Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
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AT A MEAL, IF YOU PASS A SINGLE GIRL THE SALT WITHOUT THE
PEPPER OR VICE VERSA, SHE WILL NEVER MARRY AND WILL BE
DOOMED TO BE AN OLD MAID.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
James Callow Keyword(s): AGE ; HOMEOPATHIC
Date learned: 10-01-1973
IF YOU STICK A NAIL IN YOUR FOOT PULL THE NAIL OUT
AND STICK IT INTO A PIECE OF () AS FAR AS IT HAS BEEN
STUCK IN YOUR FOOT AND THE FOOT WILL HEAL RIGHT AWAY.
Where learned: NOT GIVEN
James Callow Keyword(s): MEASURING
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Method of Curing |
Date learned: 07-10-1973
CURE FOR RINGWORM:
GO TO A TEAKETTLE OF BOILING WATER, RUB YOUR THUMB IN
A CIRCLE THE SIZE OF THE RINGWORM ON THE INSIDE OF THE
LID AND THEN AROUND THE RINGWORM. DO THIS WITH THE
FOREFINGER AND THEN THE THUMBS AGAIN. DO THIS WITH ALL
THE FINGERS ON THAT HAND, ALTERNATING EACH TIME WITH THE
THUMB. WHEN THROUGH, GO AWAY AND BE SURE NOT TO LOOK
BACK AT THE TEAKETTLE; IT WILL GET WELL.
Where learned: NOT GIVEN
James Callow Keyword(s): MEASURING
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Method of Curing |
Date learned: 07-10-1973
DURING CHILDBIRTH IF YOU PUT A KNIFE UNDER THE PILLOW IT
CUTS THE PAIN.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
James Callow Keyword(s): HOMEOPATHIC
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Birth BELIEF -- Method of Curing |
Date learned: 06-27-1973
PLACE AN AX UNDER THE BED TO CUT THE PAIN DURING CHILDBIRTH.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
James Callow Keyword(s): HOMEOPATHIC
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Birth BELIEF -- Method of Curing |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
THE DEAD SHOULD BE BURIED FACING THE EAST AND RISING SUN SO
THAT THEY WILL MEET THE SAVIOR ON RESURRECTION DAY.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
James Callow Keyword(s): CEMETERY POSITION DIRECTION
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
PEOPLE IN DANVILLA, ILLINOIS BELIEVE THAT SWANS ARE KEPT
IN THE POND AT THE LOCAL CEMETARY BECAUSE SWANS REPRESENT
IMMORTALITY.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
James Callow Keyword(s): CEMETERY ; SYMBOL
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Bird BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Date learned: 06-18-1972
DON'T EVER GIVE KNIVES AS WEDDING GIFTS, THEY MEAN THAT THE
FRIENDSHIP WILL BE CUT.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
James Callow Keyword(s): HOMEOPATHIC
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Marriage |
Date learned: 10-12-1977
A CUSTOM IN THE ITALIAN COMMUNITY:
AFTER A FUNERAL ON THE WAY TO THE CEMETARY YOU ALWAYS PASS
BY THE DECEASED'S HOME.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; SPRINGFIELD
James Callow Keyword(s): CEMETERY
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 09-20-1977
HOLD YOUR BREATH WHEN YOU GO PAST A CEMETARY OR YOU'LL
HAVE BAD LUCK.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
James Callow Keyword(s): CEMETERY
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank P533.575 |
Date learned: 00-00-1972
REPEAT THE NAME OF THE BOY YOU LOVE WHILE CUTTING OPEN AN
APPLE. IF THE APPLE CONTAINS TWELVE SEEDS, YOU WILL MARRY
HIM.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
James Callow Keyword(s): NAME MAGIC
| Subject headings: | 686 Seconds / Twice / Two BELIEF -- Plant BELIEF -- Marriage BELIEF -- Word Letter BELIEF -- Use of Object |
Date learned: 07-01-1973
CURSE: BAD LUCK
HOLD YOUR BREATH WHEN YOU PASS A CEMETERY OR YOU WILL HAVE BAD
LUCK.
Submitter comment: TOLD TO HIM BY HIS PARENTS WHEN THEY TRAVELLED.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
James Callow Keyword(s): BREATH ; CEMETERY
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Bad luck BELIEF -- Conversions |
Date learned: 03-07-1969
WISHING STORY
THERE'S A LITTLE RHYME ABOUT WISHES:
STARLIGHT, STAR BRIGHT,
FIRST STAR I SEE TONIGHT,
WISH I MAY, WISH I MIGHT,
HAVE MY WISH COME TRUE TONIGHT.
IF YOU WISHED ON THE FIRST STAR YOU SAW, AND DIDN'T
TELL ANYONE YOUR WISH, THEN IT WOULD COME TRUE.
Where learned: NASHVILLE ; TENNESSEE, ASSUMED
James Callow Keyword(s): APOSTROPHIE ; INTERNAL RHYME
| Subject headings: | 686 Properties attributed to specific numbers or numerals individually. Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Belief Belief BELIEF -- Star |
Date learned: 07-23-1968
ALBERT EINSTEIN
ONE TIME EINSTEIN WAS MAKING A JOURNEY BY TRAIN.
WHEN THE CONDUCTOR CAME TO COLLECT THE TICKETS, HE
SEARCHED THROUGH HIS POCKETS, BUT COULDN'T FIND HIS
TICKET. THE CONDUCTOR RECOGNIZED HIM AND TOLD HIM
TO FORGET ABOUT IT. EINSTEIN REPLIED THAT HE HAD
TO FIND THE TICKET, BECAUSE HE COULDN'T REMEMBER
WHERE HE WAS GOING.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): MEMORY
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Secular hero |
Date learned: 01-00-1968
THEN THERE IS THE STORY ABOUT PROF. WHITTY AT
UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT {MICHIGAN}. A FEW YEARS AGO,
HIS CAR WAS STOLEN. HE CALLED THE POLICE TO REPORT
IT. WHEN THE OFFICER ARRIVED, HE COULDN'T REMEMBER
THE COLOR, YEAR, MAKE OR BODY STYLE, AND HE WASN'T
REALLY SURE WHEN HE LAST USED THE CAR.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): LOSS OF MEMORY
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Physically handicapped Deformed |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
TOMBSTONE IN CEMETERY
THIS IS THE ONLY ONE I CAN REMEMBER CHRIS TELLING ME
BECAUSE I HAD ORIGINALLY COME TO HER HOME TO TALK
WITH HER MOTHER ABOUT FOLKLORE AND EVERY SO OFTEN
CHRIS WOULD THROW SOMETHING INTO THE CONVERSATION.
MANY OF THE THINGS I WAS TOLD THAT EVENING WOULD
SUDDENLY COME OUT OF THIN AIR, WHILE WORKING ON AN
ENTIRELY DIFFERENT SUBJECT.
THIS IS TOLD OF A TOMBSTONE IN MT. OLIVE CEMETERY IN
DETROIT {MICHIGAN}, AT OUTER DRIVE AND SIX MILE.
UP UNTIL A FEW YEARS AGO, ONE PARTICULAR TOMBSTONE
WOULD ALWAYS GLOW AN EERIE RED ALL NIGHT LONG, BUT
DURING THE DAY IT LOOKED LIKE ANY ORDINARY TOMB-
STONE. MOST PEOPLE SEEM TO BE A BIT CAREFUL WHEN TALKING
ABOUT IT, I GUESS IT WAS REAL. THE STONE, FROM WHAT
CHRIS SAID, HASN'T GLOWED SINCE A MAUSELEUM WAS BUILT
VERY CLOSE TO IT. EVERYONE OLD ENOUGH REMEMBERS SEEING
THE GLOWING TOMBSTONE. CHRIS'S HOME IS APPROXIMATELY
200 FEET FROM THE CEMETERY.
Data entry tech comment: THIS IS CONFUSING: PERHAPS MRS. MARSHAL'S DAUGHTER
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): GHOSTLY LIGHTS
James Callow Keyword(s): MAUSOLEUM MT. OLIVET CEMETERY
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Date learned: 11-00-1968
ONCE A BOY DID NOT SWALLOW THE EUCHARIST, BUT TOOK
IT OUT OF HIS MOUTH. HE TOOK IT HOME AND CUT IT
IN HALF WITH A KNIFE. IT BLED.
Submitter comment: INFORMANT TOLD THIS VERY SERIOUSLY, BUT WAS SKEPTICAL.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; LINCOLN PARK
Keyword(s): COMMUNION, SACRAMENT
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: 10-23-1971
TALE
A MAN HAD JUST PURCHASED A NEW CAR. AFTER DRIVING IT FOR TWO
WEEKS, HE DISCOVERED AN AWFUL RATTLE IN THE DOOR. TAKING IT TO
A GARAGE TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS WRONG, HE DISCOVERED AN EMPTY
COKE BOTTLE WAS LODGED IN THE DOOR.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; BIRMINGHAM
Keyword(s): COKE=COCA COLA: BRAND NAME FOR SOFT DRINK.
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote ART CRAFT ARCHITECTURE -- Means of transportation Vehicle propelled by mechanical or other force on land |
Date learned: 00-00-1965
LEGEND OF BEAR ISLAND
THERE IS AN INDIAN LEGEND THAT TELLS HOW THE FAMOUS MICHIGAN BEAR
ISLAND WAS MADE. IT WAS SAID THAT A MOTHER BEAR AND HER TWO CUBS
WERE ATTEMPTING TO SWIM ACROSS LAKE MICHIGAN, BUT THEY EACH WERE
OVERCOME BY EXHAUSTION BEFORE THEY COULD EVEN SWIM 5 TO 6 MILES.
THEIR BODIES NOW FORM THE BIG BEAR ISLAND AND THE TWO SMALL BEAR
ISLANDS.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; BATTLE CREEK
Keyword(s): AMERICAN INDIAN
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Mammal PROSE NARRATIVE -- Explanation of a name |
Date learned: 00-00-1954
GHOST STORY
TEXT KEYPUNCHED IN NOVEMBER, 1972--ALSO IN 5X8 FILE CABINET WHILE HITCHHIKING IN 1936,
WE WERE GOING TO NEW YORK. WE HAD GOTTEN A RIDE FROM A FARMER BUT HE HAD TO LEAVE US ON THE
OPEN ROAD. MY FRIEND AND I DECIDED TO REST ON A BLUFF WHERE WE COULD SEE IF ANY CARS WERE COMING.
WE WERE THERE FOR A WHILE WHEN WE HEARD FOOTSTEPS. THE MOON WAS FULL AND WE WERE SURE THAT WE DIDN'T
SEE ANYBODY ON THE ROAD. AN OLD MAN WAS WALKING TOWARD US. AFTER EXCHANGING GREETINGS, HE ASKED IF WE
WERE HUNGRY. HE THEN OFFERED US A COCONUT HE GOT FROM A FARMER. HE SLOWLY WALKED AWAY AND DISAPPEARED
FROM OUR SIGHT. I CLIMBED TO THE TOP OF THE BLUFF ONLY TO FIND A CEMETERY. SCARED, WE WENT TO THE ROAD
AND HITCHED A RIDE TO A DINER. THERE THE SHERIFF WAS DESCRIBING AN OLD MAN, THE ONE WE MET. HE HAD BEEN
DEAD FOR FOUR WEEKS. WHEN WE HEARD THIS, WE FAINTED. AFTER TELLING WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SHERIFF, HE TOLD
US THAT THIS WAS THE THIRD TIME IT HAD HAPPENED IN TWO WEEKS.
Submitter comment: GHOST NEAR CEMETERY OFFERS COCONUT TO TRAVELERS.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
James Callow Keyword(s): MEMORATE
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 10-29-1972