Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

If you eat the crusts of bread, your hair (or teeth) will curl

Text

“If you eat the crusts of bread, your hair will curl.”

Context

Dad: When I was growing up, uh, I don’t know if my mom would say this or, somehow we got it in our heads that and it could be folklore that she had, but if you eat the crusts of bread, your hair will curl.

Interviewer: Like just the crust? Like if you eat it off of the bread?

Dad: Um, I think it was like to make sure that you ate your crust. It was sort of like encouragement to eat your crusts of bread. So you were supposed to eat the bread, but also. But particularly don’t don’t forget to eat the crusts of bread ’cause it makes your hair curl.

Interviewer: Did you and your siblings want curly hair?

Dad: Uuuuuh… I was ambivalent about, I wasn’t particularly interested in curly hair. I, in fact at some point in my mind… it warped into, ‘if you eat crusts of bread, your teeth will curl.’ *laughs* And I didn’t know what that meant, but I think routinely would get- if ever I brought that up, it got, you know, someone in the family was around to correct me or remind me, ‘no it’s your har will curl.’ *laughs*

Interviewer: But…So did you avoid eating crusts of bread?

Dad: No, cause I think it must have been introduced to me as my mom te– as like, ‘well… they always say…’ you know, one of those things, and so because I- cause it was framed as, ‘well they always say…’ then I kne — then I didn’t take it as something that actually happens. I took it as… you know

Analysis

As my dad mentioned, it is likely the case that this belief was developed to encourage children to eat the crusts of their bread to get the most nutritional value out of the bread (a belief which is itself folklore) and avoid food waste. This would suggest that the folk group that held this belief valued curly hair, and that my dad was unique in his indifference about the possibility.

My dad’s lack of concern around his hair or teeth being curled is interesting because it suggests a certain type of relationship with folklore. When he refers to the belief as, “it was framed as ‘well they always say…’ him and his mother are both acknowledging the folkloric nature of the belief. My dad’s mother claims deniability by attributing the origin of the belief elsewhere, saving herself from having to take responsibility when neither the children’s hair nor their teeth curl after eating the crusts of bread.

Rocky Horror Picture Show Callback Response

Text

Hey! I heard this movie was made in New York City! *group response* New York City? Get a rope!

Context

The informant is a cast member in a weekly performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show that takes place on Saturday night at midnight. While the movie is being screened, there are many vulgar things the audience shouts back at the film at specific points. There are also actors on stage performing scenes from the movie as it is being played.

This particular callback happens in response to the character named Frank dieing.

Analysis

The screening of Rocky Horror Picture Show serves as a sort of festival for alternative and queer youth. By developing and memorizing all of the callbacks involved, audience members communicate their dedication and belonging to the folk group. Some callbacks are universal such as calling the character named Janet a slut and the character named Brad an asshole, but others are regional or specific to a particular cast. Therefore, based on the callbacks you are familiar with, you might be communicating your identity within your local community or an international one.

Rocky Horror Picture show is infamous for being a place for the vulgar and the taboo. Many of the scenes and callbacks are not deemed socially acceptable in the real world, even by the alternative community that find so much belonging in the show. In this way, screenings of Rocky Horror Picture Show serve as festivals in that they provide an opportunity for social norms to be turned on their head. In doing so, they may provide a socially acceptable form of release of tension just to return to reality or serve as a rehearsal for revolution.

This informant attributed this particular callback to a salsa advertisement in which a cowboy is in distress because he has run out of salsa. When he is given a less than sufficient replacement, he exclaims, “This stuff’s made in New York City?!” The rest of the cowboys respond by saying, “New York City?! Get a rope.” This pop-culture reference is an inside joke that is related to the scene taking place.

“Shit Damn Motherfucker” – Theatre Ritual

Text: “Shit damn motherfucker / motherfucker damn / this dumb bitch just stole my man / got to find another fucker better than the other fucker / shit damn motherfucker / motherfucker damn”

Context: HC is a Theatre BA at USC, and has performed / participated in many musicals on campus.

HC: I first encountered “shit damn motherfucker” during MTR’s Fun Home, my first show at USC. If I’m remembering correctly, the seniors taught it to us. You repeat it three or four times, starting really quiet and getting really, really loud, like shouting and jumping all together. It’s like– a way for the cast to get energized and pumped for the performance. From then on… I believe I’ve done it before every USC production I’ve been a part of? It just gets passed down by word of mouth by those who’ve done shows at USC before, which I think is very special. I love it, because it gets everyone connected, grounded, and really free before a show. I think it’s like… a way to get the cast out of their heads and into their bodies. Allowing them to be present and prepared for the work they’re about to do!

Analysis: I agree with HC’s analysis of this–I think the ridiculousness of the tradition allows for an outlet for nerves. It’s a reminder to not catastrophize or overthink–instead allowing the actors to have fun, jump, scream, swear in their friends’ faces, and get adrenaline up for the performance. Similar to a lot of pre-show rituals for theatre, it’s a unifying experience, and something of a reset for the entire group before undertaking a practiced performance.

Pre-show ritual – Will Bundy

Text:

CS: We would gather… usually it was before every opening. We would all gather together, um, like, everyone on the crew. And the stage manager, who would be calling the show, would say a prayer to the theatre gods. And we would all have out hands on their head in a circle around them. And then they would say like, “I just hope this show goes well, everyone did so good…” usually it was something along those lines. And once they were done, we would all raise up our arms and go “whoooooooa, Bundy!”

Context: CS is a college student in Southern California who attended an arts high school in Santa Ana. This school had conservatories focused on different art forms, and CS was in Production & Design (P&D), which focused on technical theatre and design elements in live performance.

CS: I have been told conflicting things.My brother, he says that it’s like how in The Mighty Ducks, the movies, they would say “quack, quack!” Like, that’s our “quack, quack.” But, um, the lore that I was told is that Will Bundy was the first P&D student admitted to Production & Design. Like, top of the roster, “B,” Bundy, top of the alphabetical order. And so we’re like, honoring him by saying Will Bundy. And it’s either “whoa, Bundy,” or “Will Bundy,” depending on who you ask.

Analysis:

I think this is a very interesting pre-show ritual. It contains some marks of common pre-show theatre rituals–the standing in a circle, touching hands, a “leader” figure within the group saying some kind of affirmation or “prayer” hoping for a good show, as well as recognizing the work of the people around them–but the chant is one I’ve never heard before. I think the supposed connection to the first student of the program is very sweet, and represents a kind of honoring of the work of the students of the program through all the years of its existence. It’s almost a celebration of the technical theatre program and all the unrecognized work that these students would do.

Razors in Halloween Candy

Text:

In the 80s, there was a belief and fear that children would unknowingly receive candy at Halloween that had razors or sharp pins in it.

Context:

The informant was a child in the 80s and experienced this fear from their parents firsthand. It was a common fear that children would be injured severely by accidentally swallowing ingesting sharp objects when eating their Halloween Candy.

Analysis:

This fear still prevails today. It is rooted in real events, where parents would find dangerous items and materials in their children’s candy. It shows a belief and a way of thinking that affected parents/guardians mostly.