First off, if you're eyeing this book as a collection of folk tales you'll most likely be dissapointed. I'd classify it as closer to a sociology text as it contains history, vignettes, interviews, and some tall tales.

That being said I did enjoy it after the initial surprise wore off. I appreciated all of the history I learned. Particularly the history surrounding the Italian population of New Orleans that I had been previously unaware of. If you choose to read Gumbo Ya-Ya I think you'll enjoy it and I encourage you to read the appendices.

Warning: if you are offended by racial slurs please be aware that there are plenty in this book. It was written 75+ years ago so at the time there were different views on appropriate language and no slurs are used for pure shock value as you might expect today. I also noticed a few sweeping generalizations concerning different races that would be considered offensive today. I feel like none of the above ruins the book personally; but, it may deter some

I don't know how to rate this book. It is a product of its time to a degree; written during the depression in the US (and collecting older stories besides), it naturally reflects many of the racist attitudes and beliefs of the time. This can't be enough to throw out the book entirely as a piece of history, but boyyy is it ever racist. My god, is it racist. The author's chapter on plantation life underscores a deplorable theme present throughout the book, that being that black people were better off during slavery than otherwise. Which, holy hell. Yikes. The authors rarely say it outright, but they do spend a lot of time pointing out the worst qualities of black people and blowing them up as largely as possible.
So yes, there is a golden collection of folk tales and beliefs and little songs etc. that have clearly been painstakingly collected and preserved when they may otherwise have been lost to time. It also preserves the worst beliefs and thoughts of that time, and I personally have a hard time stepping away from my own feelings on the matter. This book is legitimately useful for a person interested in folklore, just know what you're getting into. I struggled to finish this one.

Why oh why did I get rid of my copy of this book? It's got so many wild and entertaining tales from Louisiana, collected by WPA writers. Lot o' fun.

This is an incredible oral history of NOLA and Louisiana ghost tales, customs, and cultural origins. It doesn't need to be read in one sitting, but offers digestible, theme-based chapters. If you're a lover of NOLA, I highly recommend it.

I bought this book because, as some of you know, I have become obsessed with the story of the Axman of New Orleans. This book was cited over and over as source material and I just couldn't go another day without reading it. I liked with the Axman's story in it, but it has a lot more to offer. The source of the book is a pretty cool story in itself. During the Great Depression out of work authors were paid to go around Louisiana to gather folk stories, ghost stories, and stories with local color. The content ranges from entertaining to haunting to bizarre but overall I really enjoyed the read.

Incredible history of life in New Orleans. Lyle Saxon has captured the flavor New Orleans post World War II. The book was published in 1945. It is so delightful to be able to compare it to the flavor of the city today. It is a must read for anyone who lives here to savor the history and for anyone who will visit to truly appreciate the social history and traditions of New Orleans. We have babies in king cakes, but there are other "babies" that march during Mardi Gras. Why we are really afraid of bones? Truly a treat.

This is an amazing collection of Louisiana folk tales put together WPA writers during the Depression. It came my way while I was in a French Quarter bookstore, recommended by the proprieter when I asked for a copy of John Chase's Frenchmen Desire Good Children. Although it covers the entire state of Louisiana and includes Cajun folklore, the majority of the book is devoted to New Orleans. The first chapter on the Zulu krewe and baby doll girls is great. This book is a gem!

The tales found within these pages are for anyone who, rather from Louisiana or not, enjoys learning the unique state’s history and culture. While Louisiana history is taught in middle schools of Louisiana and as a college course some students take, the great part about Gumbo Ya-Ya is that it contains stories of Louisiana told by its people. Much of the book does center around New Orleans and surrounding areas, but that is understand, what with New Orleans being such a cultural and historical epicenter of the state since its founding. I really enjoyed the book, although some of it reads nearly like a textbook and took longer to get through. The appendices, however, provided a treasure trove of exciting superstitions, local sayings, and customs.

I read folktales to taste the flavor of the cultures and societies they are born from, to feel the textures of stories that chronicled history doesn't quite catch in its net. So, when I picked up Gumbo Ya-Ya, I braced myself given the date of its publication. This was going to be an anthropological dig much like the National Geographic of old and I wasn't off.

To anyone looking to dive deep into Louisiana's past, I recommend this book. It is a central train station, with routes that will whisk the reader to destinations unknown for the price of a used book or a library card. They will meet the phantoms of days long gone, sit a spell, and feel both elated at the conversations had, but uncomfortable. Dreadfully uncomfortable. That is the magic of this book.

A last note, more for myself and maybe as a warning for others, this work has power with it. That power is to flay the reader open, force their eyes towards the mirror that is the society they live in and let the examination begin. The sense of otherness applied to any person or group that is either non-American or non-White, sometimes both, is so garish and normalized, that it takes little imagination to see why it still lingers today. Hell, lingers. Permeates is a better word. This book not only shows how it was propagated but wholly accepted even by those victimized by it.

Maybe it takes a gumbo ya-ya to have the quietest voices heard.

Gumbo Ya-Ya: A Collection of Louisiana Folk Tales by Lyle Saxon, Robert Tallant (1945), 1st edition, hardcover (no jacket), 581 pages.

I was able to find this rare first edition (1945) for my Louisiana book collection for $50 on eBay from the Catholic Charities of NE Kansas in Overland, KS. All proceeds went to charity.

A very unique read! The extended title is a little deceiving. This was mostly centered around Creole folklore and many religious superstitions in, specifically, New Orleans in early 1940’s. But, there were many odd stories presented by way of real life interviews with a few elders of the city of New Orleans describing their memories of certain events that actually took place and some photos included to go along with the stories. Not all of the stories in this book are folklore; some are actually true. You can also Google some of the other people he writes about and actually find old photos of them online. These stories you may never hear or read about anywhere else. It seems they were gathered just in time, as some of the interviewees were in their 80’s and 90’s in the early 1940’s when these interviews were taking place. They would have been born between about 1850 and 1860 and would have seen a lot of changes over their lifetime. If you are Creole, or have Creole blood, you will find this book extremely interesting. Who knows, you might even find your ancestor’s name mentioned. I looked forward to each chapter because it was a completely different story on something that happened in New Orleans. Some stories were very intriguing, while others, I yawned my way through.

I feel like this is frequently targeted to New Orleans visitors and I imagine they mostly never read it. Probably for the best. For the New Orleans resident, and one who has lived here for at least a few years, this can read in part like a warm, nostalgic missing piece of the puzzle connecting then and now. There's also a not insignificant amount of casual racism or references such as "War Between the States." These stories don't necessarily take an angle. I would recommend this to someone who has lived in New Orleans for a considerable period of time and wants to know the roots of Mr. Okra, the Irish Channel, German residents, or the Zulu parade, etc. If someone experiences or has enough of their fill of allusions to the general, atmospheric racism attendant to these times (and/or modern times), they'll be just fine giving this a pass.

After several years of reading, or more like spending time with, this book, I have actually finished! This is an amazing collection of tales and anecdotes and traditions and observations from Louisiana but mostly New Orleans from about a century ago. It's a blend of modern thoughts and lingering legends; it's infused with ghosts (or haints) and religion but also with tangible matters like housework; it is essentially a lot of people telling how it is in their own words, meaning depending on the person, the most pressing concern might be an altar, or a parade, or a wayward spouse, or a curse, or the etqiuette of a party, or lottery gambling numbers. The mish mash of cultures is here in all its glory.

It is so interesting.

Really, and I've felt this way since I was 11 years old, if you don't like New Orleans there's something wrong with you.