Tag Archives: D150

Ritual – Testing the Emergency Light

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Title: Testing the Emergency Light

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Ritual, Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Races are incredibly competitive for lightweight rowing, mainly because the team competes directly with other college teams and because all the weekly practices/weight cutting is in preparation for these races. As such, rowers observe rituals before or after races to bring good luck.

Cultural Context: The practice of testing the emergency light after practice is something that Wyatt created that helps him feel ready and prepared for the day. After observing him, several younger rowers started copying his ritual to also bring good luck.

Item: This item is a piece of customary folklore that focuses on the passing down of a ritual that is suppose to help bring later success in a race. It is customary because it combines the ritual itself as well as the underlying superstition about bringing success.

Associated media:

Transcript (5:15 – 5:40):

WS: “After every practice I have a ritual that I do where there is this… like um… it’s like an emergency light that sits on the wall, and in case the power goes out the light will turn on, and it has a little red test button. And after every single practice, I press that test button and it flickers the light. And I don’t know, it’s just some weird thing I do, but I do it, and if I didn’t do it, it would be not a good day.”

Transcript (6:37 – 6:48):

WS: “Actually, some guys have started doing it [the emergency light testing] too since I’ve been doing it.”

BC: “Oh really?”

WS: “Yeah, and it’s not weird at all. Everyone has their own little quirks. Um, so now that I’ve started doing it, I’ve done it for around a year or so, some guys have started doing it too.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • The sharing and passing down of this ritual is interesting because it shows that certain traditions or rituals can be individual in origin but diffused and shared among a certain folk over time. It is interesting also that we can study folklore genesis in modern settings like these because it allows us to consider overall folklore parallels like monogenesis v polygenesis ideas.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Ritual – Greek Yogurt and Cinnamon

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Title: Eating Greek Yogurt and Cinnamon

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Superstition, Ritual
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Lightweight rowing has a very strict weight cut off of 160 lbs, which means heavier rowers over 160lbs are barred from competition. The D150 team has an average weigh in of 155lbs. Due to the importance of falling under the 160lb limit, weight cutting is a central part of the D150 experience. To prepare new rowers and to remind more experienced ones, previous generations of D150 rowers have developed a series of eating rituals based on scientific readings and personal observations/superstitions. These are performed the days leading up to races and subsequently passed down to new rowers.

Cultural Context: The practice of eating greek yogurt and cinnamon before race weigh-ins has been handed down through a line of rowers throughout the years. This practice links generations and reminds them not only of their status as lightweight (sub -160lb) rowers, but also provides a unifying agent for rowers trying to lose weight.

Item: This item is a customary piece of folklore that focuses on passing down a belief that eating greek yogurt and cinnamon instead of a normal dinner before a race will help you lose weight. It is customary because although the belief itself is a superstition, its observation and practice in the days leading up to races is a ritual.

Associated media:

Transcript (2:41 – 3:23):

WS: “Through kind of experimenting with your weight-cutting people have learned how to really perfect, uh, what to do; and so, for example, I’ve.. I’ve really come to enjoy eating a bowl of um… instead of dinner uh Thursday night, I’ll have a bowl of greek yogurt, with um… some fruit and lots of nut butter, and lots of cinnamon. I’ve found that that helps me get to weight and helps me not hold a lot of water, but uh… lose some weight. Um… and still have energy. And so I’ve personally passed that recipe down to younger people, and I think I learned it from an older guy who just graduated…”

BC: “Right”

WS: “and he might have learned it from someone else.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • The passing down of this superstition, as well as the ritualistic observation of this special dinner in the days leading up to a race is analogous to the “traditional wisdom” aspect of proverbs because both rely on traditions, specifically past observations and recommendations, to espouse a specific idea.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

 

Weight Cutting Tip Sheet

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Title: Weight Cutting Tip Sheet

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Verbal, Customary
    • Subgenre:  Superstition, Ritual
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Lightweight rowing has a very strict weight cut off of 160 lbs, which means heavier rowers over 160lbs are barred from competition. The D150 team has an average weigh in of 155lbs. Due to the importance of falling under the 160lb limit, weight cutting is a central part of the D150 experience. To prepare new rowers and to remind more experienced ones, previous generations of D150 rowers compiled a list of common practices and tips for losing weight quickly. This list is handed down and shared between D150 rowers whenever big races are approaching and signals that rowers should begin considering their weights more seriously in preparation.

Cultural Context: Almost like a physical or material bequest, this list has been handed down through a line of rowers throughout the years. This document links generations and reminds them not only of their status as lightweight (sub -160lb) rowers, but also provides a unifying agent for the team. It signals that rowers should start becoming more cognizant of their weights as well as allows the rowers to all bond together over the coming challenge of losing weight.

Item: This item is a verbal (although also written) piece of folklore that contains common tips and advice for losing weight. It is both verbal and customary because many of its recommendations are transmitted through conversation and are then implemented. They are not based completely on fact but rather on observations over time and superstitions. These beliefs are passed down from generation to generation and helps create team unity because it allows all the rowers to rely on the same tactics and methods for losing weight.

Associated media:

Transcript (0:53 – 1:13):

WS: “On our team, the… we have a word document that’s been passed down the team for maybe five or six years. Um, and it was created six years ago or something…”

BC: “Right”

WS: “and it kinda dictates what the steps that you should take, the recommended steps that you should take the days going up to your weigh in.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • Receiving this weight cutting tip sheet reminds rowers that weight-cutting season is here. Because weight-cutting is specific only to the D150 team, new rowers who receive this tip sheet are essentially becoming incorporated into the team. Therefore, this poly-modal folklore is akin to a Rite of Passage for many new rowers.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal