# Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves - When Were You Travelling? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** liquor-alcohol\ **Created:** [August 11, 2024, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gypsies-tramps-and-thieves-when-were-you-travelling/1005584 "2024-08-11T23:53:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gypsies-tramps-and-thieves-when-were-you-travelling/1005584/61 "2024-08-14T03:54:17Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > FWIW, I also picture the father / grandfather as an older man, likely being in his 40s when the narrator was born, so maybe a Civil War veteran, assuming that a Gypsy would have been allowed to serve. Today in the United States, we only have about 1,000,000 people who identify as descending from Roma. While that might sound like a lot, it really isn’t when you consider we have 330,000,000 people here right now. When the Roma did come to the United States in the past, they were typically lumped in with whatever the larger ethnic group they arrived with. i.e. If they were with Italians they were Italian. If they were with a bunch of Poles they were Poles. It’s probably one of the reasons why so many Americans were puzzled by Europe’s problem with racism directed at the Roma. We tended to view “gypsies” as a lifestyle rather than an ethnicity. I’ve met people here in the United States who were surprised to learn the Roma were real and not just people from some stories. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gypsies-tramps-and-thieves-when-were-you-travelling/1005584/62 "2024-08-14T04:19:28Z")
Bingo ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gypsies-tramps-and-thieves-when-were-you-travelling/1005584/63 "2024-08-14T06:16:47Z")
Hair restorer, mild narcotic, mends broken bones, boosts husbandly vigour … Probably the only limit to the things that Doctor Good and others of its ilk could fix was the size of the label and legible fonts. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gypsies-tramps-and-thieves-when-were-you-travelling/1005584/64 "2024-08-14T17:11:02Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > be careful, next think we know we’ll have threads on when Cher’s Half Breed took place, or Billy Don’t Be A Hero, Wolf Creek Pass, Long Cool Woman, Miss Otis Regrets, Copacabana, Operator, Wildfire or Fast Car. > > Not that I’d mind, actually, I have opinions on all those. You probably think you know what Billy Joe McAllister threw off the Tallahassee Bridge too, huh? ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gypsies-tramps-and-thieves-when-were-you-travelling/1005584/65 "2024-08-14T17:48:38Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > You probably think you know what Billy Joe McAllister threw off the Tallahassee Bridge too, huh? Tallahatchie Bridge [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gypsies-tramps-and-thieves-when-were-you-travelling/1005584/66 "2024-08-14T18:48:19Z")
Maybe he also threw something off the Tallahassee Bridge. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gypsies-tramps-and-thieves-when-were-you-travelling/1005584/67 "2024-08-14T20:42:28Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > You probably think you know what Billy Joe McAllister threw off the Tallahassee Bridge too, huh? Himself. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gypsies-tramps-and-thieves-when-were-you-travelling/1005584/68 "2024-08-14T20:53:10Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Himself. That was _after_ he tossed his stillborn baby off. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gypsies-tramps-and-thieves-when-were-you-travelling/1005584/69 "2024-08-14T23:33:44Z")
Nope. He dove in trying to rescue the phone he dropped. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gypsies-tramps-and-thieves-when-were-you-travelling/1005584.md?page=3)