Author Archives: Paige Zimmerman

ABC Game

Context: This game was played primarily in camp settings, where two players would grip hands, as in a thumb war, and take turns extending and bending their elbows in time with the rhyme. The goal of the game was to be the one with their arm/elbow extended when the last line of the rhyme was spoken.

H.I. : Yeah, okay. So, it’s kinda like a childhood song, like a game. And I think it originally started like at summer camp? Um, but it’s just like, I guess it’s like, you know like, a hand game
P.Z. : Like lemonade? Sort of?
Kind of. Yeah, it’s like, should I do it? (singing) It’s like A, B, C, it’s easy as a 1, 2, 3, my momma’s take care of me, my daddy said do re mi, ooh, aah, I wanna piece of pie, pie too sweet, I wanna piece of meat, meat too tough, I want my money back, coming back to, wait, money back too green, I want a jelly bean, jelly bean not cooked, I wanna read a book, book not read, I wanna go to bed, bed not made, I want some lemonade, lemonade too sour, I wanna take a shower, shower too cold, I wanna piece of gold, gold too shiny, I wanna kiss my heiny, heiny too dirty, I wanna count to thirty, thirty too high, I wanna say bye, bye too sad, I wanna talk to dad, dad too dull, I wanna go to mall, mall too cheap, I wanna buy a Jeep, a Jeep is a car that goes beep beep
P.Z. : Okay, and did it normally go that fast?
H.I. : Yeah.
P.Z. : Okay and what were like the hand motions?
H.I. : It’s just, you do that (grab opposite hands of other player, making an X with left hand grabbing left, and right grabbing right)
P.Z. : Just like criss cross the whole time?
H.I. : Yeah, just like criss cross.
P.Z. : Patty cake style?
H.I. : Or, like, yes.
P.Z. : It’s just back and forth.
H.I. : Exactly.
P.Z. : Alright. And was this only done with one other person?
H.I. : Yeah, just one other person, and it was like the fastest you go is like better. Usually what you’re trying to do is the last one the jeep jeep you’re trying to like hit the person.
P.Z. : Oh, okay, but push them backwards.
H.I. : Yeah.

Thoughts: I also went to summer camps growing up, so while I had never personally heard of this game, I knew of many similar ones. The more that we discussed how the game was played and the lyrics of the song, the more similarities I was able to see between numerous other childhood songs and games from my own time as I had been growing up.

Bloody Mary

Context: H.A. learned about this legend and the corresponding game in the early to mid 2000s while at elementary school.

H.A. : Alright, so, Bloody Mary was a little game that my friends and I would play when we were in like fourth, fifth grade? And um yeah so basically we would turn off, and because we didn’t have anywhere to go we would do it in the bathroom.
P.Z. : In your house? At school?
H.A. : At school. Okay, at school. And um we would turn off all the lights, there was, it’s actually kind of funny, there was still light from outdoors, so there was no way around that. So it wasn’t completely dark, but ideally you’re in a completely dark room and like you hold a candle in your hands. And um basically one person, a designated person, is supposed to say, is supposed to stand in front of the mirror and say “Bloody Mary” three times, and then when you open your eyes, Bloody Mary is supposed to appear, and she’s supposed to like pull you into the mirror. Or legend says. Never happened to us, good thing, but we’re, um, we’re, we’re safe, but a lot of girls at school were doing that a lot. And the principal got concerned and it’s basically banned at our school now.
P.Z. : Gotcha.

Thoughts: This was very similar to my own experience. The only difference in my own version is what happened after Bloody Mary appeared. However, this is a fairly popular story that I think is and will remain popular for years to come.

Cure for Hangovers

Context: M.Z. learned about this cure from his mother while growing up in the American Southwest.

M.Z. : Okay, so the first one would be my mother’s cure for hangovers she swore that the best thing for a hangover was to get a Coca-Cola from a soda fountain, it could not be in a can or a bottle Add to be out of a soda machine and that was the only thing along with Saltine crackers that would settle your stomach and help you cure a hangover.
P.Z. : Just drinking and eating those two things? Nothing else?
M.Z. : Yep, yep those were the two key ingredients. You could eat other stuff but that was you had to have the soda fountain Coca-Cola.

Thoughts: I’ve heard of a variety of hangover cures, and it seems that it is traditionally some sort of food or drink concoction. This meant that I wasn’t surprised by this cure, although I had never heard of this one specifically.

Cure for Hiccups

Context: M.Z. learned about this cure while growing up with his family in the American Southwest.

M.Z. : And the cure that I was taught when I was little for hiccups um which I don’t remember exactly where this came from but it was through the family was that you would put a pencil in between your teeth. You would get a full glass of water. You would then try and drink the glass of water from the back side of the glass so you basically had to turn your head almost upside down and drink the water bending over with the pencil in between your teeth.
P.Z. : From the backside of the glass… So you’re folded forwards…
M.Z. : Yes.
P.Z. : Tilting the glass up to drink out of it —
M.Z. : No, tilting the glass —
P.Z. : Oh, down?
M.Z. : Well, the, the bottom of the glass goes towards your chest because you’re leaning forward. So you had to drink it that way. And I think the key was, if you didn’t drown, you somehow were so distracted your hiccups went away.

Thoughts: Overall, this was one of the most intensive hiccup cures I’ve heard, but supposedly it has proved relatively effective. I thought that this was an extremely interesting cure, and it was one I had never come across before.