Judy Bailey interview with Wanda Pitman Cox

The John Burrison Georgia Folklore Archive recordings contains unedited versions of all interviews. Some material may contain descriptions of violence, offensive language, or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. There are instances of racist language and description, particularly in regards to African Americans. These items are presented as part of the historical record. This project is a repository for the stories, accounts, and memories of those who chose to share their experiences for educational purposes. The viewpoints expressed in this project do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the Atlanta History Center or any of its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The Atlanta History Center makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interviews and expressly disclaims any liability therefore. If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Please note that the Eeny, meeny, miny, moe counting-out rhyme contains racist language. In this recording, Judy Bailey interviews Wanda Pitman Cox about superstitions from her hometown of McCaysville, Georgia, beginning with some related to conception, pregnancy, and infants. The conversation then turns to anecdotal healing practices and amulets, such as horseshoes and rattlesnake rattles. At 04:04, Cox explains methods of predicting the weather, then returns to the topic of superstitions around infant mortality as well as signs of an approaching visitor. They also discuss superstitions pertaining to bodily cues, like an itchy nose. Next at 5:56, they discuss superstitions surrounding marriage and courtship, as well as strange coincidences and mystical warnings associated with the death of a relative. After a brief pause at 7:48, the interview resumes at 8:00 with Cox repeating many of her previous stories. Then, at 12:13, she shares some of a former neighbors alternative medicine practices, such as removing warts by describing the surrounding environment. At 13:19 Cox recalls chanting counting-out rhymes on the playground, then closes the interview by discussing her early life on a farm and winter traditions, like sledding on car hoods. Wanda Pitman Cox (1952-2016) was born in McCaysville, Georgia, to Sherman Walter Pitman (1904-1993) and Gladys Helton Pitman (1912-2002). She married Ernest (Jim) Gene Cox (1949-1993), with whom she had one son, Steven Cox. She owned and operated the Nifty Fifties Cafe in McCaysville, and later resided in Buford and Mineral Bluff, Georgia. Jud;y Bailey November 2G, 1973 Fol.h:lcrs- JOO: :CUT'T en She J _s "'G1,.r le r1ex-cl ' co t,n e younges'l', 01,.., nin e c,1tl-J.. .'". 'd ren, This taped converss. tion co:1cerT1.i11g various stiperstitions was done in rny home c.,n; VTednesO.ay, NovembeI' 7, TRANSCRIPTION: I want you to give me your name, age, \Vhere yot1 ":Nere l1orT1; I gue cs that~s alla What County is that? I was b0rn a.t l1ome, How maxiy children were there? There 'NBS nine i 0 I'm going to ask yo~ to.,,ah,,,tell me so~je superstitions tha..t ~/OU migL t h.ave hea:ced 'v(ner1 wer0 little or, or en inor dontt or think they're all bad. or phoney or vvhetter \Vhich ones yov. vve hB.d exps1ie.nces witL c.nd so:me stuff like that, I gt.:tess the logic81 thing 'Lu <lu v,roulO. be to start at the begin.(t:ing a.bout superstitions., vvith 0t11:ersti tions aliout 1JcLbies, a ... nd pregr.rant worr1en and stuff' Uike t}u1t. You can just tell thern to me and periences with thema ALL :cigh'L11 g ,vh1111 ~I!Jve hear<l if a pregne.nt V.Iomet1 bas hea.1-tt;u.cns, it 0 s the bs . by es hair is growing II I don~ t belie"Ve that. Yea, tov rr1any of theni.w 'l'oo !TLS.r1y vvoiner.1. have hear"L1Yll:l'..'HS, If -so11eone that is pregnant cuts you hai:c, i.t lJ 11 grovv tvvice as fast. I don't knew v1hen a pregnant woma.n cuts your lu3.ir, but I :know vvhen yo1..1 !/re pregnant it grows fast. If :yott have a little desire for sex V\1hi1e you ~ re pregna.nt, then th~:i.t 's supposed to 1r.tean -that tJ1e unborn child \Nill 1.Je a Doy ii If you don~ t. get the things ;y011. cra.'ve v.?1-1ile yvu ~ re pregnant, vv-f1sn the "baby- 9 s that ii If you see three pregna1"1t ~,Norr1et: in une de.:y, tJ.en yvu' 11 oecorne the next one pregnant. 1\t the time of ccnception, a.t the tiroe uf concei:;tiu.n, if the ffia.n crosses over the v1oman, he 11 s supposed to have the lsllorpa.i11s at Dirth II I wish but I don't believe that. If a b?bY tha.t the next 1Ja.0y v1ill be a. girl; if it says D.ADDY f t, that J.Tle ans i/lhen I v1a.s a baby, I had a. second cou.sin v1ho had never see:n 1'1is Louk 1ne to a_ spring, I had th:cash, and he toofi me to a spring arid Ilitrde me drink out of the heel of his shoe. Well, I don't hnuw but my I\1lo1n said it cured. itlt And what's it aboutthee111twha.t gi"Jes hi1n the power to do that? He's never seen. his father. H father died befure he v1a.s born. That Os supposed to give l1im powers, When I vva.s "a.bovt five yea.rs old, we had a next door i-1eightbor that ook a v:a:c-L off rny kn12:e .. 'l'ell me how he did it. I, ... be just talked about: tJ:i.e vvhat was going on, j1.:ist like Hthe 1Neather 's hot." I really don't ktHJVI' }1ov1 he did it. mysterious power. had some Did ... Did t}1a."L same gu;y, cuuld he do a.nything else or did he just ta.h:e warts off? Um QI ... he didn 1 t do anything else "but he had horseshces or1 e>/ery door in his house. It was supposed tu keep off evil spirits, Ch, had. a rattle.:c from a rattle snake and he hung it over the head of his bed., V!hat \Nas that for? Tho.t wo..s supposed to keep him sa.fe a.t night, keep him from all bads. He vias a very superstition, sur,,ert.iti tious person* Like, if he saw a sl:i.irl of sa.11ci. blowing toward running 1Nater, he'd say ''it's goin' a rain. 11 How else can you tell the wea~her? If you ki11 a snake a.nd lay it on its back with its be1ly toward the sky, it's suppused to rain, If you hear crickets hollering during the day, it's supposed to rain, During the day? I never heard them during the day, I never except when it was inside the house, Yea. o Ch, .. If a baby falls off the bed, if: a baby doesn t fa.11 off the bed before it~s a ~rear old, itffll die11 If a baby sees itself in Tell tne some about .. a um a ht1W can you tell if some bod:y 's coming to see ya, Oh, if you drop a, if you're doing the dishes and drop a dish rag in the floor, you 're supposed to have somebody oornin', If you drop a. spoon, sowebody's comin', If your nose is itching, somebody's cornin', If your eye's itching, you're going to be mad at somebody, If your bact itches, you' re going to get a v,hipping. If your ea.rs are burning, somebody's talking a.bout you, Keep going; you~re doing great. You can''L t:hi:r1k of any- more? Tell me some 6'.bout. 3 ~vh. 9 .love and courtsl1ip and sorne rua.rriage superstitions, like, you know, you're supposed to have a penny in your shoe for good luck. Oh, something, sonJ.ething old, something new, something borrov1ed, something blue. And what about the bridegrrorn not supposed to see the bride on the anything about death and or funerals or anything about.,. If' somebody dies, somebody's su.pposed to 00 bo::nw.. I 1uinda believe that e Wl"ien I vvas little people used to tell rn.e if you ~d see soemthing shooting a.cress the sky, a star VJas falling and not to look at it 'ca.use sorr:2body vvac, dy-i.ng. Have you heord "that? w;y r,Tom l1eliev12::;:::5 in warnings. She reB.11:y does a l'he rnor.ning 1n;y uL.cle he wor<ked in a nd.ne, in the m0Lning rny uncle died, all .. morning lor1g she said she somebody calling her. She looked loohed and looked for 'erc1, .And he got killed about, .. urn,. ,noontiir.. e anO_ after lunch she did:n 1 t hear it any xnore. Thatus wierd .And tlight before my brother go killed in a car e .. ccident, she had a dream that on of her kids got its neck broke. It waf;n 't the one that got killed; it was one of the others oi Vlhen my grandfather died, my niece v1as bvrn. Vlh0t1 1u;:I b:co,the:t' vvas }cilled, I ha.d another neice borna When Jim's uncl2 died, Steven wa.s born. That~ s 1N ierci a I've known a lot of , . ' . . ~ cases wner1 Jus~ ... co1nc1aences. Tell rue some more, Tell rne so:me more. I caL' t t1'1ink of any more. ~ have conc1udeU as a rest:tlt of stv.ding this tape and a.lso my inforn.Larrts personal life t}1at my informant is more familiar \Vth the superstitions concerning preg:G.a.ncy, blrth, and infancy 01 This is a direct result of her recentl~/ having her ffv-Jn ~ was recently iDv0lved folklore. , Nuvernlie1 ho:rse 11 He lH1d his entire life been srJe.n-t in Gwinnett CourJty shodding ho1)ses,. his fathere f'rlust of J ,,R ~ 11 8 tools &re ma:n.ufactured but he can remeuJJer times watching his father a..n.d g:car1dfather blov\1ing eve~ ls pou.ndir1g the metci.l into horse::/bue shape. every time. First, he cleans the left front hoof and files it; next, the right froLt hoof is cleaned and filed.* Then, he fits the shoes to the frunt }Joofs,. Jle alvva.ys puts the sa.rne ria.ilE: in fi:cst 0t1 every shoe holds hoof i.n the so.me positions,. Vlhen the fr-ont hoofs are cornple ted, the SB.Fie procedure is do.n.e on th8 back lieg ing with the left hoof, When I asked hiw vlhy are t~ne particular or-der}3, he exr;lained l;y 0ay ing, "a Ca.use that's -Lhe it t:Lnd his before GEORGIA FOLKLORE ARCHIVES CATALOGUE LOCATION ~ research done: ~~,V"\ nunity: igin of folklore recorded (if different from ation of informant): ormant(s): \J""'~<>- ~--,-~ Lc7 name: ::i~l'o 1s~,k6 ar, an d c 1 ass: Ij " l'l 1~1-3 GEORGIA FOLKLORE ARCHIVES CATALOGUE SUBJECT ,nre: 10\(( ~\'i_s JJnber of items ( where applicable): ltle or brief de@cFiption of each item: :3~0 ,s,,\-,o------<> "'...,._ ~,,..,i-.,._ G---~o,.rc;a..... '.'Om whom and where collected:\Jc,,,\),.__ \\\""''"~ Cox - ~,,__,:,__ illector' s name _jv,~0 ~",\"'<r iarter, year, and class: \._\\ \1'rJ .F.A.#: j GEORGIA FOLKLORE -ARCHIVES CATALOGUE COLLECTOR "P ermanent o address and phone number: Quarter and year: ~ \ \ I 4 1- :0 Class: ~o\K 30D Brief description of contents: S ~7...r~( -1--,'-~ \, ,,-\',_ ,_Q Q '-~ J.\,__ G.F.A. ti INFORMANT Name: \JJ,~ y,-1."--"'-~ Coy Mailing address and phone number: Age:. Race and/or ethnic affiliation: Genres contributed: S~u-s--1..+,~, Collector's hame: _jcS, 0 ~,\,2,Quarter, Year and claa~ : ~ \ \ \ "\ "'l- 3 G.F.A. II ES TALOGUE GEORGIA FOLKLORE ARCHIVES CATALOGUE LOCATION County where research done: Sr~V" Town or community: Place of origin of folklore recorded (if different from present location of informant): Name of informant(s): \j "~~L, .. <;r ',~~ Le I Collector's name: :') ~LG 11,"J,_~cr Qu arter, year, an d c 1 ass: ~j " I.1' 1~1'3 G.F.A. II GEORGIA FOLKLORE ARCHIVES CATALOGUE SUBJEC:r 1. Genre: 1o\ (( i-uc\'is 2. Number of items ( where applicable): 3. Title or brief ,te@cr>iption of each item: 3 4 ,rs\, L,,,_.,,, ~- ~O-,r~ C-i,o </'t- 4. 5. 6. From whom and where collected:\Jct,SL .. 'i?,\"'-'"- Cox - ~"-~ Collector's name .. Jv,~0 ~,J<c(l' Quarter, year, and class: \.,\\ \1'\'J GEORGIA FOLKLORE ARCHIVES CATALOGUE COLLECTOR lip (1 ermanent address and phone number: Quarter and year: y\ \ 19 T~ Class: ~o\V, 300 G.F.A. ii INFORMANT Name: \ o.,_jL,_, Y ,-\, "-''- CO 1 Mailing address and phone number: Age:. Race and/or ethnic affiliation: __ Genres contributed: Sc-tu-s--1.-+,.,:__, Collector's 1'ame: ..JcJi0 ~,\1c-1, Quarter, Year and cl,m~: ~\\ \"\"t3 G.F.A. 11 ES C TALOGUE A PDF transcript exists for this recording. Please contact an archivist for access. Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions. As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information, which places us inaposition to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, andbias isreflected in our descriptions, whichmay not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materialsaccurately.Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment.We often re-use language used by the former owners and creators, which provides context but also includes bias and prejudices of the time it was created.Additionally,our work to use reparative languagewhereLibrary of Congress subject termsareinaccurate and obsolete isongoing. 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