Finding Aids to Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture

STREET CRIES, AUCTION CHANTS, AND CARNIVAL PITCHES AND ROUTINES
IN THE RECORDED COLLECTIONS OF THE ARCHIVE OF FOLK CULTURE

Compiled by: Amanda Dargan; Revised by Chloe Raub
Series Editor: Joseph C. Hickerson

Publication Date: March 1983; Revised October 2010
Series Number: LCFAFA No. 1
ISSN 0736-4903

Note:
fl = first line

AFC 1935/002: John A. Lomax Southern States Collection, 1933-1937
Three 8-inch, 17 10-inch and 620 12-inch discs of church services, instrumentals, songs, and stories recorded in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., by John A. Lomax, Alan Lomax, Ruby T. Lomax, and Harold Spivacke, 1933-37; formerly in the collection of 12-inch records.  The 10-inch section, beginning with these, was instituted on August 16, 1937. [catalog record]

AFS 891A2: One disc containing a Calo vendor's street cry (French) recorded in Louisiana, performer and date unknown.

AFC 1939/005: Herbert Halpert 1939 Southern States Recording Expedition
Four hundred and nineteen 12-inch discs of instrumentals, monologs, prayers, sermons, songs, and stories recorded in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, by Herbert Halpert, March 15-June 23, 1939, for the Folk Arts Committee of the WPA and the Library of Congress. The collection includes 4 linear inches of correspondence and field notes. [catalog record]

AFS 3147B1: One disc containing Peter Reed performing street cry for shrimp. fl: "Shrimps, ten cents a plate." Recorded in Edisto Island, South Carolina, date unknown.

AFS 3147B2: One disc containing Peter Reed performing street cry for shrimp. fl: "Shrimps, five a plate."
Recorded in Edisto Island, South Carolina, date unknown.

AFS 3147B3: One disc containing Peter Reed performing street cry for shrimp. fl: "Shrimps and roe."
Recorded in Edisto Island, South Carolina, date unknown.

AFS 3147B4: One disc containing Peter Reed performing street cry for fish. Recorded in Edisto Island, date unknown.

AFC 1938/002: Herbert Halpert New York City Collection
Thirty-six 12-inch discs of more than 200 various folk songs including spirituals, farming and labor songs, war songs, drinking songs, children’s songs, taunts, lullabies, and love songs, recorded for the Federal Theatre Project in New York City, New York, by Herbert Halpert, January 19, 1938-November 1939. The collection includes 3/8 of a linear inch of correspondence, 13 pages of recording logs and notes, and 25 pages of textual transcriptions. (See also: AFS 19,359). [catalog record]

AFS 3642A3: Street cry for newspaper by unknown performer. Recorded October 25, 1939.

AFS 3654A1: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for fish. fl: "Hi de hi de ho fishman." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3654A2: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for shad. fl: "Now I got shad, ain't you glad." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3654A3: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for fish. fl: "Fish man, fish man, five cents a pound." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3654A4: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith and Henry Drayer talk about street cries. Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3654B1: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for fish. fl: "Well come one folks I got fish today." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3654B2: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for fish. fl: "Can't go home till all my fish is gone, stormy weather." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3654B3: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for fish. fl: "Bei mir bist du schoen." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3654B4: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for fish. fl: "Now folks I'm going to tell you about the jumping jive." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3655A1: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for fish. fl: "A tisket a tasket, I sell them by the basket." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3655A2: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for fish. fl: "Don't you feel my hand 'cause I'm that old fish man." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3655A3: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for fish and vegetables. fl: "Now folks I'm going to sing you a little song." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3655A4: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for fish. fl: "Whoa fish man, bring down your dish pan." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3655A5: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for crabs. fl: "Now come on folks I got crabs." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3655B1: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for fish. fl: "Yeah fish man, bring down your dish pan." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3655B2: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry to tease ice man. fl: "Hey ice man, have you got ice today?" Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3655B4: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith talks about how he makes his rhymes. Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3655B5: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing song about the recording. fl: "Now I sing all these songs for Mr. Halpert and Hatch. " Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3656 A2: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for fish in Spanish. Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3656A3: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith talks about how he uses different rhymes for different neighborhoods. Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3656A4: Ninevah Whitley performing street cry for fish. fl: "Hi hi ho fish man." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3656A5: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for coal. fl: "I got coal so get your gold." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3656A6: Clyde "Kingfish" Smith assisted by Henry Drayer performing street cry for vegetables. fl: "I got vegetables today." Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3660A1: Harry Meiner barking for Gayety Follies. Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3660A2: Harry Meiner barking. Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3660B: George Cohen performing newspaper street cries. Recorded November 1939.

AFS 3661A1: Irving Epstein talks about why he is a barker. Recorded 1939.

AFS 3661A2: Irving Epstein barking for fruits and vegetables. fl: "Come on girls a little alive today." Recorded 1939.

AFS 3661A3: Irving Epstein barking for vegetables. fl: "Hey cauliflower cheap today." Recorded 1939.

AFS 3661A4: Irving Epstein barking for vegetables. fl: "Come on we got tomatoes today girls." Recorded in 1939.

AFS 3661A5: Irving Epstein barking for fruit, partly in Yiddish. fl: "How many, lady, how many" Recorded 1939.

AFS 3661A6: Irving Epstein barking for fruit and vegetables. fl: What do you say today" Recorded 1939.

AFS 3661A7: Irving Epstein demonstrates talking to his boss. Recorded 1939.

AFS 3661A8: Irving Epstein demonstrates talking to a customer. Recorded 1939.

AFS 3661B3: Irving Epstein talks about why he is a barker. Recorded 1939.

AFS 3661B4: Irving Epstein barking. fl: "Hey step lively today girls." Recorded 1939.

AFS 3661B5: Irving Epstein talks about how he handles customers who try to talk him down on prices. Recorded 1939.

AFS 3662A1: Irving Epstein and Eddy Socol have a conversation about barking. Recorded 1939.

AFS 3662A2: Irving Epstein and Eddy Socol barking for honey. fl: "Come on get some honey for your money." Recorded 1939.

AFS 3662 A3: Irving Epstein and Eddy Socol have a conversation about barking. Recorded 1939.

AFS 3662A4: Irving Epstein and Eddy Socol barking for potatoes. fl: "Thirteen pound potatoes for a quarter."

AFS 3662A5: Irving Epstein and Eddy Socol have a conversation about barking. Recorded 1939.

AFS 3662A6: Irving Epstein and Eddy Socol barking for fruit. fl: "Come on, Vava, juicy oranges." Recorded 1939.

AFC 1940/003: John and Ruby Lomax 1940 Southern States Recordings Collection
One hundred forty-six 12-inch discs of a sermon and songs recorded in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia by Bess Brown, John A., and Ruby T. Lomax, September-November 1940. The collection includes 1 1/2 linear inches of correspondence and song transcriptions. [catalog record]

AFS 3994A3: Austin Bartlett performing street cry for newspaper. fl: "Journal paper." Recorded in Shreveport, Louisiana, October 1940.

AFS 3995B5: Hetsil Stewart performing street cry for newspaper. fl: "Get your journal paper." Recorded in Shreveport, Louisiana, October 1940.

AFC 1941/008: James E. Strates Carnival Collection
Seven 16-inch discs of interviews with members of the James E. Strates carnival, including the fortune teller, the "fat lady," and the comedian, along with pitches by the barker. Recorded in Washington, D.C., by Charles Harrell, spring 1941, for the Library of Congress Radio Research Project. The collection includes transcripts. [catalog record]

AFS 4699A1: Sounds of the Carnival Midway.

AFS 4699A2: Zola Spencer performing pitch for fortune teller. fl: "Come in, have your fortune told."

AFS 4699A3: Conversation between fortune teller Jean Stoals and her customer.

AFS 4699A4: Zola Spencer performing pitch for fortune teller. fl: "These are those gifted, noted readers that can absolutely call you by name."

AFS 4699A5: Pitch for entire carnival. Performer unknown.

AFS 4699A6: Zola Spencer performing pitch for fortune teller. fl: "Come in, have a reading of your life."

AFS 4699A7: Interview with fortune teller Jean Stoals.

AFS 4699A8: Interview with fortune teller pitchman Zola Spencer.

AFS 4699A9: Interview with fortune teller pitchman Lois [Filisee].

AFS 4699B1: Pitch for entire carnival. Performer unknown.

AFS 4699B2: Pitch for fat woman and thin man. fl: "Look at the crowd in there." Performer unknown.

AFS 4699 B3: Bertha Quinby ("Big Bertha Quinby") and Robert Curtis ("Slim Jim") performing routine of fat woman and thin man.

AFS 4699B4: Interview with thin man Robert Curtis.

AFS 4700A1: Interview with fat woman Bertha Quinby.

AFS 4700A2: Pitch for two-headed baby. fl: "The James E. Strates' show presents a real two-headed baby." Performer unknown.

AFS 4700A3: Inside lecture by the "nurse" with the two-headed baby. fl: "Those are the Mathis babies folks." Performed by Mrs. W. E. Egerman.

AFS 4700A4: Interview with Mrs. W. E. Egerman, the "nurse."

AFS 4700A5: Interview with unknown "uncle" of the baby.

AFS 4700A6: Pitch of the weight guesser. Performer unknown.

AFS 4700A7: Interview with Herbie Wilkins, roustabout.

AFS 4701A1: Pitch for Vanities Burlesque Show. fl: "In just a few moments, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to bring a whole flock of these glamour girls out and we'll have them entertain you." Performer unknown.

AFS 4701A2: Pitch for candy at the Vanities. fl: "... good value with their compliments, absolutely free of charge." Performer unknown.

AFS 4701B1: Continuation of candy pitch. Performer unknown.

AFS 4701B2: Introduction by master of ceremonies J. C. mason of ceremonies, music, and sounds of dancing.

AFS 4702A1: Introduction by master of ceremonies J. C. mason of ceremonies, music, and sounds of dancing.

AFS 4702A2: Interviews with master of ceremonies J. C. Mason at the Vanities.

AFS 4703A1: Pitch for mind-reading act. fl: "Now, ladies and gentlemen, at this time we want to introduce something unique and novel in carnival entertainment: a young lady with a remarkable mentality." Performer unknown.

AFS 4703A2: Routine of pitchman and mind-reader. Performers unknown.

AFS 4703A3: Pitch for knife-throwing act. fl: "Introducing the next featured attraction on this center platform, Tex and Margie King from the Panhandle of Texas with their sensational impalement act called novelty knife throwing." Performer unknown.

AFS 4703A4: Routine of knife-thrower Tex King.

AFS 4703B1: Pitch for giant and half-woman. fl: "... center platform are the featured attractions of the circus sideshow, Mr. and Mrs. Al [Tomainey], the strangest married couple on earth. Performer unknown.

AFS 4703B2: Pitch of the giant Al [Tomainey]. fl: "Notice the stretch of the arms."

AFS 4703B3: Pitch for smoke and tattoo artist. fl: "At this time, Mr. Pete Holmes, the artist on the show, Mr. Holmes, draws beautiful pictures on that piece of white porcelain using nothing but smoke" Performer unknown.

AFS 4703B4: Pitch for whip act. fl: "... on the center platform, Tex and Margie King, brother and sister from the Panhandle of Texas manipulating those long Australian bull whips. Performer unknown.

AFS 4703B5: Card reading performed by [Jerri].

AFS 4703B6: Interview with [Jerri], card reader.

AFS 4703B7: Card reading performed by [Jerri].

AFS 4704A1: Pitch for the motordrome act. fl: "Where they race, ride, and drive." Performed by unknown.

AFS 4704A2: Interview with motordrome rider Ed Hamilton.

AFS 4704A3: Interview with motordrome rider Speedy Hayes.

AFS 4704A4: Interview with unknown motordrome driver.

AFS 4704A5: Interview with young boys on the midway.

AFS 4704A6: Sound of motorcycles racing.

AFS 4704A7: Interview with [Zarcanni], member of human cannonball act.

AFS 4705A1: Interview continued.

AFS 4705A2: Calliope music.

AFC 1948/002: Luiz Heitor Corrêa de Azevedo and E. Silva Novo Collection of Folksongs of Minas Gerais, Brazil
Ninety-seven 12-inch discs of folksongs of Brazil recorded by Luis Heitor Correa de Azevedo and E. Silva Novo in Minas Gerais, Brazil, January and February 1944. The collection includes logs. Related correspondence is in AFC 1943/015. [catalog record]

AFS 7822A1: Street cry of unknown lollipop vendor.

AFC 1948/022: University of Wisconsin Project
One hundred and twelve 12-inch discs of instrumentals, songs, and stories recorded in Wisconsin by Charles Hofmann, Phyllis Pinkerton, Aubrey Snyder, and Helene Stratman-Thomas (Blotz), July 23-November 17, 1946, for the Library of Congress and the University of Wisconsin. The collection includes 3/4 linear inch of correspondence and descriptions. [catalog record]

AFS 8449B3: Street cry of Holland scissors grinder (from performer's memory of hearing it as a child in Holland). Performed by Rika Tuinstra Enhoff. Recorded in Kenasha, Wisconsin, August 1946.

AFC 1948/052: Frank M. Warner Disc
One 16-inch disc of American folksongs recorded by Frank M. Warner in the Recording Laboratory of the Library of Congress, 1947. Singer from New York.

AFS 8935 B5: Street cry for peanuts. (from performer's memory of hearing it from a Joseph Henry Johnson, a peanut vendor from Suffolk, Virginia) fl: "Fresh peanuts is the best of all." Performed by Frank M. Warner.

AFS 9076-9098: New York Public Library Duplication Project
Twenty-three 12-inch discs of instrumentals and songs recorded in New York City by Chris Bonet and Charles Hofmann, May 30-October 28, 1947, for the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library. Included are 30 allegedly "Comanche Indian songs," 28 songs in the English language (including 14 from Scotland and 8 African American songs and street cries), 5 songs in French, 17 in Spanish, and 30 in Yiddish. Performers include Tom Glazer and Ruth Rubin. The collection includes 1/8 linear inch of correspondence, logs, notes, reports, and song texts.

AFS 9083 A2: Edgar Clark assisted by Lawrence King performing street cry for rags. fl: "Rag, any old rag." Recorded June 1947.

AFS 9083 A4: Edgar Clark assisted by Lawrence King performing street cry for fish. fl: "Fish man." Recorded June 1947.

AFC 1950/005: Herbert Halpert Collection of Kentucky Folk Music
Twenty-eight 12-inch discs of songs recorded in Kentucky by Herbert Halpert of Murray State College, 1948-49. Includes performances by Morner Bowden and Ewing Jackson of Murray; Nonnie Shanklin of Hopkinsville; Southern Harmony Singers of Benton; and Prudie Tillman of Hopkinsville. [catalog record]

AFS 9746A1: Harold McLean talks about different kinds of auction sales. Recorded Murray, Kentucky, October 1948.

AFS 9746A2: Harold McLean performs auction chant for furniture sale. Recorded in Murray, Kentucky, October 1948.

AFS 9746A3: Harold McLean performs auction chant for livestock sale. Recorded in Murray, Kentucky, October 1948.

AFS 9746A4: Harold McLean talks about how he learned to be an auctioneer. Recorded in Murray, Kentucky, October 1948.

AFS 9746B1: Harold McLean performs auction chant for tobacco sale. Recorded in Murray, Kentucky, October 1948.

AFS 9746B2: Harold McLean talks about tobacco sales, differences between Northern and Southern auction chants, and auctioneers he has admired. Recorded in Murray, Kentucky, October 1948.

AFC 1959/006: Harold Reeves and Russell Wood Collection of Gullah Recordings
One 10-inch reel of Gullah tales, spirituals, and street cries from Charleston, South Carolina, ca. 1958. From material loaned by Harold Reeves and Russell Wood. Accessioned June 1959. [catalog record]

AFS 11,475A9: Street cry for blackberries and strawberries. fl: "Blackberry, black." Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,475A10: Street cry for flowers. fl: "Yes m'am I got flowers." Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,475A11: Street cry for vegetables. fl: "Oh we got [plow] beans and green corn." Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,475A12: Street cry for fish. Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,475A13: Street cry for roe crabs. fl: "Come get roe crabs." Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,475A14: Street cry for roe crabs. fl: "Roe, crab, crab, crab." Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,475A15: Street cry for catfish. fl: "Catfishes." Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,475A16: Street cry for fish. fl: "Shark's head don't need no gravy." Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,475A17: Street cry for fish. fl: "I've got [whitey]." Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,475A18: Street cry for roe crab. fl: "Get your roe crab." Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,475A19: Street cry for catfish. fl: "Catfishes." Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,475A20: Street cry for blackberries and strawberries. fl: Blackberry, black." Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,475A21: Street cry for flowers. fl: "Yes ma'am I got flowers." Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,475A22: Street cry for vegetables. Performer, place, and date unknown.

AFS 11,877-11,910: University of Arkansas Duplication Project
Twenty-four 10-inch tapes of songs (some accompanied), fiddle tunes, and conversations from Arkansas. Recorded in 1951-59 by Irene Carlisle, Mary C. Parler, and others for the University of Arkansas Duplication Project. Accessioned 1962.

AFS 11,906 B21: Auction chant performed by Mr. Gail Haught. Recorded in Pettigrew, Arkansas, January 1959.

AFC 1970/001: Eleanor Dickinson Collection
Video recordings, sound recordings, manuscripts, photographs, graphic materials, and artifacts documents Protestant religious revival meetings of various denominations in the southern Appalachian region, primarily in Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Georgia. The collection includes interviews with church leaders and members of congregations, and documentation of religious services, healing services, revivals, hymn singing, sermons, snake handling, and other religious rites and customs recorded by Eleanor Dickinson from 1968 to 1991. The collection includes audio logs and transcripts, video logs, documentation of Dickinson's exhibition, Revival!, at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1970; and other manuscript materials. [catalog record]

AFS 19,133-19,145: Eleanor Dickinson recordings of tent revival meetings and other religious observances including: hymns, sermons, testifying, glossalalia, and snake handling; interview with folk artist and preacher Brother Harrison Mayes; bluegrass renditions of patriotic songs; environmental background sounds-night, noon, and yard; and auctioneering. Recorded in Tennessee and Kentucky.

AFC 1973/028: Laura Boulton Collection

AFS 15,667-15,726: Laura Boulton Collection. Part I: Negro Folklore. Sixty discs recorded by Walter Garwick in Alabama, South Carolina, and Virginia, 1935-1937. Gift of Columbia University.

AFS 15,725A1: Street cry for blackberries and strawberries. fl: "Blackberry." Performer unknown. Recorded in Charleston, South Carolina.

AFS 15,725A2: Street cry for roe. fl: Anybody want roe." Performer unknown. Recorded in Charleston, South Carolina.

AFS 15,725A3: Street cry for roe crabs. fl: "Roe, crab, crab, crab." Performer unknown. Recorded in Charleston, South Carolina.

AFS 15,725B1: Street cry for fish. fl: "Catfishes" Performer unknown. Recorded in Charleston, South Carolina.

AFS 15,725B2: Street cry for flowers. fl: "Yes m'am I got flowers." Performer unknown. Recorded in Charleston, South Carolina.

AFS 15,725B3: Street cry for flowers. fl: "See me now, fresh and fine." Performer unknown. Recorded in Charleston, South Carolina.

AFC 1975/016: George R. Beam / "How to Chant Like a Professional Auctioneer"
One audiocassette. "How to Chant Like a Professional Auctioneer" by Col. George Beam, 1974. Copyright deposit. (includes AFS 17,485)

AFC 1976/015: Robert Doyle Collection of Pennsylvania Music and Interviews
Twenty-two 7-inch, twenty-eight 10-inch, and 4 [unknown size] tapes of interviews with fiddlers in central Pennsylvania, and field recordings of square dance calling, string band playing, fiddling, bagpiping, and auctioneering among Pennsylvania Germans and other ethnic groups, 1973-1975. Also includes the 1976 and 1977 Penn State Fiddlers' Competition. Recorded by Robert Doyle, Matthew G. Guntharp, Timothy O'Briscoe, and Hugh Johnson, 1973-1976. The collection includes transcripts of interviews in AFS 18,059-18,072, correspondence, project proposal, and 1980 report on the Penn State Fiddle Competition. Accessioned September 1976. [catalog record]

AFS 18,867B: Auction chant and talk at a household goods sale, preformed by Ira Stolzfus and son. Recorded in Belleville, Pennsylvania, in August 1974.

AFS 18,868: Auction chant and talk at a household goods sale, performed by Robert Fleck. Recorded at State College, Pennsylvania, July 1974.

AFS 18,874-18,875: Gerald E. Parsons and Edward Tittel Recordings of Wayson's Corners, Maryland, Tobacco Auction
Two 5-inch tapes containing a tobacco auction conducted by Bob Cage from South Boston, Virginia, recorded in Wayson's Corners, Maryland, by Gerald E. Parsons and Edward Tittel, May 1976.

AFS 19,747-19,796: Peter Kennedy / Centre for Oral Traditions Duplication Project
Folklore of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and the United States collected by Peter Kennedy and others. Includes vocal and instrumental music, tales, games, oral history, and folk drama. Commercially released cassettes by the Centre for Oral Traditions on the Folktracks label. Accessioned September 1979.

AFS 19,786A11: Street cry for fish (from performer's memory of street cry heard as a child, performed by Rowland Kellett. Recorded in Leeds England, 1963.

AFS 19,786A12: Street cry for mussels (from performer's memory of street cry heard as a child, performed by Rowland Kellett. Recorded in Leeds England, 1963.

AFS 19,786A13: Street cry for teacakes, pikelets, buns (from performer's memory of street cry heard as a child, performed by Rowland Kellett. Recorded in Leeds England, 1963.

AFS 19,786A14: Street cry for peas and pies (from performer's memory of street cry heard as a child, performed by Rowland Kellett. Recorded in Leeds England, 1963.

AFC 1980/006: Center for Southern Folklore Collection of Ray Lum Interviews
One hundred eighty-four 5-inch and 38 7-inch tapes of oral history interviews with and tales told by Ray Lum, a retired mule skinner, livestock trader, and auctioneer from Vicksburg, Mississippi. Recorded by Bill Ferris and Judy Peiser, ca. early 1970s.

AFC 1991/032: New Mexico Folklife Project Collection, 1984-1985
Documentation from consultancies by Carl Fleischhauer to the Museum of International Folk Art (Santa Fe, N.M.) in the summers of 1984 and 1985, with fieldworker Laurie Beth Kalb. In 1984, Kalb documented the art of Hispanic carvers in northern New Mexico; in 1985 she contributed to a joint project of the Museum and the New Mexico Historic Preservation Office (HPO), who had contracted with Boyd Pratt to survey historic architecture in the northeastern quadrant of New Mexico. Fleischhauer, Kalb, and Pratt conducted a short folklife survey in Clayton and Mosquero. Topics documented include Hispanic art, folk art, and culture, Pop Shaffer's folk art environments, and recordings of a livestock auction in Clayton.

AFC 2001/003: Illinois Arts Council / Ethnic and Folk Arts Archive
Seven-inch tapes made by Tim Cooley with Sunshine Lee, Noel Rice, Amira Davis & Sister Love, George Boyde, Skeets Evans, Carlos Eguil-Aguila, Will Norman (IAC88-RTC001 to 008, 015 to 023). Also [APP86-RKR001 to 003] apprenticeship documentation: Lithuanian Skudutis technique (Raminta Pemkus & Darius Lapinskas), African percussion (Tyrone Fair & Sylvester Lee). VHS tapes documenting the Original Southern Harmonizers, the Polish Highlanders, Mt. Zion Missionary Baptish Church, Alejandro Areano & Juan Hernandez, David Dee & family. [ESL91-DTC001] to [004, APP91 DTC002 & 003] Cassettes documenting Martin Kapugi, Bible Grove Opry, Thornberry, Jimmy Payne, Cairo, Arlin Dretz, Orvil Hale, Archie Smothers [IAC88-RTC009 to 013, 024 to 031], Betty Brinkman, Polish wedding, Eddie Snow, West Frankfort Dance, Lloyd "Boot" Shaw, Monmouth Sale Barn (Steve Rolander, auctioneer) [IAC91-ATC001 to 007, 009, 013 to 015, 017], Liz Carroll, Gideon Alorwoyie, Pompeo Stillo, Foday Musa Suso, Midwest Taiko ensemble, Cambodian folk ensemble, Alberto Sanabria, Arpa Paraguaya, Raeses des Andes Musica Boliviana, Archie Smothers, Jose Morales, Joe Shannon, Janes McGuire, Patrick Marks.

AFC 2001/012: Laurie Sommers / "Wiregrass Ways" Radio Series
Laurie Sommers, director of the South Georgia Folklife Project, donated a cassette copy of "Wiregrass Ways," her radio series which ran on Georgia Public Radio in fall 1998 and on WFSU (Tallahassee, Florida) in 1999.  The 13-part series included hollering recordings from the Archive of Folk Culture's Francis Harper 1944 recordings.   The program topics were:  fiddle traditions (Thomasville & Valdosta), Sacred Harp singing school and a sing (Hoboken), making cane syrup (Willacoochee), gospel anniversaries (Lowndes County / Valdosta), palmetto brooms (Folkston), Fiestas Guadalupanas (Mexican fiesta in Valdosta), tobacco auctions (Nashville), hymn lining (Folkston, Valdosta), Mt. Zion Music Hall (old-time country and bluegrass music), turpentining (Folkston), mayhaw jelly (Valdosta, Nashville), hollering (Folkston).

AFS 18,874-18,875: Gerald E. Parsons and Edward Tittel Recordings of Wayson's Corners, Maryland, Tobacco Auction
Two 5-inch tapes containing a tobacco auction conducted by Bob Cage from South Boston, Virginia, recorded in Wayson's Corners, Maryland, by Gerald E. Parsons and Edward Tittel, May 1976.

Terminology

This listing includes examples of oral poetry in the marketplace: street cries and barking, auction chants, and carnival pitches, all forms which use verbal artistry and stylized language to sell a product. It covers recordings in the Archive of Folk Culture up to AFS 19,815 (accessioned October 1979).

Auction chant: The rhythmic chanting of bids by an auctioneer.

Barking: The technique of drawing customers by talking in a continual flow of repetitive lines and phrases. Also called a "grind pitch" by some professional talkers. Used primarily by vendors who sell from a stationary spot, such as a vegetable stand or the doorway to a show.

Inside lecture: A term used in the carnival business to refer to the lecture given inside the tent about the featured attractions. Its tone is more "scientific" than that of the pitch given on the outside to attract customers, and its purpose is to help audiences make the transition from the fantastic images of the outside pitch to an often disappointing reality.

Pitch: A persuasive sales talk. Professional talkers distinguish between the "high pitchman," who works from a stage or platform, and the "low pitchman," who works from the sidewalk or a box.

Street cry: Rhythmic songs and chants used by street vendors to call attention to their wares or services.