Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Lucky Pencil

Text:

“Growing up, starting in late middle school and going to all the way to today in college, I have had this superstition that I never do well on tests if I do not use my lucky mechanical pencil. I felt a connection to this aqua pencil the second I used it, and I aced a middle school biology test that I thought I was absolutely cooked for. After doing so well on the test I credited my success to the pencil instead of my own brain power. From then on I always used that pencil on every test from highschool to now as a freshman in college. Along the journey though, I had a couple slip ups where I left the pencil at home and I felt my scores were not as good as they would have been on those exams if I were to have had my lucky pencil.”

Context:

“I first heard of this superstition when my friends from middle school would never let me borrow their lucky pencils whenever I asked to borrow one. I asked them why they were so protective of this pencil and they told me they needed it to do well. I laughed and did not take them seriously until my masterclass performance on the biology test. After that miracle, I told them they were right about the lucky pencil and they laughed and said ‘we told you so.’ To this day I still believe that my pencil holds magic to help me do better which is why I still use it for exams.”

Analysis:

The belief in the lucky pencil shows how young students and other creative minds create superstitions or mini rituals that help ease their anxiety and doubts. Although, the pencil itself has no concrete proof to increase scores, it boosts students’ confidence making them feel like they will well. Lucky items are figures of material culture because they hold culture and identity beyond its intended use. Through folklore passed down by friends, the pencil turns from an ordinary writing utencil to a magical object personal to the individual who believes in its power. This reiterates how folklore can often be used to boost feelings of control through ideas of luck, safety, and comfort.

New Year’s Banzai

Text

“Every year or New Year’s day my entire extended family, on my Dad’s Japanese American side, get together at my aunt’s house. We all live relatively close to her house in San Pedro, so everyone drives up to her place. It is tradition for everyone to coordinate with her on what to bring so there is a feast with a variety of foods. We always eat mochi soup, spam musubi, and sushi along with many other dishes and desserts. Each year after we eat, everyone gathers in the living room to do a toast with the adults having some sort of alochol such as champaigne and the kids with juice. Unfortunately I still have to drink the juice for a couple more years. Then, usually an older man of the family, like one of my uncles, gives a toast to the new year with wishes of health, love, and fortune and ends the speech with yelling “Banzai” three times. After each ‘banzai’ we repeat it after him while raising our glasses, and after three times we all drink.”

Context

“I think this family tradition manifests connection and love for the new year and makes the day feel special. As far as I know, the tradition started at my great uncle’s house and following his passing, my aunt also his daughter, continued the celebration at her house. From my memory we have been gathering and performing this tradition as far as I can remember in my 17 years.”

Analysis

Family folklore often is passed down throughout generations in the form of traditions. In this particular family, the tradition that began at her great uncle’s house is carried on by his daughter to keep the family’s identity on New Year’s alive and also maintains the memory of her father. Often times, folklore is maintained across generations to preserve what the folk before us created with minor changes in tradition along the way. The annual tradition of this event along with the Banzai toast make it a ritual because of the same foods and actions performed for each celebration. The shared drinking and eating foster connection and give this folk group their own unique identity.

Stickers on my Computer

Context

“When I was 8 I loved collecting stickers. I would pay quarters at pizza restaurants to collect the random stickers and get sticker books. When I got older, I saw how popular it was for people to put stickers on their water bottles and binders. I was so happy to finally use my stickers, so I had the sticker-iest water bottle and binder. This childish thing I did seemed like a stupid phase, but it stuck with me as I grew. They were meaningless and fun until I got to high school.”

Text

“I was more mature in high school, in pursuit of meaning in life, and most importantly, I got a computer. I began to put stickers on the laptop signifying places I’ve been, passions I’ve had, or people I was close to. Some of these stickers have been transferred from my water bottle, taped over and over again because it keeps falling off. My favorite is a picture of Justin Bieber. Not because I love Justin, but becuase my little brother and I had a running joke that we were his biggest fans. The sticker reminds me of him now that I’m in college. Eventually, the computer will die, but the memories won’t. I’m keeping it to show my kids, and explain what I was like when I was their age through my favorite childhood accessory: my stickers.”

Analysis

The meaning that the simplest objects can have for different individuals show a key trait of typical folklore. In folklore, the piece of lore being shared is often underappreciated or meaningless to those outside of the folk group. Thus, this personal connection to different things such as stickers shows how folklore is so important in our lives. For my friend, his computer stickers carry memories of childhood and family giving his computer a piece of his identity. In contrast, I do not hold the same heartfelt connection to stickers which is why my laptop is bare. Still, I can appreciate his lore and pass it on to others who too like sticker decorations. As we discussed, material culture is a prominent form of folklore because it acts as a reminder of important things in one’s life. Through the stickers he is reminded of his family and childhood making a laptop into folk art that tells stories of his life.

Ravioli Day

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“My family and I celebrate Ravioli Day every year during early December. It’s a family tradition passed down in our family for more than 100 years now. When it hits Decemeber my mom’s side of the family gathers at my grandparent’s house where we all bring ingredients for ravioli and cook as one family. This past year my family brought the cheese and my personal job was add the filling to the pasta dough that is rolled by my grandma, mom, and aunts. Sometimes when me or my cousins mess up the filling the ravioli explodes and it becomes a funny blame game to guess who did it. Everyone in the family helps whether its making the dough, rolling the dough, making the pasta shapes, making the filling, or making the sauce. Once we finish cooking everything we save it and enjoy it together for Christmas dinner.”

Context

“I never really found out about this tradition besides the fact that I have been doing it since I was a baby. My mom did tell me that it has been in the family for at least a hundred years and even she did not know when it started because she has been doing it since childhood as well. Ravioli day ties to our Italian culture and makes Christmas and the entire month of December unique to my family. I love to see all my relatives during December because they are all scattered throughout the US compared to my grandparents and I who live in California.”

Analysis

Traditions like these represent family customs that act as folklore because they are informally passed down through generations. As in this story, the folk group which is his entire family shares a common cultural identity of being Italian-American. The use of ravioli is a symbol of their ancestry due to the food’s origins and in that sense they are carrying on the legacy of their predecessors who created this tradition. This is called foodways because culture and memory is preserved through the sharing of food. Like him and his mother who learned about this tradition simply by habitually doing the tradition each year since birth, many of us don’t recognize the many things we do daily that are forms of folklore because it is so normal to us. From an outsider perspective, however, this family tradition is unheard of and is specific to their folk group.

The Star and Crescent

Text

“In my fraternity, Kappa Sigma, every new member must memorize a historic passage called the Star and Crescent. Besides other responsibilities as new members such as getting to know every brother in the house and earning their trust to become their fellow brother, the Star and Crescent must be memorized to perfection and able to be recited aloud. Once we can repeat each line to the brothers and have fully earned their respect, we are free to be initiated as official members of the Kappa Sigma chapter. I remember me and my boys, particularly —- and —–, would stay up late at night in one of our dorms just reciting it together. Not only was it something every brother has to do but it taught us how to be a good member of the frat. I remember my anxiety as the day to recite it in front of our executive came. I was so scared to mess up that even after I memorized it I still would practice at least 30 minutes a day following that.”

Context

I first learned about this passage when one of the brothers, —-, told us we had to have this memorized by heart before we could be initiated into the chapter. I remember seeing a large print version of the text framed on the wall. When I read it I knew it was specific to every Kappa Sigma, so I was not surprised when we were told to memorize it. After reading it over and over I came to appreciate its message about the honor of being a Kappa Sigma and the fact that not everyone is suited to be initiated into this chapter. It tells you that a man must be intelligent, honorable, truthful, and worthy to wear the star and crescent.

Analysis

Rites of passage such as this account of his fraternity shows how certain folk groups around the world require initiation rituals that are either physical or verbal. Shared knowledge of passages by memory create shared culture and identity between members of these groups. In knowing each and every member went through the same process and held the same requirements, they can share mutual respect because each knew what it took to join. Shared experiences that are turned into folklore help those in the folk group bond and create memories for life. This rite of passage is an example of an initiation ritual that represents members commitment to the fraternity. Beyond just memorization, is the history and shared journeys behind reciting these words, distinguishing the brothers as one folk group. This process before becoming a brother reveals a folk concept known as liminality because it is the middle ground between a non-member and a brother of this fraternity.