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Forms to be Filled out for Each Interview
FORM A
Circumstances of Interview
STATE Now York
NAME OF WORKER William Wood
ADDRESS
DATE
SUBJECT
7012 -67th Place, Glendale, L.
September 20, 1938
FRAGMENTS OF OOLKLORE
1. Date and time of interview
2. Place of interview
3. Name and address of informant
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
MRS. ANNIE NILSSON (AGE 64)
8943 Oatee Ave.
Brookl7n, N. Y.
4. Name and address of person, if any, who put you in
touch with informant.
5. Name and address of person, if any, accompanying you
8. 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.)
FORM C
Text of Diterview (Unedited)
STATE NEV ycam
NANE OF WORKER WILLIAM WOOD
ADDRESS
7012.67th Place, Glendale, L. I.
DATE Siptember 20, 1038
SUBJECT
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
FRAGMENTS OF FoutrztiE ....a,ATTIEMM IN BROOKLYN AND PIECED TOGEMEr.
BY TITIZIAti WOOD
TEE MONK3f DANCE
This title is a misnomers To the uninitiated it might
well be suggestive of the Terpseohorean revels of soma jolly
monastic order* Really it was not a dance at all; just the name
of partywgame that intrigued the guests at some of those wild and
reckless house.gatherings of fifty years ago. Here's the way it
was peretratedt
Teo men, acting the role of the "monks", sat on chairs
facing each other at a distance of tan foot apart* Thettpenitenton
chosen usually, by virtue or his (or her) lack of sophistication,
stood upon a rug running lengthwise between the two chairs; here
he was subjected to a rigid inquisition* The questions asked were
of an intimate and personal nature, sndwere artfully designed
to provoke the side.splitting laughter of the auditors and the
embarrassment and confusion of the victim* It is said that there
were several variations in the conduct of this engaging pastime,
but that it always ended in the same way* At a given signal, two
would stoop down and suddenly drag the rug from under the feet of
the embattled penitent, sending him sprawling to the floor.
012.1011
;MY OP717A-7 FOR 17.7.71IA?
Mrs. Nilsson tells of an interesting ease of bloodless,
surgery that occurred shortly after the turn of the present century.
The method bears no reaemblance to that employed by the great Lorenz.
Sunshine, the beautiful child of a resident of Ridgewood,
was afflicted with a navel ruptures for parents were afraid to
incur the risk of an operation; so they followed the advice of an
old farm -woman who highly recommended the following treatment:
"Take seven strands of the child's hair; ten small
pieces of her finger -nails, one from each digit; and in like
manner ten pieces of her toe -nails. Wrap these items together in
a small, thin piece of white tissue paper. At midnight, split the
bark of a tree with a cleaver, and insert the tiny package in the
crevices"
The rupture is said to have disappeared soon after.
A DEVIL TALE
One evening in 19MO, Mrs. Annie Nilsson took dinner at
the home of a spinster friend who lived with her parents in Maspeth.
There was no plumbing in the dwelling, and the houseiwof-oonvenienoe
was situated in the back yard. During the evening conversation, the
bead of the family related some stories of his boyhood on a farm;
telling of a number of occasions when portions of the land had been
plowed up by the Devil, whose hoof marks had been quite perceptible
on the mornings following the Evil One's visitations.
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Risinz from her scat, at the conclusion of one of her
father's narratives, the spineter daughter excused herself ad
vent into the yard, through the kitchen door. She had no more than
el'Ised it behind her when lira. Nilsson and the other people assembled
beard an unearthly shriek. The father rushed into the yard and\
carried his daughter, hysterical and fainting, back into the living
room.
A hasty application of restoratives induced a partial
recovery of the woman's composure, and as soon as she was, able to
talk she declared she had seen the Devil. Describing His Satanic
Majesty as a hunchbacked and headless monster, with a yell -m ring
encircling his nook, she persisted in her story despite the familyra
suggestions that her experience was merely a hallucination. Falling
ill the next day, the woman became progressively worse and died
seven months later.
a
BURIED *TREASURE"
Not so many years ago, an elderly mechanic lived with
his second wife and their son at a house near Oates Avenue and
Freshpond Heads His workshop stood in the yard; and when he finished
his labors each evening he would place an old iron bed, which he
had painted white, against the wooden door of his shop, to keep it
closed.
Three of his sons by a former marriage were frequent
visitors; and he told them, often, that upon his death they would
share with their step.brother such provision an be had been able to
make for them. Thdesthe old man said, consisted of sums of money,
deposited to their erodlt end in thoir individual names at banks
whose identity he would not then reveal.
Later on, when in failin health, he told his sons that
in case of his possible sudden death, they would find the bank -books
in a tin box, buried somewhere on the property. Persistently
resina to give any further Information, he assured the young men
that they would have no difficulty in discovering the place of
concealment.
A neighbor died in a house across the street; and the old
mechanic went to review the remains and offer his condolences to
the bereaved family. He took his departure with the words: "I
shall be the next to go, and the time is very close at hand."
Within a year he did die, and quite suddenly, during the month of
December.
His widow and his four sons made a thorough but futile
search of the house, from cellar to attics. They dug into the
basement and ransacked the work -shops all to no avail. The winter
was a severe one, with the frost penetrating deep into the ground;
so it was agreed to postpone further effort until the coming of
spring would facilitate a systematic digging of the garden.
A rainy February softened the ground; and the youngest
son, impatient to resume the quest for the bank.books• diligently
started work with his spade. Hut his step...brothers, informed of
this proceeding, secured a court order enjoining him from continuing
until all four could be present to safeguard their respective interests.
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Spring came at last, and the four men labored with a will,
digging deep into every square foot of ground, with no reward for
their trouble but calloused hands. Discouraged and disappointed,
they prepared to aoknowledrte defeat. Their dreams of buried
"treasure" were fading into thin air. They were ready to ascribe
their fatheris oft -repeated promise to the workings of a deranged
mind. There was just one possibility left, one of them suggested:
to tear up the floor -boards in the workshop. Then, if the tin box
could not be found, the search would be abandoned.
The boards were quickly removed. At last1 There, in
the center', was a small space of 1,,ose earth1 Within five minutes
they had removed their inheritances from the hiding -place, and each
brother found his bank -book entitling him to several hundreds of
dollars. A note in the tin box, addressed to all, explained the
old man's reason for the white painted iron bed. It told of his
nocturnal peerings through his window, from which point of vantage
be could see -even on the darkest nights.that no prowler was
disturbing the sanctity of his strange treasure -house.
STORES ON WHEELS
Fifty years ago, enterprising merchants of many verietie's
brought their establishments to the very doorsteps of the good wives
of Brooklyn, especially in the more sparsely settled districts. This
convenience sometimes was offset by a slight additional cost, or a
sacrifice of quality -but not always. Competition, even in those days
was quite keen; and steady customers were the dealers' most valuable
asset, then as now. The ohort-s17.hted vendor whose prices or
quality of goods indicated that he was appraising too highly the
delivery service given, did not hold his trade vary long. He
had to go to a new neighborhood and start afresh.
Butchers, grocers, milkmen, clDthiers„ hatters, shoe
merchants and many other types of tradesmen did business in the
manner described; they carried their wares to their patrons. Nice,
juicy steaks were cut and weirthed on the wacon, and4zansferred
to the waiting platters in the consumers hands. Milk was ladled
out of large cans: quarts, pints, and half.pints at a tire, and
poured Into jugs and pitchers and bottles. Grocers weighed out
their tea and sugar; their coffee, bacon and lard. Women stood
around the vehicles in groups, often exchanging pleasantries with
the merchants while the orders were being filled. Mirth -provoking
incidents were frequent occurrences. Here is one that was long
remembered in the vicinity of Myrtle and Seneca Avenues:
A woman, having purchased a good-sized bologna from her
butcher, found that there was not sufficient money in her purse to
pay him. She ran into the house to get the balance, and started
back towards the wagon. Before she could reach it, her pet terrier
had enatehed the sausage. a nice liverwurst -from the kitchen table
are deposit id it at the butcher's feet.
Old-olothes dealers used to visit the housewives at regular
intervals and shrewdly made two transactions at a time, on the basis
of exchanging pots and pans and various other kitchen utensil for
discarded hats, overcoats, trousers, and what have you?
-7
SCOTCH, 3UT 70T SCOTS
Residents of the East Williamsburg district in the TOO's
never accused the Rasmussen family of being remiss in the duty of
propogating the species; even though they twitted them for their
exa8gerated sense of frugality.
Rasmussen's had eleven children, delightfully arranged
in stature, like the ascendln3 rungs of a ladder. They were not
really poor people. Nor were they stingy; merely careful. It was
a zood old family custom to keep a lamp burning all night, so that
Mrs. Rasmussen could sleep with one eye open for quick attention,
when necessary, to the younger members of her numbrous progeny.
The cost of maintaining this beacon, she reasoned with her spouse,
bould be offset in part by saving the expense of matches. Lucifers,
therefore, were as scares in the Rasmussen menage as were dentures
in the family chicken...coop/I.
Each morning, with the aid of a scrap of paper, the proud
father kineled the kitchen fire from the flame of the lamp. It is
said that he kept the unburned portion of the same piece of paper
to re..light the wick in the evening. Sometimes, when in the practice
of thrift these people tried to save on the kerosene, and the lamp
was churlish enough to discontinue burning before the fire could be
lighted, they had to wait until the opening of the grocery store
across the road; not to buy matches, but to borrow them.
The family's craving for literary culture was satisfied
by the Newtown Register, consistently "borrowed" from the very
accommodating merchant who supplied sundry matches. This dealer's
appreciation of the Rasmussens' patronage may be imagined by
considerf,tion of the followin,3 tale:
6
One Saturday evening, a hearty relative of the large
family paid them an unexpected visit; announcing his intention
to remain over the weekend. The usual supply of bread always
purchased from a baker's wagon-clready had been bought; and it was
deemed advisable to send across the street to the grocer and get
an extra loaf, so that the hauseholdfs reputation for hospitality
might not suffer. For some strange and unaccountable reason the
sojourn of the guest did not involve additional bread consumption,
and on the Monday morning the loaf was promptly returned for credit.
The Debevoiso family, who owned a farm near what is now
Catalpa Avenue, might well have competed with the Ramaussens when
it (lame to applied economy. These people had migrated from Down
East, Of all human vices, gluttony was the one they held in most
detestations especially when that evil was discernible among the
hired help. Tradition has it that on more than one occasion these
advocates of temperate eating supplied a single egg to be divided
for breakfast between the woman cook and. the one male farm hand
who boardeciat the house.
REUOVING WARTS., IN THE MY NINETIES
First Method:
Lay a piece of thin, white cotton around the wart. Tie
in a knot. Remove the cotton within five minutes and place it under
..9.
a stone in the ,larden. tha ftbrie is rottInG under the stone,
the wart will :;radually dry up and disappear.
Second Method:
Purchase some Scotch peaa at a Jew's store. Hold one of
the peas against the wart, pronouncing the three highest names
(Father, Son, and Holy Ghost). Take the pea and drop it into a well,
which should be near the house. Run back into the dwelling with the
Greatest possible speed: success depends on reaching the shelter of
a roof before the pea sinks to the bottom of the well. If these
conditions arc faithfully carried out, the wart will be gone in
six weeks.
Third Method:
(Doubtless a very efficacious one. W. W.)
Procure a small vanity of the excrement of an unweaned
black calf, during the appearance of the new moon. Wrap this matter
in a piece of clean, snow-white linen* Apply the compress to the
offending protuberance fora few moments each night until the moon
wanes* The wart will soon disintegrate.
et-
A STRANGE BURIAL..CUSTOM
Half a century ago it was not unusual for bereaved parents
to decorate the graves of little children with dolls houses, ornaments,
toys, and other inanimate objects that had been dar to them in life*
This custom was apparent in a marked degree at the Lutheran Cemetery,
in the Ridgewood section of Brooklyn.
Visitors to this graveyard often paused in wonderment at
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smaller variety. It was not long before the presence of the
intruder was discovered, and his company made welcome by an ominous
growl. Pleading eyes and suggestive yapping° failed to arouse any
spirit of hospitality within the possessor of the bone; nor did he
display the least inclination to share the dinner that had been
thrust upon him. Seemingly disgusted' the small dog left the place
of the banquet.
He returned in a few minutes, accompanied by a powerful
looking bulldog who at once proceeded to commit mayhem on the
unsuspecting diner. With a howl of pain the latter dropped the
bone from his mouth, to see it snapped up in an.instant by the
little dog" who took his departure in triumph with the benefactor
whose assistance he had evoked.
4
Farmer &diner had a tough, heavy beard. His young daughter
had a gigantic collie dog; a present from her father' and her most
prized possesaion. One winter day the dog caught a chill' which
soon developed into a very bad cold. Medicines were administered'
but be failed to respond to treatment.
Mr. Zollner said, await till I shave" on Sunday and
bet you I cure him." The daughter waited' wondering what connection
her father's weekly shave could have with the dog's promised recovery.
On the Sabbath morning the razor went to work; and, as each contingeat
of hair was removed' the bristles were deposited in the shaving.oug
with the soapy water and lather. When this operation was concluded'
and the farmer had washed and dried his face' he told his daughter to
bring the mug and its contents and folic, him to the barn' where the
sick dog lay on a warm bed of straw. Without removing the heavy
blanket which covered his daughterts pot, Hr. Zollner forced open
the animal's mouth and held its jaws apart with a smooth stick
telling his little girl to pour the contents of the shaving.mug
down the dog's throat. The farmer was a strong man; but the collie
although sick, was a powerful animal; and it was with some difficulty
that he was made to swaIlrw the nasty dose.
The effect vas miraculous* Within five minutes the dog
bad retched up a stk-goring quantity of foul* poisonous matter.
Within a few days, be vas well on the way to health.
POUR EPITAPHS _
In loving memory of two sisters dears
One's buried in Ireland* the other lies here.
Doctor Schalp has wondrous skill;
Last week, Mr. Jones wan ill.
Was aDoctt skilfullt You decide1
lawes, today, went out to ride.
to telling lies averse*
Saw Jones riding in his hearsek
Here lies a lawyer, an excellent liar.
Although he lies cold* he's gone to Hell Fire.
He lied with expertness, whenever he tried*
Till weary of lying, he lay down and died.
Hare lies an editors
Snooks* if you. will.
In mercy* kind Providence,
Let him lie still/
He lied for a living,
He lived while he lied;
And lying no longer*
He lay down and died.