On Aug 24, 2006, at 3:23 AM, Ian Evans wrote: > Dear HistArchers, > > I'm curious to know if you're aware of finds of concealed objects (ie > charms) in houses and other buildings in North America. > The custom is widespread in England and also occurred in Australia. > The most common items are shoes which are general found in sealed > voids, > either in the subfloor area or associated with the hearth and the > chimney. > These were thought to act as lures, decoying evil spirits and > witches away > from the people who lived in or used the building. Responding utterly from personal experience, the practice is not limited to African-Americans. My Great-Grandfather bought a small house in James City County, VA in 1926 from a lady whose descendants had built it in 1803. The original builders were small land-owners, and never owned slaves. After I acquired the house, the roof needed replacement. In doing so, the hunt club (another good Southern tradition) found under the roof and above the never opened lath and plaster walls, a very worn brogue type shoe, part of a woman's lace-up semi-dress boot and a brown felt hat. All of this material dated to the very late 19th to first quarter 20th century. My GGrandfather was of the poor as a church mouse persuasion and may have re-roofed the house, but more like it was the family he acquired it from. So either the original non-slave owning VA family or the immigrant Wisconsin to VA family put the stuff there. Nobody in my family remembered the house being re-roofed and the objects were a mystery to them as to who did it and what the reasons were. Again from personal understanding, hoodoo is a Southern vernacular phrase used by both poor whites and blacks. Creedence Clearwater Revival had the phrase in one of their songs (Born on a Bayou?). Notions of whether it was derogatory are probably more a reflection of perceived class than race in origin and use. Lyle Browning >