1. Title: Droco

2. Informant info:

Sydney Walter is 19 years old and from Austin, TX. She is a Government and Women & Gender Studies major at Dartmouth College. She is involved in Student Assembly and spent her most recent term in India, studying gender inequality. Most importantly, she is a frequent KAF-goer.

3. Type of lore (Genre and Sub-genre): Customary Lore, Tradition

4. Language: English

5. Country of Origin: May 15, 2016, Hanover, NH, USA

6. Social / Cultural Context:

Class of 1953 Commons is one of the dining facilities known at Dartmouth. Many refer to it as ‘Foco’ for short, a phrase adopted by all students. In this dining hall, it is all you can eat and payment is only necessary to enter. Because it is one of the main dining halls on campus, it a popular spot for students to meet, socialize, hang out, do work, etc. The following tradition involves students who are drunk and hungry.

7. Associated file: N/A

8. Transcript:

“One of the most common campus traditions that I’m aware of is Droco. Essentially, all it is is just when you’re drinking with your friends before you go out to the frats, you go to Foco for food. There’s not much else to it…it’s sorta just something that everyone has done like at least once. I guess the idea behind it is that food tastes better when you’re drunk and, since Foco has unlimited food, you get to eat as much as you want. Also, I think there’s a social component — people must think it’s funny to run into your friends in such a public and social space while drunk.”

9. Informant’s comments:

“I honestly can say that I haven’t done Droco, but I know so many people who have. I think it’s like one of those things you ‘have’ to do before you graduate. It’s a tradition! But I honestly don’t know why…[laughter]”

10. Collector’s comments:

The concept and tradition of Droco stems from two experiences common to Dartmouth students — drinking / the frat scene and going to Foco. The intersection between the two allows for tradition / folklore of any type to flourish — it’s only natural that they interact in this way.

11. Tags/Keywords: Foco, DDS, food, drunk

1. Title: The KAF Cup and the Dartmouth 7

2. Informant info:

Sydney Walter is 19 years old and from Austin, TX. She is a Government and Women & Gender Studies major at Dartmouth College. She is involved in Student Assembly and spent her most recent term in India, studying gender inequality. Most importantly, she is a frequent KAF-goer.

3. Type of lore (Genre and Sub-genre): Verbal Lore, Legend, Urban Legend

4. Language: English

5. Country of Origin: May 15, 2016, Hanover, NH, USA

6. Social / Cultural Context:

KAF (King Arthur Flour) is a popular cafe located in Baker library. Students often meet here to socialize, take study breaks, and hang out. Because of the number of workers is small, students often develop personal relationships with the workers (who usually aren’t Dartmouth students). The following urban legend describes a story surrounding one of the workers, and how his handwriting led him to complete the Dartmouth 7 with a student. The Dartmouth 7 is a tradition at Dartmouth, for which two people must have sex in 7 distinct places on campus.

7. Associated file: N/A

8. Transcript:

“…So basically what happened was this one worker at KAF — who everyone knows — has really crappy handwriting and people can never read the names he writes on the cups. According to my friend, one time he wrote on this girl’s cup and she mistook part of her name as reading: ‘7?’ Partially as a joke, the girl waited around until after he got off his shift. She then approached him, showed him the cup, and told him that she’d love to. Later that night, they completed the 7. I basically heard this from a friend of a sister in my sorority, so I have no idea if it’s true. It’s really funny, though!”

9. Informant’s comments:

“Since I know the KAF worker personally, I find the story especially funny. He really does have terrible handwriting. But, I heard different versions of the story through like four different people — it’s definitely grown from what it actually was. I think they definitely hooked up, though.”

10. Collector’s comments:

Similar to the Foco stories and other types of lore that we reported, this legend is generated around one fact (the KAF worker’s poor handwriting, in this instance) and then the layers of the story are added as time goes on. I think the close-knit community of Dartmouth adds to the prevalence of the story — as many students visit KAF, have personal connections with the workers, and can relate to the legend itself in some way or another.

11. Tags/Keywords: DDS, urban legend, KAF, Food

1. Title: The Student Trapped in the Drain

2. Informant info:

Carolyn Strauch was born on May 21, 1996, and grew up in Chicago, IL. Both of her parents are from Massachusetts. She is studying Biology and psychology as a sophomore at Dartmouth College. She is a former rower, former DDS worker, and a UGA in East Wheelock.

3. Type of Lore (Genre, Sub-genre): Verbal Lore, Legend, Urban Legend

4. Language: English

5. Country of Origin: May 14, 2016, Hanover, NH, USA

6. Social / Cultural Context:

Foco is the main student dining center on campus. Given the volume of students that make their way in and out of the dining hall every day, there is high demand for workers to make sure that the center is running as efficiently as possible. Often, DDS will hire student workers (at a pretty reasonable wage) to work alongside the full-time DDS workers in order to help them out. Naturally, students mingle with the workers and pick up on lingo, stories, legends, etc. surrounding the dining center and its workers. The following item is a legend explaining the groaning noise coming from the large drain in the kitchen.

7. Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): N/A

8. Transcript (if verbal lore):

“When working in the kitchen at Foco during the night shift, all student employees had to clean up the kitchen, dry the dishes, and prepare the workspace for the breakfast shift. Part of the clean up routine involved mopping all of the gross fallen food and liquids that collected on the floor during the day. We’re given mops and hoses…and are instructed to like push the debris towards the large drain in the middle of the kitchen called ‘the hole.’ When food is pushed into the drain, you’d always hear a deep…like groan emit from the hole. It kinda sounded like a human or dying animal or something [mimics noise]. So, the legend was that the groan from the drain wasn’t just the food being processed, but actually a student worker who had fallen into the hole years ago, back when it was much larger. The story goes that the student was alone cleaning the kitchen one night when it was storming, and the lights suddenly went out. Rather than stop, the student decided to keep cleaning. Because he couldn’t see, he slipped and fell into the hole. He yelled a ton but no one was there to help him out. Over the next few days, DDS decided that the student had drowned, and, in order to prevent an accident like this from happening again, they made the hole much smaller. After doing this, the groaning began. It was rumored that the student didn’t die, but instead was living off of the scraps of food that the workers push down there. Today, cleaning the kitchen isn’t seen exactly as cleaning up, but as a ritual to feed the student who lives at the bottom of the drain.”

9. Informant’s comments: 

“Obviously I (or any of the workers) don’t think that this rumor is true, but it’s a fun way to entertain the workers and scare new employees who are gullible. I definitely think that the hole was once bigger, but I highly doubt anyone actually fell in!”

10. Collector’s comments:

Similar to the Legend of the Foco Finger, I think this urban legend serves two purposes: to entertain the workers, and to explain some common experience that all foco workers share. I do believe there is some historical context to this story, such as the hole in the ground — but I think disbelief is suspended when we are expected to believe that a student fell into a hole in foco.

11. Tags/Keywords: Foco, drain, urban legend, student, trapped

1. Title: The Legend of the Foco Finger

2. Informant info: Carolyn Strauch was born on May 21, 1996, and grew up in Chicago, IL. Both of her parents are from Massachusetts. She is studying Biology and psychology as a sophomore at Dartmouth College. She is a former rower, former DDS worker, and a UGA in East Wheelock.

3. Type of lore (Genre, Sub-genre): Verbal Lore, Legend, Urban Legend

4. Language: English

5. Country of Origin: May 14, 2016, Hanover, NH, USA

6. Social / Cultural Context:

Foco is the main student dining center on campus. Given the volume of students that make their way in and out of the dining hall every day, there is high demand for workers to make sure that the center is running as efficiently as possible. Often, DDS will hire student workers (at a pretty reasonable wage) to work alongside the full-time DDS workers in order to help them out. Naturally, students mingle with the workers and pick up on lingo, stories, legends, etc. surrounding the dining center and its workers. The following item is a legend explaining the reason why one Foco employee has only nine fingers.

7. Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): N/A

8. Transcript (if verbal lore):

“One legend I learned as a Foco employee was about Joe and the Foco Finger. It was rumored that a really long time ago, a worker named Joe was working in Ma Thayer’s and cutting up carrots for the main soup of the day…he was super pressed for time since it was like 5 pm and foco was opening soon…so he was cutting rather quickly and sliding the carrots into like a large pot of broth that was sitting on the ground next to his work station. However, Joe started to get sloppy and started cutting super fast — he accidentally chopped off his pinky finger and…slid his finger and carrots into the broth! [laughing] ….but because it was so late, Joe didn’t want to ruin a whole batch of soup, so he wrapped his finger up, said nothing to the other workers, and set the pot on the stove to cook. Later that evening, after the students had poured into Foco to eat dinner, I was told that a freshman girl was serving herself some of the soup and found the finger when she looked down, she fainted and was taken to Dick’s House. But!!!…. Joe was never identified as the owner of the finger — and that’s apparently why he has nine fingers”

9. Informant’s comments:

“I don’t know whether or not the story is real, but it seems to be more a source of entertainment rather than anything else…Joe doesn’t really mind it and he doesn’t deny or confirm it. I think that just adds to the mystery, and it’s funny!”

10. Collector’s comments:

The origin and time when this legend developed is still unknown, but it definitely doesn’t predate the subject matter. Much like other forms of legends, this urban legend requires the audience to suspend disbelief. It seems to serve the purpose of explaining why Joe only has nine fingers, but also to entertain the workers and keep things in the workplace lighthearted.

11. Tags/Keywords: food, foco, finger, legend, verbal lore