Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Tradition

Age: 50
Occupation: Tax Accountant
Residence: Newberg, OR
Performance Date: April 19, 2008
Primary Language: English

Original script/version:

Chris said, “Since the first Christmas I can remember, my family has always had this special way of delivering stockings and organizing Christmas mornings. It starts with Santa delivering the stockings in the middle of the night and putting them on the end of everyone’s bed. That way, in the morning, we could wake up and our stockings would be right there. We then had a rule that we could not leave our rooms until my parents said so. We usually decided on Christmas Eve what time we could go to the living room.”

My dad said because he had six other siblings, this tradition might have been passed between large families as a simple method of crowd control. He is pretty sure his parents did not start it. Instead of having seven little kids running around and screaming on Christmas morning, this was a way of keeping all the children occupied and quiet until the adults were ready to start the morning festivities.

This tradition was carried out by my own parents, and I like. It is not the traditional: hang-the-stockings-over-the-fireplace, but it is still our tradition. Me and my sister would always wake up at like 5:30 and meet in one of our rooms to look in our stockings. I am not aware of any other families that use this same method of delivering stockings, but my father said that in Europe, there is more variety in how people handle stockings on Christmas.

Tradition – Greek

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pittsburg, PA
Performance Date: April 23, 2008
Primary Language: English

Original script/version:

“At weddings, a tradition is to take the groom away from the reception and then put the bride in the center of a circle of dancing people, apparently. Then, the groom comes back to ‘rescue’ the bride (I kid you not)… and he has to “red-rover style” break through the circle.”

Allison said she witnessed this even first hand at her older brother’s wedding three years ago. Her family is Greek originally but she did not know about this tradition. She was surprised when it happened because she had not been instrumental in planning the wedding.

This wedding ceremony seems to coincide nicely with many other European wedding traditions that involve separating the bride and the groom. After the groom is separated, he has to come back, break through a wall of people, to then rescue his bride. This could symbolize how the two are now going to be combining their lives and the groom is responsible for the welfare of his wife. Breaking the chain of people could also be symbolic of “crossing the threshold” that is seen in other European wedding folklore.

Tradition – Latvian

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pittsburg, PA
Performance Date: April 18, 2008
Primary Language: English

“It is traditional to sing this one song at Latvian weddings, it is sort of their “song of the open road” if you will.  Also, Latvian weddings are usually three day celebrations.

The song (or “daina”) that my family sang at my brother Alex’s wedding was the first time I had heard it(I hadn’t been to any Latvian weddings before that).  It is called “??rbies, saule sudrabota, “. I don’t know an English translation for it, sorry.  As for the three day party that ensues, that is something that I first learned about also at my brother’s wedding, but as far as I am aware, that’s a very northern European thing to do; I think the Swedes are all about that. “  -Kate P.

The English translation of the title is Sun, Clothe Yourself in Silver. I couldn’t find the lyrics to the song, or the English translation, but it sounds as those it is almost a song wishing him good luck as he moves onto the next part of his life.

To address the three day wedding ceremony, in the International Folkloristics by Dundes, there is a chapter by Geza Roheim that talks about many interesting European wedding traditions. The ancient wedding festival could last for weeks so this seems to be a natural, modern evolution of those festivals.

To reference in text:

Straumanis, Alfreds. The Golden Steed: Seven Baltic Plays. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, 1979. Pg. 180

Tradition

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pittsburg, PA
Performance Date: April 18, 2008
Primary Language: English

Original script/version:

“It has been a family tradition to open presents on Christmas Eve, and then open our Santa presents on Christmas day.”

Kate said she felt like this was definitely a European tradition that hailed from her mother’s side of the family (the Swiss side). She said her mother also practiced the same tradition while she was growing up.

There seem to be many, many varieties of celebrating Christmas and handling the unwrapping of presents. The reason for moving the present wrapping could be two fold. Some families may like to concentrate more on the religious aspect of Christmas during the day, so they more the more consumer oriented portion to the night before. It could also be a way to spread out the festivities.

Many of European wedding traditions mentioned in Alan Dundes International Folkoristics book had special rituals and celebrations on Christmas Eve.

For further reference in text, see:

Etzioni, Amitai. We Are What We Celebrate : Understanding Holidays and Rituals. New York: New York University Press, 2004. Pg. 135.

Tradition

Nationality: American
Age: 49
Occupation: Manager
Residence: Newberg, OR
Performance Date: April 18, 2008
Primary Language: English

Tradition: Gift opening

“Since I was young my family has had a tradition for opening presents on Christmas morning. Instead of having everyone just grab gifts willy-nilly, the youngest person in the family, which was my brother, would find one gift for everyone. Then each person would open their gift, while the others waited. When everyone had opened their gift for that “round,” the next youngest would go. And we would go through the whole family like that. Once my dad had gone, he went last because he was the oldest, we would start at the beginning again. We would just repeat this until all the presents were opened.

My mom says that her father learned the tradition from a fellow police officer while working with the Los Angeles Police Department. She says it was a way of slowing Christmas morning down, avoiding all the crazy and hectic rush for presents that can happen if there is no order. This tradition also allows for everyone to equally be involved, and not have the morning monopolized by excited little kids or overpowering adults.

She said this is one of the few Munkres (maiden name) traditions that she carried over to her own family. She likes it now because instead of people just grabbing all the presents with their name on it, everyone essentially gets to give their presents all over again.

I feel like this tradition would find its origins among the poorer social classes. If there are less presents under the Christmas tree, the parents would want to find every way possible to extend the enjoyment of Christmas morning. Although we are not necessarily poor nor was my mother’s family, it is still a way of remembering those that don’t have as much to give, while also creating a more family oriented atmosphere on Christmas.