Tag Archives: American

“Positive Vision” (Tanner Palocsik)

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Title: “Positive Vision”

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Magic Superstition, Homeopathic
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: J.H.
  • Date Collected: 11-4-21

Informant Data:

  • J.H. is a 20-year-old student athlete at Dartmouth College in the class of 2023. He is from Stamford, CT and is on the diving team. He was raised in a family of divers, as his father was also his diving coach.  

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Sports teams always have different rituals or superstitions they follow so that they have success in their sport. Diving is no different. For diving, you are expected to perform with perfection every time. It is a difficult sport with many intricacies.    
  • Social Context: Within the team atmosphere, every teammate relies on each other to perform to the best of their abilities. Team’s need to have every guy pulling the rope in the same direction for success, so it’s important that every person does whatever they can to reassure their performance. J.H.’s superstition is one that is performed right as they walk out the door. His team has always done this superstition as someone from Dartmouth unknown in the past brought it to their locker room.

Item:

  • The item here is a superstition the entire team has. There is a sign above their door that every guy taps before they exit their locker room for the meet. The sign says, “Positive Vision”. In addition to performing this action, the team also has a pregame chant which can be seen in the picture below. (Unfortunately, I was not able to get a photo of the locker room sign.)

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

Transcript:

  • “Sort of a good luck charm we have is, as we walk out the locker room door, we all tap a sign that says, ‘Positive Vision’. This sign has been in our locker room for many years and has always been a team tradition. We also have a pregame chant that dates back decades if not centuries”

Informant’s Comments:

  • He believes in these superstitions and thinks if the team doesn’t do these superstitions each game, they will have bad luck and won’t perform well as a team.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I think these superstitions are unique and interesting. The chant is something that is secret to their team and so my informant wouldn’t share the words. I also thought it was cool that he said these superstitions date back decades. He had no idea when or how they started but it’s something their team has consistently practiced since.

Collector’s Name:

Tanner Palocsik

Dartmouth College

Russia 013 Fall 2021

Professors Apresyan and Gronas

The Lucky Horseshoe (Tanner Palocsik)

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Title: The Lucky Horseshoe

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Magic Superstition, Homeopathic
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: R.B.
  • Date Collected: 11-4-21

Informant Data:

  • R.B. is a 21-year-old student athlete at Dartmouth College in the class of 2023. He is from London, England and is on the Rugby team. Being from England, rugby is a very popular sport in his background. He had family members that played and helped him adapt the sport into his pride.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Sports teams often have some tradition that the team practices throughout their season that is meant to bring good luck to the whole team. In the rugby culture, they also have many players that contribute to the team effort, so it’s important to have something the entire team participates in. It creates better team chemistry and comradery.
  • Social Context: This superstition is performed right when the whole team is about to enter the field. Rugby is a physical sport so they do this for luck of the win but also for luck of good health and strength.

Item:

  • The item here is a superstition for their whole team. They all tap the top of the locker room door where they have a horseshoe hanging. This is meant to bring good luck, strength to their bodies and good health.

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

Transcript:

  • “Before every game we tap the horseshoe at the top of our door. This is a common superstition in the Rugby world and something our team takes very seriously. I think it truly helps us to muster up strength and mental stability while trying to focus in on the competition at hand. Each game is a learning experience, and we try to take a lot of pride in our culture and tradition. The rugby team here has been doing this for many years and all the older guys reiterate that we must keep it going as long as we can and continue to pass it down to the younger guys.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • He believes this truly brings the team luck and that it will be something that will stick with Dartmouth Rugby for many years to come.  

Collector’s Comments:

  • I think this is a strong superstition and one that every team should try to encapsulate in some way. It’s a good way to create team bonding over a common superstition and get everyone believing in the same things.

Collector’s Name:

Tanner Palocsik

Dartmouth College

Russia 013 Fall 2021

Professors Apresyan and Gronas

Stocking Hanging

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General Information About Item:

  • Material Lore, Item
  • Customary Lore, Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: L. J.
  • Date Collected: 11-10-2021

Informant Data:

  • L.J. is a senior at Harvard University who grew up in Utah, but moved to Boston when he was a boy. He has a twin sister whom he shares many things in common with. He is a member of the Christain faith, but noted that his family’s Christmas traditions revolve more around being in the presence of each other rather than anything religious.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The superstition originated as a means for the children to get to bed at a reasonable time on the night before Christmas. In addition, it’s interesting to note that the tradition started by the children being coerced by their parents in fear that they wouldn’t receive gifts from Santa, but L.J. and his sister have adopted this tradition themselves.
  • Social Context: Socially speaking, this superstition only involved L.J’s immediate family. While many other family traditions include members of the extended family it was interesting to see how L.J’s favorite tradition was specific to just his sister, his parents, and him.

Item:

  • L.J’s family tradition started when his sister and he were young children, when their parents told them that if they did not hang up their stockings at exactly 9:45 on the night of Christmas Eve, they would not receive any presents the next day. As the years have passed and the children have moved on from the lore of Santa, his family has continued this tradition to represent health and happiness moving forward throughout the holiday season and into the new years.

Transcript:

  • “Ever since my sister and I were young children, we’ve had a tradition of hanging our stockings up on the fireplace at exactly 9:45 PM in hopes that Santa would bring us gifts the following morning. My parents enforced this superstition one may call it, by saying that if we hung them up a minute early or a minute late, Santa might be unhappy with how we prepared for his arrival: he wanted it to be right on time. As we grew older and realized that Santa was not real, my sister and I took agency in this tradition and decided to keep it going to represent our familial health and wellness moving into the new year. It has turned into a superstition for my family that we do each and every year, and up until this point, it has not let us down so we will continue to do it!”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “I recall one year hanging my stocking up a few minutes after 9:45 and being worried that I would not receive any gifts the following day.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • L.J’s family tradition of hanging stockings at exactly 9:45 PM on Christmas Eve is the first superstitious tradition which I encountered in my interviews. It was interesting to hear how superstition adapted as the children grew older and learned that Santa is not real. L.J. mentioned that his parents worried that the tradition would fade away when the children reached a certain age, but it has truly developed into their family’s Christmas folklore.

Collected By:

Daniel Hincks

Boston, MA

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS013

Fall 2021

Family Tales

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General Information About Item:

  • Customary Lore,  Celebration
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: D.G.
  • Date Collected: 11-11-2021

Informant Data:

  • D.G. is a recent college graduate who grew up in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. He now works in Atlanta, Georgia but makes his way home every year during the Christmas season to spend time with his family. The oldest of his siblings, he has two younger sisters and a younger brother.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context of D.G’s family gathering is to share stories of their family lineage and especially to explain to the younger generations within his family how they came to the United States.
  • Social Context: The social context of D.G’s family gathering is that it is a means for his extended family to catch up and share stories of the past.

Item:

  • D.G’s family has an annual tradition of gathering in their household and telling stories about their family’s immigration from Ireland. When possible, his cousin, aunts, and uncles also come to share stories over a nice meal with loved ones. D.G. recalled that stories range from his great grandparents first stepping foot in the United States to funny memories of Christmas parties in the past.

Transcript:

  • “Every year my family gathers at my house in the Boston area to share each-other’s company. The centerpiece of this party is when we sit down for dinner, instead of saying grace we share stories of our family heritage which date back to our first descendents in the United States. It sounds like something a family would typically do for Thanksgiving but it’s ultimately a great way for us to be thankful for what brought us all together. It’s probably the only time of year when my entire extended family is able to gather, as we are spread across the United States just about as much as a family could be. One distinct memory I have about a particularly impactful story was when my great uncle shared the story of my great-great grandfather officially changing our last name on Ellis Island to escape persecution.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “I think the tradition is particularly impactful due to the fact that all the stories are things which my family can individually relate to. For example, if you came to the party, you may find it to be a bit boring as you would have no grounds for relating to these stories, but I and I know my family finds it especially rewarding.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • D.G’s family tradition is the most traditionally folkloric of the people I had interviewed. It was interesting to hear his take on how the tradition has evolved and how special it is to his family, especially due to the fact that I had not mentioned to him prior to the interview that this class was on folklore itself. His family, while geographically dispersed across the country, remains extremely close in part due to traditions like this one which shares his lineage from generation to generation.

Collected By:

Daniel Hincks

Boston, MA

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS013

Fall 2021

Hockey Tournament

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General Information About Item:

  • Material Lore, Hockey
  • Customary Lore, Family tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: A.M.
  • Date Collected: 11-10-2021

Informant Data:

  • A.M. is a senior at Middlebury College located in Middlebury, Vermont. He was one brother and a mom, and has a large extended family all of whom live in the area surrounding him. He was born in Sherborn Massachusetts, and has lived there his whole life. He grew up in a Catholic family and noted that Christmas is his favorite holiday of the year.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context of A.M’s family hockey tournament relates back to his family’s heritage in Canada. His grandparents Immigrated from Canada in the 1940s to start a family in the Boston area. Hockey is the national sport of Canada in the winter so it makes sense as to why the Marinello family honors this tradition every year.
  • Social Context: This tournament is a means for his family to gather as they don’t see each other nearly as much as they used to. Now that A.M. and his brother are in college, this tournament is one of the few times each year that they come together as an extended family.

Item:

  • Every year, A.M’s family gathers at a local pond to play Hockey. Initially it started as a family tradition where his brother and he would go practice for their upcoming tournaments, but ever since it has been a way for their extended family to come together and catch up. Hockey is something which has always been a common denominator between his family- all of his cousins grew up playing from a young age and get competitive about it.

Transcript:

  • “You know how much my family loves hockey. While we go to church the day of Christmas, the hockey tournament which my family hosts is the centerpiece to our Christmas spirit. To me, Christmas is about coming together with your loved ones and spending time with them. While there are many settings in which this can be accomplished, something which connects my family with our heritage is the game of hockey. It’s something which I look forward to every year and am devastated when we can’t play. When the weather is too warm for the ice to melt on the local pond, we try our best to recreate this environment but it truly doesn’t compare. Everyone wears some sort of Christmas attire- last year I dressed as Santa and Michael(his brother) dressed as an elf. I guess in this way we relate it back to the westernization of Christmas, but this tradition doesn’t revolve around the religious aspects of Christmas much.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “As much as my family is Catholic- and we do practice our religion on a regular basis. I don’t think that people can come around to Catholicism during the holiday season and claim to be truly dedicated to Catholicism. So I’d say we don’t focus much more on our religion during the holiday season any more than we would in June. The hockey tournament is more about family than religion.

Collector’s Comments:

  • A.M. had interesting insight into the Christmas season. He explained that what makes the Christmas season special is not the gift giving or the hanging of the ornaments on the Christmas tree. It’s the traditions and folklore like his family hockey tournament which are specific to his family that make it special. It’s because they take ownership over the holiday that makes it truly special.

Collected By:

Daniel Hincks

Boston, MA

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS013

Fall 2021

Nativity Scene

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General Information About Item:

  • Customary Lore, Religious Tradition
  • Material Lore, Nativity Scene
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: B.L.
  • Date Collected: 11-08-2021

Informant Data:

  • B.L. is a senior at Tulane University. An avid reader and one who enjoys the arts, these parts about him were borne about as a result of his family. He grew up in Newton, Massachusetts and has one brother. B.L. was brought up in a devout Catholic family.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The nativity scene is the portrayal of the birth of Jesus Chirst. It is something which is celebrated by the Christian faith especially during the Christmas season. It represents the birth of the Lord and Savior, Jesus, and the gifts which he was brought as a young boy which represent the power and authority he had since birth.
  • Social Context: B.L’s family commemorates this event each year through acting out the nativity scene. This scene is sometimes represented in Church, with children playing the majority of the roles, but B.L’s family has adopted this tradition and continues to do it to this day as adults.

Item:

  • Every year on the night before Christmas, B.L’s extended family partakes in a nativity play which represents the birth of Jesus Chirst. Each member of his extended family, cousins and all, dress up as a different role and act out this scene in front of his grandparents. Each member of the family has their own unique part to play and plays the same role every year. B.L. noted that from a young age he was chosen to play the role of Jesus, something which he looks forward to every year.

Transcript:

  • “I don’t completely remember how far this tradition goes back but I think that says something in itself- we’ve been doing this since I can remember. As you know, my family is quite religious and sees Christmas as an opportunity to remember the life of Jesus Christ and all that he sacrificed for us. At times during the year I forget just how involved I am and should be with my religion, and this is a means of connecting back with that part of myself and my culture. Since a young age, I have played the role of Jesus, and while it surely used to be a lot cuter with all the young cousins doing their best to act out the nativity scene, it’s still something we all take very seriously. I’d also say it’s a great way for my family to connect during the Christmas season and spend quality time together. I don’t get to see my brother and my parents nearly as much as I’d like to these days and the nativity scene is something which connects my family.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “Acting out the birth of Jesus is a great way to connect with my religious background. In this way I am both actively able to commemorate his life, and also teach myself a bit about how to be more like him each and every day.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • This interview was definitely different from a few of my others, but I knew coming in that B.L’s catholic background would provide some religious traditions. While this event is rooted in religion which is shared, the event of acting out the nativity scene is somewhat specific to B.L’s family- he is the only one of my five interviewee’s whose family participates in an event like this. I would argue that this in fact makes it a piece of folklore due to the fact that it is a tradition specific to his family.

Collected By:

Daniel Hincks

Boston, MA

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS013

Fall 2021

Christmas Tree Hunting

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General Information About Item:

  • Customary Lore, Family Trip
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: B.G.
  • Date Collected: 11-10-2021

Informant Data:

  • B.G. is a senior at Bates College in Lewiston Maine. He grew up in Westwood Massachusetts in a rather large family with two brothers and a sister. B.G. is a member of the Bates College baseball team and was brought up in a catholic household.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The tree is vital to the celebration of Christmas. Decorations and gift giving are both heavily intertwined with it. However, few people truly know the importance of the Christmas tree and why people bring one into their homes each year. It is a representation that spring is just around the corner and that the darkest days of winter are fleeting.
  • Social Context: This practice annually taken part in by B.G’s family is one which originated in their household when he was a child. While it has developed over the years, the reason behind doing it- to spend time with each other over the holiday season has remained the same.

Item:

  • Every year, B.G’s family makes a trip out to rural Western Massachusetts to find their own Christmas tree. When B.G. was a young boy, his parents decided that this would be a great facet for their family to spend time together outside the home. It has turned into an annual tradition and they have even gathered extended family and friends to join into this tradition in recent years.

Transcript:

  • “Every year since I was a boy, my family and I have hopped in a car and headed out to the plains of Williamstown. While its quite a far trip and I must admit something which I have at times dreaded, the overarching theme of the ride is one which I am very thankful for. Aside from of course getting the tree which can be a very fun search, I get to spend time with my loved ones- something which comes fewer and more far between as the days pass. Since I’ve been in college, I haven’t spent nearly as much time with my family for obvious reasons and this is a great way to come together during the holiday season. While it started off as something which was specific to my family, we have brought along family friends as well as extended family into this tradition.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “It’s become something which I look forward to and quite special due to the fact that it is specific to my family- at least it was before we invited others to join along. I would say that it still remains something which all of my siblings and I take agency in and find something which kicks off the Christmas season the right way.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • It is important to recognize that while B.G’s family is catholic and does participate in many of the religious aspects surrounding the Christmas season, this was the most important topic which he wanted to discuss surrounding his family’s traditions. I think this points strongly to a resounding theme amongst my interviews that what makes Christmas special is not necessarily the substance of the holiday, rather the individual traditions and folklore which are heavily intertwined with it.

Collected By:

Daniel Hincks

Boston, MA

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS013

Fall 2021

Blades of Grass (George Altirs)

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Title: Blades of Grass

General Information about Item:

Genre: Customary Lore, Magic Superstition

Country of Origin: United States

Informant: GS

Date Collected: 11-1-21

Informant Data:

GS is a male Dartmouth student-athlete on the soccer team in the class of the 2022. He was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He has been playing soccer for as long as he can remember. Back home in Texas, he played on the Dallas Texans Academy soccer team. He plays for Dartmouth as an outside defender.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: GS’s family is historically not a big soccer family. GS has 3 brothers that all played soccer, but they were the first generation in his family to ever play the sport. GS’s younger brother, Cullen, plays soccer at the University of Pennsylvania. His parents were originally not very familiar with the sport, but they began to enjoy watching the sport more and more as their children grew up. GS’s father grew up in Texas playing football, and so did GS’s grandfather. The context in which GS got this superstition is when his father told him a tradition that his high school football team did before all their games to give them good luck. GS learned this before his first game in his first year at Dartmouth College (2018). He did the ritual that his father told him about, and he played really well. Now, he does it GS before every game. GS informed me about this superstition/ritual when at our apartment when I asked him if he has learned about any soccer superstitions throughout the years.

Cultural Context: Here, GS applied a football tradition that originated a long time ago in Texas to his soccer games at Dartmouth. This shows how certain aspects of folklore can obtain variations and change throughout time.


Item:

Before every game, GS eats a blade of grass that he is about to play on for good luck. If he doesn’t do this he feels like he will play bad.

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

Garrett Scott - Men's Soccer - Dartmouth College Athletics

Transcript:

“I eat a blade of grass on the field I am about to play on, every time I play a game. This is for good luck.”

Informant’s Comments:

It’s definitely a weird thing that I do. My dad gave me confidence when he first told me about it. I liked that it was something that he used to do when he was younger, so I felt like I wanted to try it out and carry down the tradition. And it has worked pretty well for me.

Collector’s Comments:

I think it’s interesting that GS originally took a tradition that came from Texas high school football and transferred it over to the Dartmouth College soccer.

Collector’s Name:

George Altirs

Dartmouth College

Russian 13: Slavic Folklore

Professors Gronas and Apresjan

21F

Putting on My Spikes (George Altirs)

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Putting on My Spikes (George Altirs)

Title: Putting on My Spikes

General Information about Item:

Genre: Customary Lore, Magic Superstition (If you do A, then B)

Country of Origin: United States

Informant: JM

Date Collected: 11-3-21

Informant Data:

JM is a male Dartmouth College student in the class of 2023. He is currently on the track & field team at Dartmouth. He was born and raised in Yonkers, New York. He has been running track since he was in 4th grade, which was in 2011. He took a brief hiatus from running while he was in middle school because his school didn’t have a track. He continued it in his sophomore year of high school, where he ran for the Rye Country Day School. JM runs the 200 meter and 400 meter events.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: Part of the reason this superstition exists is because of the break JM took from running between high school and elementary. He hadn’t competed in years, and he felt a bit uncomfortable when racing at first. One day before a race in sophomore year of high school, in 2017, he saw one of the senior captains on his team tie his shoes a certain way. When JM asked him about it, he told him he had seen other fast runners on his team in the past doing it this way. JM did this before his meet that day and won the race. Ever since then, he does it before every race, and he feels that he won’t do well if he doesn’t tie his shoes this way. The context in which this was collected is when I asked JM over FaceTime if there are many pre-meet rituals or superstitions he always does.

Cultural Context: Track runners often feel like they must focus a lot before meets, and a lot of them feel like if one little thing throws them off, then their whole race can be ruined. JM told me that most runners have a very specific routine before their races, and if they don’t stick by it exactly then they don’t feel comfortable. Especially for sprinters, the races go by so fast, so the runners have to be 100% locked in the entire time and can’t lose focus. For context, sprinters usually warm up in normal sneakers and switch into their spikes, which are the shoes they race in.


Item:

Before every race, JM puts on his spikes exactly 10 minutes before the race starts. He pulls both strings of the shoelace exactly 3 times. He then double knots the laces and pulls them really, really tight. If he doesn’t do this, he feels very uncomfortable and thinks he will lose the race.

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

Julian Martelly - Men's Track & Field - Dartmouth College Athletics

Transcript:

“I need to put on my spikes 10 minutes before the race. First, I pull the strings of the shoelaces really tight, then double knot, and then pull the knots really tight.”

Informant’s Comments:

I’m not sure why this specific superstition is something that I’ve carried with me for so long. It feels weird because I remember so vividly the first time I tied my shoes this way. I remember how much I looked up to the person who taught me this. He was a great runner, and I really wanted to be like him. Everyone runner has a different pre-race routine that they like doing. It is just important that I stick to my own because it makes me feel good about my chances in the race.

Collector’s Comments:

I find it interesting that he must put on his spikes exactly 10 minutes before the race. I wonder why he can’t he put them on a bit earlier or later. I also find it is interesting that it’s

Collector’s Information:

George Altirs

Dartmouth College

Russian 13: Slavic Folklore

Professors Gronas and Apresjan

21F

Playoff Beard (Drew Clutterbuck)

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Title: Playoff Beard

General Information about Item:

  • Magic Superstition (Contagious Magic)
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: S.K.
  • Date Collected: 11-6-21

Informant Data:

  • S.K. is a male Dartmouth student in the class of 2023 who is majoring in economics. He was born and raised in Milton, Massachusetts and began playing hockey at the age of 7. He is currently competing on the varsity hockey team at Dartmouth College.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In hockey, there is a regular season, where teams play each other a fixed number of times to decide who gets into the playoffs. In the playoffs, there are several rounds in which one team plays against another in a series. If a team loses the series, they are out of the playoffs and will not play another game until next season. The last two teams play in the finals to decide who wins the championship.
  • Social Context: This folklore was collected over facetime when asking the informant if he had any superstitions. The informant has always known of the playoff beard since he was a child because it has been around all levels of hockey, even the professional league, for decades. He only started participating in it when he was first able to grow facial hair.

Item: If you shave your beard during playoffs, then your team will be knocked out of the playoffs.

Transcript: “One superstition we have, and so does every other team in hockey, both college and professional, is that when the playoffs come around, you can’t shave your beard. It’s called a playoff beard and if you shave it then your team will be knocked out of the playoffs. I’ve been participating in this superstition before I even came to Dartmouth, when I was first able to grow facial hair.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “I’m not really sure how or when it originated, but it has been around for a very long time and is a big part of professional hockey.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • This is an interesting superstition because not only is the whole team involved, but the entire sport of hockey seems to be involved in it.

Collector’s Name: Drew Clutterbuck

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition
  • American
  • Hockey
  • Beard
  • Dartmouth
  • NHL