OId Wives Tales

[Jennasis]

 

[chickapin parterre]

moth balls can work wonders to keep any scary living creature off your property....opossums, raccoons....snakes.....

 

[DisLiss]

I do throw the ends of a cucumber into the compost, because I often find the ends only to be a bit bitter. But I never heard of rubbing them together, and I have a slew of Italian relatives who never mentioned such a thing either.

However, they do have silly things they promised you if you eat the crust of your bread. They told the girls their hair would grow pretty curls and the boys that they would grow hair on their chest, LOL!! Who thinks up this stuff, LOL??

 

[DisneyDebbie]

I haven’t heard of most of these that have been mentioned
I do rub the ends of my cucumbers (DH’s Nonny taught me that) and I do think sometimes it draws some liquid out… sometimes cucumbers can have a more bitter taste!
ETA: you don’t rub the 2 ends together, you cut off one end and rub it around in circles on the edge of cucumber to draw a bit of juice out, sometimes it’s clear, sometimes it’s white and pasty. Then you cut off the other end and rub on that side. She called it milking the cucumber.

I don’t throw salt, I will step on cracks, I won’t pick up a penny (even if it’s heads up, lol)

 

[TCRAIG]

My MIL (country born and raised in the Deep South) told me if you cut your baby’s fingernails, they’d grow up to be thieves (you’re supposed to bite them).
My very Italian grandmother told me every time a baby was born in November, 3 people would have to die to make room!

 

[RedAngie]

If someone tries to hand you a pin, never take it, but insist that they stick it into your clothes somewhere for you to retrieve yourself. It's bad luck otherwise.

If you give someone a gift with a pointy attachment, like a brooch or a stickpin, you’re supposed to put a penny in the box or bag. Otherwise the relationship will soon be severed.

I used to hear that if boys eat carrots they’ll grow hair on their chests as adults.

 

[dclpluto]

If a bird poops on you it’s good luck

 

[Carol_]

NEVER PUT YOUR PURSE ON THE GROUND. Bad luck. All your money will go away. Hang it on a chair or put it on a table.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Your face will freeze like that

 

[barkley]

DW is making cucumber and onion salad for stepdaughter's barbeque later today. When she slices the ends off the cukes, she rubs them together. It's supposed to eliminate bitterness. She learned it from her born-in-Italy parents.

this reminds me of a story i heard years ago-

a newlywed notices that every time his bride cooks a roast she cuts off both ends of the roast (not trims it-cuts off a chunk from each end), seasons the roast and the chunks and puts them into the baking dish. he asks why she cuts off the ends and she replies 'it's an old family recipe that was passed down-it's how my mom always makes it too'. next time the newlywed sees his mil he asks her about the practice, she replies 'it's an old family recipe that was passed down-it's how my mom who came from the old country always made it'. the next time the newlywed is at a family gathering attended by his wife's maternal grandmother he asks HER about the practice. grandma's reply 'i only owned one small baking dish when my kids were growing up-i had to cut the ends off a roast to make it fit'


as far as the cucumber practice goes-there is a science behind it-rubbing the sliced end against the cucumber will release a white, foamy substance, which contains an organic compound called cucurbitacin. this is the cause of the bitterness, you keep rubbing till it stops producing foam.

 

[tazdev3225]

For fever, cut an onion in half and put it in a clean sock and then wear the sock, making sure that the cut end of the onion rests firmly against the foot. Supposedly my great-grandmother was good for that one. My grandmother and my great-aunts used to swear that within a half-hour the fever would be gone and the onion would be red hot because it drew the fever out.

My son was very ill when he was about 9 months old, turns out he had Salmonella. I had just started introducing people food and gave him a couple of small, really small, pieces of a hot dog I had gotten while out shopping. When I took him to the doctors that was the first thing he said to me. I was exhausted from dealing with a very sick baby and it took a minute to register my mother had to have been there earlier that day and she was. My MIL told me that and I passed it on to my mom who then told the doctor knowing I was heading there with my son. I did not try it so I have no idea if it would have worked but I couldn't deal with the smell of vomit and raw onion. My son got better without it after a trip to the ER.

I am sure I have heard more Old Wives Tales but I tend to ignore them.

 

[Travel60]

When a magnolia tree planted in your yard gets big enough to bury someone under, a family member will die.

[Sort of makes sense when you realize it will take 20-30 years to grow that big..... someone is bound to die!]

 

[scrhsa]

If you want to get rid of a wart cut a potato in half, rub one half on the wart, bury it while someone else buries the other half somewhere else. My aunt did this when I was little and oddly enough, the wart went away.

And I read somewhere that ladies in the 30's would purposefully mess up a stitch on a quilt because only God is perfect. So now when my dd messes up knitting or something she says she did it on purpose because, you know, only God can be perfect

 

[Carol_]

And I read somewhere that ladies in the 30's would purposefully mess up a stitch on a quilt because only God is perfect. So now when my dd messes up knitting or something she says she did it on purpose because, you know, only God can be perfect

This is a very old religious belief… Talmud type stuff… also all these other people https://www.amusingplanet.com/2017/08/the-art-of-deliberate-imperfection.html

 

[TCRAIG]

If you give someone a gift with a pointy attachment, like a brooch or a stickpin, you’re supposed to put a penny in the box or bag. Otherwise the relationship will soon be severed.

I used to hear that if boys eat carrots they’ll grow hair on their chests as adults.
[/QUOTE
I heard a version of adding a penny to any gift that had a sharp point like a brooch or scissors or especially knives…the receiver is supposed to give the giver back the penny so that it’s no longer a ‘gift’ but rather a ‘purchase’ as a gift of something that could stab you was unlucky but buying the item was not…

 

[Tinkerbell58]

When giving a new wallet/purse as a gift, put a penny in it for future wealth.

 

[scrhsa]

This is a very old religious belief… Talmud type stuff… also all these other people https://www.amusingplanet.com/2017/08/the-art-of-deliberate-imperfection.html

Thanks for this. This is very fascinating!!!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Not one I do, but when my kids were babies there were strangers who would compliment them and they would also touch them. One of them explained in the Hispanic culture it was to ward off the evil eye.

My kids wore the special bracelet for the first 40 days to ward off the evil eye. The bracelet was was worn by my XH and his siblings.

Other ones were no getting your hair wet (other than a shower) the first 40 days after giving birth.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

First person to spot a baby's first tooth has to buy them their first pair of walking shoes...I guess this one isn't done anymore because they no longer make the rigid "walking shoes" for babies.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

If the sun is shining while it is raining, it will rain the same time tomorrow.