Michael Gordon, a junior studying Pop Music at the University of Southern California, who hails from Flemington, New Jersey, provided four pieces of folklore for this collection.

The interview was run, within his studio, at Orchard Avenue, on the outskirts of the University of Southern California

Folk Performance: Breaking Wishbones.

Folk Type: Folk-Practice.

“Are there any like really random practices? Like stuff you’d do unconsciously but, like, have no real context of?”

STORY: Yeah, the whole wishbone thing I’ve always thought was kinda confusing. You have a bone, right? And then you have the little joint in the middle and it’s like, it makes a V and two people pull the V and whoever gets the joint…do they make a wish? Wait, so before you break it both of the pulling parties make a wish and whoever gets the longest part will have their wish come true. Yeah.

Background information: The ritual of breaking a wishbone has its ties in Medieval Europe. The Etruscans, an ancient Italian civilization, believed geese had prophetic powers residing within their bones.

Michael learned the proverb on the playground and his attachment to it comes from the proverbs ubiquity and it’s tie to his early development.

Context of Performance: The appropriate context of this folk practice is described within the story.

Michael learned this act on the playground, from friends. It’s importance to him

Thoughts: Throughout this project, I’ve noticed that much of the folklore that one remembers is learned in early childhood. I suppose this occurs because as we grow, our views become more solidified. When we are children, we are at our most malleable and, therefore, seem to take in the most information.