Monthly Archives: April 2017

Bridge Devil

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 24
Occupation: Student
Residence: Fontana, CA
Performance Date: 4/25/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Informant: Liz is a 24-year-old student born and raised in Southern California. Her mother is from a town near Guadalajara, Mexico.

Main Piece: “When I was maybe like…8 or 10, my mom, she shared with my sister and I, she shared that at the ranch where her grandmother lived, there was a bridge nearby. But sometimes at night, when you went to cross the bridge, the devil would appear. And he had the…head of a pig, legs of a rooster, and some other part of a goat. He would ask questions and try to hurt you. Now, she never saw the devil, but she had a friend who did. And the friend was lucky because she got away before the devil got to her.”

Background Information about the Performance: The informant was deeply affected by this piece as a child. She was afraid of leaving the house after dark, even though she did not live near the bridge in Guadalajara.

Context of Performance: This piece was performed by the informant’s mother when her children were acting irresponsibly.

Thoughts: I find it interesting how similar this piece is to stories about bridge trolls, especially given that the devil would ask questions.

Casa del Prado Cinderella

Nationality: Filipino-American
Age: 24
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/26/2017
Primary Language: English

Informant: Joshua is a 24-year-old student living in Southern California. He formerly lived in San Diego before moving to Los Angeles. He used to work at the Casa del Prado, a prominent theater in San Diego. Notably, the Casa del Prado is attached to a tall clock tower.

Main Piece:
Josh: “Supposedly, at the Casa del Prado, they were putting on a performance of Cinderella. The lead actress went missing one night and they were looking all around for her. Apparently, over by the clock tower, when the clock hit 7, people saw her body fall from the tower and hit the ground.”

Interviewer: How did she fall?

Josh: “Well, nobody knows, but according to some people, it looked like she was pushed out by somebody.”

Interviewer: And there was no sign of who pushed her?

Josh: “That’s just it. The doors to the clock tower were all locked. She shouldn’t have even been able to get up there. Nobody came out of the tower after, but some people said that occasionally you could see her ghost backstage.”

Background Information about the Performance: The informant was told this story as a teenager while working as an actor at the Casa del Prado. It was his first show and the piece was performed to him by the stage manager.

Context of Performance: The piece was performed backstage in the dark.

Thoughts: This story almost seems to be part of a hazing experience. The informant was young at the time and just started acting at the Casa del Prado. The stage manager could have intended to scare him as part of his induction into the group of people working at the theater.

Papaya Leaves for Jellyfish Stings

Nationality: Hawaiian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Kaneohe, HI
Performance Date: 4/19/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Hawaiian

Informant: Uluwehi is a 21-year-old student from Hawaiʻi. She is from the island of Oʻahu.

Main Piece: “So, a good medicine is that if you get stung by a jellyfish, you should crush up papaya leaves and use that on the sting. I know they do it in the Molokaʻi races since it’s not good to bring in chemicals, and also they just generally do it.”

Background Information about the Performance: The informant learned about this medicine while researching Hawaiian medicines. She uses it if she can when she or somebody she knows gets stung.

Context of Performance: The medicine is given to sufferers of jellyfish stings.

Thoughts: Doing further research, I found that papaya leaves contain papain, a chemical that has some use for pain and inflammation relief. Although no sting-related medicines have been made from it, the leaves could offer some pain relief from the sting as a result. I also think it is noteworthy that the papaya is not native to Hawaiʻi and yet it is still part of their folk belief.

Stopping a Thunderstorm

Nationality: English
Age: 61
Occupation: Mother
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: 3/18/17
Primary Language: English

Informant: Valerie is a 61-year-old, born and raised in Dorking, England. She moved to Pennsylvania at 40, and to San Diego at 45. She still regularly visits England, where all her family still live. 

Main Piece: “Something that you’re always supposed to do when there’s a thunderstorm is yell back at it. If you’re scared because it’s loud, you just yell back and you’ll scare the thunderstorm too. You won’t be scared anymore, and the thunderstorm will stop.

Background Information about the Performance: The informant was instructed to do so as a child by her parents, and would later pass it on to her own child. 

Context of Performance: The piece is told to frightened children to calm them down.

Thoughts: I have received this advice when I was a child and know that I was very reassured by it. It seems to be a way of both boosting confidence and of stopping the thunderstorm. The idea that one should mimic a natural event in order to stop it from occuring seems prominent in other folkloric beliefs as well.

Guggle Muggle

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Actor
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: 3/18/17
Primary Language: English

Informant: B is a 20-year old born and raised in Southern California. He and his family are Jewish, and are all involved in theater.

Main Piece:
Informant: “My grandma used to, when we were sick, make this drink called guggle muggle. It was milk, honey, and egg.”

Interviewer: And it was supposed to cure sickness?

Informant: “Yeah, yeah, for things like a sore throat or a cold or whatever. You’d drink the guggle muggle, and usually it’d be warm. It was supposed to make you feel better.”

Background Information about the Performance: The informant was given this folk medicine by his grandmother when he was younger. He still will make it if he is feeling sick even though his grandmother has passed away.

Context of Performance: The medicine was given when suffering from a minor illness like a cold or a sore throat.

Thoughts: I know of other folk medicines that involve giving hearty but sweet food or drinks when sick, such as toast with jam for a sore throat. The informant actually made this for me, as I was sick at the time, and it tasted very much as one might expect.