On Cindy’s recommendation, I picked up a copy of Ripsnorting Whoppers! by Rick Sowash. Although I enjoyed the stories, this was actually “A Book of Ohio Tall Tales”. I was looking for Ohio urban legends, and there is a difference.

With tall tales, think of Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, and, in the case of Sowash’s book, stories of Cy Gatton, a storyteller from north central Ohio, close to Mansfield. I think of urban legends as the unusual or frightening stories that are told as if they’re true, although usually there is no proof. I think of the localized ghost stories we know as urban legends. However, when I looked up a definition, it said or humorous, so there could be a crossover between the stories.

Cy Gatton was a real person who lived from 1853 to 1937. The stories in the collection are “as told by Cy Gatton”, whoppers based on the local area. The story of the glaciers and soil in the Ohio counties is true, and then Gatton talked about the “Richland” County where the Gatton family farm was located. Those stories include whoppers about one cucumber, a corn seed, a pumpkin seed, all that became monsters. There are stories about the weather, the tornadoes and ice and cold based on the old quote “If you don’t like the weather in Ohio, just wait a few hours and it’ll change.” Gatton (and Suwash) told about Cy’s pets, a skunk, a wildcat, a hound dog.

This book is really for readers familiar with the part of Ohio near Mansfield and Bellville. Although some of the stories could be told anywhere in rural America, some of the descriptions are very localized. Those familiar with the area will enjoy the whoppers more than others might.

Ripsnorting Whoppers! by Rick Sowash. Rick Sowash Publishing Company, 1994. 138p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I bought a copy of the book.