Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
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WHEN NANCY WAS FOUR YEARS OLD, SHE AWOKE IN THE MIDDLE
OF THE NIGHT TO SEE A TALL, STRANGE MAN STANDING BY
HER BED. FRIGHTENED AT FIRST, SHE LOST HER FEAR WHEN
HE GENTLY ASKED, "NANCY, HAVE YOU BEEN A GOOD GIRL?"
WHEN SHE SAID SHE HAD, HE WENT AWAY. ONE WEEK LATER,
THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO HER SISTER AGNES, WHO
WAS SEVERAL YEARS OLDER. THE MORNING AFTER THESE
INCIDENTS, THE DOORS WERE FOUND UNLOCKED, BUT
NOTHING ELSE IN THE HOUSE DISTURBED.
Submitter comment:
I REMEMBER THE MOTHER OF THESE GIRLS TELLING MY
FAMILY ABOUT THE INCIDENT. SHE FELT THE MAN WAS A
WOULD-BE ROBBER WHO CHANGED HEART WHEN HE SAW THE
LITTLE GIRL'S FRIGHTENED FACES, BUT SHE DIDN'T
KNOW HOW HE KNEW THEIR NAMES.
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 00001947-1949
THE HEADLESS
IN TOLEDO {OHIO} THERE WAS A MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT
IN WHICH THE DRIVER LOST HIS HEAD.
NOW ON THE SAME ROAD, YOU CAN SEE ONE HEADLIGHT
COMING AT YOU (USUALLY AROUND MIDNIGHT), BUT
WHEN IT GETS CLOSE ENOUGH TO MAKE IT OUT, IT
DISAPPEARS. IT IS SAID TO BE THE MOTORCYCLIST
LOOKING FOR HIS HEAD.
Where learned: OHIO ; APARTMENT ; TOLEDO ; DETROIT, ASSUMED ; MICHIGAN, ASSUMED
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 11-12-1969
LEGEND AMONG THE FRANCISCAN NUNS OF TOLEDO {OHIO}
HAS IT THAT THEY UNKNOWINGLY HARBORED AL CAPONE FROM
THE POLICE. THE NUNS, SYMPATHETIC TO THE HUNGRY
VAGRANT, THE PREMISE THAT CAPONE PUT ON, LET HIM
STAY INDOORS, FED HIM WHILE THE POLICE COMBED THE
NEIGHBORHOOD. AFTER THE POLICE WENT AWAY, CAPONE LEFT
PEACEFULLY, OFFERING THANKS TO THE NUNS. THE EVENT
OCCURRED AT ST. STANISLAUS CONVENT ON DETROIT AVENUE
IN TOLEDO, OHIO.
Submitter comment:
TOLD BY A FRANCISCAN NUN WHEN I WAS STUDYING HISTORY
IN GRADE SCHOOL.
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Outlaw Criminal Bandit Pirate |
Date learned: IN GRADE SCHOOL
THE ELMORE GHOST
NOT TOO LONG AGO IN ELMORE, OHIO, A GROUP OF DRUNK TEENAGERS
RAN INTO AND KILLED A POLICEMAN ON A MOTORCYCLE. THIS WAS
WITNESSED BY A PERSON LIVING IN A HOUSE NOT FAR AWAY. THE
PERSON DIED OF SHOCK. IF YOU GO THERE YOU CAN SEE CAR LIGHTS
COMING AT YOU, FEEL THE BUMP-BUMP OF A MOTORCYCLE ON YOUR CAR
HOOD AND SEE A LIGHT MOVE FROM WINDOW TO WINDOW OF THE NOW-
DESERTED HOUSE.
Date learned: 00-00-1968
ORDINARY FOLKTALE
THERE WAS ONCE A LITTLE SPOILED BOY WHO HAD SO MUCH
THAT WHEN HE DIDN'T GET WHAT HE WANTED, HE SLAPPED AND
KICKED AT HIS MOTHER. AS HE WAS GOING TO SCHOOL ONE DAY,
HE MET WITH A MISFORTUNE AND WAS KILLED. THE MOTHER
MOURNED AND TRIED TO MAKE HIS FUNERAL THE BEST POSSIBLE.
AT THE CEMETERY THEY HAD TO DRAG THE WEEPING MOTHER AWAY.
THREE DAYS LATER SHE VISITED THE GRAVE AND WAS HORRIFIED
AT WHAT SHE SAW. STICKING UP FROM THE GROUND WERE
FOUR CHUBBY FINGERS. OTHERS WERE ALSO HORRIFIED AND
TRIED TO COVER THEM. THREE TIMES THE MOTHER WENT TO
THE GRAVE AND FOUND THE FINGERS STICKING UP EVERY TIME.
THE MOTHER WENT TO THE PARISH PRIEST WHO SOON DISCOVERED
THAT THE YOUNG BOY HAD NEVER BEEN PUNISHED FOR HIS BAD
BEHAVIOR. THE MOTHER WOULD HAVE TO PUNISH THE BOY NOW
BY BEATING HIS FINGERS INTO THE GROUND IF HE WERE
TO FINALLY HAVE ETERNAL REST. THE MORAL OF THE STORY
IS NOT TO STRIKE YOUR PARENTS.
Submitter comment:
TOLD BY A COMMUNITY INSTRUCTOR: 1940S.
SLAPPING CAUSES HAND OF BURIED SINNER TO RETURN UNDERGROUND IN GRAVE
TOLD BY A COMMUNITY INSTRUCTOR IN THE 1940S
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Magic |
Date learned: CA12001965
(BROKEN GLASS)
ONE DAY A MAN RETURNED HOME TO FIND HIS BOY AND GIRL
CRYING, FOR THEIR MOTHER HAD DISAPPEARED. THREE
MONTHS LATER, DAD DISAPPEARED. THE CHILDREN SEARCHED
TO NO AVAIL. ONE DAY THE BOY DID NOT RETURN FROM PLAY.
ALL ALONE, THE GIRL CRIED AND SEARCHED FOR HER LOST
FAMILY. ONE NIGHT SHE HEARD NOISES FROM THE ATTIC.
FRIGHTENED, SHE CLIMBED THE LONG STAIRS. AS SHE ROSE
HIGHER SHE HEARD MOANING. CAUTIOUSLY, SHE OPENED THE
DOOR AND . . . (HERE THE NARRATOR SCREECHES) (WHEN
THE AUDIENCE RECOVERS, SOMEONE, IF THE SPEAKER IS
LUCKY, ASKS, "WHY DID SHE SCREAM? THE SPEAKER
ANSWERS "YOU'D SCREAM TOO IF YOU STEPPED ON BROKEN
GLASS!"
Submitter comment:
A GROUP OF US WERE TOLD THIS STORY AT A PICNIC IN
SYLVANIA {OHIO}.
| Subject headings: | 6677 Formula Tale |
Date learned: 00-00-1964
I WISH NOT WHAT IS ANOTHER'S, BUT I WILL NOT GIVE
UP MY OWN.
Keyword(s): POSSESSION
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Apothegm Maxim |
PROVERB
THE MAN WHO IS BORN WITH A SILVER SPOON IN HIS MOUTH,
SELDOM MAKES MUCH STIR.
Submitter comment:
THIS WAS OUR FAMILY DOCTOR. HE ALWAYS TOLD THIS TO EVERY NEW
PARENT.
James Callow Keyword(s): HUMOR ; METAPHOR ; OBERSERVATION ; REPUTATION ; WEALTH
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Metaphor |
GERMAN PROVERB
SAUERKRAUT AND PORK MAKE AN OLD LADY FAT.
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Metaphor |
SING BEFORE YOU EAT,
YOU'LL CRY BEFORE YOU SLEEP.
Submitter comment:
AN OLD SAYING MY GRANDMOTHER USED TO KEEP ME FROM
SINGING BEFORE BREAKFAST; SHE ALWAYS SAID IT WAS
"BAD LUCK," BUT I RATHER SUSPECT I WAS JUST TOO NOISY.
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Proverb PROVERB -- Proverbial Apothegm Maxim |
STOP, LOOK, AND LISTEN
BEFORE YOU CROSS THE STREET
Keyword(s): SAFETY
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Apothegm Maxim |
Date learned: 00001940S
TRUST NO MAN, THOUGH HE BE YOUR BROTHER
WHOSE HAIR IS ONE COLOR AND HIS BEARD ANOTHER.
Submitter comment:
IT WAS RATHER DIFFICULT TO SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BELIEF,
SINCE HER 4 BROTHERS ALL HAD BEARDS OF DIFFERENT COLOR
THAN THEIR HAIR. IT WAS USED MORE AS A PERSONAL TAUNT.
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Proverb Proverb |
Date learned: 01-22-1968
PROVERB
WHEN MONEY TALKS, NOBODY PAYS MUCH ATTENTION TO THE GRAMMAR.
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Metaphor |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
PROVERB
WISHES WON'T WASH DISHES.
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Metaphor |
Date learned: 09-24-1967
RESPECTFUL GESTURE
THE MAN ALLOWS A WOMAN TO PROCEED {PRECEDE} HIM THROUGH A
DOOR OR PASSAGE-WAY.
Submitter comment: MY MOTHER ALWAYS TOLD ME THAT THIS WAS GOOD MANNERS.
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank SPEECH -- Respect |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
I (POINT TO I) THINK (POINT TO YOUR HEAD) YOU (POINT TO ANOTHER PERSON) STINK (HOLD YOUR NOSE).
Submitter comment: THIS INVOLVES ALL GESTURES--NO SOUNDS OR WORDS.
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Measure of quantity or weight SPEECH -- Derision Scorn |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
IF TWO PEOPLE SAY THE SAME WORDS OR SOME PHRASE
SIMULTANEOUSLY THEY SHOULD LINK THEIR LITTLE FINGERS
TOGETHER AND MAKE A WISH.
| Subject headings: | 602 Body Parts BELIEF -- Prayer SPEECH -- Formula SPEECH -- Wishes Wants Desires Predictions |
Date learned: 10-00-1968
KNOCK ON WOOD AFTER BOASTING.
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Conversions P883.22 SPEECH -- Knocking on wood |
Date learned: 10-00-1968
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