Browse:BUSINESS AND CUSTOMERS (Volume 1, entries 2398–2735)
BUSINESS AND CUSTOMERS
Volume 1, entries 2398–2735. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 2398
I heard 'em say - whether it's so, I can't tell you - ah tells you what I heard. I heard 'em say dey take a blacksnake - go in de woods and ketch a blacksnake and skin him. Skin a blacksnake and take dat blacksnake and fix him - fix him with somepin. Let's see what dey say dey fix him wit. Dey fix him with vaseline and High John de Conquer root. Dat's it - dat what dey said. Dey make a paste and take dat belt - dat blacksnake belt and rub it [preparation] over dat blacksnake skin and put it round dere waist. Make a belt out of it and put it round dere waist. Don't care who dey wrastlin' wit. Dey say dey can't throw 'em.
Entry 2399
Well, you kin go out in de woods and kill you a rattlesnake. Well, you take dat rattlesnake and you skin 'em. Be sure dat dey didn't strike demself now - be sure that he's not strike himself to kill himself, because you jest ketch him you understand and tease a rattlesnake why he strike to kill him own- self. But now, you be sure dat you kill him. Well, you kill him and you skin him, see. Well, you cut him open and you git dat fat. You git de fat and you fry it up. You fry it up into grease and you can't use too much of it - [see No. 1435, p.469]. You take dat grease and you jest rub yo' limbs - rub yo' limbs down, you understand - rub your limbs, all yo' legs and stuff and your whole body, jest as near as possibly you can in a closed closet where nobody kin see you, see. Nobody will know what chew doin'. Well, you will be jest as limber as dat rattler. A person - Jesus Christ kin pin you down to de ground but He couldn't throw you.
Entry 2400
Dey git a buzzard an' kill him and stew him up, git de buzzard grease and grease yourself all over, on de laigs and you'll be limber. You'll be more powerful. Whenever - ev'ry way de man try to throw you, you kin jump off his locks, see, and you kin throw him 'cause yo' active. He can't throw you.
Entry 2401
He fall in love with this man's wife. Dey [the husband] couldn't get even in no other way - he was an old man, the man was a young man that taken his wife away. He dressed himself [prepared his body by conjuration]. When this man come, he'd rassle with him. He [the young man] never was no more 'count - he jis' come full of sores. [Princess Anne, Md., (128), 42:1.] [This subsection is concerned with methods for luck in business. Some of the hands in preceding subsection Hands could also be used for this purpose.]
Entry 2402
Ah've heard a lady say. She tole me tuh do it. Course ah never did experience it mahself, but she tells me like dis - to take on a Wednesday morning before twelve, never let twelve get dere befo' doing it, which ah said ah was gon'a try it mahself to see was she telling de truth. Yo' git chew a half a cup of sugah, allspice and put it into yore scrubwater.
(You get a half cup of sugar. And how much spice do you get?)
Yo' git about a tablespoonful of allspice. Yo' put it into the water that you scrub with. Yo' put chew a little piece of saltpeter with it and start at de front of your house and scrub before twelve to de back. They say that will draw any kind of luck into yore house yo' want.
Entry 2403
And if you don't do it thataway, you takes cinnamon and sugar and you sprinkle that cinnamon and sugar in the front of the door, but be sure to scrub - use nine buckets of water, one bottle of the ammonia. But when you scrub, don't scrub out your door - scrub in. You understand what I mean. Scrub it inside. Sweep your water in all the time. And after you do that, then you can sprinkle ycur cinnamon and sugar and that house'll get rented. Yes, sir.
Entry 2404
I've been around places where I've seen it done. They always dress the front of their house and the front of the house is kept - is supposed to be kept perfectly clean, scrubbed every day with lye and ammonia. And after scrubbing your house with lye and ammonia, you have a thing that you burn - a couple of the incense. And then after you burn that, that's in the house and your house is perfectly clean - you uses that in there - causes for the luck to keep the law away.
Entry 2405
An' then ah heard agin that if yo' want tuh keep - jes' lak say if ah wus runnin' a house, yo' know, an' sellin' whiskey or somethin' lak dat, to keep de polices off yuh, yo' go tuh de sto' an' buy yo' a box of asafetidy an' take it an' cut it in a small little quantity, an' put it on a piece of new homespun - sew it up in a piece of new homespun an' wear it round yore waist. Dey said absolutely dey can't come about chew.
Entry 2406
Dat's luck tuh eithah draw mens to yore home, yessuh, de banana peelin' - jis' de peelin' of de banana yo' know, a little piece ovah de do' an' folks walk up underneat' chew know...comin' in de front do'.
(That is supposed to bring men into your house?)
Bring money mens to yore home.
Entry 2407
Yo' take five cents worth of oranges, five cents worth of apples, five cents worth of grapes an' five cents worth of bananas. Yo' take yo' a bowl an' yo' cut all those up an' have yore fiah burnin' there, an' it's a-spotin luck, fast luck. An' it's re'lly lucky. Yo' git chew five cents worth of that brown sugah agin, five cents Worth of that white sugah an' put all that together an' put it on de back of yore fiah an' make yore wish from all parts of de worl' [successively face each of four directions and wish] - jes' wish fo' diff'rent things tuh come. Yo' don't know 'em but chew jes' wishin'. An' befo' de week's out every time yo' be's jes' lak that.
(That's for trade?)
Yeah, be success - trade.
(Why do you use white sugar and brown sugar?)
Well, yo' use de white mens, yo' see, an' yo' use the brown, fo' de brown.
Entry 2408
Why yo' git chew some sulphur an' some saltpeter an' some sugah. Well, yo' take a tablespoon an' a nutmeg an' some bluestone. Well, yo' take a rag an' yo' beat chure bluestone up an' beat up yore nutmeg and yo' takes a tablespoon fulla sulphur an' a tablespoon fulla sugah an' a tablespoon fulla saltpeter. Well, yo' take it an' put it in yore bathwatah an' some Heart's Perfruone put it in yore bathwatah, an' yo take a bath all ovah. Den yo' git up an' yo' mop all roun' de flo'. If yo' got a rug on, mop all roun' de woodwork an' all in yore do' an' wash yore do' down. Well, den yo' take some dat nutmeg an' bluestone an' sulphur an' some sugah - put it on yore shovel on a piece of papah. See, it burns hard. Light it undah de papah an' burn dat an' smoke yo'self in yore room. Do dat Mondays, Wednesdays an' Fridays.
(What do you do this for?)
Dat brings in trade an' makes yore luck good.
(That is if you are bootlegging or if you are a hustling woman?)
Dat's luck fo' yo' tuh do dat.
Entry 2409
If a woman is a hustlin'woman an' goin' tuh a new place, well, befo' she start to dis new place, when she know she goin' - quite natural, see - well she'll go tuh work an' she'll take a real new clean bath an' she'll take it some- thin' lak in de mawnin' befo' de sunrise. An' aftah she takes that watah - while in dat watah she says her prayers nine times, while she's takin' her bath. Take dat watah an' go to de cornah of de house - de east cornah of de room an' throw it east an' make a wish. Go 'head an' ketch de train an' go 'bout her business. Well, when she enter dis city - she go into dat city she takes her anothah bath. An' aftah she takes dat bath an' de 'gredients dat she have - bluestone, salt- peter, sugah an' alum. Well, dat gives her her luck right dere. She have washed away all de bad luck an' put on good.
Entry 2410
If yo' wanta take a trip somewhere, a long trip, an' yo' wanta go an' try tuh make money, 'fore yo' leave home, why yo' take yo' a bath an' comb yore hair, an' have yore room shet up an' burnin' incense, an' take yo' a bath in sugah an' white lead - dey call it white lead, it looks lak sugah, too. Den yo' take a bath in dat watah. When yo' git out yo' rub yo'self down in olive oil an' comb yore hair an' clean yore comb out. Den walk to de front do' an' open it an' jes' let de air go through yore house.
(You put this white lead and sugar in the water in which you take a bath?)
Yes, jes' about a half a teaspoonful - white lead an' sugah. It's kind of a medicine lak.
Entry 2411
If you wants to take a bath in water for success, you see, you put sea salt in there and oil of geranium - any kind of that you prefer for perfume you see - in that water. Sea salt. Wash yourself down and throw it at [towards] sunrise. Well, that'll keep you in good luck.
Entry 2412
Well, you kin take chamber lye, stale beer, or something like that, or they kin take your bathwater - just like, say, you set it up overnight. And then yo' po' all that together and mop your house with it. Then you kin burn a little luck powder or something like that in there.
(That is to bring in trade?)
That will bring in trade. (Do you mix all those things together? That bathwater and all those things together? And mop with it?) And mop with it.
Entry 2413
They take that Red Devil Lye, you would mop your house with it first, just where you have to walk through - through and forth, just wherever at anybody come through there. And every day, it's quite natch'l you go in and out your front door, you buries that where you walk over there. Then - now, if you's afraid that they goin' try do you somethin' anyway, you take the same household ammonia and you baths with it for nine days. Excusin' that, you take the 45th Psalm and the 54th [preceding number reversed] and you read that, and there ain't nuthin comin'.
(Don't need to be afraid of the law?)
No, sir. (Now, that Red Devil Lye - you mean you bury the rest of the can down there, after you have scrubbed the floor with it?) Bury the whole can down. Take the top off that can, understand, and there ain't nuthin in the world get over that.
Entry 2414
In gamblin' tuh give mahself luck ah have taken burnt sugah. Burn it perfectly brown an' kinda let it run down tuh candy, an' git me some bluestone an' mix that together, an' git me some saltpeter an' put that together, an' git me some alum an' put that together, an' make me whut chew may call a bath, a bath 'lution [solution], an' po' it into mah bathwatah an' take me a bath with it. Well, dat supposed tuh be lucky which it always has been tuh me when ah wus gamblin'.
Entry 2415
Wash yore face in sugah de first thing in de mawnin' with yore han' first [not with washcloth] an' go out an' meet de person an' den yo'll have good success. An' yo' know, take consecrated [concentrated] lye an' mop yore place 'fore de do' heah an' don't say nuthin to nobody while yo' takin' care of dat. Dat'll bring luck to de place an' yo' sell a lotta liquor.
Entry 2416
If yo' got some business, real important business dat yo' want tuh 'tend to an' yo' don't exactly understan' how tuh start at it, yo' git up at twelve or one a'clock at night an' wash yore face. Yo' cook an' make yo' strong coffee an' drink yo' a strong cup of coffee an' make yore wishes whut chew want tuh do de nex' mornin'.
Entry 2417
Yo' [know] whut dis insin [incense] is.
(Incense.)
Uh-hah - yassuh. An' yo' git some dragon's blood and take dose and yo' git chew some washing powder - mop de flo' good, yo' understand. Den burn yo' insin wit some brown sugah and a little sulphur, and dat'll bring yo' all de customer yo' want. Yo' know that was done heah, 'cus ah kin tell yo' about it. About fifty yeahs ago [1888] ah used to work uptown amongst de sporting people, yo' understand, and ah had to use these things fo' ketching trade, and ah had to do thet every mawnin'. Then yo' take a little beer, stale beer, and put it in de Water when yo' would go to wash but chew have to use dat dragon's blood and some washing powder - no soap or no lye - jes' dat washing powder. And yo' put dat and den yo' burn yore insin, sulphur and sugar, and that brings in de customers. An' po' yo' beer in dere - yo' see dat brings on de drinks, but it has to be stale beer - like dey leave some in de bottle or some in de barrel all night.
(Were the women in this house white or colored?)
White. (What do the girls consider bad and good luck in their business? Do they have any differences about things are bad and good luck?) Oh yes, dey use - take German Cologne and take spice, cloves and cinnamon and put that together, yo' understand and when yo' go to bath, put that in yo' water, yo'understand. That brings good luck to the body.
(And the girls did this that were in that house years ago?)
Yes.
(It sort of brings them trade, too, I suppose?)
Why suah. Those crabs - like offa people.
(Those lice off people. What do they do with those?)
Yeah, they put 'em on deyselves and that brings luck - dat's lucky.
(You mean the girls in the house would do that?)
Yessuh.
(Put lice on them for luck?)
Down dere, yo' know.
(Down below.)
Yes, sir.
(Oh, they put them down there? Do they leave them on or what?)
No. Yo' know dey jest put 'em on dere like tonight dey goin' tuh use trade yo' know, an' dey are lucky and they put 'em on dere. Dey buy 'em from other people - paid ten cents a piece fo' 'em. An' dey buy 'em and den dey'll use dem tonight to make good money.
(Well, how would they get them out again?)
Well, soon as dey'd wash wit little snuff or tubacca - somepin other like dat, why dey are gone.
(Well, they will bite while they are there won't they?)
Well, yes, but dey don't ca' 'bout dat. Dey want de money. [See margin-title Lice later.]
(Have you heard about eating peanuts in a sporting house?)
Yessuh, but you mustn't let nary a hull fall nor none of de inside of de pea- nuts fall - yo' keep it all and burn it, it's bad luck.
(It's bad luck to let the peanut fall?)
Yes. [See margin-title Peanut later.]
Entry 2418
I'm tellin' you now how to bring 'em - you see, if you are bootleggin' and you want to bring a crowd to your house. You take the nine pods of red peppers, you'll take you three ounces of sugar.
(Three what?)
Three ounces.
(Three ounces of sugar.)
Of sugar and you put that in the water. And you get you some nutmeg already ground up - you put that in your water. And then you take and get ammonia - you put that in your water. And then you'll take and scrub. And you'll get you some fast luck and put it in there and you take the broom and sweep all in the corners of the house then. Never sweep it, de dirt out de front - always let everything go to the back. And when you use that essence - that water you scrub with - you always carry it all to the back. And that draws a crowd in your house. Then, as soon as you are done, you take the beer or a little wine, anything what you got, and you put some of that in the water and scrub. But let your scrubbing always go to the back.
Entry 2419
If you tryin' to make a trade with anybody - jest like if you wanta buy a automobile from me or enybody, see, or buy a home somewheres, don't make no diff'rence what it is, you go to de people and try to buy, and dey tell yuh, "No, ah don't wanta sell yuh - I don't wanta atall." All right, you go off and dey think dey ain't goin' to sell it tuh yuh. Yo' read de 56th Psalm before sunup wit chure face to the east - read dat 56th Psalm over three times. Read it befo' you go to bed and den git up dat mawnin' and read it three times before sunup, before you speak to enybody, and jest go on to dat man house and if he don't make de trade, ah'll eat chure hat. [Here is one of many references to my old black hat containing concealed microphone on the table - see Author's black hat, in Index.] Ah's did that mahself.
Entry 2420
Yo' git yo' some sugah an' sulphur an' git chew a bottle of Heart Perfume. Po' it on there, don't chew know, down on de sugah an' stuff an' about six a'clock burn dat. An' then yo' git de Bible an' yo' read de 47 Psalm an then to make them come - yo' gotta say, "May mah crowd gather together thick. May mah crowd gather together thick. In de Name of de Father, in de Name of de Son, in the Name of de Holy Spirit." An' they begin to gather thick an' yo'll have so many folks yo' won't know whut to do. After yo' read de 47th Psalm yo' say, "May mah crowd gather together thick tonight, all gather together thick tonight, thick as hops, '' an' say, "In de Name of de Father, in de Name of de Son an' Name of de Holy Spirit." An' yo' won't have no trouble. That brings in trade - I mean they come in.
Entry 2421
You get the Black Cat Drawing Oil. Yes, sir. And you can start at the - you have to start at the back and come to the front, scrubbing with this oil.
(What will that do?)
It will draw customers. [See, Black Cat Oil, No. 1121, p.417.]
Entry 2422
(What do you do about the landlord, now?)
You wake up on a Friday morning, don't let a black woman cross your floor - cross your door-sill, the sill or your door. You get up in the morning and you get your scrubbing brush and you get you a bucket of water, don't put no soap in it at all. Put you a little blueing in it and about two tablespoonsful of sugar - white granulated sugar, something like rock Sugar you know. And put it in that water and you scrub your house, and your landlord going to come there - he can come there for six months. Well, you tell him, say, "I ain't got nothing." He say, "Well, all right, when you got some- thing, give me something." He's gone - he ain't going to put you out, you can stay right there in that house. But the nextdoor neighbor can't make you move.
Entry 2423
I had a woman one time give me bluestone to put in the watah to wash up mah house. That make luck in the house, that help you build up trade in the house. I was sellin' liquor. [Bluestone is usually used in a combination of ingredients.]
Entry 2424
She kin take straws an' nail 'em cross her do', an' if anyone comes in dere to - if dey has whiskey in dere, take three straws an' nail 'em crossways an' if dey walks in, dere mo' goin' walk in with him. (You say you take three straws - from a broom?) Broomstraws - not straw broom, but stick broom straws. [Not straw or grass bent into a homemade swiss (swish) broom, a handleless broom, see Index.]
(What kind of a broom is that?)
A stick broom wit de handle to it.
(And you put three straws - each in a row - three in a row.)
Three in a row. (And if one person comes in, the rest are going to follow.)
Entry 2425
If ah wus bootleggin' or runnin' a good-time place an' wanted tuh keep de law away, ah would take me some honey an' sugah an' wash mah house out wit it, an' ah would cross a broom in mah house, an' de law cain't come in.
(What do you mean by crossing the broom?)
Ah put it crossways of de bed, crossways undah de bed lak. (You mean, this is the bed like this - you don't put the broom like that, you put it like that?) Yo' put it lak that - dat's crossways of de bed.
(Sort of catercorner under the bed?)
Yes.
Entry 2426
Law bothering you, keep sugar and cinnamon around your house - just take and sprinkle it all around. Mix sugar, cinnamon and water and just get up and pour it right on out, the sugar and the cinnamon.
(What will that do?)
And pour it on out - dash it on out.
(That'll keep the law away?)
It keep them from coming to your place to bother you in any way. If they bother you too much, you get you a old broom and you take and you cut the straws all loose - them strings, you know that hold the broom together. Well, you take and you cut them loose. And get you a box of salt and sprinkle that whole box of salt down in there and wrap a white rag around it and set it behind the door. The law won't bother you at all.
(How do you set that broom down?)
Set the handle down and the straw part up.
Entry 2427
If yo' wanta be a bootleggah an' sell whiskey, don't evah sweep de tracks out do's; always take de tracks an' sweep dem in de corner of de house an' put cookin' salt in em an' put em in de stove. An' if yo' wanta keep de police from your house, keep from runnin' back an' forth out chure house, go an' git chew a new coffeepot an' git chew some loose salt, table salt, an' yo' full up dat coffeepot, two of 'em, an' put 'em to de back do' an' de front do', "In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost," an' dat will keep de man from yore house.
(That will keep the officer away?)
Yes sir.
informant-recited invocation accompanying salt-filled pot placement. Preserve the exact Father/Son/Holy Ghost formula without appending words, theological identity or Prayer/Incantation equivalence. stated aim of keeping police away, with interviewer-confirmed officer referent. No housing eviction claim These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2428
In case if you gotta persons coming tuh yore house and you want 'em there who've lotsa money, friends who have lotsa money, when dey walk out yo' take a brand new broom and sweep de dust back up under de house, and they will always come back and bring money to yore house.
Entry 2429
Jes' lak yo' got de business an' - well, an' yo' got good trade all de time. Nevah sweep yore dirt on de outside - always sweep it in an' sweep it in de fire-hearth. An' like yo' wanted yore business to keep acomin' on too, yo' take an' go every Friday - git chew a ole shoe, git some sulphur an' a penny, an' yo' put it in de fire-hearth an' let it burn an' shet de do' an' go on outside. At twelve 'clock yo' do it.
Entry 2430
That [powder] you kin buy. Sweep from out de front door - always sweep it back in de door, sweep it up in pile, pick it up and carry it and put it out de back door. See. Well, dat's the dirt from the people's feet - you put that out the back, that's for them to come in and go in the back. You see. Well, ever' time they come in there - that draw 'em in, you see, with that powder.
Entry 2431
Walk backwards ovah yore broom evah Monday mawnin' fo' times an' dat'll keep all de law from yore house. Ah nevah be bothered wit de law. Lay it, yo know, right in yore do'.
(The front door or the back?)
Eithah one yore do's. Step backwards ovah it fo' times evah Monday mawnin' an' it keeps down all de laws.
(What time do you do that Monday morning?)
About nine a'clock jis' 'fore yo' git up - so yo' do it in de mawnin'.
Entry 2432
[If you have] urwelcome people in the house you don't want dere, you take de broom an' you turn it head up [straw up] behin' the door an' dey get right up an' leave.
Entry 2433
If anyone come aroun', yo' see, lak a pestilence - yo' know, someone yo' wanta keep away - yo' git de broom an' turn it an' spit on it an' say, "Ah want chew tuh go."
(How do you turn this broom?)
Well, yo' see, turn de straws up in de corner [demonstrates].
(You turn the straws up and you spit on it.)
Yeah. An' then when a person goes, throw peppah behin' dem or salt, an' curse 'em. Dey'll nevah come back.
Entry 2434
Ah'm running a business, understand. Ah would write the name of five diff'rent persons or nine diff'rent persons [uneven number], an' put it in a kerosene lamp an' light de lamp an' let it burn for nine days - straight 'long all day long. An' ah would never sweep de sto' or de business place out in front - ah would jest sweep it in de back an' let it remain there fo' those nine days in trash an' stuff. Never sweep it out. Ah run business heah - began in '26 an' that's whut ah did an' had de sto' fulla customers.
Entry 2435
Jes' lak if yo' runnin' a business an' a congregation of people come in an' yo' want 'em tuh come back again - if dey leave - after dey leave, yo' sweep dey tracks, yo' know de dust off dere feet in through a crack or somepin lak dat.
(In the floor?)
Yes.
Entry 2436
When he leaves, when he starts out goin' on out, yo' git a broom an' sweep his tracks jis' as fast as yo' kin right on out on de ground, an' he'll stay away.
Entry 2437
An' den dere's another way - jest lak if yo' wus living heah an' ah wus a enemy to yo'. Yo' felt dat ah wus a enemy tuh yo', dat ah put bad luck on yo' or somethin', or if yo' owed bills or somethin' of de kinds. It's a simple thing dat chew have, dat everybody keeps in dey own home yo' kin use. Yo' take sulphur, salt, spice an' red peppah, yo' powder dat up together an yo' keep dat. Jest lak if ah wus heah today. Well, yo' expectin' me tuh be back an' yo' knew ah wus a enemy. Well, somebody who knowed how to do to keep me 'way from heah, understand, dey done put chew wise. Well yo' git dat an' have it ready, so when ah leave, yo' see, as ah walk out yo' sprinkle dat stuff right out behin'me. Den goes back an' git chure broom an' sweep it out backwards. Don't nevah turn yore face - sweep it out backwards on out to de street. Dat keep 'em 'way.
Entry 2438
Yo' git 123 [or] 133 Psalms. Ah think it's de 133. An' yo' read dat 13 times when yo' first git up de mawnin', aftah yo' say de Lord's Prayer or yore mornin's prayer. An' yo' read dat. An' den yo' take an' go tuh do' tuh sweep out, three times, 'In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, let me rule dis day.
(That keeps the law away.)
[Numerology, astrology and other unscientific ideas having influenced hoodoo, I would say this is surely Psalm 133, an odd number composed of numerals 1 - 3 - 13 - 33 - 133; and backwards 31 - 331; and by addition 1+3+3=7; and by addition and subtraction 3+3-1=5; and by addition and division 1+3+13+33+133=183:3=61; and by multiplication lx3x3=9, also 13x3=39; and ad infinitum.]
Entry 2439
If dey wanted tuh take roomers an' all lak that an' business wus kinda dull, an' take an' git whut is known - dere's a powder dey call it Good luck Powder. Take it an' use that powder - take an' use that with some of the dust that is swept outa de house. Says dey go an' git that dust that's swept outa de house - lak dey go to de end of the walk when dey sweep back, dey git that an' when they git it there, dey take [and] work it together an' sprinkle it about de house. An' they burn incense with that. An' that would draw his customers.
Entry 2440
Ah'll git me some powder, luck powder - dat brown luck powder, call fo' brown luck powder, an' ah'll fix mah do', mah do'sill. Den ever'thing will be all right, ever'thing will turn in yore way. (You mean the customers will come in?) Yeah. [Brown luck powder is like the use of brown sugar and brown paper; see latter two in Index.]"
Entry 2441
('Get me some oil of clover." And then what?)
Then I would get me some business powder. And if I know the law's name - he is the only one that would understand my business, see - I would take me a piece of paper, understand that, and I would write his name down nine times, see and I would fold it, you know. And after I fold it and I would take it and I would take me a lamp: If I had electric light in my place, I would get me a little lamp at the Ten-Cent Store and I would put it in that lamp - put his name in that lamp and I would burn it. That would keep him away from me. That business powder, I would put all that together and fold it up, you know, and take me some little piece of flannel and stick that in my lamp in a secret corner, see, and burn my lamp on it.
(Well, now, would you put this little package inside the lamp?)
In where you put the coal oil in the lamp and drop it down there, but I have it sewed up, understand so it could not get out.
(The name, this oil of clover and this business powder [three ingredients]
I see.)
Entry 2442
Well, dey do dat wit herbs. Dere's a little herb dey call buttonroot, grows jest about dat hight.
(Two inches high?)
Yeah, an' yo' take de buttonroot and yo' plant it in a tub. Yo' place it on whatever you got in front in de yard. If yo' got a buttress yo' place de button- root ovah there. Gits yo' a red rose and yo' place it over heah - you know, jis' ozit [opposite] with that buttonroot. And then early in de morning yo' takes some salt and throw out between these two individual things, dis rose and dis root ovah heah, and then after you have done that yo' go back into the house and anything made of silver, that chew burn, an' that officer won't come.
(If you are bootlegging or anything of that sort?)
Yeah.
Entry 2443
Now buzzard feathers is de luckiest kind of feathers - dat's something dat's very prosperous to a person tuh do, jest to burn de buzzard feathers. Git a buzzard, or either he kin burn de whole buzzard if he could, fo' luck. (Where would he burn that?) He kin burn it - if it's in a business place, he could jest burn it late at night in some kind of a pan or somethin', jest de feathers. If he had a place where he could burn de whole buzzard - if it be in a heater or somethin' he could burn it dere. But it don't make any diff'rent, jes' since he burn it around his dwelling place or business - place of business.
Entry 2444
Go out in de woods some place out of town where yo' kin kill you a buzzard, an' git de buzzard feathers an' bring 'em back an' burn 'em. An' take dem buzzard feathers an' sulphur, saltpeter, alum an' cologne, jest any kind of cologne, common perfume yo' know, an' burn dat in yore fireplace jest lak dat wood done burning dere. [Informant refers to fire in fireplace - for cold damp weather at Waycross, See in Introduction my comments to Telediphone at the time of collecting.] An' yo' take dat, after it's burned - dem feathers in de ashes an' yo' jest throw it all round yore house, front an' back, an' yo' git jest as many customers as yo' wanta git or more.
Entry 2445
[Two informants now tell a similar story about the same person. I have a number of these stories told by two different persons - Nos. 73-74, pp.30-31, and Nos. 1259-1269, p.440.]
[First version of Lizzie Smith story:]
Ole lady Lizzie Smith she run a roomin' house an' she tole me tuh git her a dead buzzard, she'd give me 5Oc fo' it. Ah says, "Whut chew gon'a do wit de buzzard?" Ah says, "Ah gotta git some- body tuh kill 'im or somepin." [She] says, "Well, yo'" look up one." Ah went fishing dat same day - next day [day after] she tole me. Next day ah found one on de trustle [railroad trestle] down heah about a mile and a half from heah - a dead buzzard, yeah, under de trustle, not on it, yeah. Ah reckon he musta struck hisself wit de [telegraph] wire. Ah fetched de ole buzzard to her an' she says, "Now, Cal," she says, "yo' talk about a place bein' full," she says, "ah'm gon'a full up mah rooms." Ah says, "In whut way?" [She] says, "Ah'm gon'a burn these buzzard feathers in kerosene," says, "ah'm gon'a pull 'em, ever one offa de buzzard an' set kerosene on 'em at night, '' an' says, "ah'll git plenty roomers." An' ah see - she didn't stay so fah from me - ah see she shore did full up her house wit dem buzzard feathers - de long feathers. She didn't want de little ole feathers - dat's de long ones offa de buzzard's wing. [Waycross, Ga., (1120), 1798:1.]
[SeQond version of Lizzie Smith story.]
A lady now about ten years [ago] she was running a bo'din' house.
(A woman living in your town?)
A lady, Lizzie Smith, an' she didn't 'low none of us - ah'd roomed theah wit her - she didn't 'low nobody to sweep her house an' sweep de trash out do's. An' ever' Monday night two 'clock - from one tuh two a'clock, she was burnin' dem buzzard feathers. She'd give a dollar an' a half fo' a buzzard jest to git his feathers, an' she'd burn dem buzzard feathers an' brimstone an' chip up de little splinters an' tar an' put in there together an' burn it all 'round under her house - all 'round her place an' ever'where like that. An' she kept a-plenty roomers. No polices, nobody, never did come there an' bother her. [Waycross, Ga., (1066), 1724:10.]
Entry 2446
Use de oil of cedah an' use it an' put it about chure body an' on yore do'knob where de people come back an' fo'th in, an' if that roomah doesn't come back, if he leaves there, anothah one will come back an' yo'll have mo' success with that one den yo' will wit de othah one.
Entry 2448
If you are bootlegging and want to keep the law away from you, they say they got some - wait, let me see the name of this stuff. If they don't want them to come around, they got some - well, you take witch hazel, red pepper and salt. When they be passing in front of your door, you know, then you throw that out behind them. And after they been visiting your house, trying to break you up from doing it, and you don't want them there, say you take a chair like this [demonstrates], and you turn the chair bottom up, you know, crossways of the door, and put a broom 'cross that chair. They'll never come to your home no more.
(Just turn the chair upside down and.)
And put a broom 'cross it.
(Just an ordinary broom across it?)
Yes sir, and throw you some red pepper and salt behind them and make a wish - just say, "I wish they keep agoing and don't never come back no more." And when you throw it you mustn't look at them an' they won't never worry you no more.
Entry 2449
You kin take a - co'se it have to be a new chair and a new nail, and nail dat nail up de side of de wall and take dat chair and turn it nine times from you and hang it.
[This is the original statement. By questioning I learn something more.]
(How do you take the chair? Do you lift it up or what?)
[Do you lift it up and hang it on the nail, I meant; but to avoid a leading question I had to be indefinite.] No, sir, take an' turn it around like dis [demonstrates]. (Oh, you whirl it around nine times on one leg, but you say you whirl it away from you. And then you hang this chair up on the nail on the wall. And what does that do then?) They won't nevah come back - anybody you don't want tuh yore house won't nevah be back there no more.
(Well, how do you know that it might not keep other people away?)
No, see, it won't keep nobody away but them because you be done calls his name.
(When do you call the name?)
You calls de name when yo' turning that chair roun' nine times.
(Do you call his name once?)
Nine. times.
Entry 2450
Said yo' could take a aig from a black hen an' jes' peck a hole in it an' run de stuff out of de aig, an' dry de shell or either pound it - cook it an' pound it up an' wear hit in yore pocket, in yore left pocket. Said dat would give yo' luck in business.
Entry 2451
What you kin do to keep it there. You kin take a black hen eggshell - black hen, no other hen now, this a black hen. You take the shell, that white shell, and you put it in your oven of de stove and you'll toast it brown, and you put it under your steps. No one knows that but you. They will circle around but it's very seldom they kin come in. See, if they do, they can't find nothing - you'll be lucky. You'll get through it all right just as long as you keep dem eggshells under de front of your steps, or if you have no steps, just put it under dat doorsill. But it have to be a jet black hen with no white feathers at all.
(That's if the officers are trying to get something on you?)
Yes.
(What was that?)
[My question shows I had turned off machine and now want informant to repeat the lost words. This situation will be found many times in the text.] I said, if you was in bad luck and couldn't pay de collectors - you haven't got no money for to pay de collectors, but you say, "Well, I'll pay the Weekly man some way. Wait till I get some money." Well, you put 'em on back, he wasn't worrying you.
(You use these same eggshells for that?)
Yes. And didn't have no front, you keep 'em in your oven.
(Keep them right in the oven?)
Yeah, keep 'em right in your oven.
(If you are living upstairs?)
Yeah - keep 'em right in your oven.
Entry 2452
Yo' kin go git a frizzled hen aig [see margin-title Doctor Frizzly, p.59f.], git chew a penny, take it in yore han' an' hol' it tight till yo' git to a crossroad an' throw it ovah yore shoulder an' don't look back. Jes' don't come back dat way - go on roun' an' yo' come back. Den yo' have luck. (With a frizzled hen egg - that's to retain your luck. That is if you want to bring in customers to buy from you. For bootlegging or anything like that.)
Entry 2453
If yo' want good luck in yore house, if yo' runnin' a beer house or Zikker house or gamblin' house or poker game house or lak dat, an' yo' want de boys tuh come an' de law stay behin', wanta bring 'em in dere tuh leave dere money in dat house, you takes three hen aigs an' throw 'em up on top an' hit de roof of de house, smash 'em an' let 'em bust up dere. Yo' take two of 'em an' let 'em bust top de house. Den yo' take de othah one an' lak dat one is dey do' an' yo' carry dat one in yo' han's dere an' stan' off heah fo' or five steps, an' break dat one on top de do' - jes' bamm, right up dere ovah de center of yo' do', cast dat aig lak a ball an' let it bust de aig.
(Over the door?)
Right ovah de do', de front do'. See, bust de aig an' see dat aig will run down, an' when she run down don't have nobody wipe it up - don't wipe it up or nuthin, let it stay dere. An' den dat gives yo' all de power an' luck to yore house an' dat room dat chew want. Yeah, dey come in dere. Yo's de boss of de house an' has ever'thing - hit goes yore way ever' bit of it. An' now, when yo' do dat ever' time - but chew gotta keep it up - yo' mus' do dat on ever' change of de moon. But chew gotta git fresh hen aigs - don't git de cold storage aigs, git fresh aigs dat de hen jes' laid lak today. Git dem fresh aigs, yo' know dere fresh, use dem aigs lak dat.
Entry 2454
Yo' kin take chicken feathers an' then yo' kin draw a crowd with that, too. De way yo' do that, yo' take those chicken feathers an' put 'em in some kinda instrument [utensil or vessel] an' yo' put 'em out in de'open air. Den yo' git chew a quantity of brimstone an' den yo' burn it an' hit'll bring yo' success an' also hit'll he'p yore business place.
Entry 2455
Yo' take chicken feathers - yes, yo' take chicken feathers an' yo' put sulphur an' salt on dis chicken feathers an' yo' use perfume - Hearts Perfume, yo' use dat. Dat's all de 'riginal stuff dey use, an' yo' set dat afire. Yo' see yo' burn dat into yore home in de middle of de flo'. Sometimes it's good to burn it in yore bedroom. Yo' burn it mostly in de room - if a person is in busi- ness or somethin', yo' burn it in de room where yo' handle yore most customers. That will bring yo' in peoples too, chicken feathers - yo' kin burn chicken feathers.
Entry 2456
You runnin' a house or whiskey or anything, to keep the law away I hear'd people say you could nail on top the door a chicken bone up with some tacks under the doorsill. They say that keep law from you an' you won't have to go to court or nuthin. (What sort of chicken bone?) It's a little bone right on the backbone-like - join on together - whut people call a luck bone. An' some people said if two people be right together an' break it, the one who had the longest bone has good luck.
[While my machine is turned off, he says something about tacks.]
I hear'd that you had to nail thirteen tacks.
Entry 2457
Yo' git chew some cinnamon barks an' yo' git some sugah an' yo' puts it in a pot, a big large pot of watah an' put dat on an' leave it boil, an' yo' take dat cinnamon bark an' dat sugah. Take an' strain de barks out de watah an' put it in a jug or bottle, either one yo' got, an' every time yo' git ready tuh scrub, yo' takes some clear watah an' yo' put dat in dere. Now, yo' scrub yore sidewalk, yo' scrub from de street back to yore do', an' yo' place of business yo' scrub from de do' where de people come in back to de back [door] wit clear watah.
(That'll bring in customers?)
YASSUH [emphatically], dat'll bring yo' in customers.
Entry 2458
You git you some oil of clover [I mean] oil of cinnamon, and when you mop up your house you put that in the water.
(Both of them or just one of them?) [To check the correction.]
One of them.
(What's that?)
Oil of cinnamon.
(All right.)
And you put that in your water when you mop up your house, but chew always, always be sure to have the floor already cleaned before you put dat down. You take lye and scrub everything clean, clean first. And after that dry then you get your oil of cinnamon and water and mop all over your house, and that will draw you luck.
(That will bring in trade?)
That will bring in trade.
Entry 2459
Well, you got to get you some - if you want to scrub out door, you mean? Something to put at the door? Oil of cinnamon. You get you some [some- thing - this is mentioned later], pour in a clear bucket of water. You take that bucket of water and set it up there and do like this over it and say the Lord's Prayer [demonstrates].
(You put your right hand up to your brow.)
Yeah, right over the bucket.
(And look down into the bucket.)
That's right.
(And then say the Lord's Prayer.)
Yeah. Then you say - when you finish you say, "In the Name of the Father" - look at me [this addressed to me].
(Yes.)
"Of the Son and of the Holy Ghost."
(Make the sign of the cross.)
Yes. "Amen, for luck and success." (Yes. Now, wait a minute. You have water in that bucket. What else do you use in that bucket?) Nothing but the water and the oil of cinnamon.
(Oh, all right.)
Pour it in there. Then you pray over it. And you say - the last you say, "In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, for luck and success."
(While you make the sign of the cross.)
Yes. You right at your door like that, you go outside where the people coming in at and you bring it in with the broom - just have somebody washing in with the broom come in with it. Then mop all around neat with it. but alwavs bring it in the door - you bringing the luck in your door.
(I see.)
Anything you handle, whilst handling it, rub your hand in that oil of cinnamon when you go to send it off to the people. What you do for de people [customers], rub it [oil of cinnamon] on your hand, it coming back to you [in luck and money].
Entry 2460
If you have a business place - this is your business place an' you wan'a - now, you git up in the mornin', you throw three buckets water to the sun- rise, In the Name of the Father, the Son an' the Holy Ghost. You git choo some cinnamon an' sugah an' scrub your place. Don't scrub it out, scrub your trade in; you don't want chore trade to go out, choo want it to come in. An' you have all kinds of trade.
Entry 2461
I would get me some cinnamon and I would get me some lump sugar and get me a spice. I would go and mix it all up together - see, grind the spice up. Take that and make a tea out of it, understand. Then I would take that tea and I would sprinkle my house, and then I would take me some water, see and I would take nine buckets of water and I would scrub my house. But I would take the Water and not throw it out the door but in the door toward my house. Then I would scrub that and I would take after I scrub my house, I would take and Sprinkle me some sugar, see, brown sugar made out of pure syrup, and sprinkle it at the bed. Well that for luck. That will bring you somebody - a tenant to rent your house.
Entry 2462
Have John de Conker root and you chew it. They got stuff to throw by the name of oil of clover.
(Oil of clover?) Yeah, oil of clover - it's a green-looking oil. (And how would they throw that?)
Well, they throws that around the place.
(This place of business.)
For luck, yes.
(Just for luck. And that'll keep the law away?)
Yes, for luck and for protection against the law.
(I see. And you have to chew that John de Conker root the same time?)
Yeah, they chews it all the time. That root, many people think it tobacco
[you are chewing] lots of times. [New Orleans, La.,9782), 1084:1.]
Entry 2463
Ah heard 'em say dat tuh keep de law away, yo' git chew some John de Conker root an' yo' git chew a piece of lodestone, an' git chew a bottle of oil of clover an' wet that lodestone in it, an' dis heah snakeroot. Yo' git hit an' John de Conker, dat's two roots. Dat John de Conker, yo' chews hit, an' den yo' git a piece an' put it in some whiskey with this little piece of lodestone. An' when yo' mops yore place out in de mawnin', yo' mops with a little of dat in de watah, an' dat will keep 'em all away an' dey won't bother yo'. If dey come in dey won't bother yo' an' won't 'rest yo'.
(You chew the John de Conker root?)
Yes, when dey come in - when dey go out, spit behin' dem.
(Do you put any root in this water that you use?)
Yessuh - what yo' use, dat John de Conker, same root in de watah.
Entry 2464
You go to the drug store and you get some cinnamon and some oil of clover, and you get some of this yere steel dust and lodestone and you mix that together, and take some parsley and boil it down, and you mix that [all these] together and then you put that down and you sprinkle it all over your house - in the four corners of your house, you see. Sweep in inwards, don't sweep it out; sweep it inwards and then someone will rent the house.
Entry 2465
Well, yo' take cloves, de spice, an' salt an' burn it altogether up into a powder, understand, an' sprinkle it in de corner of de store where dey go, to de fo' corners of de store, fo' nine mornings. (Well, you said that you took a shoe, didn't you?) No, de shoe yo' know goes wit dat powder whut chew burn, yo' see about runnin' de people 'way from yo'.
(This last thing is to bring in customers.)
Entry 2466
Git a codfish an' boil it. Git chew codfish an' sugah - codfish, cinnamon, sugah, bluein' an' van-van. Well, yo' boil yore codfish first an' yo' take yore watah an' yo' scrub wit chure watah. Yo' put all yore fixin's in dere an' scrub wit chure watah an' yo' take yore codfish an' put it up in a bag or somethin' an' hang it up in de place where nobody won't notice it so much - but back. Yo' know dis is de front do' an' hang
[it near] an' dat'll draw customers - any kinda business.
Entry 2467
Take codfish - you know codfish, and boil it and strain the water off, see. And you can put sugar and van-van and oil of geranium and fast luck - put those three in there and some sugar and you can use oil of cinnamon. And put that in a bottle and shake it up and just sprinkle it after you get it scrubbed out good with ammonia water. Just sprinkle it from the front to the back. That'll draw a crowd to spend money - and all with you.
(If you are a bootlegger.)
Entry 2468
Where people go in, you know, to see each other - bootlegging or some- thing like that. That what chew talking about? (That's right.) Business like that. Well, now this is something that is sold mostly in the South. Did you ever hear of Darby's fluid?
(What does it look like?)
It's blue - looks like garment blueing: It's something that is almost the same as, you might say, Zonite or - what is this other stuff we use, it's kind of like a disinfectant. You get this fluid - it looks like blueing but it's a fluid. Well, you mix a tablespoonful to a gallon of water. After you have mopped your floors, dey usually take about a quart of urine. Say now, if you dressed your house on a Monday and Fridays, you put a quart of this urine into this water. See. And you drop nine drops of oil of cinnamon in this water and when you dress your house you start at the door and never sweep out the door, because of the sill of the door coming in you see. Just get a mop just for that purpose and don't use it for anything else. Put a half cup of sugar in dis and get it well dissolved in this same water and you just mop your house from de front clean on back to the back. And when you have done that and it is well dried, you wanta be careful don't let anyone to come in your house before that time and you wanta do that before six clock in morning. At six 'clock you get de contents of a five-cent box of sulphur. Mix a teacup of sugar in dis sulphur and measure it out in exactly how many rooms you have. Say now, you might have five rooms or you might have seven. You divide this as near equal as possible with this sugar an' sulphur. You put it on a little tin pan. You don't have to buy a pan, you can get the top of a tin bucket of some kind - just since it's clear and bright. An' put a little of that ~ jest the same as you would a candle - stick it together an' let that burn, an' don't open your house up until this have burned. Befo' three hours time your house will be so crowded you can't hardly stay in it your- self. Now, that is a fact, too.
(You make as many piles as you have rooms.)
That's right. Now that is one thing I can substantiate. I tell you how I know about that. [During a pause she told me she had formerly lived in Cincinnati. I said I also had once lived there.] I used to live right down from Mound Street across from dat undertaker - had dat big house at 714 and times were very good at that time and people were paying pretty good money for rent. But it seems that - I had nice rooms and all, but it was just so hard for me to get people to come in and pay me. They would come in and pay the first, or they would come in and give me half of it and say, "Well, I'm sorry but I haven't got it all." Well, ah wouldn't want to put them out, you know. So I was telling a friend of mine about it. She said, "Well, I will come down and see what I kin do for you." She came down and fixed my house up like that - burned de stuff in de house, and she told me to do that every Monday and Friday. After that I just had so much trade. I tried it several times since then in different places and I found it to be true. It will absolutely do that - I found it to be a fact.
Entry 2469
Yo's sellin' likker - bootleggin' dey call it, used tuh call it boot- leggin'. Now, yo' go tuh work ovah heah an' git chew herbs an' yore stuff whut chew want from a certain person - anybody's [anybody who is] makin' dis. Well, he tell yo' tuh go out dere tuh de fo'ks of de road or somethin' lak dat. Be sure an' try tuh git chew one, understand, dat's leadin' down by yore house - de fo'ks of de road. An' be shure, understan' dat chew git yo' in yore house, make no diff'rence if its a mark in de house. All right, git to de fo'ks of de road, an' yo' know dat mark ah make lak dat - go dere an' dig yo' a hole right in de fo'ks of de road an' bury dis in de fo'k of dat road.
(Bury what?)
[I must ask this question before I forget it, but I interrupt him. He will answer later.] Now if de sheriff's - de deputy sheriff or policeman, an' ev'ry time dey's comin' dere tuh yore house an' dey's gon'a ketch yo' - yo' see, dey gon'a set a trap an' dey ketch yo'. After yo' go up dere to dis road to de fo'k an' do dat, yo' understan', an' dey come down - yo' see, yo' knows which way dey comin', dat's why yo' go tuh de fo'k of de road - dey'll drive ovah it, see. An'when dey drive ovah it, stid [instead of] yo' house, [they go to] somebody else. Stid dey gwine to yore house start worryin' yo', den dey drive ovah it lak dat dere, right straight up de road dey goin', or right down de road dey goin' an' ain't stoppin' take time tuh look at yore house.
(What will you bury in that hole?)
Well, yo' go tuh work an' git some - yo' kin take a piece of bluestone - yo' know whut dat is - a piece of bluestone an' gits yo' den a root dey call devil's- shoestring, an' take one dem dey call High John de Conker. Put dem in dere an' den whut chew wanta do, make it stronger, go tuh de woods an' find yo' snake shed. Git chew a snake shed an' put dat in wit it - put it down in dere wit all dat together. An' dere's a root grows dere right at de edge of de forest, has a great big flower on it, wit a mane hang down lak dat, jes' lak a man mustache... call it De ole man is daid - De ole man is daid. Hit jes' lak it. Yo' go git chew a root offa dat tree. Ain't ever'body kin find dat, dey see it but don't know whut 'tis, an' put dat down dere - de root offen De ole man is daid. De root off hit is de one gotta do de work. An' yo' put dat down in dere, under- stand, an' cover dat down in dere. Den yore safe, yore safe.
Entry 2470
Like this-a one wanta bring in customers. Yo'll take you de devil's- shoestring an' yo' take that devil-shoestring an' yo' git chew dis heah green mistletoe. Yo' put dat togethah an' yo' bury dat down at yore sto' do' an' everyone comes in dere. Only de one whut come in [if only one comes in], he'll care de news an' em- brace yore business. Well, dat'll draw. They say everybody will come to them. Yo' can't wait on yore customents [customers] so I understand about dat, cause yo' have plenty trade through dat business if yo' put dat shoestring, devil's- shoestring and dat mistletoe undah yore do'step of yore business. Bury it down dere at least twelve inches in de ground an' all dat pass ovah dere will be good luck to yo'.
Entry 2471
Yo' kin take devil's-shoestring an' put it in whiskey, or either camphor, an' rub it in yore hand an' dat'll make yo' lucky.
(Lucky for what?)
Lucky tuh rent chure rooms or any kind of business yo' in.
Entry 2472
Yo' know a dirt dauber makes his nest up high. Well, he gits de dirt from offa de groun' dough [though], don't he? (What?) He git de dirt offa de groun' - from de earth. Well, den he builds his nest up high. Den, say yo' git dat dirt dauber nest an' git yo' some spice, grain of spice an' beat it up an' poun' it all in together, an' jes' sprinkle it all roun' in yore place of business an' also undah de do' an' yo'll gain all de customers yo' want. Yo' kin burn incense.
Entry 2473
Well, heah whut yo' git - black peppah whut chew cooks wit, whut chew eats wit. Yo'll git dirt dauber nest out de roof de house, yo'll git a little bit of dirt from under yore steps, an' yo'll mix dat an' physic salts. It's a diff'rent one dem salts though from Epsom, but den ah kin tell yo' fur as ah know de salts. Ah don't know - yo' cain't keep up wit de name of 'em, but dere's some salts dey keep right heah in de Kress Ten-Cent Sto' in bags. An' yo'll take some of dat salts an' yo'll take dat dirt dauber nest an' yo'll - now, yo' listen jes' whut ah say now - an' yo'll take a lil piece of bluestone, jes' a lil piece an' yo'll mash all of dat as a powders. See, dirt dauber nest an' black peppah, an' yo'll put them together, yo' see, wit dat little dirt from undah yore steps, an' yo'll mash 'em together an' make a powders of dat. An' all yo' have to do is jes' sprinkle it anywhere roun' yore home an' it will draw dem.
(That'll draw trade?)
Ah mean he gotta come - ah done prove dat.
reported attracting/coming effect without unambiguous trade-only target. Do not convert the claim into exclusively drawing trade/customers or a named person. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2474
(What was that?)
I know what I used to keep 'em away from my house. You ever saw any popgun elder? You've heard talk of that? (Popgun elder?) Yes.
(Yes.)
You go in your place - if there's four ways to come to your place, your house, or it's five or it ain't but three ways that it's possible that anybody can get there, you get you some popgun elder. And you cut it five inches long, and then you cut in it five notches on that popgun elder a half an inch apart.
(On each stick?)
On each stick, and you sharpen it on the end that goes in the ground.
(Make a peg of it?)
Yes, sir. You take a piece of John de Conker root.
(You take a piece of John de Conker?)
Yes, sir.
(All right.)
You take a piece of John de Conker and you make you another peg and make a hole for each one of these pegs in the pathway - say 50 or 75 feet from your house, or maybe less, and you puts John de Conker in there first and you drive your peg in on it down in the ground where nobody can't see it. The other pegs all the same way, but if it's four, the same way and turn all the notches north.
(Turn all these notches on the stick north.)
North - turn 'em all north, [the notches] in them sticks wherever you drive 'em and the law ain't coming in there over them sticks. He ain't coming. Don't skin that popgun elder - let the skin stay on there, you see. You just cut them notches and trim it at the bottom, cut it off square at the top and drive it in these holes on top of this John de Conker, and the law ain't coming there. And that - it'll draw customers, but they'll come all roads, from all roads. And the law will pass there. But I've tried this. I've experienced that my- self for nine long months and I never was bothered with the law. And the folks was pitying me all the time that I had whiskey and that I was there, but I never was worried about it. The law met me, and I was standing out on the street, you know, and he says, "Howareya? They tell you are selling whiskey?" Told him, "No, sir. You knows well what I got in my - I wish I knew where some was." He say, "I know you are lying: Hell, a nigger always lies." He was talking about the fellow that told me [him]. I know who told him. And I never was bothered with him.
(And he was standing here on one of these pegs at the time.)
[I am not suggesting anything to the informant. While machine was turned off he added this detail. See Introduction.] Just over it - just over de peg. He just drove up in his car and stopped. [I have known the elder (Sambucus canadensis) since 1902, but this is the only time it has been called popgun elder. The reason for the name is obvious. Remove the pith and you have a blowgun, add a strong rubber band, and a cylindrical wooden peg can be shot a fair distance.]
Entry 2475
Do something to git renters for that house. You know what you do?
(No.)
All you just go - for that you go to the drug store. You go there and you get you some mixture. Now, you just ask for mixture. They going to give you the mixture for it. Now, it somethin' smells like perfume. It's called fast luck. You go there and you get that fast luck and you bring it there, sprinkle it right in front of that building. There be people there - ah don't know - there be a crowd of people. Just as though if you had a place that you'd already rented [and were in business] and couldn't get a crowd for it, go there and get you some of that fast luck and sprinkle it. But you gotta sprinkle, you gotta know how to walk with it. See, you sprinkle it - walk backwards. You don't walk forwards and sprinkle it, you know. Start out at the front and walk backwards.
(I see. That'll bring a crowd - bring a crowd.)
There - there even be people there that will rent that house and look for - rent in a day.
Entry 2476
Git chew two little files an' put up ovah yore do' an' ev'ry mornin' for nine mornin's sprinkle a little table salt an' sulphur ovah dem, an' yo'll jest have all de customers yo' want. (How do you put those files up over the door?) Put one dis heah, put one jes' lak dat [demonstrates].
(In the form of an "x".)"[Cross them.]
In de form of an "x".
Entry 2477
Go to de hardware sto' and buy yo' fo' files, fo' little - two little round-corner [rattail] files, an' den git chew two three-corner [three-square] files, an' put dose fo' files together, turn two of 'em haid down an' two of 'em points up. Nobody in de world kin harm yo'.
(If anybody comes around to your house and harms you?)
No sir, can't come round to yore house and harm yo'.