Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for P465 returned 421 results.
Weather Predictor
Flying a kite with a northern wind direction on a bright sunny
day will mean that it will rain the next day. If you fly your
kite in a southern wind direction on a cloudy day the next day
will be bright and sunny. If you attempt to fly your kite on
a stormy day look forward to a week of terrible weather.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): Game, Air.
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Weather sign or control BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Date learned: 00-00-1988
Spinning a yoyo on a cloudy day is supposed to help make the
sun come out.
Submitter comment:
I did this once before under cloudy conditions and the sun
actually did come through the clouds.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): Up, Down.
Date learned: 00-00-1984
Washing your car on just about any day is a sign that it will
rain. And your effort to keep your car clean will go to
waste.
Submitter comment:
You are jinxing yourself whenever you wash your car because
it will always rain.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): Storm, wet
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Sign or prediction through |
Date learned: 00-00-1985
If a child is born when the sun is out and it is raining at
the same time then that child is considered a witch.
Submitter comment:
This tale was told to me when we were in Yugoslavia and the
informant's aunt had a baby. I don't know if it is of
Yugoslavian origin.
Where learned: YUGOSLAVIA ; Zagreb
Keyword(s): SIMULTANEITY
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Sun BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew BELIEF -- Birth |
Date learned: 00-00-1982
When it rains it is the angels taking a shower.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; FERNDALE
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Angel BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
Date learned: 00-00-1974
When it rains it is the angels crying.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; FERNDALE
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Angel BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
Date learned: 00-00-1974
Among the landscapers who plow snow in the winter
there is a legend of the snow snakes. You never see or hear
them but you know when they've bit you. They slip up your
pant leg and bite you in the balls. Then you start to shake
and hurt all over like you're on the verge of gettin'
frostbite. Snow snakes commonly live in the coldest places
especially where the wind is the fiercest.
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Animal BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
Date learned: 00001960ca
NEVER LOOK STRAIGHT INTO A CAT'S EYES. IT WILL CAUSE VERY BAD
LUCK
Where learned: MISSOURI ; HIGHGATE
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00001940S
IF ANTS HAVE A HIGH PILE OF DIRT AROUND THEIR HILLS THIS MEANS
IT IS GOING TO RAIN. THE HIGHER THE HILL, THE MORE IT WILL RAIN.
Where learned: MISSOURI
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Insect BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew BELIEF -- Measure of space: distance, height, depth BELIEF -- Weather sign or control |
Date learned: 00001940S
IF YOU HEAR OR SEE BIRDS DURING A RAINSTORM THE POSSIBILITY OF
A TORNADO IS GREAT.
Where learned: MISSOURI
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Bird BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew BELIEF -- Wind Whirlwind Hurricane Cyclone Tornado BELIEF -- Weather sign or control |
Date learned: 00001940S
Pain in an arthritic or previously broken joint means that it
will rain.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Spirit / Mind / Body BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
Date learned: 00-00-1976
Always wash your hair on the first April Shower; it will make
your hair grow.
Date learned: 00-00-1955
When the sun is out and it's thundering, raining, and it is
said that the Devil is beating his wife.
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Devil Demon BELIEF -- Sun BELIEF -- Lightning Thunder BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
Date learned: 00-00-1955
Polish Belief
Many Polish people used to (some still may) collect rain water
in barrels or pan and use it to wash their hair. They say this
made the hair more manageable and shiny.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; HAMTRAMCK
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses Hair, on head, mustache, widow's peak BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
Date learned: 03-00-1992
When I was growing up, my father would tell me a story about a
man who got his head cut off. He would say that every time after
it rained you would be able to see the puddle of blood where it
happened and the night after it rained you would be able to see the
man standing over the puddle of blood.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
If it rains on the day of a funeral, it is felt to be a sign
that the dead person lived a life filled with love and laughter.
Submitter comment:
This was said at the funeral of my aunt, whose life was truly
filled with love and laughter.
Keyword(s): COMPENSATION
James Callow Keyword(s): CONTRAST
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
Date learned: 00-00-1989
A snowstorm is actually the angels having a pillow fight in
Heaven.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
James Callow Keyword(s): ANTHROPOMORPHISM
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Angel BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew BELIEF -- Weather sign or control |
Date learned: 00-00-1982
When I visited South Carolina in 1989 to golf all of the
locals would say,"It never rains on the golf course." They would
say this when it looked like rain as a superstition in hopes that
everyone could still play golf.
Where learned: SOUTH CAROLINA ; Myrtle Beach
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
Crow on a fence,
Rain will go hence.
Crow on the ground,
Rain will come down.
Submitter comment:
My ex-mother-in-law lived on a farm. She saw a crow in the
barnyard and repeated this poem to me.
James Callow comment:
Puckett, Ohio, no. 34342: "Crow on the ground, / Rain will
come down." -- Slovenian, 1959.
Puckett, Ohio, no. 34858: "Crow on the fence, / Rain will
go hence." -- German, 1961.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; MOUNT PLEASANT
| Subject headings: | Favorites Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Belief BELIEF -- Bird BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
Date learned: 00001970S