Author Archives: Roshni Chandwani

Croo

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Title: Croo

General Information about Item:

  • Verbal Folklore: Folk Speech
  • Language: English
  • Country: United States

Informant Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 female. She went on a first-year trip in September 2014, was a member of Lodj Croo in September 2015, and served as one of the two Lodj Croo Captains in September 2017.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
    • Throughout trips, there are three different types of croos: H-Croo, Lodj Croo, and Vox Croo. These croos are responsible for providing different types of support throughout the trip.
  • Cultural Context
    • Croos represent the larger community at Dartmouth. Beyond students’ friends, there are always larger groups there to support students.

Item:

  • Groups of students that support trips in different ways are refered to as “croos”. Individual students are known as “croolings”.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

“Croos are basically “support crews”. They operate in different sections of trips, including the first day, the last day, and facilitating the process in between as well as a safety crew. There are a lot of different points where more support is needed beyond what the trip leaders can offer, so croos come in to have programming, bring in more traditions / more fun, and let the trippees get to know more upperclassmen at Dartmouth besides their own trip leaders.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Informant was a member of Lodj Croo.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant was able to go into detail as she had been a member of Lodj Croo two times.

Collector’s Name: Roshni Chandwani

Tags/Keywords:

  • Verbal Folklore, Folk Speech

Tripcest

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Title: Tripcest

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Superstition, Taboo
  • Language: English
  • Country: United States

Informant Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 female. She went on a first-year trip in September 2014, was a member of Lodj Croo in September 2015, and served as one of the two Lodj Croo Captains in September 2017.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
    • Throughout trips, sexual relations between trippees and any trip leader or crooling are prohibited. During the “Safety” show at Robinson Hall, there is normally a song about not committing tripcest.
  • Cultural Context
    • Trippees are supposed to be able to rely on each other during their time at Dartmouth and are considered to be part of a small family, known as their trip. Sexual relations are considered awkward as they disturb this familial dynamic.

Item:

  • Trippees are prohibited from engaging in sexual relations of any kind.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

“One of the biggest taboos about trips is tripcest, and so that is when any trippees or trip leaders have sexual relations with each other during the process of trips, and that’s kind of carried over after. I would still feel really weird, and a lot of people do too, committing tripcest now. Although, some beautiful relationships do flourish from it. On Lodj Croo where tripcest mostly comes into play is during the dance party after dinner. Sometimes trippees get too close to each other, so we try and facilitate breaking that up. One of my favorite techniques that I’ve heard of is farting between two of the people so that they all separate. One of the stories that made me really upset, I found out that tripcest had been committed in one of the port-a-potties two years ago when I was on Lodj Croo.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Informant noted that tripcest is the biggest taboo of trips.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant was able to note what tripcest is while also contextualizing tripcest in terms of Lodj Croo.

Collector’s Name: Roshni Chandwani

Tags/Keywords:

Customary Folklore, Superstition, Taboo

Green Eggs and Ham

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Title: Green Eggs and Ham

General Information about Item:

  • Material Folklore: Food
  • Language: English
  • Country: United States

Informant Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 male. He went on a first-year trip in September 2014 and was a member of Lodj Croo in September 2017.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
    • During breakfast at the Lodge, before the trippees depart to go back to Hanover, the members of Lodj Croo serve them green eggs and ham, as well as a few other vegetarian options. The trippees are surprised because they haven’t received meat for the entire trip, so many trippees get very excited.
  • Cultural Context
    • Seuss is an alumnus of Dartmouth College. There are many parts of trips that touch on the Dr. Seuss theme. Trippees are excited to learn that someone as famous as him went to Dartmouth.

Item:

  • Trippees are served green eggs and ham during breakfast at the Lodj right before their trip ends.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

“In the morning, we serve green eggs and ham. The ham is the only meat that people get on trips, which is pretty exciting for the students. I mean, it’s not the best ham, but it tastes like the best ham after not having meat for a few days. And two trip leaders will read the story, ‘Green Eggs and Ham,’ to the trippees of the entire section while they eat their eggs and ham. It’s really fun.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Informant noted that many other parts of trips also play on the Dr. Seuss theme. For example, Lodj Croo’s tent was called ‘Seussland’.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant was an active member of Seussland.

Collector’s Name: Roshni Chandwani

Tags/Keywords:

  • Material Folklore, Food

Schlitz on Mount Washington

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Title: Schlitz on Mount Washington

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Shows, Practical Joke
  • Language: English
  • Country: United States

Informant Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 male. He went on a first-year trip in September 2014 and was a member of Lodj Croo in September 2017.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
    • Similar to the Doc Benton story, the Schlitz movie is screened during the evening when it’s dark at the Lodge. The trippees sit around thinking that they’re watching a movie in a normal setting. However, the trippees do not know that the Lodj Croolings are there to mess with them and bother them during the viewing.
  • Cultural Context
    • The trippees are still gullible as they finish their last day on trips. The Lodj Croolings continue the spirit of trips by playing a practical joke on them one last time.
    • Moreover, the movie is set in New Hampshire, and the trippees who have just been hiking or exploring the woods of New Hampshire relate to the movie.

Item:

  • Schlitz on Mount Washington is a movie about a tourist who climbs Mount Washington, which is in New Hampshire. During the movie, the Lodj Croolings will yell parts of the movie out loud to heckle the trippees.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

“After the entire day at the Lodge, there’s also a screening of the movie Schlitz, Schlitz on Mount Washington. And it’s similar to Rocky Horror, where there are people in the audience doing callbacks during the entire film. It’s a really old movie, it’s black and white, and it’s ridiculous. But all of the Lodj croolings learn these shoutouts and do this throughout the entire film, the entire time. And some trippees get really upset because they’re trying to listen, but they don’t realize that the point is that we’re supposed to mess with them throughout the film, so that’s a fun thing that we do.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Informant enjoyed being a part of the callbacks and enjoyed getting other students involved.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant helped screen the movie and prepare callbacks, so he was very knowledgeable about the movie.

Collector’s Name: Roshni Chandwani

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Folklore, Shows, Practical Jokes

Dances on Trips

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Title: Dances on Trips

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Dances
  • Language: English
  • Country: United States

Informant #1 Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 male. He went on a first-year trip in September 2014 and was a member of Lodj Croo in September 2017.

Informant #2 Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 female. She went on a first-year trip in September 2014, was a member of Lodj Croo in September 2015, and served as one of the two Lodj Croo Captains in September 2017.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
    • Throughout trips, including at Dartmouth, the trip itself, and the day at the lodge, all trippees learn specific dances that they continue to practice throughout their trip. These dances include both individual and partner dances.
    • Traditionally, the trippees learn the dance in Hanover, right in front of Robinson Hall. They then are expected to know the dances fully by the time they reach the Lodge.
  • Cultural Context
    • The trippees are nervous and awkward when they get to Dartmouth. Silly dances encourage them to not take themselves seriously while also facilitating connections between trippees through the partner dances.
    • These dances stay popular throughout their time at Dartmouth. Freshmen at Dartmouth are often seen dancing these dances when specific songs play.

Item:

  • These dances include choreographed dances to “Every Time We Touch” and “I’m On a Roll” as well as the Salty Dog Rag and Contra Dancing.

Transcript of Informant #1 Interview:

“Every year, there’s an additional dance that’s added. So we like to break the ice by having these wacky dances to “Every Time We Touch”, “I’m On a Roll”, and they just become a unifying force for the new students. Pretty much everyone on campus knows the “Every Time We Touch” dance, and it’s pretty fun during your first term here when the song comes on and you can just jump into dancing with people you don’t know.

We also have contra dancing at the Lodge. We bring in a facilitator to do contra dancing, which is New England’s square dancing. And the trippees line up and for about 40 minutes do contra dancing with one another.

We also dance the Salty Dog Rag, which is similar to square dancing, and it’s a lot of fun. It takes a while to learn, but once people feel like they’ve got it down, they’re really excited to do it over and over and over again.”

Informant #1’s Comments:

  • Informant used these dances to get people to mingle with one another.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant #1 was able to remember all of these dances still, showing the power of the trips memories.

Collector’s Name: Roshni Chandwani

Transcript of Informant #2 Interview:

“That’s a lot of tradition that’s passed on year to year, and there’s some dances that are much more memorable that I think most people at Dartmouth would know and remember, like the “Every Time We Touch” dance, whereas there’s also new additions every year, and some of those are kept and passed along from year to year, like I know I made one up 2 years ago that we tried to bring back again this year, but I think that might fail out after I graduate, whereas there are some that are made up, besides the “Every Time We Touch” dance, that are passed on from year to year that are stronger, with strong traditions.

There’s contra dancing, which happens at the Lodj after dinner as well. Usually, someone comes in and “calls Contra”. It’s a mix of square dancing and swing dancing, so we have someone come up and “call Contra” every night, who says what dance moves to do.

Informant #2’s Comments:

  • Informant noted that dancing is one of her favorite parts of trips, arguing that dancing is important because it’s a way of being more funny and silly without having to be nervous and be awkward. She also said it’s a part of the Dartmouth traditions and makes you feel like you’re a part of something.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant #2 is the creator of some of the dancing folklore that may be practiced years from now.

Collector’s Name: Roshni Chandwani

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Folklore, Dances

The Doc Benton Story

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Title: The Doc Benton Story

General Information about Item:

  • Verbal Folklore: Urban Legend
  • Language: English
  • Country: United States

Informant #1 Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 male. He went on a first-year trip in September 2014 and was a member of Lodj Croo in September 2017.

Informant #2 Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 female. She went on a first-year trip in September 2014, was a member of Lodj Croo in September 2015, and served as one of the two Lodj Croo Captains in September 2017.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
    • Each trip culminates at the Lodge for one day and one night. During that night, the trippees all sit outside under the stars. They’re told that they will be hearing a true story about the history of the Lodge. The trippees do not realize that it’s a horror story.
  • Cultural Context
    • The trippees are nervous about trips ending and returning back to Dartmouth to begin their freshman year. They’re also nervous because they’re finally among a large amount of people, not just the few people that have been on their trip with them.
    • Lodj Croo wants to expose them to Dartmouth traditions as well as give the trippees a bonding experience.

Item:

  • Members of Lodj Croo scare the trippees with a horror story about Doc Benton. The story involves croolings scaring the trippees by screaming or running across the field at various parts of story.

Transcript of Informant #1 Interview:

“The most obvious one is the Doc Benton story. Trippees are told the horror story at the end of their night at the lodge, and all of the lodge croolings and any students that are helping out end up popping out and scaring the new students, which is a lot of fun. People are unsure how real the Doc Benton story is. There’s an addendum that’s supposed to be real, but there was a ‘12 named Naomi, or maybe they’ve hidden her name for security reasons, but she was working at Moosilauke and for some reason, she was there. I think her job was to clear the ice off of the roof of the Lodge. And she was on a hike. Her boyfriend was skiing but was going to meet her at the lodge at night. And he came back, the door was open. He was a little nervous about where she might be. And he ended up looking around the Lodge and found her in the freezer, clutching a knife, saying “He’s here. He’s here.”, which has been added to the Doc Benton story because people assume that it’s Doc Benton and that the stories are all real.”

Informant #1’s Comments:

  • “We scare people during the Doc Benton story, and the addendum is a new and exciting thing that kind of freaks me out as well.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant #1 was able to shed insight into new variations of the Doc Benton story, showing the evolution of this piece of folklore.

Collector’s Name: Roshni Chandwani

Transcript of Informant #2 Interview:

“Trips is full of many Dartmouth traditions…one that’s particular to Lodj Croo is the Doc Benton story, and so there’s a scary story that’s told to the incoming class, and it has a lot of little parts of Dartmouth in it, and also is basically just meant to make people think about the history of the area as well as freak them out a little bit. There’s other traditions involved it, like Lodj Croo scaring all of them at one point and making them all scream.”

Informant #2’s Comments:

  • Informant noted that the story was part of all three of her trips experiences.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant #2 was able to give a detailed account of the way in which the story is told.

Collector’s Name: Roshni Chandwani

Tags/Keywords:

  • Verbal Folklore, Urban Legend