General Information about Item:

• Material Lore, customary 
• Language: English
• State of Origin: Massachusetts, USA
• Informant: S.M.
• Date Collected: November 10, 2021

Informant Data:

S.M. is a ‘24 at Dartmouth college, born and raised just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. His family has lived there for awhile and both he and his sister attend schools in New England. He actively enjoys Christmas, but gift-giving is a stressful thing for him because he often doesn’t know what to get for the recipient.  

Contextual Data:

Social Context: This interview was planned and the informant knew the theme was Christmas beforehand. Spencer became aware of this piece of folklore when he was much younger. This practice is done by the women in his family and exclusively around Christmas time. The social function of this practice is that the figures represent an aspect of the past year whether its a travel destination or a global pandemic and is another way for the family to share in each other’s experiences

Cultural Context: One of the most widely adopted pieces of American Christmas lore is the idea of Santa Claus bringing gifts to children. He is believed to ride in a sleigh and deliver gifts over the night of the 24th by entering the house through the chimney. However, many families only put effort into perpetuating the myth for younger children (as in trying to convince them Santa is real). When children get older, the myth of Santa is understood to be a myth and so Santa’s role takes a backseat. 

Item:

The item of folklore is the exchange of Santa-themed figurines. This exchange is currently  done by S.M.’s grandmother, mother and has now been passed on to his sister as well, so I expect it to evolve into an ongoing practice. The Santa figurines are collected from a variety of sources, from stores while on vacation or even made by his sister herself. They often have themes, for example last year he mentioned his sister made a Santa statue with the theme of the Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine. 

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

Transcript:

“My mom, grandma and now my sister, they all exchange a Santa every year. It’s like a little statue of a santa and it’s kind of a spoof on whatever they want. So a lot of times it’s from travelling um and so my mom will find some variety of santa and will gift it to some member of the family. My sister has gotten really hands-on with it and made a Covid santa.”

Collector’s Comments:

Why does this count as folklore? At the moment, I think it’s on the border of counting. While it is something that has been passed down from generation to generation, and the time of origin is unknown, the inventor is known to be his grandmother. However, I included this because I believe this is a folkloric seed for a future practice for generations of S.M.’s family. Additionally, the figurines are rooted in the folkloric belief of Santa. It is a fun interpretation of the idea of Santa in that instead of being the giver, he becomes the gift. 

Collector’s Name: Julia Cross

Dartmouth College

RUSS13

Fall 2021