Over winter break, a good deal of progress was made on the Southwest Ohio Folklore Collection (SWOFC) web exhibit. Work on the exhibit is almost complete and it should be available online within the next couple of weeks. This exhibit will feature brief glimpses into the various genres of the collection, as well as a link to the finding aid.  All the research materials in the SWOFC were donated by professor emeritus Edgar Slotkin who collected them over the span of his four decades of teaching folklore in the Department of English at UC. He saved the years’ worth of student work which now makes up the collection.

The web exhibit features brief excerpts from papers, photos, and quotes that give the viewer a grasp of the wide variety of materials that this rich collection has to offer. The aim of the exhibit is to rouse curiosity in viewers and inspire them to visit the Archives and Rare Books Library in order to explore the potential the collection has for teaching and for further research. For more information, stay tuned in to the ARB blog, and feel free to explore past web exhibits by ARB interns.  And, to find out more about ARB’s varied holdings in the University Archives, the Urban Studies Collection, the Rare Books Collection, the German Americana Collection, or in Local Government Records (Ohio Network Collection), visit our web page at www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/index.html, email us at archives@ucmail.uc.edu, or call us at 513.556.1959.

Work on The South West Ohio Folklore Collection has been underway for a little over two months now, and the organization of the collection is developing well. What began as five somewhat disheveled boxes filled with folkloric writings, pictures, cartoons and cassette tapes has finally been organized by genre.

The first step in the process of organizing the collection was sifting through what we now know to be over six hundred folklore papers and almost ninety audio materials. The papers were sorted according to the following 15 categories: Miscellaneous Proverbs, Miscellaneous Stories, Urban Legends, Ethnic, Specific Topic, Literary Analysis, Humor, Children’s Lore, Graffiti, Local Festivals and Events, Songs and Ballads, Uncanny, Food Lore and Remedies, Female and Gaming lore. The collected pieces were written as assignments given by professor emeritus Edgar Slotkin who is also the donor of the collection and because of this, common themes are found throughout.

Next, the pieces were categorized by genre and every paper and audio material was logged alphabetically by author’s name, title of the piece and date. In order to make research as simple as possible for future patrons, each paper was given a corresponding number (1 to 15) which correlates to the genre to which it belongs. Also, every paper was filed alphabetically and according to genre.

The next step of the creation of a web exhibit is now underway. It will feature various papers and illustrations from the collection as well as present explanations of what folklorists study and how they collect their information. I have already learned a great deal about what folklore is, how it manifests itself in everyday life and how scholars work to record and analyze the topic. I look forward to the upcoming months in which I’m sure I will expand my knowledge on the topic and uncover more interesting pieces to share from this diverse collection.

Featured is one paper with an amalgamation of various herb and flower lore.

“A Collection of Herb and Flower Folklore” By Melanie R. Mormile, Nov. 30, 1984. Click on the image to read the paper.

Many of us are preparing this week for Thanksgiving, one of America’s oldest traditional holidays. Food rituals are key in most cultures, and they are certainly featured in the contents of the Southwest Ohio Folklore Collection. Providing a common link and shared experience, Thanksgiving dinner, and the holiday itself are prime examples of traditional American culture.

There are many Thanksgiving traditions which mark the holiday as an example of folkloric tradition. We may take for granted how commonly held practices such as preparing a turkey or breaking the wishbone might be considered folklore given their ubiquity, but folklore can be just that: a ritual so regularized that it begins to be practiced without thought.

Thanksgiving is meant to celebrate inclusion and abundance. Because of this, no two family traditions surrounding Thanksgiving likely are exactly the same. Many families celebrate every year by watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on television or football games with their family. Many families feast together over traditional recipes or toasts.

The Southwest Ohio Folklore Collection features different ethnic recipes that have been passed down for generations. The following recipe is found in Melinda Borchers’ collection of folk foods gathered from her grandparents in the Appalachian Mountains in southeastern Kentucky.  These foods were always prepared around the winter holidays as the family gathered together. Because food is meant to be shared and enjoyed with loved ones, it is easy to imagine how this recipe earned its name.

Good Luck Soup

2 pieces boneless chicken, cut into small pieces

1lb kielbasa sausage

1 chicken bouillon cube

1 cup onion chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

2 garlic cloves crushed

1 teaspoon chili powder

10 bean soup mix

16 ounces crushed tomato

½ teaspoon thyme

8 cups of water

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup sherry wine

Wash beans. Place bouillon, chicken and beans in a large pot with water. Boil, reduce boil for 45 minutes. Sauté onion in oil, add tomatoes and thyme. Mix well. Pour tomatoes into bean pot. Continue to cook to a low boil; add sausage and chili powder. Let simmer for 1 hour and 45 minutes. After that time has passed, turn stove off and stir in the sherry. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

The Southwest Ohio Folklore Collection features a wide range of folklore related topics and this week’s blog explores food lore and folk art with a local twist. Carol Watkins’ paper from the collection features photographs and information on Myra’s Dionysus, a charming restaurant situated in a unique building at 121 Calhoun Street. Myra’s Dionysus is well known locally for their ethnic foods, vegetarian options and, perhaps most notably, for their seasonal soups. If you have ever visited the restaurant, you might remember that the soups which are being offered that day are listed on colorful hand-painted signs hanging in the doorway to the small, but cozy, dining room.

Another common sight at Myra’s is the collection of handmade hats hanging from the walls, which are knitted by the owner, Myra Griffin. Watkins’ paper discusses a group that Myra belonged to called “The Knitwits” and the origin of her famous “soup hats.”

These handmade pieces are named after various well-known soups available at Myra’s and can be distinguished by their array of colors and accessories.

Some of the soups and hats include black bean, borscht, potato cheese, and split pea, which is featured here.

To anyone not familiar with Myra’s Dionysus, the soup hats might just seem like normal craft, but to local residents who frequent the restaurant the hats are a shared understanding of what a gem Myra’s Dionysus is to the Clifton Heights community.

Photographs: “Split Pea Hat” By Carol Watkins, 2006.

All other photographs by Molly Gullett.

The ability to predict and foresee oncoming weather has long fascinated humans. Before advanced Doppler technology and the ability to capture satellite images, weather prediction methods were passed through generations by way of proverbs and superstitions. The Southwest Ohio Folklore Collection features such lore and shows the interesting ways that it continues to be cycled because of its (sometimes surprising) accuracy.

Jennifer L. Collins’ contribution to the folklore collection has a wide range of weather lore from Southeastern Indiana farmers who depend on the proverbs’ precision even in contemporary times. Even before almanacs became popular, easy to remember lines were most effective for passing the tradition of weather lore. A fairly common proverb of Southern Ohio is “Red sky at night, sailors delight, Red in the morning, sailors take warning.” This lore can be traced back at least to biblical times where it is paraphrased in Matthew 16:3 “And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowring” (King James Bible).

Another adage related to rain prediction asserts, “When the moon’s as a sickle, the hunter hangs his horn.” It was believed that a “moon on its back” was a sign of rain and according to one of the farmer’s interviewed by Collins “the hunter don’t hunt when it’s rainin’.”

Folkloric cues taken from the environment are also common. The wooly worm is considered a weatherman of sorts in southern Indiana and Ohio, based on the colored band surrounding its body. The larger the band, it is said, the more snow will fall. Animals are also indicators of weather: the thicker an animal’s fur, the colder the winter, and the higher a squirrels nest is situated in a tree, the milder the temperatures.

Superstitions are also closely linked with weather lore. Contributor to the collection James Whitney explained a ritual to bring rain in which one beats the water of a river with a broom and then shakes the broom at the sky. According to a local woman of Scottish descent, “it should start to rain in the next day or so.”

Weather lore can be accurate or mysterious. It may be no match for modern technology, but it is always quaint. A final and foolproof method of meteorology comes once again from Collins’ collection: “Take a piece of rope and hang it outside. If it’s wet, it’s rainin. If it’s dry it’s not. If it’s moving, the wind’s blowing.”

Wooly Worm image from Weather.com (http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_10913.html)