Category Archives: Childhood

“Handball” rules at Williams Elementary School

Age: 22

TEXT

My informant and I talked about the rules of the most popular recess game back in elementary school, handball (more popularly known as four-square). We talked about how much more distinct and difficult our school’s version of four-square was, as we had a rule in which the ball had to bounce once in your own square before it went into another square and that you could not step out of your own square. In contrast, as shown in this video, it shows people playing four-square violating all the “rules” of our version of the game and while there is outrage over rules in the comments, none of the outrage is over the fact that they are hitting the ball without bouncing the ball in their own square first.

CONTEXT

This informant is my older brother, who currently works as an engineer in Cleveland, Ohio, but grew up and attended the same elementary school as me in San Jose, California. This topic came up when I sent my informant a TikTok post showing four square clips, where we became critiques of how bad other versions of the game was. As I talked with him more about his memories of four-square over the phone, he recounted how his classmate had taught him the rules of four-square on his first day of school when we moved to San Jose, and how the game holds a special place in his heart as his favorite recess game and our memories of playing the game together as kids. While he says he hasn’t played or thought about four-square in over ten years, he affirms that the version of four-square we grew up playing is the hardest and true version of four square.

ANALYSIS

The confusion and frustration my informant experienced from this conversation encapsulate a lot of the folklore concepts our class talked about. It shows the unique aspects of multiplicity and transmission of folklore. At its core, four square is played with the same playground rubber ball with a painted square on the concrete but each school/region seems to have their own rules, and the game was informally taught to each other by our classmates. In my opinion, I think the most interesting insight I took away from this folklore came from the reactions of all the comments online. With the internet, four-square was not only able to be transmitted all over the world as kids learn about the game online, but it also allowed people who grew up playing their variation of four square to see others’ versions. However, my informant’s and the video’s comment section’s negative reaction to this other variation shows how for all individuals, they believe their version is the most authentic and aren’t hesitant to judge anything else as wrong. As a metaphor, the rules of four square could be seen as similar to moral values that a certain religion, community, or people value. Depending on the region, these “rules” will change, and as we unfortunately see, things like discrimination and hatred often stem from individuals clinging to their “rules” as the most authentic and correct, while refusing to acknowledge the fact that that other variations may exist and label them as wrong without hesitation.

Philadelphia Childhood Haunted House

Context:

H has an old house in Philadelphia, built during the Battle of Valley Forge. Her house had many rooms and hallways. She is one sibling out of the five in her family, and they would always share their ghost stories with each other.

Text:

“So I’m from outside, and if you guys know like, the Battle Valley Forge was there, like, in one of the wars. So my house is over, like, 250 years old, I’m pretty sure.
So we’ve always, like, I’m one of like five, so we’ve always, like, exchanged ghost stories with our house when we were younger. There are like, two that I really remember.

We have this thing called the Ice House and it’s basically just, like a little place that, we put, like old Christmas decorations, like storage, but it’s separate from our house. And my parents always said we couldn’t go in there because, like, I think it’s just unsafe.
It’s so old. And, like, the floor was, like, not stable. They’d always said we would fall through. 
But, like, one time, me and my brother were like, we want to go in and explore, because, like, I would love it. It was just weird. So we went in and we both swear that, like—first of all, it looked like someone was, like, using the house. 
Like, it didn’t look super old. Like, he says he saw, like, food on the counter. 
And then, like, we both, like, out of, like, in between, like, a cabinet or something, like, swear that we saw, like, a set of eyes, and then we ran out. So, yeah. And it was probably like three days after, like, one of our dogs died.”

Analysis:

This legend that my informant experienced seemed to have been built upon the history of her house. The historical events surrounding the building made a perfect background for her parents to build off of. This memorate of her brother and her exploring the house shows the implementation of the legend. Although their dog dying soon after might be a coincidence it might also just because of the haunted house, who knows.

Bangun Pagi

Age: 48

Text
Malay lyrics:
Bangun pagi, gosok gigi,
cuci muka, pakai baju,
makan roti, minum susu,
pergi sekolah, senang hati.

English translation:
Wake up, brush your teeth,
Wash your face, put on clothes,
Eat bread, drink milk,
Go to school, be happy.

*Translated from Mandarin Chinese
“I learned this song from my kindergarten teacher in Malaysia and it was a song for kids to remember their morning routines to start the day. Years later with my kids, when they were young, I would sing this song to them while waking them up before school. And they’re so hard to wake up, so I would use water on my hands to splash on their faces too, while singing the song.”

Context
This is a song that KL (who is my mom) learned 40 plus years ago as a young girl growing up in Malaysia. Even after moving to America and raising a family 40 years later, KL still remembered this song and used it as part of the routine of waking us up as that’s how the song was used when she was young.

Analysis
This is an example of verbal folklore / a folk song that my mom learned orally from her teacher in school. Functionally, it outlines a morning routine, but the value of the song is moreso found in its rhythm and memories/association with the song as a way for kids in Malaysia to wake up in the morning. It’s interesting how she turned a song that she learned from her hometown (rather than her family) into a piece of family folklore that my brothers and I still remember to this day. Bangun Pagi also represents the oral spread of folklore and folk songs, as outside of singing it, my mom never explicitly taught us the meaning of the song but my brothers and I still understand the song and its meaning from waking up to it over and over again. Sims and Stephens make a point that folklore should be understood through its context rather than purely its text, which in this case is especially interesting because even before I ever understood the actual meaning of the Malay lyrics, I knew that hearing this song meant that it was time to wake up and get ready for school. Even though my parents didn’t instill any Malay traditions in our family once they moved to America, this Malay song (which is the only Malay I know) became a core part of our family’s lore and connects us to the Malay folk.



Tiger Auntie

Speaker: “When I was little, adults would always tell us the story of Tiger Auntie before bed. It was supposed to scare children into going to sleep early and not opening the door to strangers.

The story was usually about two sisters whose parents had to go out to work at night. Before leaving, the parents would tell them very seriously, ‘Remember to lock the doors and windows once it gets dark. Do not open the door for anyone.’

The two girls would stay home alone, and then later that night someone would knock on the door. The voice outside would sound just like their aunt or grandmother. She would say, ‘Open the door, it’s me, your auntie. I came to check on you.’

At first the girls would be scared and refuse to open it. But Tiger Auntie would keep talking and tricking them, pretending to be a relative. Eventually, one of the girls would believe her and open the door.

After Tiger Auntie came inside, she would pretend to be kind and caring. She might sit with the girls, tell them to go to sleep, or stay with them through the night. But actually she was a tiger spirit pretending to be an old woman.

Then in the middle of the night, she would eat one of the sisters.

The younger sister would wake up and realize something was wrong. Sometimes she would see bones, or notice that her sister was gone, or realize Tiger Auntie had claws or a tail. Then she would get very scared, but she would pretend to stay calm.

She would say, ‘I need to go outside to use the bathroom.’

Tiger Auntie would let her go, and then the little sister would run away and climb up a tree to hide.

Tiger Auntie would chase after her and stand under the tree, trying to figure out how to get her down. In some versions of the story, the little sister tricks Tiger Auntie into climbing the tree and then burns her. In other versions, she waits there until her parents come home and save her.

That was basically the story. Adults would tell it to remind children not to open the door to strangers and not to stay up too late at night.”

Interviewer: “Did people really think Tiger Auntie was real?”

Speaker: “When you are little, you definitely think it could be real. Especially because adults tell it in such a serious way. If you stayed up too late or wanted to leave your room at night, people would say, ‘Be careful, Tiger Auntie will come.’”

Interviewer: “So it was kind of like a warning story?”

Speaker: “Yeah, definitely. It was meant to scare children into listening to their parents, going to sleep, and not opening the door for strangers.”

Context: This story was shared in an informal conversation about childhood folklore and bedtime stories in Taiwan. The speaker remembered hearing the story of Tiger Auntie repeatedly as a child, especially from older family members. The story was treated as both entertainment and a warning, and was often used to teach children to obey their parents, stay inside at night, and avoid strangers.

Analysis: The story of Tiger Auntie is one of the most well-known folk tales in Taiwan. Like many cautionary tales told to children, it combines fear with a moral lesson. This type of story is passed by generations of people to let children be cautious. The tiger spirit represents danger coming from outside the home, especially danger disguised as someone familiar or trustworthy.

Angel Kisses

Text:

“Angel Kiss”

Context:

As a child, my mother would call my sister’s freckles “angel kisses.” As I got older, I was curious about “angel kisses,” so I researched them online. Apparently, “angel kisses” often refer to both freckles and birthmarks – especially on children.

Analysis:

I believe parents call their children’s freckles and birthmarks “angel kisses” to instill them with confidence and self-love. It is a form of esoteric communication between a mother and her child. Society can sometimes look down upon features such as birthmarks and freckles, so the labeling of them as “angel kisses” evokes a sense of sacredness and beauty in spite of the world’s cruelness. It teaches children to wholly love themselves and see their beauty in uniqueness.