Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for P440 returned 190 results.
Never eat split hoof animals because they are unclean
animals; they carry disease, and they eat their own defecation.
Submitter comment:
My mother told me about split hoof animals as I told her how
much I loved Bar-B-Que.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Food Drink -- Meat Bred animal Food Drink -- Meat Wild animal BELIEF -- Animal |
I was told that when you can smell watermelon and there's none
around it usually means a snake is near.
Submitter comment: My mother had this scary look on her face.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
Keyword(s): Fragrances
| Subject headings: | Favorites BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Plant |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
If you kill a snake, it must be hung on a fence until sundown.
If you do not, the snake will come back to life.
Submitter comment:
When I was young, I remember seeing a snake hanging on the
fence all day that my father had killed.
James Callow comment:
See Puckett, Ohio, nos. 30842-30846: snakes, when killed,
won't die or even stop wriggling until sundown.
"A snake won't die until the sun goes down unless you hang him
on a barbed-wire fence." Puckett, Ohio, no. 30847.
| Subject headings: | Favorites BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Sun BELIEF -- Measure of time WeekDayHour |
Date learned: 00-00-1956
To catch a tapeworm, you must shine a flashlight down the
throat to attract the tapeworm. When you see it, simply pull it
out.
Submitter comment:
This was told to the informant around 1960 by a nursing
instructor. The informant at that time was a nursing student.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Favorites BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Method of Curing |
Date learned: 00-00-1960
To get rid of a tapeworm, you must not eat all day and then
put peanut butter on your tongue. You should then stick your
tongue out and wait for the tapeworm to crawl out. When you see
the tapeworm, you must grab it and pull it out of the body.
| Subject headings: | Favorites BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Method of Curing |
Date learned: 00-00-1960
Red and yellow,
Kill a fellow.
Red and black,
Venom lack.
Submitter comment:
This rhyme is used to tell venomous and non-venomous snakes
apart. The color refers to the consecutive color bands only. If
red and black color rings touch on the snake, it is not venomous.
If red and yellow color bands touch on the snake, it is usually a
venomous snake.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; GROSSE POINTE
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Animal |
Date learned: 00-00-1991
A remedy or treatment that I learned at my parent's cottage
in Hillsdale, Michigan is that one can remove a leach that is
stuck to his leg or other body part by pouring salt right over
the leach. Doing this will simply cause the leach to fall off
without trying to pull it off.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; HILLSDALE
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Mineral |
Date learned: 00-00-1985
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 are bitten by a snake, put snuff on it to draw the
poison out.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Plant |
Date learned: 02-12-1992
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 |
ANIMAL KINGDOM
OF ALL THE ANIMALS IN THE KINGDOM, I'D RATHER BE A PANTHER,
I'LL CURL MY TAIL OVER MY BACK AND RUN ALL OVER INDIANA.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
James Callow Keyword(s): RHYME
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Lyrical Verse BELIEF -- Animal |
ANIMAL FAIR
I WENT TO THE ANIMAL FAIR, AND THE BIRDS AND BEES WERE THERE.
AND THE OLD BABOON BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON
WAS COMBING HIS AWFUL HAIR.
THE MONKEY GOT DRUNK AND FELL ON THE ELEPHANT
SNEEZED AND WHEN HE HEAVED,
THAT WAS THE END OF THE MONKEY .
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Animal |
FOR A PERSON TO KILL A SNAKE, IS TO BRING THAT
PERSON VERY BAD LUCK.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; GROSSE POINTE
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Bad luck Animals |
Date learned: 04-26-1972
WE ALWAYS USED TO KILL SNAKES DOWN HOME AND HANG THEM
ON THE FENCE. WELL, THEY ALWAYS TOLD US IF YOU HANG
A SNAKE ON THE FENCE, IT WILL RAIN. I DON'T KNOW
WHY, BUT THAT'S WHAT THEY TOLD US.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; OHIO ; SOUTHFIELD ; HOLLISTER
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Weather sign or control BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
Date learned: 05-19-1965
IF A BLACK CAT CROSSES YOUR PATH, IT MEANS DEATH OR
TROUBLE.
Submitter comment:
WHENEVER A BLACK CAT CROSS IN FRONT OF ME, I WILL
TURN AROUND AND GO IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): POSITION DIRECTION
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Sign Color |
Date learned: 02-12-1972
IF A BIRD KNOCKS OUTSIDE YOUR HOME, IT'S A SIGN
OF DEATH.
Submitter comment: INFORMANT LEARNED THIS IN THAILAND.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; THAILAND ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: 02-02-1971
WHEN A DOG HOWLS SOMEONE IS DYING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
A WEDDING BAD OMEN IN ITALY
IF A ROOSTER WOULD CROW UNNATURALLY, OR A SNAKE FALL
INTO THE ATRIUM OR A BLACK DOG ENTERED THE HOUSE,
EVEN THOUGH A WEDDING HAD BEEN ARRANGED WITH INVITATIONS
SENT OUT AND EVERYTHING IN READINESS, THE WEDDING
WOULD BE POSTPONED.
Submitter comment: PEOPLE STILL DO THIS IN ITALY.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; ITALY ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Marriage |
Date learned: 11-20-1967
BAD LUCK
IF YOU SEE A SNAKE IT MEANS THAT YOUR LOVER MEANS TO
BETRAY YOU.
Submitter comment:
THIS IS BELIEVED BY MANY POOR PEOPLE TODAY IN ITALY.
THESE SUPERSTITIONS ARE BELIEVED BY THE POOR IN
SMALL TOWNS.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Animal BELIEF -- Marriage |
Date learned: 12-01-1967
IF A PERSON IS EVIL, A CERTAIN SNAKE WILL COME AND BITE
THIS PERSON, CAUSING THE PERSON TO DIE; HOWEVER,
THERE WOULD BE NO EVIDENCE OF A FANG MARK FROM THE
SNAKE.
Submitter comment: TOLD BY A BHUDDIST GIRL FROM THAILAND.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; THAILAND ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Animal |
Date learned: 10-00-1967