Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for P882 returned 579 results.
When passing over railroad tracks while driving in a car, you
must lift both feet off the floor until you pass the first white
house. It's considered bad luck if you don't.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Date learned: 00-00-1976
If a black cat crosses your path, cross your fingers on him
before he gets cross the path, if you don't you'll have bad luck.
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Mammal BELIEF -- Bad luck BELIEF -- Conversions SPEECH -- Gesture |
Date learned: 00-00-1955
If someone sweeps your feet with a broom you have to spit on
the broom; if not the person's foot that you swept will have bad
luck.
James Callow Keyword(s): CONVERSION
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses Feet, toes, toenails BELIEF -- Bad luck SPEECH -- Gesture |
Date learned: 00-00-1955
Throw salt over your left shoulder to keep the jinks away.
Where learned: GEORGIA ; Alberton
James Callow Keyword(s): jinx
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Mineral BELIEF -- Curse BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1959
Please do not put your hat on the table. This is bad luck !
Submitter comment:
My mother quickly put my hat in the chair as she yelled out
do not put that there, it is bad luck.
Where learned: ALABAMA ; MOBILE
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1990
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 walk under a ladder, it is bad luck !
Submitter comment:
As my mother and I painted the molding of the house, she
said, "Do not walk under that ladder because it is bad luck ."
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1986
Never whistle in the house because it is bad luck.
Submitter comment:
My mother always yelled at all of us kids when ever we would
whistle in a house no matter whose house we were in.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Home BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
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 |
You should never split a pole or a tree or anything when
walkin' with another person. It may bring you bad luck. If you do
split it, to keep you from having bad luck, you have to go back
around whatever you split the same way you came.
Where learned: LOUISIANA ; New Orleans
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Bad luck BELIEF -- Conversions |
Date learned: 00-00-1968
It is traditional in many areas of Ohio to go outside at
midnight on New Year's Eve and bang together pots and pans. This
will bring good luck throughout the coming year.
Where learned: OHIO ; Amsterdam
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- December 31 New Year's Eve CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Typical Elements of a Festive Pattern BELIEF -- Measure of time Year BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1956
If you hang a horseshoe above your door for good luck, the
horseshoe legs must be pointed up. If the horseshoe legs are
pointed down, the luck will run out.
James Callow Keyword(s): POSITION DIRECTION
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Sign Geometric figure BELIEF -- Good luck BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1957
During the Vietnam War, it was felt to be unlucky for an
American soldier to carry a camera. The soldiers felt that there
was a high incidence of being killed shortly after buying a
camera, or receiving one from home.
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- P535 BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1969
Never sweep a visitors' foot with a broom. If this happens
have the person whose feet has been swept spit on the bottom of
the broom. If the person does not spit on the broom it will be
bad luck for that person.
Submitter comment:
It so happens that I was sweeping and accidently hit her
foot, she asked that I turn the broom upside down so that she
could spit on the bottom of it.
Where learned: WINSTON SALEM ; NORTH CAROLINA
| Subject headings: | Favorites BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Bad luck BELIEF -- Conversions SPEECH -- Gesture |
Date learned: 00-00-1979
Superstition
Never let a man place his hat on a woman's bed. It's bad
luck to the woman.
James Callow comment:
"Putting your hat on the bed is an almost universal Negro
sign of bad luck" (N. N. Puckett, "Folk Beliefs of the Southern
Negro," p. 410). Puckett cites informants from Alabama and
Mississippi.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Laurel
| Subject headings: | Favorites BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1944
Unknown
Always burn your hair when you cut it, because if a bird gets
ahold to it, you will have bad luck.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Bird BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1990
Numbers
You will never hit the number if you look up a lady's dress.
Submitter comment: This is a belief of people who play the lottery.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | ART CRAFT ARCHITECTURE -- Dress BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Good luck BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1992
If you break a mirror you will have seven years of bad luck.
Where learned: HOME ; MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD
| Subject headings: | 686 Seven / Sevenths / Several BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Measure of time Year BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 02-07-1992
When walking down a street with someone, don't split a tree
or a pole because it is bad luck.
Where learned: HOME ; MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 02-07-1992
Manx Cats
I was told by a woman who gave me a manx kitten the following
story. The manx is from the Isle of Man. There were a couple
aboard a sailing vessel (for good luck) that sank just off the
United States coastline. The two somehow made it to shore. This is
how they came to the U.S. Also, if you notice they look a bit
different from the average cat. They have no tail, their hind legs
are longer than the average cat, and they hop, sort of, while
running. This is because they had mated with rabbits on the Isle
of Man, and this has become a part of their genetic structure.
Submitter comment:
I did a little investigating of my own and found truth in where
the manx originated, and the description of their physical
appearance is accurate, but I could not verify the mating or
shipwreck parts of the story.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Mount Clemens
| Subject headings: | Favorites BELIEF -- Mammal BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00001970S