General Information about Item:
Informant Data:
Jose Sotelo is a 28 year old male who was born in Mexico City, Mexico and was raised in Riverside County, California. He joined the military at the age of 19. He joined the US Navy and deployed twice once in 2008/09 and once in 2010/11.
Contextual Data:
Sailors spend much time on a boat and are always at risk of ending up in the water. Because of this, sailors look at things that don’t sink in case they fall in the water. Back in the day, sailors kept chickens and pigs in wooden crates on their boats and they noticed that when the ships crashed or were attacked, the wooden crates would rise to the top and the chicken and pigs would survive because of this.
Item:
Chicken and Pigs tattooed on sailors feet.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Informant’s Comments:
The informant said that although they don’t fully believe in the superstition, they wanted to get the tattoo in part just because it looked cool. In fact the superstition was more of a mindset that they should do whatever they can to keep a positive attitude.
Collector’s Comments:
This is a type of magic superstition. It follows if A then B. If sailors had a tattoo then they wouldn’t drown in the water.
Collector’s Name: Cole Cable
Tags/Keywords: Tattoo / Sailor / Superstition / Sailor / Navy / Military