Category Archives: Verbal Lore

Jewball

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Title: Jewball

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Tradition, Celebration
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: USA

Informant Data:

Ethan Isaacson lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is currently a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018. He was born on January 5th, 1996, and is studying chemistry and physics. He went on freshman trips when he was an incoming freshman, was a trip leader his sophomore year, and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall, so has seen many different aspects of the trips program.

Leigh Steinberg was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was born on April 19, 1996. She is a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018 and is a history major and plans on going into consulting after graduation. She was a trip leader before her sophomore year of college and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall.

Contextual Data:

Jewball is an event that takes place every year between all members who help run trips. It serves as a culminating celebration for successfully running a 3 week outdoor program without the help of any adults that 95%+ of freshman go on. It is meant as a way to relax, celebrate their last night together, and see friends who they have not seen in a couple weeks.

Item:

The night trips ends, anyone who worked on a Croo goes to the Lodj for a celebration. There is drinking, celebrating, dancing, and many trips-related activites. It is a great time way for Croo members to spend their last night together and see their friends on other Croos that they have not seen in a few weeks. The next morning, all Croos help to clean the Lodj, as they do not have time to clean it all, so they appreciate all the manpower possible. This has been going on for as long as they know.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

So, um Jewball is, it’s not always called that, but this year it was called Jewball, is the party after trips with all of the crews, so HCroo, Vox Croo, Lodj Croo, Grant Croo, Oak Hill Croo and Climbing Croo all come together and there is alcohol for the first time in three weeks and everyone is very tired and out of trips mode for the first time in 3 weeks, well kind of out of trips mode. And you like do dancing and stuff and night, we all sleep in the Lodj, and you all wake up, disassemble and clean the Lodj top to bottom. Yeah it is basically a big ploy to get all of the Croolings at the Lodj so that they can hold us hostage so that we clean it. Basically, like every other Croo has time to clean everything because of the way the trips timeline works. So we, with a week out, weren’t even sending trips, so welcoming them back after the Lodj is very, very low maintenance, so we were slowly cleaning up everything so by the last day of trips everything was done. But the Lodj sends trippees off and like 5 hours later has this party so they don’t have the manpower or time to clean everything. But it was really fun. A lot of trips songs, we did the dances again, the cleaning wasn’t fun. The directors of trips acknowledge every director of trips, so like the leaders of the croos and the logistic people behind the scenes, and so I don’t know it’s sorta like an in between of everyone wanting to spend their last night together but also seeing friends and people from other croos for the first time in a few weeks, so it’s an interesting balance between all of them.

Informant’s Comments:

They both talked very highly of the events at night, but hated doing the cleaning of the lodj the next day.

Collector’s Comments:

This seemed like a more secretive event, unlike most other things the croos do. I had never heard about it until very recently, and I do not think it is often disclosed to people.

Collector’s Name: Henry Senkfor

Tags/Keywords:

  • Trips, DOC, Celebration, Lodj

The Castle

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Title: The Castle

General Information about Item:

  • Material: Places
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: USA

Informant Data:

Ethan Isaacson lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is currently a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018. He was born on January 5th, 1996, and is studying chemistry and physics. He went on freshman trips when he was an incoming freshman, was a trip leader his sophomore year, and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall, so has seen many different aspects of the trips program.

Leigh Steinberg was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was born on April 19, 1996. She is a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018 and is a history major and plans on going into consulting after graduation. She was a trip leader before her sophomore year of college and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall.

Contextual Data:

The members of HCroo are thrown into the castle immediately, right when trips starts. It forces them to get close, breaks down any barriers, and they learn to live together very quickly.

Item:

Every year, all of HCroo sleeps in the basement of Mid Fay Hall, on 15 cots all crammed in one room that they call, “The Castle.” There is no personal space, everything is communal, and is as close quarters as it gets. It breaks down any barriers immediately, as they are all thrown into the room together and have to learn to live together.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

We call it “The Castle.” 15 cots in Mid Fay basement. Um so there is thin construction paper taped over the windows that makes the lighting in there all orange and weird. Which reminded us of our mood meter journals. And then there were streamers and posters all around. Very campy. We all had a chair for our closet and under bed space. It was very cramped. It was like camp cots, WWI style living. As close quarters as it gets.

It’s been like this as long as I know. But it’s fun. The barrier is broken down totally immediately. Like you walk in and you are sleeping in a room with like girls and guys, these 15 people I’ve never met. We’re sleeping here, waking up here, all of our clothes are thrown everywhere. We are sharing clothes. Like all of these things that make a group inherently close were all there.

Informant’s Comments:

It was extremely cramped and there was absolutely no personal space the entire time.

Collector’s Comments:

While they both spoke positively about this experience, it seemed like there was some tension they were not talking about. They dropped some hints about some issues that went on behind the scenes, but overall they liked the experience of The Castle.

Collector’s Name: Henry Senkfor

Tags/Keywords:

  • DOC, Trips, Sleeping, Castle

Story Time at Leverone

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Title: Story time at Leverone

General Information about Item:

  • Customary: Tradition, Initiation
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: USA

Informant Data:

Ethan Isaacson lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is currently a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018. He was born on January 5th, 1996, and is studying chemistry and physics. He went on freshman trips when he was an incoming freshman, was a trip leader his sophomore year, and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall, so has seen many different aspects of the trips program.

Leigh Steinberg was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was born on April 19, 1996. She is a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018 and is a history major and plans on going into consulting after graduation. She was a trip leader before her sophomore year of college and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall.

Contextual Data:

This happens the first night of trips, as takes place between the members of HCroo and the new freshman class. It is meant as a way to help assuage fears, provide advice for the freshman, and make everyone feel more comfortable with one another.

Item:

Until last year, HCroo would always read the story of The Lorax to the freshman right before they went to bed. They did so in order to tie them to the roots of Dartmouth, as Dr. Seuss was one of our notable alumni, and to start the campy feel to trips. However, they changed this tradition last year and replaced it with HCroo talks, which are short talks that a few HCroo members give each day to convey advice to the incoming freshman.

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

  • Did not want to be recorded

Transcript of Associated File:

So what used to happen was that people would read the Lorax to the trippees. And I think the point of that was like silly camping that goes with the whole trips spirit but also people thought it was stupid and condescending and a waste of everybody’s time. Um so it disappeared last year and this year was replaced with three brief-ish statements from HCroo to the trippees, the purpose of which was to convey what I wish I was told when I was in your shoes. Um and people used that opportunity to do a lot of different things.

It was also helpful in that with flair and the dress it makes them feel more comfortable by us being crazy, it was a nice moment of reflection where we could come back down to earth and relate to them on a more we were once in your shoes, we understand what you’re going through, and just bringing it down in a more real way rather than adding on to the goofy silly camp stuff.

Informant’s Comments:

Collector’s Comments:

Collector’s Name: Henry Senkfor

Tags/Keywords:

  • Trips, DOC, Lorax, Story, Leverone, Night

Flair/Dyed Hair

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Title: Flair/Dyed Hair

General Information about Item:

  • Material: Clothing
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: USA

Informant #1 Data:

Ethan Isaacson lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is currently a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018. He was born on January 5th, 1996, and is studying chemistry and physics. He went on freshman trips when he was an incoming freshman, was a trip leader his sophomore year, and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall, so has seen many different aspects of the trips program.

Leigh Steinberg was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was born on April 19, 1996. She is a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018 and is a history major and plans on going into consulting after graduation. She was a trip leader before her sophomore year of college and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall.

Informant #2 Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 male. He went on a first-year trip in September 2014 and was a member of Lodj Croo in September 2017.

Informant #3 Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 female. She went on a first-year trip in September 2014, was a member of Lodj Croo in September 2015, and served as one of the two Lodj Croo Captains in September 2017.

Informant #4 Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 female. She is active in the Native American Community on campus, SPCSA, and Sigma Delta. She is a Government and Native American Studies modified with Anthropology double major from Martha’s Vineyard. She went on cabin camping in September 2014, but never led a trip or was on a croo.

Contextual Data:

People are wearing flair and have dyed hair from the first moment freshman arrive on campus. Flair is also prevalent during many other times at Dartmouth, like weekend social events and club meetings. It is used as a sign of expression and individuality at Dartmouth.

Item:

All Croos are known for wearing a lot of flair during trips and also are known for dying their hair wild colors. They do so in order to try to teach the incoming freshman to have a good time and not worry about what other people think about them, as the Croos all look ridiculous but they do not care. It also serves a practical purpose, as it helps distinguish who the Croolings are versus who are trip leaders and trippees. This tradition has been going as long as they know.

Transcript of Informant #1 Interview:

So part of it is that we look crazier and more embarrassing than they ever could. There’s a line in the safety show that goes, “nobody cares about your clothing. Look at us we look like clowns.” And I think that’s partially true that it’s a cool approach that they can’t look more ridiculous. Um but also the craziness is an interesting part of trips culture and Dartmouth culture and it’s just the sense of them being inducted into this very insular and weird community that accepts them fairly unconditionally. And that the crazy colorful appearances are a physical manifestation of that.

I think it also has a practical application of really distinguishing us from trip leaders and trippees. It’s like a more fun neon staff shirt.

Informant #1’s Comments:

  • She sees flair as one of the integral parts of trips to make people feel more comfortable

Collector’s Comments:

  • Flair seems to be more common at Dartmouth than any other school I have heard about

Collector’s Name: Henry Senkfor

Transcript of Informant #2 Interview:

“Another thing Lodj croo does is that we dye our hair and wear flair at all times. No normal clothing, and many of us dye our hair a different color. I went blue. The reason we do that is so that the trippees don’t feel like the weirdest or most awkward person in the room. If we’re making a fool out of ourselves, it’s easier for them to feel confident in themselves.”

Informant #2’s Comments:

  • Informant sees flair as a fun part of trips.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant #2 has a large flair collection and kept his hair dyed for a long time.

Collector’s Name: Roshni Chandwani

Transcript of Informant #3 Interview:

“One of the biggest ones for croos and Dartmouth is flair, obviously. Everyday, we get into a new costume, and that’s definitely a really fun part of trips and makes the incoming class realize how important flair is to Dartmouth, and that will carry out throughout their time at Dartmouth beyond trips. One that’s important to croos would be dying your hair. Dying your hair is really important. The point of it is that you can be easily identified as a crooling, as opposed to a trip leader, so if something’s going and you’re not sure, you can find somebody with crazy hair and ask them questions. That, paired with the flair, helps croolings stand out from everyone else involved with trips as people who are a little more self-deprecating and willing to make fun of themselves, and that helps freshmen feel more comfortable as they come in. And even though they’re awkward and embarrassed, we’re all weird and awkward, so it’s fine.”

Informant #3’s Comments:

  • Informant noted that the purpose of flair is to make everyone feel comfortable in being wacky.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant #3 has a large flair collection that she still uses.

Collector’s Name: Roshni Chandwani

Transcript of Informant #4 Interview:

“Its funny cause you drive up and your parents are in the car, and they’re like why are these people wearing ridiculous outfits? And then so you move and they kind of just drop you off. Then when you get assigned to your trip leaders, they are also dressed in ridiculous outfits per usual. And, as a senior, the concept of flair is still going strong. Especially once you enter a Greek house and such.”

Informant #4’s Comments:

  • Informant has a large flair collection given to her by graduated members of her sorority. Today, as a senior she sees flair more within the personally relevant frame of its place at Dartmouth within Greek life and theme parties. She sees flair as a way for Dartmouth students to show their playful side.

Collector’s Comments:

  • It’s interesting how this aspect of DOC Trips folklore continues to be relevant to Dartmouth students throughout their time at the school, regardless of their subsequent participation (or not) in the trips program. In this case, the informant is not involved in trips after her own trip or even the outing club.

Collector’s Name: Clara Silvanic

Tags/Keywords:

Flair, Dyed hair, DOC, Trips, Clothing

Machine Shop Legend/Horror Story

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Title: Machine Shop Legend/Horror Story

General Information about Item:

  • Genre and Sub Genre: Verbal Folklore: Legend/Horror Story
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: United States

Informant Data:

  • Feras Abdulla is a senior at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. He is a double major in engineering and mathematics, and is trying to finish his Bachelor of Engineering degree in four years. He is from Manama, Bahrain. He can almost always be found in Thayer, and he enjoys working on projects for his various engineering classes. I interviewed Feras in one of the Thayer classrooms on 11/5/17.

Contextual Data:

  • Social/Cultural Context: This was told to the informant by one of the machine shop technicians while they were taking part in a lesson about how use the lathe machine in Thayer, and is normally told in this context.   It was during an ENGS 21 machine shop session designed to teach the students about the different machines and resources available in Thayer. The main purpose of this particular session was to discuss the safety precautions that you have to take anytime the lathe machine is used, and then the students completed a brief activity with the machine. The lath is a machine generally used to make circular cuts in metal, and it consists of a spinning piece that you clamp your metal into, and then a sharp cutting piece that you can manually move with controls to get the cut that you want. It’s important to note that this particular piece of folklore was transmitted from an older, more experienced person to a novice. Speaking from this position of power seems important to the actual function of this piece of folklore, as the story seems to be employed in an educational manner, where the shock of the story highlights the importance of absorbing the given rules. To understand the function, one must also note that one of the important safety precautions that must be taken in using the machine is that you must be wearing a hat that keeps all of your hair in it, and you must have other people in the shop at the same time in case of disaster.

Item:

  • The collected item is a horror story/legend that our informant heard from a machine shop instructor during their time in Thayer. The story can be read in the transcript below or heard in the video recording.  The legend outlines a horrific accident that supposedly occurred in the Thayer machine shop, but it’s understood to not actually be true. The legend seems to be employed as a scare tactic so that engineering students will follow the machine shop safety rules.

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

Transcript of Associated File:

  • Feras: Hi, my name is Feras. I’m an engineering student here at Dartmouth. Basically, when I was getting introduced into the machine shop as I was beginning to take my engineering- or mechanics based classes, they would give you an orientation on how to use some of the machines, including the lathe. Now there are some safety risks with the lathe, and I remember them telling us very spooky story about that happening: One of the engineering students was using the lathe and was not wearing a cap, and she had long hair. So, as she was using it, she didn’t notice her hair getting caught into it and it started rotating, and started pulling her in. Now another girl tried to help her out, and she wasn’t wearing a cap either. So as she was reaching in to try to untangle the first person’s hair, the second person’s hair got caught in as well. It got both of their scalps cut of-or torn off.Aleck: Okay, so do you think that’s actually a realistic thing that happened?Feras: Definitely not at Dartmouth, but it’s a spooky story, and they want us to take care when we use the machine.

Informant’s Comments:

  • The informant noted that after hearing the story, they went home and looked on the Internet for any mention of this disaster. They found a couple of stories that involved accidents using the machine, but nothing this brutal, and nothing that took place at Dartmouth. He thinks that the machine shop instructor likely heard a similar story and exaggerated it to discourage students from ignoring the safety rules, and reinforced the importance of learning the material he was presenting.

Collector’s Comments:

  • After hearing this account, it seems as though it’s a classic urban legend, where some event that actually happened has been embellished or exaggerated, and the current telling of the story requires a suspension of disbelief on the part of the person hearing the story. It’s passed along as though its fact but isn’t actually completely true. It seems that the reason this urban legend is told in Thayer to a lot of the newer students is to reinforce the importance of following the safety rules through a scare tactic. I personally think that this could be effective not because the students actually believe the story, but because it is so distinct that anytime they use the machine, some recollection of the story will likely pop into their heads, and they will be more likely to remember the rules.

Collector’s Name: Alexander Sullivan

Tags/Keywords:

  • Verbal Folklore, Urban Legend, Horror

Robert Frost’s Ashes

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Title: Robert Frost’s Ashes

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Practical Joke / Trick
  • Language: English
  • Country: United States

Informant Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’21 female. She went on a first-year trip in September 2017; the trip was hiking (level 3).

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
    • The trick is played by the trip leaders on their trippees.
    • The whole group must be present
    • In order for the trick to really work, the trippees can not have any prior knowledge about the trip existing
  • Cultural Context
    • Robert Frost attended Dartmouth College. As a result, many trippees view this as a sort of initiation into the college. (Might be a form of contagious magic)
    • Trippees are more gullible because they are being introduced to this completely new place, and, as a result, are more likely to believe something that may sound ridiculous to an outside party. The idea here is to embarrass the trippees together as a group and offer them something to bond over.

Item:

  • Robert Frost’s Ashes practical joke: Trip leaders lie to their trippees and tell them that their trip has been selected to transport and dispose of Robert Frost’s (a famous Dartmouth alum) ashes. The trip leaders then take the ashes out when they are in the middle of the woods (likely on the top of a mountain), and tell the trippees. The trip leaders then distribute the ashes by pouring them into their trippees hands, and just as they are about to throw the ashes, one of the trip leaders leans down to lick up the ashes from his/her hands. The trippees are then appauled that their trip leader has licked the ashes, just to find out that they were not ashes, but sugar.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

“The Robert Frost ashes trick was played on us and we learned afterward that many trips had this trick, just in a different variation. So we were on a six hour busride the first morning of trips, and during that busride some of us heard about the trick from other trips who had already experienced it. But some of us did not hear about the trick that trip leaders often play on their trippees. So when my trip got to the top of Mousilauke Mountain, our trip leaders took out this flask, and they told us that we had been selected as the group to throw Robert Frost’s ashes off the mountain. At that point we were all pretty delirious because we were at the top of a mountain and it was very windy and I did not sleep a single minute the night before. And a couple of us (trippees) still kind of believed, so they took out a book of Robert Frost poetry and they had us read it super dramatically with lots of feeling, because the trip leaders told us that the reading had to be done well. So we did that, and then we opened the flask and poured out the ‘ashes.’ But I was thinking that these ‘ashes’ look a lot like just sugar. So my trip leader pours out some of the ashes into our hands. And then we were standing there and my trip leader holds the ashes up to his tongue and licks them. And then a couple of us (trippees) look at each other and we were just really confused, so then we lean down and lick up the ashes, too.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • The informant noted that the reaction of trippees on her trip to the practical joke was skewed by the fact that some of her fellow trippees knew about the trick beforehand (had been told by trippees on other trips)

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant was able to give a detailed account of the experience that he had on trips.

Collector’s Name: Madison DeRose

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Folklore, Practical Joke, Robert Frost, Wilderness

Trip Raid (day)

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Title: Trip Raid (day)

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Practical Joke / Trick
  • Language: English
  • Country: United States

Informant Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’21 female. She went on a first-year trip in September 2017; the trip was hiking (level 3).

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
    • The trick is played on the trippees by outside actors (Dartmouth students not on the trip)
    • The whole group must be present
    • This raid takes place during the daytime while the trip is taking a break from hiking
  • Cultural Context
    • Focus on putting the trippees out of their comfort zone — make them nervous about the presence of two outside figures
    • The result is that all the trippees are embarrassed that they fell for the joke in the first place. This collective embarrassment gives the trippees something to bond over going forward

Item:

  • Trip raid (daytime): During one day of hiking, the trip is on a break when they notice two figures hiking off-trail. It seems strange to the trippees and trip leaders that anyone is hiking off trail, but then the two figures abruptly change direction and begin directly approaching the trip. It is two cloaked and bearded men. When they reach the trip, the trippees and trip leaders realize that it is two Dartmouth students dressed up as creepy figures. They then laugh together about the joke.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

“We were raided by one of our trip leaders’ boyfriends, and she had no idea they were coming. We were sitting down having lunch and we saw these two figures hiking through this marsh behind these trees, and we were like ‘oh that’s pretty weird that they are not hiking on the really well laid out path, but okay.’ And then we were just sitting there watching them, watching them, watching them, and suddenly they just vere toward us and it was terrifying. It was these two cloaked, bearded figures, but it was just two guys that our trip leader knew dressed up as Lord of the Rings characters. They then proceeded to sing to us. It was really weird, but really fun.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • During this raid, neither the trippees nor the trip leaders knew that this would be happening.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant was able to give a detailed account of the experience that he had on trips.

Collector’s Name: Madison DeRose

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Folklore, Practical Joke, Raid, Daytime, Wilderness, Creepy figures

Dinner-Show at the Lodj

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Title: Dinner/Show at the Lodj

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Performance (singing and dancing) AND Material Folklore: the dinner
  • Language: English
  • Country: United States

Informant #1 Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’21 male. He went on a first-year trip in September 2017; the trip was canoeing.

Informant #2 Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 male. He went on a first-year trip in September 2014 and was a member of Lodj Croo in September 2017.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
    • All trips have come back together for one final day/night at the Lodj
    • The trippees are really excited for a real meal, sitting at a table after 4 days camping in the wilderness
    • All trips are sitting together in a huge dining hall ready to eat a dinner together
  • Cultural Context
    • The meal itself is prepared by other Dartmouth students (Lodj Croo). They have worked hard to prepare it to offer the trippees a reward after several days in the wilderness
    • The show offers entertainment for the exhausted trippees. Gives them something to just watch and take in, in order to rest and be free of actually socializing during the meal
    • The Croo putting on the show tries very hard to act whacky and embarrass themselves to make all the trippees feel more comfortable

Item:

  • Dinner show at the Lodj: On the last night of trips, all the trips come back together at the Lodj after 4 days in the wilderness. All trippees are exhausted, and they sit down for a big meal together, which is cooked by the Lodj Croo (made up of upperclassmen students). During the meal, the Lodj Croo not only prepares and serves it, but the Croo also puts on a show and sings and dances around the tables while the trippees enjoy a four-course meal.

Transcript of Informant #1 Interview:

“The dinner show at the Lodge was awesome. We basically sat down after a lot of activities during the day for this meal at the Lodge, and coming from the canoeing trip, it was going to be the first good meal that we had had in a while; we had had a lot of Annie’s mac & cheese nights where we were just scraping that out of bowls. Then it turned out to be this four-course meal, and it was amazing, and it was filled with songs, and they were singing these French songs that were really cool.”

Informant #1’s Comments:

  • Seeing the Lodj Croo singing and dancing around, the dinner table really let him see how fun and cool Dartmouth students were.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant #1 was able to give a detailed account of the experience that he had on trips.

Collector’s Name: Madison DeRose

Transcript of Informant #2 Interview:

“There’s a dinner show that’s a surprise for students, so they come into the Lodge. There’s a blackout, and the croo ends up popping out and doing a whole dinner show. Every course, there’s a song. This year, we were at the skiway, and because that was important to us, we wanted to continue that tradition. So we ended up having the croolings “on strike” basically and the Lodj croo captains were looking for the croolings during the meals to serve the food and ended up running through the windows and scaring the new trippees and performing for them. Other things we do, during the dinner show, during the final song, the dessert song, all the croolings go and pie or ice cream trip leaders, and trip leaders.”

Informant #2’s Comments:

  • “When trippees come back as trip leaders, some of them remember it, some don’t. So it’s really a surprise every year.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant #2 was part of the dinner show and really enjoyed his experience.

Collector’s Name: Roshni Chandwani

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Folklore, Material Folklore, Dinner, Show, Fun, Food

The Jelly Bean Game

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Title: The Jelly Bean Game

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Game
  • Language: English
  • Country: United States

Informant Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’21 female. She went on a first-year trip in September 2017; the trip was hiking (level 3).

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
    • All the trippees sitting around a circle together while taking a break from physical activities
  • Cultural Context
    • Provides a way for the trippees to share things about themselves with the group to get to know each other — common to play games to get to know one another in American culture.

Item:

  • The Jelly Bean game: each jelly bean color corresponds to a different category of story. Each person then picks a jelly bean and tells a story corresponding to that color of jelly bean.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

“We only played the jelly bean game one time. We sat around at a rest stop and there were six different colors of jelly beans in this gigantic bag and we labeled each color a different category. So purple might have been like a horror story or a scary story and pink might have been like a story from your childhood and red is an embarrassing story. And then person by person, someone reaches in and randomly picks a color of jelly bean out of the bag. So the person would then tell a story based on the color of jelly bean that they picked.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • It was a really fun game, and a cool way to learn interesting things about the other people on my trip.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant was able to give a detailed account of the experience that he had on trips.

Collector’s Name: Madison DeRose

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Folklore, Game, Jelly Bean, Stories, Bonding

The Whoosh Ball Game

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Title: The Whoosh Ball Game

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Game
  • Language: English
  • Country: United States

Informant Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’21 male. He went on a first-year trip in September 2017; the trip was canoeing.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
    • All the trippees and trip leaders stand around in a circle together with a ball in someone’s hands
  • Cultural Context
    • Trippees bond with each other over a fun and simple game
    • It is nice to be able to play a relatively easy game to allow everyone to relax

Item:

  • The Whoosh Ball game: the group stands around in a circle passing a ball and saying whoosh. There are specific rules about what a person is allowed to do when receiving the ball.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

“We played the Whoosh Ball game. This game gave trips a very “campy” feel. You play by passing the ball to the left and saying “whoosh.” And then the person receiving the ball can either ramp it or put up a wall with his/her hand to deflect the ball.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • It was a really fun game, and a cool way to learn interesting things about the other people on my trip.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant was able to give a detailed account of the experience that he had on trips.

Collector’s Name: Madison DeRose

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Folklore, Game, Whoosh Ball, Ball, fun, trippees, bonding