Author Archives: Jackson McGinley

Wreath Making

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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:

Holiday Wreath Making Workshop (Sold Out) - Queens Botanical Garden

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

Broccoli Dish

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General Information Data:

Material Folklore, Food

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Informant: S.T.

Date Collected: 11/12/2021

Informant Data: S.T. is a 40 year-old mother born and raised in Portland, Oregon. The informant is the Aunt of the collector, and their two families celebrate Christmas together. She is a Mother of two who enjoys making homemade jewelry, cooking, and leading an active lifestyle. The informant says she loves spending time with her family and enjoys wholesome holiday celebrations.  

Contextual Data

Cultural Data: The holiday season in America is a time for gatherings and camaraderie. Around Christmas time, large holiday events are hosted for families and friends to gather in a festive setting. These parties are put on as “potlucks”, in which each member in attendance brings a dish to provide to the party. This culture of potlucks and holiday parties creates the opportunity to observe unique folklore. 

Social Data: S.T. comes from a large but tight knit family. The family has resided in the Portland metropolitan area for generations, and the Family is known to host large holiday parties for both friends and family. S.T.’s mother and grandmother were both great cooks, and they have passed down family recipes through generations. 

Item: For every Christmas party, a member of S.T.s family brings a Broccoli Dish. Originally, S.T.’s mother was responsible for bringing the special dish. After her mother passed away, S.T. inherited the tradition of making the Broccoli Dish for parties. The recipe has been committed to memory and passed down through generations of women in the informants family. It is a baked dish consists of broccoli, multiple types of cheese, a guarded spice mixture, and breadcrumbs. However, this is the extent of information S.T. was willing to provide, as she doesn’t want to give away the recipe. 

Associated File:

This is an image of the Family preparing Christmas Dinner. At the bottom of the image is a platter of Mashed Potatoes. The platter above to the potatoes with a spoon in it is the esteemed Broccoli Dish. 

Transcript: “After Momo [the informant’s mother] died, I have been the one who makes the Broccoli Dish to Family Christmas. I love doing it, and I learned how to make the dish by cooking with Momo around Christmas time since I was a kid. I know it’s popular every year because it is always gone by the end of the night. I remember a few years ago, [my husband] forgot to bring the dish from home and we all made him drive back home to get it!”

Collectors Comments: This appears to be a great example of a customary folkloric food item. The origins of the Broccoli Dish’s original recipe are unknown. It has been passed down orally through generations in the informants family. Family members learn how to make the dish through collective effort and collaboration. Over time, due to changes of availability and preferences of ingredients, there have been multiple iterations of Broccoli Dish, exemplifying multiple existence. 


Collectors Name: Jackson McGinley

Superstitions Surrounding Santa Claus

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General Information Data:

Customary Folklore, Superstition

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Informant: L.M.

Date Collected: 11/10/2021

Informant Data:

L.M. is an 18 year old girl born and raised in Portland, Oregon. She is also the sister of the Collector. L.M. is currently a Freshman at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. In High School, L.M. was a two-sport athlete who involved in both academics and extracurricular. At George Washington, L.M. is a member of the Trails club who enjoys spending time with her friends and exploring the Nation’s Historic Capital. 

Contextual Data:

Cultural: Christmas Gatherings in America are generally centered on two days: Christmas Eve, which occurs on December 24th, and Christmas Day, which occurs on December 25th. On these days, friends and families descend upon a certain household to engage in socialization and holiday activities. It is at these events that folklore traditions often emerge since they create a rare, jolly gathering of Folk. Christmas Eve is of particular importance because it is believed that Santa Claus comes to peoples homes on this night. Santa Claus is a culturally relevant character with magical abilities who brings gifts to Children during the Holidays. Christmas Eve gatherings can create folklore centered around Santa. 

Social: The informant’s family is a tight-knit community which gathers every year without fail on Christmas Eve at the house of one of the family members to celebrate the holidays. Christmas Eve is an intimate gathering which is generally restricted to family members and close friends. Yearly gatherings have created folklore amongst the children in the informant’s family.

Item:

L.M. and her cousins developed a tradition of tracking and informing their fellow family members of the whereabouts of Santa Claus using a mobile app called SantaTracker. This tradition was important because the children believed that they must be asleep when Santa Claus arrives at their home in order to receive presents. This represents a customary superstition surrounding the magical character of Santa Claus. While this superstition that Santa comes when children are sleeping is culturally relevant, in L.M.’s family the superstition was told by the Mothers of the family. 

Transcript: 

“Me and my younger cousin Mallory every year had an app on our Mom’s phones called Santa Tracker. We would track Santa while he was flying around delivering presents around dessert time to make sure he wouldn’t come to our house before we were asleep because we wouldn’t get any presents. Sants’s not going to give you any presents unless you’re in bed and asleep. If you weren’t in bed when Santa came it ment you were naughty and got Coal in your stocking, thats what our Moms told us.”

Informants Comments:

This superstition and tradition began to fade away as belif in Santa faded. 

Collectors Comments:

This is an interesting piece of folklore. It represents a customary superstition surrounding Santa Claus. However, as the older brother in the Family, I was less inclined to believe this. I saw my younger sister and cousins obsessing over the app, but witnessed the folklore as an outsider. I think that my Mom just wanted a way to keep my sister in her room on Christmas Eve so she wouldn’t see my Mom wrapping presents. 

Collectors Name: Jackson McGinley

Christmas Prayer

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General Information Data:

Customary Lore, Prayer

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Informant: E.S.

Date Collected: 11/12/2021

Informant Data: E.S. is a 19 year old Women’s lacrosse player at the University of Vanderbilt. Prior to college, E.S. attended Jesuit, Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon. Outside of her love for athletics, E.S. enjoys hiking and other outdoor activities along with spending time with her friends and family. E.S. and the collector have been friends for years. 

Contextual Data: 

Cultural Data: Christmas was originally established in the United States as a Christian holiday to celebrate the brith of Jesus Christ. While modern Christmas traditions have begun to stray away from this original intention, there are still aspects of religiosity within certain Christmas traditions. Oftentimes, religious observances during Christmas can be seen in attending church on Christmas Day or decorating one’s home with Nativity sets. 

Social: E.S. comes from a religious family and attended Catholic School since her youth. Her family still attends church and considers themselves members of the Catholic community. For her family, Christmas is an important religious holiday. The informant’s family take the time to attend mass on Christmas Eve and hold a special prayer during Christmas Dinner. 

Item: E.S.’s family follows the tradition of holding a unique catholic prayer on Christmas. The prayer always starts the same: “Dear Heavenly Father, love brought Jesus to the earth, and love brings us to this Christmas table. Today as we share this holiday feast, may we also share gratitude.” Following this traditional prayer, the family goes around the table to discuss what they are grateful for during the holiday season before concluding the prayer. This is a unique tradition which incorporates both a standardized prayer which is followed by individual oral contributions. 

Transcript: “Each year, on Christmas Day, my family tries to keep the religious part of Christmas around. One of the ways we do this is by going to Church. Another way we do this is in our Christmas dinner prayer. It always starts the same, when we say “Dear Heavenly Father, love brought Jesus to the earth, and love brings us to this Christmas table. Today as we share this holiday feast, may we also share gratitude.” Then each person goes around the table sharing something they’re grateful for. You’ve been there, so you know what I’m talking about.”

Informant’s Comments: “I don’t know when we started doing this”

Collectors Comments: This Christmas dinner prayer is certainly unique. After questioning wether or not it was folklore, I settled on “yes”. This is an oral tradition which is passed down yearly. It has unknown origins and benefits from a memorable mnemonic design. Furthermore, this is a collective folklore which exhibits multiple existence. Every year, following the first prayer, each member of the Folk—in this case, people sitting at the table—give an individual oral contribution. This means the prayer is different every year. I myself have contributed to this folklore once. 

Collectors Name: Jackson McGinley

TDXmas

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General Information Data: 

Customary Folklore, Events/Decorating

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Informant: H.N.

Date Collected: 11/10/2021

Informant Data: 

H.N. is a 21 year-old Dartmouth ‘23 originally from Little Rock, Arkansas. At school, H.N. is the CFO of a mental health awareness non-profit. Additionally, H.N. is a member of the Theta Delta Chi Fraternity, also known as TDX. H.N. enjoys hunting and hanging out with his friends in his free time. 

Contextual Data: 

Cultural: At Dartmouth, Fraternities are known for being the prime social spaces. They host social events nearly every weekend, with the Majority of these events being un-themed and simply for the sake of a social gathering. Therefore, these events are simply gatherings and not folklore. However, there are some fraternity events which can constitute folklore because of their unique nature. 

Social: Along with hosting general events on the weekends, Theta Delta Chi has a few particular traditions which they are known to host. As a brother of Theta Delta Chi, the informant is the member of a folk group. Our interview concerned traditions within this folk group. These traditions are possibly folkloric, as will be explored further.

Item:

Every year, as the Fall Term ends and the Holidays approach, TDX throws their annual TDXmas party after the last day of classes. TDXmas is a unique tradition with a multitude of facets which make it a truly special event. The basement, which is the fraternity’s social space, is covered in Christmas wrapping paper and colored lights. This decoration process is quite unique. After decorations are put up, the fraternity brothers gather in the basement in Christmas Garb for a traditional Secret Santa gift exchange, in which each brother gives a gift to a fellow brother. Following this exchange, the campus is invited to join the brothers in partaking in festivities in their last week on campus before Winter Break. 

Associated File: 

An image of TDXmas Decorations

Transcript: 

“I remember my first time setting up for TDXmas. It took hours. All of the guys in my class were down in the basement and we were blasting Christmas music. I think we used staple guns to attach the wrapping paper and lights to the wall. With all of us working together, it was pretty cool to see the finished product and then have a party with our friends after.”

Informants Comments:

“No, I couldn’t tell you who started TDXmas. For all I know, we’ve has been doing it for 100 years”

Collectors Comments

The Unknown Origins of this event are particularly interesting because it reveals a traditional folklore activity which is passed down through generations. I think the decorating process is particularly folkloric. It is a collective effort which is passed down orally. There are no written directions to decorating. The brothers are just told to decorate and they do. This also means there is probably a multiple existence to TDXmas, and there have been many iterations of TDXmas celebrations. Plus, the name TDXmas itself is a mnemonic play on words from the term X-mas. Nonetheless, the tradition continues to be passed down through generations as a customary folklore event. 

Collectors Name: Jackson McGinley