Author Archives: Genevieve Marino

Reuben Sandwich

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J: So, in my family, um, my grandmother says — told me that uh, that her uncle invented the Reuben sandwich before it was called the Reuben sandwich. It didn’t have a name. And-but she would eat the same sandwich when she was a kid… at the– at her uncle’s deli a- in New York City and, uh, after school she would go and he would make her the sandwich and um, and that she claimed that Aurther Reuben worked at this deli when he was young and that then, when he went off and made his own deli, that he took… that sandwich and then put his name on it and made the Reuben… as we know it. But it was really not called that before when– so the-the family, you know my-my grandmother believes that our family invented the Reuben sandwich.

Interviewer: What’s in the Reuben sandwich?

J: I don’t even know. *laughs* no, no it’s something with Russian dressing… I can’t remember actually what’s in the Reuben sandwich so I feel a-very ashamed that I don’t even know my family’s sandwich. But — and I’ve never had a Reuben sandwich… obviously.

Context

J: I just remember when [informant’s grandmother] was telling me that story and then I — you know, there’s no way to actually to you know, to actually find evidence of this, but… my grandma tends to be… on the money with most things, so I — all of her stories that I have been able to confirm have checked out pretty much to the t, so I’m inclined to believe it, but I have no evidence to actually believe that it all actually was true. But we like to go with it because it’s a fun story to tell and, you know, it’s-to me it’s become some family, you know, it’s our- you know, it’s part of our family folklore I guess you could say.

The informant and his family have been New York City residents for many generations.

Analysis

This story is much less about the food itself, and more about the legend that surrounds it. In fact, the informant has never made a Reuben sandwich, much less eaten one. This suggests that the legend has a deeper purpose than to simply pass on a family recipe. In this case, I suspect that this story serves to connect the informant and his family to the greater history of New York City and the United States.

Folklore is a way to communicate identity, and since the informant does not claim Russian or Irish heritage, the heritage he is identifying with can only be his family’s identity as New Yorkers (even though the region of origin of the Reuben sandwich is generally disputed). Having a story that connects the family to the history of the city through a family deli allows for a greater claim on the place where they have lived for generations.

The Floor is Lava (Yoan)

Context

My dad told me this story about a game that he played with his older brother as a part of their bedtime ritual when he was younger:

Dad: Ok, so, in our lifetime – shared lifetime – there’s been more of an awareness, of kids playing a game called “the floor is lava.” Like, there was a tv show, called the floor is lava, and people started talking about it, and actually, you know, whatever it was, 10 years ago, 12 years ago, we wrote – we: our little Marino family – wrote a story called “the mysterious floor” that’s essentially the floor is lava story in a new form.

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Dad: That came out of the fact that when I was growin’ up, my brother and I had bunk-beds in our room – we shared a room, we had bunk beds, and we had a little ritual. And the ritual was um, someone had to turn out the light, and I had the bottom bunk, so I- it was easier for me to go turn out the light, and then I would come back to the bed, but the game we played was was that our-our bunk-beds were a submarine, a submersible, and um, the minute you turned off the light, the-this was lava, but we called it yoan, which was a combination of the words yes and no for some reason *both chuckle* the minute you turned out the light, the yoan would start to rise, and so I had to hop back – I– there were apparently some yaon-proof, like little stones in the wa– in the yoan that didn’t get covered right away, so I had to hop back – hop on different rocks back into bed, and, um… before the yoan completely rose. And then it would rise and cover the submersible, and then we were, you know, all night long we were basically in a submersible underneath the yoan. But it wasn’t until… many many… many years later that I realized that there were… that lots of kids played some version of “the floor is lava” and that it was– it was like a thing, but, but again, I don–I can’t– I don’t have any recollection of anybody ever teaching us that game or telling us about it… or even playing the floor is lava with any of my other friends. It was just something that was– it was part of this night-time routine that my brother and I did that– that we kinda felt like we had made up and maybe we had, you know, absorbed from the culture. I don’t know. 

Interviewer: Did um… so the bunk-beds were the submersible, so you were safe in the bunk beds? 

Dad: Yeah, the-the bunk-beds had like– yeah, they sealed up like, like fully, you know, fully shielded up against yoan. Um, and… I think, you know, my brother was older, so he was like the captain of-of our submersible and then I– you know, I had some sort of yoaman’s job of like, i don’t know, ma-maybe I ran the engines or whatever like I– yeah. I was… you know, I was crew of our-of our submersible.

Interviewer: And you were safe in your bottom bunk…?

Dad: You were safe any– if you were on either b– you know, any… either of the two beds… maybe also on the ladder, I… we never really discussed that, but if, if you- I definitely had to get into bed, make it back to the bed to be- for us to put up the sh- I don’t know, close up the doors of the ship… You know, it was kinda sealable, the ship, so that it could be submersed in yoan for the night. It, you know, it could travel through the yoan too, like it would, it would sort of like, you know like-like a submarine, it could like explore different places and things like that. And I think we were able to see thro– even though the yoan, in my mind, even now is pretty opaque, and actually more of like a yellow color, for whatever reason, than a red, but the yoan w– you know… once we were fully submerged, we could see through the yoan as though it were, you know, a submarine under water. 

Anaylsis

This bedtime routine is a unique version of ‘the floor is lava’ game. It is interesting that my dad doesn’t remember learning this game from anyone else and did not know that it was a game people played until he was adult, but that is a common occurrence in folklore.

As my dad alluded to, it is likely that this game served as a way to get the young brothers into bed at night in a way that felt playful and fun. This behavior was also likely encouraged by their parents who appreciated a break from telling the wild kids to get back in bed

If you eat the crusts of bread, your hair (or teeth) will curl

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“If you eat the crusts of bread, your hair will curl.”

Context

Dad: When I was growing up, uh, I don’t know if my mom would say this or, somehow we got it in our heads that and it could be folklore that she had, but if you eat the crusts of bread, your hair will curl.

Interviewer: Like just the crust? Like if you eat it off of the bread?

Dad: Um, I think it was like to make sure that you ate your crust. It was sort of like encouragement to eat your crusts of bread. So you were supposed to eat the bread, but also. But particularly don’t don’t forget to eat the crusts of bread ’cause it makes your hair curl.

Interviewer: Did you and your siblings want curly hair?

Dad: Uuuuuh… I was ambivalent about, I wasn’t particularly interested in curly hair. I, in fact at some point in my mind… it warped into, ‘if you eat crusts of bread, your teeth will curl.’ *laughs* And I didn’t know what that meant, but I think routinely would get- if ever I brought that up, it got, you know, someone in the family was around to correct me or remind me, ‘no it’s your har will curl.’ *laughs*

Interviewer: But…So did you avoid eating crusts of bread?

Dad: No, cause I think it must have been introduced to me as my mom te– as like, ‘well… they always say…’ you know, one of those things, and so because I- cause it was framed as, ‘well they always say…’ then I kne — then I didn’t take it as something that actually happens. I took it as… you know

Analysis

As my dad mentioned, it is likely the case that this belief was developed to encourage children to eat the crusts of their bread to get the most nutritional value out of the bread (a belief which is itself folklore) and avoid food waste. This would suggest that the folk group that held this belief valued curly hair, and that my dad was unique in his indifference about the possibility.

My dad’s lack of concern around his hair or teeth being curled is interesting because it suggests a certain type of relationship with folklore. When he refers to the belief as, “it was framed as ‘well they always say…’ him and his mother are both acknowledging the folkloric nature of the belief. My dad’s mother claims deniability by attributing the origin of the belief elsewhere, saving herself from having to take responsibility when neither the children’s hair nor their teeth curl after eating the crusts of bread.

Alligators in the Sewers in New York City

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J: I believe there are alligators roaming around our sewers. And I think this because I know that there was a time when there were a lot of uh, kids that used to have alligators as pets. There used to be kids with alligators as pets. My mom’s cousin B— was one of those that used to get the little alligators down in Florida, they’d bring ‘em up, and they’d be tiny. Bring ‘em to New York, and they’d make cute little pets until they started to grow too big. And then, they would flush them down the toilet. Now this is exactly what cousin B— did this, actually flushed his down the toilet, and so-

Interviewer: And the idea is that they survive?

J: Yup, yup. And that they live in the sewers. And so-

Interviewer: And they get really big or they’re tiny?

J: No, they get big, so that there are big-that there are you know, adult sized alligators in the sewers in New York City and there’s a lot of food down there for them to eat because there’s a lot of rats and a lot of various things that people throw into the sewers and so, anyway, yeah, I think it’s totally possible and um there’s even uh, a statue that somebody made recently, um, that, uh represents the alligators in the sewers down near union square, so anyways, I think it’s a real thing. I think there’re alligators down there.

Context

The informant and his mother were both born and raised in New York City. He shared this story over dinner after I questioned a claim he made about there being alligators living in the sewers of New York City.

Analysis

This story is an example of a legend and the specific memorate of the informant. In this case, the story of the mother’s cousin receiving a small pet alligator as a gift from Florida and flushing it down the toilet is the memorate that connects the informant to the larger legend of the alligators that live in the sewers of New York City. Whether or not the events of the story are true, it is likely that other New York City residents have similar memorates to this one that make the legend more personal and pervasive.

“El que se fue a Sevilla, perdió a silla”

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C: ‘El que se fue a Sevilla, perdió a silla,’ which means, the one who goes to Sevilla, loses his seat. As in, if you get up and go away and leave your seat unattended, then like, you shouldn’t complain if you loose it.

Context

The informant’s father was born and raised in Spain and she grew up speaking Spanish with her family in the US. The informant claims that this saying is used in the context of a person leaving “any seat, everywhere, or if you’re like in line and you leave”

Analysis

This is an example of a fun, rhyming saying that makes it easy for children to remember important rules about etiquette. In this way, parent’s are able to communicate the social norms of the folk group in a way that is pleasant to hear and easy to remember. The social norm that is being communicated here is that of a system of claiming shared resources and the virtue of patience.