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Whistling Dixie

 

This is sort of a ghost story, and sort of just a really creepy incident without a good explanation.

Sometime during 1992, my father's company did a promotional campaign to celebrate opening new offices in southern Georgia, USA. They sent each employee a special greeting card featuring southern images, such as a confederate flag, civil war images, etc. The card read "Now opening offices in the heart of Dixie." (For the benefit of those who live outside of the US, "Dixie" is a term that is often used to describe the southern states that seceded from the union during the Civil War or War Between the States.)

The card had a mechanism inside to allow it to play a tune when opened. This card was programmed to play a tune called "I Wish I was in Dixie", or "Dixie". If you have never heard it, you can find a version on Wikipedia under "Dixie".

If you are familiar with these types of cards, you will know that they only play when opened. When opened the left-hand side of the card pulls a tab on the right-hand side which connects the battery to the speaker to play the tune. If the card is shut the tab can't complete the connection, so the card can't play, no power, no tune. My little brother loved this card and claimed it as his own, (musical cards were a novelty back then) so it was no surprise when the card was eventually forgotten about by the rest of the family.

About a year after the card arrived in the house, we were all awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of "Dixie". It was very creepy to wake up to mysterious music and not know the source. My brother then remembered the card and we realized it was probably the cause of the music. We searched the house, but the music stopped before we could find the source.

Off and on over a period of 2-3 months, the music led us on a search of the house. It played long enough to get our attention and get us out of bed looking for it, but not to locate it. The night we finally found the card, it was underneath the seat cushion of a wing-backed chair in the family room. It was playing loudly and closed as it played. It stopped playing when my mother picked it up. When she opened it, it would not play at all. It did not seem to be damaged. And there was no reason for it to play when closed. My mother put the card away in her desk drawer and still has it to this day.

It has not played since that night. It was a curious and creepy event, especially since there was a bit of neighborhood controversy going on at the time. A development company had just purchased a large parcel of land nearby and planned to build a shopping center on it. The land at the time contained the ruins of the trenches and battlements built to fight the Union Army and keep them from entering Richmond.

Maybe the spirits were upset by the construction as it destroyed the trenches and battlements they worked so hard to build?

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, NewsBys, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

NewsBys (3 stories) (11 posts)
 
15 years ago (2009-09-22)
The really sad thing was that they cleared and leveled all of the land and the trenches and built a grocery store and a few shops, then stopped. They left the rest of the land undeveloped for 16 years. They just recently developed another small portion with a new apartment complex. Only about 40% of the land has been developed so far.

I think my mother still has the card. I'll check with her.
hobbyholly (11 stories) (572 posts)
 
15 years ago (2009-09-22)
That is just ridiculous that they went ahead with the construction of a shopping center.

I guess I'm a little biased on things like this (my childhood home was torn down and a giant McMansion put in its place).

Anyway; do you still have the card?
NewsBys (3 stories) (11 posts)
 
15 years ago (2009-09-22)
hobbyholly - Yes, it was closed and playing under the cushion. Yes, they did build the shopping center. They put up a small monument and preserved part of the trenches as a compromise.

Here is a link to a site about the monument.
Http://richmondthenandnow.com/Brook-Run.html
youngdz79 (6 stories) (58 posts)
 
15 years ago (2009-09-22)
I agree with the ghost been ticked off I have been a civil war student since I was a little kid and I remember wanting my dad to drive down south and let beat up the developer. LOL so the spirits may have been upset who knows it could also be a psychosomatic response do to the high levels of outrage by the neighborhood
hobbyholly (11 stories) (572 posts)
 
15 years ago (2009-09-22)
hmm interesting.

Just to clarify, was it closed and playing when found under the cushion?

Was this shopping complex ever built?

Thanks for sharing

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