Tag Archives: tradition

The Caroling Party

Age: 22

Context: My friend told me about a sweet tradition her and mother started that eventually evolved into an event shared in the community around the holidays.

Text:

“My mom and I throw it every year. And, um, we bring together, like, neighbors, friends, and we started off like, it was only maybe 30 people. And now it’s upwards of, like, 75 people that come every year. Everyone looks so forward to it. And we go up and down the street, and we collect, like, the neighbors, we sing to them, and then they join us for the next house.

And then we all come back and have drinks and desserts, and we sing songs and play music. I think it’s just really nice. It’s like my mom’s colleagues and her old piano teacher. And all of my childhood friends. And then they bring, like, their favorite people. I think that like, it’s just nice. These people from all walks of lilfe, in all areas of our lives, just come together for this one massive, this party, and everyone contributes to dessert. We always have 2 full tables now that we set up for the dessert.”

Analysis:

Caroling has been around for decades and has evolved over generations in various forms. Instead of going door-to-door and leaving, they collect people over time. Most of these songs tell stories of Jesus and other significant aspects of Christmas; however, I find it interesting that even if these people don’t align religiously with Christian beliefs, the songs and collaborative singing make it a staple for them to participate.

These songs do not carry the same political intensity as Depression-era labor movement songs or the ones we discussed, carrying warnings or stories of those lost. However, as folk music sometimes does, it brings people together to sing in unison. This celebration also ties into our in-class discussion of foods and how recipes are passed down or shared within families. In this case, food is part of a specific celebration, and it’s fun to learn how it’s grown over time with each new group of people who have joined them.

Diaz de los Muertos and One’s Ancestral History

Leave a reply

Age: 28

Text: CB – “Known well as Diaz de los Muertos or day of the dead, its a very important holiday in the Hispanic calendar. It has a lot of crossover with the Americanized Halloween, but it’s distinctive differences go far beyond the costumes and candies. The point is to remember our dearly departed. During it, we bring out all the old photos from my grandmother’s family and my grandfather’s family, my mother side (Nana, and Tata respectfully). Specifically what we do is help my Nana and Tata arrange all their family photos on the banister and dining room table so that they may join us for one last meal. We offer our prayers to them and little candies of their favorite and light candles in their honor. As the photos come out, my grandparents and my aunts and uncles will begin telling stories about these people Somehow, we’ve heard 1000 times and never interrupt. Others are new to us and add another source of identity to where we came from.”

Interviewer – “What is the most memorable story you’ve heard about your ancestors?”

CB – “My big Nana (great-grandmother) was a loving, but firm woman. All her children learned to dodge at a very young age, for she was proficient with wooden chanclas. One time my mother snuck out at night to go see a movie when she got back they had closed and locked her window This wasn’t that unusual. Typically they would just spend the night on the roof at this time, however she went to big Nana‘s house, knocked on the door and gave her a sob story about my grandfather locking her out. This caused my great grandmother to storm over to their house (my Nana’s family lived very close to each other) and hammer on the door. When my mother’s father opened it, he was immediately hitting his head with a wooden chanclas. She chased him around the property for about an hour while my mom darted to her room and laughed from her window.”

Context: Diaz de los Muertos is an annual Hispanic holiday to celebrate the dead of one’s family. Typically it involves large gatherings, bringing together members of extended family to celebrate and share stories about those who have passed. In the case of CB and their family, some stories pop up and stay the same each year, and each year each family member listens on with respect and fondness. Besides, the candy, feasts, and decorations this holiday is additionally anointed with, at the heart of it rests the tales of those gone to show that they are and never will be forgotten. CB has been told this story about his mother sneaking out a number of times, year after year, and it never gets old.

Analysis: Being both an annually calendrical holiday, there is an air of spiritualism, belief, but also prolonged familial ritual for Diaz de los Muertos for CB and their family, as is with most families who celebrate it traditionally. The art and act of gathering around to tell stories about those who have passed to allow their spirits to not fade into obscurity is a prime example of continued tradition and using a holiday as the medium to come together to do the sharing. This family-based festival, where food is offered and made, candy is eaten, stories are exchanged, and to take pride on those who have passed is a wide mixture of many folk group mediums, from foodways, to folk belief, to folk speech and narratives, and finally this annual holiday which encompasses it all. Diaz de los Muertos is a rich example of folk culture for the Hispanic community, and continues to shine on for each family regardless of how they celebrate it.

Breakfast Casserole – A Christmas Tradition

Leave a reply

Text: Interviewer – “What kind of meals do you make around the holidays?”

JL – “Every year we make the Jimmy Dean sausage casserole for Christmas breakfast.
We’ve done this for as long as I can remember.”

Interviewer – “What is the ritual for making this dish? Is it a full-team effort, are the same ingredients used each year? When do you prep or bake it?

JL – “We prepare the casserole after our Christmas Eve dinner. The entire family is involved, everyone helping with the preparation. Chopping tomatoes, cutting bread into cubes, browning the sausage, beating the eggs. Everyone’s roles have changed over the years, now that kids are older and can be comfortable using the stove and knives. We all chip in, and come together as a family. The same ingredients are used every year. We’ve occasionally make minor variations (original or maple sausage), but have found the original is still the best. We prepare it the night before Christmas, and put it in the refrigerator overnight, allowing everything to soak into the bread and “come together”. On Christmas morning I’ll wake up and take it out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature a bit (over the years we’ve found putting it from the fridge directly into the oven overcooks the bottom in order for the rest of it to be cooked through). We go to church on Christmas morning, and we’ll put the casserole in the oven when we leave for church. When we get home from church, the casserole is perfectly baked. Then we eat our delicious casserole as a family and watch football.”

Interviewer – “What does this Christmas tradition mean to you and your family?”

JL – “I can’t speak for the rest of the family, but I really value this tradition. When the kids were young I kept trying to force traditions I grew up with, and most just didn’t stick. I love that something as simple as our Christmas casserole has become a family tradition. We’ve created something that’s uniquely ours. Do I hope everyone will keep making this casserole every year, even if we’re not together? Of course. But I’m happy knowing that we do it now. No matter what good times, bad times, stressful times we’ve had, the world stops when we’re making it and eating it, and it brings us together.

Context: Talking to JL specifically about family traditions around the holidays. And alongside a typical Christmas Day or Eve dinner, them and their family makes a casserole, prepping it on the Eve of Christmas and then baking it day-of. Holiday based meals, especially those that have become traditions for family are common, and this example is no different.

Analysis: This example being both an instance of utilizing foodways to express a folk group, or in this case the family of JL, but also a representation of ritual around the holidays where each member of the family chips in their own ways, some more, some less to make something together to then eat together the next day. While there is no narrative or underlying story beneath this tradition, it’s something that has managed to stick around for years and years, becoming synonymous with Christmas and Christmas Eve itself at this point in the views of JL and their family.

Splitting Xmas: Heritage and Tradition for the Eve and Day of Christmas

Leave a reply

Age: 24

Text: MF – “Christmas in my family is different because we split it into two days to represent both sides of my grandparents’ culture. Since my grandparents come from different backgrounds, they made it work so they could both spend time with their families while still being together. Because of that, Christmas Eve is centered around Mexican culture, and Christmas Day is more traditional American.”

MF – “On Christmas Eve, everything is focused on Mexican food and traditions. We usually have dishes like tamales, chili relleno, enchiladas, rice, beans, and other homemade foods that take time to prepare. A lot of the cooking starts earlier in the day, especially with tamales since those require prepping the masa, making the filling, wrapping them in corn husks, and steaming them. Chili rellenos involve roasting and peeling the peppers, stuffing them, battering, and frying them. Our enchiladas are a little different too. Instead of making them individually, my grandmother makes them in a big pan so there is more for everyone, which makes it feel even more like a shared family meal. It is more of a warm, cultural, family-centered night where everyone is eating, talking, and enjoying being together. Christmas Eve is also when the whole family exchanges gifts with each other, so it feels more like a big group celebration.”

MF – “Then Christmas morning is completely different. It shifts into a more traditional American-style Christmas. That is when it becomes more personal, where my parents give us our gifts (Under the tree for us when we wake up). We also have foods like ham, mashed potatoes, and other classic dishes. It feels more like what you would typically see in movies, with everyone gathered together, opening presents, and relaxing. The most important part of this holiday for me is definitely the food and being around family. The food brings everyone together, but it is the time spent with family that really makes it meaningful for me.”

Context: MF and their family each year break up Christmas into two separate days, where Christmas Eve is used to represent and celebrate their Mexican heritage and culture, and the latter day, Christmas Day proper, is to celebrate Americanized Christmas as is shown in pop culture and around the United States. The largest distinction between these two days would be the food that is made and consumed on the respective days, as well as the aura around the celebration itself.

Analysis: While being centered around a calendrical holiday, MF and their family made this truly their own ritual by the deviation of form, now having this repetition annually for them and their family. Taking a pre-existing holiday and molding it by one’s own community or folk group to align more with their vision, whether it be to express shared gift giving and family time, honoring the traditions of their Hispanic heritage with the food and style of family time but also celebrating the holiday as is done traditionally on the day itself. Within MF’s family, there really isn’t a Christmas Eve, but two separate holidays to treasure and cherish each side of their family. Through the communal act of making and eating food together, giving gifts throughout the whole family, or the traditional “ham, mashed potatoes, and other classic dishes,” lend the power of one’s own folk group, the rituals, traditions, holidays, and the foodways that fuel them to create something truly beautiful and unique.

Feast, Festival, and Fur – The rituals of a furcon

Leave a reply

Age: 27

Text: Interviewer – “When was the first time you heard of a furry convention?”

JP – “I’ve for sure sure known about them since I was younger but I didn’t really think positively about them until years later. I was a bit of an edgelord back in the day.”

Interviewer – “Have you been to one before or many?”

JP – “I’ve been to the same one, TFF, or Texas Furry Fiesta for 3 years as of now. So a couple times, I’d say.”

Interviewer – “What has been some notable elements of these, some highlights that you get excited about when traveling and going to these conventions?”

JP – “To me, the Artist Alley, a large room in the convention center where tons of different artists are posted up to sell their merchandise, get commissions in person, or advertise. It’s super cool. Besides that, the various community events that TFF has have been the highlights for me.”

Interviewer – “What rituals do you feel are active elements of every furcon, or you feel should be a part of them if not?”

JP – “Fursuiting for sure, and while it’s unnecessary I particularly have fun playing a bit of a character. I have 2 different suits, so I’m able to change up the characters I go as, which adds to the fun of it all since a lot of other people are doing the same. Some conventions even have events to show off all of the different attendees suits! Though despite it being a very integral thing, it’s still unnecessary and one doesn’t need a suit in order to attend.”

Interviewer – “What’s been your most memorable or best memory in the fandom or at a furcon?”

JP – “As far as my best memory, it would prolly be my first con just getting to spend time with some friends and having the opportunity to explore the city with them.”

Context: Similar to other fandom based conventions, a “furcon” is just that, a convention for furries or fans of the furry community to gather, go to panels, buy art, and be a meeting point for friends who would usually be online to meet up in person. When talking to JP about his involvement within the fandom, since I knew he recently went to Texas Furry Fiesta, I wanted to delve in and ask about the folk practices done at this kind of event, as I know other conventions akin to comicons have their cosplays, panels, celebrity features, and art galleries.

Analysis: Furries are one of the fandoms that have such deep cultural ties to industries, popular culture, media, and their own complex traditions, rites, and rituals. One of said rites of passage is attending a furry convention, or a furcon for short. Aside from this rite of passage, many traditional events occur, some mentioned by JP. These would include the sharing of community folk art at the artist’s alley, a dance competition, showing off the hard work and craft of fursuit makers by featuring your own, as well as being a pseudo-pilgrimage for a friend group all within the fandom to meet up. A furcon is a multi-faceted treasure trove of lore for all of those who attend, their passions, and particular interests in their characters, how they present themselves, and the boundless memories, activities, and events at their disposal.