Urban legends woven into American culture

[Note: Parts of this story first appeared in Michael’s Soapbox column in The Nashville Graphic]

With Halloween approaching, it is a good time to think about scary stories. What’s interesting is that it is not just American culture that has folktales and urban legends that have been around so long people view them as true, it occurs in countries all over the world.

            Author Jan Brunvand compiled many of these into a collection called Encyclopedia of Urban Legends. This will be the reference for some well-known and no-so-known stories.

•The Killer in the Backseat. There are two variations of this story. In one, an assailant hides in the backseat of a woman’s car at a gas station with the alleged intent to kill her when she arrives home.

            The other more popular version is where the assailant is spotted by the gas station/convenience store clerk. He runs out into the parking lot and flags the women down, telling her to come inside because of a problem with her credit card. Then, the clerk locks the door, frightened the woman at first until he informs her about the stowaway, calls the police and an arrest is made.

            •Needle Attack Legends. These can be traced to the 1990s when contaminated needles were left in coin return slots,  or theater seats, and later hidden under gas pump handles. Often these stories include a note stuck to the needle that says “Now you have HIV.” Needle stories date back to the early 20^th century, and included using sedatives on young women as part of many white-slavery tales that were popular in the 1920s and 1930s.

            •Cokelore. This is often used regarding the soft drink Coke, but also other flavors as well. Misuse has been attributed to dissolving of teeth as well as tongues among other body parts, and includes such helpful uses as reviving dead batteries, removing rust or opening drains.

            •Church’s Fried Chicken. Rumors have abounded about this chain for years, as one of the most popular chain restaurant legends. Supposedly, the KKK owned the chain and added a substance to the chicken that would sterilize black male consumers. This chain was taken over by Popeye’s in the late 1980s and the rumors began to wane at that point.

            •Cigar Insurance. The story claims that a man bought a case of expensive cigars and insured them against fire. He then smoked them all and filed a claim with his insurance company. The man gets the payout, but is then arrested for arson and sentenced to one year for each count.

            •The Celebrity Telephone Number. In 1984, it was claimed that the 10-digit product code on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album was actually his phone number. The number happened to coincide with that of a beauty parlor in Washington state.

            •The Cabbage Patch Doll Tragedy. A rumor circulated back during the heyday of this popular Christmas toy from the early 1980s. The legend goes that when “parents” sent a damaged doll in for repairs, instead of getting repairs, the owner was sent a death certificate. This was rooted in the fact that the doll was sold with adoption papers from Babyland General Hospital. No such thing existed.

•The Mrs. Fields/Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe. This one seems to come back every few years as a “ripped off customer gets revenge tale.” Basically, a customer enjoys the cookies of the above mentioned company so much, that she calls in (or asks at the store) for the recipe. She is told that the cost is just “two fifty.” Soon thereafter, the customer finds out that means $250 and not $2.50. She vows revenge by giving the recipe to as many people as possible in an attempt to ruin the company’s cookie recipe/cookie business.

            •Remember the “back tracking” or Satanic messages placed on music recordings that made the rounds in the 1970s and 1980s? Other than a few deliberate pranks, no one has ever produced evidence of such messages; however, it could certainly be said that many of the songs accused of having such subliminal messages were less than wholesome.

            •The Philanderer’s Porsche. This is another legend popularized in advice columns. A woman finds out her husband has been cheating on her. So, she runs an ad for his brand new Porsche/Mercedes/BMV for $250 and sells it.

            •One of my favorites, and one that, admittedly I believed when I first heard it as a teenager is the “The Surpriser Surprised,” also known as “Why I Fired My Secretary.” This story involves a man whose birthday I not recognized by his family, and as his morning wears on, he becomes more and more upset. His very attractive secretary invites him out to lunch ― at her house ―  he mistakes the invitation as seduction. When she disappears to another room, he strips off all his clothes just moments before all his family and friends rush into the room with cake and champagne yelling, “Surprise!”

            •Lights Out. This legend goes way back and can be found on the Internet from as early as 1993. Usually it involves a police report of cars driving with no lights on. When a passing car blinks its lights, the car is then targeted for murder of the passengers and driver in a gang initiation. Drivers are warned not to blink lights at anyone. A specific date was given in 1993 known as “Blood Weekend” when there was to be a large number of killings, but no such crimes were reported.

•The Hare Dryer. A woman owned a dog that was much hated by the neighbors. One day the dog showed up with a dead rabbit in its mouth, covered in dirt. To cover up the crime, she washed, blow-dried and fluffed the bunny back to a pristine state, snuck into a neighbor’s backyard and stuck the rabbit back into the cage, while the neighbor was gone. Later in the day she heard screams from the neighbor’s house and ran over, planning to appear surprised, and asked what had happened.

            “Our rabbit died this morning and we buried it,” the neighbor replied. “And now it’s back in its cage!”

The book pictured above was one used in my American Folklore class at East Carolina University — it’s fascinating.