Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

College rite of passage Tradition

Informant: “One of the traditions I remember most from Yale happens on Class Day, when we all sing the alma mater, “Bright College Years.” Toward the very end of the ceremony, everyone pulls out these white handkerchiefs and starts waving them during the final line: “For God, for country, and for Yale!”

It’s kinda the moment where you realize everyone around you is about to go their separate ways. You’re all doing the same thing, singing, waving these white handkerchiefs, and kind of holding onto that shared experience for just a little longer. It’s simple, but it really sticks with you.”

Context: The informant attended Yale University in the 80s and attended the Class Day celebration the day before graduation at the university. She recalled this tradition after being prompted if there were any traditions at her university. 

Analysis: This tradition is a clear example of institutional folklore, where a formal organization (Yale) sustains and transmits a ritual that becomes meaningful through repeated student participation. The act of waving white handkerchiefs during a specific line of “Bright College Years” acts as a ritual, tied to the incoming graduation.

This is also a rite of passage, marking the shift from individuals being students to alumni. The waving creates a visible sense of unity and collective identity, while the lyrics reinforce shared values. Even though the handkerchiefs have been officially distributed since 1984, the meaning of the tradition comes from its performance and emotional resonance, not just its institutional origin.

Tamales at Christmas

Text: Making tamales every Christmas in an assembly-line style with family.

Context: The informant, who is Mexican American and grew up in Texas near the border, participates in a yearly Christmas tradition where family members gather to prepare tamales together. Each person takes on a specific role in the process (spreading masa, adding filling, wrapping), creating a collaborative, assembly-line system.

Analysis: This is a strong example of foodways folklore, specifically a holiday-based family tradition rooted in Mexican and Mexican American cultural practices. Tamale-making at Christmas is a tradition, but the assembly-line method highlights its communal nature, turning food preparation into a ritualized family activity. The repetition of this practice each year reinforces cultural identity and the intergenerational nature of the practice. Knowledge and roles of the activity are passed down within the family.

St. Patrick’s Day Tradition

Informant: Patrick’s Day is kind of a big deal for us.

We usually make a whole meal, roast beef and definitely Irish soda bread. But the best part is this tradition we have with our family friends. We always do this group dance, I think it’s called the Siege of Ennis. It’s for eight people, and there are a lot of formations and patterns. It’s a little chaotic, but really fun.

We do it every year, and I always end up filming it. It’s usually a mix of a bunch of drunk adults and me trying to keep up and make sure I get it on video. It’s kind of a mess, but in the best way.

It’s one of those traditions that’s just stuck, and now it wouldn’t feel like St. Patrick’s Day without it.

Context: The informant is from an Irish American family on the East Coast of the US. Both sides of their family are Irish, but are not first-generation Americans. 

Analysis: At the broad level, St. Patrick’s Day provides a fairly basic backdrop for this family tradition. It’s a widely recognized holiday associated with Irish identity, food, and celebration. The meal (roast beef, Irish soda bread) reflects the more traditional foodways the family participates in during the holiday. Even if the exact dishes vary from “authentic” Irish cuisine, what matters is that they are understood by the group as symbolically Irish and tied to the occasion.

The dance, the Siege of Ennis, introduces another layer. Unlike invented family traditions, this is a formal, traditional Irish dance with established steps and formations. When the ngroup performs it, they are engaging in a form of folk dance, even if informally learned or imperfectly executed.

Thanksgiving Tradition

Age 20

Informant “Growing up, we always watched [Pactical Magic] when I was a kid. Then, during COVID, we started watching it a lot again. My family all lives in the same town, so Thanksgiving used to be a huge gathering—like 35 or 40 people—because we’re basically all neighbors. We’d always go to my aunt’s house.

But because of COVID, we couldn’t do that anymore. Everyone had Thanksgiving at their own houses, and we started having a smaller one at my grandma’s. There were still a lot of people, but it dropped to around nine, which was a big change.

Around that time, we started doing something inspired by a scene in Practical Magic called “Midnight Margaritas.” In the movie, they make margaritas, turn on the song “Coconut” (the “lime in the coconut” song), and dance around the table. We do a kid-friendly version—no margaritas—but after we say grace, we turn on “Coconut” and dance around the table until the song ends. We have to finish the song before we can eat.

It’s honestly such a random tradition. My aunt and I were like, “This would be so fun if we started doing this,” and it just stuck. At the time, we didn’t know how long things would be different because of the pandemic, but now it’s something we do every year.

We only do it if Thanksgiving is at my grandparents’ house—it’s just not the same anywhere else. Plus, no one else really knows the movie like we do. But it’s really fun, and it’s kind of special to look back on videos of it. You can see how much everyone has changed—some of the kids weren’t even walking back then, and now they are. It’s cool to see that transformation over time.

Context: Following the COVID-19 pandemic the informant’s family started a new Thanksgiving tradition based on a movie they watched a lot as a family. It only occurs when they are at her grandmother’s house. 

Analysis: 

While this tradition is ultra-specific to the informant’s family, I think it is an interesting example of “family lore” possibly being created. Twenty years down the line, when this tradition is still possibly occurring the lines of how and why this tradition may be blurred and have a story passed down with it. 

More generally this is a  family-based ritual tradition embedded within the larger cultural framework of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving itself is a widely recognized American holiday centered on food, gathering, and expressions of gratitude, but what the informant described shows how individual families develop micro-traditions that distinguish their celebration from others.

It is also evidence of how pop culture and access to the internet can affect long-held traditions of groups and shape the way they are done moving forward.

Colombian New Year’s Grapes

Age: 22

Text
“A tradition that my family has, it’s a Colombian tradition, is that on New Year’s Eve when it hits midnight I eat 12 grapes in the first 12 seconds of the new year under the table. So like my siblings and I will crawl under the table and literally just like, basically just stuff grapes into our mouths as fast as we can and it basically means good luck for the whole year.”

Context
CM describes a Colombian tradition that has always ran in her family for as long as she can remember. It’s a tradition that she does along with her siblings every New Year’s Eve to New Years transition, and it’s held in high regard in her extended family as good luck. CM also says that she isn’t sure when she started participating or who started it in her family, she just remembers participating every year.

Analysis
The 12 grapes tradition is a Colombian/family tradition that CM has participated in since she was young. She doesn’t remember when it started or who taught it to her and felt that it was always just a part of her life, which shows how folklore is disseminated informally through participation. This tradition includes aspects of sympathetic (specifically homeopathic) magic, with the relation between 12 grapes, 12 seconds, and 12 months of the new year working to create good luck. This tradition is also part of the holiday/festival that is the New Year’s celebration to transition into a new year filled with positivity and luck.