Silk, Satin, Velvet, Calico, Rags

Where this rhyme comes from

Printed

1888

Where

Washington, D.C., USA

We have copied these words exactly as they were printed in 1888, spelling and all. Babcock describes it as a skipping-rope rhyme.

Babcock called these "skipping-rope prophets": "Little girls are constantly practicing augury with the skipping-rope." Compare the London fortune rhymes recorded by Gomme ten years later.

Source: W. H. Babcock, "Games of Washington Children", The American Anthropologist, vol. I (Washington, July 1888), pp. 243–284, "Jumping Games", pp. 266–267 (public domain).