Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

The Legend of Emma Rose

Nationality: American

Age: 22

Occupation: Student/Gemini

Residence: Los Angeles, California

Performance Date: 4/10/18

Primary Language: English

Language: Spanish

Bella Estrada, a senior studying History at the University of Southern California, who hails from Los Angeles, California, provided four pieces of folklore for this collection.

The interview was run, amidst dinner and drinks, at the University of Southern California located Greenleaf, a popular post-class bar for many students at the prestigious institution.

Folk Performance: The Legend of Emma Rose.

Folk Type: Legend.

“There’s got to be school-wide folklore, right? I mean we’re a community” – Stanley Kalu

Story: ohhh, I have one! um, so when I was a freshman, there was this one girl who became notorious for adding every single person that was on the class of 2018 Facebook group and she ended up rushing Delta Gamma and she got a bid. But, her little social faux-pas of adding everyone made her the target of such social reprimand that she dropped out. She will go down in history as one of our classes’ craziest figures.

Background Information: Bella remembers this piece of folklore because she was actively against the reprimand of a girl just trying to make friends. She learned of this through the aforementioned Facebook group.

Context Performance: This piece of folklore actually stems from the digital realm and was largely performed over the Internet.

The context of Bella’s rehashing of the tale was done after our “Forms of Folklore” class taught by Tok Thompson because the both of us had a folklore collection project due.

Thoughts: This situation is an act of cyber-bullying, which showcases the darker side of folklore. Folk-Persons, historically, have been paragons of strength and awe—take the Legend of Davy Crockett or the Tales of Tom Sawyer for example—it is interesting then to see it function in an opposite manner.

White Lighters

Nationality: American

Age: 23

Occupation: Photographer

Residence: Chula Vista, San Diego

Performance Date: 4/22/18

Primary Language: English

Ethan Newmayer, a free-lance photographer working for Louis Vuitton, who hails from, Chula Vista, San Diego, three pieces of folklore for this collection.

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

Folk Performance: White Lighters.

Folk Type: Folk Belief.

“I feel like there’s a ton of meaning imbued into everyday objects, particularly in the art world—the cigarette, the paintbrush…” – Stanley Kalu

STORY: It’s more of a widespread thing, but the white lighter myth, you know what I mean? It’s part of like the twenty-seven club, um, like famous musicians that died at age twenty-seven supposedly with a white lighter in their pockets. So, if you have a white light, especially if you’re 27, it’s just bad news. You might die. But white lighters in general are seen as bad luck.

Background information: The background of the white lighter curse was described within the story. The legend is primarily based on the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain.

Context of performance: The Marijuana sub-culture adopted this legend as true and, as such, it is a widespread within the state of California.

Ethan learned about this from his peers in high school and likes it because it relates to musicians that he really respects.

Thoughts: This legend has been debunked several times. Kurt Cobain did not have a white lighter. The Bic Company didn’t even produce white lighters when Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison were alive. I suppose it persists, in part, due to cognitive dissonance and because it is lumped together with the true story of great musicians dying at 27.

The Story of “Die Guschger Sennenpuppe”

Nationality: German

Age: 21

Performance Date: 04/23/18

There’s a story called the Die Guschger Sennenpuppe. A Senn is like the people who tend to the fields Gusgher is the area where I’m from and puppe is doll… This is all in dialect though. This is like specifically from my area. So the Guschg is an alp in property of the town of Shawn where the shepherd’s and the alpine hill folk in there free time had fun. One day the made a doll out of old rags. She was life sized and the hill folk would speak to her and treat her like a real human. They would place her at the dinner table and feed her. She would even have to tolerate punches and being stabbed. Shortly before the Transhumans, which is a ritual of bringing cows down from the alps the doll was sat at the table and suddenly started to talk. All of the people that were working on the alps were so scared and they could barely contain themselves. The doll said “All of you except for one are allowed to go down the alp and leave with the cattle, but one of you has to stay with me” and she pointed to one shepherd and he was forced to stay. As the rest of the shepherds looked back from Valorsch, one more time, they saw the skin of the shepherd that stayed behind, stretched over the roof of the alp hut. Next to it sat the doll, laughing.

Where did you first hear this story?

At school and at campfires, this is our folklore so we would just hear these stories. The first time I heard this was probably when I was in kindergarten.

My Thoughts

There’s a ton of scary stories about living dolls. Usually they deal with the life of a demon manifesting itself in the body of a doll. This however makes no mention of a demon. I am also slightly off put by the fact that as a kindergartner you would hear this story. This to me is like letting a five year old watch Saw.

The Girl Who Cried Wolf

Nationality: German

Age: 57

Performance Date: 04/22/18

When I was younger, my parents wanted to teach me a lesson about lying. The used to tell me the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” except as a girl they used to tell it to me as “The Girl Who Cried Wolf.” It was actually the same story… but with a girl instead of a boy. It really did help though, I don’t lie often haha. I suppose I’m glad they told me the story.

Can you tell me the story the way you’re parents told you?

Ok sure. There once was a little girl who lived by herself on a farm. Her neighbors were very friendly and would always help her when she needed it. If she needed a cup of flour they would give her a whole bag, if she needed some firewood they would chop down a tree and give her all the wood from it. One day, she was, outside tending to her farm animals when she heard a rustle in the leaves. “OH NO” she cried “WOLF WOLF WOLF.” They neighbors came running to help but when they got there, nothing was there. “Sorry” she said. “I thought there was a wolf.” The neighbors, being the nice people they were let it go and went back home. The next day the girl was out tending her crops, when she heard the barn door creak. “WOLF WOLF WOLF” she cried again. As could be expected the neighbors came running over to help the girl. “Sorry” she said, “I thought there was a wolf.” The neighbors were a little upset but the left and went home anyways. The following day, the little girl was outside gathering grain for bread, and she heard splashing in the stream. “WOLF WOLF WOLF” she cried yet again. The neighbors came running fearing that their neighbor and friend was in danger. When they got there… nothing. “Sorry,” she said, “I really thought there was a wolf.” The neighbors got fed up with this and vowed to come to her rescue ever again. On the fourth day, the girl was outside hanging up her laundry when she saw an actual wolf approaching her. “WOLF WOLF WOLF” she cried out. But no one came to rescue her… “WOLF WOLF WOLF” She yelled again. But still, nothing. The wolf came closer and ate the girl alive. And all along the neighbors never came to help her because they had been tricked too many times.

My Thoughts:

My parents told me the same story all the time (The Boy Who Cried Wolf). I think it’s an interesting way to teach the lesson about lying although to be honest, she might have been an overly cautions easily scared girl… or boy, I suppose. It’s interesting how violence can scare young children into doing the right thing.

The One About Ferrari’s and Fidelity

Nationality: Armenian

Age: 20

Performance Date: 04/09/18

So I know this joke that I was told by my dad when I was little… So it goes like this, it’s the one with the cheating and the Ferrari… it goes like this. So one man dies and is at the gates of heaven. He approaches St. Peter and St. Peter says, “you’ve been a good man, you’ve never cheated on your wife so to get around heaven you will get a Ferrari. The man then goes through the gates of heaven. Another man dies and is at the gates of heaven. He approaches St. Peter and St. Peter says, “you’ve been an ok man you’ve only cheated a few times, so you get a broken down Toyota. The man then goes through the gates of heaven. He see’s the first man in the Ferrari crying and approaches him. “What’s wrong?” he asks. And the man replies, “I just saw my wife on a skateboard!”

Why did your dad tell you this?

I don’t really remember, but I think it was probably as a way to say don’t cheat. It’s a satire to teach a lesson about cheating like “oh if you cheat you’ll have to ride a skateboard in heaven” or something like that.