tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post7773008067306645359..comments2024-03-29T08:48:14.872-04:00Comments on pancocojams: Who Was The Lady With The Alligator Purse In The "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" Rhymes? Azizi Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-20652110192726417332021-05-20T09:18:38.519-04:002021-05-20T09:18:38.519-04:00Thanks. Jenn for sharing that explanation from you...Thanks. Jenn for sharing that explanation from your mother.<br /><br />It adds another possible piece of the puzzle about who was the lady with the alligator purse.Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-33551130517416519172021-05-19T22:37:26.478-04:002021-05-19T22:37:26.478-04:00My mother (born in 1937) told us as kids that the ...My mother (born in 1937) told us as kids that the lady with the alligator purse was the head of the hospital charity board. She was called because Tiny Tim's treatment would be expensive and Miss Lucy was poor. Since Miss Lucy was a "Miss" or unwed mother, the alligator purse lady doesn't think her child deserves care so she says nothing is wrong. Miss Lucy is mad so she hits the medical team because they called the lady. She pays the lady for the diagnosis and takes Tim home still sick.<br />Mom was a nurse for many years so this explanation is most likely coming from a hospital environment.Jennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15478254343010601900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-11619535746625097692020-11-29T16:51:40.731-05:002020-11-29T16:51:40.731-05:00Thanks for your comment, Anonymous.
Are alligator...Thanks for your comment, Anonymous.<br /><br />Are alligators references to Voodoo? And if so, is Voodoo in those references considered something good and not something strange. I ask those questions because "the lady with the alligator purse" in those "Miss Lucy (or Miss Suzie) Had A Baby" rhymes that lady appears to be viewed quite favorably.Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-86750051810465653232020-11-29T12:12:16.470-05:002020-11-29T12:12:16.470-05:00Perhaps the alligator is a reference to Voodoo. I...Perhaps the alligator is a reference to Voodoo. If you call the lady with the alligator purse, maybe you are calling very strange things indeed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-38773012779819786122017-02-18T07:31:30.891-05:002017-02-18T07:31:30.891-05:00Thanks for sharing your memories of those rhymes, ...Thanks for sharing your memories of those rhymes, Anonymous.<br /><br />I agree that the amount of money mentioned in rhymes can be a clue as to when those versions of the rhymes were "coined" - if you will excuse my ending pun like I excused yours :o)Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-14615124057648011012017-02-18T02:38:29.753-05:002017-02-18T02:38:29.753-05:00When I was a child in 1950s eastern Massachusetts,...When I was a child in 1950s eastern Massachusetts, my older brother's contemporaries were reciting the "Cocktail, ginger ale" rhyme as "five cents a glass." This would argue for a much earlier origin, the price having subsequently inflated to a quarter (or, in the UK, two shillings and sixpence, i.e. a half-crown). Compare the rising price alluded to in "Here I sit/Broken-hearted/Paid a ----/ and only...," the dashes being a dime in my youth but a nickel when my father learned the same doggerel in the 1930s. Plus ça change....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com