General Information Data:

Material Folklore, Decoration

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Informant: AJ

Date Collected: 11/15/2021

Informant Data:

AJ is a Dartmouth ’23 originally from Potomac, Maryland. At Dartmouth, AJ is a member of the Men’s lacrosse team. Outside of athletics, AJ enjoys spending time with his friends while engaging in outdoor activities around the Upper Valley. A History major, he enjoys his studies but is unsure what he wants to do after college.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Data: Many Americans follow the tradition of decorating their homes around the holiday season. Christmas decorations include trees, ornaments, nativity sets, and images of Christmas characters such as Santa or Reindeer. It is common for Americans to hang a wreath on their Front Door.

Social Data: AJs family enjoys sharing in holiday traditions by decorating the house together. Generally, decorations consist of a Christmas Tree adorned with ornaments and pictures carrying holiday messages such as “Merry Christmas.” As a part of this tradition, AJs family goes to a tree lot every year to pick a tree

Item:

Every year, while the informants family is picking their tree, they gather extra pine branches to make a wreath at home. This wreath is adorned with fall foliage such as flowers, and pinecones. The family does this every year as a tradition passed down from AJ’s grandparents. It is a form of collaboration around the holiday season.

Associated File:

Transcript:

“Each year we choose go to the lot to choose our tree, we always make sure to pick one with extra branches at the bottom so. When we trim the tree, we keep the extra branches for the wreath. We dry the branches out for a few days before making the it. My mom and sister usually make the wreath, but I help out decorate it with colorful branches and pinecones. It’s a pretty cool process to see. They’re better at making it than I am, but its a good tradition”

Informant Comments:

“I think my mom learned how to do this when she was a kid”

Collectors Comments:

AJ’s wreath making tradition is an interesting family event. I have personally never seen someone make a homemade wreath, but it sounds like a rewarding process. This tradition of making a wreath appears to be folkloric. It is a collective event which features multiple existence, because every year the wreath is new. Furthermore, the skill of making a wreath is passed down through generations in AJ’s family through oral and visual means. This certainly appears to be a folklore tradition.

Collector’s Name:

Jackson McGinley