Author Archives: Adam Schall

Folk Medicine

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Dallas, TX
Performance Date: March 27, 2008
Primary Language: English

To Cure a Hangover:

  • Pour a can of Coke in a glass
  • Put one tablespoon of salt in the Coke and stir
  • Chug the drink as fast as possible as the salt causes the Coke to bubble quickly

“I learned this remedy back home from a friend of mine.  He had told me that his older brother taught him about this hangover cure, so I tried it one day and it actually worked.  I think it has something to do with the carbon dioxide in the Coke reacting with the salt that causes it to fizz so much.  When you do chug the drink, it tastes kind of bad and it is actually difficult to drink the entire glass that quickly.  When you do chug the drink it is almost like getting a brain freeze from ice cream, but after that feeling fades away so does the hangover.  I don’t use this remedy all the time, in fact I’ve probably only used it three or four times, but I’m telling you, it does work.”

Many remedies for hangovers are a part of folk medicine; in fact, almost all are because there is not a scientific solution to cure a hangover.  I’ve heard another similar remedy of chugging a bottle of water before going to bed and waking up, after a night of drinking, however that does not immediately cure a hangover and can be linked to the scientific fact that alcohol causes dehydration.  I believe most hangover remedies are spread from older college students to younger siblings and peers, as it did in this case.

Folk Song – Monticello, Virginia

Nationality: American
Age: 88
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Boca Raton, FL
Performance Date: April 04, 2008
Primary Language: English

Rise up, Rise up darling Billie

What makes you sleep so sound

The revenue officers are coming

They’re gonna tear your still house down

Well the first time I seen darling Billie

She was sitting on the banks of the sea

Had a forty-four around her body

And a banjo on her knee

Go away go away darling Billie

Quit hanging around my bed.

Your liquor has ruined my body

Pretty women gone to my head

Leah learned heard this song as a child growing up in the town of Monticello, Virginia.  She believes that she learned it from her father, but thinks it could have also been sung to her by her older brother Jack Brown.  The above lyrics are not the entire song, but it is all that Leah remembers and she does not know the name of the song as well.  “I believe that the song is referring to a promiscuous girl, named Billie, who sleeps around.  I feel that the message in the song is to keep young girls from acting promiscuous or else there will be rash punishments.”  Her cousins who lived in South Carolina also knew the song as well, but because it was passed along through the family.

I agree with Leah in the sense that this song is meant to prevent young girls from acting promiscuous.  This is supported by the fact that either her father or brother sang her this song, both being protective masculine figures who are warning their daughter or sister.  I also feel that the song infers male promiscuity and irresponsibility as well.  Specifically by telling Billie to “quit hanging around in my bed” and claiming that the “liquor has ruined my body”.  By looking at historic geographic along with the words used in the folk song, it seems to have originated in the south or southeast, near some body of water.  Also, the terminology in the song appears old fashioned and could mean the song originated in the late 19th century to early 20th century.

Good Luck Charm – Great Britain

Nationality: English
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Westlake Village, CA
Performance Date: April 02, 2008
Primary Language: English

Fleur de Lis

“I got this necklace as a freshman in high school from my grandmother who is from Great Britain.  Fleur de lis means flower of the lily, and the symbol represents light and life.  Ever since she gave me the necklace I have worn it everyday as a good luck charm.  It also reminds me of my grandmother and my family.  In a sense it also is a representation of my family to me.  I have seen other people wear the necklace as well as the symbol used in different ways.  For instance, the New Orleans Saints football team has the fleur de lis as their team logo.  When I have children I want to buy them similar necklaces too or even pass mine down to them.”

This is the second good luck charm that I have collected in this project and both originated from Europe.  Also in both cases, the people who owned the good luck charm received it from a grandparent who was born in a European country.  Although these are only two cases, there is clearly some commonality between the two.  In both cases, the charms served to represent their original meaning as well as reminding the two subjects of their families.  Matt mentioned how the flour de lis is the team symbol for the New Orleans Saints, and I have observed that it is the symbol for the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority here at USC.  ?

Practical Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Clarksville, IN
Performance Date: March 25, 2008
Primary Language: English

Senior Prank:

“I remember my brother being involved in a Senior Prank when he was about to graduate.  He and his friends were able to get three pigs – don’t know how they got them, he would never tell me – and then they spray painted the numbers 1,2, and 4 on the pigs.  What they did was let the pigs loose on campus and the next day the principal and staff were gathering the pigs, but were searching for a pig with the number 3 on it.  That was the whole point of spray-painting numbers 1 through 4 leaving out 3.  There was a huge meeting with the principal and the entire grade, but my brother never got in trouble”.

Stephanie is four years younger than her older brother Steven, so she was not at school when the prank took place.  When I asked her if she knew why her brother took part in the prank she said, “It was just a tradition that senior guys did at my high school.  A year later the seniors stuck hundreds of plastic forks all over the lawn where you enter school.  The year after, the senior guys stacked all of the lunch tables in the middle of campus.  After that year, security on campus tightened up over the last few weeks of school to prevent any pranks from happening”.  I asked Stephanie if girls were ever involved in the pranks and she claimed, “Girls never get involved, I don’t know why.  I guess it’s a guy thing”. Stephanie said that students always enjoyed the senior pranks so much that underclassmen would “look forward to seeing what was in store each year.”

I did further research about this prank because I myself have heard of it before from other students.  With a simple search on Google, hundreds of pages show up with this prank, most commonly called “The Pig Prank”.  The senior prank represents the liminal period for high school seniors.  These students are in a period of time between the last few weeks of high school and graduation, and the senior prank is a practical joke, which is an apparent trait of liminal periods.  The common ideology behind these pranks is that since the “pranksters” can’t get in trouble since they are in this liminal period.  It is interesting that Stephanie says that no girls partake in this high school ritual.  I have never heard any senior prank involve girls myself, which might relate to the origins of senior pranks, which potentially began with males.

Folk Medicine

Nationality: Chinese-American
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: April 08, 2008
Primary Language: English

Cure for Soar Throat:

  • Glass of hot water
  • Squeeze half of a lemon in the water
  • Place a tablespoon of honey in the glass
  • Stir and serve

Chris grew up in San Diego all of his life and learned this remedy from his Chinese grandmother.  “Growing up, my family was very close and my grandma was always over at my house.  It tends to be a common trend with Chinese families to have close ties with your elders.  My mother is Chinese and my father is American, but still, my mom’s mom always came over and I had a close relationship with her.  Whenever I would be sick, throughout all of my childhood in San Diego, my grandmother would make me this drink and it tended to work the majority of the time, unless I was extremely sick.  If that was the case it did help temporarily.  She probably first gave me this drink when I was five years old.  A simple remedy like this is something that will always make me smile even if I’m not feeling too good, because it will remind me of her.  It’s one of those things that I will definitely pass on to my kids when they have a soar throat”.

Different cultures from across the world tend to have their own remedies for situations where someone isn’t feeling well.  From a personal standpoint, the Jewish version of this remedy is a bowl of chicken noodle soup.  It seems that a simple Chinese remedy, in this case, has more meaning than just trying to cure a soar throat.  There is clear sentimental value for Chris since it reminds him of his childhood and his grandmother.  It is also a case where someone who has parents from two different cultures, in this case American and Chinese, will pass on a specific cultural remedy to another generation.  As this process continues, it will become harder to trace which culture the remedy originated from, as cultures begin to homogenize.