Confetti in Multiples of Five

Title: Confetti in Multiples of Five

General Information about Item:

Informant Data:

Damiano Benvegnu was born in 1977 in a tiny town called Albergo, which is located in the Dolomites region in the northeastern Italian Alps. He spent most of his childhood living in Turkey and Algeria, but he returned to live in Italy at the age of 10. He is currently an Italian professor at Dartmouth College. He has attended 5-10 Italian weddings.

Contextual Data:

Social/Cultural Context: Confetti is a type of candy that is native to Italy. These are almonds that are covered in chocolate and are usually given out at different stages of life (anniversaries, weddings, baby showers, graduations, etc). They are always given out in multiples of five, and different colors represent different events in one’s life.

Item:

At Italian weddings, for dessert, “confetti” is usually given to the guests. These candies are usually gathered in a white lace, and are always given out in multiples of fives. These are meant to symbolize five positive qualities, and are thought to bring bad luck if they are not given out in multiples of fives. Generally, people do not eat these at the wedding. Instead, they may save the confetti, or eat them throughout the next couple of days or weeks.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

“[The confetti] are gathered together in something that is kind of laces… usually white lace. And -uh- there are 5 or multiples of 5 because they mean something like prosperity, happiness… uh love… I do not actually remember right now. But there are 5 different good qualities and… I’ve never seen to be honest anybody eating them at the wedding in itself, usually you bring them home and then you eat them throughout the next few weeks or days if you like them…. I don’t know precisely, but, yeah, usually five or multiple of fives so it’s bad luck to have -a kind of- a number that is not like that”

Informant’s Comments:

The informant believed that the multiples of five were intended to represent five good qualities such as prosperity, happiness and love. He also noted that it was supposed to be bad luck if the confetti were not served in multiples of five, because it would mean that you were missing one of the positive qualities from your marriage and relationship.

Collector’s Comments:

The collection of confetti in a particular order follows the logic of magic: if you collect groups of five, your marriage will retain the positive qualities symbolized by each almond. However, if you serve the confetti in a different number, it is supposed to be bad luck for your marriage as you would then be missing some of the positive qualities that the almonds symbolize. This is sympathetic magic, following the law of similarity because each piece of confetti symbolizes one good trait.

Collector’s Name: Isabella Florissi, Peter Loomis and Katie Toal

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Dartmouth Folklore Archive