CRY, BABY, CRY

The urban legend, folklore, and sometimes out right 'fakelore' of the numerous Cry Baby Bridges across the country is only a little less mysterious than the tendency of devotees to insist 'their' bridge is the 'real' one.

Most folklorists located the earliest tales in Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, and New Jersey to the 1920's-30's.  A couple of places even suggest a WW 1 dating for their story.  The story apparently gained new energy in the 1950's and by the advent of the Internet in the 1990's every place was spouting their own bridge!

As an example of an urban legend - a short tale with supernatural overtones - which cannot be proved due to their hallmark total lack of facts - it is unsurpassed. 

The strong sociological components of the legend make it clear it is a morality tale derived from concerns in society of their changing moral climate, a perceived crass disregard for life, and the sure judgement for those who transgress against society's norms.

The most common elements are a woman (sometimes a couple) are crossing a bridge, it is raining/snowing/ or they are speeding/fighting or the woman (or the couple) are so consumed by depression/guilt/shame/madness that they have an accident/fling the baby off the bridge/ lose the baby in the night.  As a result, the cries of the baby/woman/both can be heard in that spot for years afterward.

The BRIDGE - what better symbol for the transition of the youthful person from the innocence of youth and the awareness of maturity?

The BABY - symbol of the product of careless disregard of the social norms and the product of acting outside approved boundaries? A symbol of the future being thrown away?

The RAIN/SNOW/FIGHT - The crisis point following the realization of an error in judgement may have consequences we are unprepared to face.

The CRIES - the symbol of guilt and the sure awareness that sins and failures cannot be hid. They will  haunt us, draw us back, and make us pay.

Many folklorists, myself included, believe the story emerged from the Pre-WW1 to Post WW1 era known as the 'roaring 20's'.  It was a time of great concern for many as old customs, manners, values, and norms were being eradicated as a new generation took over.  The automobile made it easy for young people to get in trouble via speeding, driving farther afield, promiscuity, drinking, and other 'wanton' behaviors.  Youth were often cautioned about 'burning their bridges' or making a decision they could not undue.  Having a baby was a classic example.  If A (adolescence) + B (behaviors) = C (consequences), well the result was the Crybaby Bridge!

Like its companion legend of  "Resurrection Mary", with its underlying theme that if the girl  had stayed home like a 'good girl' she would still be alive, the Crybaby Bridge tales also carry the underlying theme that conduct was important and had consequences.

So far, no newspaper, book, or oral history collections have unearthed any version of the tale of a Crybaby Bridge earlier than about 1917 (here).   "Resurrection Mary", by contrast, is considered sub-genre to the 'Vanishing Hitchhicker' motif and there is some evidence that the VH can be traced back to the post-Civil War.

The Crybaby Bridge motif is most probably an early 20th century invention to convey moral values, warn of sexual indiscretion, and safeguard human life.

'CRY BABY BRIDGE' - Oklahoma Style

Conduct a search and you are sure to find entries like this: " The real "Cry Baby Bridge" is in....(Kiefer, Schulter, Catoosa, Oklahoma City, and there are 3 more "fake " ones in Kellyville.) The road has been completely re-routed, and the bridge is no longer standing. The original legend goes like this: Legends states that if you go there you can sometimes hear, or see, the woman looking for her baby in the form of a glowing soft blue light. " -- See Shadowlands, or numerous other sites that lifted their information in total.

Despite some postings like this on various websites this is one story that has to be re-evaluated with facts. Debate on the web as to the location of the "real" Crybaby Bridge in Oklahoma totally ignores the folkloric root of this tale. It is in folklore that the meaning and identification of the bridge must be found.

The story of the Crybaby Bridge always begs the question, which one? Such bridges have been identified through local legend in almost every state from New York to Ohio to Oklahoma and a few further west. Since the story did not originate in Oklahoma all claims that the "real" bridge is in Oklahoma are untrue.

Experts have seen that in the western versions, there is an apparent relationship to the Hispanic tale of La Llorona. This old legend tells of a woman who drowned her children to be with her young lover, who in turn deserted her. The contemporary case of Susan Smith comes to mind as a modern example of just the same type of tragedy. This source tale may date back to pre-colonial Mexico and may even refer to an early native deity.

In these crybaby bridge tales a frequent motif is the (a)shamed daughter rejected by her father, (b) baby and woman died (either through cold or through drowning), and listeners are encouraged to remember the tale as (c) a memorial to lost innocence.

An old Irish folk song may have helped shape the development of this legend. in modern times. “Mary of the Wild Moors” is a haunting tune that has the elements of the shamed daughter, the infant baby, the rejecting father, and the lingering cry heard in the place of their death on the cold stoop of the cottage. It is moody and haunting making it a memorable tale.

Although, many areas have their haunted hollows, stretches of eerie road or spooky woods (one such place was recorded near El Reno in the early 1900's, the sight of an alleged murder). Many of these bridge tales, by comparison, seemed to have all arisen during the 1920's and 1930's.

If, as many believe, urban legends, are as much morality tales cautioning about behavior, then the often dangerous bridges of the early years, coupled with the moral threat posed by a newly independently mobile youth, could easily have led to the development of this tale and explain its enduring appeal.

Oklahoma, like Ohio, has several bridges identified as a Cry Baby Bridge. Most have been closed down over the years, lost as roads were rerouted, or simply replaced by newer bridges. I visited one alleged sight in southwest Oklahoma County. It was down an old dirt road and had been closed for decades to motor vehicles. The metal had rusted and the wooden planks were beginning to weaken.

It crossed a narrow ravine where a tiny trickle of dirty water flowed decorated here and there with the debris of cast off appliances and car parts. An old concrete pipe in one side of the ravine served to spill out rain water from somewhere.
In the clear light of day I could hear the wind sighing through the pipe, and knew that in the dead of night it might sound like the whimpering cries of a child, or the mournful pleas of a woman in pain.

Looking around at the lonely road, its tall stand of scrub grasses and volunteer trees, circadian hums playing background music to my musings, I wished I too had come in the night. This was something to be savored and remembered before it too disappeared into myth.

One day the bridge would be gone, replaced by a staid modern bridge, and it would loose something along the way. The modern replacement bridges, with their multiple lanes of harsh glaring concrete with stable, unimaginative barriers spanning waterways the drivers can no longer even see, are no match. They are traversed by hurried traffic with no time to pause and enjoy the 'what if' or the 'just maybe's' that make life fun. Every new bridge seems designed to defy any legend, no matter how romantic and enduring, to linger.