Browse:Van-Van (Volume 1, entries 2368–2717)/Part 2
Van-Van
Volume 1, entries 2368–2717. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
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'.
Entry 2478
I lived with a woman and she was selling herself, and she told me that the law never would come to her house, and she only got her a file and drove it in each corner of her house, and she said that the law wouldn't come there. And another time when we moved in another house and she hadn't had a chance to put these files up, the law came in and she told me he'd never come back again. She say, "Baby, get some salt and throw behind him and sweep it right on out." And I went and put some salt behind him and then swept on back straight and he never came back. And no other law ever came in that house all the time she was selling herself.
(You mean, they put a file in each of the four corners of the house?)
Just a file.
(Outside or inside?)
Inside - stick 'em up in de corner.
(I see. What do you do - stick them into the wall or the floor?)
No, in the wall.
Entry 2479
Yo' wanta have business with whiskey an' yo' business no good with whiskey. Yo' take yore toenails an' cut 'em off an' scrape out from under yore fingernails an' cut dem off, an' put dem into a little bottle or into a little glass wit de whiskey - about dat much an' let it set three days. Let it set three days an' then take it an' strain it out an' put it into a gallon of whiskey. Put it into dat gallon of whiskey an' de first customers come in dere an' buy, sell 'em dat; an' de more customers come in, sell it to 'em, an' after while yore business will be so great dat ever'body be flockin' right to yore business.
Entry 2480
Well, if he drinking or anything like that, you mean? Well, they come in - the man who is drinking - and they's [men customers who drink are] coming in. You always have something to eat in your house. You keep a fish in your house - you always will keep water, clear water. You always will be successful and lucky and you - you change water with your fish, you know. Well, you keep your fish there. He will swim around, you see. Well, there be somebody always coming in - going and coming out your house. Keep a fish cause he's lucky and successful. ["Goldfish in the house are lucky say some; unlucky say others" - FACI,2ed., No. 1539, p.61. J
Entry 2481
Get you some mackerel brine - what I mean is mackerel brine off a mackerel fish. You take that brine - you gotta buy it, about fifteen or twenty cents worth - you take that brine and get you a bucket of water and put you some sugar and pulverized cinnamon in there and sprinkle it just as fer as your place extends; and whatever you got, you will sell out what you got. That mackerel brine, cinnamon and sugar in that water.
(That's for bootlegging?)
Any kind of business you're in you needn't a-worry.
Entry 2482
As good a way as any if yo' was selling something - jes' lak a fellah dat wus sellin' some moonshine or somepin an' he wanted to git in trade. Well, now ah heared dat chew could sit down an' take yore foot, wet it, scrape it an' all dat dead skin on it. Soak it [scraped skin] in whiskey or soak it in some water, either one. Anoint de whiskey wit it an' dat would draw customers to you. [Dead foot skin in food or drink is alsd used in love rites.]
Entry 2483
Ah wanta tell yo' now, ah run a bo'din' house once fo' a ole lady dat stayed dere, an' she went to de fo'ks of de road an' got de dirt outa de middle of de road - don't chew understand me. Den she took some bluestone an' saltpeter an' brimstone - git it all at de drug sto' an' then she takes them an' beats it up fine an' puts it into that pot an' some splinters ovah it.
(What pot?)
To a small pot whut'll hold 'bout two or three quarts.
(Of water?)
Yes. No, no - of de sand, don't chew understand from out de middle of de road. Yeah, de sand is under de bottom of dis heah, under de bottom of dese splinters an' dis heah stuff whut she sprinkles ovah dat, an' den she po's a little kerosene ovah dat an' burns it about three a'clock in de mornin' befo' day. That is to git roomers in her house. Yeah, dat has come from de fo'ks of de road. (She would put this dirt in the pot an' then she mixes this other stuff with that dirt.) That's it - de saltpeter, bluestone an' brimstone. (So that I understand perfectly what it is about: she brings this dirt back from the forks of the road, she puts it in this little pot, then she gets these various things and puts on top of this dirt.) Beats it all up together. (And puts it on top of the dirt in the Pot; then she lights this stuff, this mixture - burns it.) Yeah - three a'clock in de morning.
Entry 2484
To pay a bill on Friday gives yo' bad luck. (How does that give you bad luck?) Wal, since it's a business proposition - dey say it's not good luck to put out money on Fridays lak dat, to pay up debts on Fridays. Always pay yo' debts on Mondays an' Saturdays. Jest lak if yo' owe a bill, yo' understand, dey say it put chew in hard luck to pay it on Friday.
Entry 2485
Wait until the first Friday of the month - the first Friday of each month - you get you some cinnamon and sugar and get you some lye water.
(What kind of water?)
Lye water - purely lye.
(Like concentrated lye?)
Concentrated lye, and scrub that house. And in the four corners of this house after you have scrubbed it, you set that house aburning in the four corners of that house, you see. Set some sugar and cinnamon, mix it and light it, and I'll guarantee you'll rent your house.
(You really will rent your house?)
You'll rent your house.
(What do you burn in those four corners?)
Cinnamon and sugar.
(I see. But you only scrub with the lye water?)
Only scrub with the lye water. [One cylinder later in answer to my question about how a business could bring in customers, informant begins to repeat what had been said about renting a house - a further detail being added.] (Now, wait a minute - if you were bootlegging now, what are you going to do about it to bring in trade?) To bring in trade?
(Yes.)
Well, you scrub your house - scrub your place of business and after you scrub it, you know.
(Now, wait a minute. Now, tell me what you told me before.)
Well, every first Friday of each month.
(Every first Friday of each month?)
Of each month, yes sir.
(All right.)
And then, after you scrub your house every first Friday of each month, see, you close it up and put you some cinnamon and some sugar and mix it thoroughly and put it in each corner of the house. See. And if it's a business place, put it right in the center of the floor. And burn it until all of it's burned up. And then the-next morning you get up and open the door, and you let all kind of trade in. You do that every first Friday.
Entry 2486
Ah run a bo'din' house. Ah got oil of bergamine [bergamot], oil of cinnamon, oil of rose an' oil of wintergreen. Ah po' it in a ten-cent bottle an ah would put it in as much watah de size that ah wus goin' tuh mop mah house, an' then use Ivory Soap chips or eithah a bran'-new bar of Ivory Soap haven't been used anywheres. Ah'd start from mah front steps an' mop straight back to de very bottom step, an' mop all ovah mah house back to the back step. An' it would bring a crowd an' bring jis' whatevah yo' would want for de purpose. An' ah'd do that on Mondays an' Fridays early in de mawnin'. When ah wanted men transom [transient] trade, ah would let a man urinate in mah watah. Git enough of it tuh mop mah house through with that othah, yo' see - oil of cinnamon an' oil of rose, oil of bergamine an' oil of wintergreen. An' ah us'lly wanted male trade mo' den ah did de female, ah jis' - ah might git a young half-grown boy or somethin' an' jis' let him when ah fix mah watah bucket, he use it.
(Get any male water?)
Dat's it. (Well, what about women customers? What do you bring them in for? How do you do that?) Well, most times that's whut ah worked with [men]. Co'se if yo' wanted female roomers, yo'd git a woman tuh urinate in the watah.
Entry 2487
Chip it up. an' put it in mah scrubbin' watah, make yo' lucky. (This garlic?) Jis' chip it up an' put it in watah jis' lak yo' would a onion yo' see. Don't let nobody cross in dis house whare ah done scrubbed until it dry out.
Entry 2488
You mean bootlegging business like that - like I used to be in on Drive Street. You'd take you some garlic. You'd take them garlic and you puts on a tub of water. You boil that garlic in that tub of water and when the water is hot you scrub your steps. Let everybody be absent but the one that's going to scrub the place and the one that's going to dress it. After everybody is out of there and this water is real hot, you scrub this place. When you scrub this place you put everybody out but the one that's going to dress it. Then you take you some beer, put you some sugar in that beer, put you some cinnamon in there, and put you some Lucky Heart drops. If you can't get that, you get this Heart Perfune, and you take that bottle and you go from the banquette [sidewalk in New Orleans], thataway, and just sprinkle it right up to this [front] door, and outside in the entry. Lock the door.
Entry 2489
You take you some brown sugar and cinnamon and you get you some of this here oil of geranium and you mix that up together and you sprinkle that all over your floor. You take that sugar and go out from your place and come into your place sprinkling the sugar and your place be packed down with people. How I know that - I done try that at fish fries and I pack my place down. The other people don't have any with that [with a fish fry]. [A fish fry is a meal of fried fish served in a private home to the public. A sign with date, hours and cost of the meal is posted on the house or advertised by word of mouth.]
Entry 2490
[The preceding fish fry and the one to follow are separated by 2 years and 709 informants; the former story from my first trip to New Orleans; the following story from my second trip:] Use cinnamon, sugah an' oil of geranium - nine drops of oil of geranium - de sugah an' de cinnamon mixed together. An' yo' puts dat in de fo' corners - puts it - first yo' come to de do' an yo' come in wit that, yo' see. An' den when yo' git in yo' puts it in de fo' corners of de house an' dat draws yore people. Dat's de way ah used tuh do when ah give fish fries an' bring 'em in.... (This is sort of a liquid, then? Or is it a powder?) [She had failed to say what was done with the oil of geranium.] Dat's a liquish - de oil of a-geranium is a liquish, an' de steel dust, well dat's dry. An' de cinnamon, yo' kin git dat from de drug sto', too. It's de best from de druggist den yo' git it from de grocery, because de grocery keeps it an' it's weak. But de drug sto's is strong. [The oil of geranium would have been used in water for scrubbing; the steel dust, a drawing power, would have been sprinkled in the four corners.]
The informant names cinnamon with sugar and mentions oil of geranium in a fish-fry account; the later scrubbing explanation is Hyatt's bracketed interpretation.
Entry 2491
For that you go - you see, you go to people for to do that. They don't never get you - they won't - you'd have to pay them for to tell you. Like if I want a job, I go to one of them spiritual people and you go - you gotta scrub. You go to the drug store and you get you some oil of Geranium.
(Oil of what?)
[She had said something like gerange according to my penciled note on original transcription. Some of my informants had trouble with the word. I did tco - it being some time before I could be certain that my original guess was a fact. Thank heavens druggists did not call this substance oil of Pelargonium.] Oil of Geranium. You put that in your water and you put you some cinnamon an sugar an' you scrub, you see, an' then you get you some steel dust an' put it in the corners of your place - that's to draw, that's to draw people. Steel dust.
Entry 2492
I was in the bootlegging business - certainly I kin tell you more so 'bout that. Now, all you do is you get you some oil of geranium, oil of cinnamon and you mix it together, and you get you some sugar and a bucket of water and blueing, and when you startin' to sweep - like you sweep, you sweep in always from the street, you sweep in. After that you start to sprinkling that water, sprinkle that water coming in the door from the street. You start on the street and sprinkle right on straight in the back. You see. But you gotta put a little sugar in it to keep down the disturbance, you see. And you'll have the crowd. I used to be right round dere on Drive street. I kept the crowd in my place in bootlegging times.
(What did you put the sugar in for?)
The sugar is to keep down trouble - you see, you kin get a big crowd in your place but you kin have a lot of disturbance. You see that sugar is to keep down and ever'body be peaceful. You see that's what the sugar's for. See. And you scrub-like.
(You scrub when?)
Like on a Friday night - that's what I done did on a Friday night.
The informant names oil of cinnamon with oil of geranium in a sweeping-and-sprinkling account; sugar's stated purpose is keeping down disturbance.
Entry 2493
Now, this what you do if you want the house rented. You gotta use immaterials.
(Immaterials?)
What you call immaterials - prob'bly draw it by yourself - with 360 degrees of a person's mind to yourself. Then, you get what is called fast luck, [that's] No. 1. You get cinnamon, that's 2. Get oil of clover. (Oil of cloves or clover?) Yes, clover. (Oil of clover, yes.) You get these things together and you mops from front to back - not from back to front, start at the front. Get some woman to mop it from front to back, the corners and all round, and then you get you what they call Get Together. I ain't got none of it with me now. But it's a powder they call Get Together and Never Part Powder.
(What kind?)
Never Part.
(Never Part Powder.)
Yes. You take these things and you sprinkle all round that hall. Take the [something] of the immaterial spirit, like someone look like they was 'tracted by - more than anywhere else - by your place of business would be mor e'tractive to them than anywhere else, and they come and rent that place.
(I see.) [Did I?]
Entry 2494
Take sulphur an' ground ginger an' mix it together an' put it in a newspapah or any kind of papah an' put it in a ole can an' burn it in de middle of de flo', an' says dat will bring luck to yore house an' make yo' go way ovah yore [usual number of customers]. (That is to bring customers in to buy from you?) Yes. [Sulphur purifies; ginger gingers - makes lively.][ Wilson, N. Car.,
(1477), 2657:15.]
Entry 2495
In business yo' kin go an' take a penny - yo' take de head of dat penny an' put it down head-down an' let it stay dere, an' take dat dirt from round dat grave an' sprinkle it any place an' yore business will be successful. If yo' want 'em to move out [to put them out of business], yo go back to de same grave an' take that penny an' put it head-upwards dere, an' yo' take some of dat dirt from de left part de foot part of grave an' sprinkle dat under those steps or inside. Dey'll go.
Entry 2496
Yo' take de infant dirt from de grave [dirt from an infant's grave], take sulphur, yo'll take table salt - three things. Yo'll git up in de mawnin' at fo' 'clock 'fore de sun an' yo' starts from yore front do', jes' lak if, yo' know, yo' want plenty - ever'body tuh come in. Well, yo' stand to de do' an' throw it in de house, "In de Name of de Father an' Name of de Son an' Name of de Holy Ghost, ah wants all de customers dat ah kin git." An' yo' have mo' people den yo' evah able tuh git through with.
(When you get that dirt, you give it this money?)
Yessuh, always give odd pennies. Nevah give two or nevah give fo' - give odd.
Entry 2497
Dey take de same one foot of yore sock. Git chew - go to a baby's grave an' take three pieces of white cloth an' one silver dime. Yo' dig dis hole like dat, an' when yo' take dis three pieces of white cloth - dat's a baby grave now - three pieces of white cloth. An' a silver dime - yo' paying dis baby off. Yo' understand. Yo' dig a hole about lak dat, "In de Name of de Lord, yo' take care of dis in Jesus name. Ah'm only givin' yo' dis in Jesus name." Yo' put dem three pieces of cloth an' dat dime down dere. Befo' yo' put dat dere, yo' git out a handful of dirt. Den yo' put dat dime an' dem three pieces of cloth in strips - jes' little strips - in dere, an' yo' cover it on back, an' yo' take dis with you an' go on.
(What do you do with that, then?)
Go on an' fill yore sock with dat an' one silver dime. Yo' take it an' - either corner of de house yo' could put it. Or either yo' could run it up under de sill, it'll be good.
(What will that do then?)
Keep de police away. (Keep the law away. Well, why did you put those three pieces of cloth in the grave? What was the idea of that?) It's a baby an' a baby is in de arm an' is harmless an' sinful from de world.
(I mean what do those three things represent - those three pieces of cloth?)
Dese Three are One.
(Those three pieces of cloth represent the Three Who are One.)
Don't chew see.
Entry 2498
Yo' kin keep de law away from de house. Go to a colored cemetery an' git chew - go where yo' know dere's three people dat chew know, dat yo' wus dere when dey buried 'em. Take yo' fifteen cents an' yo' pay each one of 'em nickel a piece, yo' see, fo' each person. But let dis be newly buried - jis' yesterday or de day befo'. An' git chew ten pounds of dat dirt an' put it in yore bucket an' set it where yo' sweep yo'self. Dey won't even come near yore steps. Dose are spirits dat keep 'em back. Dat dead folks dirt whut wus buried, dey cain't come ovah it.
Entry 2499
Yo' know de truth always is right. We runs - we wus fulla dem things, too. Befo' mah husband died we run de same thing an' we run de same years, but de lawyers nevah caught us. Well, now ah'm goin' tell yo' whut we use on dat. It was learned to us tuh use dat an' ah used dat. Dat was saltpeter an' dat copperas, table salt an' red peppah, an' we made a powders of dat. An' a dead spirit from de graveyard to get de dirt - yo' know, after yo' done talk to de daid spirit an' tell him whut he want do. An' den mix dat togethah an' make a powdahs, an' he has crossed de road on many a time and de law could nevah come by our do'. (Well, how did you fix that - I mean what would you do with that after you fix that up?) Yo' jes' mash it all up fine.
(Then what do you do with it?)
Throw it in de road - jes' cross de road where dey come 'cross. Jes' ary road dat lead in to yore house with de law, why yo' put dat 'cross dat road - any distance yo' wanta from de home, where yo' know he kin turn in. An' if he evah git to dat one time, he ain't comin' in no mo'.
Entry 2500
Say jes' git graveyard dirt, red peppah, cayenne peppah, sulphur an' alum, an' beat it together an' sprinkle it all around yore place an' they say that will keep it away - say that will keep de law away. (What is the difference between red pepper and cayenne pepper? Is there any difference?) Well, dere's one ground, an' yo' know dere's one whole grain.
Entry 2501
Yo' go to a ole-time grave an' git chew some dirt. See, dig down in de grave lak dis an' git chew some dirt out of de grave. Well, yo' take dat dirt an' yo' mix dat dirt up with salt. Yo' put table salt in dat dirt an' yo' mix it up. All right, den yo' go to de sto' an' yo' buy yo' some lucky perfwme, Heart Perfume, yo' see. Yo' git chew some Heart Perfume. Well, yo' mix that in there with it. See. Jes' put Heart Perfume all in dere with it. All right, den yo' go an' yo' git chew some sulphur an' yo' put that sulphur in there with it. See. All right, yo' go an' git yo' some John de Conker an' den git chew fo' diff'rent cans - fo' diff'rent small cans, tin cans, where yo' kin put 'em airtight. See. An' yo' put 'em in a circle - jes' lak yo' runnin' a bootlaig place, yo' put 'em in a circle all de way round.
(Around what?)
All way round yore place, yo' understan', de place of business yo' carr'in' on - all de way round, yo' see. Den yo' take, aftah yo' put 'em all de way round [one can on each side of the business], yo' take dat salt an' git in de street all de way round where yo' got chure cans an' yo' care it all de way round yo' see, till yo' git clean round yore house. Well, aftah yo' gone all de way round yore house wit de salt, yo' come on back right where yo' left from an' say, "Ah put dis out, In de Name of de Father, Son an' the Holy Ghost, that ah may have no trouble." Then yo' spit up in dere three times. Yo' won't have no trouble. If yo' have any trouble atall, yo'll git out of it. [The four tin cans with seal-type lids, one on each side of the house, should have been sufficient - an airtight protection.].
Entry 2502
" Yo' go into de graveyard an' yo' gotta go a certain hour - about twelve 'clock in de night. If you got any kinfolk bury in dat graveyard, you'll explain to them exactly wot and wot not. Then you git some dust outa that graveyard - offa dat same grave which you have explained dese matters. You take dat qrave- yard dust and go home, and you jest sift it light right aroun' yo' step and you say, "Now, you take ca'h de home. Ah don't want no law or nobody else officiate round heah." You go on about your business and dey'll take ca'h of it. Dey'll nevah look dat way. Dey'll come right by dere an' when de git dere dey'll throw up dey head and go on by.
Entry 2503
Then agin, I git de graveyard dirt from somebody relative who is dead, [died] good -, ou know, make peace. Any person who dead, git dat dust you know. Den you git de white-horse manure, mix that with salt and sulphur, and sprinkle around yore place. An': hey'll [officers will] call round yore place but they'll go away - wouldn't stir about chuh.
(Keeps the law away.)
Keep away because yo' have a white horse in de pasture and dey'll tell de party, "Oh! Looks like a white horse." (That white horse keeps them away? This is supposed to be the white horse in the pasture?) Yes. See, if you have a white horse in de pasture, dat horse will fight all other horses, but dey never fight dat white horse. (Those other horses won't bother a white horse. That is why the white-horse manure is good.) Yes.
Entry 2504
Take dat graveyard dirt - take some and divide into each one, see, and git you some salt. Some of de graveyard dirt into each one of de shells.
(Of these shells?)
Yes, dey done already shot, you see. And you take another shell and git some of de gunpowder and put - divide it and put some in each one of those shells. And then you take a needle and stick it in each one - stand de needle up in dere like you goin' sew some cloths, but jest right on de tip. And put dat stuff in dere round and pack in around dere tight - jest like you fixing de shot in de shell, see. And then you take that and put one under your front step, and then you turn around and put one under the back step, you see. And if you got any side windahs or anything like that, chew kin jest take and put one at de main windah where you always keeps open, you see. [Three shells.] When de revenuer comes he'll come round to everybody house but chores, and people wonder how come he won't stop to yores - and you selling whiskey in dere, too. But he jest won't have no spirit to come towards that house. He figure there won't be nothing there, when the revenuer comes there. Never won't have no spirit. Co'se ev'ry- body don't know that, you see - don't know everybody telling that. See, if I tell a person that, I want some money fer telling that.
Entry 2505
A hustlin' woman in de streets, yo' know tryin' tuh make money, she should ever' mawnin' befo' sunrise fall on her knees an' say her prayers, de Lord Prayer three times, an' git up an' wash her face down with olive oil an' have a olive-oil bag pinned up on her an' salt - [she corrects this to] olive oil an' salt-bag pinned up on her [salt-bag only - fed with olive oil], if she wants luck in de street wit de mens. An' pee an' throw de pee out from de house, de east corner of de house - pee in a cup or 'nother an' throw it out befo' she has anything tuh say to anybody, an' she 'posed to make money out in de streets dat day while she's out. If a hustlin' womans want tuh git out on de streets an' be lucky, make money, she'd use de van-van holy oil, drop de van-van holy oil on her. She buy de van- Van holy oil an' drop it on her an' make a wish, an' be sho' she use olive oil too.
[Van-van is not called a holy oil - see margin-title Van-van later and Index.]
(How would she use the olive oil?)
Listen - wash her face down, bathe her down good in olive oil. Put de olive oil an' salt-bag you know on there as I 'fore tole joo, an' say her prayers like dat an' - let me see, I gon'a tell you whut prayer she supposed to wear. She supposed tuh wear de prayer in her purse - Holy Idy - de Holy Name Idy in her purse. An' if yo' leavin' goin' to a strange place, a strange city, when yo' in dat city an' want tuh be successful, yo' should walk out in a vacant field, somewhere where it's vacant an' turn yore face in the south an' use that word Holy Adam - Holy Adam - Holy Idam - Hebrew lang'rige - Holy Adam.
(Do you know how to spell it?)
Not Adam but Iden - I-D-E-N.
(Do you know what it means?)
No - dat's in Hebrew lang'rige.
(It isn't the Garden of Eden?)
No suh - Iden. Yo' use dis when yore hustlin' out in de streets or eithah goin' tuh a strange place an' want tuh be successful. Yo' kin jis' walk up to someone an' use dat inward Iden - inward - an' ask them fo' a favor - they'll come very near doin it.
Entry 2506
Well, ah tell yo', fo' good luck like that yo' git the good luck insane [incense]. Yo' want mah ideas? Yo' git the good luck insane an' yo' burns that with the holy oil every morning fo nine mornings. An' yo' take six drops of Hearts Cologne, one teaspoon of sugar to a gallon of water. Yo dust yore house down, yo' take yore linen off yore bed, clean up one room at a time. Pick up that dust an' put it on a piece of newspaper. Clean up yore next room an' take all de linen if you got a bedroom. Do the same room like that. Put all that dust, all yo' create, git it up off de floor on that one paper. Then buy yo' a box of table salt an' yo' use one cup of that table salt on all that dust that chew taken up. Take yore linen out of doors an' yo' wash it. Clean up everything. Wash yore bedsteads an' yore springs off an' put on clean linen an' everything. An' take that trash that yo've gathered up in those rooms and take one cup of table salt, take it out an' take a shovel an' dig a hole, an' place it in de ground an' kiver it up. Fust one go tuh sleep that night will dream a good dream an' it will be a good luck dream, be a game in it. If yo' play a game of chance yo'll win.
(Now you do all this cleaning up in the house for luck in the home?)
Fo' luck in yore home. (That is if you want to bring in customers to rent your rooms or something of that sort.) An' then when yo' go out, before yo' go out, yo' take that Hearts Cologne an' yo' sprinkle yoreself with it. Every time yo' go out yo' do that an' yo'll advance with everybody - influence with everybody. Anything yo' go after yo'll have influence with the people.
Entry 2507
Now, if you kin git it, I use that Holy MAMMY Oil, if you kin git it. An' you git one of these little blue moun's - BLUE MOUNDS it's a incent [incense], a little pointed [come-shaped] thing; it's a blue moun' [mound]. An' there's a little brown one. Well, you burn de brown one in the mornin' an' the blue one in the afternoon. That'll bring jis' wha' choo want.
Entry 2508
You wan'a bring in trade. Well, fo' whut ah've experienced about bringing in trade - ah used tuh be a bootlegger mahself, and ah kin say that ah done that mahself and got benefit out of it. Now hit's a oil - well hit's a water whut chew git and whut chew put in yo' scrub water, hit's whut chew call van-van oil. [See margin- title Van-van later.] An' put five drops in de water, even if yo' don't do nuthin wit it but jes' put it in de water, shake it up and jes' sprinkle it roun' in yo' business place. An' yo' take you some of dat same oil and some brown sugah - about a tablespoonful of brown sugah and about five or seven drops [uneven number] of dat oil, an' put it in a bottle and a tablespoonful of honey, an' take it an' put it in a bottle and fill de bottle most fulla water. An' den put two teaspoonful of holy water in it an' shake it good and set it somewhere close aroun' where yo' kin easily git chure han' on it. An' every time yo' see de law even down dere, if yo' think de law comin' in - but yo' sprinkle yo' place of business good wit dat water every morning. Every morning when yo' come in open up yo' business - when yo' open up yo' do's and do roun' lak dat - jes' sprinkle some roun' yo' do's an' up aside yo' do' facin' and all. But be shore tuh shake well befo' usin'. An' that'll jes' make business come in real breese [brisk] - yo' jes' be tuh de place - yo' jes' be overhanded wit business.
(And that will keep the law away?)
Yassuh. Ah experienced dat.
Entry 2509
Take some cinnamon bark - now, that's what they told me. Take you some cinnamon bark, holy water, and this Lucky Dog Perfume, wintergreen, devil-shoe- string and makes - boil that, mix it all together you understand. Mix all that together and every morning 'fore anybody come in there. You understand what I mean? You take that and you wash your place out. See. Start to washing it from right on into the back. And that make that - that'll draw the people in there. See. I guarantee you.
Entry 2510
(What about that holy water in scrubbing, now?)
The holy water you can put it in the water and scrub. See. And that opens the way in your house and makes luck in your house. You takes the holy water and you takes some sugar - nine lumps of sugar, and you takes essence of verbena or fast luck and you put that, mix that up in the water. Then, you put it in a tub and you get you nine buckets and then you scrub from your front to the back in that same water. Then you dip some in the bucket - you take it out of the bucket and you pour it in the tub and then stir it round, then clean from the front to the back with it. That opens the way for you and makes luck and success in your house.
Entry 2511
In the corner, looking and watching, trying to get hold of you, when you bootlegging. You get some honey and some white loaf sugar, some holy water and some tea.
(What kind of tea?)
Black tea. You take the black tea, you strain it and put that down in there. You shake it good and then take a little out every morning and you have it in a little bottle and go to all four corners, running [bottle at] corners, and the law will come and knock twice, knock his club and go away and won't come no more.
(You sprinkle that in all four corners of the house?)
Yes.
Entry 2512
I keep holy water tied on my bed - that's to keep the evil spirits away, and I sprinkle it in the four corners of my house-like when I scrub like that for luck. I scrub my house good like today and if I'm going to use lye, if I have any kind of suspicious idea of some of my enemies have crossed the sill of my door. You see? I scrub with lye today and tomorrow I will go aver my house with nine buckets of water. And I'll take that holy water, after the floor dries, and go to the four corners of the house and sprinkle some in each corner. You see? And I make the sign of the cross.
(That's supposed to prevent all evil?)
Evil. That keeps all evil spirits away.
Entry 2513
You get this policeman's name and after you get this policeman's name, you get you some - it's called this here java water. But you got to go to Palmer's drug store down here and get it. And get this java water and you get you some, some pure holy water, JAVA WATER only you got to go on Friday and get that kind. That's to keep the law from your door.
(Where do you get that [pure] holy water?)
You have to go on Friday to the church. Then, after you go to the church, be sure and ask the priest or some other be sure to bless that holy water. Well, after you get this here java water from the drug store, you mix that with that holy water and with that essence of cinnamon and then you get that policeman's name and then you write ii - not no nine times, you write hit 15 times. And you take that policeman's name ard you ball right up into that, into that water and you sop that water up, and you take that Water and you hang it in - right behind your bed, and that policeman ain't coming nowhere around that house. Nowhere around he come.
Entry 2514
The horseshoe is luck to bring in customers. Just get you a horseshoe and nail it up over your door outside. A horseshoe and a four-leaf clover, that brings you customers. That'll draw anybody. Haven't you went along by a man's store and seen a horseshoe?
Entry 2515
De first thing yo' do if yo' goin' in business an' wanta be lucky - de first thing yo' do, yo' hangs a horseshoe right up ovah yo' do'. Dat's de first thing yo do. Well, de next thing yo' do den to be lucky, yo' go in yore house - befo' yo' go in yore house, don't let nobody see yo', yo' take dis cookin' salt an' sprinkle it right in front of yo' do' where de people's comin' in. See, dat's to cut de hard luck off - if a man comin' dere, dat's tuh cut de hard luck offa him whilst he's comin' inside yore place of business to keep from throwin' yo' in hard luck. Well, he comes on it. When he git in dere [you do the third thing], yo' take dis sulphah an' burn it in yo' house ever' mornin' befo' nine 'clock - sulphah. Jes' take a little sulphah an' put it in a lid an' strike a match to it an' jes' let it smoke - ever' mornin' befo' nine 'clock. An' you gon'a be lucky and successful in yo' business.
Entry 2516
Dey says dat if yo' take a horseshoe an' nail it ovah de inside of de do', de front do', an' dey said if yo' walk undah dat nine times, that's to make yo move. (You put this horseshoe up over this other fellow's door? Now, if I wanted to make you move, I would take this horseshoe and put it up over your door inside the house?) Yessuh.
(Wouldn't you see it up there or not?)
Nawsir. Dey puts it up so dey see it up dere - dey say dat keeps de witches away [see Nos. 512-514, p.154] but dey put it dere unknown to yo'. Yo{ -jes lak yo' be's talkin', jes' slip one of 'em dere while ah'm dere [some other place] in dey house. An' den whoevah he is, go in dere nine times, he'd have to move. [This is a reversal rite, an unusual backwards ceremony - a through the lookina-qlass or opposite side of the mirror device, because an inside horseshoe has its prongs pointing into the house, thus inviting evil to enter, whereas the prongs of an outside horseshoe point away from the house warding off evil. Remember, this inside horseshoe is over the front door, only a few inches distant from the outside horseshoe, if one is there - a Janus-like situation. Remember also, most country cabins - unpainted inside and the wood naturally aged and stained - could conceal a rusty horseshoe until a person walked nine times through the door. Nevertheless, to nail up the horseshoe while the tenant of the house was near is easier said than done.]
Entry 2517
De law never was dere befo', see [and you do not want him to return]. You puts de horseshoe right ovah dat door, see, turn de toes up and write three "x's" behin' your door - three "xxx" - and lay one penny right on dis step, de doorsill. Ev'ry time I go [by them], pick at 'em, pick at 'em. Den you git four sticks jest like dat - get four sticks jest about six inches [long], put one in de under sill of yo' door, and put one on de corner, and put one in dis corner, and put one jest about five feet from yo' door and drive it down till you can't see de head. And I'm goin' dress dese sticks ev'ry day, keep up wid de sticks - keep it so dat nobody dig around it, see.
(How do you dress these sticks?)
Well, you see, you puts half cord - wrap one end of it on de end with cord, with the string, and the other with cord and the next one clean. De clean one must be a little higher den de end ones. But dat one in de yard [five feet from yo' door] - don't wanta put nothing on it. That's a footwalk. Ev'ry time dey be walking on dat, dey mighta know what coming. And if you feel, while dis man coming in - turn on it - must never be backward and all - let him come right in de house - let him look - no matter where he look. He might hunt chure house up and down, look at this, looking at that walking stick, that stick what you got in the middle of your yard, and he'll come out chure - ain't nuthin in yore house.
(That's if the law has come after you to arrest you for bootlegging.)
Put 'em [sticks] there and they walk over 'em all de time.
(Well, now, that stick in the middle of the door, how do you wrap that?)
Don't wrop dat atall. De two on de sides [of the door] you wrap dat - dat's de two guards, like two guards.
(Ohl You wrap that string around the two on the sides?)
De cord. Wrap it about that thick, couple inches on both ends - what chew leave on de top and drive it on down you know. And have it clear dat nobody won't have to stub. Drive that other one down without anything on it. Wit de fourth sticking out - one about five feet from de door, de step, put dat down so dat nobody will stumble over it.
(Do you put any cord around that one?)
No, de two of 'em dat be - two have to be not have anything on 'em. (The one in the middle of the door [at the sill] and the one out in the middle of the yard [five feet from de door] don't have anything on them.) See, dat's what you call dressin' dem two on de [each] side [of the door] - de guards, see. (I see. Now here's the stick on the side. You wrap around the top of that, wrap around the bottom of the stick, and then you drive it down in the ground.) Even down in the ground - see, so's nobody won't see it.
(You leave part of that stick outside the ground?)
No, don't leave part of that out of the ground atall. De middle stick, you leaves jest about a tip-end - dat's you guide, you see. You use de head right out, leave dat little out and then you kin pull dat eny time. When you pull dat you see, you shake de whole three. See, dat's fo' dem to care fo' you and yo' whole house.
Entry 2518
Takes a horseshoe an' dress it in red.
(Dress it in red?)
Dress de horseshoe ovah in red an' place it in front of de do' backwards an' farwards, an' yo'll run good business. (How do you mean dress it in red? What do you do?). Yo' take an' git - have tuh git ovah at de sto' - git a red piece of cloth an' yo' jest wind dat, yo' know, dat horseshoe all ovah in dat an' place it up ovah de do', an' to de back, an' yo' won't have any trouble by yore customers - yo' draw mo' den all. Yo' takes - go in de sto' an' gits yo' Red Devil Lye an' salt, an' yo' place it at de front do' an' de back. Dat go wit dat horseshoe, an' yo' takes chamber lye, a handful of sugah, salt, an' yo' goes round dat jest befo' day, all round dat house wit dat, an' yo' got no trouble wit de sheriff or with yore house. [Perhaps the largest hand ever wrapped in red, except the treasure hunter who insulted the devil by wearing a red shirt - see No. 424, p.127.]
Entry 2519
Tuh keep the law away yo' would take yo' a horseshoe an' nail it up ovah yore front do', an' git chew a red onion an' tie it up ovah yore do' - right up ovah de front do' right in de mouth of dat horseshoe. Turn it [horseshoe] up.
(Why is it turned up?)
Yo' mus' always turn it up - dat's always tuh turn de law aroun', see. Long as it down, it's a pointed thing - it won't do yo' any good.
Entry 2520
De horse's left shoe - git two of 'em or git one tuh ev'ry do' yo' got in de house an' put it there. An' take a ten-cent [silver coin] an' a nail it up in dere an' brand dem all dere in ev'ry do' yo' got. Say dey comin' to de do' but dey ain't comin' in.
(You place that ten-cents right in the center of that shoe?)
Yessuh.
(How do you nail that shoe, put the prongs up or put the prongs down?)
Put 'em down lak dat - de left shoe.
Entry 2521
It's de same thing as ah wus tellin' yo' 'bout while ago. Dat John de Conker root, it supposed to be buried to pertec yoreself if yore house is got a front do' an' a back do'. Yo' bury a piece at each place an' aftah yo' bury dis piece dere, yore supposed to make yore ma'ks - dat's a cross-lak. Yo' make dat right at each do', on de do'. An' if it's possible dat chew kin git a brand-new horseshoe, one dat nobody has evah walked on, an' cover it with dat silver-lak dat come offa cigarettes [tin foil] an' hang it dere - it be best tuh put dat in de middle of yore house. Jis' say fo' instance if dere a do' heah, put it up ovah dat do'. Dey not supposed - den yo' supposed tuh not evah be bothered wit 'em any mo'.
(Not supposed to be bothered with the law.)
Entry 2522
If you are bootleggin', to keep de officers away from your house, you get nine pieces of hoof of a horse - go to de blacksmith shop git nine pieces of de hoof of a horse, see, and git nine nails. (What kind of nails?) Horseshoe nails out of de shop - see, nine pieces of de hoof and nine horseshoe nails. An' git chew two piece of ginger and ten pieces of black pepper, see, an' grind it up together and boil dose horsehoofs and nails all to- gether. Den sprinkle dat from yore gate to yore house, see, and when de officers come dey can't - dey turn down de other street and can't come by your house.
Entry 2523
To have good luck with a boss for a job, yo' always use that sugar - 'vapored [evaporated = refined] sugar [don't use brown sugar on a white boss] - use your sulphur, sprinkle that in your pocket with your sugar. Yo' take your cinnamon bark - you put that in your pocket. All right, any time you go to speak to him, he's always willing [to speak to you]. [Another method.] You take his name and you write it three times - you lay it out on a piece of plain paper and you fold that to you. Don't never fold nothing from you if you want it to be close to you. If you running a place of business and you don't want the laws to bother you. You go to - like a blacksmith shop - like a - you know where they shoe horses at. You walk in there and you ask the man for a couple of [two] horseshoe nails, and he'll give 'em to you. Understand. But don't you take 'em, but you pay 'im for them. You understand. Now, in this you Wanta be lucky - you know, something like you running a place and you wanta have good luck at your place. You take them there [two nails] and you get you - buy you a pink ribbon - a little narrow pink ribbon, and you take them nails and you cross em like a cross, and you wrap that ribbon around 'em and hang it up over your front door where everyone comes in, comes in under that. And you always - when anyone comes, you going to have plenty, plenty, plenty trade. And they ain't going to bother looking. This man that give you them nails, now, when you offer to pay 'em for them, he don't want it, but you give him a nickel or dime or something for them nails any- how. He going to tell you, "Ah, they ain't worth nothing - take plenty." But you always hand him a nickel or dime, so you really having to buy 'em, you under- stand. And lay it down there for him. See. Course, if he just give 'em to you and you don't give him nuthin, they ain't any good to you. Anything that you can get - fust walk out and get it for nothing - that's no trouble for you to get, and you don't know how it come, then it s no benefit to you. Anything that you have trouble to get, why it's a benefit to you. You want to take care of it, you see.
(The law?)
You take the law's name - see, just like that law what you know is bad about raiding or something, you take his name and you write it nine times and fold it to you, you see. You fold it up and you wear it in your shoe. You take them horseshoe nails - them two nails that I told you - and cross 'em and put 'em up over your door. If he comes there, he ain't going to bother you. If any other law comes in town, he'll always know it, so he'll notify you or somebody - see, you ain't got no graft or nuthin to pay. Keep the graft and all out of your way.
Entry 2524
Now in that line [bootlegging line] ah have sold whiskey. Ah haven't tried anything but sell whiskey in that line. Ah goes downtown to a drug store and ah git some incense, this incense and burn that and ah have been successful in selling whiskey - didn't have trouble about de police. (What kind of incense did you buy?) Any kind of incense.
(You burn that at a certain time?)
Yes, yo' burn it in de morning and at night - early in de morning and at night.
Entry 2525
Yo' git de dragon blood, devil's-shoestring an' incense, an' yo' burn dat in yore house all de time; git chew sulphur an' yo' burn dat an' yo' incense, an' yo' have plenty customers an' nobody tuh bother yo'.
Entry 2526
Oil of cinnamon, dragon's blood, an' den devil's-shoestring. [Three ingredients.]
(Well, now, how do you prepare those? What do you do with them?)
Yo' buys dat right out de druggist. Yo' burn 'em, burn 'em all together an' put 'em in de fo' corners of yore house - jes' same as yo' in heah now in dis house heah.
(What would that do for me then?)
Give luck - good luck an' successful.
(Bringing in customers to buy from me.)
Entry 2527
Yo' git dragon's blood an' yo' git de wisteria incense an' yo' git lodestone. [Three ingredients.] Yo' pound dis up together - dis dragon's blood an' yo' put it wit dis wisteria an' de lodestone. Yo' git pulverized [lode]stone an' yo' burn dis at de do' at nine a'clock in de mawnin' an' as yo' close at night. Dat'll make yore business prosperous.