Author Archives: Molly Brickman

Shammie Superstition

Title: Shammie Superstition

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Superstition
  • English
  • United States

Informant Data:

  • Emily Green is an 18 year old from Orange County California. She is currently a freshman at Dartmouth College. Emily has only been diving for nine months, however, prior to this she competed as an elite trampolinist and competitive gymnast for 13 years. She is currently a member of the Varsity Diving Team.

Contextual Data:

  • Social/Cultural Context: Emily has been involved in the diving community at Dartmouth since she got here. She shows leadership potential among her teammates and this exemplifies the bond created between under and upperclassmen that she will one day be able to carry on.

Item:

  • Insert Item Here: Emily explains that it is a Dartmouth Diving Team tradition that the upperclassmen pass their shammies (water absorbing towels) down to younger teammates. This creates a bond between upper and lower class-men.

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

Transcript of Associated File:

  • “So basically we all get our teammates from older teammates and then you always use the same shammies and you dry off before every dive so that it goes well.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • This allows the diving team to create a bond between team members. It is a good way for the older teammates to bond with the younger class-men. Superstitions were common among many informants.

Collector’s Name: Molly Brickman

Tags/Keywords:

  •  Shammies, Superstition

Sock Superstition

Title: Sock Superstition

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Superstition
  • English
  • United States

Informant Data:

  • Melanya Zaraska was born in Toronto Canada in 1997. She is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. Melanya has been swimming competitively since she was seven years old on the Etobicoke Swim team. Her passion for swimming has only grown since she began her career as a division one swimmer here at Dartmouth College. She is extremely fond of her teammates, and feels as though she has developed many new leadership qualities this past year.

Contextual Data:

  • Social/Cultural Context: Melanya describes a superstition that she has followed for many years. She describes the “if A then B” superstition that many swimmers follow because they believe it will bring good luck before a big race.

Item:

  • Melanya describes a superstition that she has been following for several years. Before every race, Melanya wears the same pair of socks under her shoes. Melanya wears the socks in the car to the meet, and when she walks around on the pool deck because she believes that they bring good luck.

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

Transcript of Associated File:

  •  “When it’s a really big race day I have this like silly little thing I do. I always wear these ridiculous socks. They’re like bright orange and have these like funky little animals on them. You can’t really see them, and I don’t show anyone because I’m kind of embarrassed but I wear those every time and they just make me feel better about racing.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Melanya mentioned that many of the women on her club team similar wore strange articles of clothing on deck before racing. They all believed that wearing certain things would allow them to go faster during competitions.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Clothing superstitions were common among informants. The socks that Ethan wears before every race provide him with a sense of confidence that allows him to preform well in meets. This follows the “If A then B” superstition.

Collector’s Name: Molly Brickman

Tags/Keywords:

  • Insert Tags/Keywords Here: Socks, Superstition

Shoes Superstition

Title: Shoe Superstition

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Superstition
  • English
  • United States

Informant Data:

  • Ethan Joseph Cook was born in Fort Wayne Indiana on April 23, 1998. Ethan is a freshman at Dartmouth College. It is his first year on the Dartmouth Varsity swim team, but he has been swimming competitively since he was nine years old. Ethan decided to swim in college because he really enjoyed his experiences swimming on his high school swim team and he wanted to be involved in something that has equally as great traditions and team bonding.

Contextual Data:

  • Social/Cultural Context: Ethan describes a superstition that is based on the clothing that he wears before a competition. Ethan preforms this superstition before major competitions. The socks are worn on the pool deck before he puts on his racing suit and prepares to dive into the water.

Item:

  • Ethan describes  that he wears the same pair of shoes before every competition because he believes that wearing them brings him good luck. This follows the “If A then B” superstition.

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

Transcript of Associated File:

  •  “On deck before my races and after as well, I wear my lucky shoes.  They’re brown with yellow stripes on them. I really like the look of them and I’m pretty sure they make me go faster.”
  • Collector’s Comments:
  • Clothing based superstitions were extremely common among informants; especially swimmers. Since swimming is such a mentally taxing sport, it extremes to help competitors to find an article of clothing that he or she believes will increase chances of doing well.

Collector’s Name: Molly Brickman

Tags/Keywords:

  •  Shoes, Superstition

Muffin Superstition

Title: Muffin Superstition

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Superstition
  • English
  • United States

Informant Data:

  • Caroline Poleway is a 19 year old female from New City New York. She currently resides in Hanover New Hampshire, as she is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. Caroline swam for the Badger Swim Club for ten years, and has now been competing on the Dartmouth Varsity swim team for two years.

Contextual Data:

  • Social/Cultural Context: Caroline describes a superstition that many swimmers on her club team followed for years. She describes the “if A then B” superstition that many swimmers follow because they believe it will bring good luck before a big race.

Item:

  • Caroline describes a superstition that she has been following since she swam on her club team. One mother baked blueberry muffins for her son the day of a big meet. Although muffins are not typically recommended as pre-competition food, the boy did extremely well at that meet and bettered his times in every event. Ever since then, Caroline has eaten these same blueberry muffins before every swim competition because she believes the muffins bring her good luck.

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

  • Blueberry Muffins

Transcript of Associated File:

  •  “A bunch of kids on my club team, we used to eat a bunch of blueberry muffins. Specifically one mom on the team would make these blueberry muffins and we all started eating them before meets because one time this mom was being really nice and was like I’ll make you guys a bunch of muffins before the meet. We all ate them and this one kid swam really fast so we were like we have to eat a bunch of muffins and we’ll do really well and it just became like a team tradition.”

Informant’s Comments:

  •  Caroline has mentioned that at all levels of swimming, she has encountered people with different superstitions. Although some are related to eating certain types of food or wearing different articles of clothing before a competition, she finds that having superstitions is common among the swimmers she has encountered.

Collector’s Comments:

  •  Food based superstitions were very common among informants. Many swimmers that were interviewed believe that eating a certain type of food will enhance their performance, not because of scientifically proven reason but because of an experience that happened to them in the past. The muffins give Caroline a confidence that allows her to preform exceptionally in the pool.

Collector’s Name: Molly Brickman

Tags/Keywords:

  • Insert Tags/Keywords Here: Muffin, Superstition