Category Archives: Verbal Lore

Runway

General Information

  • Language
  • Tradition
  • Country of Origin: USA
  • Infromant: EH
  • Date Collected: 10/29/2021

Informant Data

  • Informant started running when he was in 6th grade. He always did track to try and get stronger and faster. He likes to compete in a lot of events and considers himself a jack of all trades. Hence, why he now competes in pole vaulting and long jump at Dartmouth.

Contextual Data

  • Cultural context: Before when EH was in HS, track was mostly used for football players to get faster and explosive. However at Dartmouth the people in the track team are all dedicated to that one sport, which makes the team’s morale stronger since they care for the sport and each other.

Item

  • The item collected is a series of jumps that EH performs before he starts. EH jumps and rotates his arms around 3-4 times. This tradition is common amongst jumpers in order to relieve any last minute nervousness and to get the jumper ready. 

Informants Comments

  • “The main purpose of the track team is a place to have fun and where they can hangout”

Collectors Comments

  • I’ve never done track or field but I did play soccer from MS-HS and there are certain traditions that players do right before a game to alleviate any nervousness. I would either tie my shoes over and over again, or do high jumps right before the whistle blew.

Collectors Name

  • Robert Lopez

Group 6 Introductory Post

For our group’s project, we decided to focus on football locker room traditions across the country. With the majority of the group members being football players themselves, this topic was particularly important to us. We made sure to focus on locker room traditions for both current and former football players. We made sure that we found folklore that was performed by two or more members of a team in a locker room because a defining characteristic of folklore is that it is shared among a group of “folk”. Our group had six total members and collected thirty pieces of folklore from thirty different sources. We interviewed both current and past football players from across the country. The interviewees spanned from 18 to 37 years old from a variety of schools across the country. Our interviews focused on specific locker room traditions at each school along with the potential meaning behind the tradition.

The folklore that we collected spanned a wide range of customary, material, and verbal folklore with a majority of items collected being fight songs and post-win traditions. Overall, there were a few interesting findings that our group took away from the collection process. The first takeaway is that despite the wide range of ages interviewed, traditions did not seem to change very much. Most of the traditions that were collected had been in practice for as long as anyone on and within the team remembers. Additionally, we found that most of these traditions were learned upon each interviewee’s arrival to their university and it was primarily the job of upperclassmen to continue to pass the tradition. Football is the ultimate team sport in which many times over one hundred individuals come together to achieve one common goal. Each player’s job is unique in and of itself but it’s the culmination of all the players that allows for a team to be successful. Therefore, some of the common overarching themes that we took away from the collected traditions were to invoke school pride, foster comradery, and take ownership of the locker room. In addition, football is both a mentally and physically taxing sport so some more themes that we found included providing motivation to compete and initiating an individual into the team.

As a group, we really enjoyed the collection process and hope you both enjoy and learn something from our collection. See the attached file for the presentation we have in class on 11/10/21.

Twas the Night Before Christmas (Sunaina Sekaran)

Title: Reading the picture book — Twas the Night Before Christmas to younger cousins

General Information about Item:

  • Entertainment/books
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: H.A.
  • Date Collected: 11-10-21

Informant Data:

  • H.A. is a male Dartmouth student in the class of 2022. He is from Washington D.C. He has a younger brother who also attends Dartmouth. He studies neuroscience, and conducts research on campus in a neuroscience lab. He was raised Catholic, and grew up going to church on holidays.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Christmas in the United States is celebrated by people of various religious backgrounds. The traditions of gifts, stockings, and a tree are shared by families, often because of the belief in Santa Clause among children.
  • Social Context: There is also an element of commercialization surrounding the holidays, specifically Christmas. Because Christmas is celebrated by people of all races, religions, and cultural backgrounds in the United States, it is often secularized in the media. Religious movies, songs, and other artifacts sometimes have religious references, but do not emphasize religious sentiments.

Item/Transcript:

“Christmas is a really important time for my family. It is the only time of the year that my dad stops working, and spends time with my family. He always makes my mom laugh and it’s really nice. My grandmother used to read Twas the Night Before Christmas to me and my brother every year on Christmas Eve. When she past away, my family wanted to carry on the tradition, and so me and my brother read to my cousins. It is a really unique time for my family to connect, and it’s definitely my favorite holiday of the year.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Christmas is such a special time for families to spend time together, and to pass on family traditions.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I really like the folk-family-tradition of reading the children’s book: Twas the Night Before Christmas. I thought it was very sweet that H.A. has kept his grandmother’s tradition alive.

Collector’s Name: Sunaina Sekaran

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary folklore
  • Entertainment
  • Christmas books

Elf (Sunaina Sekaran)

Title: Watching Elf the movie while eating maple syrup spaghetti

General Information about Item:

  • Entertainment/songs
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: T.S.
  • Date Collected: 11-10-21

Informant Data:

  • T.S. is a male student in the class of 2022 at Cornell University. He lives in Berkeley, California, but lived in a rural town in Canada until he was 10 years old. He studies Environmental Science, Economics, and Business. His parents have never been together, so he usually alternates between his mom and dad’s families during the holidays. In his family, they always organize a secret Santa so that each member of the family receives and contributes one gift. He has one twin brother, and one younger half-brother who is 13 now.  He was not raised in any religious faith, but his family still celebrates Christmas.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Christmas in the United States is celebrated by people of various religious backgrounds. The traditions of gifts, stockings, and a tree are shared by families, often because of the belief in Santa Clause among children.
  • Social Context: There is also an element of commercialization surrounding the holidays, specifically Christmas. Because Christmas is celebrated by people of all races, religions, and cultural backgrounds in the United States, it is often secularized in the media. Religious movies, songs, and other artifacts sometimes have religious references, but do not emphasize religious sentiments.

Item/Transcript:

“Since I was little, my twin and I have always loved watching movies together because afterwards, we always take our favorite lines and incorporate them into our jargon. No one can really understand us when we talk because we have so many inside jokes. One of the movies we watched the most when we were kids around the holidays was Elf. We loved Will Ferrell as Buddy, and his character made us crack up with laughter. Every time we watched it, we asked our mom to make us pasta and let us put maple syrup on it like Elf does in the movie. It is pretty gross but it is one of our traditions. We usually have a bet about who can finish the plate of food first. He usually wins, which means he gets to make me do something I don’t want to do. It was always fun to watch with our little brother, but this past year he has starting thinking that he is ‘too cool’ to hang out with us. Even though my family is pretty untraditional with our family celebration, watching Elf if one of the traditions my twin and I always do.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Watching Christmas movies is still fun, even as we get older. Celebrating the holidays reminds me of my childhood and my memories with my twin.   

Collector’s Comments:

  • I have seen T.S. and his twin interact, and I can totally imagine them eating maple syrup spaghetti while watching Elf. They are both so goofy and love to challenge each other to do ridiculous things.

Collector’s Name: Sunaina Sekaran

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary folklore
  • Entertainment
  • Christmas movies

Christmas songs: All I Want For Christmas Is You (Sunaina Sekaran)

Title: Listening to the homemade Christmas CD and baking pumpkin pie

General Information about Item:

  • Entertainment/songs
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: C.Z.
  • Date Collected: 11-10-21

Informant Data:

  • C.Z. is a female Dartmouth student in the class of 2022. She is from Scarsdale, New York. She studies Economics, Public Policy, and Psychology. She has one younger sister who is three years younger, and attends Cornell University. She lives with her mother and father, but does not have a relationship with any grandparents or extended family. Her father is Jewish, but because he was estranged from his family, did not pass on the religious traditions to C.Z. and her sister. Her mom was raised Catholic, but does not practice religious faith.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Christmas in the United States is celebrated by people of various religious backgrounds. The traditions of gifts, stockings, and a tree are shared by families, often because of the belief in Santa Clause among children.
  • Social Context: There is also an element of commercialization surrounding the holidays, specifically Christmas. Because Christmas is celebrated by people of all races, religions, and cultural backgrounds in the United States, it is often secularized in the media. Religious movies, songs, and other artifacts sometimes have religious references, but do not emphasize religious sentiments.

Item/Transcript:

“I am not really close to any of my aunts or cousins, so I usually just celebrate the holidays with my sister and my parents. Now that my sister and I are in college, the holidays are one of the only times we’re both home at the same time. We are best friends, so the two of us have a lot of traditions that we do every year. Together, we make pumpkin pie with sugar pumpkins. We carve out the seeds and toast them for a snack while we bake. We also love listening to Christmas songs. Every year, while we bake, we play a CD that our dad made for us when we were kids. There are all sorts of songs on that CD. Some of my favorites are All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey, Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms, and Rocking Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Christmas is such a special time for siblings to bond, especially as we get older, and are drawn to different colleges and cities.  

Collector’s Comments:

  • I can relate to the sentiment of the folk-family-traditions with siblings. My little brother is the same age, and now that we are both in college, our breaks don’t always align. The holidays are a special time for us to get together do the activities that we have been doing every year since we were kids.

Collector’s Name: Sunaina Sekaran

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary folklore
  • Entertainment
  • Christmas songs

The Little Drummer Boy (Sunaina Sekaran)

Title: Watching The Little Drummer Boy with cousins

General Information about Item:

  • Entertainment/movies
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: S.M.
  • Date Collected: 11-10-21

Informant Data:

  • S.M. is a female Dartmouth student in the class of 2022. She has lived across the United States, went to high school in a town near Rochester, New York, and currently resides in Wisconsin. She studies Government, Philosophy, and Politics, and is an athlete on the Dartmouth Swim and Dive team. She has two younger twin sisters, is Caucasian, and was raised Catholic.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Christmas in the United States is celebrated by people of various religious backgrounds. The traditions of gifts, stockings, and a tree are shared by families, often because of the belief in Santa Clause among children.
  • Social Context: There is also an element of commercialization surrounding the holidays, specifically Christmas. Because Christmas is celebrated by people of all races, religions, and cultural backgrounds in the United States, it is often secularized in the media. Religious movies, songs, and other artifacts sometimes have religious references, but do not emphasize religious sentiments.

Item/Transcript:

“We celebrate Christmas every year with my extended family on my mom’s side of the family. It’s pretty fun with all my cousins, but it also gets chaotic with so much family together. My mom and aunts always make us watch The Little Drummer Boy on Christmas Eve because it’s the only religious Christmas movie. We’re all old now and we still have to have to watch it. Honestly none of us really pay attention, but we still have to put it on the TV in the background.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Christmas is the only time of the year that some extended families get together every year. It’s always really fun to see cousins and family friends who you haven’t seen in a while.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I can relate to the sentiment of the folk-family-tradition. My family also has traditions that my parents and grandparents are adamant about, despite the disinterest amongst me and my cousins. It is excited to have new babies being born in the family so that we can keep traditions alive in the family.

Collector’s Name: Sunaina Sekaran

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary folklore
  • Entertainment
  • Religious Movies

The Polar Express (Sunaina Sekaran)

Title: Watching The Polar Express together with hot cocoa in pjs

General Information about Item:

  • Entertainment/movies
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: L.F.
  • Date Collected: 11-10-21

Informant Data:

  • L.F. is a female Dartmouth student in the class of 2022. She has lived in Indiana, Italy, Nebraska, and Philadelphia (current residence). Her parents work in academia, so she moved a lot across the world as they moved universities. She studies Quantitative Social Science and Economics, and enjoys playing tennis and playing with her dog. She has two older sisters, and a dog named Finn. She is Hindu, and is half Indian half African-American.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Christmas in the United States is celebrated by people of various religious backgrounds. The traditions of gifts, stockings, and a tree are shared by families, often because of the belief in Santa Clause among children.
  • Social Context: There is also an element of commercialization surrounding the holidays, specifically Christmas.

Item/Transcript:

“One of my favorite times of the holiday season is the night before Christmas. I love opening presents, but the build-up and anticipation is almost more exciting. My family watches The Polar Express every Christmas Eve. It’s really special. We all wear pajamas and sip hot chocolate. My sister just had a baby and this will be her first Christmas. I am excited to pass on our traditions. The movie is still fun to watch, because no matter where we live, we still celebrate Christmas the same way, with the same traditions. My parents are pretty settled now, and I think we’ll be celebrating in Philadelphia for a while now. I am so excited to celebrate my childhood traditions with Delilah (her niece).”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Christmas Eve is the most special part of the holidays; The Polar Express, hot chocolate, pjs all make for a very cozy evening

Collector’s Comments:

  • I found this folk-family-tradition to be very endearing, and it almost sounds like a movie scene itself. I think that having strong traditions with people you love can maintain a sense of comfort and ease during the holidays, even if your physical surroundings are often changing

Collector’s Name: Sunaina Sekaran

Tags/Keywords:

Customary folklore

Entertainment

Movies