Author Archives: knmckeon

El Mano Peluda

Text:

Informant: There’s this story that you tell kids to scare them called el mano peluda which translates to the hairy hand. It comes out to get you at night when you go to turn off the lights. It’s just this hairy disembodied hand. When my mom would put me to bed as a kid, she’s scratch at the door frame after turning off the lights and say “it’s El Mano Peluda” so I would stay in bed and go to sleep. No one would ever say what would happen if you were attacked by him. I think it was scarier to leave it up to the imagination. 

Context:

I asked a group of friends to share scary stores form their childhood. This was one of their responses. The informant is of hispanic descent.

Thoughts:

In looking up the story, I found out it is most commonly referred to as La Mano Peluda. I find it interesting that both the informant and her mother who told her the story referred to it as “El” even though they both knew it was grammatically incorrect.

For more on El/la Mano Peluda see: http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/our-issues/scary-latino-myths-read-or-el-cuco-will-get-you

Sharks and Minnows

Text:

Informant: Sharks and minnows. It’s kinda like tag. Some kids are sharks and some kids are minnows. The sharks tag the minnows. If you’re a minnow and you get tagged you have to squat down and raise a hand. You have to stay there until another minnow comes and high-fives you. Then you can get up and run again. The minnows lose once the sharks get all of them. Now that I think about it, I don’t think there was ever a way for the minnows to win.

Context:

I asked a group of friends what games they played on the playground as a child. This was one of their responses. The informant was raised in suburban southern California.

Thoughts:

Everyone I spoke to about childhood games could often remember the rules perfectly, but never how one party could win. I’m sure there had to be a way, but everyone, myself included, couldn’t remember. Maybe the bell rang before we could ever finish.

Knitting Superstition

Text:

Informant: If you are knitting or if you know how to knit, you’re allowed to knit things for your friends and your family, but you can’t knit something for your significant other unless you’re really really sure that they’re the one. When you knit something for your significant other it symbolizes that the relationship will end because there is an end to your knitting that ends in tying a knot. So either you have to tie the knot with your significant other or the relationship is very quickly going to end catastrophically.

Context: I asked a group of friends if they could recall any superstitions they were aware. The informant, and avid knitter, shared this one with me.

Thoughts: I find it odd that this same principal of endings doesn’t apply with friends, but makes sense since our society places a greater importance on marriage than friendship.

Chinese Sleeping Superstitions

Text:

Informant: Chinese people say that you can’t sleep with the fan on or else it will suck up the air out of the room. Then you’ll die of suffocation. You can’t sleep with your stomach showing or else you’ll wake up with a stomach ache. You can’t watch a baby sleep because it’s bad for the baby. It will make it so they don’t grow up correctly. They’re crazy, but I learned them from my parents.

Context:

I asked a group of friends about any superstitions they were raised with. This was one of their responses. The informant is of Chinese descent.

Thoughts: I am not of East Asian descent and have never hear of any superstitions regarding sleep, but the other people present when the informant shared these with me were and had heard all of these. This may reflect a greater importance of sleep in East Asian societies.

Christmas Baby Jesus Cake

Text:

Informant: I know as a kid– I grew up in a fairly predominantly hispanic neighborhood– there was this cake. It’s like this big pastry, and each person gets a slice. One of them has the baby Jesus. It’s supposed to represent Jesus in everything. It’s also supposed to be good luck.  You’re like receiving him into your home, and the good luck that that brings.

Context:

I asked a group of friends if they had any holiday traditions. This was one of their replies. The informant is of hispanic descent.

Thoughts:

I grew up playing this game with my neighborhood at the holiday block party. I had no idea it had a specific connection to being a hispanic tradition.