Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for 941 returned 235 results.
It has been said that if you urinate in the middle of the
highway, you'll get a star (pimple) under you eye.
Submitter comment:
Everytime I saw someone with a pimple under his/her eye I would
think about this old saying.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
Keyword(s): Pimple
James Callow Keyword(s): Stye
Date learned: 00-00-1970
Genius
It's been said that if a child never meets his/her father then
that child will be very intelligent.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
Keyword(s): High IQ
| Subject headings: | Favorites BELIEF -- Secular hero BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Birth |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
Itchy Nose
It's been said that if your nose itches, it usually means
you're gonna kiss a fool.
Submitter comment: My nose itches all the time and I never kiss anyone.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Physically handicapped Deformed BELIEF -- Body part Senses Nose SPEECH -- Gesture |
Date learned: 00-00-1980
I've been told by my mother that hope, without faith, is like
beefsteak without gravy.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
James Callow Keyword(s): FOOD
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Apothegm Maxim |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
When I was in gradeschool I always heard that if you step on a
crack, in the sidewalk, you'll break your mother's back.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Means of Causing or Avoiding Illness |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
When I would eat oranges as a child, I would be afraid to
swallow the seeds because I had always been told that if I did an
orange tree would grow inside me and kill me.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Plant BELIEF -- Means of Causing or Avoiding Illness |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
When I was growing up, my father would tell me a story about a
man who got his head cut off. He would say that every time after
it rained you would be able to see the puddle of blood where it
happened and the night after it rained you would be able to see the
man standing over the puddle of blood.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
In school I would always hear the guys say that when a girl had
a wide gap in her crotch, it meant she was very sexually active.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
My mother would always tell me that when a person had a gap
between their two front teeth, it meant they were a big liar.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses Mouth, teeth, lips, tongue |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
In grade school while eating lunch in the cafeteria, I would
see children drop food on the floor. But to be sure the food
wouldn't harm them when they picked it up to eat it, they would say
a little prayer;
God made dirt so it won't hurt
Put it in your mouth and it won't work.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Belief CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- School BELIEF -- Prayer BELIEF -- Means of Causing or Avoiding Illness |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
Entry filtered.
It's been said that the vagina of an oriental is shaped
horizontally instead of vertically.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 00-00-1980
It's been said that guys who have an extreme amount of
strength and power aren't getting laid.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- P000 |
Date learned: 00-00-1980
My mother always told me that when a bride's maid caught the
bouquet it meant she would be the next to be married.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Marriage Bouquet |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
Entry filtered.
Entry filtered.
HIDE AND SEEK GAME
LAST NIGHT, NIGHT BEFORE,
TWENTY-FIVE ROBBERS AT MY DOOR.
I GOT UP LET THEM IN,
HIT 'EM IN THE HEAD WITH A ROLLING PIN;
TWO BOXES OF WASHING POWDER, TWO BARS OF SOAP,
ALL NOT READY CALL BILLY GOAT.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; MERIDIAN
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Hiding Searching |
Date learned: 09-00-1960
Entry filtered.
ROCK GAME
ONE POTATOE, TWO POTATOES, THREE POTATOES FOUR,
FIVE POTATOES, SIX POTATOES, SEVEN POTATOES MORE.
Submitter comment:
THE LEADER WHO IS SINGING THE SONG ASKS THE PLAYER TO GUESS WHICH
HAND THE ROCK IS IN. IF THE PLAYER GUESSES WHICH HAND THE ROCK IS IN
HE GETS A CHANCE TO PASS TO A GRADE. THIS CONTINUES
ALL THE WAY UP TO THE TWELFTH GRADE. THIS GAME IS PLAYED ON THE
STEPS, AND YOU MOVE UP THE STEPS TO A HIGHER GRADE, IF YOU GUESS
THE RIGHT HAND THE ROCK IS IN.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; MERIDIAN
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Guessing |
RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT
NO WALKING, NO TALKING, NO RED LIGHT NO NOTHING.
Submitter comment:
DURING THIS TIME THE LEADER,S BACK IS TURNED IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTIO
FROM THE GROUP OF CHILDREN. THE CHILDREN CAN MOVE AS MUCH AS THEY
WANT UNTIL THE LEADER SPEAKS AGAIN. WHEN THE LEADER SAYS, "NO
WALKING, NO TALKING NO GREEN LIGHT, NO NOTHING;"
THE GROUP OF CHILDREN MUST STOP MOVING,
IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE LEADER TURNS AROUND AND SEES THEM. IF YOU
ARE CAUGHT MOVING YOU ARE OUT OF THE GAME. THE PERSON THAT STAYS IN
THE GAME THE LONGEST WINS, IF THE LEADER CAN NOT CATCH HIM MOVING,
BUT IF HE CATCHES HIM MOVING, HE WILL TAKE THE LEADER,S PLACE.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; MERIDIAN
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Racing Chasing Fighting |
Date learned: 09-00-1960