Title: Tedious Tasks

General Information: 

1. Place of collection: Hanover, NH (via phone call)
2. Date of Collection: November 13, 2019
3. Genre: Customary Folklore – Superstition

Informant Information:

This informant (anonymous) is a 22 year old student at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. He was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, but moved to Madison, Connecticut when he was in 8th grade. After his junior year in high school, he began as a volunteer firefighter in the Madison, Connecticut Fire Department. He volunteered with this fire department for 4 years. 

Context:

Whenever a new firefighter starts at the Madison, CT fire department, there is a sort of “hazing” that goes on, in which the new member is required to complete the tedious and undesirable tasks, such as cleaning the trucks, the firehouse, and the equipment. After a couple of months, the new member assimilates fully into the department and is no longer required to do these tasks.

Item:

When a new firefighter joins the department, he/she is tasked with completing all of the tedious/undesirable tasks. 

Meaning and Interpretation:

This initiation ritual, which serves as a right of incorporation, seems to be very common among fire departments. This is likely the case because it allows the new members to get acquainted with the equipment, the firehouse, and the other members in the department. Further, it is a process that all new members undertake when joining, so it creates a mutual experience among the members, which allows the members to connect. 

Informant’s Comments:

The informant said that this process is simply something that every member has to go through, and he thinks that this shared process ultimately makes them closer as a department.

Title: Rubber Bracelet

General Information: 

1. Place of collection: Hanover, NH (via a phone call)
2. Date of Collection: November 13, 2019
3. Genre: Customary Folklore – Superstition

Informant Information:

This informant (anonymous) is a 22 year old student at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. He was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, but moved to Madison, Connecticut when he was in 8th grade. After his junior year in high school, he began as a volunteer firefighter in the Madison, Connecticut Fire Department. He volunteered with this fire department for 4 years. 

Context:

Every time that this informant was in the fire station working as a volunteer firefighter, he would wear one specific rubber bracelet. He felt that this bracelet gave him good luck and protected him from whatever danger lay ahead. He said that he learned this practice from one of the other firefighters, and that it is a common practice within the Madison Fire Department. 

Item:

It is good luck/provides protection to wear a rubber bracelet whenever on duty.

Meaning and Interpretation:

Similar to Captain Gilbert wearing his Saint Florian necklace, this superstition is used to give a sense of safety and security to the firefighter; in a field as dangerous as firefighting, any source of protection is desired. To this firefighter and others within his department these bracelets/necklaces/rings provide a measure of protection against the uncontrollable situations that they face every day. The superstition is a magic superstition because there is a cause and effect relationship – if he wears the bracelet, he will be protected or he will have good luck.

Informant’s Comments:

The informant was unsure why he (and the others in the department) started wearing items for good luck. He said that it is simply something that they do with no specific reason that he could pinpoint.

Title: Food Thief

General Information: 

1. Place of collection: Hanover Fire Department – Hanover, NH 
2. Date of Collection: November 6, 2019
3. Genre: Customary Folklore – Jokes/Pranks

Informant Information:

Michael Gilbert is a firefighter for the Hanover, New Hampshire fire department. He is currently 50 years old and lives in Hanover. However, Michael was born and raised in Franconia, New Hampshire. He is currently a captain at the Hanover Fire Department. Captain Gilbert is not particularly religious.

Context:

From time to time, the Hanover Fire Department has citizens who they had helped in one way or another bring in food for them as a way of saying thank you. However, since there are many shifts of different firefighters, the shift that actually helped that person is rarely ever on duty. In this event where the incorrect shift is on duty, that incorrect shift will eat the food (that is not intended for them), but leave the note from the person. Further, they will never tell the correct shift that they ate the food as a sort of joke. 

Item:

If a person that the firefighters had helped brings in food for a specific shift, the shift on duty eats all of the food, but leaves the note every time.

Informant’s Comments:

Captain Gilbert said that this is one of his favorite pranks to do on his fellow firefighters. Not only does he enjoy eating the snacks, but he also enjoys hearing about the reaction of the correct firefighters when they see only the crumbs and the note left behind.

Collector’s Comments:

The use of jokes seems like a way for the firefighters to break the tension and stress of the otherwise very serious and dangerous job. Through these practical pranks and jokes, they are able to provide some levity and relief from the everyday stresses of their dangerous and unpredictable lives.

Title: Ice Cream Mystery

General Information: 

1. Place of collection: Hanover Fire Department – Hanover, NH
2. Date of Collection: November 6, 2019
3. Genre: Customary Folklore – Jokes/Pranks

Informant Information:

Joe Amato is a firefighter for the Hanover, New Hampshire fire department. He is currently 27 years old and lives in Hanover. However, Joe was born and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts. He currently holds the title of firefighter at the Hanover Fire Department. Also, at age 27, Joe is the youngest firefighter currently a part of the Hanover Fire Department.

Context:

Periodically, the Hanover, FD does joint training with other fire departments. During these joint training endeavors, the firefighters like to play pranks on each other, especially on the firefighters in other departments. One particular prank is that if someone leaves ice cream in the freezer, then they eat the ice cream and fill it back up with water, without ever telling them who ate it. Joe Amato described one time that he did this to one of the ice cream containers at the Harvard Fire Department. 

Item:

If a firefighter from another department leaves ice cream in the freezer, they eat the ice cream and then fill the container with water.

Informant’s Comments:

Joe said that he was unsure as to how this prank began, but he enjoys taking part in it, and it provides him a source of comedy when they are doing joint training exercises with other departments. 

Collector’s Comments:

The use of jokes seems like a way for the firefighters to break the tension and stress of the otherwise very serious and dangerous job. Through these practical pranks and jokes, they are able to provide some levity and relief from the everyday stresses of their dangerous and unpredictable lives.

Title: Dead Bodies

General Information: 

1. Place of collection: Hanover Fire Department – Hanover, NH
2. Date of Collection: November 6, 2019
3. Genre: Customary Folklore – Superstition

Informant Information:

Joe Amato is a firefighter for the Hanover, New Hampshire fire department. He is currently 27 years old and lives in Hanover. However, Joe was born and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts. He currently holds the title of firefighter at the Hanover Fire Department. Also, at age 27, Joe is the youngest firefighter currently a part of the Hanover Fire Department.

Context:

In the field of firefighting, the firefighters sometimes experience very dramatic and serious injuries – or even death. In the event that they are dealing with a dead body on one of their calls, the firefighters avoid looking at the hands and the face of the dead person. They believe that looking at the face or hands of the dead body will bring them bad luck.

Item:

If you look at the hands or face of a dead body, then you will get bad luck.

Meaning and Interpretation:

Death is a very scary and sad event; therefore, it is possible that this superstition came about as a result of the fear of death. Furthermore, looking at the face and hands of a dead body likely makes the situation more depressing; seeing the lifeless face (and hands) makes the death more personal.

Informant’s Comments:

Joe did not know exactly why or how this superstition came about, but he follows it. He believes that it is simply easier to do his job by distancing himself from the sadness of death.

Title: MAC Truck 2

General Information: 

1. Place of collection: Hanover Fire Department – Hanover, NH
2. Date of Collection: November 6, 2019
3. Informant: Joe Amato
4. Genre: Customary Folklore – Superstition

Informant Information:

Joe Amato is a firefighter for the Hanover, New Hampshire fire department. He is currently 27 years old and lives in Hanover. However, Joe was born and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts. He currently holds the title of firefighter at the Hanover Fire Department. Also, at age 27, Joe is the youngest firefighter currently a part of the Hanover Fire Department.

Context:

At any point in time, the Hanover Fire Department has various trucks parked in the station. According to them, the presence of a truck that has been recently involved in fighting a fire (or a truck that has been on many calls since they got it) increases the likelihood that they will have to go out on a call. One of the trucks in their garage is relatively old, MAC Truck 2, and they believe that the sheer number of fires that the truck has been involved with increases the likelihood of them receiving a call.

Item:

If there is a certain truck parked in the station, they are more likely to receive a call about a fire. 

Associated Image:

Meaning and Interpretation:

The fact that the firetruck has been involved with many fires makes the firefighters fearful that it will soon, again, be involved in more fires. This fear has led to the creation of a superstition. Further, it appears that the law of similarity is at play in this situation because they believe that like produces like. In other words, the sheer fact of being involved in a fire makes the likelihood of another fire higher.

Informant’s Comments:

Our informant, Joe, being fairly new to the department was at first skeptical of this superstition. However, upon being a member of the group for a much longer period of time he grew to understand the truth behind this superstition. Joe was also one of the informants who tended to have multiple superstitions and rituals, hence why he might have been more susceptible to this example as well.

Collector’s Comments:

It is interesting to hear that a certain truck would be associated with more calls and more emergencies to deal with. I am also wondering if they might think this just because that is what has been said around the firehouse, thus they associate those calls more vividly in their minds than other calls.

Collector’s Name: Sam Wilson, Albie Austin and Ben Martin

Tags:

• Truck, Superstition, Fire

Title: Everything in Threes

General Information: 

1. Place of collection: Hanover Fire Department – Hanover, NH
2. Date of Collection: November 6, 2019
3. Informant: Captain Gilbert
4. Genre: Customary Folklore – Superstition

Informant Information:

Michael Gilbert is a firefighter for the Hanover, New Hampshire fire department. He is currently 50 years old and lives in Hanover. However, Michael was born and raised in Franconia, New Hampshire. He is currently a captain at the Hanover Fire Department. Captain Gilbert is not particularly religious.

Context:

There is a commonly held belief throughout the Hanover Fire Department that “everything comes in threes” meaning that, if they get one call, they believe they will get two more immediately following the first call. All of the firefighters that we spoke with hold this belief. They were unsure who they learned it from, but it has been a foundational belief in the fire department for as long as they can remember. 

Item:

If the firefighters get one call, then they will get two more (i.e. the belief that everything comes in threes). 

Meaning and Interpretation:

At a certain point in the history of the fire department, it is possible that they had a long span of calls/incidents supporting this notion of everything coming in threes. Hence, it is likely that, following this, this belief took hold and has remained a part of their belief systems ever since. This is an example of a sign superstition, as the format of the belief is sign and effect – if they get a call/something happens, then two other calls/events will inevitably follow this initial call. While there is no apparent explanation as to why these firefighters believe that “everything comes in threes”, they did mention that it just seems to be the coincidental pattern of how their job works – especially when dealing with certain events like a car accident. (i.e. 3 accidents in a row would most likely take place according to their superstitions).

Title: Window Jumpers (Garden City FD)

General Information: 

1. Place of collection: Garden City Fire Department – Garden City, NY (via a phone call from Hanover, NH)
2. Date of Collection: November 4, 2019
3. Informant: Cody George
4. Genre: Customary Folklore – Legend

Informant Information:

• Cody George is a volunteer firefighter for the Garden City, NY fire department. He is currently 24 years old and lives in Garden City while commuting to downtown New York for his day job during the week. Cody was born and raised in Garden City, New York. He is currently in training and holds the title of Firefighter at the Garden City Fire Department but has already been a crucial member of the team and assisted in over 100 calls. 

Context:

• Cultural Context:
  • There are certain incidents and fires when the firefighters cannot actually make it up to a certain floor or reach a certain person. While they are always trying to save everyone and try to enter via ladders and from above the fire, they are sometimes not able to make it without catastrophically injuring themselves.
• Social Context:
  • Our informant shared this story when he was asked about any lingering legends or stories that have stayed with the department. While this story was not directly part of their department’s actions, they were on standby and it was something that has been passed around the area given there are usually no deaths due to fires in his region.

Item:

• In a nearby town, our informant heard of a legend where there was such a large fire that there were in fact some casualties and even deaths. The building was set ablaze and the individuals on the second floor of the building were unable to make it out of the stairwell and exit doors and were forced to jump out from higher up floors and were unfortunately unable to make it. 

Associated Audio:

Informant’s Comments:

• Cody was at first very shocked to hear about this incident but was aware of the realities of his job and the dangers associated with it.

Collector’s Comments:

• In reflection, it must have been very difficult to standby as a firefighter knowing that he had the ability to help even though the incident was not in their town. Even just hearing about these stories and legends it is difficult to comprehend and it puts into perspective how some legends, while usually based on true events, sometimes have all of the true facts told.

Collector’s Name: Albie Austin

Tags:

• Legend, Fire Death