Author Archives: Alexandra Dasilva

The Frog Story

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 71
Occupation: Cameraman for Globo News
Residence: New York
Performance Date: March 2015
Primary Language: Portuguese
Language: English, Spanish

The informant says that this Frog story is a story of hope. It’s about believing in yourself.

The story:

Two frogs fell in a bucket of milk.. The bucket was kind of high, and the frogs couldn’t get over the bucket. Leaping in the milk was hard. After one of the frogs tried, she said “I’m going to give up” and she drowned” Then the second frog says “I’m going to keep trying, and im going to jump and If I drown- at least I tried.” Then she kept jumping, and jumping and jumping and fell and jumping and jumping until she turned the milk into butter. She was turning the milk so much while she was trying to jump and she turned the milk into butter. When it was butter, it was solid enough for her to jump – the butter gave her enough leverage to jump over the bucket and she survived

The informant says that a Yoga Guru in America told him this Indian Tale. The moral of this story is If you believe in yourself, and if you don’t give up, then you end up succeeding. It is a tale that performed in order to inform people who feel like giving up not to because the  hard work is worth it at the end. The story also demonstrates that humans are not so different than frogs – or animals, as the animals in the story are shown having the same fears – one being death – that humans do. Not only that, but this story is supposed to empower and motivate it’s listener into doing whatever they want to aspire to do.

Los Duendes 2

Nationality: Colombian
Age: Mid 20s
Occupation: JetBlue Flight Attendant
Residence: Brooklyn, New York
Performance Date: April 19, 2015
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Like with La Llorana, as the first informant was telling her narrative, another informant nearby was nodding her head. She too had heard of the Los Duendes but in a different context.

The informant said that she knew Los Duendes for trading horse tails. She said that that’s what they’re known for and that’s why horses tails are braided She said that the braiding was so terrible because they would braid them super tight.

The informant said that at night, her cousins would tell her to pull her hair back or else Los Duendes will come and braid her hair so tight that she could not take it out the next morning. This scared her so of course she put up her hair to go to bed.

This example coupled with the informant’s from Mexico’s narrative about Los Duendes demonstrates that there is multiplicity and variation of this story. The story seems to shift a little bit from culture to culture. This informant is Colombian and she associates Los Duendes with tight braids whereas the other informant associated Los Duendes with causing chaos around the house. Both versions though describe Los Duendes as mischievous. In addition, it seems like Los Duendes in this variation of the narrative  emphasize cleanliness too, as they braid hair if the hair isn’t already in a tight and neat pony tail. The informant said that she went to bed with a “Perfect Pony” every night to stay away from Los Duendes.

Los Duendes 1

Nationality: Mexican
Age: Mid 30s
Occupation: JetBlue Flight Attendant
Residence: N/A
Performance Date: April 19. 2015
Primary Language: English

The informant told me that when she was younger, she heard of these evil leprechauns or elves called “Los Duendes”

Los Duendes

An El Duende is an evil leprechaun or elf-like figure. Apparently, he would start off less mischievous. For example, if you left your shoes outside, he would come and clean them to feign generosity. As time would go on, he would become more mischievous and ruin your house and cause havoc.

The informant is Mexican and says that her Mother used to tell her about El Duende. The informant was not clear abou this part but I think that leaving shoes outside is what invites the El Duende to initially come; According to this narrative, he starts off by cleaning shoes that are left outside. If that’s the case,  then maybe the story is promoting cleanliness and the informant’s mother was using it as a vehicle to tell her to clean up after herself. Not only that, but by not cleaning the El Duende comes unannounced and only gets worse. Maybe Los Duendes are symbols for bugs, because bugs like filth and will be continue to be a nuisance when garbage is around. The story of the Los Duendes gives children who hear the story from their parents reason to listen –  no one wants an annoying elf to make an even bigger mess than they would.

 

Why Hermes uses Orange

Nationality: American
Age: 65-67
Residence: New York
Performance Date: March 2015
Primary Language: English
Language: Yiddish

The Story:

Why is Hermes’ color Orange? After World War II, the company had a shortage of paper. They only had orange craft paper. So when they would wrap their items and gifts they used that orange craft paper. Today, Hermes is internationally associated with the color orange.

 

Analysis:

The informant works at International Shoppes which is a company that deals with doing Duty Free shops in airports in the Tri-State Area. They carry merchandise from several jewelry designers such as Cartier and Hermes. The informant has worked at International Shoppes for more than Twenty Years, so he has had a lot of experience with the designers that they carry. For work, he has had to go to accessory conventions France and to Hermes Parties in Paris. I assume that it was through one of these events that the informant heard the story of Hermes’s use of the color orange.

The informant thinks that this story is “cool,” and I agree. Hermes is known for their classic orange – it is the color of their boxes, bags. Often times people even go as far as to refer to shades of orange as “Hermes Orange.” It is so fascinating that something, like “Hermes Orange,” which is considered as classy today only has the reputation it does because someone at Hermes in the 1940s had no choice but to make the decision to use the only paper the company had – that orange craft paper.

The Curse of the Bambino or the Sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees

Nationality: American
Age: 65-67
Occupation: Works at International Shoppes (Duty Free)
Residence: New York
Performance Date: March 2015
Primary Language: English
Language: Yiddish

The Story

When the Boston Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees they called it the “Curse of the Bambino.”

After the 1918 season in 1919, the Boston Red Sox owner sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees to finance his play, “No, No Nanette.” After selling Babe Ruth, otherwise known as “The Great Bambino,”  and then the Yankees went on to have great success over the decades. They won 26 championships until 2003 while the Red Sox won zero. The curse can be most attributed to Babe Ruth who was known – to that generation – as the greatest baseball player that ever lived. His numerous accolades with his near mythic power made him “the legend of legends in baseball lore. To sell away a player who led the Yankees to such great success coupled with the Red Sox’s seemingly “cursed” misfortune, the Curse of the Bambino, or the Sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees was commonly referenced as the reason for the Red Sox’s failure through the 21st Century.

 

Analysis:

The informant is a 65 year old die-hard Yankee fan. When it is baseball season he watches or records every game that he does not attend. Thus, he says this baseball legend with a sense of pride as it is about the deal that ushered in a golden era for his most beloved team, the Yankees. It is clear that this “curse” is not actually a curse in the informant’s or likeminded Yankee fans’ eyes . He makes this clear when he calls the “Curse of Bambino” by what it objectively was: “The sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees.” The title of the legend or the sale implies that it was probably thought up by Red Sox fans. The transaction that sent Babe Ruth to the Yankees from their Red Sox led the Boston team to decades of loss and no championships while their biggest rivals won 26 times, making the sale a true curse for Boston fans.