Subject:Dollar
Entries
Entry 3773
Go to de cemetery an' he git de two nettles call bull nettle - one's a he an' [the other's] a she. He git dat bull nettle out de cemetery close by somebody's grave an he chew dat. (Which does he get, the he or the she?) De he, an' he chews dat. An' he'd make him a tonic of dat an' drink it an' evah- thing will be all right fo' a while, but go to de bank an' git chew a bran'-new two-dollah bill an' take it an' rub it dat way about ten minute, an' go on 'bout 'is business.
(HE RUBS HIS TOOL WITH THAT NEW TWO-DOLLAR BILL?)
BRAN'-NEW ONE NOBODY AIN'T USED - TWO-DOLLAH BILL. HE'LL COME [ACTIVE AND SPRY] AN' TELL YO' "GOOD MAWNIN'" AN' "HOWDY."
(But he has to use both the bull nettle and the two-dollar bill together?)
[My assumption was probably based upon the double greeting!]
Yo' don't have to. Well, if he can't git dis, he gits de bran'-new two-dollah bill. Yes sir, he gits one or de othah. (If he can't get this bull nettle out of the graveyard, then he will get this new two-dollar bill and he rubs up with it. That the idea?) Take it an' rub de haid of it [demonstrates] till he gits hot as....
(Twisting around the head.)
Keep it [up] until he jes' commence tuh.... [It is evident that this small-time R.D. (I call him small-time root doctor in my notes) was demonstrating, rubbing an imaginary two-dollar bill in his right hand against his upright left thumb or fist substituting for the ailing member. The lacunae, deletions by transcriber of cylinders not restored by me, can be guessed.]
(That brings his nature back.)
An' den, see heah - den he goes tuh work, somebody [root doctor] will show 'im dat [he has been tricked]. He goes tuh work an' find dat cloth [she used].
Entry 3803
A man tole me dat dey had him fixed so he couldn't git nuthin from an- othah woman, an' he took about five or six half-a-dollah - silvah half-a-dollahs an' put 'em in a vessel an' let 'em boil down to a quart of watah [magic of diminishing amount] an' he drinked it an' he come to be all right.
(He just drank the water that was boiled with the silver?)
Yes sir, say he boiled dat money. [Silver-water shows that the man thought his condition was caused by a spell - see p.484f.]
Entry 6944
Well, dey say yo's hurt if it turns black, if somebody's hurt chew or tricked yo' some way, it turns black. Said yo' kin put it in yore mouth an' it will turn black, dat dime, or yo' kin weah it. Eithah a fifty cent piece or a quartah, an' it will turn black if somebody has hurt chew.
Entry 6946
Say, fer instant [instance] if somebody wus poisoned or sompin, sompin intuh 'em. Take a silvah dollah an' scrape it an' put it in a pot or kittle
[kettle] an' boil dat scrapin' an' give de individual watah. Dat's all. Dat will make dem bring dat poison back up.
Entry 7153
Dey tell me dat de women kin - 'fact a woman tried it on me - take her shoes an' turn 'em right undahneath de head of 'er bed, an' put a half a dollah undah each shoe, an' go out an' stay out, den come in, an' yo' won' know it. Yo' won' wake up until she come back an' move 'em.
Entry 10265
They say that chew can take the water off of a silver dollah and also the water off of a copper cent, and sprinkle a little bit of that with some snail dust in a woman's place there, and when a man comes there he'll get stuck just like a dog. [Following rite 10266 by same man.]
Entry 10849
If a person is stuff, yo' know, an' den dey maybe says [let us stay], dat dey has some lodestone an' dey had it workin' in dere first, see, but dat han' [of the body] is tod stiff tuh feel de money when dat lodestone draw it. [A piece of lodestone band- aged on hand before or while gambling.] Dey kill a buzzard an' bury him three days [see v.1, p.533, line 34] see. Den dey will cook dat buzzard an' den dey git dat oil, strain dat oil, an' jes' lak when dey go out in de middle of de night, dey [leave gambling room] take dat buzzard oil an' dey grease dere joints wit it, jes' a little, not much [see No.ll49, p.422, v.1] jes' grease. Aftah dey grease it, well dey come back in [return to gambling room] - grease all around an' grease back of de ears. An' dat makes 'em soup-ple [supple] an' dat makes 'em see whut come in [buzzard has keen eyes]. [While outside] put lode- stone in dere an' take it an' jes' git dat skin up enough tuh put a piece about de size of a button right in dere! An' den put a silver dollar on his tail! An' jes' come in dat house an' jes' take yore han' lak dat...
(What makes the hand stiff, though?)
Ah dunno, stiff joints. An' dey wanta be soupple, see, an' dat buzzard oil is mighty high. [If this rite means what I think it does, there is nothing quite like it! However, see the following rite for something similar.]
Entry 11284
Ah went to a hoodoo an' he tole me to git a silver dollar. Ah don't know why ah should 'splain diz or not. Whut [ah] am goin' say now, yo' know it's kinda bad thing to explain. He tole me say, "Yo' git on a woman an' while yo' on dat woman, yo' have her to tie dat knot into yore shirttail on yore back. An' dat's de best experience ah evah had in mah life.
(Tie what knot?)
Tie a knot into my shirttail - dat silver dollar tied up into mah shirttail in dat knot. Dat's de best experience ah evah had. She did it. Ah did dat.
(What kind of luck did that give you?)
Well, ah wus lucky all de time.
(In all sorts of ways?)
Yes suh.
(You mean you had to be actually on her while she tied that?)
While she tied dat knot ah'd have to be on her. An' ah tole her whut ah want to do, a silver dollar. [For a man to tie 9 knots in a string and to tie it on woman's back while loving her, compare 10678, p.4044, v.5.]
Entry 11328
A woman, that she didn't appreciate what choo do for her, and you want her to be in bad luck an' didn't want her to keep any money. An' yo' get you one dollar from her, you burn the dollar to ashes. Blow it out of your hand that way [demonstrates]. And she will never be able to keep anything in the world.
Entry 11329
Git chew three dollars.
(What kind of dollars, silver dollars or paper dollars?)
Paper dollars. An' dress dem wit some salt and some bread, an' wear it fo' three days on yo' left side, an' fo' three days yo' take an' go to three stores an' spend each one of them dollars - a dollar to each store yo' go to. An' dat'll bring yo' luck. (What kind of luck?) Well it bring yo' luck in making - gittin' holda money every day yore life.
Entry 13001
Ah've heard of a person dat gambles, if dey want 'em to have good luck in gambling, take a silver quarter [25c], a silver halfa a dollah [50c] an' dey fix dat up in a package or rag or some way, an' tote it with 'em. Keep it on 'em an' that will give 'em luck fo gambling. Use Hearts Cologne on it [to feed it].
Entry 13002
They have live things in them, you kin take a cupful of lard, and a cupful of sulphur, and you take a cupful of salt. And you puts all of that to about a quart of water and let it boil. And you take a silver [bow or beau or bull] dollar. (A silver what?) A silver dollah, a bow dollah. (A bow dollar?) They call 'em bow dollah, them silvah dollahs, one of them big round dollahs. They don't use 'em very much now [1938]. Well, you let that boil. Yo' get a [cove] oyster can [these were not the recent canned oysters kept on ice] and you let that dollah boil real good. You boil it for about a hour in that water. And you take that water, put it with this other ingredients, this cupful of lard and everything. And I mean that will certainly pass from you. You let 'em drink that fuh 9 mornings, see. Give 'em a cupful and them live things will pass. That'll kill it. An' then you take - behind that give 'em a bath, behind that a bath of saltpeter and bluestone and sulphur.
Entry 13003
Usin' a bull dollah - a silver dollah.
(They call it a bow dollar? Why do they call it a bow?)
Dey always claim they could work roots with it. (That's what they call a silver dollar: a bow dollar - bull dollar? Do you mean like a bow - like this kind of a bow?) [I demonstrate either by holding and drawing a bow, or drawing design on paper.] Ah don't know how yo' spell it. It jes' a bow. Git chew a bow dollah an' go to any sto' an' git chew a bottle of Hearts Cologne. An' yo' take this heah bow dollah an' yo' take an' rub it with this heah Hearts Cologne. An' take an' put it in a red flannel sack an' wear it round yore waist, where it will 'cumu- late money to yo', bring happiness to yo', an' yo' jes' be lucky all de time.
Entry 786
Now, let me tell you an old darky story of the Civil War. There was an ole plantation that had a lot of darkies a way up in Oaksville: He claimed that his darkies were more sensible than any other darkies in the country. Other adjoining farmers said they had the smartest and they agreed to put something under a barrel and wanted the neighborhood to come around to see if this smart darky could tell him what was under the barrel. So this farmer went out at night and put a coon under a barrel. When the neighbors gathered to see this wonderful man they put up a five-hundred dollars deposit and told him his master could get it if he could tell what was under the barrel; and tell him his master would lose' it, if he couldn't tell them what was under that barrel. He got up and walked around, all around that barrel, scratched his head and said, "Master, you've got the ole coon now." [Informant born a slave.]
Entry 1969
Ah used tuh try tuh be a gambler mahself, an' a fellah tole me, said, "yo' go an' see a fellah," an' he give yo' fo' winnin'." Well, ah went to where dis fellah tole me. Ah'm goin' [tell] yo' dis now - fellah name of Jackson, ah goes tuh see him an' ah tole him. Ah said, "Look heah, mister," ah said, "ah wants a han'." He says, "Whut degree han' did yo' want?" Ah said, "Well, if it don't cost too much, ah want jes' a han' de degree dat ah kin git." He says, "Well, ah works 25 degree, 30 an' 40." Ah said, "Well, how much would dat 40 degree be?" He said, "Dat's de best." Say, "Dat will cost yo' $25." Ah say, "How long would it las'?" He say he guarantee it fo' five yeahs anyway. An' he say, he give it, 'An' de first money dat chew win, yo' take it an' go tuh de bank an' git it in silver dollahs an' send me five of de money first." Said, "An' de next time yo' win," he say, "yo' send me all of it." Well, de first time when ah start tuh gamblin', ah start with a dollah an' ah win $25. An' ah say - an' ah rushed to de bank an' got $25 in silver an' sont him five of it. An' ah didn't win no mo' in about a month. Den de nex' game ah went in ah win $50. Well, ah sont him all de change [none of the paper money]. An' de second time ah win, he wrote me a lettah.
(What did he say in his letter?)
He tole me in de lettah dat de las' time dat ah would win, ah would have to come back an' git dat renewed agin. Well, ah nevah have went back tuh git it renewed.
Entry 2071
When you got a case or something like that and you want to get dis- charged, well you go and use a thing they call lodestone - it's two pieces, it's the he one and a she one. Take and wrap it up in a dollar.
(In a what?)
Take and wrap it up in a paper dollar.
(Paper doll?)
Paper dollar.
(Paper dollar? Oh, a dollar bill.)
Yes, a dollar bill - one dollar bill, and you wrap it up in there and you keep it in your pocket, and when you go - well, when they call you up there in front of the court, well they going to throw it out - they just going to tell you - throw it clean out of the court.
(Well, which piece of this lodestone do you use in that dollar?)
You uses two pieces - it's the he lodestone and it's the she lodestone, it's black lodestone and a white lodestone.
(Which is the black?)
It's got fringes on it just like iron rust. You see iron rust on a old piece of tin. Well, it thataway when you knock that dust off of there.
(Well, is the black the he or the she....? What color is the he lodestone?)
It's white.
(What color is the she?)
It's black. It's got kind of a nose - kind of a tip on the end of it.
(Which one?)
The black.
(Which one did you put in this dollar?)
You put both of 'em. You make two folds with that dollar and you fold it up. You put one just like that and you make another fold, you put that other piece, and you bend the four corners of it together. Then you take this and you put it in your pocket and you keep it and you go up there. Every time you go up there they discharge you or either throw it out, say you come the next day or somepin.
Entry 2105
A king snake, git his hide yo' know an' skin 'im. Take his hide an' make yo' a underwearing belt out of it - make it jest lak yo' make a money belt. Dey say if yo' put a dollah in dat belt or any piece of paper money - yo' jes' put it in dere an' wear it, dey say if yo' gamble, don't care how much money yo' lose, when yo' git back to dat dollar yo' goin' win in de game. Long as yo' kin keep dat dollar in cir- culation yo' won't nevah lose it when yo' wear it in dat belt. When yo' quit yo' jes' put it right back in dat belt.
Entry 2130
I knew a mans once, he gwine to a man to git in de gamblin' game. He gi' de man ten dollahs an' de man gi'd him 26ç back, an' he wear a penny in de left shoes an' de quarter he had all cut up, he keep dat in his pocket. De penny he wear it in his shoes.
(And what did he do with that 25c?)
Keep dat in his pocket - see, he had it all jes' scratch up.
(That was all he had to do? What did he do that for?)
Yes, say dat wus luck fo' gamblin'.
Entry 2131
[I must emphasize Silver here, because the silver coins of the United States of America in the 1930's and 40's contained silver and were in hoodoo and witchcraft magic objects - see Silver in Diagnosis, Pp.204-208; in Cure and Protection, Pp.484-493. Not every bag hand held a dime or silver piece but many of them did.] Staht [start] dat right from a dime. Yo' use a dime. Yo' kin do dat from a dime to a dollah. Yo' go tuh work an' yo' git chew a halfa pint of de very best gin Ziquor dat chew kin git holt of. Take a sewin' thimble an' yo' po' a sewin' thimble fulla Hearts Cologne into dat halfa pint of gin Ziquor an' dat 'mount of money, if it's a dime, from a dime on up to a dollah, lak yo' let it soak dere ovah night into dat half pint of gin liquor. An' yo' put dat into yore right pocket an' yo' go befo' de boss de next mawnin'. De re'lly fac' about it, suh, yo' may have tuh make 'bout three trips. Yo' may make three trips befo' he make any oath - befo' he give yo' de job.
Entry 2134
Take a silver dollar and scrape the, yo' know, the United States things off it an' sew it up in a sealed cloth, an' dat gives yo' good luck.
(Luck for what?)
Most anything.
Entry 2129
My wife was sick all the time and she came there to the house and when I came in she wanted to sell me a hand. She said I could get a job any time. So I bought the hand from her. It was nothing more than a piece of red flannel made in a bag and some kind of hair. It wasn't no count. I paid a dollar and a half for it. She told me to carry that in my pocket and if I wanted a job to ask for it and I would always get it. That's what she told me. I didn't do it.
Reported purchase price of a dollar and a half. The narrator calls the hand no count and says I didn't do it. The source specifies no coin, banknote or money-attraction purpose and establishes no employment result.