Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

H. E. Widener “Ice Cream Endowment” at Harvard University

Age: 44
Residence: Maplewood, NJ
Performance Date: 12/27/2010
Primary Language: English

In the freshman dining halls at Harvard University, there is always ice cream available for dessert. Supposedly, this is because the mother of a student named Harry Elkins Widener endowed the school with an “ice cream fund” following his death in the Titanic disaster, because ice cream was her son’s favorite food.

The “ice cream fund” has never been confirmed, but it lives on through generations of Harvard undergraduates. Joseph heard this legend in his freshman year at Harvard. Despite total lack of evidence, (even evidence to the contrary) the story persists. Students keep up the story, perhaps, because it reinforces a sense of elite identity. To have something as indulgent as an “ice cream endowment” to attribute to the identity of being a Harvard undergraduate.

Italian Stereotype

Nationality: Israeli
Age: 20
Occupation: Government Major at Dartmouth College
Residence: Irvine, CA
Performance Date: March 18th, 2011
Primary Language: Hebrew
Language: English, Italian

“Pariolina”

/pa ree oh lee na/

A stereotypical female who lives in Parioli  (a district in Rome, Italy)

“When we moved from Israel to Rome, I was at the terrible age of 14, and one of the most important aims I was anxious to reach was to be accepted by the rich and popular Italian girls that surrounded me in the American International School of Rome. Being a “fashionista”, I immediately noticed that there is an enormous difference between their style and my style, a totally different “dress code” as well as “makeup code”, if you will. At this time (and also a couple of years later), every one of them used to put on a pair of Levi’s baggy jeans, tops from two specific shops found in their district, all with the same cleavage, and finally a very specific sort of Nike sport shoes. During winter wool scarves were added, tied in a very unique way, and unique short black coats. There were some other specific items of course, and makeup-wise they, at the early age of 14, were already putting on heavy makeup. So I tried my best, and I obviously had to put big efforts, as I came from a completely different fashion mentality.  Yet, to no avail… something didn’t look right, it just didn’t fit on me. And then I knew what I should do. I asked a male-friend Luca, an Italian very fashion-minded boy of my age, that I knew well, where could I get this kind of clothes. That was when I first heard the “Pariolina” word, as he told me that to be a “pariolina” I should go to this and this shop, and only there can I purchase the exact items. And so I did, and so I spent a lot of money at these expensive stores, and achieved the best results. The big prize came very soon, when Vittoria, the most popular of the Italian girls in my class, told me that I looked like a real “Pariolina”. I was accepted, and trust me, it was hard!  The Italian society is way far from “open” to foreigners, though some perceive it as a welcoming image. By that time I already knew that Parioli is probably the most prestigious neighborhood in Rome, and being called by this name meant to be dressed in the “right” way. And so I left my Israeli look behind and became a true “Priolina”, and as I’m very interested in fashion, I even became a sort of fashion advisor on where to get what.

I loved the “Pariolina” style when I lived in Rome, because I enjoy living the life of the locals, and because it helped me become accepted by the Italian girls of my international class, which was an exceptional thing. And I loved my changed look and my “grown up” makeup. Later, when I was a bit older, my view changed and I tried to dress more unique and be guided by my own tastes.

Today, as a 20 year girl, almost American and living in a town like Hanover, and after visiting Rome a few times, I look at this period with a smile, as one of the lovely-funny things of my years as a teenager “.

I love this stereotype that my sister here describes because although I was younger I still vaguely remember it, but unlike then, I now understand what it was all about. When living in Rome, and looking back now, I notice a trend that different age groups in my International School show. When young, the Italian population worked towards being Americanized in order to fit in, yet as they reach high school, they learn to embrace their Italian heritage more and that is when stereotypes like the “pariolina” begin showing.

Looking at it now and having since then visited Rome many times, the “Pariolina” stereotype seems to me as carrying ambivalent values; the positive social unity of the Roman girls, their very original “posh style”, as well as the less desired lack of uniqueness, and in the case of the “Pariolina”, also the social rank issue that still quite openly exists in Rome.

After looking into the term “Pariolina” I stumbled upon an actual dictionary definition of the word;

According to the De Mauro online dictionary: Parioloina is a noun that has several uses.

“1. A native or inhabitant of Parioli

  1. (Informal) A person with a bourgeois standard of living and right-of-centre politics
  2. (Locally, slang) A bourgeois fashioned youngster of Rome.
  3. (Spregiative, in the past) A bourgeois and snobby behaviour.”

I also found the use of the word Pariolina Italian literature, in his book “Improvvisa la Vita” Ottieri wrote:

“piedi una parte del viale Mohammed Ve si fermò a osservare una bella pariolina che passava sul marciapiede sotto gli alberi di aranci e mandarini”

Which in translation to English is:

“on foot through a part of the tree-lined avenue Mohammed Ve stopped to watch a beautiful pariolina who passed on the pavement under the orange and Mandarin trees”

It’s really quite interesting to learn something I found so casual and perhaps even meaningless to outsiders can actually be documented by a dictionary and literature.

Annotation: Ottieri, Ottiero. Improvvisa La Vita. Milano: Bompiani, 1987. Print. (http://openlibrary.org/books/OL2072250M/Improvvisa_la_vita)

De Mauro. “Pariolino.” Demauroparavia.it. Web. 23 Apr. 2011. <http://www.demauroparavia.it/79578>.

Conversion Folk Belief – China

Nationality: Chinese
Age: early 50s
Occupation: Vice President/ Bank Manager
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: February 19, 2011
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English, French, German, Dutch

When finished eating, you must clean your plate completely and every bit of food must be eaten.  If not, your future husband (or wife) will have the acne everywhere on the face that food was left on the place.

Pauline told me that this was told to her by her mother when she was a child.  She was born and raised in Taiwan with her older brother, older sister, and younger brother.  She said that this belief is very popular in China and Taiwan.  When she heard this, she said she was just a little girl, probably around seven or eight.  Her mother told this to her and her siblings while they were growing up; she and her siblings very diligently followed this belief.  She said that this folk belief traveled through her family for many generations. Believing and following it as a child, she further carried this belief by telling it to her children as they were growing up as well.

It was probably told to children because food was very scarce and precious; parents probably told children this belief because it was very important to convince children not to waste food without instructing them.  Rather than explaining the scarcity of food, parents would frighten children by telling them that their future spouses would suffer from the amount of acne equivalent to the amount of food they wasted as a child.

While I do not believe that this folk belief is true, I think it is an effective tactic to get children to finish all their food and indirectly learn that wasting is unacceptable.  As I child, I also believed this folk belief to be true.  I was certain that if I did not clean off my plate at every single meal, my future husband would be doomed to have the equivalent amount of acne on his face.  At the time, I followed this belief because I believed in it; now, I recognize the importance of the belief because of its true meaning and reference. I now follow the belief because of different reasons than I did when I was younger.  Even though the perceived threat in the belief does encourage and accept superficial desires for a good-looking husband, the true purpose of the belief is effective and has prevented all in my family at least from wasting and taking for granted my resources.

Remedy-homeopathic

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student, University of Southern California
Residence: Arlington, VA
Performance Date: 14 April 2011
Primary Language: English

As a child, my informant used to get sick a lot, and every time she got a cold her mother would tell her to drink orange juice. After coming to college, my informant heard this same remedy from her Czechoslovakian roommate. She is not sure if her roommate heard this after coming to America for school or at home from her “hypochondriac physician mother.” However, she doesn’t really think it works beyond the vitamin C benefits, because the patient already has the cold virus, but thinks that maybe it works as a placebo.

I’ve also heard this method of curing the common cold (or at least speeding up recovery) from my mother, who would also prepare a glass of orange juice  for me at every meal when I was sick. Personally, I have the same view as my informant: I feel that the remedy is the kind of thing that would not hurt, but does not definitively help symptoms of the cold. It seems to be a very common remedy, as my informant heard it from two different sources, and most other people have heard it as well. It probably stems from the belief that high-vitamin foods can help boost the immune system, which has been scientifically proven (presumably, the experiment was held to determine the validity of the folk remedy).

Annotation: The official medical trial of this folk remedy was released in 2005. Douglas, Robert M. and Harri Hemila. “Vitamin C for Preventing and Treating the Common Cold.” Public Library of Science Medicine 2.6 (2005): n. pag. Web. 25 April 2011.

Driving Folk Religious Practices

Nationality: Irish American
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: Ithica, NY
Performance Date: 4-25-2011
Primary Language: English

Folk Religious Ritual of Kissing the Car Roof when Driving through a Yellow Light

“You kiss your hand then touch the roof when you run a yellow light”

My best friend Kelsey always does this ritual when driving through yellow lights in her car. She kisses her right hand and touches that same hand to the top of the car roof right above her as she goes under the traffic light.  When I questioned her on why she did this she described it as a precautionary measure to ensure safety during the risk of running a yellow light that will soon turn red. She apparently picked it up in high school when she first began driving and has done it under every yellow light since for the past 7 years. She denies any direct religious ties but does admit that she is asking god or angels to protect her. Now she says it is second nature and the meaning behind the gesture is almost lost. She seems to not even know she is doing it.

I have seen a few other drivers preforming the same yellow light act and have even caught myself in the midst of it once or twice.

I think it is most definitely a folk religious practice to ask god or someone up there(through the roof via kiss) for safety in a risky manuver. It seems however to not be associated with any one religious practicing group since I have witnessed both Jews and Roman Catholics participating in the act. I suppose the practice will continue to be spread from driver to passenger through direct performance.