Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for P438 returned 634 results.
If by accident you find the back tooth of a horse,
carry it along with you as long as you live and
you will never want money; but it must be by chance
that you found it.
Submitter comment: Irish superstition
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Mammal BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Measure of quality Monetary systemMoneyWealth |
Date learned: 00001950S
IN ORDER TO DO GOOD ON AN EXAM YOU SHOULD TAPE A FEW STRANDS
OF HAIR TO YOUR PENCIL.
Where learned: FLORIDA
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- School BELIEF -- Magic of Speech, Sign, Color |
Date learned: 00-00-1960
NEVER GET A HAIRCUT BEFORE A BIG TEST OR SPEECH; IF YOU DO ALL
THE INFORMATION IN YOUR MEMORY WILL LEAK OUT.
Where learned: MICHIGAN
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- School |
Date learned: 00001960S
Whenever I study, I have to wear my hair in a ponytail.
Where learned: MICHIGAN
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- School BELIEF -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 00001980S
When yawning cover your mouth or your spirit will come out.
If you don't cover your mouth you have to blow because evil
spirits have come in to chase your good spirit away.
Where learned: DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Devil Demon BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal SPEECH -- Gesture |
Date learned: 00001960S
The shoes she wore were so worn out that if she stepped on a
dime she could tell if it was heads or tails.
Where learned: DETROIT
James Callow Keyword(s): tactile sense
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote ART CRAFT ARCHITECTURE -- Dress HandsFeet BELIEF -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 00001960S
If you put a piece of copper in between your teeth, you will
never have to worry about evil spirits invading your body.
Submitter comment:
Grandma always told all of us kids to put a penny in between
our teeth and we would never have to be scared of any evil
spirits or of things that go bump in the night.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Devil Demon BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Mineral BELIEF -- Measure of quality Monetary systemMoneyWealth |
Date learned: 00-00-1940
Adam's Apple
The lump in the front of the neck is referred to as the Adam's
Apple. This is a very old notion that comes from a story that Adam
ate the apple in the Garden of Eden and a piece of it was caught in
his throat and formed the lump.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Explanation of a name BELIEF -- Explanation of a name SPEECH -- Folk etymology |
Date learned: 02-02-1992
Wedding Ring
Women wearing wedding rings goes back to barbaric times when
wives were treated by their husbands a little better than slaves.
The custom was to fasten a chain on a slave as a mark of ownership,
and often married women were forced to wear a chain around their
neck.
Later men realized women were helpmates and the custom of treating
them like slaves gradually ceased, but men still wished to show
visible possession of a wife. This took the form of a ring on the
finger of the wife's left hand, which is nearer the heart.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Marriage BELIEF -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 02-02-1992
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 |
Baby Belief
Babies born with "outtie" (a navel that sticks out) navels will
have good luck.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; HAMTRAMCK
James Callow Keyword(s): outie -- variant spelling?
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Birth BELIEF -- Good luck |
Date learned: 03-00-1992
My mother told me that when any of my teeth came out I should
put them under my pillow so that the tooth fairy would leave me
some money. My mother also said I had to be a good boy in order to
receive any money.
Submitter comment: My mother sounded very convincing.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
Keyword(s): Little magical people
James Callow Keyword(s): Fairy
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Fairy Elf Goblin Gnome BELIEF -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
My mother believes that when a baby is born with a
veil(placenta) still covering its face that it will be able to see
spirits.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
Keyword(s): Gypsies
| Subject headings: | Prophet / Seer / Soothsayer Spirit / Mind / Body BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Birth |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
Baby's First Teeth
It's been said that if you let a baby look into the mirror
before he/she grows his/her first teeth then he/she will never grow
any teeth at all.
Submitter comment:
My mother had this big grin on her face when she told me this
but it took me a few years to realize she was lying.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | 686 Properties attributed to specific numbers or numerals individually. BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Number Emptiness, nothingness, zero |
Date learned: 00-00-1980
In school I would always hear the guys say that when a girl had
a wide gap in her crotch, it meant she was very sexually active.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
Entry filtered.
It's been said that the vagina of an oriental is shaped
horizontally instead of vertically.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 00-00-1980
If you don't burn your hair, someone can get a hold to it and
put a spell or something on you.
Where learned: LOUISIANA ; New Orleans
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Curse |
Date learned: 00-00-1969
If you remove a mole or wart from your body, you will bleed
to death.
Where learned: LOUISIANA ; New Orleans
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Means of Causing or Avoiding Illness |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
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