Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for P546 returned 1346 results.
Do not let a pregnant woman look upon a corpse; if she does the
baby would be born looking like the dead corpse. The informant was
carrying her third child when her father-in-law died and was not
permitted to view the body because of this belief.
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Birth BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: 00-00-1946
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
A bird in your house means death will hit your family, or
someone close to you may die.
Where learned: LOUISIANA ; New Orleans
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Bird BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
You are never to cross the path of a funeral because you will
be the next person they have a funeral for.
Where learned: LOUISIANA ; New Orleans
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: OOOO1970
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
An old family graveyard had to be dug up and moved to make
room for a major highway that was being made in the Detroit,
Michigan area. It was found that one woman had been buried while
she was still living. This was known to be true because the
deceased had rolled over on to her abdomen in her casket and had
pulled all of her hair out of her scalp.
Submitter comment:
This was told to the informant by a Grosse Pointe teacher who
knew it to be true because the deceased was her grandmother.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; GROSSE POINTE
James Callow Keyword(s): PREMATURE BURIAL
| Subject headings: | Favorites BELIEF -- Body part Senses Hair, on head, mustache, widow's peak BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: 00-00-1983
If dogs howl all night, it means that someone is dying.
Submitter comment:
I heard this from a girl I went to school with. She told this
the morning after her mother had a miscarriage. Her mother had
miscarried during the night while the dogs in the neighborhood
howled.
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Mammal BELIEF -- Birth BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Measure of time WeekDayHour |
Date learned: 00-00-1966
In 1967, a composite picture of our sorority sisters fell off
the lounge wall. The crash awakened the girls and they ran from
their bedrooms to the lounge. They found that the crack in the
glass only cut across one face on the picture. It was later found
that this sorority sister's fiance was killed in a car accident at
the exact time that the picture had fallen. His car clock stopped
running upon impact which was the same time that the girls had
been awakened by the picture crashing to the floor.
Submitter comment:
I pledged this sorority in 1969 and was told this by my
sorority sisters. The glass had been replaced and the picture
still hung on the wall. The sorority sister whose face was marred
by the crack had transferred to a different university following
her fiance's death.
Where learned: WEST VIRGINIA ; West Liberty State College ; West Liberty
| Subject headings: | Observation Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Product or activity of man or animal CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- School BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: 00-00-1969
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
During the Vietnam War, when a soldier was to go back to the
United States shortly, his time in Vietnam was considered "short."
There was a "short superstition" among the American soldiers
during the war. It was generally believed that as a soldier's time
became "short" he was more likely to be killed than at any other
time of his tour of duty.
Submitter comment:
The informant could name numerous time when a soldier had
survived most of his tour of duty only to be killed when he was
"short".
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- P535 BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Measure of time |
Date learned: 00-00-1969
Death
Death comes in 3's.
Submitter comment:
Mother says this a lot especially if we hear of at least 2
deaths. She always says there is going to be a 3rd.
Where learned: LOUISIANA ; LAFAYETTE
James Callow Keyword(s): THREES
| Subject headings: | 686 Thirds / Thrice / Three / Triple BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
If a picture falls off the wall by itself, someone you know
will die.
Where learned: HOME ; MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: 02-07-1992
Cure
To stop a keloid from growing, one should place the keloid on
the face of a dead love one.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Lansing
James Callow Keyword(s): Loved one
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Method of Curing |
Date learned: 02-10-1992
The souls of ancestors were reborn in other living things or
objects.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): African Reincarnation Myths
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Birth BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: 02-00-1992
Chills
If a person has a sudden chill up his/her spine, a mouse has
run over his/her grave.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Mammal BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Sensations and involuntary actions Chills, shivering |
Japan-Suicide
In Japan, suicide is an acceptable way to solve problems. The
Japanese feel that the spirit is more important than the body and
still lives on after death.
In fact, in Japan there is a lovers' leap. Lovers whose families
won't allow them to marry tie themselves together and jump together.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; WESTLAND
James Callow Keyword(s): cliff
| Subject headings: | Favorites CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Formation BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: 01-00-1990
DON'T COUNT FUNERAL CARS, AS THEY PASS BY, OR SOMEONE IN YOUR
FAMILY WILL DIE NEXT.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Number Counting beliefs |
IF A ROOSTER CROWS AFTER DARK, THAT MEANS SOMEONE WILL DIE IN
YOUR FAMILY.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Bird BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Measure of time WeekDayHour |
IF YOU ARE WALKING AND A HEAT WEAVE COMES OVER YOU,
THAT IS A SIGN OF DEATH.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Spirit / Mind / Body BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
IF AN UNDERTAKER COMES TO YOUR HOUSE, YOU SHOULD NEVER LET
HIM LEAVE HIS HAT. BECAUSE WHEN HE RETURN FOR THE HAT, HE WILL
BE TAKING A BODY WITH HIM.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | ART CRAFT ARCHITECTURE -- Dress Head BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |