NationStates Jolt Archive

DO they still teach American Folklore in schools?

Everytime I hear someone refer to The United States of America as 'cultureless', I shake my head and roll my eyes. Mainly because I know the truth. I've learned American History from several different sources and from different angles. I'm not talking just about the wars and the presidents. I'm also talking about folklore. America has a set of folk heroes every bit as colorful, whimsical and flawed as the greek or norse gods.

Do children still learn about Pecos Bill and John Henry? Two of my favorites. Then there's Johnny Appleseed, Slue Foot Sue, Paul Bunyan, and Casey Jones.

Who here smiles at fond memories of these stories from our youth, and who is going, 'Who the hell are they?'

Johnny Appleseed is the shiznit!

They never taught us in elementary....9th grader talkin'

They never taught us in elementary....9th grader talkin'

That's an honest to goodness shame. :(

Isn't jazz an American born form of music?

That's an honest to goodness shame. :(
Well I doubt I missed much; I was never into stories like Paul Bunyon and Appleseed.

My teachers in elemantary school used to read us those stories...

Isn't jazz an American born form of music?

Yes. As with most music, it's roots can be traced back even further, but Jazz was invented in America.

Well I doubt I missed much; I was never into stories like Paul Bunyon and Appleseed.

Well, it's probably too late now. These stories are best told to the very young.

Can I hear one of these stories? I'm from Australia so it's unlikely I would hear one over hear.

Everytime I hear someone refer to The United States of America as 'cultureless',

Anyone who thinks American is cultureless has obviously never heard of the following original American cultures:

Carnies
Hippies
Punk
Goth

Not to mention the following music, invented in the US, and exported to other countries:

Jazz
Blues
Rock and Roll
Heavy Metal

And so on.

America has culture ... it's just that other countries steal it and are jealous because they didn't come up with it first.

Can I hear one of these stories? I'm from Australia so it's unlikely I would hear one over hear.

Here's a brief synopsis of the Pecos Bill legend: In reality, the stoires would take hours to tell:

PECOS BILL. Pecos Bill, a mythical cowboy, grew out of the imagination of southwestern range hands who told tall tales to pass the time and to out-do each other in boasting. His originator is unknown. The story goes that Bill, the youngest of eighteen children of a Texas pioneer, was lost in crossing the Pecos River and was brought up by coyotes. He considered himself a coyote until a cowboy convinced him of his true identity, a human being and the cowboy's brother. After returning to civilized territory, Pecos Bill became the cowhand who invented all the tricks of the ranching trade; in various tales he appears as a buffalo hunter, cattleman, railroad contractor, and oilfield worker. His activities include teaching gophers to dig postholes, killing snakes by feeding them mothballs filled with red pepper and nitroglycerin, and roping whole herds of cattle at a time. He rode everything in the West, including a mountain lion and a cyclone. He invented the branding iron to stop cattle rustling and the cowboy song to soothe the cattle. On their wedding day, Slue-Foot Sue, Pecos Bill's girl friend, was determined to ride Bill's famous horse, the Widow-Maker, but the animal pitched Sue so high that she almost hit the moon. Her steel-spring bustle continued to bounce her so high that Bill finally shot her to keep her from starving. Pecos Bill's death is a matter of controversy. Some cowboys say that he died from drinking fishhooks with his whiskey and nitroglycerin; others insist that he died laughing at dudes who called themselves cowboys. Whatever the mode of his death, Pecos Bill exists in cowboy folklore as a hyperbole of the endurance, enterprise and other qualities required of cowboys.

except from this site: http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/PP/lxp1.html

DO they still teach American Folklore in schools?

Everytime I hear someone refer to The United States of America as 'cultureless', I shake my head and roll my eyes. Mainly because I know the truth. I've learned American History from several different sources and from different angles. I'm not talking just about the wars and the presidents. I'm also talking about folklore. America has a set of folk heroes every bit as colorful, whimsical and flawed as the greek or norse gods.

Do children still learn about Pecos Bill and John Henry? Two of my favorites. Then there's Johnny Appleseed, Slue Foot Sue, Paul Bunyan, and Casey Jones.

Who here smiles at fond memories of these stories from our youth, and who is going, 'Who the hell are they?'

Don't know about now, but I used to get read those stories in British primary school (your Elementary school?).

Do children still learn about Pecos Bill and John Henry? Two of my favorites. Then there's Johnny Appleseed, Slue Foot Sue, Paul Bunyan, and Casey Jones.
We were taught the other American mythology. You know, that people thought Columbus was crazy for saying the world is round, and that the Pilgrims were good buddies with the Indians. To be quite honest, I've never heard of Slue Foot Sue or Casey Jones, and while I've heard of John Henry, I can't for the life of me recall what his story was.

We were taught the other American mythology. You know, that people thought Columbus was crazy for saying the world is round, and that the Pilgrims were good buddies with the Indians. To be quite honest, I've never heard of Slue Foot Sue or Casey Jones, and while I've heard of John Henry, I can't for the life of me recall what his story was.
John Henry was one of my favorites.

He was a railroad worker and supposedly could tunnel through mountains and drive more steel than anyone alive. But the age of steam-powered machinery started catching up to him, so to prove the superiority of man over machine, he challenged a steam-powered drilling rig to a race through a mountain. Day and night both tunneled through and when the dust had cleared, John Henry won. Then died.

Lunatic Goofballs, you should read a book called Summerland, by Michael Chabon. It's a children's fantasy book based on Baseball, Norse and Native American Mythology, and American Folk tales.

Lunatic Goofballs, you should read a book called Summerland, by Michael Chabon. It's a children's fantasy book based on Baseball, Norse and Native American Mythology, and American Folk tales.
I'll take a look. :)

DO they still teach American Folklore in schools?

Everytime I hear someone refer to The United States of America as 'cultureless', I shake my head and roll my eyes. Mainly because I know the truth. I've learned American History from several different sources and from different angles. I'm not talking just about the wars and the presidents. I'm also talking about folklore. America has a set of folk heroes every bit as colorful, whimsical and flawed as the greek or norse gods.

Do children still learn about Pecos Bill and John Henry? Two of my favorites. Then there's Johnny Appleseed, Slue Foot Sue, Paul Bunyan, and Casey Jones.

Who here smiles at fond memories of these stories from our youth, and who is going, 'Who the hell are they?'I think the problem is that current american culture is both pervasive and fickle, so you can't tell what it is or even tell it apart from anything else.

I read all that when I was a kid.

My kid is hearing about it but she is in a private school.

As to the no culture comment. I hear that as well but it usually is a biggot saying white people don't have culture.

I dunno. Some of American mythology is pretty cool, but I like other places better.

I'm one of those lucky blokes who got to learn them, too :p

I don't recall learning them in class so much as I remember reading about them on my own time, but I was a nerdy kid, a voracious reader, and I spent more time in the library than on the playground during recess. (Some of that was due to the fact that my mouth wrote checks my ass couldn't cash, but that's another story.) But I remember all of them--Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, John Henry--and I also stuck my nose in a bunch of myths and legends from other cultures--the Greeks and Romans, the Arthur legends, the Song of Roland, you name it. If it had magic in it, I was all over it.

Paul Bunyun (sp) is the only one I had heard of, but then I live in a whole other hemisphere.

I just laugh when people suggest a society doesnt have culture, duh.... :D

Johnny Appleseed soundsinteresting, and vaguely familiar too...

What I find so fascinating is that the European-American culture has all of these tall tales concerning humans who were larger than life, but if you look at other nations' mythology, you get stories about deities and demons and such (like Jinn, Harpies, Succubi, Medusa, et al).

Now, in my culture, all of our legends concern animal spirits cavorting with humans. Always good for a chuckle and sometimes they make ya think.

What I find so fascinating is that the European-American culture has all of these tall tales concerning humans who were larger than life, but if you look at other nations' mythology, you get stories about deities and demons and such (like Jinn, Harpies, Succubi, Medusa, et al).

Now, in my culture, all of our legends concern animal spirits cavorting with humans. Always good for a chuckle and sometimes they make ya think.

What a great word; cavorting. :)

Let's not forget the tales by Mark Twain.

Let's not forget the tales by Mark Twain.

AN excellent point. SOme literary characters become folk heroes in their own right. King Arthur is an example of that.

In America, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn would have that status for sure. *nod*

There are also some more contemporary folk heroes. What about Luke Skywalker? I hear Jediism is doing quite well in some countries.

AN excellent point. SOme literary characters become folk heroes in their own right. King Arthur is an example of that.

In America, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn would have that status for sure. *nod*

There are also some more contemporary folk heroes. What about Luke Skywalker? I hear Jediism is doing quite well in some countries.

Don't forget Indiana Jones.

Isn't jazz an American born form of music?

Why yes, It is.

Jazz originated from what were essentially slave sung hymnals and working songs, in the Pre-Civil War south.
From these songs, Blues evolved as well.

This kind of music was easier to play, and didnt require exspensive instruments,so it was common among the poorer classes.
It wasnt until the 20th century that Jazz became acceptable for the average white person to enjoy, as it was mainly "Black Music".

Also from the same time period, and having the same ancestor, are Dixie Jazz, and Zydeco.

All of these were precursors to Rock and Roll.

The Legend of John Henry is the greatest story ever told, man vs. machine, the defeat of the machine coming with the death of the man. Incredible stuff for a children's tale.

And Casey at the Bat is a great one, too.

When it all comes down to it, I think Irish mythology and Nordic mythology are the two greatest. And it's tied, really. Overall I like the Irish mythology better, but...hey, Thor kicks all kinds of ass.

Anyone who thinks American is cultureless has obviously never heard of the following original American cultures:

Carnies
Hippies
Punk
Goth

Not to mention the following music, invented in the US, and exported to other countries:

Jazz
Blues
Rock and Roll
Heavy Metal

And so on.

America has culture ... it's just that other countries steal it and are jealous because they didn't come up with it first.


Carnies - what?
Hippies - yep.. props to that!
Punk -also yea... but developed in tandom with london. (the birth of punk is actually a very convoluted and manufactured thing that echoed the community discontent with 'cock rock')
Goth - as a culture is a very Anglo-Germanic thing. Amarica just has more of em :P

Blues -yes
Jazz - yes
Rock and Roll - yes
Country and Western - yep, and frankley.. you can keep it. :P
Heavy Metal -yes... ish
Rap -yep
Hip-hop -yep
House -yep
Rave (but none of the subsiquent genres)

^all those are continuous trates in a single musical development streem which formed because of america

Goth -nahhh mate, Bar Phono, Merrion Center, Leeds... we started it with the Mission and Sisters - (and were doing a damn good job of finishing it also :P)

Anyone who thinks American is cultureless has obviously never heard of the following original American cultures:

Carnies
Hippies
Punk
Goth

Not to mention the following music, invented in the US, and exported to other countries:

Jazz
Blues
Rock and Roll
Heavy Metal

And so on.

America has culture ... it's just that other countries steal it and are jealous because they didn't come up with it first.

Carnies, and Hippies, maybe. Punk absolutely not. The traditional punk movement started in the UK. Goth is debatable but also has it's roots in the UK see Bauhaus, Joy Division, The Cult (formerly called the Southern Death Cult), and The Cure. Jazz, and blues are American. Rock and Roll is mostly American in origin. Heavy Metal is again absolutely not an American creation. Heavy metal has its roots in the UK in the late 60's with bands like The Cream and Blue Cheer followed soon after by Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, and slightly later Judas Priest and Iron Maiden in the mid-70's which kicked of the so-called "New Wave of British Heavy Metal". You would be hard pressed to find a American heavy metal band pre-1980 (except maybe Ronnie James Dio, but he was working mostly with Brits).

Casey Jones is my favorite. But I've learned all of the folkheros by myself.(college student NYC). Never learned a single bit of it from school. Learned about it from cartoons, and books. And Casey Jones is one of those who just tied in with my like of trains.