The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

When I was younger (approx. 5 years old) the kids in my
neighborhood would never knock on the door if they wanted you to
come out and play. Instead they would stand on the sidewalk in
front of your house and repeatedly call out your name. The
reason for doing this was because we were all afraid of our
friend's parents. This practice continued for years until I was
about 10 and we were finally all brave enough to knock on each
other's doors. We did notice, however, that the younger children
seemed to follow our tradition of calling out their friends to
play.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DEARBORN HEIGHTS

Date learned: 00-00-1974