Genre Material, Item Folklore

Language English

Country of Origin United States

Informant Jessie Colin

Date Collected March 7, 2018

Collected by Laura Jeliazkov

Informant Data

Jessie Colin is a senior at Dartmouth College. She grew up in Northern California, and likes to be outside in any capacity – hiking, mountain biking, climbing, and much more. These are ways for her to appreciate her humanness, and existence, in the world. She also enjoys teaching others, both about the outdoors and about design. She is a Human-Centered Design major – a major of her own design. What is most important to her is the ability to unplug and to take a step away from the hub of modern life.

Contextual Data 

The bandanna is a very prominent feature in the Upper Valley – and any – hiker’s toolset. It is both worn and carried.

Item

Our informant cited specifically her first discovery of the utility and versatility of this folkloric item as during a month-long hike in Wyoming. Her trip leader hung always the same bandanna on the outside of her pack. Our informant was curious, and when she inquired of its purpose, was told it was a ‘pee rag.’

This bandanna was a means by which to wipe after going in the woods. This certainly serves an essential purpose; but, our informant tells us, this is only one among many of the reasons for hikers to carry their bandannas. Hikers carry their bandannas to serve as a sweat rag; as material for an emergency splint; as a napkin; as a cleaning rag; as a fashion statement; even as marking as a member of a specific folk group (boy scouts, girl scouts, political statements). The scrap of cloth will always be there for them. In the Upper Valley, the wearing or carrying of a bandanna has come to be seen as a mark of someone outdoorsy, or earthy.

The leader recommended that all the others carry one themselves; our informant has done so since. Not as a pee rag, specifically, but as whatever she may need it for.

Significance

Items commonly held among a group of people may signify membership in a similar folk group, without necessarily serving the similar purpose.

https://andrewskurka.com/2013/female-hygiene-guide-tips/