Tag Archives: American

Home Plate (Drew Clutterbuck)

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Title: Home Plate

General Information about Item:

  • Magic Superstition (Sympathetic Magic)
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: B.D.
  • Date Collected: 11-5-21

Informant Data: B.D. is a male Dartmouth student in the class of 2022 who is majoring in government. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and raised in Matthews, North Carolina where he started playing baseball at the age of 7. He is currently competing on the varsity baseball team at Dartmouth College, playing as an infielder.  

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In baseball, there are four bases that a player must round in order to score a point for their team. They can advance to the next base when the person batting hits the ball in play and it is not caught. They must get to the next base before being tagged by the ball, or before a player on the other team holding the ball touches the base they are running to. Once a person on the batting team reaches “home plate,” which is the final base, their team gets a point. 
  • Social Context: This superstition was collected at the Baker Library when asking the informant if he had any personal or team superstitions. It has been around for a very long time and he is not really sure where or how it originated, but he found out about it before his first practice with the Dartmouth baseball team.

Item:

  • If a freshman touches home plate before their first Ivy League game, then they will play poorly for the rest of the season and the team will lose that first game. 

Transcript:

  • “For team superstitions, we have this one where no one who is a freshman can touch home plate until they play their first Ivy League game… If they do, they will definitely play badly and the team will lose that first game.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “In my time at Dartmouth, all the freshmen have been very wary of touching home plate, and no one has broken this rule, so it seems as though everyone believes in it, including myself.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I find this superstition interesting in that it not only affects the individual who touches home plate, but it affects the team as a whole as well.

Collector’s Name: Drew Clutterbuck

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition
  • American
  • Baseball
  • Dartmouth
  • Home Plate
  • Freshmen

Kirkland Sports Drink (Drew Clutterbuck)

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Title: Kirkland Sports Drink

General Information about Item:

  • Magic Superstition (Sympathetic Magic)
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: S.M.
  • Date Collected: 11-3-21

Informant Data:

  • S.M. is a male Dartmouth student in the class of 2022 who is majoring in economics. He was born and raised in Belmont, Massachusetts where he began rowing at the age of 14. He is currently competing on the Men’s Heavyweight Rowing Team at Dartmouth. 

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Rowing is a sport in which you race in boats using oars, or paddles, to propel the boat forward. It requires a lot of nonstop physical exertion and is very demanding on the body. Sports drinks are an important way to replace water and electrolytes lost during exercise.
  • Social Context: This superstition was collected over facetime in November of 2021 when asking if the informant had any personal or team superstitions. This folklore originated when the Dartmouth rowing team was unable to find gatorade while shopping for an upcoming regatta. They were at Costco, so the only sports drink they could find was Kirkland brand and it made the team do very well and became their signature drink for regattas. 

Item:

  • The superstition that was collected is that if the rowing team has Kirkland Sports Drink before competing, they will do better than if they drank any other brand of sports drink.

Transcript:

  • “Right now we believe in Kirkland Sports Drink as a huge plus. When we couldn’t find gatorade last year, the only thing we could find at Costco was Kirkland Sports Drink, so we got that in mass and it fueled us. So that’s our signature, like, we need this to do well.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “I actually believe there is something in the Kirkland sports drink that makes us better. I don’t know what it is but I think it should be tested for EPOs.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I find this superstition interesting because it is very recent, it was only developed a year ago, but they believe in it fully.

Collector’s Name: Drew Clutterbuck

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition
  • American
  • Heavyweight Rowing
  • Dartmouth
  • Sports Drink

Lucky Lifejacket (Drew Clutterbuck)

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Title: Lucky Lifejacket

General Information about Item:

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

Informant Data:

  • B.B. is a male Dartmouth student in the class of 2023 who plans on majoring in english. He was born and raised in Irvington, Virginia where he began sailing at the age of 7. Since then he has competed all over the world and is currently sailing for the varsity sailing team at Dartmouth.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In the sport of sailing, each competitor is required to wear a US Coast Guard approved Personal Flotation Device (PFD), otherwise known as a Life Jacket. These are vests that are worn around the torso and allow the wearer to stay afloat if they fall into the water, which is especially important if the sailor is knocked unconscious into the water.
  • Social Context: This superstition was collected over facetime in November of 2021 when asking if the informant had any personal or team superstitions. He originally learned this superstition at the age of 12 or 13 when he began to get into the mental side of the sport, which was pretty weak for him. His coach at the time wanted him to get into more of a routine and the informant adopted many of his current superstitions, including this one, from said coach. There are several other people that the informant knows of, in the sailing world as well as on the Dartmouth sailing team that carry this same superstition.

Item:

  • The superstition that was collected is the idea that if the informant wears the same life jacket that he has been wearing for the majority of his life, then he will do better in the regatta and it will bring him good luck on the water. 

Transcript:

  • “I have many superstitions… one is that I always wear the same life jacket on regatta days. I think if I wear this life jacket then I am more likely to do well and have good luck. I developed it probably when I was 12 or 13, I was travelling with different teams to get new help from different coaches and they were helping me with my mental side which was pretty weak… I know this is a pretty common superstition both in college sailing and the sailing world in general.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “I do actually believe in this superstition. I believe that if I am not wearing this life jacket, I will feel off and will have bad luck.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I found this superstition interesting as it is focused on what the competitor is wearing. It could just be out of a feeling of familiarity and comfort that this superstition comes from.

Collector’s Name: Drew Clutterbuck

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition
  • American
  • Sailing
  • Life Jacket
  • Dartmouth

Left First (Jack Cameron)

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Title: Left First

General Information about Item:

  • Magic superstition, homeopathic
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: JM
  • Date Collected: 11/08/21

Informant Data:

  • JM is a 21 year old male Dartmouth student in the class of 2023.  He was born and raised in the areas surrounding New Haven, Connecticut. James is a member of the Varsity Football team at Dartmouth, playing the position of Offensive Line. Away from football, James enjoys music and is an avid fan of the old folk band Carlyle Fraser.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Football teams often stretch before their games and practices.  Football is known and practiced as a very combative sport, with plenty of injury and physical toll. Stretching before a game reduces risk of injury, and is often led by seniors or captains on any given team. Offensive Linemen tend to be the biggest people on the football team.
  • Social Context: This specific superstition pertains to all Offensive Linemen on the Dartmouth football team. While this is not necessarily the case for all of the positions, the interviewee was adamant that the Offensive Line face perhaps the most physical toll of all the positions, as their job is to block the defense from tackling their teammates with the ball.

Item:

A stretching routine is very common. Often led by team leaders, seniors or captains, pre-game stretching routines take place in almost all sports across the world. Each stretching routine can be different depending on the sport, but this routine has the Offensive Linemen always stretch the left body part before their right.  

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

Transcript:

“This is me stretching my left hip flexor. Our pregame stretching superstition always starts with the left side first. Left hamstring, then right hamstring. Left calf, then right calf, etc. I think it started almost 10 years ago because it’s luckier to stretch on the heart side first, that way if something gets banged up on the right side we can always say ‘it’s a long way from the heart’ and keep on moving forward.”

Informant’s Comments:

Found this to be interesting and now found that I do lots of things in my day left side first. Put on pants left leg before the right, socks and shoes left before right and such.

Collector’s Comments:

I found this pregame superstition to be quite interesting, especially since it has since carried over into his everyday life. I think that protecting the heart side is an interesting concept that I would highly consider incorporating into my own life for a feeling of safety.  

Collector’s Name:

Jack Cameron

Dartmouth College

Russ013 21F

Prof. Apresyan and Prof. Gronas

Setting Watches for Dartmouth (Jack Cameron)

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Title: Setting Watches for Dartmouth

General Information about Item:

  • Magic Superstition, sympathetic
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: SW
  • Date Collected: 11-1-21

Informant Data:

  • SW is a 20-year-old male Dartmouth student in the class of 2023.  He was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. Seth is a member of the Varsity Cross Country team at Dartmouth. Seth’s father also ran Division I cross country at Duke University before going on to complete three marathons in his 40s. Seth has also spent time on the Varsity Track & Field team at Dartmouth. Seth is a Religion major who hopes to pursue consulting after graduation.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Cross Country races are 8km for men, and 5km for women. All runners start at the same starting line, lined up by team. Because of this, they have ample opportunity for team bonding, last second words of encouragement and strategy all the way up until the starting gun.
  • Social Context: This specific pre-race chant was the first thing Seth mentioned when talking about pre-race superstitions. Seth said this was a call and response chant – the captain would issue a call, to which the rest of the team would shout the response in unison for good luck into their race.

Item:

  • Captain: “Men of Dartmouth set a watch!”
  • Team: “Lest the old traditions fail.”

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

Transcript:

  • “Men of Dartmouth set a watch, lest the old traditions fail is the last thing we say to each other before the gun. This photo is taken moments after the call and response, right before we are taking off. I like the chant, it reminds me where I am, to be proud of what I have accomplished, and to go out and make the history of Dartmouth and former Dartmouth runners proud”

Informant’s Comments:

  • I love it. It reminds me that I am part of something much bigger than myself. This has been a Cross Country team staple for decades.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I found this pre-race chant to be very interesting, especially after my informant told me that it makes him feel special to be a part of something much larger than himself, and bringing him into hallowed history of Dartmouth athletics.

Collector’s Name:

Jack Cameron

Dartmouth College

Russ013 21F

Prof. Apresyan and Prof. Gronas

White Left Wrist (Jack Cameron)

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Title: White Left Wrist

General Information about Item:

  • Magic Superstition, homeopathic
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: PO
  • Date Collected: 11/3/21

Informant Data:

  • PO is a 21-year-old male Dartmouth student in the class of 2023.  He was born and raised in Schenectady, New York. Pete is a third baseman on the Men’s Varsity Baseball Team at Dartmouth. Pete has played baseball since he was six years old, and also enjoys fishing and golfing. A Government major, Pete plans on attending graduate school after Dartmouth.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Baseball players are some of the most superstitious athletes in the world. Baseball is a very mental sport, with preparation and focus being a big part of success – more than the physical aspect. Baseball is traditionally played more frequently than any other sport in America, often being played almost every day.
  • Social Context: This specific superstition was mentioned when the interviewee was asked about pre-game preparations. Baseball players often have regional superstitions or routines before facing a pitch that are shared with one another when players from all over the country. This particular superstition comes from the Schenectady/Troy/Saratoga region of New York State.

Item:

  • Right-handed batters tape their left wrist with white tape, and left-handed batters tape their right wrist with white tape. This is used to help remind the batter to keep the wrist locked while swinging a bat, making for more likely and more powerful contact with the ball. In this picture, we can see that Pete is a right-handed Tbatter, with his right wrist taped in white tape even though he is fielding a ball and not batting.

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

Transcript:

  • “I’m not sure where it started, but everyone in my area tapes their wrist of their bottom hand on their bat. We were told it helps you keep your wrist locked, but after I got stronger and didn’t need that anymore it just felt right. After a while it just became customary and made me feel more connected with the bat”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “I like taping my wrist because it reminds me of home, and it’s cool to see other players now at different colleges with the same white tape and know they’re from my region”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I liked how Pete was able to relate this regional superstition and not only bring it to college, but also use it as an indicator when he sees other people around at different schools from his region. I find this superstition to be especially effective after he said that it makes him feel more connected with the bat.

Collector’s Name:

Jack Cameron

Dartmouth College

Russ013 21F

Prof. Apresyan and Prof. Gronas

Throwing Salt (Quinn Calhoun)

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Title: Throwing Salt over Shoulder

General Information about Item:

  • Ritual, Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: KC
  • Date Collected: 10-21-21

Informant Data:

  • KC grew up and currently lives in Richmond, VA. She received her BA in art history from JMU in 1988 before teaching students of various ages from elementary school to college in various art courses. She and the rest of her family are of predominantly Irish-Catholic heritage. 

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Salt is believed, among various religions and cultures, to have certain properties which ward off spirits or promote good health. This specific practice seems to be originally a Buddhist Tradition, where one would perform the practice at a funeral to protect one’s household. 
  • Social Context: Quinn originally learned of the practice when his mother described her mother and some of her practices, who died long before he was born. KC originally learned of the tradition by asking her grandmother and mother about why they performed this practice at a family dinner. When the two explained the practice to her, they laughed it off as a superstition, she remembers noticing her mother performing the action more as she was conscious of it and realized that it had become a tradition nonetheless.

Item:

  • If someone talks ill of the dead or curses in anger, that individual ought to throw salt over their left shoulder to ward off evil spirits, or the devil, from entering their home and cursing them. It is also customary to pray before this action.

Associated file:

Example of table salt one might throw over one’s shoulder

Informant’s Comments:

  • It became something common enough that I find myself doing it mindlessly while working in the kitchen if I grab a pinch of salt—even if I haven’t cursed.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Recall seeing the practice in own household as a child, yet had thought nothing of it when young.

Collector’s Name: Quinn Calhoun

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition
  • Irish Catholic
  • Conversion Superstition
  • Protection
  • Salt over shoulder

Dartmouth Superstitions

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Title: Dartmouth Superstitions – Gabby Billing

General Information about Item: 

  • Customary Lore, Magic Superstition 
  • Language: English 
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Gabby Billing 
  • Date Collected: 11/14/21

Informant Data:

  • Gabby Billing was born in Fergus Falls, Minnesota on October 18, 1999, however, she has lived in Corcoran, Minnesota her entire life. She is currently a senior on the Dartmouth Women’s Ice Hockey team and therefore a member of the graduating class of 2022. 

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context is that putting on gear in a particular way is a common superstition among many hockey players in many different leagues and cultures. 
  • Social Context: The social context is that Gabby shares this superstition with some of her teammates. The magic portion of the superstition is that if she does not put her gear on properly she will play poorly. 

Item: This is a form of magic superstition which is a genre of customary folklore. 

Transcript: “I always have to put on my gear in a very specific order. I put on my left sock, then my right, followed by my left skate, then my right. After that I put on my hockey pants and my left shin pad, followed by my right shin pad. This trend continues on with putting my left gear on before the right until I am fully dressed. 

Informant/Collector Comments: 

  • If I do not put on my gear in this specific order I feel like my pads are not on correctly which in turn makes me think I will have bad luck during the game and play poorly. It also serves as a distraction throughout the game, so if one of my pads doesn’t feel like it is on correctly I will be thinking about that instead of where I should be passing the puck or shooting. 

Collector’s Name: Gabby Billing 

Dartmouth Superstitions

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Title: Dartmouth Superstitions – Currie Putrah

General Information about Item: 

  • Customary Lore, Magic Superstition 
  • Language: English 
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Currie Purtrah 
  • Date Collected: 11/14/21

Informant Data:

  • Currie Putrah was born in Faribault, Minnesota which is where she played hockey at Shattuck St. Mary’s high school. She is now a member of the 2022 graduating class at Dartmouth where she plays forward on the Women’s Ice Hockey team. 

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context is that putting on your gear in a specific order is a common superstition among hockey players. Most of the players on DWIH have a specific way of putting on their gear and that is how they’ve gotten dressed their whole lives. It helps them feel balanced and ready for the game, and if they don’t dress in their respective ways it can throw them off and make them play badly, as it serves as a distraction. 
  • Social Context: The social context is that Currie is only one of many people on the Dartmouth hockey team that puts her gear on a certain way. The magic involved in this superstition is that if she does not put on her gear from left to right she will feel off and play badly. 

Item: Currie putting on her gear in a specific order is in the genre of magic superstition which comes from the category of customary lore.  

Transcript: 

  • “I always have to put on my gear in a very specific order. I put on my left sock, then my right, followed by my left skate, then my right. After that I put on my hockey pants and my left shin pad, followed by my right shin pad. This trend continues on with putting my left gear on before the right until I am fully dressed. 

Informant’s Comments:

  • Currie told me that if she does not put on her gear in this specific order she feels like her pads are not on correctly which in turn makes her think she will have bad luck during the game and play poorly.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I was able to resonate with Currie’s superstition because I do the same thing but in a slightly different order. This is also a common superstition among hockey players. 

Collector’s Name: Gabby Billing 

Princeton Superstitions

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Title: Princeton Superstitions – Emma Kee

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, Magic Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Emma Kee 
  • Date Collected: 11/16/21

Informant Data:

  • Emma Kee is a female Princeton student in the class of 2023. She is from Cincinnati, Ohio but left home to go to boarding school in Faribault, MN in 8th grade. She is currently living in Princeton, NJ. Emma is on the ice hockey team and recently completed an internship in Washington, DC, which she hopes to return to full-time next year. Emma performs a superstition on game days that has been passed down throughout her family and is very meaningful to her.  

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context is that putting gear on in a specific order is very common amongst hockey players in any league. 
  • Social Context: The social context is that Emma performs this superstition with her sister after following their brothers’ lead.

Item:

  • This item is a customary type of folklore under the genre of magic superstition. Emma performs these before each home game. 

Transcript:

  • “My older brother used to tie his skates before he put on his shin pads after seeing one of his teammates do it, and I always looked up to him growing up. Now I do as well, and my sister and I both follow his lead before our games, creating our own family superstition  in order to play well.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Emma recommended others who have siblings to create their own family superstitions that can be passed down for generations to create meaning to each time they play the game that they love. 

Collector’s Comments:

  • I found this superstition to be very interesting. Emma told me her father performed the superstition, as well as her uncle, and knows her relatives did before them. This small way for her family to stay connected is very enlightening to me about how folklore is prevalent in our everyday lives. 

Collector’s Name: Currie Putrah