Category Archives: Holidays

Holidays and holiday traditions

Turning on of the Plaza Lights

Text:

My informant, from Kansas City Missouri, describes a Thanksgiving tradition in his town: “Every Thanksgiving night, Kansas City has a big thing which is the turning on of the Plaza lights. We have a big sorta commercial area/cultural center called the Plaza and they have like a million Christmas lights that stay on from November through January. But when they turn on it’s a big thing and often we try to get a local Kansas City or Missouri celebrity to do it.”

Context:

“I think it’s a source of local pride, I mean the Plaza is an important place in Kansas City and the fact that we try to get native celebrities shows that desire. There’s also like a commercial element with drawing in people and making it a big event in an area full of shops also during a time of year with shopping and stuff. It has a similar but lesser energy to like Rockefeller tree in my mind of like creating a spectacle for the holidays.”

Interpretation:

The importance of this spectacle is that it allows the group to create a spectacle that brings pride for their town. Perhaps the people of this town want there to be something that they have that other towns may not, emphasizing what it is that makes them special. They focus on the celebrities from the town, perhaps as a way of elevating the social status of the town as a whole.

Luminaria

Text:

My informant, from Kansas City Missouri, describes a Christmas tradition in his family: “So later on the day of Christmas Eve, my family helps organize a neighborhood tradition called Luminaria. I think the tradition is very Christian and comes from like Italy or Spain but we do it as a non-denominational neighborhood thing. Basically you light a bunch of candles and place them along the street on Christmas eve.”

Context:

“There’s probably a religious reason behind it that we’re unfamiliar with, but afterwards people walk around and look at the candles and it’s like a nice moment to talk to people and stuff. I think the Luminaria thing is just a source of coming together as a neighborhood for the holidays. Everyone helps and it’s a big neighborhood thing and people walk and talk and stuff. It has a sort of religious connotation but it’s kinda lost it for us and our area. I think it might be organized with other neighborhoods through a local church but our area is kinda disconnected from that.”

Interpretation:

The informant is aware of the religious origins of the traditions, but does not perform the tradition for religious reasons. What matters about the tradition is not what it is meant to represent religiously, but what it represents to the community now: It’s a way of bringing people together and connecting the neighborhood through conversation and common activity.

Sharing Music Videos on New Years

Text:

My informant, from Kansas City, Missouri, describes a New Years family tradition: “My family does this thing every New Years Eve after midnight (so after the ball drop) where we sit around and play music videos for each other until people get tired and leave.”

Context:

“It’s kinda weird but I think it started with the fact that TV is a big deal in our family and that televised New Years specials already have people performing during them so it’s like a logical progression. Beyond that, I also think it comes from my parents’ love for MTV airing music videos which they sometimes did after midnight on New Years which me and my siblings grew to love and eventually evolved into a moment of sharing our music tastes and cool videos in a fun family moment. I should also mention that my dad used to be in a band and is very big on music so he pushed this tradition a lot.”

Interpretation:

This family tradition represents how traditions can change with the rise of the digital age. The ritual of watching the ball drop in New York on New Year’s Eve is accessible to anyone because it is televised, but this family takes the ritual a step further by transitioning the event into a period of sharing with each other pieces of art and culture from the cyberspace that they have come to enjoy. The informant’s parent’s connection to MTV is indicative of their generation, and this has since evolved to reflect the online culture of the informant’s generation. This ritual represents a connection across generations through music and virtual media.

New Year’s Traditions

Age: 18

Context

AG is my friend from back home in Chicago, Illinois. She was born in Joliet, Illinois and then moved to Chicago when she was five years old. Her mother was born and raised in Joliet and is of Mexican descent. Her father immigrated to California when he was twenty five years old from El Salvador. He then moved to Joliet when he was thirty. 

Text

DO (interviewer):  I know that we often talk about certain superstitions or things that our families do during the holidays. Can you talk to me more about which one or ones you consider to be your favorite? Or one, or ones, that you do the most often?

AG: The one we have the most fun with is probably the suitcase one on New Years. It’s so fun dude. 

DO: Can you talk more about it? 

AG: So, the saying goes. Once midnight hits on New Year’s Eve, so technically I guess it’s New Year’s Day at that point. Anyway. Once it hits you run around with an empty suitcase. Just around your block a few times and this will ensure that you travel a lot in the upcoming year. 

DO: What does this tradition mean to you and what’s your stance on it? Do you believe it works?

AG: Well, growing up we were mad poor. You know this. Even after we moved to the city we didn’t have much money, you know? So it was fun to just run around with my parents and just dream and hope. I’ve traveled a few times throughout my life so I’d say that even if it doesn’t work I’d like to think it does. I’ve never not done it because I wanna travel girl! 

Analysis

The informant and her family have this holiday tradition/ritual every year to bring in lots of traveling. My family also has similar stories of performing this tradition when they were younger, so there are cultural ties to this. However, this empty suitcase travel method is a ritual not tied to a specific cultural community; many cultures have some variation of this lore. Past just performing it because of cultural beliefs, the informant holds a particular superstition about it. She believes that if she doesn’t stick to this tradition, then she will travel less. As she also mentioned, this was a way for her and her family to remain hopeful for future fun during rough times. It is special to the informant for this reason, and she continues to perform it and believes that it helps her travel more. 

New Year’s Traditions

Nationality: Colombian American
Age: 19

Context 

SD is my close friend here at USC. Her parents are both from Columbia and immigrated to the US. Her mother is from Cartagena, Colombia, and immigrated to Newark, New Jersey, when she was sixteen. Her father is from Salento, Colombia, and immigrated to Clifton, New Jersey, when he was twenty. They all now reside in Orlando, Florida. 

Text

DO (interviewer): I’m interested to know if your family has any New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day traditions that you practice to ring in the new year?

SD: I think we have a couple different ones in my family. The first one has to do with grapes. With eating grapes. Basically, you get a bunch of grapes New Year’s Eve early in the morning. Then you wait until it’s ten minutes before the New Year comes. So 11:50. Then you start eating grapes. 

DO: Is there something specific that you do or say when eating the grapes? And what significance do the grapes have for your family’s New Year? 

SD: Yes! So. Each grape is the equivalent of one wish. So for each grape that you eat you’ll have one wish granted. So you just have to close your eyes and make a wish and really believe that the wish is gonna come true, then eat the grape and it’s done. 

DO: Nice. I like that. Are there any other traditions that you especially like? 

SD: I wouldn’t say that I like this one per say, but my sisters do. This one just says that you wear a specific color of underwear to sleep on New Year’s Eve and when you wake up on New Year’s Day the process to getting you that thing starts. *pauses* 


SD: Wait, that sounds confusing, let me reword that. Essentially, let’s say that you want to manifest love into your life. You’ll wear red underwear. And so on for all the colors. The colors go like this: yellow is money, green I think is more time outside or in nature, pink is friendship, white is peace, and blue is health. So you wear whatever color underwear to bed right. Then you wake up the next morning and lets keep with the red example. So you wake up the next morning and the universe or God or whatever you believe in is now making the path to get you a nice relationship.

DO: You mentioned that your sisters like this one a lot. How do you feel about it?

SD: I think I’m more of a grapes type of person. Honestly, I’ve been doing that one since I was a kid so I think to me it still has that spark of childhood magic to me. But the underwear thing seems like a scam to me. But who knows. 

Analysis

After speaking more with the informant, she said these beliefs came from her parent’s Colombian roots. In my family, we also share a similar tradition both with the grapes and the colored underwear, so I believe that this holiday tradition does have ties to Latinx folklore. The grapes can also be considered children’s folklore in this informant’s case. She mentioned how when she was younger, she started off performing these “rituals” so even if they may not actually grant her wishes, she chooses to continue to do so. This shows the importance of children’s folklore and the types of impressions that it leaves on us as we continue to grow. Sometimes things that we consider “magic” as children continue to be a connection to that feeling as we age.