Author Archives: Jeremy Bradford

Jewish Penny Joke

Informant Data:

The informant is an American who was born in Riverside, California in 1956. He owns a construction company and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

 

Contextual Data:

My informant heard four jokes from a friend of his and he wanted to share the jokes with me. The following is one of these jokes. He prefaced this joke by stating that his friend is Jewish. It’s worthy of noting that my informant chuckled after telling the joke. When asked why he found the joke funny, my informant said that he didn’t know why the joke appealed to him, but said it was just “stupid humor.”

 

Item:

“What do you get when you put a penny between two Jews? Copper wire.”

 

Analysis:

This seems to speak to a stigma against Jewish people prevalent in present-day American society, a notion that it is assumed that Jewish people are greedy. This is a good example of Blason populaire, or folklore items that play off of stereotypes.

Mexican Hill Joke

Informant Data:

The informant is an American who was born in Riverside, California in 1956. He owns a construction company and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

 

Contextual Data:

My informant heard four jokes from a friend of his and he wanted to share the jokes with me. The following is one of these jokes. It’s worthy of noting that my informant chuckled after telling the joke. When asked why he found the joke funny, my informant said that he didn’t know why the joke appealed to him, but said it was just “stupid humor.”

 

Item:

“What do you call a bunch of Mexicans running down a hill? Jail break.”

 

Analysis:

This seems to speak to a stigma against Mexican people prevalent in present-day American society, and particularly in California, a notion that it is assumed that disproportion number of Hispanic people engage in criminal activity. This is a good example of Blason populaire, or folklore items that play off of stereotypes.

Freshman Water Fight Band Initiation

Informant Data:

The informant is an 18-year old American student who was born in Elk Grove, California in 1996. Her parents are both American. She is a freshman at the University of Southern California and thus currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

 

Contextual Data:

I was talking to the informant about high school, and I asked her if she had any fond experiences about high school clubs or extra curricular activities. She told me that she had many great experiences that she remembered about her time in band, especially how fun it was to have freshman initiations.

When I asked her why she enjoyed the freshman initiations, she told me that even though at the beginning it feels scary for them to be lined up and ready to get hit by water balloons, it’s a good experience for them to become a part of the team because they always eventually join in the water fight.

 

Item:

“The freshmen in my high school get pelted with water balloons. They have their backs turned to us and it’s very militaristic. And then we just start squirting them with water guns and throwing water balloons, and pretty soon we’re just having a big water fight. And we know they’re bound to not just sit there and get hit by water balloons, and we assume they’re gonna turn around and eventually fight back. But that’s part of the fun, you know?”

 

Analysis:

I thought this was an interesting band ritual that seemed to be a process that symbolized how the freshman band members might at first perceive joining the band to be intimidating, but then this ritual seems to let the new band members know that band is a fun experience by symbolically having the freshman engage in a fun water fight.

Can’t buy people shoes

Informant Data:

The informant is a 19-year old American student who was born in Corona, California in 1996. Her father is Indian and her mother is African-American. She is a freshman at the University of Southern California and thus currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

 

Contextual Data:

I was working on homework in my dorm room when my informant walked by and told me that she remembered another folk belief that she knew (since I had asked her earlier that day if she could think of any folk belief).

When asked why she believed in this superstition and/or why this folk belief appealed to her, she said that she just followed it simply because it was a good idea to not buy other people a pair of shoes because it’s hard to know if they’ll fit well. Then, after a moment of thinking, she also proposed that since this folk belief came from her father (who is Indian), this idea that buying people shoes means they’re beneath you might relate to the Indian caste system.

 

Item:

“You can’t buy people shoes because it means that they’re beneath you.”

 

Analysis:

I feel that my informant was on to something when she said that this folk belief might have to do with the Indian caste system. Perhaps the act of buying people shoes suggests that they don’t have money to buy their own shoes, which would very well suggest that whoever bought the shoes believes that the people they bought the shoes for are beneath them. Furthermore, it’s likely that the poorest members of Indian society (that are the lowest on the caste system) wouldn’t likely have the means to readily buy shoes, so the act of buying shoes perhaps even further suggests that the people receiving the shoes are somehow connected to the lowest level of society.

You can’t give people sharp objects

Informant Data:

The informant is a 19-year old American student who was born in Corona, California in 1996. Her father is Indian and her mother is African-American. She is a freshman at the University of Southern California and thus currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

 

Contextual Data:

I was hanging out with the informant in the common area of her suite, and I asked her if she had any folk beliefs that she believed in. She thought about it for a moment, and then she told me that she thought of one.

When asked why she believed in this folk belief and/or why it appealed to her, she told me that it just seemed like common sense that you wouldn’t give a sharp object to someone because it just seems threatening or menacing, and so she supposed that is why the folk belief she knew predicted that you’d have a bad relationship with someone you gave a sharp object to.

 

Item:

“You can’t give people sharp objects because it means you’re going to have a bad relationship with them in the future.”

 

Analysis:

My theory is that this belief perhaps comes from an idea that giving someone a sharp object suggests that they should be ready to fight something, which could be interpreted as an aggressive act on the part of the person who gave the sharp object.