A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

Nationality: United States
Age: 54
Occupation: Substitute Teacher
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 3/24/2018
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

 

The following was recorded from the Participant. They are marked as LG. I am marked as DG.

 

LG: Oh, um, one saying is “a stitch in time saves nine.” There’s not much to say, I honestly think she just wanted us to get stuff done on time (laughs) you know like, get it done, now, instead of later. I heard it from my mom um who heard it from her mom. And both of them were really prompt, and my dad was more like (click noise).

 

Context:

 

The conversation was recorded while sitting on a patio in Glendora, CA. The sun is setting and a group of us are sitting around all sharing folklore. The proverb was used by the interviewee’s mother whenever her children or husband were late.

 

Background:

 

The interviewee is a 54-year-old mother of two, who is married. She grew up in Los Angeles, before moving around, and finally ending up back in Los Angeles. Her and her parents had a very tight-knit relationship, and she comes from a religious background. She has two siblings.

 

Analysis:

 

Proverbs tell us much about both the worldview of the country that the interviewee inhabits, and the family of the interviewee. In this case, the proverb is talking about how if you do something quickly, time will be saved later. In America, time is something that is highly valued. Americans tend to bustle about, trying to get everything done, and rarely taking time to enjoy it. In the interviewee’s family, time was also heavily valued. They were always early, and that’s something that LG also brought down to her children. This shows that proverbs can be more than just words, they can also carry down behavioral attitudes.

Riverbed Ghost

Nationality: United States
Age: 54
Occupation: Substitute Teacher
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 3/24/2018
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

 

The following was recorded from the Participant. They are marked as LG. I am marked as DG.

 

LG: So one of the ghosts, and usually I saw this one outside, is you would see, and just for a brief moment, the riverbed that used to be under our house in the old days, before California developed up more, and that’s what you would see. When you saw that ghost, you saw that time period. And i-it, it didn’t look anything the same. And then it would be gone. And that’s the only time you would see them, they would both pop in together and then they would both pop out together. So it was him on the land he was on. And I didn’t even know there had been a riverbed until I found out later.” But pretty much everyone who had been at our house has seen a ghost.

 

Context:

 

The conversation was recorded while sitting on a patio in Glendora, CA. The sun is setting and a group of us are sitting around all sharing folklore.

 

Background:

 

The interviewee is a 54-year-old mother of two, who is married. She grew up in Los Angeles, before moving around, and finally ending up back in Los Angeles. Her and her parents had a very tight-knit relationship, and she comes from a religious background.

 

Analysis:

 

This is a local ghost story, to the point where you would have to spend time in the interviewee’s house in order to see the ghost. As such, this folklore does not show up often, but has been corroborated by the interviewee’s siblings. I’m inclined to believe it’s true, given the later-found-out fact that there is, in fact, a riverbed below the interviewee’s house.

Black Cat Crossing the Street

Nationality: United States
Age: 54
Occupation: Substitute Teacher
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 3/24/2018
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

 

The following was recorded from the Participant. They are marked as LG. I am marked as DG.

 

LG: So like, when my mom was driving she was really superstitious so if there was a black cat anywhere around it crossed the road, it didn’t matter if you had to go back two miles, that’s how far you were gonna go around up around it. And to this day I still don’t wanna cross a road that a black cat’s just crossed. And I know it’s dumb, but…just can’t do it. Just can’t.

 

DG: So you learned that from your mom?

 

LG: I learned it from my mom. Every single time we saw a black cat. And our street had a lot of black cats (laughs). So, yeah.

 

Context:

 

The conversation was recorded while sitting on a patio in Glendora, CA. The sun is setting and a group of us are sitting around all sharing folklore. The black cat superstition itself was used whenever a black cat was seen, especially so when in a car.

 

Background:

 

The interviewee is a 54-year-old mother of two, who is married. She grew up in Los Angeles, before moving around, and finally ending up back in Los Angeles. Her and her parents had a very tight-knit relationship, and she comes from a religious background.

 

Analysis:

 

I find it interesting that there is one specific color of cat that has this superstition surrounding it. I also find it interesting that if there is reason for the black cat, in particular, to be cursed, the interviewee was not aware. This shows that as folklore is passed down, it evolves. The interviewee’s mother may not have known why black cats are cursed, and her mother’s mother may not have known, but there was an original reason for the superstition one day. It’s also interesting to see how strongly the participant avoided black cats-including going so far as miles out of the way to avoid crossing a black cat’s path. This was a superstition so strongly believed that it disrupted the participant’s daily life at times.

Eucalyptus Oil

Nationality: United States
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Northern California. Currently residing in Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 3/29/2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Vietnamese

Main Piece:

 

The following was recorded from the Participant. They are marked as DD. I am marked as DG.

 

DD: Um my-the basic, the default remedy that my grandmother would go for is…a bottle of eucalyptus oil. And um whenever I was sick, no matter what the ailment was, she would, you know, tell me to rub it on myself. So if um if I had a headache, put a drop on like my temples or if I had a stuffy nose, put some right below my nose, if I had a stomachache rub some on my stomach, um something that-it’s crazy, my dad’s a dentist and he’s generally a skeptic of a lot of these you know, Vietnamese old wives’ tales, but this is one that he still swears by, and I think there is some method to the madness. I think um the eucalyptus oil is kinda like menthol it’s kinda warming it’s basically a natural icy hot, so I guess it does have a very you know the same like icy hot like warming cooling effect. So I think that’s why it like works for a variety of different effects.

 

DG: So you heard this from your grandmother?

 

DD: Um it’s something that like pretty much all of my family members know. Um my grandmother and my mother are the ones most likely I guess to take care of me when im sick, so um that’s where it came from I guess. And my dad, who’s a doctor because he’s a dentist, he still swears by it. Like it’s to the point where I even brought a bottle with me to college, like after a particularly grueling dance practice Ill rub it on my calves if they’re sore, or if I have a stuffy nose I’ll use some.

 

Context:

 

The conversation was recorded while sitting in a classroom during an assigned period to discuss folklore. However, the context for the homeopathic medicine to be used would be whenever the interviewee was feeling ill, whether it be a cold, or a sore muscle.

 

Background:

 

The student was born and raised in Northern California. She is a sophomore at the University of Southern California. Although she was born in Northern California, her entire family is from Vietnam, and she is one of the first generation to be born in the United States.

 

Analysis:

 

This homeopathic cure is one that seems to hold a lot of weight, as it has a similar feeling to Tiger Balm or Icy Hot, and also is one of the ingredients used in both ointments. It is used incredibly commonly. It reminds me of the use of aloe vera, where both are natural ingredients from plants, used as a soothing cure. I also found it interesting that the interviewees medically trained father believed in eucalyptus oil as a cure, despite neither of them being entirely sure of its proven qualities. I think this shows the power of hearing these cures from above generations, and also points towards it working, as they would not continue to believe in it if it did not work.

 

For another version of this riddle, see Eucalyptus Essential Oil: Uses, Studies, Benefits, Applications % Recipes (Wellness Research Series Book 6) by Ann Sullivan (2015).

Bâū Ća Tôm Cua

Nationality: United States
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Northern California. Currently residing in Los Angeles, CA.
Performance Date: 03/29/2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Vietnamese

Main Piece:

 

The following was recorded from the Participant. They are marked as DD. I am marked as DG.

 

DD: So there’s this game that me and my cousins used to play on the Lunar New Year, and it’s called Bau Ca Tom Cua, and it basically means um Gourd Crab um…it means Fish but it’s referring to a Shrimp, or um and then a Rooster. It’s basically-it’s a simple game where you have a picture of um each of the four items I mentioned, well actually some of them have 6 it’s a fish-a shrimp-, a crab, a rooster, a gourd, and a stag. And you have this little dice where on each of the little sides there’s a picture and you…usually money or candy, usually small change because my cousins and I, you know, small kids you don’t want them gambling with you know, tons of money, and we would put the coins basically on the picture that we thought was going to get rolled. So we would put the dice in a bowl and there’s 3 of them and roll them in the bowl and remove that and the ones on top, if you were right, you got to split the money.

 

DG: Who did you learn it from?

 

DD: Um, I remember playing it with my…cousin, um it must have been something we learned from probably our parents. Yeah its just a pretty common game. And even when I went to the Vietnamese lunar new year festival here, there were a whole bunch of boards.

 

DG: What was the context?

 

DD: It was a game that was traditionally played on the New Year’s, I don’t know if there was a significance for why it was played on the New Year’s… but it makes sense to me that um that at least little kids would have money on the New Year because their relatives would have just given them money.

 

Context:

 

The conversation was recorded while sitting in a classroom during an assigned period to discuss folklore. However, the context that the game would be performed in would most often be on the Vietnamese Lunar New Year.

 

Background:

 

The student was born and raised in Northern California. She is a sophomore at the University of Southern California. Although she was born in Northern California, her entire family is from Vietnam, and she is one of the first generation to be born in the United States.

 

Analysis:

 

This game is good for cross-cultural teaching, as it is rather simple to teach and pick up. It can be adapted to bet on candy, coins, dice, or more. It is also easily taught to small children, meaning it is highly adaptable and good for bringing up through generations. It is also a quick game to teach, making it good for fairs, etc, where all the players may not be familiar with the game. It also has a specific history, being related to the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. Due to this, this is not a game that the majority of the American population will likely know, or have heard of. I personally have learned this game in the past, at a Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration at my university, and found it very fun to play.