Browse:Nation Sack (Volume 1, entries 2159–2161)
Nation Sack
Volume 1, entries 2159–2161. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 2159
Some women wear it in nations sacks or in a sack. That's for money. (What kind of sack?) Little sacks dey wear around you called nations sacks.
(Where do they wear them?)
Wear it around their waist.
(What do they wear these sacks for?)
You kin keep yore money in it - keep yore lucky stuff in it. [The term nation sack was well known in the Memphis area, less known in New Orleans and Mobile. It was unknown along the East Coast - Maryland through Florida. See an excellent account of this article in my interview with The Nation Sack Woman.]
Entry 2160
Take de chicken aig an' let de aig dry until - yo' break.de aig an' aftah it dry, yo' use dat yallah. Wear it in a little bag dey call a nation bag an' sew it up with white thread an' let de person wear it. [In the New Orleans area, which includes upriver Memphis, some Women wear a concealed bag or sack containing one or more objects: good-luck piece, hand, article to hold man, money, just about anything. I never saw one of these bags. My impression before World War II was that formerly they had been frequently used but were becoming old-fashioned, scarce. Women, of course, have known treasure bags for centuries. The reader may recall the French widow who carried her husband's ashes about her neck! Nation bag or sack was unknown by this name on the East Coast during my collecting days.] [I have left this old comment despite the preceding, newer one.]
(What do you do that for?)
Dat's tuh keep 'em in a home, tuh keep 'em from movin'. Yo' take dat yallah of an aig an' sew it in a little sack an' wear it, an' de person dat tryin' tuh make 'em move.cain't do 'em any harm. Whenevah dey have any intention tuh do anything to yo', why dat'll take an' relieve 'em - dat pertection from yore enemies. Take de yellah of an aig.
(You have to let.that egg dry first.)
An' den take it an' put it in a little bag an' sew it an' wear it on yore person.
Entry 2161
Hull de peelin's offen de red onion lak dat an' yo' kin tote 'em in yore nation sack an' dat brings luck to yo'.