLACK DRESS, THAT IS A SIGN OF A FUNERAL.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | ART CRAFT ARCHITECTURE -- Dress Overall body coverUpper body and arms BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Color BELIEF -- Dreams Dreams about objects BELIEF -- Dreams Objects in color |
Black colors (Red-Black-Green)
This is symbol of unity among Afro-Americans.
Red - is for the blood that has been shedded.
Black - is for the unity of blackness and the
people that have died.
Green - is for the land that has been taken.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Color |