Category Archives: Ceremony

Rehearsal Dinner (Bethany Burns)

Title: Rehearsal Dinner

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, wedding tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Haven Burns
  • Date Collected: 2-21-18

Informant Data:

  • Haven Burns was born on October 12, 1970 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was starting his own business at the time. She lived in Chattanooga for the all of her young life, attended college in Knoxville, Tennessee at the University of Tennessee, and then moved around many times from Georgia, Minnesota, Oregon, Arizona, and finally settled back in Tennessee. She met her now-husband, Kirk Burns, working at Shaw Carpet Industries in Dalton, Georgia. Kirk lived in Kansas for the majority of his life and attended the University of Kansas before ending up in Georgia. They both shared religious values, attending the Episcopal Church in their youth and beyond.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: At many weddings, the night before the ceremony there is a “rehearsal dinner” for the people participating in the ceremony. Guests include the family of the bride and groom, bridesmaids, and groomsmen. At the rehearsal dinner, there is singing and dancing and it is a chance for the bride and groom and friends to celebrate the wedding in a more informal way.
  • Social Context: Haven told me about her rehearsal dinner when I asked if anything about her wedding was particular about the South.

Item:

  • At the rehearsal dinner, Haven wanted to have a hoedown with line dancing, barbeque, and country music to celebrate her southern heritage and welcome her future husband’s family and friends to the south. She said she had her friends and family teach line dancing to her husband’s family.

Collector’s Comments:

  • The informant lit up when asked this question, as it seems that the rehearsal dinner was one of the most fun parts of the wedding.

Collector’s Name: Bethany Burns

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary lore
  • Wedding traditions

Japanese Charm

Title: Japanese Charm

General Information about Item:

  • Sympathetic Magic, Customary Lore
  • Language: Japanese and English
  • Country of Origin: Japan
  • Informant: Akiko Kaput
  • Date of Event: August 29, 1958

Informant Data:

  • Akiko Kaput was born in Yahata, Fukuoka-ken, Kyushu, Japan on October 27, 1935. She was raised as a Buddhist and practiced Buddhism. She met her husband, Roland Kaput, while he was stationed at the Okinawa U.S. air force base from 1956-1957 after the Korean War.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: These charms are usually given to children in a Japanese family when they are very young, not only to represent the connection to your family but also to solidify Japanese beliefs and customs. Japan is a very insular country that places a lot of emphasis on respect, so it was considered dishonorable to Akiko’s family for her to marry an American and not have a Buddhist ceremony.
  • Social Context: I collected this folklore by interviewing Akiko over the phone. This folklore occurred while Akiko was marrying Roland, who was Catholic American citizen After they decided to get married, the paperwork process took about five months because Akiko was a Japanese citizen at the time. This included background checks on her family and several health inspections. Because Akiko was a Buddhist at the time and Roland was Catholic and because of the long paperwork process, they did not have a traditional wedding ceremony of any sort and got married at the U.S. consulate office in Tokyo. She was carrying a small Japanese charm with a bell inside that was handwoven by her mother and given to her when she was young. This type of charm represents family ties and means that you are connected to your family as long as you have it. The reason that Akiko had this charm with her on her wedding day was that her family refused to be there for her because they did not approve of her marrying an American.

Item:

  • Since Akiko’s family refused to be there for her on her wedding day, she carried a handwoven charm, which is symbolic of your family ties, that was given to her when she was young. Although Akiko’s family made it clear that they did not approve, the charm gave her comfort because of her love for her family. I interviewed Akiko over the phone and took notes on what she told me about the folklore. These data are not direct quotes from Akiko but are rewritten from my notes to create organized content.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Akiko is my grandmother. I found this folklore to be very bittersweet because I’ve known that my great-grandparents didn’t approve of Akiko’s wedding to my grandfather, but I did not know that she still decided to carry something from her mother with her.

Collector’s Name: Claire Burner

Tags/Keywords:

  • Japanese charm
  • Sympathetic magic
  • Customary lore

Father Walking the Bride Down the Aisle (Bethany Burns)

Title: Father Walking the Bride Down the Aisle

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, wedding tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Haven Burns and Becky Dagg
  • Date Collected: 2-22-18 and 2-24-18

Informant Data:

  • Becky Dagg was born on September 1, 1972 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was the music director at the Church of the Good Shepard. She lived in Chattanooga for the majority of her life, attended college in Auburn, Alabama at Auburn University. She met her husband, Christian Dagg, when she was attending graduate school for architecture at Harvard University. Christian had grown up in Rutland, Vermont, and received his undergraduate degree from Northeastern University. Christian did not come from a very religious family, while Becky’s father was very involved with the Episcopal Church.
  • Haven Burns was born on October 12, 1970 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was starting his own business at the time. She lived in Chattanooga for the all of her young life, attended college in Knoxville, Tennessee at the University of Tennessee, and then moved around many times from Georgia, Minnesota, Oregon, Arizona, and finally settled back in Tennessee. She met her now-husband, Kirk Burns, working at Shaw Carpet Industries in Dalton, Georgia. Kirk lived in Kansas for the majority of his life and attended the University of Kansas before ending up in Georgia. They both shared religious values, attending the Episcopal Church in their youth and beyond.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: On the wedding day, it is common for the bride to come in last into the ceremony and be escorted by her father. The bride’s father walks her down the aisle to the groom, and then hands her away to watch from the audience.
  • Social Context: For both informants, this piece of folklore was given in response to a question about their family’s involvement in their weddings.

Item:

  • When the bride’s father walks the bride down the aisle at the beginning of the wedding ceremony, he hands her away to the groom once they reach the front of the venue. If the father is unable to complete this task, another important man in the bride’s life completes this task. It is said to symbolize the bride moving from one stage in her life to another with a new man.

Transcript:

  • Becky Dagg: “My dad unfortunately passed away a couple of years before my wedding. It was sad because he never got to meet my husband, but I knew he was there with me in spirit. I had my uncle walk me down the aisle to keep the tradition, but I, of course, wish my father could have been there to celebrate.”
  • Haven Burns: “I will never forget the moment my dad hugged me and we both look teary-eyed into each other’s eyes. He then gave my husband a firm handshake and it was time for me to be married.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • This question was difficult for Becky to answer, as you could see she really wished that her dad could’ve been at her wedding.  This tradition definitely meant a lot to her and to Haven.

Collector’s Name: Bethany Burns

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Lore
  • Father at the wedding

Wedding Ring on the Third Finger of the Left Hand (Bethany Burns)

Title: Wedding Ring on the Third Finger of the Left Hand

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, marriage tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Harriette Hogue
  • Date Collected: 2-21-18

Informant Data:

  • Harriette Hogue was born on March 23, 1940 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was an actuary. She lived in Chattanooga for the majority of her life, attended college in Chattanooga, Tennessee at the University of Chattanooga. She met her husband, Billy Hogue, at a sorority party at the University of Chattanooga. Billy lived in Fort Worth, Texas for most of his life and attended the Texas Tech before ending up in Chattanooga working for a bank. They both shared religious values, with Harriette attending the Episcopal Church growing up while Billy attended the Methodist Church growing up. Billy was willing to attend the Episcopal Church with Harriette once they married.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In the United States, most married couples wear a wedding band, or a ring, on the third finger of their left hand. This is considered the “ring finger,” and is a sign of marriage.
  • Social Context: The informant brought up this item when asked about some of the biggest takeaways from her marriage after the day itself. She explained she had great pride in wearing her wedding ring, even though she had an engagement ring in the months leading up to the wedding, because her husband also had one. She felt that the bond between them was significant and the wedding ring symbolized that.

Item:

  • The wedding ring, or wedding band as it is sometimes referred to, is worn on the third finger of the left hand because it was thought that a vein ran up that finger to the heart. Therefore, having the wedding band on that finger touched the heart indirectly with the eternal love from the wedding band.

Transcript:

  • “When Billy put my ring on, I immediately had chills. I felt like that was the moment when I truly felt married. Waking up the next morning and seeing the band on his finger made me feel like we were in unison and together. Even as we lived our lives years and years after the wedding, every once in a while I would look at his hand and think about the promise we made each other, and I felt so lucky to be married to such a great man.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • The informant spoke with such great passion about her ring and her marriage. Her husband died a few years ago, and she still wears her rings.

Collector’s Name: Bethany

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Lore
  • Wedding band

Throwing the Bride’s Bouquet (Bethany Burns)

Title: Throwing the Bride’s Bouquet

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, wedding tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Bethany Burns
  • Date Collected: 2-21-18

Informant Data:

  • Harriette Hogue was born on March 23, 1940 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was an actuary. She lived in Chattanooga for the majority of her life, attended college in Chattanooga, Tennessee at the University of Chattanooga. She met her husband, Billy Hogue, at a sorority party at the University of Chattanooga. Billy lived in Fort Worth, Texas for most of his life and attended the Texas Tech before ending up in Chattanooga working for a bank. They both shared religious values, with Harriette attending the Episcopal Church growing up while Billy attended the Methodist Church growing up. Billy was willing to attend the Episcopal Church with Harriette once they married.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Brides often have a special bouquet at their weddings, and they typically have a few to several bridesmaids, which are their best friends that they choose to take part in their wedding. After the traditional wedding ceremony, there is typically a reception that follows with food and dancing.
  • Social Context: This specific recipe was mentioned when the interviewee was asked about food recipes. Backpackers often share food recipes with one another.  Often, the recipes shared are interesting and easy to make but use very simple ingredients because of the limited options in food items backpackers usually have on them.

Item:

  • At the wedding reception, the bride has her bridesmaids line up around 10-20 feet behind her. She then turns around and throws her bouquet over her head. The woman to catch the bouquet is granted good luck in her future relationships and love life.

Transcript:

  • “One of my favorite parts of my wedding was throwing my bouquet. I didn’t have a big wedding, so I only had I think four bridesmaids, but they stood behind me and I threw the bouquet and my best friend from college caught it. She was so excited. And then, just a couple years later, I was in her wedding, so I guess it really does provide good luck.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I find it especially interesting that this tradition is one of the informant’s favorites because it isn’t centered on the new couple. The idea of giving some of your good luck to one of your friends is fun and shows the way in which people celebrate their marriage with their friends and family, not only their significant other.

Collector’s Name: Bethany Burns

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Lore
  • Bride’s bouquet

Rain as Good Luck (Bethany Burns)

Title: Rain as Good Luck

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, wedding superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Haven Burns
  • Date Collected: 2-24-18

Informant Data:

  • Haven Burns was born on October 12, 1970, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was starting his own business at the time. She lived in Chattanooga for the all of her young life, attended college in Knoxville, Tennessee at the University of Tennessee, and then moved around many times from Georgia, Minnesota, Oregon, Arizona, and finally settled back in Tennessee. She met her now-husband, Kirk Burns, working at Shaw Carpet Industries in Dalton, Georgia. Kirk lived in Kansas for the majority of his life and attended the University of Kansas before ending up in Georgia. They both shared religious values, attending the Episcopal Church in their youth and beyond.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In American culture, rain on the wedding day is widely considered good luck because it is said to cleanse the marriage and provide the newlyweds with a fresh start to their marriage. Haven’s wedding was in 1996 at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church on Signal Mountain, Tennessee.
  • Social Context: This folklore item was the first the informant mentioned about her wedding, as she believes it is one of the reasons her marriage has been successful thus far. She explained this when asked about any special parts of her wedding.

Item:

  • On a couple’s wedding day, it is considered good luck if it is raining. Although the rain provides more difficulty moving from venue to venue, taking pictures, and keeping the bride’s dress in good shape, the rain is cleansing the couple and allowing for a fresh start to the marriage.

Transcript:

  • “When I woke up and rain was coming down, I initially was upset because I knew our pictures would have to be inside, and I worried that my dress would get ruined going from home to church. But once I talked to my mom, she mentioned that this would provide me good luck in my marriage, and I’ve been married for 22 years so I’ve been really fortunate in my marriage and I think the rain was a good sign.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • One of my favorite things about this superstition is that it makes something that seems bad into a good sign. The rain certainly provides challenges logistically on the wedding day, but it allows the couple to focus on the positives and remain excited about the future to come.

Collector’s Name: Bethany Burns

Photo credit: Haven Burns

Ganesh Chaturthi – Pooja

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Rituals, Customs
  • Language: Marathi
  • Country: India

Informant Data:

  • Informant is an Indian couple who perform the ceremony every year for Ganesh Chaturthi. The man is involved in the ceremony (as seen in picture)

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: The Pooja is the traditional prayer that occurs during Ganesh Chaturthi. These prayers are directed at a clay idol of god Ganesh, the remover of obstacles as well as the god of beginnings.
  • Cultural Context: This holiday is celebrated in early autumn and the pooja involves the chanting of Hindu prayers and Vedic texts.

Item:

Picture of the pooja being conducted. The male informant follows the pundit’s instructions to honour Lord Ganesh. The female informant is the one taking the picture.

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

Informant’s Comments:

The pooja is done once when the idol comes into the home and once before it leaves. It is meant to first acquaint the God and people of the home, then as a goodbye when the God leaves.

Collector’s Comments:

This couple has been performing the pooja for decades, as passed down through their families.

Collector’s Name:

Yohann Curmully

Tags/Keywords:

India, holiday, Ganesh Chaturthi, Customary Folklore, customs

Ritual – Sprints Night

Title: Sprints Night

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Ritual, Ceremony
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Races are incredibly competitive for lightweight rowing, mainly because the team competes directly with other college teams and because all the weekly practices/weight cutting is in preparation for these races. To relieve the pressure, and celebrate the completion of a season, rowers all join together to observe Sprints Night.

Cultural Context: Sprints Night is a regular ritual that occurs every year after the New England Championships to celebrate the ending of another successful season and to build team unity. It is observed by all members of D150 and is passed down from each generation to the next.

Item: This item is a customary piece of folklore that focuses on the passing down of a ritual that is suppose to help build team unity and celebrate the conclusion of another successful racing season. It is customary because it is a single practiced ritual that happens every year in the same way that involves many different people within the folk group. It is folklore because it is performed by all the members of this folkgroup and celebrates their commonalities.

Associated media:

Transcript (8:49 – 8:58):

WS: “We have a thing called Sprints Night which is after our New England Championships, where we have a sort of, like a big team party, get-together.”

BC: “And that also happens like every single year after the last championships…”

WS: “Every year, yeah.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • Sprints Night is very similar to Freshmen Fun Night in that the sharing and passing down of this ritual focuses on all members of the folk group. All members of D150 crew participate in this ritual and it helps remind them of who they are and why they are similar to each other (celebrating the end of their common season). This also reinforces the ritual itself because a stronger more unified team is more likely to want to participate in these pan-folk group rituals and to preserve them.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Ritual – Freshmen Fun Night

Title: Freshmen Fun Night

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Ritual, Ceremony
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Races are incredibly competitive for lightweight rowing, mainly because the team competes directly with other college teams and because all the weekly practices/weight cutting is in preparation for these races. As such, to combat the pressure, rowers observe certain rituals outside of pure racing that build team unity and provide motivation to help them prepare for team cohesion during races. Freshmen Fun Night is an end-of-the-term ritual that takes place to initiate new rowers and incorporate them into the team.

Cultural Context: Freshmen Fun Night is a ritualistic ceremony that occurs every year and in the same way. It focuses on building team unity and reinforcing the commonalities between the rowers by not only initiating new rowers and incorporating them into the team formally, but also by identifying more experienced rowers who act as the ritual’s performers.

Item: This item is a customary piece of folklore that focuses on the passing down of a ritual that is suppose to help build team unity and ultimately bring later success at a race. It is customary because it is a single practiced ritual that happens every year in the same way that involves many different people within the folk group. It is folklore because it is performed by all the members of this folkgroup and celebrates their commonalities.

Associated media:

Transcript (8:00 – 8:48):

WS: “We have an event, uh, in the spring, between the Cornell, end of, right after, the Cornell race… between the Cornell race and the New England Championships where we have – it’s called Freshmen Fun Night…”

BC: “Right.”

WS: “… and it’s sort of a… initi… I’m gonna say initiation but not in the negative term. It’s a way for the freshmen to be initiated into the team – not through any means of harassment or any negative means but really a positive um…”

BC: “Like a ceremony.”

WS: “Yeah, a ceremony if you will, where the freshmen really become lightweight rowers…”

BC: “Right.”

WS: “… and that is very ritualistic and it’s done the same way every year. Um… and it involves talking about past rowers on the team and like past ‘legends’ on the team.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • The sharing and passing down of this ritual is interesting because it focuses on all members of the folk group. All members of D150 crew participate in this ritual and it helps remind them of who they are and why they are similar to each other. This also reinforces the ritual itself because a stronger more unified team is more likely to want to participate in these pan-folk group rituals and to preserve them.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Bequest – No Weigh Day shirt

Title: No Weigh Day shirt

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material, Customary Folklore
    • Subgenre: Ritual
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Grant McArtor ’19 is a 21-year-old caucasian male student from Spartenburg, South Carolina in the United States. He was originally born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He has been rowing light-weight crew for five years (since junior year of high school) and has rowed on Dartmouth’s D150 varsity team since his freshman year. He has recently left the team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: As with any bequest, this item is traditionally passed down from graduating seniors to underclassmen on the rowing team who are deemed most fit to receive the object. This exchange happens annually in the spring after the competition season has come to a close. The event involves the whole team and requires presence for several hours, as each senior may give away several bequests, each with a description of the significance of the item and why it goes to the recipient underclassmen. During the process, teammates must wait until they either bequeath or are bequeathed an item. It is a spectacle for the team and is often humorous and emotional. Underclassmen express gratitude through words and little physical contact as to expedite the process.

Cultural Context: Bequests are handed down through a line of rowers throughout the years. This line is connected through a common trait (e.g., captainship, knowledge of statistics, heavy weight). The bequest links generations, creating team cohesiveness through history. The bequest indicates a unique importance and role in the team and generally shows that the recipient upholds the values of the team. Rowers wear bequests to exhibit that they are deserving of the honor bestowed upon them.

Item: This bequest is a blue tank top with neon pink letters that say “No Weigh Day.” It is traditionally given to the heaviest freshman rower.

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

  • Image unavailable

Collector’s Comments: The receipt of the bequest resembles a rite of passage. Before the ceremony, the rower is a freshman member. He is then separated from his fellow freshmen as he is called up by the senior. During the transition phase, he receives the bequest and shows gratitude to the senior. He is then incorporated back into the team as a new version (labeled by the bequest) of his old self.

Collector’s Name: Sam Gochman

Tags/Keywords: D150, Dartmouth Light-Weight Rowing, Bequests, shirt, No Weigh Day