Title: Sock Superstition
General Information about Item:
- Customary Folklore: Superstition
- English
- United States
Informant Data:
- Melanya Zaraska was born in Toronto Canada in 1997. She is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. Melanya has been swimming competitively since she was seven years old on the Etobicoke Swim team. Her passion for swimming has only grown since she began her career as a division one swimmer here at Dartmouth College. She is extremely fond of her teammates, and feels as though she has developed many new leadership qualities this past year.
Contextual Data:
- Social/Cultural Context: Melanya describes a superstition that she has followed for many years. She describes the “if A then B” superstition that many swimmers follow because they believe it will bring good luck before a big race.
Item:
- Melanya describes a superstition that she has been following for several years. Before every race, Melanya wears the same pair of socks under her shoes. Melanya wears the socks in the car to the meet, and when she walks around on the pool deck because she believes that they bring good luck.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript of Associated File:
- “When it’s a really big race day I have this like silly little thing I do. I always wear these ridiculous socks. They’re like bright orange and have these like funky little animals on them. You can’t really see them, and I don’t show anyone because I’m kind of embarrassed but I wear those every time and they just make me feel better about racing.”
Informant’s Comments:
- Melanya mentioned that many of the women on her club team similar wore strange articles of clothing on deck before racing. They all believed that wearing certain things would allow them to go faster during competitions.
Collector’s Comments:
- Clothing superstitions were common among informants. The socks that Ethan wears before every race provide him with a sense of confidence that allows him to preform well in meets. This follows the “If A then B” superstition.
Collector’s Name: Molly Brickman
Tags/Keywords:
- Insert Tags/Keywords Here: Socks, Superstition