Catching pneumonia with wet hair or no coat outside

General information about Item:

  • Customary folklore; Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: United States
  • Informant: Chris Jacobs
  • Date collected: May 24, 2020

Informant data:

Chris Jacobs is a long-time resident of the Hampton Roads area in southeastern Virginia. He teaches American history and loves exploring the historical sites and natural areas of his state and the American South as a whole.

Contextual data:

  • Cultural context: There is often general concern in the South regarding environmental dangers and diseases. This warning was often said by mothers to their children. Southern mothers often see themselves as necessary protectors of their children. Children who did not follow this rule were seen as reckless, disobedient, or likely to get sick.
  • Social context: This was often said before children ran out of the house to play with their friends, intending to protect them from the outside elements.

Item:

If you go outside (especially when it’s cold) with wet hair or no coat, you’ll catch pneumonia.

Transcript:

“The pneumonia one was you could never go outside, uh, without a coat on or you could never go outside, uh, with wet hair. So, if like, you know, there were where times where I was headed out the door to play with friends or whatever and my mom would send me back into the bathroom with a towel and dry my hair off or whatever before I’d go back outside.”

Collector’s comments:

I wonder if the threat of pneumonia posed by mothers to their children was really attempting to shield them from catching a common cold or other less intense diseases.

Collector’s name: Jack Jacobs

Tags/Keywords:

-Customary Folklore

-Fears

-Science

-Disease