Category Archives: Costumes

Fraternity Rush Party Themes

Title: Fraternity Rush Party Themes

General Information about Item:

  • Customary/Material Folklore
  • Informant: W.M.
  • Date Collected: 05/25/2020

Informant Data:

  • W.M. is a male Dartmouth College student. He is unaffiliated.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The celebration of new members into a fraternity is celebrated amongst the brothers in a social event open to campus as well. The celebrations include a theme, sometimes a traditional theme of the house or decided on each year. Members of the house, new and old, dress in costumes in accordance with the theme and celebrate together.
  • Social Context: Social gathering is a common event put on by a fraternity and open to the campus. In these instances, a theme for the party is decided on by the house and is put on, usually around the end of the rush process.

Item:

  • Many fraternities hold social gatherings before, during, and after the rush process. It is common for these to have themes decided on by the members, new and old, of the house hosting the gathering. Typically the new members are celebrated as the members all dress in costume and decorate the house for the gathering.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I found this tradition to be an interesting custom as it is open to non-members. The fraternity members are typically the ones deciding and dressing in theme, but then they open up the celebration to the campus as well.

Collector’s Name: Charlie Wade

Tags/Keywords:

  • Celebration
  • Costumes
  • Fraternity

Swim Meet Flair

General Information about Item:

  • Material Lore – Ornamental
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Aidan Pierce
  • Date Collected: 03-02-2018

Informant Data:

  • Aidan Pierce is a male student in the Dartmouth College Class of 2018.  He grew up splitting time between Hong Kong and London. He is a pre-med student and intends to pursue a career in medicine after graduation. Aidan was briefly a member of Dartmouth’s Club Swim Team in the fall of 2014.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The competitive nature of swim meets requires strong team cohesion, and so traditions such as this one are often utilized in order to further bond the team. Furthermore, the practice of wearing bright clothing is common across many organizations at Dartmouth, indicating that it may be imported from other facets of Dartmouth culture at large, but was made specific to swimmers and the club swimming team. Having all of the members of the team wear ridiculous, easily identifiable pieces of clothing, allows them to easily associate with each other, while publically displaying their association with the team.
  • Social Context: This tradition was mentioned in a one-on-one conversation with the interviewee, more than two years after he had left the team. The traditional clothing is specifically worn for competitive meets, and allows competitors to somewhat identify their teams and supporters in the stands, when they surface for air during the pandemonium of the race, thereby giving them a feeling of support.

Item:

  • “Flair” is a slang term in the lexicon of Dartmouth College, which indicates brightly colored, absurd costumes such as neon tutus (both for men and women), cartoon character onesie suits, and nonsensical accessories. The Dartmouth Club Swim Team members all wear flair to all of their meets,

Image of Flair:

Transcript:

  • “A common tradition we always used to follow [when Aidan was on the team] was that we would wear flair to all of our meets. It’s pretty widely practiced, a lot of people actually did it. It’s funny to see everyone dressed up so ridiculously, it really helped us relax and connect with the rest of the team before meets so that we’re prepared to compete.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Flair is ridiculous when you first see it, but once you try it on, it’s really fun.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Having worn flair to other events, I completely understand the informant’s sentiments. When a large organization has a uniting uniform (whether serious or silly), it certainly helps to build camaraderie.

Collector’s Name: Ashwath Srikanth

Tags/Keywords: Material Lore, Ornamental Lore, Flair, Swag, Clothing, Swimming

Bequest – Commodore Oar

Title: Commodore Oar

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material, Customary Folklore
    • Subgenre: folk costume, traditions
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Sam Lee ’18 is a 21-year-old male from Turlock, California. He has been rowing since joining light-weight crew in college as a walk-on.

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 rowing oar that is passed down from commodore to commodore. It has all the signatures of the commodores, who are responsible for the social dynamic and inner squad dynamic.

Associated Image: Not available to collector

Collector’s Name: Yeonjae Park

Tags/Keywords: bequest, D150, crew

 

Bequest – Captain’s Oar

Title: Captain’s Oar

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material, Customary Folklore
    • Subgenre: folk costume, traditions
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Sam Lee ’18 is a 21-year-old male from Turlock, California. He has been rowing since joining light-weight crew in college as a walk-on.

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 rowing oar that is passed down from captain to captain. It has all the signatures of the captains and adds unity within each new team.

Associated Image: Not available to collector

Collector’s Name: Yeonjae Park

Tags/Keywords: bequest, D150, crew

 

Bequest – Hard-o Uni

Title: Hard-o  Uni

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material, Customary Folklore
    • Subgenre: folk-costumes, traditions
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Sam Lee ’18 is a 21-year-old male from Turlock, California. He has been rowing since joining light-weight crew in college as a walk-on.

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 unitard that used to belong to an old light-weight rowing coach. It is the unitard that goes along with the Stabbing and PR legend where a member of the team got mugged one night and did not realize he was stabbed because his adrenaline was pumping until he got home and his roommate pointed it out. The next day he put on the unitard and went to practice without telling the coach about the incident and the wound opened up again, blooding the unitard. This unitard is passed down each year to someone that is very hardworking and goes to extreme lengths to do his best.

Associated Image: Not available to collector

Collector’s Name: Yeonjae Park

Tags/Keywords: unitard, bequest, D150, material folklore

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

Bequest – Pocock belt

Title: Pocock belt

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material, Customary Folklore
    • Subgenre: folk costume, traditions
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Will Kaufman ’20 is a 19-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Boulder, CO. He is the middle child between two sisters. He started rowing his freshman fall upon entering Dartmouth. As a walk-on rower, he came in knowing nothing about the sport.

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. It has been compared to receiving a Christmas present. This specific bequest is passed down from walk-on rower to walk-on rower.

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 the Pocock belt. It is a strap used to tie down boats now repurposed as a belt. Pocock is a rowing brand originally made by an Englishman working out of the University of Washington. This bequest is passed down from walk-on rower to walk-on rower. This bequest was given to the informant by Widerschein ’17. The belt is thought to have originally been taken from the Dartmouth boathouse. The bequest is worn during meetings and important events such as socials and an end of the year celebration.

Associated media:

Informant’s Comments: Names on the belt are Widerschein ’17 and Kaufman ’20.

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, Pocock

Bequest – Captain’s Henley jacket

Title: Captain’s Henley jacket

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material, Customary Folklore
    • Subgenre: folk costume, traditions
  • 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.

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. It has been compared to receiving a Christmas present. This bequest is passed down from current captain to future captain.

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 the Captain’s Henley jacket. It is green with white trim and has a D150 patch on the breast pocket. It is from the Henley Royal Regatta, a rowing event held annually on the River Thames in England. The jacket is a high honor on the team, only given to the rising captain of the next year.

Associated media:

Informant’s Comments: He expressed that bequests are not limited to clothing items, but clothing is a common way to exhibit membership to the team. He said that the Henley jacket is one of the highest honors in terms of bequests.

Collector’s Comments:

  • The informant recently left the team.
  • The receipt of this bequest in particular resembles the marking or transfiguration of the hero in Propp’s list of fairy tale functions.
  • 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, Henley

Bequest – Long-sleeve Classic Rugby Jersey Polo

Title: Bequest – Long-sleeve Classic Rugby Jersey Polo

General Information about Item:

  • Material
    • Clothing
  • English
  • American

Informant Data:

  • Ian Sullivan is a 20 year old male student from Randolph, New Jersey in the United States. He grew up playing football, basketball, and tennis and began playing rugby when he arrived at Dartmouth 3 years ago, having never played or watched the sport before. Ian grew up in Ridgewood, NJ before moving to Randolph, and has American parents Kathleen Sullivan and Andrew Sullivan. Kathleen is from New York City and Andrew is from Chicago. Ian has played rugby for his three years in college and has taken to watching professional rugby.

Contextual Data:

  • Within the DRFC there are items of clothing called “bequests” that are handed down each year by the graduating senior to the younger players. Over time these bequests pick of a line of former owners all of who are supposed to be similar in one way or another. The bequests act as a link between past and present players and are a large part of the deep heritage and history of the club.

Item:

  • This jersey is an old school long-sleeve polo jersey from earlier Dartmouth years. With a classic large-striped design and a thick cotton material, it is reminiscent of old sport jerseys from when athletic wear was more rudimentary and focused less on boosting performance.  This jersey has been owned by Dartmouth players for at least ten years, as there are names ranging back to ’06. This is a jersey that has been worn in public as well as on Fashion Fridays, due to its good quality.

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

15102107_612447122292361_1716789993_o

Transcript of Associated File:

  • N/A

Informant’s Comments:

  • The readable names on the collar include “Manzo ’07,” “Cohn ’09,” “DeChatt ’16,” and “Sullivan ’18” although there are at least three of four more.

Collector’s Comments:

  • N/A

Collector’s Name:

Ian Sullivan

Tags/Keywords:

  • Rugby
  • Dartmouth Rugby
  • Jersey
  • Bequest

Female Attire Etiquette for Interviews

General Information about Item:

  • Genre and Sub Genre
    • Material Folklore: Clothing
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: US

Informant Data:

  • Informant is a Dartmouth Student in the Class of 2018. She is from Westport, CT and is studying Economics and Biology. She is involved in multiple extracurriculars on campus, including the Red Cross Club, First Year Peer Mentors and Economics Tutoring. She has gone through the corporate recruiting process Summer and Fall 2016.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: This folklore was collected in person on audio recording during an one-on-one interview during the Fall 2016 Dartmouth corporate recruiting season.
  • Cultural Context: Informant is a Junior studying Economics at Dartmouth – a typical participant of corporate recruiting as mostly Juniors and Seniors in Economics go through recruiting. Informant has not had any corporate experience prior to interview, but has a corporate job in Winter 2017 that was not obtained through the corporate recruiting process. She has gone through the corporate recruiting process twice.

Item:

  • Pencil skirts and blouses for women are typical attire worn during interviews. The dress code for interviews is implicitly known to be business casual even though no company explicity states it. Students participating in recruiting figure out the dress code by word-of-mouth, usually advice passed down from upperclassman or friends who have experienced recruiting interviews. Females try to avoid too many flashy colors and designs in order to maintain professional. Business casual attire during interviews are important because it demonstrates professionalism and respect.

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

Transcript of Associated File:

Informant’s Comments:

  • NA

Collector’s Comments:

  • NA

Collector’s Name: Emily MA

Tags/Keywords:

  • Material Lore, Clothes, Interviews, Corporate Recruiting