Subject:Clothesline
Entries
Entry 12280
Yo' kin tie a knot in a rope or either in a pocket han'ke'ch'ef or sompin lak dat an' yo' kin use it. Dat's whut dey call a jinx to peoples. Ah could tie a knot in yore pocket han'ke'ch'ef an' dat could be a jinx to yo'. An' aftah [that] ah wash it an' den pressed it out. Dat's ohut dey call a jinx to a person. It's no luck to nobody, a pocket han'ke'ch'ef wit knots in it. Or either some peoples passes by yo' might seen clothes line hangin' out. Peoples could put knots in dat fo' a jinx to peoples which dey call bad luck. An' den dey kin fix it in dere fo' luck fo' peoples. It's a certain way dey tie it. Some of 'em tie it in a bow knot an' some they call it in de crawfish oot an'....
Entry 2389
I was on board of a ship that the mate was a kind of mean man and he hung his clothes upon the line to be brushed. And the steward brushed them and every time the steward brushed them he [the mate] hollered. The steward had him a witchcraft hand. He carried it in his pocket and every time he hit these clothes on the line, the mate would holler. That was 50 years ago (1886). That was the S. S. Lizzie(?) Scofield. We were off the coast of West Africa. [Informant 8 years old when Civil War began.]