Subject:Powder/Brown
Entries
Entry 2440
Ah'll git me some powder, luck powder - dat brown luck powder, call fo' brown luck powder, an' ah'll fix mah do', mah do'sill. Den ever'thing will be all right, ever'thing will turn in yore way. (You mean the customers will come in?) Yeah. [Brown luck powder is like the use of brown sugar and brown paper; see latter two in Index.]"
Entry 3266
To give a man a disease, she kin take an' hole [hold] a silvah dime in 'er mouth. See, she take an' hole a silvah dime in 'er mouth. She take de wax out of 'er years [ears] an' when she go to fool aroun' wit yoreself [with a man] yo' undahstan', she kin put dat on de head of it, if she gits a chance to do it she put dat on de head of it, yo' see. Now, when yo' go to have any connections wit 'er, yo' undahstan', an' when yo' go to discharge, she's got dat dime in de cornah of 'er mouth. An' when yo' 中商 goes to dis- charge, she put it in de roof of 'er mouth. She hole it in de roof of 'er mouth an' dat's goin' to strain yo', see. It'll strain yo' an' by strainin' yo', dis here wax what she'd taken outa her years an' put on yo', yo' see, dat's goin' to burn. Dat burn, dat make yo' tendah dere dat's goin' to give yo' a cut, see. An' den dat strain yo' in de back an' when yo' git through, when yo' git up from dere, de nex' mawnin' when yo' look at yore self, yo' got what yo' call a cleft. Yo' see, yo' got a cleft. An' den from a cleft it'll turn into maybe a shingle. An' dat'll cause maybe fer yo' to be op- erated on. If yo' let it run, come too bad, dey might have to operate on yo'. She give it to yo' dataway. An' de shankle is de worst disease dat a person kin have, excusin' de pox. See? Well, den yo' kin git de pox off of de same thin'.
(That same way? That same woman?)
Yes, sir.
(What do they use to get rid of those things?)
Well, now, if she wuz givin' yo' anythin' of dat sort - shankle, or pox or somepin of dat sort, yo' git yo' some of dis brown healin' powdah, dey call it.
Entry 5185
Dat's anothah way dat dey are supposed tuh bring a person back. Yo' supposed tuh have nine ole shoes an' yo' supposed tuh put sugah an' bluestone an' dis very brown powdah dat looks lak - ah don't know now whethah it's - it's not de same. It has de same smell but it's not de same kinda powdah, but it supposed tuh be de same kinda powdah dat chew put on yo' - dat de women use on dey face. But howevah, dey call it love powdah. An' yo' sup- posed tuh put dose three things intuh dis heah [shoe] an' yo' supposed tuh burn one of dose shoes evah mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's till yo' burn all de shoes up. An' dat's tuh show yo' special favors an' control. Supposed tuh be controllin' powah ovah some individual dat chew interested in.