The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

At the beginning of the teething process place an egg with
the child's name written on it in a sock or stocking. Place the
egg above the door of the child's room and this will cause the
child not to be fretful during teething.

James Callow comment: Puckett, Ohio, no. 1400: "To prevent pain and diarrhea with
teething, take a fresh laid egg, write the child's name on it.
Then hide the egg till the teething is over (Mrs. S, F, 60,
h.wife, Negro, Cleveland, 1961); ... put the egg up over a door
(H.D., F, 26, R.N., Negro, Cleveland, 1958)."

For various uses of eggs in teething rituals, see Puckett,
Ohio, nos. 1398-1402.

Cf. Cannon, Utah, no. 716: "The teething egg: When children
are teething, put an egg in a jar. Seal it up and put it in a
closet somewhere. There are gases in the egg that leak out into
the air of the house. They

Where learned: DETROIT

Date learned: 00-00-1989