Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for HUMOR returned 352 results.
RAH, RAH, REE,
KICK HIM IN THE KNEE;
RAH, RAH, RASS,
KICK HIM IN THE...
Submitter comment:
WHEN ASKED BY THE INSTRUCTOR IF THIS ITEM WAS A CHEER, THE COLLECTOR
SAID IT WAS.
Data entry tech comment:
I LEARNED A VARIANT OF THIS CHEER AT ST. ELIZABETH'S GRADE SCHOOL IN
DETROIT IN THE LATE 1960'S:
RAH RAH REE
KICK 'EM IN THE KNEE;
RAH RAH RASS
KICK 'EM IN THE...OTHER KNEE.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): ALLITERATION ; ELLIPSIS ; HUMOR ; NONSENSE WORDS ; REPETITION ; SPORTS ; SURPRISE ENDING
Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Game Verse Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Custom Festival Custom Festival |
Date learned: 11-20-1968
ANIMAL RHYME
THE ELEPHANT IS A PRETTY BIRD,
IT FLITS FROM BOUGH TO BOUGH.
IT BUILDS ITS NEST IN A RHUBARB TREE
AND WHISTLES LIKE A COW.
Where learned: ONTARIO ; OAKVILLE
Keyword(s): HUMOR ; RHYME: ABCB
Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Animal Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Lyrical Verse Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Prose Narrative C820.442 |
Date learned: DATE NOT RECORDED BY COLLECTOR
THE BROLGA
THE BROLGA OR AUSTRALIAN CRANE
HOLDS DANCING ORGIES ON THE PLAIN;
AND STUDENTS OF THE RUSSIAN BALLET
HAVE CREPT IN CROWDS ACROSS THE MALLEE
FAR BEYOND THE DESERT GRASSES
TO WHERE THE BROLGA HOLDS ITS CLASSES;
AND MANY A MOTIF FOR THE LEG
HAS EMANATED FROM AN EGG.
BUT CERTAIN PURISTS DO NOT CARE
FOR SUCH TECHNIQUE AND PRUDES DECLARE
SPECIFIC MOVEMENTS OF THE BROLGA
UNACADEMIC, IF NOT VOLGA.
Where learned: AUSTRALIA ; TOORAK ; VICTORIA
Keyword(s): ALLITERATION ; ASSONANCE ; DANCE ; HUMOR ; MONOLOGUE ; PRONUNCIATION ; RHYME: AABB
Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Prose Narrative C820.444 |
THE ECHIDNA
THE MALE ECHIDNA WITH ITS MATE
SURVIVES THE MOST PRECARIOUS STATE;
HE ROLLS HER, HAIR AND SPINES AND ALL
INTO AN EENZY-WEENZY BALL--
AND BURIES HER; AND IN THIS WAY
PROVIDES AGAINST A RAINY DAY.
BUT, LIKE AS NOT, THIS SAME ECHIDNA
FORGETS JUST IF, OR WHERE, HE'S HID NA.
Where learned: AUSTRALIA ; TOORAK ; VICTORIA
Keyword(s): HUMOR ; MONOLOGUE ; PRONUNCIATION ; RHYME: AABB ; SLANG
Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Prose Narrative C820.442 |
Date learned: CA10001968
THE MARSUPIAL MOLE
LIKE MILTON, THE MARSUPIAL MOLE
PURSUES HIS OWN UNWORLDLY GOAL.
SIGHTLESS HE SLEEPS WITHIN THE EARTH
REMOVED FROM MADNESS AND FROM MIRTH.
AS DAYS AND NIGHTS AND SEASONS PASS
OVER THE CHANGING DESERT GRASS
HE FLOATS UPON HIS SECRET STREAMS
OF MARVELLOUS MARSUPIAL DREAMS,
AND MIXES WITH CELESTIAL BREEDS
MORE SUITED TO HIS AIMS AND NEEDS--
CONSORTING WITH (UPON THE WHOLE)
A BETTER TYPE OF LADY MOLE.
Where learned: AUSTRALIA ; TOORAK ; VICTORIA
Keyword(s): ALLITERATION ; HUMOR ; MONOLOGUE ; RHYME: AABB
Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Prose Narrative C820.44I |
Date learned: CA10001968
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THE DOVES
OUTSIDE MY WINDOW PANE
THE DOVES ARE MATING ONCE AGAIN
THEY BOW, THEY BILL, THEY FLAP, THEY FLUTTER
FROM ROOF TO RAIL, FROM GATE TO GUTTER.
THEY PECK AND PREEN AND SCRATCH AND SCATTER,
MAKING THE MOST INFERNAL CHATTER--
A COURSE OF CONDUCT OPPORTUNE,
NO DOUBT, TO SUCH A MONTH AS JUNE.
AND YET, I MUST CONFESS I FIND
SUCH BEDLAM (TO THE TEMPERATE MIND),
WHEN EMPHASISED WITHOUT ABATEMENT,
MERELY BECOMES AN OVER-STATEMENT.
Where learned: AUSTRALIA ; TOORAK ; VICTORIA
Keyword(s): ALLITERATION ; HUMOR ; MONOLOGUE ; ONOMATOPAEIA ; PHONETIC INTENSIVE: FLAP, FLUTTER ; RHYME: AABB
Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Prose Narrative C820.444 |
Date learned: CA10001968
MY FIRST EXPERIENCE
THE SKY WAS DARK, THE MOON WAS HIGH,
WE WERE ALONE, JUST HER AND I.
HER HAIR WAS SO SOFT, HER EYES SKY BLUE,
I KNEW JUST WHAT I HAD TO DO.
I DIDN'T KNOW HOW, BUT I DID MY BEST.
I RAN MY FINGERS DOWN HER SPINE
I PUT MY HAND AGAINST HER BREAST.
I'LL NEVER FORGET MY BEATING HEART,
AS SHE SLOWLY SPREAD HER LEGS APART.
NOW ITS ( IT'S ) DONE--ITS ( IT'S ) OVER NOW
MY FIRST EXPERIENCE MILKING A COW.
Where learned: LOCATION NOT RECORDED BY COLLECTOR
Keyword(s): ALLITERATION ; ANTICLIMAX ; HUMOR ; MONOLOGUE ; SURPRISE ENDING
James Callow Keyword(s): PRETENDED OBSCENE
Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Narrative Verse Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Prose Narrative C820.660 |
Date learned: 09-30-1970
MY PARENTS
ONCE IN MY OLD NEIGHBORHOOD, THERE WAS THIS ONE KID WHO
ASKED HIS FATHER IF HE COULD MARRY THE GIRL NEXT DOOR.
HIS FATHER SAID NO AND TOLD HIM THAT THAT GIRL WAS
REALLY HIS DAUGHTER AND TO MARRY HIS SISTER WOULD
NEVER DO. HIS MOTHER TOOK HIM ASIDE LATER AND TOLD
HIM NOT TO WORRY AND THAT HE COULD MARRY THAT GIRL
BECAUSE HE WASN'T REALLY HIS SON.
Where learned: BUFFALO ; NEW YORK, ASSUMED
James Callow Keyword(s): HUMOR
Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Married couple |
Date learned: 10-00-1968
VERSE
DOWN TO THE PRESS THE PUWICE GOES (QUINCE?)
AND'S PRESSED TILL OUT THE CIDER FLOWS
IT FLOWS INTO THE CIDER TANKS
MONSTROUS FELLOWS ALL IN RANKS. MM
THEN THEY THE BARRELS WITH CIDER FILL
AND FREIGHT TRAINS TAKE IT FROM THE MILL
THEY FREIGHT IT TO SOME DISTANT TOWN
WHERE OLD TOPERS DRINK IT DOWN.
Where learned: FAMILY JOURNAL
Keyword(s): DRINKING ; HUMOR ; RHYME DOUBLE ; RHYME: AABBCCDD
Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Food Drink C855.443 |
Date learned: 11-08-1969
MULTIPLICATION IS VEXATION,
DIVISION IS AS BAD,
THE RULE OF THREE DOTH PUZZLE ME,
AND PRACTICE DRIVES ME MAD.
Submitter comment:
WRITTEN IN HER MOTHER'S ARITHMETIC BOOK FROM CLEVELAND, OHIO
DATED 1957.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; MARYGROVE COLLEGE ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): DIALOGUE ; HUMOR ; MATHEMATICS ; QUATRAIN
Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Wisecracks, Gags, Silly Insults |
Date learned: 03-00-1968
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AFRICAN TRIBE TALE
A CERTAIN BIOLOGY PROFESSOR WAS DELIVERING A LECTURE AT MICHIGAN
STATE ON A TRIBE IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. THE SUBJECT UNDER DISCUSSION WAS
THE ABNORMALLY LARGE "PRIVATES" OF THIS TRIBE. TWO PRUDISH SORORITY
GIRLS EMBARRASSED BY THE CRUDE LECTURE ABRUPTLY LEFT THEIR SEATS
AND STARTED FOR THE DOOR. THE PROFESSOR STOPPED THEM WITH THIS
COMMENT, "WHAT'S YOUR RUSH GIRLS, THE
BOAT DOESN'T LEAVE UNTIL MORNING."
Submitter comment: TOLD TO ME AS ACTUAL FACT IN 1960.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; LIVONIA
Keyword(s): CLASSROOM HUMOR ; COLLEGE PROFESSOR LEGEND
Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Human Being PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 00-00-1960
AUTOGRAPH BOOK MATERIAL
WHEN YOU ARE BATHING IN A TUB
THINK OF ME BETWEEN EACH RUB.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): HUMOROUS REQU&ST ; RHYMING COUPLET
James Callow Keyword(s): BATHTUB VERSE
Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Autograph Verse Humorous allusion to love |
Date learned: 10-15-1926
AUTOGRAPH BOOK VERSE
DON'T GO TO LONDON, DON'T GO TO FRANCE
STAY HERE IN MISSOURI AND GIVE THE BOYS A CHANCE.
Where learned: MISSOURI, ASSUMED
Keyword(s): COUNTRY ; HUMOROUR ADVICE ; RHYMING COUPLET
Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Autograph Verse Humorous allusion to love |
Date learned: 11-05-1967
AUTOGRAPH
I LOVE YOU
I LOVE YOU
I LOVE YOU SWELL
IF I HAD A PEANUT
I'D GIVE YOU THE SHELL)
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT ; PALMER PARK
Keyword(s): FOOD ; HUMOROUS INSULT ; RHYME: ABCDC ; RIDICULE OF LOVE
James Callow Keyword(s): ITERATION
Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Autograph Verse Humorous allusion to love |
Date learned: 06-03-1959
AUTOGRAPH BOOK JINGLE
I LOVE, I LOVE YOU
I LOVE YOU I DO;
BUT DON'T GET EXCITED
I LOVE MONKEY'S T6O)
Keyword(s): FALSE LOVE ; HUMOROUS INSULT ; RHYME: AABA
Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Autograph Verse Humorous allusion to love |
Date learned: 10-27-1968