Fun with Words, North Louisiana-Style

It’s November, and Thanksgiving, and the holiday season, is just around the corner. If you’re lucky, you may be spending extra time with family and relatives, perhaps in multiple generations. Some inter-generational differences can cause friction, while others are cause for fascination, or at least gentle amusement. The different words and phrases used by folks of different generations, or even different geographic areas, can be an example of the latter.

Recently, I’d been feeling “under the weather.” A coworker asked if I’d been “feeling peaky” then asked if I knew what that meant. I replied I did, and that it must be like the expression my 87-year-old father used, feeling “peaked,” pronounced PEAK-id. That saying reminded me of the expression my grandmother used for feeling poorly. She’d say, “I feel punk”, which as a kid in the 1980’s used to make me howl with laughter, envisioning my grandmother in the punk rocker style of the time.

This banter about old or regional expressions brought to mind a resource in our collection, a 1961 PhD dissertation from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge called, “A Word Atlas of North Louisiana” by Mary Lucille Pierce Folk. This study showed that for words or expressions of ‘feeling somewhat poorly,’ the most common word at that time in North Louisiana was not “peaky” or “punk”, but “puny!”

Mrs. Folk used students from Louisiana Tech University to interview informants in every North Louisiana parish and then mapped the responses parish by parish. The students were also informants themselves, representing the “young” cohort. They also interviewed middle-aged and elderly people.

Food names are featured prominently in Mrs. Folk’s study. Many of these entries reminded me of the various food terms I had to learn when I moved here as a native New-Englander. For example, “English peas” was listed as the most common term for the tiny, round green vegetable sometimes known as “green peas,” or up North, generally just known as “peas”. Here, as Mrs. Folks’ study showed, peas have an entire vocabulary unto themselves. “Corn on the cob” was most commonly reported in the study as “roasting ears.” The term “syrup” is used for cane syrup (definitely not maple syrup), followed by the term “molasses.”

Peanuts were “peanuts,” at least to 58% of respondents, which still left 40% of respondents to call them “goobers.” Unlike most other words in the entire study, a rare one-hundred percent of respondents called a “fried cake with a hole in the center” a “doughnut.”

Some other interesting findings were: Seventy-seven percent of informants called a jail a “calaboose,” a word I’d never heard before. Another word, “courting” was favored over the word “dating,” chosen by 50% of respondents, versus 21%. That left another quarter of respondents with intriguing expressions, such as “wooing” or “sparking.” (Those terms sound much more exciting than my Yankee grandmother’s term, “get next to!”)

One of the most fascinating of the word maps for this time of year is the one for the greeting used on Christmas morning. For the vast majority of respondents (70%), the greeting was “Christmas gift!” as opposed to “Merry Christmas!” Unsure that I was actually reading correctly that “Christmas gift” was used as an exclamation, I did some online searching for the term. In fact, it was used as an exclamation, but it was more than just that. At least pre-1950, the saying was a way to claim the first gift of the day. By the time the custom trickled down over the years, there wasn’t necessarily a particular prize like getting the first gift, but there was still some glory to be had in being the first in the family to say it, according to a writer in “Garden & Gun” magazine. She remembered her South Carolina grandmother calling on the telephone at practically the crack of dawn on Christmas, even though they’d be seeing her later in the morning at a family Christmas brunch, just to be the first to say, “Christmas gift!”

It can be captivating to page through Mary Folks’ dissertation to see the words and phrases used commonly a mere 60 years ago that, in many cases, have now all but disappeared. The dissertation is available online, and can be downloaded for free, at LSU’s Digital Commons website. Or, you can visit the History Center to read a copy. Be forewarned that Mary Folk studied and mapped the vocabulary of white residents only, in 1961, and many of the terms used, especially for racial and ethnic groups, are today considered categorically offensive.

Mary Folk’s dissertation is essentially a precursor to the nationwide collection, the Dictionary of American Regional English, or DARE. DARE’s fieldwork was carried out in 1965–1970 and had both black and white informants. The collection was so extensive that the first volume was originally published in 1985 and the fifth not until 2012. In 2013, a sixth volume of maps and supplements came out, as well as the first digital edition. The DARE project at the University of Wisconsin–Madison continues to update the online addition on a quarterly basis. add to and revise its content online.

The Bossier Parish Libraries do not carry this extensive resource but there’s an intriguing 100-word sample list available for free at daredictionary.com. Another fun linguistic resource, for which the Chief Editor of DARE served as an advisor, is the documentary film “American Tongues,” which is available to stream for free with your library card through Kanopy. The film’s summary quips: “Southerners talk too slowly. New Yorkers are rude. New Englanders don't say much at all. Anybody who lives in the U.S. knows the clichés about how people in the various parts of the country handle the English language. “American Tongues” is the first documentary to explore the impact of these linguistic attitudes in a fresh and exciting manner.”

If you need help accessing Kanopy, contact or visit us at the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center. You can also visit us to peruse our oral histories collection to hear or read local dialects. We are located at We are located at 7204 Hutchison Drive, Bossier City, LA and are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other local history facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• Map 1307 from “A Word Atlas of North Louisiana,” Ph.D. dissertation of Mary Lucile Pierce Folk, Louisiana State University, 1961
• Map 1302 from “A Word Atlas of North Louisiana,” Ph.D. dissertation of Mary Lucile Pierce Folk, Louisiana State University, 1961

Article by: Pam Carlisle

Haughton High Mascot Has Changed Through the Years

Buccaneers, Vikings, Panthers, Bearkats, Tigers, and Lions, these fearsome high school mascots can all be found in Bossier Parish. And each has remained the same through the years, except for one. For Haughton High School’s mascot, the image of a swashbuckling pirate hasn’t always been the case.

Haughton High was established in 1886 in a small, two-room building with a handful of students, and today has an enrollment of approximately 1,400. Much has changed on the campus through the years, including its mascot. While conducting some research recently on another subject, I came across local newspaper accounts from 1939 through 1946 of Haughton High sports events - mainly football, basketball and baseball - that referred to the teams as the Travelers. Items such as one from The Planters Press of November 13, 1941 were common: “The Haughton Travelers football squad stayed at home last Friday and defeated the scrappy Dubach eleven, 28 - 0, before a large crowd of fans. This makes six wins and one loss for the Travelers this season,” the item states. Surprised to see Haughton called the Travelers, I began looking into the origin of the name and attempted to find a reason for its selection to represent the school. Unfortunately, these same newspaper accounts weren’t any help.

Searching through newspapers such as The Planters Press, The Bossier Banner-Progress, The Shreveport Times and The Shreveport Journal, I had no luck uncovering any information about the school mascot name. Other than game scores and details of how Haughton won or lost, articles mentioned nothing about how or why the name Travelers was chosen. Time to find another source.

Former Haughton High Principal Gene Couvillion knows the school well and shared with me a piece of information that I hadn’t expected. Another mascot name existed before Travelers. Through much of the 1930s, Haughton High was known as the Lumberjacks. A search of sports stories from that era in local newspapers confirmed this bit of campus history. A story in The Shreveport Times from December 23, 1937, states, “Bossier High School Bearkats defeated the Haughton Lumberjacks in a hard-fought basketball game Tuesday night on the Centenary College court.” An article in The Times from 1932 highlights a football game between Bossier High and the Haughton Lumberjacks.

So, Haughton High School had not one but two other names prior to Buccaneers. Perhaps Lumberjacks was chosen because of the timber industry’s significant presence in the parish. Travelers could have indicated the school’s teams played more away games than at home. Thus far, I’ve been unsuccessful in finding documented evidence to substantiate these theories. But I’m unaware of any other current parish high school that has had more than one mascot name.

Airline High adopted the Vikings moniker with the school’s opening in 1964. The Panther mascot was used by Parkway when the school was a junior high and continued after the transition to a high school in 1968. Bossier High began calling its sports teams the Bearcats in 1926, although the spelling was changed to Bearkats about 11 years later. Benton High has been known as the Tigers since at least the late 1920s. An item in The Shreveport Times from October 21, 1927 mentions a basketball game between Elm Grove High School and the Benton High Tigers. Incidentally, Elm Grove High, now a middle school with the name Eagles, called itself the Panthers. The Lion has been the mascot for Plain Dealing High School since at least the early 1930s. The Bossier Banner-Progress from October 8, 1931, has an article about an upcoming Lions football game. “The Plain Dealing High School Lions will engage the eleven bearing the colors of Sarepta High School here this afternoon …” the article states. Prior to desegregation, the African American high schools in the parish had mascot names such as Bears, Wildhogs, Yellow Jackets, Dragons and Panthers.

It seems Haughton High began calling itself the Buccaneers sometime in the late 1940s. An issue of The Shreveport Journal from October 15, 1948, contains a brief mention of a Haughton football game against Mooringsport and uses the name Buccaneers. By the fall of 1950, the name was being used extensively in sports stories about the school. But regardless of its mascot name, Haughton High is an integral part of our parish’s education system and can be rightly proud of the role it plays in preparing students for life ahead.

If you have any information relating to the history of Haughton High School’s mascots, the History Center may be interested in adding that to its research collection. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• Haughton High Buccaneers mascot/image courtesy Haughton High School
• Sports headline/Bossier Banner-Progress, Nov. 15, 1956

Article by: Kevin Flowers

The Lumberjack Ghost: A Spectral Story of Real Dangers

 Local legends abound in nearly every American town. Investigating the origins of some of these scary stories often reveal actual historical happenings. Let’s explore the history that could be behind a ghost story from the Plain Dealing area in north Bossier Parish about a lumberjack ghost who appears with large boots and carries an axe.

Timber has been a thriving economic activity here since the last two decades of the nineteenth century, when Northern forests had largely been over-harvested, and the untouched forests here became more accessible after the clearings of the Great Raft of the Red River. Historically, timber is Louisiana's top agricultural crop and is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Forests cover a little over fifty percent of Louisiana's land area. Forestry and forest products are not only a valuable source of income for the state of Louisiana, but also for Bossier Parish. The value-added to Bossier Parish alone is over $15 million dollars per year.

Dangerous occupations or places are often the start of legends. Perhaps they are meant to serve as warnings. Being a lumberjack, someone who went into the woods to cut down and transport trees, was an especially risky occupation. In fact, by 1948, due to the logging industry’s many deadly or life-altering dangers, like loss of a limb, the Plain Dealing Progress reported on April 8th that the U.S. Secretary of Labor L.B. Swelling had issued a revised Hazardous Occupation Order prohibiting the employment of anyone under 18 years old in all occupations in the industry, with some exceptions such as certain clerical, repair, clean-up, tallying, or camp jobs.

First, the act of cutting and then felling the area’s tall trees could be deadly. Through the early 20th century, lumberjacks would cut down entire forests using axes or large, two-person hand saws. It was difficult, dangerous work even with the arrival of more modern equipment like chainsaws. In 1959, Earl Whatley Jr., a 32-year-old El Dorado, Arkansas man and logging company employee was reported in the Hope Star newspaper as killed when struck by a falling tree.

For lumberjacks, cutting down the trees was only the beginning of the complicated, risky lumber business. Logging also required some lumberjacks to live in very basic camps far away from the nearest towns and cities. Camp life itself was dangerous, with fights and violence breaking out among the isolated workers. The S.H. Bolinger Company’s timber history in the History Center’s book collection points out that these melees were very typically alcohol-fueled.

Timber had to be transported to sawmills for processing from dense forests, miles from the nearest road or railroad. In the early years of the industry, timber was moved using teams of oxen, and later, motorized trucks. Serious accidents could occur while loading the timber. In 1936, Dalton Dees, a 22-year-old man from Springhill in Webster Parish was crushed to death when a log rolled on him while he was loading the logs onto a truck. A luckier lumberman, 32-year-old M.B. McDonald, suffered non-fatal injuries that were reported in the Friday, June 16, 1939, Shreveport Journal. A log rolled onto him when he was loading a truck in the woods near Clear Lake in DeSoto Parish and fractured both his legs and one ankle. Serious or fatal road collisions involving logging trucks were also common. Their heavy loads made such accidents especially dangerous.

The timber, or wood, was split into planks, or “lumber,” in sawmills. The machinery in the mills was highly dangerous. A photo of the inside of a Bolinger company sawmill shows a sign that warns: “Safety First. All moving machinery is dangerous. Visitors Keep Out.” With flammable materials like sawdust floating in the air, fire was also a threat in the mills. Numerous reports of sawmill fires in north Bossier Parish are seen in newspapers from the late 19th century into the mid-20th century. These include the 1895 Cavill & Cavill sawmill and planing mill fire, the 1901 Bolinger sawmill fire, which entirely destroyed the mill, and the 1904 Alden Bridge fire, which started in the boiler room of the Whited and Wheless lumber company’s plant and destroyed the sawmill, the blacksmith shop and much of the company’s train cars, but spared the planing mill and much of the lumber once the wind changed. A 1938 fire at Alden Bridge, in contrast, burned down the planing mill, but spared the sawmill, thanks to the arrival of Bossier City firefighters and their modern equipment.

To learn more about forestry in Bossier Parish, or local ghost stories and the splinters of truth within them, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. Or let us know some stories you have heard! The History Center is located at 7204 Hutchison Drive, Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other fun or chilling facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• Oxen pulling logs, Bolinger logging camp near Red Land, North Bossier Parish, C. 1915. Rodney Bellar Collection, Bossier Parish Libraries History Center
• Fighting a sawmill fire C. 1940. Gloria Purcell Saucier Collection, Bossier Parish Libraries History Center

Article by: Pam Carlisle 

A Glimpse at the State Fairs of Old

 It’s October, which means that it’s Louisiana State Fair season. The fair, which began in 1906, will be coming to the Shreveport-Bossier area October 30th, and will last until the 16th of November. Throughout its lifespan, it has had numerous attractions, from rides, to events, and more. Take a ride through the past, with images and the following article. What follows is a showcase of the attractions in 1936, some eighty-nine years ago, as seen in the September 24, 1936 edition of The Bossier Banner.

1936 STATE FAIR ATTRACTIONS

The Bossier Banner described the attractions of the 1936 State Fair in its September 24, 1936 issue. “Bossier Parish readers will be interested to learn that a larger and greater State Fair will be presented to all fair visitors, when they visit Shreveport during the exposition, to be held from October 24th through November 2d.”

“Fair officials report, in late dispatches to this paper, that preparations have been underway for several months, in an effort to provide fair visitors with the most splendid educational and amusement program ever witnessed by fair goers in this section. All buildings are being thoroughly renovated so that the fair plant will be spic and span when the gates swing open on the 24th.”

“The agricultural building, always a mecca for Bossierites visiting the fair, will be one of the best decorated on the exposition grounds. New indirect lighting systems, being installed in most of the display booths, will enhance the beauty of the exhibits, and attract thousands of visitors to the agricultural show.”

“With poultry show experts hailing the building as an ideal layout for such an event, it is expected that renewed interest will be displayed in this fair department. Entries are already pouring in and fair officials are confident that the 1936 poultry show will be the best ever. This news will be well received by poultry breeders throughout Bossier Parish, some of whom will also be State Fair exhibitors, it is learned.”

“Judging from early entries, the livestock shows will be especially good this year. Competition in dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep and swine should be keen this fall, fair officials say. With the cattle tick eradicated in Bossier and other nearby parishes, it is believed by the fair management that the livestock exhibits, especially the cattle divisions, will do much to kindle interest in the possibilities for developing the livestock industry of this section of the state.”

“A record-breaking Broadway musical review, to be staged nightly, in front of the grandstand, tops a sensation list of amusement features booked for the State Fair says secretary-manager W. R. Hirsch. The title of the extravaganza is ‘Rise and Cheer, America.’ The show’s cast includes 125 chorus girls and a beavy [sic] of stage and screen stars. A fireworks display, always a much looked-for feature of the nightly grandstand shows, will top off the program each night of the fair.”

“Bossier Parish folk who thrill to the hum of racing automobiles will look forward to the two Sunday racing programs, booked for the 1936 exposition. It will be of interest to these enthusiasts to know that thrills and chills aplenty are in store for them, as most of America’s leading daredevils of the speedways have signified their intentions of entering the races.”

“Followers of the turf and amateurs who thrill at the sight of racing thoroughbred horses, and those who like to wager a mite on the races will have their innings each week-day of the fair, for an eight-day racing meet has been booked.”

“Football will again furnish amusement for followers of the pigskin sport. Opening day, October 24th, will see the annual clash of Louisiana State University and Arkansas State University. Saturday, October 31st, Centenary College’s Gentlemen will meet the Ole Miss eleven.”

“A new fair feature, a state-wide beauty contest, with about 150 towns and cities sending contestants, will take place in the Coliseum during three days, October 27th, 28th and 29th. Miss Louisiana, the title of the beauty pageant winner, will be given a trip to Atlantic City, N. J., to compete for the title of Miss America.”

“Other amusement features, to be of more than passing interest at the 1936 fair, will include a horse show, a basketball tournament, a dog show, a state junior band concert, a Boy Scout Jamboree, Four-H boys and girls conventions, Future Farmers’ get together and many others, which will be elaborated upon in later stories.”

Get ready for our Haunted Bossier Program, presented by Bossier Parish Libraries Historian Pam Carlisle! Hear the tales of haunted houses, ghosts, and more as we dive into the frightening folklore of Bossier Parish. Join us October 28, 10:00 A.M., at the Bossier Central Library.

If you have any photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier City or Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• Ferris Wheel at Louisiana State Fair. C.1910s. - (BPL History Center - 1997.054.064)
• State Fair Midway showing signs for sideshows. C.1910s. - (BPL History Center - 1997.054.025)
• Photograph of the Louisiana State Fairgrounds in the 1920s-1930s, of a race car on the fairgrounds race track. - (BPL History Center - 2002.027.007)
• Color photo of the Shady Ladies Club helping with crafts (quilting) at the Louisiana State Fair 1988. - (BPL History Center - 2012.038.057A)

Article by: Jonah Daigle 

A Father-Son Duo and the Official State Painting of Louisiana

Louisiana is no stranger to the arts. From jazz music to George Rodrigue’s Blue Dog paintings to the stories of William Joyce, the state has been the launching point of several artists and styles that have gone on to achieve worldwide fame while remaining inextricably linked to their home. With such an extensive artistic legacy, it is no wonder that Louisiana would eventually adopt an official state painting, a signed print of which is now housed within the History Center’s collection. This painting, titled simply “Louisiana,” is a collaboration between father and son, Johnny Oats Bell and Johnny Floyd Bell.

Johnny Oats Bell was born in Massachusetts on May 14, 1916, and was raised in Michigan. He served in the South Pacific during World War II, becoming the “artist in residence” for his company. In 1943, after being discharged from the military, he married Margaret Thompson, and the couple settled first in Mississippi, then in Louisiana in 1955. In both of their homes, Johnny Oats worked as a graphic and mural artist, with his own sign company. The Bells had three children together, their eldest being Johnny Floyd Bell.

Born in 1944, Johnny Floyd Bell began working in his father’s sign shop as soon as he was old enough to help out. He quickly proved to be every bit the artist that his father was. Though he experimented with various styles and techniques, he always considered himself a mural and graphic artist first and foremost, like his father before him. Indeed, he emulated his father so well that at one point, Johnny Oats Bell mistook his son’s work as his own, and was left puzzled by the fact that he could not remember painting it.

Eventually, father and son decided to combine their talents to pay tribute to their beloved home in the form of an oil painting. Completed in 1985, after 10 years of collaborative effort, “Louisiana” managed to incorporate all of Louisiana’s state symbols that existed at the time, its history as an agricultural and transportational giant, and its current designation as a “Sportsman’s Paradise,” all into one stunning work of art. Johnny Oats and Johnny Floyd’s styles blended perfectly, so much so that they decided to sign the painting with one “Johnny Bell” signature, with the center containing the father’s “O” and the son’s “F” nestled within it.

“Louisiana” would eventually catch the attention of Louisiana lawmakers, and on June 29, 1995, Governor Edwin W. Edwards signed Act 981, designating “Louisiana” as the official state painting (though the copyright privileges would remain with the artists). Johnny Floyd Bell would go on to be appointed as “Louisiana’s Artist Laureate” by Governor Mike Foster in 1997, a title he held until 2009. Today, the original “Louisiana” hangs at the State Capital in Baton Rouge in a gilded frame. The History Center’s print of “Louisiana,” which was donated earlier this year by Bossier City resident Bill Swygart, is in a plainer wooden frame, but it is no less of a treasure. It stands not just as a testament of the Bells’ incredible craftsmanship and synergism, but as a reminder of the unique beauty and history of Louisiana.

The Bossier Parish Library History Center’s unique collection of objects exists because of donors who have items representing local and regional history and who want to see those items preserved and accessible to visitors and researchers. To see our rotating displays or to research other items in our collection, come visit us at 7204 Hutchison Drive, Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to visit the History and Genealogy Resources page at Bossierlibrary.org or follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• “Louisiana,” by Johnny Oats Bell and Johnny Floyd Bell, designated as the official state painting in 1995 by Governor Edwin Edwards.   2025.006.001  
• Johnny O. Bell and Johnny Floyd Bell pictured with their painting, "Louisiana"                                  Southwest Daily News Mar 04, 1999 

Article by: Jaylie Rester