Author Archives: Scott Hills

Kings and Queens Birthday Song

Age: 18

Date of Performance: 4/28/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: United States

  1. Text

The informant is a college student. She referenced a folklore ritual she was taught from a young age in a preschool setting that was used for birthday’s. Each time it was a student’s birthday, they would sing a song saying, “Kings and queens and princesses too, want to wish the best for you, so wish day wash day what do you say birthday! Happy birthday to you!”

2. Context

“Now anytime I celebrate a birthday that song pops into my head and sometimes I will sing it because it was such a core memory for me.”

“Singing this song reminds me of preschool and all the memories I created there, it gives me nostalgia.”

3. Analysis

This is a ritual that the informant learned at a very young age. It was folklore shared by her community in preschool, among other young students, an artistic expression to wish a good birthday to each other. This example shows how folklore can be used to reflect on the past and incite feelings of nostalgia and reflexiveness of one’s past experiences.

Four Advent Candles

Age: 19

Date of Performance: 4/24/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: United States

  1. Text

The informant is a college student. She referenced the lighting of the four advent candles during the traditional Christmas season in December. It was a religious practice for her and her family and a way to celebrate their annual winter holiday.

2. Context

“Like the four advent candles that lead up to Christmas. You light one each Sunday before Christmas and it symbolizes hope, peace, joy and love.”

“It was just a way to celebrate with family and come together. We would sometimes go to church to do it but mostly just the sweet sentiment is what made it tradition for us.”

“Kind of for as long as I can remember. Yeah, I think we’ve just always done it no matter where we are on Sundays in December.”

3. Analysis

This is a ritual that is rooted in religious context from the Bible. It is meant to represent a different aspect each Sunday in the preparing for the coming of Christ. For this informant, it was adjusted to have religious undertones, and yet become more rooted in the familial aspect and honoring Christmas tradition. The informant clearly values the large morals reflected by the practice, and how it brought together her family to celebrate a holiday.

Norwegian Lefsa Ritual

Age: 20

Date of Performance: 4/24/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: United States

  1. Text

The informant is a college student. She referenced her family’s ritual of making Norwegian potato lefsa every year for Christmas. Lefsa is a flatbread made from potatoes, cream, flour and sugar. She mentioned how they make it every year and then get drunk afterwards.

2. Context

“Yes, we make lefsa every year to pay homage to our Norwegian heritage. It’s a Christmas tradition. And then not really sure why but, we get drunk after.”

“It started in Norway with my grandma’s grandparents and I’ve been doing it as long as I can remember. I like it, it’s yum.”

3. Analysis

This is a ritual that is again part of a holiday celebration, honoring Christmas festivities. For the informant, it is part of paying homage to her heritage, and conversely continuing tradition through it. It is a family bonding folklore experience, in that they all create the ritualistic dish together and follow the tradition of drinking together afterwards. They’ve long been practicing it and as the informant mentions, the taste of the dish is important as well in the enjoyment of the ritual.

Pirate Weekend

Age: 20

Date of Performance: 4/24/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: United States

  1. Text

The informant is a college student. She referenced how her family used to go to a nearby bay every year to celebrate “pirate weekend” as a kid. It was a temporary ritual but they treated it as a ‘holiday’ and celebrated it together annually.

2. Context

“We used to drive on up once a year to the bay for pirate weekend when I was a kid.”

“I went from like ages two until eight and I loved it. They had these smoke cannons that always impressed me. It was just bonding time for family but amazed me as a kid.”

3. Analysis

This is a ritual that the informant’s family turned into something of a holiday. They took a nearby communication of art within a community and adopted it as a ritual to celebrate and immerse in a culture. The folklore fascinated the informant and served as an entertainment ritual at a young age.

Festival of São António

Age: 20

Date of Performance: 4/24/2025

Language: English

Nationality: Portuguese

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: United States

  1. Text

The informant is a college student. She referenced a festival honoring the Saint of Lisbon in Portugal, where she grew up. Her family used to celebrate the festival with little parties and elaborate decorations to honor their Portuguese nationality.

2. Context

“You celebrate with little parties and you decorate with a specific flower called manjericão. And you dress traditionally and do a Portuguese dance with flower arches.”

“I’ve been doing it since I gained consciousness. I liked it when we did it at school. They would make us learn the dance with a boy and you got to do it with him for all the parents.”

“I would be like ‘ooooo who’s my partner going to be this year.’ But in the street you have to be part of like a neighborhood group to be in the real parade.”

“But the little parties are for everyone and each neighborhood sets one up. Just like beer and food trucks and live music.”

“Some people call the whole thing ‘santos populares’ because sometimes there is more than one saint.”

3. Analysis

This is a festival that honors the informant’s nationality and provides an opportunity to celebrate with friends and family and engage in patriotism through folklore. It engages tradition and a variety of folkloric practices to honor Portuguese saints and build city pride. It is folklore in that it is artistic communication in the broader community and none of the festival practices have authored ownership.