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The Philosophy of the Street in GhanaMammy Wagons and Their Mottos A Research NoteGeorge H. Lewis

In the Winter 1996 volume of this journal, Peter Burke presents aBrazilian philosophy of the road, pieced together, mosaic-fashion,from handpainted mottos spotted on the backs of commercial lorries inand around Sao Paul0 during 1994 and 1995. In Brazil, such mottos arecom mon on older-type, brightly hand painted vehicles, which are usuallyowned by small firms. As Burke notes, his study of these slogans, ormottos, is intended only as a preliminary survey of this cultural mater-ial-he calls for further research of this fascinating phenomenon as aform of urban folklore, indicating that lorry drivers in Argentina are alsofond of handpainting mottos on the backs of their vehicles 209 ,213 ).

In fact, similar displays on lorry-like vehicles of commerce andtransportation are found in Third World countries outside of SouthAm erica as well, including Am erican Samoa, the Philippines, Columbia,Panama and Haiti, where in Port au Prince, local vehicles of transporta-tion are called tap-taps. Tap-taps are usually created from smallJapanese trucks whose beds have been altered to form benches, and aroof for shade from the hot sun . They are elaborately hand painted withtraditional and pop cultural scenes including eagles, flowers, pastoralscenes-ven portraits), and are also likely to have mottos, or slogans-many of them religious in nature-painted in the tailgate area. Thus,although these vehicles carry people from place-to-place, instead of thecargo transported by the Brazilian lorries, they are strikingly similar incultu ral form and-most likely-social function to those reported on byBurke.Of this lorry-type vehicle, one of the most interesting-and earliestcreated-is the mammy wagon of Ghana, West Africa, which has been,since the end of World War 11, the most economical and popular form oflocal transportation both in and between Ghanian urban areas. Thewagon, basically a customized Bedford lorry, began showing up inGhana soon after the war, being imported from England from 1948-1959through U.A.C. Africa Motors. In 1959, the lorries began to be assem-I6

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The Philosophy of the Street in Ghana 67Table 1: Mammy Wagon Mottos by Category,Rank Ordered by Frequency of Appearance

CategoryPain and Trials of This WorldAdvice for Everyday LivingTraditional SlogansAppeals to God or HeavenMiscellaneous and IdosyncraticRelationships with WomenJoy on EarthPolitical StatementsImportance of MoneyRewards of Hard Work

Number of Slogans13

1210

8

6

4

Percent1816

1411

8

7

7

6

6

6

Because a few slogans were appropriate for more than one category, the totalis 73, although a total of 7 slogans were counted.Percentages total 99 because of rounding error.Category comprised of folk sayings, such as a stranger is like a child, thatgive information but would not be appropriate in other categories.

has been developing. Mottos such as Death of Mother Is End ofFamily are revealing in their reflection of the importance of the familyand the fragile unit it has become, especially in urbanized areas wherethe functions of kin networks of the villages are not operative andmodem service agencies are struggling to assert themselves. Too, mottossuch as No Time to Die symbolize the clash between traditional waysof life (and death) and the modem, industrialized time-conscious cultureGhana is attempting to develop in her urban centers. Mottos reflectingthe importance of money and the rewards of hard work No Business,N o Wife, Because of Money) reveal the extent to which moderniza-tion is becoming a part of Ghanian culture.

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I68 Journal of Popular CultureAs in Brazil, there are few political mottos found on the mammy

wagons. Those that do appear are quite general and are usually folk say-ings that relate to earlier political structures, such s No King Is God.I suspect this absence of political mottos does not suggest that politicalissues are not focal concerns of Ghanians. Indeed, discussions with localcitizens reveal a good deal of concern about these issues. It is morelikely that negative consequences of overt political and social criticismof the State, ranging from police harassment to the simple discourage-ment of potential customers, is well known and strenuously avoided.

Thus, if one were to compare general themes of the Brazilian andGhanian mottos, it would be evident that, not only in both countries isthere very little emphasis on contemporary politics and social criticism,but that there is also, in both countries, strong emphasis on religion, loveand sex, and morality as major categories of comment. The one largearea of difference between the countries, theme-wise, is that in Brazilthere is much more of a focus on the pride and problems of being a lorrydriver (individual work), while in Ghana, the focus seems to be a moregeneral one concerning conflicts between tradition and modernization.This makes sense. The Brazilian drivers are hauling goods-many ofthem for long distances-and a focus on this activity as a professioncould be anticipated. In contrast, Ghanian drivers are transportingpeople, generally within a limited urban area, and the nature of thiscargo and the job of hauling it is much different. It would not likelybe good business, for example, to advertise the problems caused bypassengers on the back of ones vehicle

Too, the social and economic nature of the two countries are verydifferent. With Brazil further down the road in terms of capitalist eco-nomic development, a focus on individual work makes sense; while inGhana, which continues to experience the rough social upheavals of anindependent and economically emergent nation, the more generalprocess of change is an understandable topic of concern and commentfor both driver and passenger.

In the end, though, it is the amount of similurity in mottos acrossthese great geographical, social, economic and cultural distances that isstriking. Lorry mottos are clearly a global form of popular cultural com-munication, articulating local fears and desires, as well as the philoso-phies of those who both display and read them in their respective socialsettings. Along with Peter Burke, I, too, urge more focused study ofthese mottos as an important form of Third World urban folklore.

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The Philosophy of the Street in Ghana 69Note

Typical among these religious messages are: Christ My Savior Son ofAbraham and Thank You Miraculous Virgin.

Work CitedBurke Peter. The Philosophy of the Road in Brazil: Lorries and TheirMottoes.Journal ofPopular Culture 30 3 1996): 209-22.George H. Lewis is Professor of Sociology University of the Pacific StocktonCA 95211

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17 Journal of Popukw Cultureppendix

Not YetSo Is the WorldI Thank GodAunty NanaThe Beginning of LifeA Day Will ComePay the Boy on the LineNew King, New LawAll WeatherRock of AgesIn Some WaysNow Is the HourSea Never DryExperience CountsGood Never LostBe SoberHome NewsNo Time to DieNever DespairBusy BeeDont Mind ThemGod ForbidFear Beautiful WomenHappiness Is the Soul of LifeNo Situation Is PermanentAge Is Full of Care

No Business, No WifeFear Woman and Play with SnakeMan PressesPity a HumanLife Is WarBe Afraid of PersonWaste No TimeBlackman PalaverHome HardMen Suffer, Women Dont KnowSave Penny, Auntie BLife Is a LessonTime Is HonestA Stranger Is Like a ChildGod DayCemetery Is Not for PlayHelp Me Oh GodBecause of MoneyOh Father Forgive ThemAll Days Are Not EqualThink TwiceTravel and SeeLife Has No SpareNo King Is GodPoor No FriendBeware of Friends

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The Philosophy of the Street in Ghana 7Patience M oves M ountains It Pains You W hyHigh SmallMoney MattersDeath of M other Is End of FamilyI No B e Like YouGhana Blue TrainA Beautiful Woman Never Stays

with One ManLook These Tey Dont Know

What Tey T alk AboutSee the Man but I Dont

Know the Party

Fly Ye Powers of DarknessHaste Not in LifeSampsonAll Shall PassSweet Not AlwaysWhatever You Do People W ill

Talk of YouIf You Do Good, You Do for

YourselfWho K nows Tomorrow