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Forms to be Filled out for Each InterView
FORM A
Circumstances of Irterviw
STATE
NAME OF WORKER qj w ctikci-t
ADDRESS i i.,'Xref
DATE Veel;t4el. j, /a 3i7
SUBJECT
1. Date and time of inte7rriew
2. Place of interview
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
414- 0.42tC4ZAr 4141, 201,
6414,4„,,,,tit-efrit-r;4fitie/t4.
-3. Name and addresc; of laformant)
:Att.
4. Name and address of person, if any, yle put you in
touch with informant.
5. Name and address of person, IX any, accompanying you
6. Description of room, house, surroundings, etc.
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, for any of the forms, each
bearing the proper heading and the number to which the material refers.)
smiLls its arempire dbmwe air garississy ammorissamk,
causing many a lounger to reluctantly forfeit his seat and draw
closer to the embattled protagonists.
Within the arena,surrounded by a dense crowd of curious onlookers,
may be glimpsed the gesticulating flushfaced and perspiring center
of attraction,the embryo of a new society.Some oc!the contestants,
while not averse to the circumfusion of their propaganda for the
education of a larger audience than are imm4diately gathered usimma,
easicl•-ftelb—elb 1.0 riekloccasionally cast apprehensive eyes in
the direction from whence a belligerent -bull" ma be approaching.
A constant stream of people flow by,some to pause isten a moment,
significantly shake their heads,grin at one another and pass on.
Now and then a strolling flapper inquisitively strives to peer
into the center wherein the esoteric nucleus of the crowd is
wrangling,listens with sadly uncomprehending face,grows suddenly
scornful,sweeps the crowd with an appraising glance to mince along
in quest qf less garrulous and more gainful2siertalnment.
Pestering bootblacksiresentful of so few nickles from such an array
of unshined shoes,assuage their disappointment by intermittent cat-
calls and other cacophonous noises.Venders of pretzels,socks and
sundry articles of merchandise shuffle by paying scant heed to the
assemblage.Previous efforts to sell their wares has taught these
"petty bourgeoise"the unprofitableness of essaying business with
humans preoccupied with abstract speculations,hungering for what
cannot be appeased by pretzels.
DUUJUUTJ- Li.LJU ill n rcx1n,77.-
,.tnion Square A.agAaaant
Time- Today and conjecturally tomorrow.
Informants- Gus,Slim,Noisy,Bronx Looey,Redeye Mack,Ben,and others who
were neither so articulate nor convincing.
Naw,you got me all wrong.If you aiA got the historical perspective,
and you got to consider this historically as Marx
Slim:- (interrupting) Just a minute,just a minute.Now when you produce a
surplus---
Jus:-I know all that 'bout producing a surplus,but garx specifically
says in the foist volume of Las Kapital---
Slim;Wait a second,wait a second;didn't Marx show concerning this very
point,that the value of a commodity is
Gus:- Sure he did,but listen and I'll tell you.The trouble with you guys
is that you
Slim -Only as we understand the economic mode prevailing in any given
society can you--.-
Christ's sake ,air& that what I been tellin' you? Historically
now,from the time of
Slim:- I'm listening)but get down to facts.Varx never contended---
Gus:-Who the hell's denying it;But you lose sight of the fact that the
value of a commodity is determined by--
Slim:-Alright,all-right;but there's a distinction between labor and
labor power and Etrx insisted
Gus: You're tellin' me:Listen work you,and get it right. !arx held that
as the dapitalist system reached
Slim You jump around like an old woman;didn't 'Aarx specifThally say--
-:edeye:You said it,but the bushwah aint woin,'to set back and--
Gus: Marx held,now get me right- arx held that historically the--
Gus: Marx held that as the proletariat,which he termed distinctly as
the instrument for
Slim: But stick to your argumentIMarz said you can't jump ahead of the
machine,which means
Noisy: Say didn't Charlie Marx predict that—well,for instance,how
about
Redeye: Naw,you got it twisted.Yodritthinkin' of Plato,a bushwah who
wanted to
Bronx Looey:But the cata—but the categorical imperatives of Plato aint
yet been knocked out.For instance--
Noisy: Hey Looey,is it right you found out there aint no Santa Claus?
and that you ain't goin'---
Looey: Aw.)quit trying to be funny.If I was as wise as you are I'd go and---
Noisv:Gimme a cigarette somebody—anybody—anykind of cigarebte----
Ben: when did you ever buy a pack of eigareetes.I been a feedin' em tc you
since--
Mack: Say,will you mental featherweights pipe down 'stead of disturbin'
a philosophical argument with a lot of--
Gus: (neditatively puffing a b4ed cigarett) !Low take that bird lecturing
last night —if ever a guy was balled up on economics —no wonder there's
so many dumb--
Ben:Say,wasn't he a pain in the neck?Imagine him saying that the Hegel-
ian philosophy was---
.Crup:If the guy hadnft made such a fool of himself when he tried to
dodge my question he'd a---
Looey: f7ay)Gus,maybe you can tell me,but isn't the basis of Plato's
position the basis of--
qus:Why if that bozo had ever read Spinoza,or even Kant,let alone Joseph
Dietszgen:he would of---
Redeye: AWMORXRINRCRWOMINSWYANTVWXXIMIXRAMEMEMIRIERREMILKIXIMERWMIX
olicxaxaxpamitWaszakykkmaaxgxxzximakwah
How 'bout this guy SpenglerTaint he a bushwah?We's now predictingim
or anyhow heje doing a lot of calamity howling that is supposed
Gus: Yepp,Spengler hasX 'em dizzy now,just as theyre getting over the
headache caused by Einstein's relativity,and next they'll be—
Jack:'Nother yahoo was -Oh what was his name. -he wrote a book or something
and---
Noisy:I'm writing the Great American novel.She's goiA to be a masterpiece,
boy,how to be happy though hungry.Then I got another,which will
ben'low to be pretty though pregnan4imme a cigarett and I'll let
you see the picture of a broad I
Ben: That's the trouble with him.it ain't the class struggle so much as
the skirt -struggle! --listen to him and you'd
Noisy: Where d'ye get that noise?Why) you poor fish)if you had a got--
Mack:Tie a can to that stuff,will youTand for Christ sake keep your
trap closed a minute.And have you got the price of a cup of coffee?.._
(Tus: Take Slim there -where he falls down as a sound Marxian)as he thinks
he is,is when he says that
Slim: I didn't say any such a damned thing.What I did say,was that Lewis
H.Morgan,when he differentiated--
qus But your contention is a priori,a priori for this reason.Beginning
with primitive communism--
Slim: But how you goin'explain the
Gus: But that aint what I'm drivin' ate -if you'll keep your bazoo out of
it a minute and lemme explain I'll---
Noisy:Silence,everybody-so ahead and perform Gus-othe floor's yourn.Tell
em that one 'bout the_
Ben: Why dont you go and take your beauty nap7g@ally,that guy don't know
whether ahrtetwas crutified-or struck by a switch engine.A more--
page 4
Conversation In The park
(Wayne alden)
Gus: For instance,according to Spencer,and I agree with him that evolution
is an integration of matter and concomitant
Noisy: KIMOINXtNXXXKtXXXXIIXpa.
I tried a whole week to learn that to Ben here,but the poor fish
would get all
Max Slim: But what the hell's that password to the hobo college got to
do with what I was saying? That the trouble,when I--
Gus: es sir,Spencer agrees with me pretty well -an indefinite incoherent
homogeniety to a definite coherent heterogeniety;and----
Noisy: Listen to that)would you: Did Charlie Marx get that off his chest,
or was it Schopenhauer.A guy 'at can pull hat kind of stuff
Mack: The screws in your head,Noisy,are rattlin' again,you
Jack: Wasnt that guy,Spencer,in the can during the war?If I ain't mistaken
he was in the same cell as me for awhile and
Noisy: Oh please,let me shake your hand: Wot a man.Wot a man:
Ben: Who? Him or 17pencer--or do you mean me?
Slim: (to qt.'s) What you was saying about evolution is taken for granted,
but even a child would know--
7r
JackHut what has evolution got to do with the questionrlt seems to me if
a guy wants to believe his grandpap was a monkey,why---
lus;:Well,from the looks of the old gink he must a been -but as Huxley
answered Bishop what's his name
position
Slim -As for Spencer,I suppose his plgicm was logical enough for the time
he wrote,but---
r1us: Why,hell,even Aristotle--
Looey:Aristotle!gomebody was tellin'me 'bout him-lemme see;wasn't he -46
Alla All I can say is,as Engles says,that changes in the mode of pro-
duction mean
Jack: But to get that said production,you gotta be organized for it,itnd
until you get---
page 5 (Wayne Walden)
Conversation In The Park
Slim: Who doesn't know that;i7ut who's talking about that
A
trying to point out is
Noisy: Did you ever hear this one? There was an Irishman went into a res-
turant,and he-
Mack:Aw can that chatterowill you' u're buttinin an a philosophical
discussion with a lot of----
1
Noisy: So is your old man.0i1hat the hell you
anyway/What I'm
Gus: See,that's the way it always goesiliere ,4 been trying to tell you
guys something)and that's tha way it always goes' ou run off the
mouth on a lot of immaterial,irrelevant and
Redeye: Goes to show what I been saying —the workers need
Looey: This winter will show 'ea.)tatistics show that a hard winter is
coming and maybe that'll wake some of 'em up and--
Gus: Ah)ha'our old friend Karl again! I don't give a damn what you say, you
got to come around to that old bird just the samedI was arguing with
a buck the other day,and I was pointing out what Lester F.Ward---
Raxxxlayxlxkimaxaxgaadmintaxakaximaxkaak
Looey:There was a smart man --when he wrote an ode to a skylark --he was a
deep thinker alright,you can't get away from--
7us: Well,anyway I was tellin' this buck,seelthat---
Ben: Say know a good one about a buckpit seems---
Slim:(to Gus) Now/ getting back to where we was,when you produce a surplus
Gus: Just as I was tryin' to tell you while agomtlust as Thornsten Veblin
says if you got the historical perspective,you---(etc,etc.,etc)
01)-1-1 0144' 144t t -t,
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FOR D
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STATE
NAME OF WORKER
ADDRESS
DATE
SUBJECT
tre -)Q-rt4-14
FOLKLORE
NEV YORK
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