Tag Archives: tradition

Christmas Tree on Halloween

Nationality: Mexican/American
Age: 18
Occupation: Full-Time College Student
Residence: Berkeley, CA
Language: English

I interviewed SH and she told me about putting up the Christmas Tree on Halloween.

My family doesn’t celebrate halloween. It is seen as a pagan holiday, and coming from a Christian household, it is a taboo, but more specifically deemed satanic. This created a period of time where my classmates would be engrossed in the spirit of halloween, and I would be left out. In order to substitute this time period, on halloween every year, my family put up the Christmas tree. It was a time of bonding within my family and was very common amongst our Christian community. Our community would host events on this day since the kids of the community wouldn’t be allowed to go trick-or-treat. We would invite our friends and family to commemorate the coming of Christmas.

The taboo with halloween is a description of a folk belief. The switching of a dark holiday in this household inverses to the lightheartedness of putting up the Christmas tree. This change in ritual replaces the seemingly pagan holiday with a more Christian one. The church uses this time period for communal bonding and resistance to mainstream practices.

A Cameroonian Union

Nationality: American/Cameroonian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Arlington, Virginia
Language: English

TEXT: “When my cousin proposed to his now-wife, he had to follow a tradition that’s been in my family for generations. He needed to buy his bride’s family gift as a sort of bride price, a sort of toll he needed to pay before marrying her. The tradition comes from my Cameroonian culture. I remember the room filling with laughter, negotiations, and happiness, which marked the beginning of a lifelong connection.”

CONTEXT: This ritual was shared by the informant, F, during a conversation about wedding customs in different cultures. F talked about a marriage tradition from his Cameroonian background, where the groom must give gifts to the bride’s family before the wedding. He described attending his cousin’s bride price ceremony, where everyone laughed, talked, and celebrated together. F emphasized how important this step was in connecting the two families and honoring long-standing customs.

ANALYSIS: This is a good example of a cultural tradition that happens during big life events like marriage. In Cameroonian culture, the groom gives gifts to the bride’s family, which shows respect and seriousness about the marriage. It’s not just about the couple but about bringing two families together. Even though times have changed, people like F’s cousin still follow this tradition, which helps keep their culture alive. For F, it was more than just a party—it was a special moment that showed how important family and tradition are.

Hair and the Moon

Nationality: American/Ecuadorian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Washington, DC
Language: English

TEXT: “Whenever my older sister needs a haircut, she asks my mom since she knows how to cut people’s hair pretty well. I remember my sister asking my mom to trim her hair down a little bit, but my mom said no since the moon wasn’t full. Confused, I asked her why she couldn’t cut my sister’s hair if there weren’t a full moon, and she told me that her hair wouldn’t grow back fast or evenly if it wasn’t trimmed during a full moon day.”

CONTEXT: This story was shared by the informant, A.J, during a conversation about family traditions and superstitions passed down through generations. A.J talked about a moment when their older sister asked for a haircut, but their mother refused because it wasn’t a full moon. When A.J asked why, their mom explained that hair grows back better, that is faster and more evenly, if it’s cut during a full moon. A.J mentioned that their mother is Hispanic, and this belief appears to be common among many Hispanic families.

ANALYSIS: This is an example of a folk belief connected to nature and timing, specifically involving the lunar cycle. In many Hispanic cultures, it’s believed that the moon has an influence on natural processes, including hair growth. Even though it’s not scientifically proven, the belief continues to be passed down and practiced. It shows how traditions and superstitions can shape everyday routines like haircuts, and how cultural wisdom combines natural observation with caregiving habits in the home.

Family Christmas Tradition

Age: 19

Story: “Every year my family always has the same Christmas tradition. On Christmas Eve, we go to my grandma’s house, we decorate cookies, and we open gifts. This is a day where all of my family gets together, even the family from out of Washington, and we can finally see each other after many months. Another layer of this tradition is that we open gifts from youngest to oldest. So, this past year, my 2 year old niece opened her presents first, and we ended with my 93 year old grandfather. Then, we head back home, open some more gifts, and finally leave cookies out for Santa. The next morning, we wake up, and there’s some more gifts to be opened, and there’s always board games for our entire family to play. I know this isn’t a super unique or special tradition, but it’s special to me, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Analysis: This story beautifully shows how even widely practiced holiday rituals, like decorating cookies and exchanging gifts can hold deep personal and cultural significance. From a cultural standpoint, the repetition of familiar activities like leaving cookies for Santa or playing board games the next morning contributes to the everlasting traditions that many families share during Christmas. I know that this person doesn’t say that they think this experience is unique to them, but something I’ve always found is that family traditions, no matter how widely practiced, are always unique, always different, and always special.

Free Hot Cocoa!

Age: 19

Story: “There’s this tradition my family and I started doing a couple of years ago during Christmas time, and it’s something that involves the entire neighborhood back home, so it’s super sweet. But essentially, there’s this one house that lives down the street and they have this little window on their front porch, and every night of the week before Christmas, they leave their window open and put up a sign that says “Free Hot Cocoa!” So, one day, my dad and I were walking our dog, we passed the sign, and we thought we oughta take advantage of this free hot chocolate situation. We ended up bringing our entire family back, and now every year, we go back to this house and we get some hot chocolate. We actually even started to create a relationship with the older man and woman that live there, and my dad mows their lawn in the summer.”

Analysis: This person’s experience reflects how everyday spaces, like a neighbor’s front porch, can be transformed into the most memorable and special of places. The tradition started just from a casual walk, but it grew into an annual outing that now holds a lot of value for this person’s family and reinforces a sense of belonging within their community. What I really love here is the evolving relationship between this person’s family and the couple who offers the cocoa. It’s so cool to see how a simple act of kindness, like giving out free hot chocolate around the holidays, can evolve into a beautiful relationship, where this person’s dad now mows their lawn.