L.G. is a female member of the Class of 2022 at Dartmouth. She is affiliated with Greek Life, and she is from New York.
Contextual Data:
Cultural: The clothing represents their membership within the house. Individuals are also able to tell what term the person has joined the house depending on the house gear they are wearing because a house usually makes 2-3 new house gears every 2 terms.
Social: This information was collected through a video chat interview.
Item:
Members wear “house gear” to show that there are a member of that house.
R.B. is a member of the Class of 2020 at Dartmouth and is affiliated with Greek Life. He is from California and studying Engineering.
Contextual Data:
Cultural: Shake Out is a step of the Interfraternity Council rush process.
Social: This item was collected through a video chat interview. Not all fraternities request that potential new members wear formal attire. It may be “out of respect” to dress formally, and this is only done by potential new members.
Item: Potential new members of fraternity organizations wear formal attire for the Shake Out event.
Collector’s Comments:
This item is similar to a different item collected- Sorority Pref Night clothing. Formal attire may be required for both processes, potentially indicating the significance and formality of certain events.
M.F. is a female member of the Class of 2022 at Dartmouth. She is affiliated with Greek Life, and she is from Minnesota.
Contextual Data:
Cultural: Pref night is the third and final “round” of Inter-Sorority Council rush, where each round is a different step of the process. After pref night, potential new members must determine which sorority they are interested in joining.
Social: This information was collected through a video chat interview. All current members of the Greek organization and selected potential new members must participate in pref night. The significance of dressing in more formal attire for pref night may be out of respect and to demonstrate that the matter is taken seriously.
Item:
On pref night, potential new members and current members of the organization must dress formally, often in all black clothing.
Collector’s Comments:
I recognized a similarity between this item and a different item collected- Fraternity Shake Out Clothing. It seems that formal attire is a common feature of both.
Sam Lincoln is a 21 year old college student studying mechanical engineering at Arizona State University. He was born in Wisconsin and raised in Arizona. He began overnight backpacking when he was 15 and hiked the Colorado Trail after he graduated from high school in 2016. He enjoys archery and playing video games. Sam is the twin brother of Rachel Lincoln, who collected this item.
Contextual Data:
Historical context: Humans have built cairns for thousands of years to memorialize the dead, track the calendar, and create landmarks. Now, cairns have become a fixture of hiking trails to show the way.
Social context: Hikers on all lengths of trails build cairns to leave a reminder of their presence. Though cairns serve practical purpose, popular trails usually have many more than necessary because building cairns is a tradition that helps hikers feel connected to the land.
Item:
A cairn is a man-made stack of rocks used to mark a trail route. The rocks are stacked and balanced in a manner that would not occur naturally, so they can easily be identified by hikers looking for a trail. Building cairns is a tradition across nearly all hiking trails.
Associated file:
Transcript:
“Cairns are just piles of rocks stacked up to mark the trail in places where you can’t really put a sign or there are no signs so people don’t get lost…Just a basic pyramid structure, just pile rocks up in a way that would not normally occur in nature so it’s pretty obvious that someone did it for, like, a purpose—which was to mark the trail.”
Informant’s comments:
The tallest cairn Sam saw on the Colorado Trail was about two feet tall.
Collector’s comments:
Unlike carving your name on trees or rocks, cairns are a memento hikers can leave that doesn’t irreversibly disrupt nature.
Collector: Rachel Lincoln
Tags/Keywords:
Cairn, Colorado Trail, Tradition, Material Folklore
Ian Andrews is currently a graduate student at MIT. He grew up in Juneau, Alaska and hiked the Chilkoot Trail after finishing his undergraduate studies. Ian hikes recreationally, from trails in his hometown, to spending a week hiking in the Olympic Mountains in Washington State.
Contextual Data:
Historical Context: First used by the Tlingit people of Alaska as a trade route, the Chilkoot became an important trail for miners and prospectors coming to Alaska during the Klondike gold rush at the end of the 1800s. The trail was mostly abandoned after the end of the gold rush in 1898, until the trail was restored for recreational hikers in the 1960s. (Source)
Item:
A certificate given to hikers on the Chilkoot trail who reach the Lake Lindemann Museum.
Texture:
At the top of the certificate, there is a depiction of four birds. This is done in the Form Line art style, traditional to the Native Tlingit people of the area. This design is credited to Ross Atlin at the bottom of the certificate.
On the certificate, there is a message of congratulations to the receiving hiker:
Congratulations for hiking the Chilkoot Trail
The Chilkoot Trail is important because of the role it played in the mass movement of people to Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush. The Trail is part of the Klondike Gold Rush International Historic Park.
The certificate contains the same message in French, as the Chilkoot trail stretches between Alaska and Canada.
Felicitations pour avoir parcouru la piste Chilkoot
La piste Chilkoot revet und grande importance en raison du role qu’elle a joue dans l’arrivee massive des gens en Alaska et au Yukon durant la ruee vers l’or du Klondike. Cette piste fait partie du parc historique international de la ruee vers l’or du Klondike.
There is also a photograph of gold rushers hiking to the Chilkoot Pass summit, taken between 1897 and 1898. Next to this photograph are the Tagish and Tlingit names for the summit, Kwatese and A Shaki, respectively.
At the bottom of the certificate, there is an endorsement from both Parks Canada, and the United States National Parks Service.
Transcript:
“They have a museum there with different pieces of history of the trail. They have a log book and a sticker or decal you could take. I think it was actually like a certificate you could take. Some of the camps were more built up than others.”
The informant later followed up, confirming a certificate was rewarded to anyone who reaches the Lake Lindemann Museum.
Collectors Comment:
Neither the informant or I spoke French well enough to provide a phonetic translation of the French section of the certificate. However, it appears to be an equivalent translation of the message of congratulations written in English.
Professor Terstorf was born in Germany and studied physics in Germany and got a phd in physics. However, when he came to Dartmouth in the 90’s he became a researcher for Thayer. But now he is an engineering professor
Contextual Data:
Social Context: The shirt has the image of an electrical resistor that is only connected to itself. In engineering, this is a short circuit which means it has no function. That is why the resistance is futile.
Cultural context: The quote: “resistance is futile” comes from the popular movie Star Trek. Since then, this quote has really been part of culture and it’s often said to friends as a joke.
Item
see image
Informant’s Comments:
He likes to call people out every time they say that they understand the joke. He always asked them “what’s so funny about it the shirt? ” Non-engineers (even some engineers) usually say they like the Star trek reference. Then, he tells them how the resistor is useless because it’s connected to itself. This is for him what makes it funny
Collector’s Comments:
I had some doubts as to if the shirt is part of folklore since someone is making money selling the shirt. However, after some thinking and research, I found a lot of quotes(proverbs for example) that were folklore that were put on shirts. I realized that the shirt itself might not be folklore but that doesn’t mean that what’s on it is not folklore. In other words, the maker of the shirt can’t really stop other people form making the shirt with this symbol on it. Therefore he has no rights to the symbol.
Material Folklore: Chinese Supersition – Evil Spirit
Language: Chinese (Mandarin)
Country of Origin: China
Informant: Ray Li
Date Collected: May 25, 2019
Informant Data:
Ray is a male student at Dartmouth College in the Class of 2020. He was born in Beijing, China and lived there all of his life. He came to the U.S. for school. Currently, he plans to major in Computer Science. Ray travels between New Hampshire and China for major holidays, such as Chinese New Year.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: In Chinese folklore, the ‘Nian’ was a sea-monster who would rise each year, devouring livestock and any people. People would hide until it was found that the ‘Nian’ was afraid of the color red and loud noises. On Chinese New Year, communities are decorated in red and fireworks are set off, in addition to loud sounds made by playing drums.
Social Context: The superstition was relayed through an in-person interview with the informant at Dartmouth College. The Lunar New Year is one of the most important celebrations in China, and the focus is on family. Ray celebrated Chinese New Year with his family when he was in Beijing. However, since it occurs in mid-January, he cannot fly home since he is in school.
Text and Texture
Nian
年
Nian
knee-an
Sea Beast
Zodiac (There is not really an English equivalent for this word.)
Fu
福
fú
foo
Blessing, happiness
Item:
In order to prevent the ‘Nian’ from bringing evil to a family, the family will hang an inverted ‘fu’ on the door. This symbolizes the ‘Nian’ has already been there, so the ‘Nian’ will not come.
A: Okay, so, why don’t you introduce yourself, where from, your year…
R: Okay. So, my name is Ray Li. I’m a ’20 from Beijing, China. Yeah, that’s a little bit about myself.
A: So, yeah, I guess were curious to hear if you have any folklore about evil spirits, evil eyes, that kinda stuff that comes from Chinese culture.
R: Oh for sure. For our Lunar New Year, we have this tradition. We have a monster called ‘Nian,’ which comes here and eats the children and make the village all empty and destroy the harvest for next year and all that stuff. So, to prevent that, we hang this thing called ‘fu,’ which is the Chinese character for, you know, like happiness, prosperity, and all that. And we reverse hang it so we like hang the character but in reverse, like upside down, so it looks like, like nian but in reverse. So when ‘Nian’ arrived, so when we hang it, it means the monster has already arrived so when the Lunar New Year came the monster would not show up. That’s the whole spirit, the whole idea.
A: So is this still something you do today? Is it something that’s very traditional?
R: Yeah, I think it’s the most wide, most ubiquitous thing in China. You see people hang this red picture with the black character with that fu in an upside down manner. It’s still a tradition people still do nowadays.
A: So, what happens, for example, lets say you don’t hang the character upside down?
R: It has a very bad connotation that you have bad luck in the next year.
A: Okay and does this thing have a name? Does this tradition have a name, or…?
R: I think it’s just one of those Lunar New Year traditions, but it’s one of the most important ones. It’s one of the most ubiquitious, most common, and it’s still well perceived, still a tradition that every family have to do.
A: Okay. Awesome. Thank you very much.
Informant’s Comments:
“So when ‘Nian’ arrived, so when we hang it, it means the monster has already arrived so when the Lunar New Year came the monster would not show up.”
Collector’s Comments:
The inversion of ‘fu’ reverses the concept of blessings and happiness, signifying that the family has already incurred the evil spirit of the ‘Nian.’ The material folklore has symbolic significance for the community, where the celebration can occur only if the evil spirit is proteted against.
John Hall was born in Manhattan, New York on July 15, 1998. John lived in New York City for a couple years before moving to New Jersey. John started swimming when he turned 11, because his younger brother has started swimming and he wanted to join. He is a sophomore at Dartmouth, and he swims sprint freestyle.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: In many sports, and life in general, people will do or wear things that they think can help. Even though the superstition may do nothing, it gives the person a sense of reassurance and confidence.
Social Context: The data was collected in a one on one interview in Baker-Berry library. John described a superstition and tradition he did with a friend on the days of swim meets. The folklore was created to help bring good luck before the meet. He started doing his superstition in 7th grade, and has continued to do it since then.
Item:
John would wear the same shoes for every meet until he did bad. Once he did bad, he would go purchase new shoes to wear for meets until he did bad in the new shoes. He has done this with his friend for years.
Image of Flip Flops (Deck Shoes):
Transcript:
“Starting in 7th grade, my friend and I bought the same flip flops for a summer swim meet. We wore them to every meet until we did bad in the meet, then we would switch to wearing a different pair of shoes on the day of the meet. As soon as we did bad, we would switch to a new pair, to help bring good luck. The bad shoes would still be worn, just not during swim meets. “
Collector’s Comments:
I thought it would be expensive to maintain, but deck shoes are only a couple of bucks.
The informant is a Facilities, Operations, and Management Engineering Services employee who is not originally from the Upper Valley region.
Contextual Data:
This story was passed between FO+M employees. According to the informant, it dates back to a time when alcohol played a much more prominent role in the workplace culture of Facilities, Operations, and Management. This story also takes place in the time before the FO+M offices had modern office chairs.
Item:
An electrician, after having a couple drinks, attempted to squeeze through the slats of an old wooden chair. He succeeded, and the story became well-known. The chair itself also became legendary – a retiring employee ultimately took it home.
Aidan Pierce is a male student in the Dartmouth College Class of 2018. He grew up splitting time between Hong Kong and London. He is a pre-med student and intends to pursue a career in medicine after graduation. Aidan was briefly a member of Dartmouth’s Club Swim Team in the fall of 2014.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: The competitive nature of swim meets requires strong team cohesion, and so traditions such as this one are often utilized in order to further bond the team. Furthermore, the practice of wearing bright clothing is common across many organizations at Dartmouth, indicating that it may be imported from other facets of Dartmouth culture at large, but was made specific to swimmers and the club swimming team. Having all of the members of the team wear ridiculous, easily identifiable pieces of clothing, allows them to easily associate with each other, while publically displaying their association with the team.
Social Context: This tradition was mentioned in a one-on-one conversation with the interviewee, more than two years after he had left the team. The traditional clothing is specifically worn for competitive meets, and allows competitors to somewhat identify their teams and supporters in the stands, when they surface for air during the pandemonium of the race, thereby giving them a feeling of support.
Item:
“Flair” is a slang term in the lexicon of Dartmouth College, which indicates brightly colored, absurd costumes such as neon tutus (both for men and women), cartoon character onesie suits, and nonsensical accessories. The Dartmouth Club Swim Team members all wear flair to all of their meets,
Image of Flair:
Transcript:
“A common tradition we always used to follow [when Aidan was on the team] was that we would wear flair to all of our meets. It’s pretty widely practiced, a lot of people actually did it. It’s funny to see everyone dressed up so ridiculously, it really helped us relax and connect with the rest of the team before meets so that we’re prepared to compete.”
Informant’s Comments:
Flair is ridiculous when you first see it, but once you try it on, it’s really fun.
Collector’s Comments:
Having worn flair to other events, I completely understand the informant’s sentiments. When a large organization has a uniting uniform (whether serious or silly), it certainly helps to build camaraderie.
Collector’s Name: Ashwath Srikanth
Tags/Keywords: Material Lore, Ornamental Lore, Flair, Swag, Clothing, Swimming
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