Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for Tale returned 80 results.
JESUS HELPS THOSE THAT HELP THEMSELVES
ONE DAY JESUS WAS TAKING A WALK WITH PETER DOWN AN OLD
ROAD. THEY SAW A MAN WITH A DONKEY BY THE SIDE OF THE
ROAD, THE DONKEY GOT STUCK IN THE MUD. THE MAN FELL DOWN
ON HIS KNEES AND HE STARTED PRAYING, "GOD, OH GOD, PULL
MY DONKEY OUT OF THE MUD." BUT JESUS JUST KEPT WALKING
BY. AS HE KEPT WALKING, ANOTHER MAN AND DONKEY WERE
STUCK IN THE MUD. BUT THE MAN WAS CUSSING, SWEARING,
SAYING, "YOU DAMN BASTARD MULE." AS HE SWORE HE WAS
PULLING AND PUSHING THE DONKEY. JESUS WENT DOWN AND
HELPED HIM.
AFTER, PETER ASKED JESUS, "WHY DID YOU HELP THIS MAN
WHO CUSSED, AND NOT THE MAN WHO PRAYED?" JESUS SAID
THAT HE HELPED HIM 'CAUSE HE WAS HELPING HIMSELF.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; OAK PARK
Keyword(s): BIBLICAL TALE
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: 01-24-1972
SOME TIME AGO MRS. HUBER WAS TRAVELING WITH SOME
FRIENDS TO VISIT HER BROTHER, WHO WAS SICK. THEY
HAD TRAVELED MOST OF THE NIGHT AND WERE IN THE
MIDDLE OF NOWHERE SOMEPLACE IN WEST VIRGINIA.
IT WAS NIGHT AND THEY WERE TIRED SO THEY STOPPED
AT AN ISOLATED HOTEL. LATE THAT NIGHT, AS THEY
WERE SLEEPING, THEY WERE AWAKENED BY A CIRCLE OF
LIGHT THAT TRAVELED AROUND THE ROOM SEVERAL TIMES
AND EACH TIME IT STOPPED AT THE HEAD OF MRS.
HUBER'S BED. THIS CONTINUED APPROXIMATELY FIVE
MINUTES. AT 1:00 A.M. THE LIGHT WENT OUT.
THE FOLLOWING MORNING, THEY STOPPED AT THE DESK
TO REGISTER A COMPLAINT. THEY TOLD OF THE LIGHT IN
THEIR ROOM BUT THE MANAGER INSISTED THERE WAS NO
POSSIBLE WAY ANYONE COULD DO THIS. THEY LEFT AND
CONTINUED ON THEIR WAY. SHORTLY AFTER THEIR START,
A POLICE CAR STOPPED THEM AND THE OFFICER SAID
HE HAD BEEN SEARCHING FOR THEIR OHIO-LICENCED
{LICENSED} CAR ALL NIGHT. HE WAS TRYING TO NOTIFY
MRS. HUBER OF THE DEATH OF HER BROTHER. HE SAID
HE HAD DIED AT ONE O'CLOCK THAT MORNING AND HAD
CALLED FOR HER MINUTES BEFORE HIS DEATH. HER BELIEF
IS THAT THE LIGHT IN HER ROOM THAT NIGHT WAS HIS WAY
OF SAYING GOODBYE.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
James Callow Keyword(s): BELIEF TALE
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: 09-22-1969
IF YOU WEAR A SCAPULAR AROUND YOUR NECK AND DIE WITH
IT ON, YOU WILL GO DIRECTLY TO HEAVEN. HOWEVER,
A STORY TOLD BY AN ELEMENTARY NUN GOES, A COUPLE
WAS IN A CAR NECKING AND PETTING; THEY BOTH HAD
SCAPULARS; ON THE WAY HOME, THE BOY HAD AN
ACCIDENT, IN WHICH HIS HEAD WAS SEVERED FROM HIS
BODY AND THE SCAPULAR WAS HANGING ON A TREE, THIS
INFERRING THAT HE WENT STRAIGHT TO HELL.
Submitter comment: THIS WAS TOLD BY A NUN AS A WARNING TO HER STUDENTS.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT ; LANSING-REILLY
James Callow Keyword(s): AMULET ; BELIEF TALE ; FUNCTION
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration PROSE NARRATIVE -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Date learned: 10-06-1970
TALE
WHILE HUNTING IN THE UPPER PENINSULA ONE SEASON, I CLIMBED A TREE
TO GET A BETTER VIEW OF THE TERRAIN. THE BRANCH I SAT ON BROKE
AND I FELL INTO WHAT TURNED OUT TO BE A HOLLOW TREE WITH BEAR CUBS
IN IT. KNOWING THAT THE MOTHER BEAR WOULD SOON BE BACK, I TRIED
MY BEST TO CLIMB OUT OF THE TREE, TO NO AVAIL. SO I GRABBED MY
KNIFE AND WAITED FOR HER. JUST THEN, I HEARD HER SCRATCHING HER
WAY UP THE TREE. I SAW HER AT THE TOP OF THE TREE CLIMBING INTO
THE HOLE REAR FIRST, SO I GRABBED HER TAIL AND JABBED MY KNIFE
INTO HER BEHIND. SHE SHOT UP THE TREE, PULLING ME WITH HER. AS
SOON AS WE WERE OUT, I PICKED UP MY GUN AND SHOT HER.
Where learned: NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Keyword(s): SEE ROBERTS' SOUTH FROM HELL-FOR-SATAN, TALE 71.
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Mammal PROSE NARRATIVE -- Lie Tall tale |
Date learned: 08-15-1969
LACKAWANNA
DID YOU EVER HEAR OF LACKAWANNA, NEW YORK? WELL, I USED TO LIVE
THERE A COUPLE (OF) YEARS AGO. THE STORY AROUND THERE CONCERNING
HOW THE CITY GOT ITS NAME GOES LIKE THIS: THERE WAS THIS INDIAN
TRIBE IN NEW YORK (THE ONEIDAS, I THINK) WHO INHABITED THE
BUFFALO AREA. ONE OF THE INDIANS GOT UP ON THIS BIG OLD HILL
AND SURVEYED THE AREA. ALL THE INDIAN COULD SEE WAS WATER, SO
HE SAID, "LACKAWANNA," WHICH WAS THAT TRIBE'S WAY OF SAYING, "AS
I STAND HIGH ON THIS HILL, AND I LOOK AROUND, ALL I CAN SEE IS
WATER." AND SO THAT IS HOW LACKAWANNA, NEW YORK, GOT ITS NAME.
Submitter comment:
THE INFORMANT, A RESIDENT OF THE BUFFALO AREA, SAID THAT THIS IS
WHAT THE PEOPLE TOLD HIM WHEN HE MOVED THERE.
Where learned: BUFFALO ; NEW YORK
Keyword(s): TALL TALE
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Explanation of a name |
Date learned: 05-12-1965
LAKE ERIE
REMEMBER YESTERDAY HOW I TOLD YOU HOW LACKAWANNA GOT ITS NAME
FROM AN INDIAN STANDING ON A HILL. WELL, THE NEXT DAY, THAT
INDIAN BROUGHT THE CHIEF UP TO THE SAME HILL. WHEN THE CHIEF
GOT UP THERE HE SAID, "YOU WERE RIGHT, ALL YOU CAN SEE FROM UP
HERE IS WATER. BOY, IS THIS EVER EERIE!" SO THAT'S HOW THAT
PARTICULAR BODY OF WATER GOT ITS NAME--LAKE ERIE.
Submitter comment: THE INFORMANT SAID HE ALSO HEARD THIS IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK.
Where learned: BUFFALO ; NEW YORK
Keyword(s): TALL TALE
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Explanation of a name |
Date learned: 05-14-1965
JESUS HELPS THOSE THAT HELP THEMSELVES
ONE DAY JESUS WAS TAKING A WALK WITH PETER DOWN AN OLD
ROAD. THEY SAW A MAN WITH A DONKEY BY THE SIDE OF THE
ROAD, THE DONKEY GOT STUCK IN THE MUD. THE MAN FELL DOWN
ON HIS KNEES AND HE STARTED PRAYING, "GOD, OH GOD, PULL
MY DONKEY OUT OF THE MUD." BUT JESUS JUST KEPT WALKING
BY. AS HE KEPT WALKING, ANOTHER MAN AND DONKEY WERE
STUCK IN THE MUD. BUT THE MAN WAS CUSSING, SWEARING,
SAYING, "YOU DAMN BASTARD MULE." AS HE SWORE HE WAS
PULLING AND PUSHING THE DONKEY. JESUS WENT DOWN AND
HELPED HIM.
AFTER, PETER ASKED JESUS, "WHY DID YOU HELP THIS MAN
WHO CUSSED, AND NOT THE MAN WHO PRAYED?" JESUS SAID
THAT HE HELPED HIM 'CAUSE HE WAS HELPING HIMSELF.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; OAK PARK
Keyword(s): BIBLICAL TALE RESOURCEFULNESS REWARDED
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: 01-24-1972
SOME TIME AGO MRS. HUBER WAS TRAVELING WITH SOME
FRIENDS TO VISIT HER BROTHER, WHO WAS SICK. THEY
HAD TRAVELED MOST OF THE NIGHT AND WERE IN THE
MIDDLE OF NOWHERE SOMEPLACE IN WEST VIRGINIA.
IT WAS NIGHT AND THEY WERE TIRED SO THEY STOPPED
AT AN ISOLATED HOTEL. LATE THAT NIGHT, AS THEY
WERE SLEEPING, THEY WERE AWAKENED BY A CIRCLE OF
LIGHT THAT TRAVELED AROUND THE ROOM SEVERAL TIMES
AND EACH TIME IT STOPPED AT THE HEAD OF MRS.
HUBER'S BED. THIS CONTINUED APPROXIMATELY FIVE
MINUTES. AT 1:00 A.M. THE LIGHT WENT OUT.
THE FOLLOWING MORNING, THEY STOPPED AT THE DESK
TO REGISTER A COMPLAINT. THEY TOLD OF THE LIGHT IN
THEIR ROOM BUT THE MANAGER INSISTED THERE WAS NO
POSSIBLE WAY ANYONE COULD DO THIS. THEY LEFT AND
CONTINUED ON THEIR WAY. SHORTLY AFTER THEIR START,
A POLICE CAR STOPPED THEM AND THE OFFICER SAID
HE HAD BEEN SEARCHING FOR THEIR OHIO-LICENCED
{LICENSED} CAR ALL NIGHT. HE WAS TRYING TO NOTIFY
MRS. HUBER OF THE DEATH OF HER BROTHER. HE SAID
HE HAD DIED AT ONE O'CLOCK THAT MORNING AND HAD
CALLED FOR HER MINUTES BEFORE HIS DEATH. HER BELIEF
IS THAT THE LIGHT IN HER ROOM THAT NIGHT WAS HIS WAY
OF SAYING GOODBYE.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
James Callow Keyword(s): BELIEF TALE
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: 09-22-1969
IF YOU WEAR A SCAPULAR AROUND YOUR NECK AND DIE WITH
IT ON, YOU WILL GO DIRECTLY TO HEAVEN. HOWEVER,
A STORY TOLD BY AN ELEMENTARY NUN GOES, A COUPLE
WAS IN A CAR NECKING AND PETTING; THEY BOTH HAD
SCAPULARS; ON THE WAY HOME, THE BOY HAD AN
ACCIDENT, IN WHICH HIS HEAD WAS SEVERED FROM HIS
BODY AND THE SCAPULAR WAS HANGING ON A TREE, THIS
INFERRING THAT HE WENT STRAIGHT TO HELL.
Submitter comment: THIS WAS TOLD BY A NUN AS A WARNING TO HER STUDENTS.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT ; LANSING-REILLY
James Callow Keyword(s): BELIEF TALE AMULET FUNCTION
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration PROSE NARRATIVE -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Date learned: 10-06-1970
TALE
WHILE HUNTING IN THE UPPER PENINSULA ONE SEASON, I CLIMBED A TREE
TO GET A BETTER VIEW OF THE TERRAIN. THE BRANCH I SAT ON BROKE
AND I FELL INTO WHAT TURNED OUT TO BE A HOLLOW TREE WITH BEAR CUBS
IN IT. KNOWING THAT THE MOTHER BEAR WOULD SOON BE BACK, I TRIED
MY BEST TO CLIMB OUT OF THE TREE, TO NO AVAIL. SO I GRABBED MY
KNIFE AND WAITED FOR HER. JUST THEN, I HEARD HER SCRATCHING HER
WAY UP THE TREE. I SAW HER AT THE TOP OF THE TREE CLIMBING INTO
THE HOLE REAR FIRST, SO I GRABBED HER TAIL AND JABBED MY KNIFE
INTO HER BEHIND. SHE SHOT UP THE TREE, PULLING ME WITH HER. AS
SOON AS WE WERE OUT, I PICKED UP MY GUN AND SHOT HER.
Where learned: NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Keyword(s): SEE ROBERTS' SOUTH FROM HELL-FOR-SATAN, TALE 71.
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Mammal PROSE NARRATIVE -- Lie Tall tale |
Date learned: 08-15-1969
LACKAWANNA
DID YOU EVER HEAR OF LACKAWANNA, NEW YORK? WELL, I USED TO LIVE
THERE A COUPLE (OF) YEARS AGO. THE STORY AROUND THERE CONCERNING
HOW THE CITY GOT ITS NAME GOES LIKE THIS: THERE WAS THIS INDIAN
TRIBE IN NEW YORK (THE ONEIDAS, I THINK) WHO INHABITED THE
BUFFALO AREA. ONE OF THE INDIANS GOT UP ON THIS BIG OLD HILL
AND SURVEYED THE AREA. ALL THE INDIAN COULD SEE WAS WATER, SO
HE SAID, "LACKAWANNA," WHICH WAS THAT TRIBE'S WAY OF SAYING, "AS
I STAND HIGH ON THIS HILL, AND I LOOK AROUND, ALL I CAN SEE IS
WATER." AND SO THAT IS HOW LACKAWANNA, NEW YORK, GOT ITS NAME.
Submitter comment:
THE INFORMANT, A RESIDENT OF THE BUFFALO AREA, SAID THAT THIS IS
WHAT THE PEOPLE TOLD HIM WHEN HE MOVED THERE.
Where learned: BUFFALO ; NEW YORK
Keyword(s): TALL TALE
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Explanation of a name |
Date learned: 05-12-1965
LAKE ERIE
REMEMBER YESTERDAY HOW I TOLD YOU HOW LACKAWANNA GOT ITS NAME
FROM AN INDIAN STANDING ON A HILL. WELL, THE NEXT DAY, THAT
INDIAN BROUGHT THE CHIEF UP TO THE SAME HILL. WHEN THE CHIEF
GOT UP THERE HE SAID, "YOU WERE RIGHT, ALL YOU CAN SEE FROM UP
HERE IS WATER. BOY, IS THIS EVER EERIE!" SO THAT'S HOW THAT
PARTICULAR BODY OF WATER GOT ITS NAME--LAKE ERIE.
Submitter comment: THE INFORMANT SAID HE ALSO HEARD THIS IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK.
Where learned: BUFFALO ; NEW YORK
Keyword(s): TALL TALE
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Explanation of a name |
Date learned: 05-14-1965
Entertainment: Catch Tale
Catch Tale Designed to Make Listener Ridiculous and/or Surprised:
Speaker: "I can make a match burn twice."
Listener: "How?"
Speaker: "Watch."
Speaker lights match and then blows it out, whereupon he quickly touches the skin of the listener with the still hot match, thus making it "burn" twice.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original BN [B667] crossed out. F536 written next to it.
Where learned: Myself
Keyword(s): Catch Riddle ; CATCH TALE ; Diversion ; Entertainment ; MATCH ; MATCHES ; RIDDLE
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Entertainment Diversion |
Entertainment: Catch Tale
TELL VICTIM YOU CAN MAKE A MATCH BURN TWICE. LIGHT MATCH, AND BLOW
OUT. THEN STICK THE TIP INTO THE VICTIM'S HAND.
Data entry tech comment:
Edited on 11-30-2010/ added Motifs,Keywords,BN. -TRD
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): CATCH ; Catch Riddle ; CATCH TALE ; Diversion ; Entertainment ; MATCH ; MATCHES ; MOCK EPIC FIRE
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Entertainment Diversion |
Date learned: 11-16-1968
Superstition
Certain tracks there is a figure of a man carrying a lantern down the tracks. He has no head and he is said to be looking for his head. [sic]
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs and BN added by TRD
James Callow comment:
The following name and address is crossed out from the [Collector] section of the card:
Miller, Kathy 28 West Willow Monroe, MI
Card was located in a pile marked with a [?]
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT ; DORM
Keyword(s): Beheaded ; HEAD ; Headless ; Legend ; Scare ; Spooky ; SUPERSTITION ; Tale
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Supernatural Being PROSE NARRATIVE -- Body part Senses Head, physiognomy, face |
Custom/Belief
Craving of Pregnant Woman:
If a pregnant woman has a craving for something and does not get it, the baby will have a birthmark resembling the food that was craved.
Submitter comment:
Informant is a friend's mother, and she remembers this from all her life.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Reference
Original BN [P800] crossed out. Replaced with current classification
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; FERNDALE
Keyword(s): BABY ; Birthmark ; Craving ; Craving ; Disfigure ; FOOD ; Lore ; Old Wives Tale ; PREGNANCY
James Callow Keyword(s): Reference
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Birth |
Superstition
Italian Superstition:
Our family doesn't believe this, but my grandmother and some relatives do: when a pregnant woman craves for some specific food, and doesn't satisfy this crave, she will get a beauty mark in the shape of that food somewhere on her body. My cousin has a beauty mark similar to a pork chop and her mother claims to have craved for pork.
Data entry tech comment:
motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Reference
Original Bn [P680] crossed out and replaced with current classification
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; GROSSE POINTE WOODS ; Myself
Keyword(s): BABY ; BELIEF ; CHILD ; Craving ; ETHNIC ; FOOD ; Italian ; Old Wives Tale ; SUPERSTITION
James Callow Keyword(s): Reference
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Birth |
Superstition
Belief:
If a pregnant woman gets frightened and touches some part of her body, her child will be born with a birthmark on the same part of its body. The birthmark will be the same shape as the thing which frightened the mother.
Data entry tech comment:
motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Reference
Original BN [P438] crossed out and replaced with current classification
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): BABY ; BELIEF ; CHILD ; FRIGHT ; Offspring ; Old Wives Tale ; PREGNANCY ; Scare ; SUPERSTITION
James Callow Keyword(s): Reference
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Birth |
Superstition
Belief:
A pregnant woman should avoid being scared or shocked because this will disfigure or mark the baby.
Examples:
1. During a fire, a terrified pregnant woman grabbed her face with her hands and the baby was born with a red streak on its face.
2. A pregnant woman was scared by a mouse, and her baby was born with a marking on its shoulder similar to a mouse.
Submitter comment:
The informant heard of these two instances while she as a young girl in Poland.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Reference
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): BELIEF ; Biology ; BIRTH ; Birthmark ; CHILD ; FEAR ; FIRE ; Mouse ; Offspring ; Old Wives Tale ; PREGNANCY ; RODENT ; SUPERSTITION
James Callow Keyword(s): Reference
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Birth |
Superstition
Pregnancy Belief:
When the informant was a student nurse in obstetrics at Mt. Carmel Hospital in 1968, she had a Slavic patient who had a patch of hair on her back at the base of her spine. the woman haad been told by her mother that she had been frightened by a bear while she was carrying her daughter. She was extrememly frightened when she suddenly saw the bearbut as she made the spontaneous gesture of clutching herself, she thought it would be dangerous to her child if she raised her hands to her face in fear in the front, so she reached behind and grabbed her back. She belived this had caused the patch on her daughter's back.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Reference
Where learned: Public Health Nurse
Keyword(s): BABY ; Bear ; BELIEF ; CHILD ; CURSE ; FEAR ; infant ; jinx ; Offspring ; Old Wives Tale ; SUPERSTITION
James Callow Keyword(s): Reference
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Birth |