Tag Archives: family

Stickers on my Computer

Context

“When I was 8 I loved collecting stickers. I would pay quarters at pizza restaurants to collect the random stickers and get sticker books. When I got older, I saw how popular it was for people to put stickers on their water bottles and binders. I was so happy to finally use my stickers, so I had the sticker-iest water bottle and binder. This childish thing I did seemed like a stupid phase, but it stuck with me as I grew. They were meaningless and fun until I got to high school.”

Text

“I was more mature in high school, in pursuit of meaning in life, and most importantly, I got a computer. I began to put stickers on the laptop signifying places I’ve been, passions I’ve had, or people I was close to. Some of these stickers have been transferred from my water bottle, taped over and over again because it keeps falling off. My favorite is a picture of Justin Bieber. Not because I love Justin, but becuase my little brother and I had a running joke that we were his biggest fans. The sticker reminds me of him now that I’m in college. Eventually, the computer will die, but the memories won’t. I’m keeping it to show my kids, and explain what I was like when I was their age through my favorite childhood accessory: my stickers.”

Analysis

The meaning that the simplest objects can have for different individuals show a key trait of typical folklore. In folklore, the piece of lore being shared is often underappreciated or meaningless to those outside of the folk group. Thus, this personal connection to different things such as stickers shows how folklore is so important in our lives. For my friend, his computer stickers carry memories of childhood and family giving his computer a piece of his identity. In contrast, I do not hold the same heartfelt connection to stickers which is why my laptop is bare. Still, I can appreciate his lore and pass it on to others who too like sticker decorations. As we discussed, material culture is a prominent form of folklore because it acts as a reminder of important things in one’s life. Through the stickers he is reminded of his family and childhood making a laptop into folk art that tells stories of his life.

New Years First-Footing

Text: 

“Right when the clock hits 12, before anyone else can go in the house—because, um, for my family, my dad’s the only man in the family—so before we can go anywhere else in the house, besides, like, the couch where we are watching the New Year’s Eve countdown, my dad has to walk through every single room. Like, you have to be the 1st person in every single room. And I don’t know where this tradition started or like how it started, but that’s just what my family does.”

Context:

The informant is a 20-year-old college student who shared this New Year’s tradition when reflection on family customs she grew up with. Her father, being the only son on his father’s side, is a central factor to why he carries out this role each year. The tradition has been practiced for as long as she can remember, experiencing both affection and mild dissonance — recognizing what she called its “patriarchal undertone,” but resolved that the spirit of the practice is one of care and protection for the household. 

Analysis:

This tradition closely resembles a Scottish custom, “First-Footing”, in which the first person to cross a threshold after midnight on New Year’s determines the household’s fortune for the year ahead. The gendered dimension reflects a broader folk belief that masculine presence is recognized as protection or a domestic blessing. The informant’s example, in particular, is compelling because of her own ambivalence: partaking in a ritual she neither fully understands nor uncritically accepts. This speaks to the binding power of informal family traditions. Unlike institutionally maintained folklore, family customs without explicit cultural ties derive their authority from the intimacy of the folk group itself. The informant doesn’t need to know the ritual’s origin or logic, as her being part of the family is meaningful enough to trust its intention and carry it forward. 

Doljanchi

Text:


“So when I was one, I had this huge birthday party, and they laid out certain things — like a stethoscope, or money, or rice that symbolizes success. And then the baby has to pick one of them, and that’ll determine their path in life. A stethoscope would mean a doctor or something like that. I think I chose the rice. That’s from my Korean side.”

Context:


Doljanchi (also Dol) is the traditional Korean first-birthday celebration, and, officially, the Doljabi ceremony plays a vital role as an object-choosing ritual. Objects placed before the child vary by family and period but generally include objects that symbolize prosperity, health, scholarship, longevity, and professional achievements. The informant, who is half-Korean, inherited this practice from her father’s side and recalled it with pride, linking it to what she saw as a broader Korean cultural ethos of persistence and upward mobility.

Analysis:


Doljabi is one of the most recognizable folk rites in Korean culture, a fortune-telling performance at one of the earliest celebrations of a child’s life. Its endurance, even among second-generation Korean Americans, speaks to its profound cultural resonance. But most importantly, it’s not truly believed that the child’s choice is literally determining their future. The ceremony is more of an aspirational blend of parental hope and communal adornment. The informant’s observation is especially rich in that she ties the Doljabi to an understanding of Korean national identity, where the practice is not simply a matter of family heritage but an expression of a people’s relationship to ambition, hard labor, and prophetic evolving throughout life itself. And this shift from family tradition to ethnic pride is exactly how folk traditions maintain meaning in diasporic contexts: they become bearers of a larger tale about who a people are and where they have come from.

Haunted House in New Orleans

Text:

Interviewee: “My mom has a friend who lives in, supposedly, a haunted house in New Orleans, and her grandmother had just died when she was taking a shower, and you know, in the shower, like, when the mist gets fogged up, and you can write stuff? She wrote something like, “I am here.”

“This is your mom’s friend who has a house in New Orleans?”

Interviewee: “Yes. Her mom had just passed. “

“Was she scared?”

Interviewee: “Yeah, she said she jumped out of the shower and ran out of the house.”

“Why would her mom do that?”

Interviewee: “I don’t know.”

Context:

This story comes from a friend’s account of a family friend who lives in a haunted home in New Orleans, a city known for its strong cultural associations with ghosts and the supernatural. The experience is tied to a moment of recent loss, with the woman’s mother having just passed away, which may influence how the event is interpreted. The setting of a “haunted house” adds to the way the experience is understood.

Analysis:

This is an example of a legend within belief-based folklore, especially tied to ghost stories and supernatural experiences. The message “I am here” suggests a spirit communicating through physical means, reflecting a magical superstition in which the spirit world can interact with the physical world.

Wishing on an Eyelash (Top or Bottom Fingers)

Age: 38
Hometown: Menlo Park, CA
Location: N/A

Context:
I learned this from my mom. She learned it as a child but doesn’t remember exactly where she got it from. She does remember that is was a common thing among her peers and they would all do it to each other.

Content:
Interviewer: “What do you do when you find an eyelash?”

Interviewee: “So you have to take the eyelash and you put it between your pointer finger and your thumb and hold it together and then you lift up your pointer finger and your thumb in whichever side the eyelashes on well.

Interviewer: “Why do you do that?”

Interviewee: “You’re supposed to guess which side first before you do that, and then if it lands on the side where you guess top or bottom then your wish will come true, and then you can blow it to make the wish.”

Analysis:
This is act is a form of everyday folklore and superstition, where a small ritual gives meaning to a random event. It has spread through peer groups, especially children, and has been passed down through generations like it has in my family. This also feels like something kids do together, which makes it more about bonding and sharing than just the wish itself. Overall, it shows how people take something simple and turn it into a meaningful moment, even if they don’ fully believe it will work.