Tag Archives: elementary school

Fresh Paper and New Beginnings: A Mississippi School Ritual

Nationality: American
Age: 73
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Alameda, California

Informant Information:

Age: 73

Date of Performance: 2/26/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Retired

Primary Language: English

Residence: Alameda, California

Text

“There were lots of customs and rituals around holidays in my family, all of them pretty standard fare. Christmas had a visit from my Aunt and Grandmother bringing coconut cake and boiled custard; Birthdays involved having to share one thing you wanted to do, learn, or have before your next birthday. And the first day of summer vacation involved a fishing trip with our Father. But one that had ritualistic qualities, but no associated holiday, was the trip to the department store to ‘get ready for school.’ It always involved new shoes and clothes, really boring when you are a 10-year-old fidgety boy. But my favorite part was the school supply junket that followed. It was before day packs, so the best thing was the three-ring binder, tricked out with color-coded dividers and little plastic zip-up pockets for pencils and such. As I got a little older, exotic equipment became a part of the ritual, like compasses (with the mandatory warning that it could put an eye out, so ‘be careful, it’s not a toy’), protractors, which seemed to add precision to life that it had lacked before, and even things that had magical properties, like slide rules. All of these were great, but the thing I loved best and still remember was the collection of aromas. New textbooks (in Mississippi, you had to provide your own in 1958), fresh binder paper, and is there anything more heavenly than that smell of a newly opened box of crayons?”

Context

The informant reflects on the many family traditions and rituals they experienced growing up. Many of these rituals were associated with holidays like Christmas, where family members would visit with special treats like coconut cake and boiled custard, or birthdays, which involved sharing personal goals for the year ahead. However, one ritual that stood out for the informant was the back-to-school shopping trip, which had no particular holiday association. Each year, this trip involved buying new clothes and shoes for the school year, which the informant found boring as a 10-year-old boy. However, the school supply shopping afterward became the highlight of the ritual. The informant eagerly anticipated picking out three-ring binders with color-coded dividers, compasses, protractors, and even slide rules. As the informant grew older, the supplies became more complex, symbolizing the increase in academic responsibility. Despite the excitement of the supplies, what remained most memorable were the smells—the fresh textbooks, binder paper, and crayons—that filled the air. These smells symbolized the start of a new chapter, the excitement of a new school year, and the informant’s connection to learning and growth.

Analysis

This ritual highlights how sensory experiences, particularly smell, can create lasting memories and emotional connections. While the back-to-school shopping trip might have seemed mundane to the informant as a young boy, the school supplies became a powerful symbol of new beginnings, knowledge, and growth. The ritual was not just about obtaining physical items; it was about the feelings and anticipation associated with the new school year. The distinct smells of fresh supplies created an almost magical experience for the informant, and these sensory memories helped shape the meaning and significance of the ritual. The ritual also reflects how material items, like school supplies, can carry cultural and personal significance. For the informant, these items represented learning, precision, and creativity. The mention of “magical” slide rules also speaks to the wonder and awe that the informant felt toward these tools as a child. Overall, this ritual became a means of connecting with education and family, reinforcing the idea that even seemingly routine practices can have a profound impact on one’s childhood memories and personal development.

Stepping on a crack will break your mom’s back

Text: 

“I think it was at my kindgarten, where all the kids would say ‘stepping on a crack will break your mom’s back.’ Back then, the teachers would make us walk together as a class in line everywhere we went, so you could see everyone in front of you stepping over cracks in the sidewalk to save their moms, I guess. It was a big deal, too. Other kids would call you out if they saw you step on one, and I think some people even cried over it.”

Context:

My informant is from Austin and first learned this superstition in Kindergarten. She remembers following the superstition for approximately two years before stopping. She guesses that she either forgot about it or decided it was false. 

Interpretation:

This superstition is an example of how folklore can be spread at schools, particularly elementary schools or preschools. It reminds me of the cheese touch or cooties, as each of these are pieces of folklore that are turned into games by young children. This superstition specifically involves other people and reveals a deeper common anxiety about hurting loved ones. It also is an example of how rhyming can be used to define a specific superstition and help people remember it. 

Proverb – “Honesty is the best policy”

Taken from audio recording:

Informant: “Alright, so I looked one up, and I remember hearing this a lot in elementary school—“Honesty is the best policy.” Teachers would always say that whenever there was a little issue, like if someone was doing something wrong or if there was a small fight. It was just their way of getting things sorted out. I always remember that saying”

Analysis:

It’s a proverb that I also heard when I was a kid. It’s used a lot to teach kids that they need to be honest and tell the truth because that’s the right thing to do. It can also be used to reinforce that idea when you’re not a child anymore and someone can say “Honestly is the best policy” when your struggling with telling someone the truth because you know the truth will hurt their feelings. Like all proverbs people use it to give you advice without saying “I think you should do this”. This proverb is a reminder that telling the truth is the right thing to do even though it can be uncomfortable at times.

Age: 20

Date of Performance: Told to me on February 13th, 2025. Used through their life but they specifically mention it being a thing when they were in elementary school

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student at USC

Primary Language: English

Residence: Somewhere in the Los Angeles area

Underground Dinosaur Legend

Text: So it’s actually from elementary school, but we had this like Legendish thing where there was supposedly a basement in my elementary school. And like, you could tell because if you like, knocked on the floor, whatever, it sounded hollow. And so there’s like a basement underneath. And like a long, long, long time ago. They trapped this dinosaur down there. And like with the leftover food from the cafeteria, they like fed it to make it happy and like. And then they would say like, oh, and if you dig up the sand like in the playground if you dig far enough, you’ll find like, fossils and other things. But that was like our lore.

Context:

Informant is a freshman at USC studying Aerospace Engineering, originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are sitting in a USC dining hall as she shares between bites of her pancake. She is excited and enthusiastic as she remembers her stories, using frequent hand gestures to emphasize her points.

“I learned it from the other kids at summer school in Oklahoma. A lot of people knew about it. But, like, we really only talked about it in summer school. I don’t know, like outside of summer school, we didn’t really. And when I was like, fifth grade and stuff, we didn’t really talk about it anymore. But it’s still in the back of my mind. It made it feel kind of interesting because I was like, oh, what if it’s true? Like that would be so cool and interesting. Like, I don’t know, because I kind of like mysteries. And I like not knowing something, you know, like something’s possible. Even though that definitely was not. I was like still kind of hoping that there was something there. I think I believed it at first. At first I was like maybe not a dinosaur was down there, but like the fact that for some reason I thought it was proven that it was hollow underneath. So I was like, what is down there?”

Analysis: This legend is an example of socially negotiated belief. The purpose was to confront individuals with what they actually believe, and present evidence like the floor sounding hollow in order to make one question what they believe to be possible. And even if one It’s evident that beliefs are crafted as a social process, especially within this specific demographic of children who are high on the continuum context, meaning they are more likely to believe this legend. This type of legend might be more plausible in this society of elementary school children as this is the time they are new to learning about dinosaurs and fossils and such items.

The “S” (Cool S)

Text:

The “S”/Cool S

(Wikipedia)

Context:

My informant describes the “S” or the “Cool S” as a drawing of an “S” in a graffiti-like style. She has first seen it during elementary school, where classmates would draw this “S” in their notebooks or the margins of their papers. She interprets it as something kids would also teach each other how to draw. It consists of two rows of three lines that are connected to make a pointy letter “S”.

Analysis:

I interpret the “S” as mostly children’s folklore. The “S” has very unclear origins outside of school because it is where people learn about it and how to draw it. I notice that this spread simply through children learning and teaching each other. This iconic drawing’s origin may have been lost most likely because it was children who spread it. The graffiti style of the “S” could also imply rebellion. In many schools in America, gang signs and anything that could resemble a gang symbol are typically banned. While the “S” does not particularly represent anything specific, children still gravitate drawing and spreading this symbol just for some inconsequential malicious compliance.