Monthly Archives: April 2017

The Mummers Parade- A Philadelphia New Year’s Tradition

Nationality: Irish American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Westchester, Pennsylvania
Performance Date: April 23, 2017
Primary Language: English

The informant resides in Westchester, a suburb about 30 minutes outside of central Philadelphia.

What exactly is the Mummer’s Parade?

“It’s a Philly tradition that has gone on for a really long, started way before I was born. It occurs every New Year’s Day, on January 1st of each year. It’s a parade that goes through Broad Street in Philly, which is like the main street that goes through the city. A bunch of different clubs throughout the city sponsor people to march through the parade, all wearing crazy costumes and holding signs, while there is music and dancing going on the whole time. I think there are probably 50 different groups that participate, and it has become pretty much a competition/fashion show to see which of the clubs has the most creative or beautiful or cool presentation. A bunch of people, including my friends and I come to watch every year, and all of the spectators stand on the side and cheer on the parade.”

When did you start going to this thing?

“I started going with my dad and grandfather when I was in elementary school, so it’s an mostly geared towards families. I haven’t gone lately, but I have some great memories of seeing the different organizations in the city people represented. Some of the costumes are wild and really colorful and creative, so it brings me a lot of great memories from back in my childhood. I’ve never participated in it, but it has become one of the most unique parts of my Philadelphia identity.”

Anything else that is special about it?

“One thing that I noticed is that the participants are mostly from the South Philly area, which has a lot of Italian people. Makes me wonder if this is originally an Italian tradition. Either way, it’s just a really fun, cool part of Philly tradition that I am happy to take a part in each year.”

 

Collector’s Comments:

This is a tradition that I’ve never heard of before, which means that it is most likely very unique to the city of Philadelphia and the people who live there. I find it interesting how the parade is not focused on a single culture or ethnicity, but is instead celebrated by different organizations from across the city, making it an original Philadelphia tradition. However, the fact that many Italian people celebrate it makes me wonder if this tradition has roots in some other European celebration, and further research reveals that it was a combination of Irish, Swedish, and even African heritage, making it a real melting pot of cultures. It is interesting to see how the city has taken all of these different cultures and combined them to make something that is unique to itself.

The Pilgrim Treehouse

Nationality: Indian American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Franklin, Massachusetts
Performance Date: April 16th, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi

Informant is from Franklin, a small town 45 minutes away from Boston. Her neighborhood was very close knit, and people would stay in contact and interact with each other, including the children. This is a story about one of her childhood experiences.

“So, when I was in elementary school, like around six years old, a bunch of kids in my neighborhood all around the same age would play with each other. We would go to this one kid’s house, because he had a really big treehouse, which no one else in the neighborhood had. So, when we started going to the treehouse, we asked where it had come from.”

Did you ask his parents?

“No, we just asked him. And he didn’t know, so he went and asked his older brother, who didn’t play with us because he was too old. So, his older brother came and told us the story of how the treehouse came to be. He said that it had already been at the house before they moved in, and was there even before any of the houses were built. He claimed that first pilgrims who came to America had built it and lived in it. Since Massachusetts has, like, the oldest history in the US, we really believed him, even though our neighborhood was built on a quarry. We were six, and stupid. He then said that the pilgrims had left the treehouse once they learned that they could leave the treehouse when they learned that they could be friends with the Native Americans. He kept on telling us that this treehouse was really big historic landmark, and if anybody were to destroy it, they would be ruining a part of American history.”

At the time, how did you react to the story?

“We all believed it. We even went back up and tried to look for pilgrim artifacts and signs that they had left behind. There were even some scratch marks on the tree, which we thought was some ancient language or something. It turns out that they were just natural scratch marks though.”

How long did you believe the story for?

“Well we believed it for about half a year, and we tried to keep it a secret because we didn’t want anyone else to come by and ruin it. Eventually, my older brother dropped the news that the story wasn’t true and that the family had built the treehouse when they had moved in. I was pretty sad when I found that out. But now it’s a really funny story to tell everyone.”

 

Collector’s conclusions:

This is a legend that would be confined to a very small area, such as the neighborhood where the informant is from. It takes advantage of Massachusetts historic past as one of the first places in America to be settled, and as a result the story is not completely unbelievable, especially to young children. This is an example of belief that grows with context, as the children believed the story more and more as they were in the treehouse, and began drawing conclusions and making observations that supported the legend. While it eventually turned out to be untrue, this is a typical story of an older sibling playing a trick on younger children that goes farther than originally intended.

The Bus Joke

Nationality: Vietnamese
Age: 59
Occupation: Engineer
Residence: San Jose, California
Performance Date: December 15th, 2010
Primary Language: English
Language: Vietnamese

This is a fake story/joke that my dad likes to tell people, which he will pretend is a ghost story. My dad works for the US Department of Defense as an engineer, and he has been stationed at aerospace companies across California. When he was younger and he and my mom were still dating, he worked in Southern California, while my mom worked in the Bay Area. Because of this, every other weekend, he would take a bus back and forth between the two areas so he could see her. This story is based on one of his times on the bus, and is brought up any time that people are talking about scary stories or ghosts.

The tone of the storytelling is as if this is a real occurrence, and while he told the story, his face was very serious, as if it were a real ghost story. The original story was told in Vietnamese, but this is a translation:

 

“Did I ever tell you about the time that I saw a real ghost? When I was younger, I was working down near LA, but your mom was up in San Jose, so I would go and visit her every few weekends. I always took the bus out of Orange County, and one day, I had to catch the late-night bus on Friday because I was held back during work. So I sat down on the bus, and there were only a few other people because it was so late. Not long after it left, I became very drowsy and fell asleep.

When I woke up a few hours later, I realized that the bus was completely dark, and everyone else was gone. The driver was nowhere to be found, but when I looked outside of the window, I saw that the bus was still moving forward, very slowly. I was so scared, so I called out,

‘Hey! Is anybody there?”

And suddenly, I heard a voice!

‘Hey! Idiot! Come help us push the bus!’ ”

 

Collector’s comments:

This is one of the many jokes that my dad likes to tell. The effectiveness of the joke is very dependent on how serious the teller seems, and how believable he or she can make it. It takes advantage of the tension built up by the fear of the audience based on the belief that they are about to hear an actual ghost story, and then makes a silly, but welcome release that leaves the audience either laughing or groaning. The ghost portion is not completely made up however, as I have heard other stories about people making the trip between Northern California to Southern California late at night and seeing paranormal activity, such as the figure of a woman on the side of the road, or finding hand prints on their rear windows. These occurrences usually happen at 3 AM, or the ghosting hour, and I have heard multiple versions from different relatives. Over all, this story doubles as both a ghost legend and a joke, making it a combination of folklore.

Tet- Vietnamese New Year

Nationality: Vietnamese American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Jose, California
Performance Date: April 14, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Vietnamese

Informant is from San Jose, California, a city with a very large Vietnamese population.

“So in addition to the regular January 1st New Year that everyone in the US celebrates, my family and I also celebrate the Lunar New Year, which is called Tet in Vietnamese. Basically, it is usually in late January or early February, and is when the new lunar cycle begins, which marks the beginning of the year in many Asian countries like Vietnam. During Tet, there are a few superstitions and traditions that everyone follows to have good luck for the next year, and there is a ton of food and gathering around with family.”

Tell me about some of the traditions.

“Well, my parents always told me that whatever you do on the first day of the year, you will do for the rest of the year, so you’re supposed to practice good habits and be clean and all that. Uhh… Oh, also, you aren’t supposed to work or do any cleaning around the house, as people believe that you will sweep away any good luck. One of the big traditions, and my favorite tradition, is giving out red envelopes with money to all of the children, which is supposed to be a sign of fortune and good luck. Other than that, there is a lot of good food, and there are Tet festivals in San Jose and I think in Orange County too.”

 

Collector’s Comments:

The Lunar New Year is commonly celebrated in many Asian countries, and this is a variation of that celebration. Some of the traditions seem to be the same across the cultures, such as giving out the red envelopes and the feast. However, the no-cleaning rule is very interesting, in that it seems to imply that luck can be brought in and out of the house, which is something that I haven’t heard before. This is a holiday that is familiar, yet unique, to many different peoples.

Vietnamese Coin Remedy

Nationality: Vietnamese American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Jose, California
Performance Date: 4/15/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Vietnamese

Informant is my cousin, who lives in San Jose, California, an area with the second largest population of Vietnamese immigrants in the world outside of Vietnam. This is a form of folk medicine that was used on him before.

“So my grandma, who was born in Vietnam, really believes in using the coin treatment for when anybody is sick or is in pain. Basically, you take a large coin, like a quarter or something, and you rub it on the sick person’s back and neck and other skin areas really hard. It’s supposed to break your blood vessels, so it looks like you’re bruised everywhere, but apparently it also helps you to recover quicker and numbs your pain.”

Have you ever tried it yourself?

“Yeah, my grandma used it on me when I was really little once, when I had come down with a cold. To be honest, it hurt like hell, and afterward my cold didn’t feel much better, but now I was also in a lot of pain from the marks on my body. It seems like this is a pretty common Vietnamese treatment for many people though, as a few of my friends have told me that they used the same thing.”

 

Collector’s Comments:

This is a story that is near and dear to my heart, as our grandma used to use this same kind of remedy when we were sick. In Vietnamese, the name of the treatment translates to “scraping wind”, which relates to how the word used for a cold is “catching wind”. This treatment was believed to help release the symptoms, but it is very painful. However, it is long time tradition of Vietnamese medicine, and is still used today, both in Vietnam and in parts of Asia and the rest of the world with Vietnamese people.