Document text
STATE
NAME OF
ADDRESS
DATE
SUBJECT
Forms to be Filled out for Each Interview
FORM A
Circumstances of Interview
ItORKER
14'31
A LE550A/ 1 iv woot,-R1,7
1. Date and time c" interview
2. Place of interview
3. Name and address of informant
r 3 /3a,v-i,
-riti,44-L .ew rkesteir-
6- 3 ial4A. 711
4. Name and address of person, if any, wno put you in
touch with informant.
5. Name and address of person, if any, accowpanying you
6. Description of room, house, surroundings, etc.
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
(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.)
STATE
NAME OF roaKER
ADDESS
DATE
SUUJECT
FORN.
Personal hitory of informant
eXif
NI;
lealf 444 kt-rel •Tirt4e
1. Ancestry
2. Place and date of birth
3. Family
4. Places liveC, i., with datee
5. Eeucation, with dates
FOLKLORE
NEt'.' YORK
-yr14:1-(7 494t.-,t-F.144,e-e- Ar)v4 )141
014-771-)t 40 fre-4 OtAA--4
4 -e -44.1a /1.14,144 Ati"
.-44n4,-aaL e r‘e
/11AIA- /US( .•;4:
-n,t40-44-221-1 „Li et.444.-A
/;:3
6. 03cupations nnd accomplis'ImentF, with daei 4t/t
7. Special skills and interests
8. Community and religious activales
9. Description of informant
10. Other Points gained in interview
41.-4.400er
ler-41/
Informatt: Lena Fusco
_
lesson in ____
Subject: A isaartnaltod•_-lorej
bandied about
The talk,as it was cNIAAA /mIx by one and another sitting around
the resturantNi table,was not of a particularly high order.But we
talked of many things.Cabbages,I think,were not dwelt upon,but there
was mention of kings,at least dictators,and the inevitability of
much that might,after all,fail to occur.It was fairly well agreed,,as
I remember,that the history of the next world war will never be written
for the simple reason that no one will be left to write it "And It'll
be just as well",said a misanthrope among us,"for the damned human
race ain't fit to survive anyway."
been
Had the indictment/less sweeping,it probably would have been more
us however,
provocative of some fitting retort.Lone of/seemed incline4to champion
the whole of the human race; But the somewhat banal remark," 'The more
0
I see of human beings,the more I like dogs"jwith which the tirade ended,
Wayne alden
December 23, 1933
was a bit too much for a lady who until now had not been loquaCious.
Ittit That catchphrase,slightly irritating to the group itself,was the
cue to which my informant responded.If she did not speak poignards and
every word a stab,her opening remarks were at least as fraught with
wisdom as anything the misanthrope had said.Probably,too,they tended to
restore a dim sense of our individual importance to the rest of us.
"I like dogs",she began,"I like them as well as any normal person might
be expected to like dogs.But,contrary to certain abnormal opinions,I
like humans better.Particularly human beings whom circumstances,or
hereditar,/ qualities,have not reduced to the level of dogs,fawning ab-
ject creatures grateful for a bone,or inclined to snarl and bite as
their dominant trait."
The possibly malicious thrust was not lost upon him whose pronounced
Is
aversions to hill fellow -men had evoked the lady's utterance.He bristled
was gentleman
slightly )but rgomixact 44411tx enough not to interrupt the impassioned
speech.After a moment's pause she resumedjbut now with less asperity.
(page 2) Wayne Walden
Dec.2o,193b
Subject: A Lesson In Woodlore.
"I think that a human is more than a dog,even though the average of us
.are a composite of animal,angel and devil.An animal is often likable;
an angel is supposed to be lovable;and even the devil must be given
po
his due. But its kids,I think,who are on the whole pbtentially superior
to dogs.Kids are kids,of course;they're often barbarians,even little
savages;but some of them grow into the full stature of real human beings,
while the dog forever remains but a dog,and certainly will never become
a great philosopher,a scientist,nor even a musician --no matter how hard
he tries sometimes to sing.The ululations of some socalled members of
dulcit.'
the human tribe are,I'll have to admit,no more mph (than the howling
of dogs."
It was a matter of conjecture just what this last remark might have
implied.Evidently she didn't allude to the misanthrope,and as the.rest
of us had carefully refraiAd from emitting any ululations during the
lady's discourse,we naturally thought that she must have meant the land-
lord.orperhaps the racous voicenewsboys hurrying by with an "uxtra".
It isn't certain how much longer the-,monologue,dogs vs.humans,might
have lasted had not "Slangy Slim"cut in causing it to strike off at
something of a tangent.Slim invariably grows restless then the conver-
sation is high-brow,on topics which a guy has got to be an intellec-
tual to savvy the stuff.XNAK xxxxxg uxxxxxxxxixxxxxxxx xx xxgxx MUM
katxmlorkOrtimimistxxammtwaxmxixittmhkiams Slim has long followed the
trade of house painter,that is when he can find an employer not overly
finical as to the quanty and quality of his work.Then,too,Slim was
A4
once something of a Aiiffib having dome composed a piece that appeared
in no less a periodical than the Hobo liews.Thereafter Slim's business
and calling cards bore testimony tp his being a "Poet and House -Painter".
Slim'e heroes were about the only persons he took seriously,and they
were contemporaries of the American Bison. ether they were actual
Subject:A lesson in woodcraft
Page
3
(Wayne Walden)
it=
historical characters,or but fictional,wax of no particular importance
to Slim.From Kit Karson to King Brady,they were great suys.
"Maybe you're right"41im addressed the speaker,"near as I can see
through what you been sayinl,but these city kids,these little Wop kids
and Jew kids and all the other little Crangutags vunnin' round the
streets --has your gapings of them convinced you that there's many
Danial Boones among them? Like among our four fathers?"
"Indeed no",laughingly replied Miss Fusco,"I must say that I have not
in my'gapings'of these east side boys encountered many Danial Boones.
The style,I'm afraid,is now somewhat outmoded.Dense forests have preyty
well disappeared from New york City's streets,as you will see,if you'll'
use your gapers,and grape -vines along with them.
"The scenes from the time of anny Boone have shifted,but there is yet
an effort to acquaint the kids with woodlore,to know something of the
nature of what small birds and animals and plant life that still remains.
If
My experience is that the brats react to the instruction as typically
native born kids,which they are,whether 'Merican.
As a counselor in a camp nearby New York,where these east side boys and
girls are brought in big batches every summer to sojourn among natural
surroundings,I have dealt with hundreds of them,and tgaping'at their
behaviour,as well as their misbehaviour,I find that their pranks are
boyish rather than to be described as Jewish,Woppish,Irish or any other
ish. ven Indianish",the speaker added,10s, as an afterthought,to a rather
long sentence.
At the camp,at least once a week,we devote an evening to woodcraft
and to hearing from the kids their reports of whatever animal,bird or
plant,mav have been noticed in their rambles,and of which they profess
a thirst for knowledge.We gather round a camp -fire as a council of In-
dian scouts --the kids,of course,are the scouts,and a more mature person,
generally a teacher,or head counselor,acts the part of the'Chief)41.
A Lesson In Woodcraft.
Page 4. (Wayne Walden)
##########**-**#####*#####***-44.
"Often these councils,as they are intended to be,are not only Ihjoyable,
but educational as well.We generally derive. something from them,but as
happens in the best of all human arrangements,they sometimes become
farcical,when the scouts are feeling more frivolous than decorous.
On one such occasion the Chief ,who happened to be an unusually solemn
lady,seriously desirous that sense rather thrn nonsense should rule
the deliberations of the assembly,had 'Pebbles'and'Stumpy' to put up
with.They were both little devils,and always cutting up some sort of
monkeyshine.Pebbled nickname was because his real name was Littlestone.
Anyway,our sagacious Chief,elevated upon a comfortable,vineclad stump,
cushioned with soft and glossy green leaves,sat through the session
giving oracular advise,and listening to the reports of the little east
side Redskins. 'rany of the queries asked by the noisy young Indians,if
at all serious,would be respectfully answered by the Chief.Too much lev-
ity she didn't like,and would bawl out the kids when they tried to get
too funny.
As some of us expected,it wasn't long before Pebbles havta say in it
'fflixikkirWodumakmakaxeckxxamaxkitxmatobtammtaximxkkaxakkaixicaraxataxtfax
widtkx2kxtbrtut Rising from the midst of the other scouts,squatting in
a semi -circle in front of the austere Chief,htks face as4tmpenitrable as
a real Indian's/Pebbles began his stuff.Probably he had prepared it with
the help of other of the braves,and had rehearsed it before an audience
of the little devils. 'Oh fihief,'he began:as me and Stumpy was comin' up
the road today,we seen a bold what was knockin' on wood.Stumpy asked me
what kind of a bold was that and I told him it was a woodpecker an'that
it always knocks on wood.So Stumpy kinda got scared and puts on his hat.'
Thatever the Chief might have replied to this was lost in the boos
and loud laughter of the boys,with the giggling accompaniment of the
girls.But the look the Chief bestowed upon Pebbles would have shriveled
the soul of a less dauntless scout.
A Lesson In Woodcraft.
pap 5. (Wayne Walden)
Hut Pebbles was a persevering Redskin,and he made a sign for the rest of
the kids to be silent.Again he arose and,beginning with the customary
'Oh Chiefl,says,in reference to another feathered creature,likely of
his own imagination, 'Oh Chief could you tell us guys what kind of a bold
this was -it wasn't a canary,cause a canary is little and yellow;it wasnt
a robin cause it didn't sing like a robin;it wasn't a chickenhawk an'it
wasn't a eagle either,but we thought maybe you could tell what it was.
The last we seen of it was when it flew on to the limb of a pickled
herring tree
By now the agrieved Chief could stand no more .'That will doe,,she said,
'these council meetings are not for the purpose of showing off as clowns.
This is not a circus.It is with an idea of teaching you children some
useful information MI nature and woodcraft,that we hold these camp -fire
gatherings,and if you dont come here prepared to play your part as you
are supposed to,you may stay away.)''That,for the time being at least,fin-
ished Pebbles and his ilk.
But it was an innocent little girl who precipated an end to the
evening's session.The sweet little thing had been noticing all along
that the Chief sat among the pretty vines. 'Oh Chief'said that dear little
scout:what does poisen Ivy look like,and does it hurt when you set on it?'
'Poisen Ivy'answered the wise Chief, 'Is a shiney leafed plant,which at
this time of year should be carefully avoided.Contact with it is most
likely to result in trouble,blisters at least,and sometimes serious ill-
ness.'
'Oh Chier,responded the 'AM well instructed little girl,'aint
you a settin' in poisen Ivy right now?'
"As this appalling fact struck the horrified Chief her guise of solemn-
ity and chieftain dignity evaporated as suddenly as it took the leaping
lady to clear out from that comfortable stump.The Chief,herself) had learn-
ed a lesson in woodcraft and for the rest of the season scrutinised where
she sat.”