When my informant was in middle school, she heard what she now knows is a legend. However, at the time in which she heard this she was completely disgusted and horrified. The following is her account of the Legend of KFC: “ When I was in middle school, my class mate walked up to me during recess and said “have you heard about the fake chicken at KFC?” She went on to tell me that Kentucky Fried Chicken changed its name to KFC because they don’t use real chicken anymore. She explained this chicken as being a genetically modified specimen of sorts…a creature that didn’t even have a beak or feathers! She said that this explains why they don’t use the word chicken on their menu anymore.” After rushing home and telling her mother about this KFC horror, my informant quickly learned that this was in fact a legend, and far from the truth.
Category Archives: Legends
Cracking your Knuckles Causes Arthritis
My informant told me that as a child she would always crack her knuckles. She admits that it was a terrible habit, but it was something she did without even noticing. Every time her grandma was would catch her in the act she would snap and say “ Don’t crack your fingers you’re going to get Arthritis and have chubby hands like me!” My informant said that she vividly remembers the first time her grandma said this to her. She remembers looking down at her grandmother’s hands and thinking to herself and saying, “she’s probably right, she does have chubby fingers and her hands always hurt.” Fearful that she would end up with aching, chubby hands, my informant tried to stop this bad habit. However, she still hears her grandma’s voice in the back of her head every time she’s in the midst of cracking her knuckles.
Douftie Agha Kherseh “Story of Mr. Bear”
There was a farmer that befriended a bear. The farmer took care of him and they became best friends that did everything together. One day there was a fly on the farmers face, so the bear took a rock to try and get the fly off, but accidentally sliced the farmer’s face. The moral of the story is that you shouldn’t be friends with anyone that just comes into your life you should choose you’re friends wisely.
Nose Picking & The Fire Department
“When I was little, my grandfather told me if I picked my nose, I don’t know if this counts. He told me that if I picked my nose, that my finger would get stuck, and the only way I could get it out is if I called the fire department, and they would have to cut my hand off. I was totally afraid of him when I was little.”
The informant recalls her grandfather telling her stories to ‘spook her’ when she was little. She believes he was trying to be funny, since he wasn’t very good with kids. She says he also used to tell her mother the same story when she was little, and continued to pass the trauma down to future generations. This story is different from the average folk belief or superstition because the informant’s grandfather did not necessarily believe the story, but came up with it as a way to trick her. However, since she believed it when she first heard it, it became ‘real’ for her. This instance is slightly reminiscent of fakelore, where one party generates fake folklore (e.g. Paul Bunion) for gain, but the fakelore becomes accepted as true folklore. Obviously, this example is on a much smaller scale.
Edgar Allen Poe’s grave tradition
My informant is from Maryland originally but moved around the country a lot growing up. The setting of this collection is my bedroom, and one of my roommates doing homework on the other side of the room. My informant lives down the hall from me and stopped by to say hello, which led to me telling her about the folklore collection archive. My informant told me about a legend from Maryland about Edgar Allen Poe.
Informant: Edgar Allen Poe is from Maryland and I’m from Maryland originally, which is how I heard this story. So every year on Edgar Allen Poe’s birthday, someone secretly puts roses on his grave. Last time I knew, like they still haven’t caught the person that does it, its like they miraculously appear every year. They like wear all black and secretly put all these flowers there and scury into the woods. Its a pretty known things, its like hot gossip in the state of Maryland.
Rebecca: How do you know they wear black if no one knows who they are?
I: The one time they have been seen on camera, its just an all black image that drops and runs.
R: is it the same person every year? Or I guess no one knows..
I: No one knows. You’d assume, but no one knows for sure.
R: How long has it been going on?
I: Since my mom was little, and my moms about to be 54.
R: Who told you about this?
I: my mom
R: who told her?
I: probably her mom
R: What does this story mean to you?
I: I really like Edgar Allen Poe and I like that his poetry is kind of dark so I think its cool that someone loves him enough to do that every year. I think its interesting.
My informant heard this tory form her mother My informant likes this story because she is a fan of Edgar Allen Poe and because it has a mysterious edge to it. The reason people tell this story is because they don’t really know who does it. My informant shares th story, but she has never seen anyone at the grave herself. This tradition also eludes to life cycle ideas because it is at the grave of Edgar Allen Poe, commemorating his life after his death.