Browse:Salt (Volume 1, entries 2583–2615)
Salt
Volume 1, entries 2583–2615. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → BUSINESS AND CUSTOMERS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 2583
Yo' take table salt an' yo' start with de right han' corner of yore house an' yo' put jes' a little pinch in each corner. An' if yo' tell - yo' say whut chew want to be done when yo' go roun' wit dis. Yo' go right on roun' an' keep to de right all de time. Everything will be all right.
(That will bring in trade if you are bootlegging?)
Yes. [Right-hand corner as you face the front of the house. This is a rever- sing rite - anti-clockwise circumambulation - reversing known bad luck or unknown spell cast upon house or business.]
Entry 2584
Wal, dey said dey - early in de mornin' befo' sunrise dey get a package of salt and dey'd go to de front do' and make a cross mark; one mark straight and 'nother acrost it, an' throw de salt in dose lines. And by doing dat why dey keep de law away. If de law come, why he'd come smiling and it won't be anything to it - won't 'res' 'im an' won't car' 'em down [to jail]. [For cross of salt, see No.1472, p.477; No. 2602, p.714.]
Entry 2585
An' if yo' sellin' likker, it's a simple thing an' it don't cost but a nickel - spill salt. Git chew a box of salt - S-A-L-T. An' yo' sprinkle from de corner of yore house or yore fence lak dat, chew know, round dat way an' cuss em - yo' know, call dem by dere names an' curse them out an' they cannot enter yore premises. Dey can't come dere.
(You begin to sprinkle that salt down where?)
Jes' lak, yo' see, where did lot run. Yo' sprinkle it from right in front of yore do' right straight on 'cross.
(Just in front of your property?)
An' cuss 'em out. Turn roun' lak dis yo' see [demonstrates], cuss 'em, "Don't come in mah house." Cuss 'em out - talk nasty to 'em. Jes' lak dat an' turn yore back an' don't look back. Keep talkin' to 'em, "An' don't come back. Don't come tuh mah house. ". See. An' dat's easy tuh be done.
Entry 2586
Yo' use salt an' sugah an' yo' mix that together. Dis heah ole-timey salt is de best salt - dis Bluebird Salt. An' yo' jis' throw it [salt and sugar] roun' yore house - jis' throw it out, all roun' yore house. A man dat used tuh live nex' do' tuh me he sold whiskey all de time an' dat's all he use.
Entry 2587
Now de way yo' do dat - yo' jest git chew some table salt an' stroll round yore do'steps an' mix it wit a little ashes an' strew it all round yore do'step. An' yo' git chew some saltpeter an' use yore chamber lye all round dat house. An' den yo' read - read de 23rd Psalms an' den yo' won't have no trouble. (You won't have any trouble with the law? And anybody can't do you harm if you are in business?) Shore - no, no. An' use dat stuff in yore shoes - dat pepper an' salt.
Entry 2588
Tuh make people tuh buy from yo' - yo' has a sto', yo' know, an' yo' want 'em tuh buy. Yo' kin jes' take an' use de same things, jes' around - yo' know in yore store, de same things. Take some salt. Salt is a man. Take some salt an' sulphah an' peppah [three ingredients] - that's whut chew goin' take an' just sprinkle dat round, den people jes' flock in.
(You said that salt is a man?)
Yessuh, ah did - is somethin', salt is somethin'.
(It's strong, powerful?)
Yes.
Entry 2589
(What did you do?)
For me to have customers when I was bootlegging? I didn't do nothing but something simple. I got me a quart jar and I made me up a jar of salt and sugar water.
(What kind of water?)
Jest table salt and pure sugar.
(You just take salt and sugar together?)
Yes, in that jar. And you take and you sprinkle it from ever what entrance they come in at, clean on into the other entrance, and back on and you say a verse. You say, "In the Name of the Father, of the Son and the Holy Ghost, give me luck, success and money." And anything that I call for I'll get it, and you be sprinkling that and saying that verse all the time. Well, you get plenty of customers when you do that. When I was bootlegging, when I would do that, I would have plenty of customers. That worked for me - yes, sir, that truly worked for me.
Entry 2590
If yo' wanta sell likker or do anything lak dat an' didn't want de police or sheriff or nuthin coming to yore house, git some table salt an' some sulphur an' mix it together an' throw it out chure back do' an' [or] throw it out chure front do' - whichevah do' dey'd come in yo' know. Jest do dat regular fo' about nine mornings. Whenevah dey come dere, if dey was lookin' fo' likker, dey wouldn't come no further den de do' an' talk to yo' an' turn round an' go on back. Dey would nevah search yore house.
Entry 2591
(So nobody will rent this house?)
Well, now, see tuh do that yo' use salt, ordinary table salt. Yo' know whut Epsom salts is, doesn't yo'? Well, yo' mix that together yo' see an' boil that jis' about two hours into jis' 'bout a quart of watah don't chew know. An' if yo' could git there, why yo'd sprinkle that jis' right aroun' the do'step, don't yo' see - jis' throw it roun' ord'nary, yo' understand.
(What do you put that on the steps for?)
Well, yo' said, "If yo' wanted git 'em 'way." Didn't that whut yo' said?
(Who away?)
The owner of the place.
(You mean that's to keep the landlord away?)
Yeah - keep de landlord away.
Entry 2592
Well, yo' kin git a box of salt, table salt - yo' kin git two boxes of hit an' yo' kin dig a hole up undah yore - yo' have to put de whole box in - yo' ain't gotta open it, see - jes' put de whole box of salt, table salt. Dig about three foot down up undah yore [front] step an' three foot down, yo' know, round de back [step] an' yo' bury dis salt, see. An' then hit stay there contin'lly because it's strong - dey say dat's strong, de salt yo' know. Say dat'll keep de law away from dere, an' dat'll keep customers in yore place.
The informant says one can dig a hole for the boxed salt. Depth, placement and the law/customer results remain source directions and claims.
Entry 2593
(What do you do to keep the law away?)
Use salt like you dig.
(Dig salt?)
Uh huh - bury a sack of salt at the gate on one side and lye on the other side, and they'll stay away.
(Who will stay away?)
The law.
(That's for bootlegging? That will keep them away?)
Uh huh. I was selling on Dry Street 'fore this good whiskey came out [after Prohibition]. I used to sell it and I kept 'em away.
Entry 2594
This man told me if I'd ever get in any trouble and wanta skit and get away from de law, he told me to take some salt and spice and black pepper and cayenne pepper, and mix it all together in a tin can, and take and put some under my doorsteps for nine morning, de back door and front door. Dey say regardless of how much sand you raise in your house or what choo take in your house, if any- body try to send de law to your house, dat dey wouldn't come no farther then de front steps.
Entry 2595
Yo' kin take salt an' throw it in de fire if anybody come in de house; yo'll run 'em if dey come dere fo' money.
Entry 2596
Ah'm goin' tell yo' right quick now what ah did. Ah was bootleggin' down in Taylor County [Florida] and de sheriff was comin' on me - and ah'd taken some salt, jes' table salt, and dis here same cayenne pepper - jes' wropped it up in something, you know, and put it back of de heater - in a little ole heater stove - right back in dere where it couldn't burn up right quick - [in a place where I] jes' stored de wood - it was in de wintertime enyway - and den made de fire upon it and den when it go to burn, it would burn slow and den the ashes from dat - de smoke of dat goes out, chew see, and den as dat goes out it accumu- lates in de air and nobody dat comes dere do yo' no harm - do yo' no harm. If dey come dere, dey'll come dere, shake hands with yuh. "How do yuh do, Ed." "Jest fine. How a'yo'?"
Entry 2597
Hit wus like burnin' sulphur and salt, and yo' do that - burn a little sulphur and sprinkle a little salt roun' de place, an' de law won't nevah come around. I know of places right chere in Jacksonville and I been knowin' dey's been bootleggin' fer a numbah of - don't know how long and de man hasn't nevah been dere. It's right what yo' might say on de highway an' de man have nevah been dere. [Jacksonville, Fla., (597), 769:7.] [Similarly].... Ev'ry mornin] when he'd get up he'd throw sulphur an' salt on his floor [to keep the law away].
[Jacksonville, Fla., (586), 752:1.]
Entry 2598
I've heard say then, you could take a salt when the law comes in your house. You kin take salt when he starts out an' throw it out behind him, an' they say he won't hardly come back to your house no more. They say if he comes back in, why he won't hardly arrest you for no whiskey. [Wilmington, N. Car., (298), 224:4&85.1
Entry 2599
Now say dis foot track - yo' could take a person if dey come to yore house an' yo' do not wants 'em no mo', take some of dat footsteps [foot tracks]. Well, yo' could take some salt an' pitch it behin' 'em an' curse 'em, wishin' 'em tuh stay away from yore home. Well, dey'll nevah return back any mo'...
[I was too quick turning off machine.]
(What is that?)
Hot footstep - immediately dey walk out. [Usually this is called hotfoot, a hotfoot powder being made for this purpose - see p.590.]
Entry 2600
Well, ah heard dat chew could take some table salt an' jest lak if dey could come heah, yo' be fixin' tuh go out an' dey go behin' yo' an' sprinkle dat salt behin' yo' till yo' git to de do' an' tell yo' tuh, "Go, God damn yo'." Yo'll go.
(That will make you move out of the house?)
Well, yo' can't stay.
(They would do that after you leave the house?)
No, sir, when yo'd be walkin' out jes' lak dey'd be talkin' to yo' an' yo'd on tuh de do', yo' see dat's de way dey do.
Entry 2601
Take a box of table salt an' don' let nobody use it, an' ever' time dat he come to her house, she take dat salt an' throw it behin' him, an' be shure when she throw it behin' him, that ever' time she throw it, she throw it in at least one of his tracks, right or de left, fo' nine times. An' after nine times, he wouldn't even wanta look after her. Dat's what she wanta stop. [To keep any- one away for any purpose.]
Entry 2602
Now, to keep the policeman away from your place, it's another thing. The first one come in to inspect your place, it doesn't mean any harm or nothing at all. Well, you do - they wants to see just how that place goes along. You didn't take nothing but salt after he gone - you knows, quite natural, you's the boss of the house, but you gotta represent yourself to him when he comes to talk with you. You just take salt - you go up to him and talk to him very nice and as soon as he turn his back, you just throw it at his back. Don't ever let him see it- - throw that salt three times behind him. Then at the door vou put that salt crossways right where he has been standing: [ For cross of salt, see No. 1472, p.477; No.2584, p.712.]
(You make a cross right there.)
You ain't going to see him at that place, I guarantee you, any more.
(I see, that will keep the law away.)
Yes.
Entry 2603
When the law officer come in yore house one time - when he come in there that one time, as he goes out of there, yo' mixes yo' some table salt, jest put yo' de least bit of black pepper in there, and yo' walk right on behind him to de door and when he walks out de door yo' throw that right in behin' him and turn an' don't nevah look back at him and tell him, say, "Yo' go, yo' scamp, yo' ain't got no business in heah no mo'." And dey say that he will nevah come back dere.
Entry 2604
If someone came to yore house an' yo' don't like fo' dem to be dere, whenevah dey leave, yo' jest git up behin' 'em, an' yo' kin either have yore salt an' peppah where dey can't see it. When dey walk out yo' jest throw it all 'long where dey walked at an' then chunk it towards 'em an' tell 'em, "Don't come back any mo'." Course dey don't have tuh hear yo'. Yo' won't be bothered with 'em.
Entry 2605
Dey say dat chew kin take table salt an' black pepper an' jest sprinkle it round in yore house an' jes', every time dey come dere, sprinkle it round in dere house an' in dere tracks, an' it'll git it so dat dey couldn't even stand when dey go by dere - dey come to hate de place.
(That keeps them away.)
Entry 2606
Now, if this person comes to your house and you don't want 'em to come no more, why you just take a little piece of rock salt and put it in your mouth; and if you get a chance, spit on her dress tail or on his coat tail and he'll leave and he won't come back no more.
Entry 2607
If they [unwelcome visitor] leave a handkerchief, put it in a cold tub of water with salt and that'll make them stay away from there.
Entry 2608
If dey don't want dem dere, yo' jes' sprinkle salt in de chair where he sit an' right from de chair on down de steps, an' say three bad words behin' him, an' tell him, '"Go, ah don't want chew tuh come back any mo'." Dat'll cer'inly keep 'im 'way from dere.
(You put the salt in the chair you say?)
Yes sir, in de chair an' sweep it on away.
(Sweep it off the seat?)
Off de chair, down de seat, right on down de walk, down de steps, an' say de bad words when yo' git to de gate.
Entry 2609
Ah got a boy, mah youngest boy. Ah cain't stan' de p'lice no how: Of co'se dey ain't doin' no hahm [harm] - jis' sometime, yuh know, people cain't har'ly stan' 'em. An' dis boy of mine would always be in trouble. Well, a ole white lady tole me to go an' git a box of salt, cut it half in tah [two]. She said [next time a policeman comes] po' it right down an' sweep it on out do' an' tell'im to, "Go, you ain't none of mah frien'." An' ah did it. An' 'at been fo' yeah nearly; ain't nevah been back to mah house since.
The informant reports advice to obtain salt and says the action was carried out. The nearly four-year nonreturn is not independently verified or shown to be caused by salt.
Entry 2610
Yo' have dat salt watah in heah, an' they come to their house an' they go out, well, they'll take that broom an' dip it in that salt watah an' jes' sweep it right out behin' 'em jes' lak dat.
(That keeps them away?)
Yes.
Entry 2611
If yo' wanta run somebody away - well, if yo' didn't want 'em dere, yo' could take red peppah [small piece], table salt an' cayenne peppah [powdered] an' take it when dey go out de do', throw it in dere steps an' take yore broom an' sweep it from yo', lak that [demonstrates], an' make yore wish, "Ah wish yo'd nevah return back heah no mo'," an' sweep it on out.
Entry 2612
Git peppah an' salt, if a person constantly comes to yore house an' prob'bly it a person dat chew don't lak an' yo' don't wanta insult dem or wants dem tuh stay away. Ah've heard dat chew take salt an' peppah an' sweep behin' dem an' yo' burn bluestone an' sulphur in de do' dat dey came heah. An' don't let 'em go out dat do' when dey leaves - send 'em out through anothah do', dat's in order dat dey go in 'cross yore house. An' yo' burn de sulphur an' bluestone in de do' dat dey came through an' yo' sweep an' yo' sprinkle salt an' peppah; whereas when dey go out down behin' 'em, sweep it out that way.
Entry 2613
Yo' take a snail - if he crawlin' along, yo' picks him up - jes' lak he crawlin' dis way, yo' pick him up an' carry him back. All right yo' take dis snail an' yo' carry him home, an' yo' put dis snail in a jar an' let him git good an' dry, an' yo' goes to someone house, or either is someone come tuh yore house an' yo' don't want 'em roun' yore house. Yo' take dis snail an' jes' a little bit dis salt when dey goes back out, an' sprinkle it from where dey wus settin out to de do' - sweep it on out. Dey can't come back dere no mo'.
(What do you do with that snail?)
De snail - yo' take de snail an' put him in a jar an' let him stay in it till he git dry up - see. Den yo' take de whole shell, hull an' all an' beat it up fine. Take de salt an' put in dere wit it, an' right where dey's settin', yo' jes' sprinkle from dere right on out de steps, an' yo' sweeps right on behin'. Dey cain't come back dere no mo' den. [Snail slows up unwelcome visitor's return - see Snail, p.648.]
Entry 2614
You take yer graveyard dirt in the morning - like a person you're dis- satisfied with or a man wan'a leave there, an' as these people come in, you take an' sprinkle it down behind 'em. An' then you take urinate water an' pepper or salt an' sweep. That's whut they call sweepin' behin' 'em. An' that person Wouldn't come roun' you no more. If you do that as much as three times, they'll never come roun' you no more.
Entry 2615
You git up in de morning at six o'clock and you go out front of yore door and sweep jest a little, go to de front and sweep de dirt to yuh - de dirt into de house, in. Take it up. When you sweeping, you says, "Ah'm sweeping - ah'm sweeping in de Name of Jesus - ah'm sweeping in success - ah'm sweeping in money." And you take dis dirt up and you wrap it up and put it in your business place and people dat nevah has come will come. Ah know dat from experience cus ah've done dat. When you sweep, you are sweeping in your luxuries, you are sweeping in trea- sures; and when you take de dirt you place it in your mind dat you are sweeping in money, you are sweeping in success. And when Deborah had lost her fortune, dat's de way ah think it was God prob'bly spoke to her and told her to go out and sweep. And when she went out and sweep, things were at 4 o'clock - poor like. When she went out and was sweeping she found her luxuries and found a fortune and den she called de people from de neighborhood to come in and rejoice over de fortune dat she had found sweeping [Luke 15:8-9], and dat's de meaning of what it will do by sweeping at six 'clock in de morning.