Author Archives: Alexander Greenblatt

Razor Blade in Candy Apples

Nationality: American
Age: 55
Occupation: Musician/ Web Producer
Residence: New York City, NY
Performance Date: April 20
Primary Language: English

“When I was a little kid we used to go trick or treating and we would go to different people’s houses and you’d get some candy but you’d get candy apples and popcorn and peanut butter crackers and cakes a lot of the stuff was all home made stuff that people would give you. Then, one year, it all stopped and the reason why was there was a legend… there was a rumor that somebody had put razor blades to apples and given it to a kid and when he bit it he got cut up and all the… and then he had to go to the hospital and and it so all the kids said, don’t ummm eat anything that was prepared because it could have poison in it, it could have razor blades, it could have anything, and the parents they started saying, don’t eat anything and they were, they started taking if you did get some popcorn or something they would throw it out so that was the thing and even though there was nobody or any news story”

This is a fairly common story, I feel like the hysteria more common in suburban states such as Richmond—Where the informant is from where people are more cooped up and have a natural fear for their children to not get hurt as supposed to city kids who’s parents are less fearful for them.

Eating In Chinese Restaurant on Christmas

Nationality: American
Age: 55
Occupation: Musician/ Web Producer
Residence: New York City, NY
Performance Date: April 20
Primary Language: English

“Ok… the tradition is every umm year for Christmas Eve or ummm Christmas Day we are Jewish, we do in fact go to a Chinese restaurant to eat ummm dinner and it’s a very silly thing. and we do it because we heard about the tradition and it’s a very… you know… as somebody who’s Jewish, you do feel a little out of place during Christmas because it’s all consuming everywhere in society and so it’s kind of like a funny thing that’s become a tradition of actually participating in your own way christmas which is if you’re Jewish you go to a Chinese restaurant so… it’s…that’s… it’s funny it’s almost like a counter tradition or a part of the tradition of Christmas that a Jewish person would eat in a Chinese restaurant”

That’s interesting about this tradition is that it isn’t really traditional to Jewish culture, it’s a very new thing for Jewish people to celebrate christmas in this way. It’s a way to feel included within Christmas. The informant seems to have gotten the tradition from his peers. He is from New York City which does have a high population of Jewish people. The fact that New York City has this high population of Jewish people seems to permeate the culture of his current residency.

Roast Chicken Recipe

Nationality: American
Age: 55
Occupation: Musician/ Web producer
Residence: New York City, NY
Performance Date: April 20
Primary Language: English

“Roast chicken is something that everybody loves and it’s great when somebody wants a homey dinner or a guest… so here’s the recipe… I’ve learned it from various people but I’ve changed it and made it my own… You take a cookie sheet… you cut root vegetables carrots, potatoes, onions, whatever you want and put them down. Then over the cookie sheet, you put a roasting pan grill. Take the grill out of the roasting pan and put it on the cookie sheet. Then you take your roasted chicken your roasted chicken… wash it and dry it very carefully… Then you take… thyme… rosemary… salt and pepper and my secret ingredient which is baking powder and you put it all in a blender and you blend it so it’s fine. almost like dust. and you take that… mixture and you put it all over the bird and inside the bird’s cavity. You don’t put anything inside the bird’s cavity at all. You keep everything empty and then you put the bird on top of the ummm… pan… grill… wire… then you ummm… preheat the oven to four hundred and fifty degrees which is very hot then you take the chicken and put it in the oven for four hundred and fifty degrees. Because there is nothing stuffed in it like lemon or anything like that, it’s empty it’s gonna cook very quickly and hour fifteen or an hour and a half depends on the size of the bird. very quickly. When it comes out the skin is very crisp. all of the juices and fat have gone into the root vegetables at the bottom of the tray and it’s very good. The perfect way to cook a chicken”

 

This cooking seems to be less traditional as it utilizes modern cooking techniques. It seems to be a very modern piece of folklore derived from various new methods of cooking weather they be based in folklore or fact. The informant isn’t very sure where he got said methods.

Tenth Between First and A

Nationality: American
Age: 55
Occupation: Musician/Web Producer
Residence: New York City, NY
Performance Date: April 20
Primary Language: English

“We live in the East Village in New York City and there is one street I will never go down… that is tenth street between First Avenue and Avenue A. The reason I developed this superstition is because I ride my bike everywhere in the city and I… rarely would go down Tenth and first…between First and A… anyway and one time I parked my bike between tenth and first and A and my wheel was gone… somebody had stolen it. People had always warned me about that street… that a lot of people steal bikes on tenth between First and A… but later I parked my bike on Tenth between First and A again and my front wheel was stolen.”

This superstition seems to derive from some sort of fact that many people in New York have had the same experience within that same city block and the belief seemed sprout up that the block was either cursed or part of some sort of hangout for bicycle thieves. Either the belief lead to it actually being true—in the sense that bicycle thieves got the idea to steal bikes from that block from the belief, or the belief sprouted from some sort of truth.

Do you want to have your cake and eat it too?

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 54
Occupation: Dancer/Filmmaker/Motion Graphic Designer
Residence: New York City, NY
Performance Date: April 21
Primary Language: English
Language: Portugese

“I heard this when I fist move to the U.S… it’s used when a person wants it all ,and you think they should be happy with less… We don’t have that in Brazil… in Brazil we eat the cake… I don’t like the expression”

This is an outsiders view of an American proverb to not be greedy or selfish expressing the American ideal of being a self made man that should be happy with his simple life while this person’s world view says pretty much the opposite of that.