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FOitM
FOinns to be Filled out for Each Interview
Circumstances of Interviw
STATE New York
NAME OF WORKER WILLIAM WOOD
ADDRESS 7012 -67th. Place. Glendale, L.I.
DATE October 3, 1938
SUBJECT RECOLLECTIONS OF .RIDGEWOOD--Annie Nilsson
1. Date and time of interview
2. Place of interView
3. Name and address of informant
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
October 1, 1938
My residence
Mrs. Annie Nilsson
5943 Gates Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
4. Name and address of person, if any, wao put you in
touch with informant.
Mrs. M. Eilbacher
7012 67th. Place. Glendale, L.I.
5. Name and address of person, 1.? any, accompanying you
6. Description of room, hrUise, 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.)
FOLKLORE
FORM C
NEW YORK
Text of Iaterview (Unedited)
STATE NEW YORK
NAME OF WORKER WILLIAM WOOD
ADDRESS 7012 -67th Pl. Glendale, L. I.
DATE October 3, 1938
SUBJECT RECOLLECTIONS OF RIDGEWOOD
A DREAM THA#AME TRUE
Fifty-five years ago, Annie Soeldner, a child of ten, lived
with her parents in a house on Gates Avenue, near Prospect. The front
room was used as a grocery store. Among the customers was a Rolish
woman named Portavetch, whose husband worked as a waiter in a Brooklyn
hotel. A disputed store bill gave rise to unpleasant relations which
resulted in the withdrawal of the Polish family's patronage, and the
woman discontinued coming into the store.
One morning, about a year later, Annie was awakened by
her mother at the usual time, six o'clock. The moment she opened
her eyes she said: "Oh, Mother, I had such a strange dream. I
thought that Mrs. Portaveteh came and bought 3 1/2 lbs of sugar from
us." Ten minutes later the woman walked into the store and made just
that purchase.
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE OLD FARM
Father was the proprietor of a farm in Maspeth during
the early eighties. He was fond of making what the people of today
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call "wise cracks." When planting peas, he used to say:
"If they come, we won't see many;
If they stay away, we shall see them alll"
He was referring to the possibility of crows coming and
devouring his seed.
While I was yet a child, father became very ill, and the
doctor said he had malaria. He was ordered.to bed, and mother was
directed to give him a teaspoonful of medicine three times a day.
When the bottle was emptied, the same prescription was renewed.
Father was an impatient man, who thought he wasn't
getting well fast enough. He thought, too, that because the medicine
was colorless it must necessarily be wekk; so to hasten his cure
father took four teaspoonfuls at a time, instead of one. He did this
when Mother's back was turned, and the first thing we knew he got so
sick that we believed he would die before we could get the doctor.
Myl was Doctor Combs mad when he came? He had to stay about two
hours before he could get father in shape to leave him. Before going
away he siad: "If you ever play a trick like that one me again, you
can send for a horse doctor to come to your relief." Mother took
no chances after that; she took the bottle away with her each time
after giving father his regular dose.
A BIT OF WITCHCRAFT
When I was fifteen, I knew a very pretty girl who lived
with her parents on Freshpond Road, Ridgewood. An old woman who
used to sell pretzels in the vicinity was said to be possessed of
an "evil eye." Every time she stopped to peddle her wares at my
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friend's house it was her custom to praise the girl's beauty. One
day the girl became very ill, and seemed to be going out of her
mind. She grew worse as time went on, and frequently appeared to
be demented She would say: "Oh, Mother, it's got me againl
Mother, Mother, take it away from met Take it away1"
The pretzel woman had suddenly vanished from sight; she
no longer came into the neighborhood, and everyone sai4bshe had
bewitched the girl. Friends of the family were called upon, and some
recommended one cure and some another. Acting upon the suggestion
of a. neighbor, the worried mother took her daughter to a certain
woman whose prayers were said to be very effective in removing
witches' spells; but all to no avail. At last, a glpsy was con-
sulted; and she made the startling disclosure that a jealout
woman had paid the old hag who sold pretzels to "hex" the girl.
The gipsy assured the mother that if the girl would swallow raw
eggs without salt, one after another until she vomited, the evil
spirit would quickly take its departure. These directions were
carried out, and very soon afterwards my friend ceased to complain.
SNAIL SOUP
About forty-five years ago, I went to work as cook for a
family of three sisters; elderly ladies who lived in a neat brown-
stone house on Herkimer Street, near Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn.
They seemed to like my cooking very much, and were particularly
fond of my soups. The back door of the kitchen opened into a cool
storage -room, the floor of which was reached by descending two steps.
Here stood the ice -box, near a door through which we had to pass
to reach the garden at the back of the house.
One evening, after the dinner things had been cleared
away, I made a pot of chicken soup for the noon meal on the day
following, and set it down near the outer door of the shed to get
cold; leaving the door open so that the cool breeze could blow in.
I stayed up rather late that night, reading in the kitchen; and,
when I got tired, I went into the shed and put my pot of soup in
the ice -box. After locking all the doors I retired to bed.
Next day, when preparing lunch, I was horrified to'
discover two large garden snails in my nice pot of soup. Hurriedly
removing them, I decided to keep my awful secret to myself, and at
noon -time I served up the dish as though nothing had happened. While
I was busying myself in the kitehe*, one of the ladies called out,
"Annie, shall we save a plate of soup for you?" I answered back
that I did not care for any, and the same lady then said: "Oh,
Annie, I'm so glad. We are going to finish it. We all think this
is the most delicious soup you ever made),"
A MATTER OF PERSONAL OPINION
Shortly before my first marriage, I confided to the
pastor of my church that my intended husband was a man of another
faith. The clergyman seemed to be much distressed, and he said to
me: "One cannot carry water on both shoulders; our religion is
the best."
Had he suggested that ours was the true religion, I might
not have retoAd as I did; but when he said it was the pests, I replied
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allA person can buy seven different kinds of excellent face soap.
The manufacturer of each kind may claim it to be the best. But
each kind does not suit every complexion." My pastor offered no
further. criticism.
A STRANGE COINCIDENCE
Soon after .my first marriages I had an experience which,
although it may seem trivial to relate now, made a deep impression
at the time of its occurrence forty years ago. I was standing at
the door of my house one afternoon when I noticed two women approach-
ing from opposite directions. They passed each other almost in front
of my door. These women were identical, as far as I could observe,
in age, height, weight, complexion, color of hair, color of eyes,
and attire. I had never seen either of them before. I have not
seen either of them since. What they were entire strangers to
each other was evident from the fact that neither gave any sign
of recognition. Each was about thirty years of age and wore an
orchid dress. Each had on the same kind of shoes as the other;
the same kind of hat and the same colored stockings. Even the hair
was of the same shade, and done up in the same manner. Both had
blue eyes, and both walked with similar gait. Had another person
told me of such an experience I should have thought that person
suffering from hallucinations.
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A PREMONITION: A FORTUNE-TELLER; A DEATH.
When I was a little past thirty years of age I developed
.a feeling of unaccountable melancholy; try as I Might, I could not
resist it. A strange presentiment of impending evil seemed to pervade
my whole being. This unhappy state of mind manifested itself in an
awful despondency and hopelessness by day, and my rest at night was
disturbed by frightful dreams. One night I dreamt my father came to
me and said, "They think I am dead; but don't worry, it is not I."
The next night I dreamt of a wreath. Very strangely a neighbor of
mine told me the next day that she, too, had dreamt of funeral flowers.
Bewildered almost to distraction, I decided to go to a
fortune-teller. I carefully refrained from telling my husband of
my intention, for he was unalterably opposed to anything that
bbrdered upon superstition. Approaching the clairvoyant somewhat
timidly, I could not at first muster up sufficient courage to mention
the real object of my visit, but started the conversation on the
pretext that I wished tO hear about an absent relative -quite a
distant one -in whom I was not especially interested.
The fortune-teller soon disposed of my first question,
telling me not to worry about my relation, because, she said, he
would soon be back. The woman then said to me: "You are married
to a man who works with a hammer and chisel. He is not insured,
but you had better see to it that he gets insured for you are soon
to be a widow. You have already spent most of the life you were
alotted to be together. Unless you follow my adivce your two
children will suffer."
Now I had never seen this woman before; there was no
possibility that she could have known, by natural means, anything
of my personal affairs; yet everything she told me either was t rue
at the time or came to pass later. My husband was a carpenter, a
man of good physique and excellent constitution, who did not believe
in life insurance. He was earning only fourteen dollars a week,
and although this was fair wages at the time it was all consumed. in
our living expenses. We had two children, as the woman had said.
Once or twice before this, I had suggested to my husband that he
should take out an insurance policy, but I did not wish to be
insistent over his objections. Nine months after my visit to the
fortune-teller my husband died; and but for financial help from my
father, my two children and I would have been practically destitute.
We had been married only seven years. My husband was only thirty-three
at the time of his death.
Int BENEFICENCE OF SAINT ANTHONY
The several years of my first widowhood, all Attended
by a constant struggle with adversity, were terminated by my
marriage to a man with whom I afterwards spent many happy years.
W# enjoyed a measure of prosperity, and were well contented.
It has been my life-long custom to pray to Saint Anthony.
for guidance in worldly matters, and there are two outstanding
instances among the many that I could mention of my prayers having
been answered. One of these instances relates to a six -family
house that my husband and I owned. Real estate was bringing good
prices at the time, and we were undecided whether to sell our
property to a man who had made a recent offer, or to hold it for a
possibly higher bid. During our indecision I prayed constantly
to S. Anthony. One night I dreamt that I stood amidst an almost
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endless array of flagpdles; from the top of each of them a long
streamer was waving in the breeze, inscribed with the word: Sell!
In every direction I looked I could see the words: Sell! SR11.1
Sell! Sell: We did sell the house, and at considerable advantage.
Moreover, I am convinced that we could never again have received
as good an offer as the one we accepted.
Having moved into another dwelling, I was scrubbing the
stairs one day when I lost my much -prized diamond ring, a present
from my husband. Time after time we searched for it, high and low,
but could not find it. I was almost heart -broken, not so much
for its intrinAie value as for the sentiment connected with it as
a gift. I made a novena and gave a candle —to S. Anthony, and my
faith was rewarded. My husband found the ring on a table in a closet.
It seems as if no human hand could have placed it there.