Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for IRON returned 113 results.
NOT GIVEN
I NEED THAT LIKE I NEED ANOTHER HOLE IN MY HEAD.
Submitter comment:
AN EXPRESSION OFTEN USED. MEANING OF COURSE THAT YOU
ABSOLUTELY DON'T NEED WHATEVER IS TALKED ABOUT.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
Keyword(s): IRONY
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Phrase PROVERB -- Proverbial Comparison |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
WELLERISM CONCERNING UNDERSTANDING
"I SEE," SAID THE BLIND MAN.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
Keyword(s): IRONY
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Wellerism Quotation |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
PROVERB
"I SEE," SAID THE BLIND MAN, AS HE PICKED UP HIS HAMMER
AND SAW.
Submitter comment:
THERE IS AN INTERNAL CONTRADICTION HERE. A BLIND MAN CANNOT
SEE. SO THE PERSON WHO UTTERS THIS STATEMENT MEANS THAT HE
DOESN'T SEE OR UNDERSTAND SOMETHING.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
Keyword(s): IRONY WORDPLAY
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Wellerism Quotation |
Date learned: 02-13-1972
WELLERISM
"I SEE," SAID THE BLIND MAN TO HIS DEAF WIFE.
Submitter comment: INFORMANT'S FAVORITE SAYING.
Where learned: NOT GIVEN
Keyword(s): IRONY CONTRADICTION
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Wellerism Quotation |
Date learned: 04-01-1969
NOT GIVEN
OFF WE GO LIKE A WILD HERD OF TURTLES.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
Keyword(s): IRONY
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Comparison |
Date learned: 07-20-1968
HUMOR
THAT WENT OVER LIKE A LEAD BALLOON.
Where learned: KANSAS ; WICHITA
Keyword(s): IRONY
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Comparison |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
SAYING
YOU TELL THEM, CABBAGE, YOU'VE GOT THE HEAD.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
Keyword(s): IRONY
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Metaphor |
Date learned: 04-02-1972
PROVERB
TROT MOMMY, TROT DADDY,
DON'T EXPECT THE COLT TO PACE.
Submitter comment:
PROVERB USED TO MEAN THE CHILD CANNOT BE EXPECTED TO DO
ANYTHING BETTER THAN HIS PARENTS.
Where learned: NASHVILLE ; TENNESSEE, ASSUMED
Keyword(s): HEREDITY ENVIRONMENT
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Metaphor |
Date learned: 06-21-1972
IN THE OLD COUNTRY, AT FUNERALS, IT WAS CONSIDERED
RESPECTFUL FOR SOMEONE TO STAY UP ALL NIGHT WITH THE
BODY. SINCE EVERYONE WOULD RATHER "WHOOP IT UP" AT
THE WAKE, INSTEAD OF STAYING WITH THE BODY, THEY
USUALLY GOT A COBBLER, WHO STAYED UP ALL NIGHT
ANYWAY, WORKING ON HIS SHOES, TO DO THE JOB.
ONE NIGHT, A COUPLE PRANKSTERS DECIDED TO PUT A LIVE
PERSON IN THE COFFIN, INSTEAD OF THE BODY. TOWARDS
THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, THE "CORPSE" LIFTED ITS
RIGHT LEG. THE COBBLER, WITHOUT THINKING TWICE,
PUSHED IT BACK IN PLACE. A LITTLE WHILE LATER, AN
ARM WENT UP, AND THE COBBLER, SLIGHTLY ANNOYED,
PUSHED IT BACK. BUT THIS KEPT UP ALL NIGHT, UNTIL
THE COBBLER WAS PRETTY EXASPERATED. THE "CORPSE"
FINALLY PUT ITS HEAD UP AND LOOKED AT THE COBBLER.
AT THIS POINT, IN A FIT OF TEMPER, THE COBBLER PICKED
UP HIS HAMMER AND BASHED THE "CORPSE'S" HEAD IN.
THE MAN NOW REALLY WAS A CORPSE.
Where learned: OHIO ; CLEVELAND
James Callow Keyword(s): BLASON POPULAIRE: COBBLERS ARE FEARLESS ; HUMOR ; IRONY
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Human Being PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote |
Date learned: 11-22-1967
IN THE OLD COUNTRY, AT FUNERALS, IT WAS CONSIDERED
RESPECTFUL FOR SOMEONE TO STAY UP ALL NIGHT WITH THE
BODY. SINCE EVERYONE WOULD RATHER "WHOOP IT UP" AT
THE WAKE, INSTEAD OF STAYING WITH THE BODY, THEY
USUALLY GOT A COBBLER, WHO STAYED UP ALL NIGHT
ANYWAY, WORKING ON HIS SHOES, TO DO THE JOB.
ONE NIGHT, A COUPLE PRANKSTERS DECIDED TO PUT A LIVE
PERSON IN THE COFFIN, INSTEAD OF THE BODY. TOWARDS
THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, THE "CORPSE" LIFTED ITS
RIGHT LEG. THE COBBLER, WITHOUT THINKING TWICE,
PUSHED IT BACK IN PLACE. A LITTLE WHILE LATER, AN
ARM WENT UP, AND THE COBBLER, SLIGHTLY ANNOYED,
PUSHED IT BACK. BUT THIS KEPT UP ALL NIGHT, UNTIL
THE COBBLER WAS PRETTY EXASPERATED. THE "CORPSE"
FINALLY PUT ITS HEAD UP AND LOOKED AT THE COBBLER.
AT THIS POINT, IN A FIT OF TEMPER, THE COBBLER PICKED
UP HIS HAMMER AND BASHED THE "CORPSE'S" HEAD IN.
THE MAN NOW REALLY WAS A CORPSE.
Where learned: OHIO ; CLEVELAND
James Callow Keyword(s): HUMOR IRONY BLASON POPULAIRE: COBBLERS ARE FEARLESS.
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Human Being PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote |
Date learned: 11-22-1967
PROVERB
WITHOUT A LOVE FOR BOOKS, THE RICHEST MAN IS POOR.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): IRONY, WEALTH
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Metaphor PROVERB -- Proverbial Apothegm Maxim |
Date learned: 04-00-1968
PROVERB
WITHOUT FRIENDS, A RICH MAN IS POOR.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): LOVE, IRONY, WEALTH
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Apothegm Maxim |
Date learned: 10-20-1965
Faerie: Elves and Time Travellers
There is no such thing as "a fairy," but rather "Faerie" is a place - a half-remembered world perhaps existing in another dimension. "Faerie" was inhabited not by faeries but by elves. These Elves were not diminutive, but tall, pale, thin and fair. They were especially noted for their grey eyes. They are unable to touch iron: suggesting that these were early time-travellers unable to come in contact with magnetic sources without "grounding out" of the earthly dimension.
Data entry tech comment:
Collector stamped a home address stamp onto the card in the place of "collector data."
Stamp reads: Mrs.W.E. Givens, Jr.
They then crossed out the Prefix and first initials [Mrs. W.E.] of the name, and wrote an indecipherable scrawl over the suffix [Jr.]. This scrawl may possibly be Rev. or Esq.
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original Boggs number P400 was crossed out and P423 was substituted.
Where learned: WALES ; ABERYSTWYTH
Keyword(s): Attributes ; Dimension ; Elf ; Elves ; Faerie ; Fairy ; IRON ; Legend ; Lore ; METAL ; MYTH ; Physics ; Time-Traveler
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Fairy Elf Goblin Gnome |
The Blacksmiths Son
Long ago in a small village there lived a blacksmith. Now although blacksmiths were poor, they were, nevertheless, held in respect because they were the strongest men in the village.
People used to go to the blacksmith for advice and help. This particular balcksmithhad one son, and the blacksmith wanted his son to be a blacksmith also. But the son was lazy and did not like to work. One day he told his father: "father, I have a very brilliant idea. I'm going to learn your trade in an easy way. Here's my plan: Put me in a large basket above yuor workshop and I will watch everything you do. And by watching you constantly, I will earn your trade."
So the son was put in the basket and watched his father fort several months. Then the son said to his father: "Father, I think I'm ready." And so the father gave the son tools, and a large piece of iron, and said to his son: "now son, what are you going to make?"
"Father," the son said, "I think I'll make a hammer."
"Son," the father said, "If you can make a hammer, you will be a better blacksmith than I, because it took me five years to learn how to make a hammer." And the son worked feverishly for several days but to no avail. So the son went to his father and said: "Father, I think I'll make a horseshoe instead."
The father said; "Son, if you can make a horseshoe, you will be a better blacksmith than I, because it took me three years to learn how to make a horseshoe." The son again went out, pounding and forming, but to no avail. He said to the fahter: "Father, I think I will make a nail instead of a horseshoe."
The fahter said: "Son, if you can make a nail, you will be a better blacksmith than I, because it took me two years to learn how to make a nail." The son worked for several hours, but to no avail. He said to his father: "Father, I will make something you never made. I will make a needle."
"Son," said the father, "if you make a needle, you will be a better blacksmith than I, for no smith has made a needle. " And so, the son worked and worked until finally there was nothing left. but he did not give up. He said: "Father, I will make something with no iron at all."
"Son, if you can make something without iron, it will indeed make you a great blacksmith," the father replied.
The son said: "Come watch, Father." He took a pair of tongs and heated them red hot, and suddenly plunged them into a barrel of water, and said: "Father, I did it. I made a pss."
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original Boggs Number [ B665] crossed out and B646 is written next to it.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; ALLEN PARK
Keyword(s): Blacksmith ; FAMILY ; Father ; Hammer ; HORSESHOE ; HUMOR ; IRON ; Learn ; Lesson ; Needle ; Outsmart ; Skill ; Son ; TRADE ; Wise ; Wisecrack
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Romantic Realistic |
Play on Words
Did you hear about the nearsighted optician who fell into a lens-grinding machine and made a spectacle of himself?
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original Boggs Numbers [W400, B667] crossed out and B660 Substituted.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): Anecdote ; HUMOR ; IRONY ; Jest ; Optician ; PUN ; Silly
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Autograph Verse Translations, plays on words, symbol writing |
Did you hear about the butcher who backed into a meat cutting machine and got a little behind in his work?
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original Boggs Numbers [W400, B667] are crossed out and B660 is substituted.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): Butcher, Meat, Machine ; EUPHEMISM ; Jest, Anecdote, Pun, Joke, Irony ; PARODY
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Autograph Verse Translations, plays on words, symbol writing |
Entry filtered.
Confucius Says:
He who lives in glass house dresses downstairs.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs and BN added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Submission Card located in pile marked To Be Classified.
Keyword(s): CONFUCIAN PARODY ; Confucius ; GLASS ; HUMOR ; Jest, Anecdote, Pun, Joke, Irony ; JOKE
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Metaphor PROVERB -- Proverbial Apothegm Maxim |
Maxim
A lot of girls would have hourglass figures if time hadn't shifted the sands.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs and BN added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original BN [B660] is crossed out. Nothing replaces it.
Submission card was located in a pile marked To Be Classified.
Where learned: HOME
Keyword(s): ANTIFEMINISM ; BEAUTY ; Feminism ; Jest, Anecdote, Pun, Joke, Irony ; JOKE ; Physical ; PUN ; SEXISM
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Apothegm Maxim |
Some Women wait so long for their dreamboat to come along that their piers collapse.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs and BN added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original BN [B660] crossed out. Nothing replaces it.
Submission card located in pile marked To Be Classified.
Where learned: HOME
Keyword(s): ANTIFEMINISM ; Feminism ; Jest, Anecdote, Pun, Joke, Irony ; JOKE ; PUN ; Relationships ; SEXISM ; SEXIST
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Autograph Verse Translations, plays on words, symbol writing PROVERB -- Proverbial Apothegm Maxim |