- Today, we're gonna see how much we know
about good old Southern superstitions.
- I'm a pretty superstitious person.
Pretty much all the way around.
- My friends will do something and I'd be like,
alright now you gotta throw salt over your shoulder
- Left shoulder.
It's gotta be left shoulder.
- I got it in the bag.
I'm ready.
Cause Mama Pam.
She had me on superstitions when I popped out.
Okay. (laughs)
- Alright. Question number one.
What should you eat on new year's
to bring good luck and fortune.
Is it Black-eyed Peas and greens.
Cornbread in buttermilk,
Tomatoes and gravy.
- I know this because, Mama Pam,
that's all she makes every new year's.
I am 32 and every new year's we eat A, Okay.
Black-eyed peas and greens alright.
- Sure fire, A.
Black-eyed peas and greens.
- It is A, black eyed peas and greens.
- [Producer] And the correct answer is,(ding) A.
- Yeah.
- I knew it. Mama Pam ain't never taught me wrong.
- I regularly try to eat collards
and black-eyed peas on new year's day
- 2020 happened.
And I still ate black-eyed peas and greens
on new year's Eve and new year's day just to make sure.
- You should have ate your black-eyed peas
because look at us, look what you did.
2020... Disaster.
- My mother swore by this and granny before that.
she was really thrifty anyways.
Anything that potentially could bring some money.
That would be great.
She ended up marrying a rich guy though. So it worked.
- Never eat both A, ends of a loaf of bread.
B, peas in a pod.
C, sides of a pecan pie
- Or sides of a pecan pie.
I don't know why I said it like that.
I usually say pecan, why did I say that?
Pecan pie
- Process of elimination. You know?
Cause I think there's more than two peas in a pod
and you should obviously be able to eat an entire pie.
Cause this is America.
- I would be in trouble if it was pecan pie.
And it's not
- Usually when I see the loaf of bread left
the two ends are still in the bag.
So I'm going to say,
- Never eat both ends of a loaf of bread, A
(ding)
- Oh, and she got it.
And that was just a guess y'all.
- If you eat both ends of a loaf of bread
then you won't be able to make ends meet.
- So if you don't have the two end pieces there
it dries the bread out. Okay.
So if the bread is dry and it stales quicker
then you got to go through more bread
and spend more money because,
I mean you can eat stale bread. Honey.
I ain't gonna tell nobody.
That's your business.
- I'm going to tell you something right now.
I love an end loaf.
I don't care about the superstition.
I love the end pieces.
Give me all your end pieces.
I love the ends.
Actually I have eaten both ends of loaf of bread.
Does that give you bad luck? Oh no.
- Eat the bread. In my mind, eat the bread.
Grandma, Jesus.
- What color paint should you use on your porch
to ward off evil spirits?
Ooh, Jesus.
- A, Daisy yellow.
B, powder green.
C, haint blue.
- I also know this one.
- Ooh, Mama Pam you ain't tell me this one. (laughing)
I would assume something nice and bright
would attract all the spirits.
So let's go with powder green.
Final answer.
- I'm gonna go with A, daisy yellow.
- One of my illustrious coworkers actually made a video
about this and that is actually what taught me
about this whole thing called haint blue.
(ding)
- You'll see houses painted in this.
It's like a light blue.
- My grandma's house was painted haint blue.
- The idea behind it was it will ward off.
Not only evil spirits can't get in the house,
this color will stop it.
- Why haint blue?
Maybe because it's soothing
and evil spirits just can't handle soothing.
You know, like if you're evil, when you're just full
of evilness and you're like, I got to make mischief.
And then you see something soothing
and like peaceful and relaxing.
And you're like, I just don't feel it anymore.
- It's a Southern thing.
It should be the word that got "ain't" in it.
That makes sense. Okay.
I've just never heard of a haint blue.
- If you've got a bird in your house
what is going to happen in the near future?
A unexpected fortune.
B a new job.
C death.
Okay. I've had a bird in my house before and I'm still here.
So hopefully that's not the answer.
- Don't focus on the logic behind this, Mary Patterson.
Just what, what is the answer?
- Oh boy. Okay.
So, I think this is
A, unexpected fortune.
- Mama Pam say, (laughing)
It's C.
I mean, of course I don't know what a bird has to do
with death, but I'm assuming I would be scared to death
if a bird flew in my house.
So we're going to go with C.
(ding)
- Oh, it's death.
Hmm. Okay.
So the clock is ticking for me.
- If I got home and a bird was in my house.
That's the bird's house now.
Because I'm absolutely afraid of birds.
It might literally scare me to death.
- Does it matter, what kind of bird?
Any bird?
Live bird?
Dead bird?
Fake bird?
- Okay. I've been pooped on for one.
I think it's trauma. Projectile
Poop, poop, poop, poop.
- This could be my last video everybody.
So true y'all.
(laughing)
- If you wash your hair on blank, it'll grow faster.
(laughs)
I need this one.
I don't know that I'm qualified to answer a hair question.
- Ooh girl, I wear wigs.
So I don't know.
- Hottest day of August.
I mean, how do you even pick that.
Whole month's a real scorcher y'all.
- The hottest day of August can't be
because heat brings no good things so,
- I don't know.
I feel like there's something romantic
and whimsical about the first rain of May.
- I'm gonna go with the first rain of May.
Because it sounds superstition-y.
- April showers bring May flowers so
that maybe it got something to do with that.
- I'm going to say B the first rain of may.
(ding)
There we go.
- Mama Pam, didn't tell me this one either girl
we be wigged up.
So I don't, I don't know what this one means.
- Not only am I going to wash my hair on the first rain
in May this year y'all.
I am going to do it outside in that actual rain.
I'm going to bring my shampoo and my conditioner out
and just let mother nature, give me a good suds'n
and then let it just grow to oblivion.
Thanks for that first rain in May
and this good old Southern superstition
that might or might not have been hijacked from Spanish lore
- How do you catch evil spirits.
So they can't get into your house.
- Is it baking soda under your porch,
glass bottles in a tree
or mousetraps in the cupboard.
- That sound like you got a whole nother problem.
If you got mousetraps in the cupboards
- I'm a big Ghostbusters fan.
So that's how I would do it
- Baking soda under your porch.
That seems like, yeah, baking soda does everything right?
You can use it as a toothpaste.
You can put it in face wash.
You can keep your fridge odor pleasant and you
can keep evil spirits out your house.
I'm going to go with A baking soda under your porch.
I'm gonna go with glass bottles in a tree
because that sounds right.
(ding)
- I have not seen one glass bottle in the South.
Maybe I'm living in the wrong place.
- What is the glass gonna do in the tree and near my house?
Can't they break the glass?
Have we not seen Poltergeist?
- I think it's called hoodoo. Not voodoo, but hoodoo.
I think. But I may be wrong on it.
- You know what they say about evil spirits?
One, they hate the color haint blue,
two, they love glass bottles.
First of all, you paint your porch, haint blue.
And then they're like it's too soothing.
But they see th glass bottle hanging
on the tree, it's like, I've got to get in that.
- There is a Southern superstition that mentions
which body part itching
- A nose
B ears,
C palms.
- Which body part itching.
Oh, chile... All of them.
- I believe that if your palms itch,
that means you're going to come into some money.
- If the palms or your hands are itchy
that means money is coming.
I know that one for sure.
But I feel like there is something
with the nose too.
- I've heard if your ears are burning.
I don't know if that's a Southern thing.
When someone is talking nicely about you
your ears must be burning.
(ding)
- All of them.
So as I got a third, I got one of them right.
- All of them?
Whoa. Trick question.
Well, I knew one of them.
So I'm still right.
If your ears are itching, somebody is talking about you
- Oh, okay.
- If there's Southern superstitions that involve body parts
itching.
It's cause we live in an itchy place.
- I'm trying to get an itchy Palm right now.
Cause I need some, payday is coming so
- My palms are itching.
They are so itchy y'all - my palms.
My palms are just,
like fire ants got onto them or something
- I think I did pretty well on this quiz.
All things considered.
Considering you tricked me on the last one.
And I still got at least a third of it right.
- I'd say out of all these superstitions.
The one that my family consistently followed
it was eat your greens and your black-eyed peas
on new year's day.
My mom always hammered that into me.
- I think there are a lot of versions
of every superstition that we talked about today.
I think it, depending on where you're from
depending on your family background
you've heard just about every one of these
or something close to it.
And your family just made it work, with their little mix.
(laughing)
(creepy music)