Category Archives: general

May Day in the Midwest

Nationality: American
Age: 55
Residence: Vacaville, CA

Text: In the Midwest, especially in places like Iowa, May Day is celebrated on May 1st as a fun, lighthearted way to welcome spring. Kids make small “May baskets” filled with candy, popcorn, and flowers, often using simple materials like construction paper or Dixie cups with pipe cleaner handles. These baskets are left on friends’ or neighbors’ doors, and if the person catches the one who delivered it, they’re supposed to give them a kiss. The tradition is more about celebrating spring and community than the labor-related history of May Day.

Although the global version of May Day has ties to labor rights and political activism, the Midwestern American version is far more centered on themes of renewal, creativity, and community. It marks the arrival of spring after a long winter, offering an opportunity for neighbors, friends, and classmates to connect through small acts of kindness and thoughtful creativity.

Context: Oh, May Day was so fun growing up. I’m from Iowa, and every year we’d make these little May baskets for our classmates or neighbors. We’d use construction paper and just roll it into a cone or sometimes Dixie cups with pipe cleaners for handles. You’d fill them with popcorn, candy, maybe some flowers if you had them. Then you’d sneak over to someone’s house, hang the basket on their door, knock or ring the bell, and run. If they caught you, they were supposed to kiss you! That was always the funny part—sometimes it was just silly, but other times it was your way of letting a boy know you liked him. I definitely remember leaving a basket on a boy’s door I had a crush on. It wasn’t about the real meaning of May Day ready for color and fun again. It was this sweet, creative little tradition that everyone got into.

My Analysis: I find this variant of the celebration of May Day to be particularly interesting because it really has nothing to do with labor or politics in any obvious way. The heart of the celebration is simply kids getting creative, having fun, and building community with one another. It reminds me of a tradition I and many other used to do around Halloween, Boo Baskets, where you’d leave the basket full of candy and toys on a neighbors door, ring the doorbell, and run. These fun traditions are meant to create special moments for the children that participate that last in their memories for life. That is why they are so encouraged by the parents that make them happen. It’s all about reliving that fond memory through seeing your children experiment it and in that way their joy creates joy in you. On a separate note, I do believe the themes of rebirth and rest harkened to in this celebration are evocative of the celebration of labor advancements. Without the push for a larger share of leisure time made in the early 1900’s, we would not be able to enjoy the beauty of springtime in the way we can today. This welcoming of flowers and new growth reminds those local to these celebrations to take time to smell the flowers and enjoy the simple pleasures that come with the changing seasons.

The Renaissance Fair

Nationality: American
Age: 54
Occupation: Unemployed
Residence: Vacaville, CA
Language: English

Text: The Renaissance Fair is a themed festival that recreates aspects of life during the Renaissance era. Held annually in places like Novato, California, the fair features costumed participants, staged jousting matches, medieval-style music and dancing, handcraft demonstrations, and food like roasted turkey legs. Visitors often dress up and speak in faux “Old English” dialects, fully immersing themselves in the historical fantasy. In the 1970s and 1980s, the fair in Novato was a major regional event that lasted for a month, attracting people from all over Northern California. While many attended only for a day, it offered an intense and theatrical experience of a different time period.

Context: Yeah, we used to go to the Renaissance Fair back in the ’70s and early ’80s—probably about four or five times when I was a kid, like from age seven to twelve. It was in Novato, and people came from all over Northern California for it. It ran for a month, but we’d just go one day each year with the family.

Everyone really went all in. People dressed in full costume—like knights, peasants, royalty—all of it. They talked in these funny fake Old English accents the whole time, like “Good morrow, my lord!” kind of stuff. There were beer-drinking competitions, workshops, handcrafts, singing, dancing, and this big jousting arena set up in the middle. It was dusty and hot—always in the summer—so I mostly remember the heat, the dirt, and how packed it would get.

The tents were set up in these big circles, kind of like a village. And everyone was walking around eating those giant cooked turkey legs. As a kid, it felt like stepping into another world. I remember the singing and dancing being really cool, and just seeing people so into it. It was like going to a regular fair, but with way more character.

Analysis: I find this recurring fair very fascinating as it claims to be centered around the time period of the Renaissance, yet is not very strict about historical accuracy. To me what it seems to be more focused on is imagination, performance, and community. It appears to be less of a history lesson and more of a form of storytelling, where everyone becomes a character in a large whimsical play. While there are technically performers and audience members, the involvement and integration of both makes the lines blur between the two. This type of immersion into a different world is not the type of memory a kid forgets easily. I think that’s why these type of event continue to be so popular. They offer families a way to create memories that will last a lifetime.

I think festivals also reflect a more modern desire for play and theatricality in adulthood. This type of festival demands buy in and participation, you must create the joy rather than just receive it.

A.B. Rent-a-Camel

Nationality: American
Age: 82
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Tucson, AZ

A guy needs to travel across the desert and the only way to get across this desert is by camel. He comes across a place that rents camels called A.B. Rent-a-Camel. He asks A.B., who runs the place, for a camel and A.B. says “follow me” and shows him to his camel. The man notices there’s a bag of bricks on the side of the camel but thinks nothing of it. A.B. says “before you leave you need to take the camel to the watering trough and have him drink, so the man does. He begins his journey and about halfway through his camel stops walking and sits down. The man tries slapping and yelling at the camel but nothing will make him move. Later in the day A.B. comes up on his camel and asks what happened. The man replies, “it just stoped”. A.B. asks “well did you brick him?”. The man says “what’s bricking?”. A.B. says “Well when the camel is drinking from the trough you take the two bricks from the bag and slam them against his nuts”. The man says “doesn’t that hurt?” and A.B. replies, “not if you keep your thumbs on the outside of the bricks.”

Informant Analysis: I first heard this joke from my father and it’s been one of my favorites to tell ever since. No matter what party you’re at or who is there, it’s sure to get a laugh from anyone. My father had lot’s of good jokes but this was definitely my favorite of them all.

My Analysis: This joke, passed down from the informant’s father, works as a way to connect and get people laughing together. The over-the-top punchline and ridiculous imagery use discomfort to catch people off guard and make the joke hit harder. The fake “bricking” technique is a funny twist on the kind of weird advice older generations pass down. It plays like a long-winded story that ends in a totally unexpected way, which is part of what makes it so memorable. More than just a joke, it shows how humor can be a way to share connection, surprise, and a little chaos.

Seven Degrees of Separation From Kevin Bacon

Nationality: American
Age: 54
Occupation: Unemployed
Language: English

Informant Analysis: I first heard about the “Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon” when I was younger. The idea is that any actor, or really any person, can be linked to Kevin Bacon through seven or less people. It’s like a pop culture twist on the “six degrees of separation” theory, which suggests everyone on Earth is connected by six or fewer people. My dad always thought it was funny and kind of spooky how often it worked. It stuck with me because it turns celebrity culture into something you can play with.

My Analysis: This idea that everyone is somehow connected to Kevin Bacon is a fun way people explore how weirdly small the world can feel. It plays into this deeper belief that we’re all more connected than we realize, especially through pop culture. The randomness of using Kevin Bacon as the center makes it more of a running joke, but it still explores how interesting social networks are. At its core, it’s about how connections, coincidence, and community.

Paul Bunyan

Nationality: American
Age: 55
Residence: Vacaville, CA
Language: English

Informant Analysis: I grew up in Iowa, but I remember always hearing stories about Paul Bunyan when I was a kid. We used to go up to Leech Lake in Minnesota for vacations, which is right next to Paul Bunyan State Forest, so his name was everywhere. I heard that there were 10,000 lakes in Minnesota, and the story went that Paul Bunyan and his big blue ox, Babe, made them all just by stomping around. There’s this huge statue of him in Bemidji, and I remember seeing it for the first time and thinking, “Oh wow, this must be real.” For a while, I actually believed it—that some giant lumberjack had made the lakes just walking through the woods.

My Analysis: The informant’s memory of Paul Bunyan shows how folklore can shape a sense of place and identity, especially in childhood. Growing up hearing the legend and visiting places like Leech Lake and Bemidji, she associated real landscapes with this larger-than-life figure. The fact that she believed it as a child shows how folklore isn’t just a story, it becomes a way of understanding the world, especially when it’s reinforced by tangible things like statues and place names. The tale of Paul Bunyan creating Minnesota’s lakes is very whimsical, but it offers a cultural explanation for the landscape and reflects the importance of logging and wilderness in the identity of that region.