Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for TEXAS returned 59 results.
I WISH YOU LUCK,
I WISH YOU JOY,
I WISH YOU FIRST A BABY BOY.
AND WHEN HIS HAIR BEGINS TO CURL,
I WISH YOU THEN A BABY GIRL,
AND WHEN HER HAIR IS UP IN PINS,
I WISH YOU THEN A PAIR OF TWINS.
Where learned: TEXAS ; SAN ANTONIO
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Autograph Verse Matrimony |
Date learned: 00-00-1961
MAKE NEW FRIENDS,
BUT KEEP THE OLD.
ONE'S SILVER,
THE OTHER'S GOLD.
Where learned: TEXAS ; SAN ANTONIO
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Autograph Verse Friendship |
Date learned: 00-00-1963
TO CURE HICCUPS SWALLOW A TEASPOON OF SUGAR.
Where learned: TEXAS ; SHERMAN
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Plant |
DOWN BY THE SEASHORE,
CARVED ON A ROCK,
ARE THREE LITTLE WORDS,
FORGET ME NOT!
Where learned: TEXAS ; SAN ANTONIO
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Autograph Verse Forget me not |
Date learned: 00-00-1961
G.I. SHOES,
G.I. HAT,
G.I. THIS AND
G.I. THAT.
G.I. LIKE YOU
G.I. DO.
G.I. HOPE YOU LIKE ME, TOO.
Submitter comment: AUTOGRAPH BOOK 1963
Data entry tech comment: ADDED COMMAS WHERE NEEDED
Where learned: TEXAS ; SAN ANTONIO
Keyword(s): MILITARY
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Autograph Verse Translations, plays on words, symbol writing |
Date learned: 00-00-1963
ON THE DAY OF HER WEDDING SHOWER, AMY SERVED JORDAN
ALMONDS (CANDY COATED ALMONDS, IN VARIOUS PASTEL
COLORS) AS A SIGN FOR HOPEFUL FERTILITY.
Submitter comment: INFORMANT SAID THIS IS A WELL KNOWN CUSTOM.
| Subject headings: | Favorites CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Marriage Bridal shower |
Date learned: 02-17-1972
Superstition
The fisherman have two kinds of folk belief: magic and empirical. Magic have no rational explanation-porpoises bring good luck. Empirical can be explained or have a rational line of thought - Circle around moon means bad weather. There is a rational connection between moon, ring, and bad weather.
Beneath the instrumental function of beliefs (to explain something) there is a phycological [sic] function (to ease the dangers of their hazardous occupation.)
Black suitcase is a very bad taboo object. Going out (in boat) on Friday - bad luck. The word alligator - bad luck. Throw change overboard - good luck.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
Where learned: The Function of Magic Among Texas Coastal Fisherman ; Journal of American Folklore
Keyword(s): Alligator ; BELIEF ; Boat ; Change ; Empirical ; Fisherman ; Friday ; LUCK ; MAGIC ; MONEY ; MOON ; Ocean ; Porpoise ; Sail ; Sailor ; SEA ; Ship ; Suitcase ; SUPERSTITION ; WEATHER
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Still water Large body. BELIEF -- Bad luck |
TWO LITTLE DICKY BIRDS SITTING ON THE HILL.
ONE NAMED JACK, ONE NAMED JILL.
FLY AWAY JACK, FLY AWAY JILL.
COME BACK JACK, COME BACK JILL.
Where learned: TEXAS ; RICHARDSON
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Narrative Verse Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Lyrical Verse Lyrical Verse |
Date learned: 02-00-1980
A beer brewery in Houston, Texas, went out of business because of rats. At night, rats would walk along the rims of vats and taste the beer. They would become drunk and fall in. Unknowingly, the workers would bottle the beer for sale and it would not be uncommon to pull a rat out of one's beer can.
Submitter comment:
Informant--my uncle--claims that this story is true but . . .
Where learned: TEXAS ; HOUSTON
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Animal PROSE NARRATIVE -- B447 |
A game that I (and a lot of other children) played revolved around trying to avoid stepping on a crack when walking on the sidewalk. This rhyme was recited -- "Step on a crack, Break your mother's back."
Data entry tech comment:
Informant and collector are the same person.
Informant probably first learned this in Houston, Texas.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; TEXAS ; NASHVILLE ; HOUSTON
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- C5 BELIEF -- Means of Causing or Avoiding Illness |
As a child, my friends and I would play a game to decide who we would marry. It involved counting all the buttons on our own clothing, one time, while reciting this rhyme:
"Rich man,
Poor man,
Beggar man,
Thief,
Doctor,
Lawyer,
Indian chief."
Data entry tech comment:
Informant and collector are the same person.
Informant first learned this as a child, probably in Houston, Texas.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; TEXAS ; NASHVILLE ; HOUSTON
| Subject headings: | Observation Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Game Verse BELIEF -- Marriage |
In front of Baker Hall (a boy's dorm) at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, there is a marker with the name John Walker Vinson engraved upon it. Legend has it that Vinson was a member of a national fraternity at Austin College in the early 1900s. Unfortunately, he was shot and killed during a brawl with another national fraternity. For that reason, there are no national fraternities (with the exception of Alpha Phi Omega--a service fraternity) on that campus.
Data entry tech comment:
Informant and collector are the same person.
Informant probably first learned this in Houston, Texas.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; TEXAS ; NASHVILLE ; HOUSTON
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Legend BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Jump Rope Rhyme
I'm enrolled in College Hill School,
S-C-H-O-O-L spells school for me,
Question mark, period, comma, out.
On out, the jump-roper jumps out and starts the grades by running in, jumping once, and running out (for first grade) on up to junior high. When reaching junior high and high school (in the game), the rhyme is repeated substituting the names of the junior high and high schools. However, for grades nine through twelve, the jumper has to run in backwards (the motion of the rope is reversed by the turners).
Data entry tech comment:
Informant and collector are the same person.
Informant probably first learned this in Houston, Texas.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; TEXAS ; NASHVILLE ; HOUSTON
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Game Verse Game Verse |
Rope-Jumping Rhyme
Cinderella -- dressed in yellow,
Went upstairs to kiss her fellow,
Kissed a snake -- By mistake,
How many doctors did it take?
One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . .
Data entry tech comment:
Informant and collector are the same person.
Informant probably first learned this in Houston, Texas.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; TEXAS ; NASHVILLE ; HOUSTON
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- C750- |
At Austin College in Sherman, Texas, when someone is accepted into medical school they are thrown (fully-clothed) into one of the fountains on campus.
Submitter comment:
Informant and collector are the same person.
Informant probably first learned this in Sherman, Texas.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; TEXAS ; NASHVILLE ; HOUSTON ; Austin College
James Callow Keyword(s): Initiation
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Initiation rite Hazing |
When I was in junior high, there was a "belief" that was followed religiously and carelessness elicited much ridicule: one did not wear green on Thursday because that meant he/she was queer. Red clothing on Friday signified that a girl was pregnant.
Data entry tech comment:
Informant and collector are the same person.
Informant probably first learned this in Houston, Texas.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; TEXAS ; NASHVILLE ; HOUSTON
Keyword(s): COLOR
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Typical Elements of a Festive Pattern BELIEF -- P5 |
If your ear itches, someone is talking about you.
Data entry tech comment:
Informant and collector are the same person.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; TEXAS ; NASHVILLE ; HOUSTON
| Subject headings: | Spirit / Mind / Body BELIEF -- Body part Senses |
A goat-roper in Texas is a city dude who tries to act like a cowboy. They are distinguished by their fancy clothes and flashy manner because real cowboys and ranchers wear functional clothing and are real in actions.
Where learned: TEXAS ; SHERMAN
| Subject headings: | SPEECH -- Trade & commerce |
The geology department shows earthy films.
Submitter comment:
Found in old Readers Digest at West Texas State University.
Data entry tech comment:
Informant and collector are the same person.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; GARDEN CITY ; TEXAS ; West Texas State University ; Readers Digest
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Art Craft Architecture Art, Craft, Architecture |