Tag Archives: birthday

Founder’s Day Cake

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Tacoma, Washington
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

Founder’s Day Cake

Tradition/Festival/Holiday

My informant described what her school does to celebrate its birthday every year:

“This cake is baked for Founders’ day every year, which is in January, to celebrate the day the school was founded. It is a big deal because on that day the headmaster speaks at chapel. There is a big speech and it’s a big deal and a ton of parents come. The Seniors are presented with the Founder’s day cake, which has baked into it 4 objects. There is a ring, a cross, a dime, and thimble. The girl who gets the ring will be married first, the girl who gets the cross will be most religious, the girl who gets the dime will make the most money, and the girl that gets the thimble is the most hardworking. In recent years, the cross has found the most ironic individual because the girl was the least spiritual. “

 

My informant says “ I feel like it is supposed to, in some ways, represent the founding core values. The school is 128 years old, so when it was founded there were different expectations of importance in people’s life, like now religion isn’t so important even though the school has a religious affiliation (it isn’t a strong part of the our school). It isn’t as if marriage isn’t a big deal, but it isn’t as favorable as it was over a hundred years ago. Marriage isn’t a sign of success anymore. But even if these are dated, for me it is important that the tradition continues. Though these things aren’t important to me, I like that nothing has been changed even though the times have. Even if it wont predict my future, it is still a “Senior ritual”. The year above me, it was done improperly because 4 cakes were baked instead of one, and it really upset the Seniors because it wasn’t the tradition. It just feels good to do the tradition.

 

All of the objects, and even baking the cake in general, symbolize traditional feminine roles. Connecting the students to the core values of the school, this tradition reminds the students of the characteristics that the school has valued for many years, involving the students in the schools history. This reinforces their identity as students in the school. At the same time, the objects in the cake are instances of homeopathic magic, which entertain the girls and represent luck in the future in certain areas of life.

LMU Birthday Ritual

Nationality: Japanese American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Anaheim, CA
Performance Date: April 7, 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese

At Loyola Marymount University (LMU) inLos Angeles, it is tradition that on the night of a freshman’s birthday, that freshman has to be thrown into the Foley Fountain.

My informant is a currently a student at Loyola Marymount University.  She told me that she heard this piece of folklore when she was first taking a tour of the school; the tour guide had informed them that it was a tradition at this school although he had no idea where it had originated from.  When it was her birthday, her friends took her to the fountain and threw her into the water.  At the same time, my informant told me that this fountain throwing happened almost on a daily basis at night.

I asked my friend what she thought about this tradition.  She told me that as a viewer, it was always fun to watch people getting dunked in the water.  On the other hand, as somebody who was being thrown, it was quite scary since the Foley Fountain is known for being quite dirty.  However, afterwards, she said it was definitely one of the highlights of her freshman year at LMU.  I believe that this tradition is a right of passage at LMU as it is something that is expected of all freshman.  At the same time, I feel it is a quintessential part of the LMU student identity because my informant told me that whenever she meets alumni, they always ask her if she has been thrown into the Foley Fountain yet.

Wine Cellar Initiation: Coming of Age Ritual

Nationality: Italian American
Age: 53
Occupation: Homemaker
Residence: Pasadena, CA
Performance Date: 3/14/12
Primary Language: English

The informant is Italian, on her mother’s side, and still retains close ties to her Italian roots. She was born in Pennsylvania, where she spent most of her childhood.

I interviewed the informant on pieces of folklore that she might have experienced in her life. I asked her if she could think of anything in her life that could be considered folklore, any family legends, jokes, or rites of passage. She said she thought she might have something that could be considered a rite of passage ritual, but she wasn’t sure. I told her to tell me anyways. The ritual she described is recorded below:

“I was born in Vestaburg, Pennsylvania, where most of my extended family lived too. My grandfather had a wine cellar—he made wine. All of his grandkids—and his kids—weren’t allowed in the wine cellar. But around 16 or so, he would invite them down to the wine cellar for a glass of wine and this was kinda like when they were considered to be an adult.”

I then asked her some questions about this coming of age ritual.

Me: Did everyone in the family go through this, then?

Informant: All the kids did, my grandfather’s kids—my parents—and then us grandkids too.

Me: So this was kind of a big deal right?

Informant: Well, yeah, but mostly just because we were finally allowed into the wine cellar. I don’t think my cousins or me and my brother really cared about the wine at all.

Me: Was there any other aspect of importance placed on this ritual? Maybe something you get from looking back on it?

Informant: It made us kids feel special. Certainly, after being admitted into the wine cellar, we felt more grown-up and we thought that we finally had our grandfather’s approval.

Me: Approval of what?

Informant: Well, of basically life. We saw being allowed in the wine cellar as his recognition that we were finally becoming something—somebody—worthwhile.

Me: Yeah, so this ritual was mostly about gaining approval and recognition of worth?

Informant: Exactly.

Me: Do you still remember it because it was such a big part of your growing up?

Teresa: I think so. It was such a big deal in the family that I think it would be very hard to forget.

After learning about this ritual, I see it in the same way my informant does. It is very much a coming of age ritual, when a child is deemed worthy of becoming an adult. It is also interesting because it is closely tied to the fact that her family is Italian. What’s more appropriate for an Italian than being allowed to enter the family wine cellar on the brink of adulthood? Perhaps this is another reason why this ritual was performed: it allowed an Italian American family to stay close to their Italian roots.

Post Happy Birthday Song

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Massachusetts
Performance Date: March 13, 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

My informant chanted to me a song that is sung directly after the commonly known “Happy Birthday” song:

“You sing the happy birthday song, and then right after that you sing:

Are you 1?

Are you 2?

Are you 3?

Are you 4?

Are you 5?

And then it keeps going until you reach the age the person is turning and they yell: Stop!”

My informant told me that this sometimes happens after the birthday song, but not always. She first heard it when she was at a birthday party in second grade. Once people reach an older age, the song becomes annoying, and often if the person is over 20 years old it is not sung because it is too long. Sometimes it begins and then other people cut it off because it is too long and annoying to go through every year until you reach the particular one that the birthday boy or girl is turning.

I remember singing this when I was younger. I am from the northeast, and I have found that it is common in that region. However, here in California most people have never heard of the chant. I personally did not like it, I found it annoying. In my experience once it begins to be chanted half of the people in the room participate and half roll their eyes and impatiently wait until it ends.

Chinese custom: Birthday noodles

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student (Business Administration)
Residence: Atlanta, Georgia
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin Chinese, German

My informant’s mother always makes noodle soup whenever anyone in the family celebrates a birthday.  Her mother’s mother, my informant’s grandmother, was from northern China, where wheat noodles were a popular food item. The long noodles represent long life. The person whose birthday it is must eat enough to be completely full so that he/she won’t ever be hungry in the coming year.

This custom turns every birthday into a family occasion. The family shares a homemade meal, which promotes family bonding. It’s a ritual of sorts to mark the transition into being a year older.

My informant skipped her classes on her birthday to go home and have a noodle meal with her family, which shows how strong a tradition this is for her family. She says that she will have to learn how to make noodle soup so that she can continue the tradition in the future.