Tag Archives: Childhood

Miss Mary

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Chicago, IL
Performance Date: May 2nd, 2021
Primary Language: English

Background

The informant, Chase, is the brother of the interviewer. She grew up in Chicago, Illinois where he currently resides. 

Context

Chase tells the interviewer about a childhood rhyme they would sing on the playground.

Transcript 

“So this rhyme you would sing to your friends on the playground. It was always funny as kids because the words sound like they are about to be swear words, but then they are not. So no adults could get you in trouble for saying them because you didn’t actually say them. I learned it from you [interviewer] who learned it from our older cousin, Jordan.

The rhyme goes like this: ‘Miss Mary had a steamboat, Her steamboat had a bell. Miss Mary went to heaven, Her steamboat went to… Hell-o operator, give me number nine. If you disconnect me, I’ll kick you in the… Behind the refrigerator, there was a piece of glass.

Miss Mary sat upon it, and broke her little… Ask me no more questions, tell me no more lies.

The cows are in the pasture, eating chocolate pies, pies, pies. Miss Mary went to London, Miss Mary went to France. A french man pulled down Miss Mary’s underpants, pants, pants.’

I told all of my friends who thought it was the funniest thing. We would sing it all the time on the playground.

Thoughts

This is a very funny rhyme for kids. It is interesting how vast children’s folklore is and how quickly it can travel. My cousin who taught this to me is from Kentucky. All it took was one visit for Thanksgiving, and suddenly a rhyme kids in Kentucky sing made it all the way to a playground in Chicago.

Girl Scout Pins

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Chicago, IL
Performance Date: April 5th, 2021
Primary Language: English

Background

The informant, Katie, is a childhood friend of the interviewer. They grew up next door to each other and have been friends for sixteen years. They both went to girl scout camp every year from kindergarten to fifth grade.

Context

Katie discusses the sharing of girl scout pins at camp and the meaning behind it. 

Transcript 

“Every year we went to this girl scout camp, retreat thing. This particular year that I’m talking about it was held at White Pines ranch. Girl scout troops from all over Illinois came to this. Every year we do this pin exchange thing where we basically create our own pins and we create like a ton of them and then exchange them with other girls at the camp. Every troop creates a different kind of pin and they always have some story or meaning behind them. So our troop this particular year created s’more pins. So we took little pieces of tan felt, serving as the graham cracker, and glued on little pieces of brown felt for the chocolate. We then attached a white pom poms as the marshmallow and added another piece of tan felt for the second graham cracker. Then we glued these on to safety pins. Every girl in our troop made like twenty. The meaning behind them was two fold. S’mores were a very important part of our troop. At every campout and get together we would always make s’mores and sing songs and tell stories. The s’mores also represented our troop because many different kinds of girls could come together and make something incredible, our troop, just like how all these different kinds of ingredients came together to make something incredible, s’mores. Kind of cliche, I know, but we were like eight so… Anyway, the first night of the camp all the girls from all sorts of troops all over Illinois would come to the fire and we were each given a blank hat. Then you were asked to trade pins with all the other girls and put them on your hat. By the end of the night, you’d have this really cool decorated hat with all kinds of pins. I think I may still have my hat somewhere in my mom’s attic. It was a really fun activity because you got to meet with all sorts of other girls and talk to them and explain the meaning behind your pin and listen to them explain the meaning behind their pins.”

Thoughts

As someone who also participated in this activity, I thought it was very fun as a kid and still enjoy looking back on it. It is an interesting thing to study from a folklore perspective because we were able to spread stories of our troop to other girl scout troops through the ritual of giving and receiving pins. After exchanging the pins, we would sit back down with our troop and talk about which pins we got and continue to trade even more for the really cool ones. By giving someone a gift you are showing that you appreciate them and they are doing the same to you by giving you one back. This is a great way to make friends. It also allows us to learn about other girl scout troops and the history of their troops. 

Tug of War with a Ghost

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Virginia
Performance Date: October 21, 2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

Informant: It was in North Carolina. I just got done playing with a fake Oujia board (like the ones you would find online). I went to bed. I woke up and it was freezing. I had a habit of kicking my blanket off in my sleep. I go to grab it and something was tugging against me. I thought nothing of it because I was half-asleep. I eventually won this tug-of-war and went back to sleep. I woke up the next morning freaked out because I realized I was fighting for a blanket with something in my half-asleep state. I did not think it was sleep paralysis or anything because I got up to get my blanket back. I just really want to know what wanted my blanket and why.

Background/Informant Thoughts: Informant was 15 going on 16 in North Carolina during the summer of 2016. (This is the same informant with the two Virginia apartment ghost stories.) The informant was in disbelief that she fought with something over a blanket. She was not scared or anything, but she was confused as to why it happened. She also stated that after this experience, it never happened again.

My Thoughts: While this story is seemingly more tame compared to the apartment ones, this still freaks me out a lot! In a groggy, sleepy state, I would be scared out of my mind if I was fighting with a ghost over my blanket. I also think this ghost story shows that the person is prone to being haunted in general. With having multiple accounts of being haunted at a Virginia apartment as a kid, I believe the ghosts have simply followed her around just to maybe mess with her.

The Haunted Virginia Apartment Unit Pt. 2

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Virginia
Performance Date: October 21, 2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

Informant: I used to live in an apartment when I first moved to Virginia around 2007. I was around 8 years old. I was playing with my friend and my mom had previously gotten me a baby doll (I had about three of them). It was the ones you would get in Easter baskets. My friend did not like the way they looked, so she shoved the dolls into a drawer and closed it. She had to go, so we all went downstairs. It was just my parents and me (only child). When I came back into my room, the drawer was open, everything was trashed, my tea table was turned upside down. There were three dolls on my bed looking at the bedroom door. Slightly irrelevant, but a few years later, my apartment burned down (only my unit of the apartment) and the only thing that survived was our Bible. It was absolutely pristine and unscathed.

Background/Informant Thoughts: The informant lived in an apartment in Virginia when they were around 8 years old in 2007. There were repeated accounts of haunting going on in there. The informant felt unsafe and like something was out to get her. She felt as if it only wanted her out of the apartment. She remembers this because it was so traumatic to her. Seeing dolls staring at the door with her room torn apart shook her to her core. She was even more concerned after seeing the Bible was the only thing left unscathed after her unit in the apartment burned down.

My Thoughts: As with the first story, I am extremely freaked out by the amount of paranormal activity that has occurred just with this apartment alone. I believe whatever was residing in that apartment truly did not want her in there. If I came back to my room being seemingly ransacked, I would be freaked out and move out as soon as possible! Especially as a child, I would be terrified to sleep in that room.

The Haunted Virginia Apartment Unit Pt. 1

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Virginia
Performance Date: October 21, 2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

Informant: This story was a bit before my 2007 baby doll story (I was around 7 years old). So I was laying in bed by myself playing with Webkinz. Parents were outside smoking on the porch. I was always by myself when these things would happen. I called my superhero Webkinz “Webkinzanator” (bad name I know I know). My bed is pushed up against the window, no fire escape, and I was alone at 10P.M. at night. I hear at the left side of me a grown man repeating the word “Webkinzanator” in my ear. I got chills and could not move my body at all. Later that night, I woke up and something was floating towards me. I screamed and then it vanished. It looked like a t-shirt was floating towards me.

Background/Informant Thoughts: The informant lived in a Virginia apartment when they were around 7 years old. There were multiple accounts of hauntings going on in there. In this story, the informant was unsure of what to think. At the time, the informant was absolutely terrified. She believed something was after her and didn’t know why.

My Thoughts: When listening to this story, I do not think about much except that is seriously scary. While the informant may not have seen what happened as scary today, back then, she was terrified and I would be too! I still am terrified hearing that spooky tale. I would not be able to sleep in my bed again if I had something like that happen to me.