The Dozens

[Bethany K. Dumas]

I have an audio recording made by a University of Arkansas (Fayetteville)
undergraduate student (white) in July of some year before 1962. The
student was enrolled in a folklore class taught by Mary Parler (later Mary
Parler Randolph - she married Vance Randolph) and was required to collect
folklore. He set up a recorder in a bar in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and
collected some marvelous examples of the dozens - all from AA speakers. At
a certain point in the tape, those speakers appear to be playing the
dozens on the student - who seems to be totally oblivious to what is going
on. The tape was given to me by Mary Parler about 1963. The original is
packed away at home - it may have the actual date on it.

I still use the tape in classes - most recently in the Special Topics
course I taught for the first time spring 2006: Talkin' Trash: The Nature
and Function of Contemporary Verbal Sparring.

I'll post more once I dig out the original box.

Bethany

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