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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
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Wearing opals when you are not a Scorpio is only bad
luck if you are single; if you are married they won't
harm you.
Submitter comment:
Jane, a friend of Elinor's, states that wearing an opal if
you are not supposed to interferes in the finding of
a husband. She then told Elinor that she could wear
an opal if she wanted to, since she was married.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD
Keyword(s): horoscope, astrology, spinster, advice, reassurance, gems
James Callow Keyword(s): JEWELRY
Date learned: 00001987ca
Friendship bracelets
Friendship bracelets consist of thread braided
together to form a bracelet. These bracelets
represent your friendship to that particular
person. They are usually worn around your wrist or
around your ankle.
You will need embroidery thread, two or more safety
pins, and a pillow or cushion. You also have to know
how many colors you want and how wide you want the
bracelet.
In order to start the bracelet you have to cut the
thread. A good standard length is two arm lengths.
Even if the bracelet is small you still want long
thread because it is easier to work with and you
don't have to worry about running out.
Once the thread is cut you have to arrange the
colors into the order that you want them. This is
also the time to decide how thick you want the
bracelet to be. If you would like a color to be
thicker then put two strands of that color next to
each other. Usually what people do is to use four
colors with two strands apiece for a good standard
thickness.
Now that you have all of your strands and colors in
the order you like, tie them together. A note of
caution, leave about two inches of open thread before
you tie the knot. This extra two inches is so you can
tie it together when you're done.
After the knot is tied, place the threads on the
pillow. The knot should be furthest away from you and
safety pinned to the pillow. Once the knot is pinned
to the pillow separate the strands into the desired
order and make sure they aren't too close together.
If they are close together there is a chance that
you may get the color order confused and the
bracelet would be in a different color order than
you would want them.
Now you are ready to begin. Put the pillow either
on your lap or on a table. You can begin either on
the left and work to your right, or you can begin
on your right and work to the left. Right handed
people usually find it easier to work from the left
and work towards the right.
These instructions will be from the left to the right.
Pick up the thread farthest to the left with your
left hand and pick up the string next to it with
your right hand. Cross the left string over the
right to make a loop. Pull the end of the left
string through the loop to make a knot - but slide
the knot as far as it will go towards the pinned
knot. Make sure it is secure. A word of caution:
If your knots are too tight the bracelet will begin
to twist in a spiral after a few rows have been
completed. This makes the bracelet very difficult
to work with. However, if the knots are too loose
the bracelet will lose the separation of colors,
creating a blended look. Finally you want to hold
the right hand string firmly, pulling it towards
you. This is so the left string will completely
cover the right hand string. Otherwise, the
different colors will bleed through creating a
speckled look.
Once the first knot is made repeat the process of
crossing over and looping with the same two strands.
After two knots have been made set the string on the
right down.
The string in the left hand stays there. The strand
that just received the two knots should be the one
farthest to the left. Now the thread in the left
hand moves to the next thread on the right. The right
hand thread then makes two knots on that one. This
process is continued until all the threads have two
knots in them and the thread farthest to your right
is in your hand.
Once you set down the furthest thread on the right,
you begin the whole process over again using the
thread on the left until that becomes the furthest
one on the right. Continue the rows like this until
you have the desired length. Another note to ease
the process of making the knots: After a few rows
are completed you may want to pin the completed
part to the pillow in order to keep it stationary.
Now that you have reached the desired length, take
all the threads and tie them in a knot, similar to
the one at the top. This knot should be as close to
the rows as possible and be very tight to prevent
the bracelet from falling apart.
Finally, find your friend and tie the bracelet
around his / her wrist or ankle, then cut the extra
thread off.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; GROSSE POINTE
James Callow Keyword(s): JEWELRY
Date learned: 00-00-1986
SILVER JACK
HE WAS JOHN DRISCOLL, FRIENDS--AND BEST KEEP A CIVIL
TONGUE IN YOUR HEAD AND BE SPARING WITH THE LINGERING
LOOK, IF YOU WERE IN HIS WHEREABOUTS WHEN THE SAGINAW
VALLEY WAS STREWN WITH THE SAWDUST AND GAUDY LEGENDS OF
LUMBERJACKS AND RIVERMEN.
HE WAS THE REDOUBTABLE "SILVER JACK" DRISCOLL. THEY SAID
HE COULD BEND A RAILROAD SPIKE BARE-HANDED - THAT HE
COULD BOOST A BARREL OF SALT UP OVER HIS HEAD AND HOLD
IT THERE WHILE DRINKING A PINT OF WHISKEY HELD BETWEEN
CLENCHED TEETH.
THEY SAID YOU NEVER SAW A BIG MAN SO CAT-QUICK -- WHETHER
WHIRLING HIS BIG, HARD FISTS IN A SALOON BRAWL, OR
KNUCKLED TIGHTLY ABOUT THE HANDLE OF A TWO-BITTED AXE
MEASURING A FOREST PINE.
THEY SAID SILVER JACK WAS A KIND OF ROUGHSHOD, LUMBER
DAY ROBIN HOOD WHO CUDGELED TORMENTORS OF THE WEAK.
THEY SAID HE WAS A SAVAGE VARLET AND BULLY WHO LIKED
TO WATCH BLOOD SPURT AFTER HIS FIST STRUCK.
THEY SAID MANY THINGS OF SILVER JACK DRISCOLL, MOST
CONTROVERSIAL LUMBERJACK AND RIVERMAN OF HIS TIME.
HE PLIED THE LENGTH AND BREADTH OF THE MICHIGAN
PINELANDS AND LOG STREAMS. THERE IS A RECORD OF HIM
IN MINNESOTA AND CANADA. BUT IT WAS IN THE SAGINAW
VALLEY THAT DRISCOLL ENDURED LASTING FAME -- CALL
IT NOTORIETY IF YOU WILL.
SOME SAID HE WAS CALLED SILVER JACK BECAUSE OF
PREMATURELY WHITE HAIR. OTHERS SAID HIS WAS FLAXEN-
WHITE. THERE ARE SEVERAL OLD-FASHIONED "TINTYPE"
PHOTOGRAPHS WHICH SHOW HIM A WITH CAREFULLY POMADED
MANE OF BLACK HAIR.
OLDTIME LOGGERS -- LONG DEPARTED FROM THIS VALE OF
NEON LIGHTS AND CHROME-PLATED GADGETS OF MODERN LIVING
ONCE TALKED OF THE SIGHT IT WAS TO SEE SILVER JACK
SWINGING DOWN THE CHALK-COVERED BOARDWALKS OF EAST
SAGINAW (NOW THE EAST SIDE) AND SAGINAW CITY (NOW
THE WEST SIDE).
THEY SAID NEVER WAS SUCH A ONE AS SILVER JACK TO
"BLOW HER IN" WITH A FAT WINTER'S PAYCHECK, AFTER
THE LOGS HAD BEEN DRIVEN DOWN THE RIVER OVER
FRESHET-SWOLLEN TRIBUTARIES OF THE SAGINAW.
OTHERS CLAIMED JACK DRISCOLL WAS GOADED INTO MOST
OF HIS MANY FISTIC INTERLUDES -- THAT HE HAD, IN
THE LUMBER ERA, THE EQUIVALENT OF A WILD WEST
TWO-GUN REPUTATION SOMEBODY ALWAYS WANTED TO TEST.
SOME VOWED HE WAS MUCH MISUNDERSTOOD AND MALIGNED -
A CHAP AN EARNEST PREACHER MIGHT HAVE FASHIONED INTO
AT LEAST A PROPER DEACON IN A DESERVING PARISH.
BUT HISTORY RECORDS THAT DRISCOLL, AN ACKNOWLEDGED
SOMETIME VISITOR IN LOCAL VILLAGE "POKEYS" IN THE
MICHIGAN PINELANDS, ALSO SERVED FIVE YEARS'
IMPRISONMENT IN SOUTHERN MICHIGAN PRISON. HE
WAS SENTENCED BY SAGINAW COUNTY CIRCUIT JUDGE
DEWITT GAGE ON A CHARGE OF ARMED ROBBERY. ADMIRERS
SAID HE WAS FRAMED. THE LAW SAID OTHERWISE.
SILVER JACK DRISCOLL DIED APRIL 1, 1895, IN A
HOTEL IN L'ANSE, MICHIGAN.
WHATEVER HIS EPITAPH, IT COULD HARDLY BE ADEQUATE,
SAINT OR SCALAWAG. HISTORIANS AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL,
ARE NOT AGREED EVEN TODAY.
Submitter comment:
I AM NOT SURE WHO WROTE THIS STORY BUT IT DID COME
FROM THE FIRST ANNUAL TIMBER TOWN FESTIVAL
MAGAZINE AROUND 1950.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SAGINAW
Keyword(s): LUMBERJACKS ; SAGINAW VALLEY LOGGING
James Callow Keyword(s): STRONG MEN
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Secular hero |
Bay-Rama Fishfly Festival
Our town has a four-day celebration in honor
of the fishfly. We have a carnival and top
it off with a parade on the last day.
This always takes place in June. Fishflys
originate in the Anchor Bay, which is the
bay next to New Baltimore.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; NEW BALTIMORE
James Callow Keyword(s): INSECT ; June Bug ; May Fly
| Subject headings: | 686 Fourths / Quarters Favorites CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Movable Date CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Summer |
Date learned: 00001971ca
Little Billy Jokes
Little Billy runs into the house and says, "Mommy, Mommy!!"
"Quick get me a spoon!!"
His mother says, "What for?"
Billy replied, "Johnny threw up in the back seat of the car
and he's getting all the big chunks!"
Little Billy says, "Mommy, why is Daddy running
so fast down the driveway?" To which his mother replies, "Shut
up and reload this gun."
Little Billy asks, "Mommy, what happened to furball, the
kitty?" To which his mother replies, "Shut up, and finish
your meatloaf."
Submitter comment:
These are Little Billy jokes. I used to know several of them
all having to do with something gross or disgusting.
Several of the jokes have a certain formula.
E.g. - Little Billy says, "Mommy, why are/is ___________?
To which his mother would reply, "Shut up, and ___________.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; HEMLOCK
James Callow Keyword(s): Sick Jokes
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote |
Date learned: 00001970S
Shaping a crystal from Vantana Canyon into the shape of a
triangle and wearing it around the neck will bring good
health and luck.
Submitter comment:
When I was in Arizona, this neck piece was one of the
hottest items to wear and people felt good wearing it.
Where learned: Arizona ; Tucson
Keyword(s): Jewelry, fad.
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Good luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1949
Wearing your wedding ring the night before your wedding can
prove disastrous on your wedding day, because you have
jinxed yourself. This only applies to the individual who
wears the ring. Bad luck and embarrassment will come upon
the wedding day.
Submitter comment:
This was the advice given to my father by his father a
couple days before my fathers wedding.
Keyword(s): JEWELRY
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Marriage BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1965
Wearing a vibrant color such as red, yellow or pink on Good
Friday is setting yourself up for bad encounters all
throughout the day.
Submitter comment:
Bright colors represent happy times and these colors would
hardly be appropriate to be worn on Good Friday.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): Clothes, Jacket.
| Subject headings: | 663 Good Friday BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Measure of time WeekDayHour BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00-00-1989
Recipe for Homos
3 cups mashed chick peas
1 cup sesame oil (tehine)
1 teaspoon salt
crushed garlic clove
crushed hot pepper (jalepeno)
1/4 cup lemon juice
Mix chick peas and sesame oil together with salt
and mix last three items together. Pour chick pea
mixture on plate and spread flat. Then pour lemon
sauce on top. You can put olive oil on top also.
Then eat with bread.
James Callow Keyword(s): jalapeno ; tahini
| Subject headings: | Food Drink -- Plant food Vegetable |
Date learned: 00001960S
It was a custom that during the wakes for the departed that
were always held at a house the women would sit in the living
room with the body and cry and pray while the men sat in the
kitchen. They (the men) would eat, drink and make merry.
Submitter comment:
The informants' uncle learned to jig on the kitchen table at a
very young age at the wakes.
This is considered an Irish custom of that era.
Where learned: CAMBRIDGE ; Massachusetts
Keyword(s): Dancing: Irish Jig
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Crucial moment of life Life cycle CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Death Funeral Burial CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Typical Elements of a Festive Pattern |
Date learned: 00-00-1935
One day Toto was at the park with his mother.
"I want to pee," Toto exclaimed in front of many people.
"Toto," his embarrassed mother said. "Don't say you have to pee,
Toto. Say you have to...whistle and I'll know what you mean."
The next day Toto went to a movie with his dad.
"Daddy," Toto said. "I want to whistle."
"Not here," his father replied.
"But father," Toto said again. "I really want to whistle."
"O.K. Toto," his angered father replied. "If you have to whistle,
then whistle quietly in my ear."
Where learned: GREECE
Keyword(s): urination, jokes
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote |
Date learned: 00001947CA
At lunch time in school, Toto had to go to the bathroom but was
afraid to leave his lunch unattended so on a piece of paper he wrote:
"I SPIT ON." He placed this paper on his lunch and left for the
bathroom. Upon returning he looked on the note and under his writing
he read: "I SPIT ON TOO."
Where learned: GREECE
Keyword(s): jokes, saliva
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote |
Date learned: 00001946CA
Latvian Ring
In a Latvian family, each family member is given a Latvian ring.
The ring is similar for males and females, and can be crafted of
silver or gold. It is made up of separate strands of gold or silver
wound together by a braid-like strand. It symbolizes the strength of
the Latvian people when they bind together.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SAGINAW
Keyword(s): JEWELRY
Date learned: 00001971ca
If the first person to enter your house on New Year's day is a
woman then you'll have good luck. If it is a man you will have
bad luck.
Submitter comment:
This was taken from a bible story about a man who asked god
for something and he was told if his wish was granted he would
have to kill the next person who came through the door. He agreed
and his wish was granted. The next person that walked through his
door was his daughter and he had promised god so he killed her.
Where learned: DETROIT
James Callow Keyword(s): Jephthah -- see Judges 11: 29-40
| Subject headings: | 686 Properties attributed to specific numbers or numerals individually. CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- January 1 New Year's BELIEF -- Good luck BELIEF -- Bad luck |
Date learned: 00001960S
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
If you want to contact a deceased love one, you can write
them a letter and they will come to see you.
Where learned: LOUISIANA ; New Orleans
James Callow Keyword(s): Conjuring
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Word Letter |
Date learned: 00-00-1975
AFTER NEW YEAR'S THE PRIEST SHOULD COME AND BLESS YOUR
HOUSE, AND WRITE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS AND J.M.J. OVER
THE DOOR.
Submitter comment: LEARNED FROM HER MOTHER.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; MADISON HEIGHTS
Keyword(s): J.M.J.=JESUS, MARY, JOSEPH.
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- January 1 New Year's CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- 39815 CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- January 6 Twelfth Day Epiphany |
Date learned: 12-01-1967
CHICAGO
A CHICKEN IN A CAR, AND THE CAR CAN'T GO. THAT'S THE WAY TO SPELL
CHICAGO
Keyword(s): PLAIN-JUMP
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- C70 C70.560 |
Date learned: 10-04-1965
"A" MY NAME IS ALICE, MY HUSBAND'S NAME IS ALFRED, WE COME FROM
ALABAMA, AND HE SELLS APPLES. "B" MY NAME IS BETTY MY HUSBAND'S NAME
IS BOB, WE COME FROM BOSTON AND HE SELLS BANANAS.
THE RHYME CONTINUES WITH EACH LETTER OF THE ALPHABET.
Where learned: UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT
Keyword(s): ENDURANCE ; Jump ; PLAIN-JUMP
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Game Verse Game Verse |
Date learned: 00-00-1960
"A" MY NAME IS ALICE, MY HUSBAND'S NAME IS ALFRED, WE LIVE IN ALBANY
AND WE SELL APPLES. "B" MY NAME IS BARBARA,
MY HUSBAND'S NAME IS BOBBY,
WE LIVE IN BUFFALO, AND WE SELL BREAD. "C" MY NAME IS CHRIS, MY
HUSBAND'S NAME IS CHARLES, WE LIVE IN CHICAGO, AND WE SELL CARROTS.
CONTINUES THROUGH THE ALPHABET.
Submitter comment:
INFORMANT LEARNED THIS FROM HER
NEIGHBORHOOD PLAYMATES IN EUCLID, OHIO.
Where learned: UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; FOLEY HALL
Keyword(s): ENDURANCE ; Jump ; PLAIN-JUMP
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Game Verse Game Verse |