When I was very little, I was told that toasters worked because there was a little man inside that would keep an eye on the bread and when it exhibited the correct toastiness he would make it pop up... when it burned it was because he'd fallend asleep.
I also believed that if you swallowed gum it would stick to your ribs and make a stringy mess... I swallowed it nonetheless.
I had a girlfriend who believed that if you ate your crusts you would get curly hair -- she had curly hair and ate her crusts and her cousin, who had straight hair, did not... it must be true!
She also believe she got her freckles when she stood too close to the screen door when her father was painting.