Tag Archives: tradition

Nutcracker Ornaments on the Tree

Background information: AH is a 21-year-old raised in the Bay Area. Her parents are African-American and white, and she has one younger brother. She shared a Christmas tradition she remembers from when she was a child, that she still practices today when she’s home for Winter Break.

AH: My brother and I always take turns choosing from our nutcracker ornaments to put on the tree. I always kinda thought that we considered it bad luck to not put them up, uh, but now that I think about it I’m sure it just started because my mom didn’t want my brother and I to fight over who got to put what ornament on the tree (laughs). They’re like made of glass and come in a wooden box with a certificate of authenticity and I know she got them as like a family heirloom type thing, probably because she had a bunch of ornaments my grandma gave to her. Anyways, I don’t really know the origin or anything…but it’s fun! It’s just something that I always think of fondly when I think of Christmas, which is cute. We always do it as the last thing too, so like, once we’re both done taking turns it feels like it’s officially the holidays.

Me: Do you still do this every year?

AH: Yes (laughs), even though we’re all older now it’s just for fun. It is a kind of ritual for us, probably.

This piece of folklore is one that is very specific to AH’s family, however, as she was telling me this, I realized that my brothers and I also did something similar as kids, probably for the same reason of my parents not wanting us to fight over who got to do what. It’s very cute that something that may begin in childhood like this can become so significant in a person’s memories. The fact that AH created her own sort of superstition related to this practice (connecting bad luck to the ritual of putting up ornaments) shows us how significant these traditions become over time.

Galette des Rois

FESTIVE RITUAL DESCRIPTION: Every January 6 during Epiphany her mother would cook a cake called a “galette des rois” which means a cake for the kings. Inside they would place a small ceramic figure called a “fève” and whoever cut the cake and got the piece would be named king and could order everyone around for the whole day.

INFORMANT DESCRIPTION: Female, French, 42

CONTEXT: She learned this from her family who would do this every New Years Eve. She remembers how much fun it was when she got the “fève” and how she spent the whole day as the queen. She says this would bring the whole family together and make everyone laugh and have so much fun. 

THOUGHTS: I think this sounds delicious and fun. Definitely something I wish my family celebrated.

PICTURE:

“La vie est dure sans confiture.”

TEXT: “La vie est dure sans confiture.”

INFORMANT DESCRIPTION: Female, 42, French

CONTEXT: This woman learned this proverb in France growing up. In boarding school it was written in a children’s book but growing up it was clearly a popular saying. It is says when things are awry and the advice is to eat something sweet. Kind of like a remedy proverb and can also just be said in the context of eating something sweet and referencing life, the importance of sweets. Can also be used when one is sad and the advice is to eat chocolate. 

ORIGINAL SCRIPT: “La vie est dure sans confiture.”

TRANSLITERATION: “Lah-vee eh doou-rr sah-nz coh-n-fee-too-rre.”

TRANSLATION: “Life is hard without jam.”

THOUGHTS: I think this translates over to some remedies used in the west, the belief that chocolate is good to eat when sad. While we don’t connect the two the same way, sweats and life, we do in the case of the phrase “comfort food” or even “stress eating”. 

 “Lluvia antes de las tres, buena tarde es.”

TEXT: “Lluvia antes de las tres, buena tarde es.”

INFORMANT DESCRIPTION: Male, 58 years old, Mexican.

CONTEXT: This phrase was said in and is only applicable to Mexico City when it would be raining in the morning. He learned it from his mother who learned it from her mother. Said in the morning with knowledge that the rain would clear by the afternoon, which in Mexico was after lunch so by 2:30pm or 3:00pm.

ANALYSIS: Mexico City is the center of Mexico. It is like if you combined Los Angeles, New York and Washington D.C. all in one city. It is where politics, centralized government, and business has happened for many decades. Families have been living there for centuries. The city is a valley surrounded by mountains, the valley itself is already at a very high elevation, it is the coolest weather within a very tropical country. Therefore it has its own ecosystem/weather. These inhabitants have seen this pattern, that if it rains in the morning it will be lovely afternoon for hundreds of years, making this proverb very reliable and common. The informant grew up with it and it still applies. He would plan his day on it, if it rained in the morning he would make afternoon plans to be outdoors.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT: “Lluvia antes de las tres, buena tarde es.”

TRANSLITERATION: “Yoo-vee-ah ahn-teh-ss -deh-lah-ss treh-ss boo-eh-nah tah-rr-deh eh-ss.”

TRANSLATION: “Rain before three, good afternoon it is.”

THOUGHTS: I think it is really fascinating to be in a place with a climate that follows a pattern so closely. Sort of like a rainbow after the rain but you know it will always happen no matter what. I’ve spent time in Mexico City but never noticed this and am excited to go back and hopefully see for myself if it is true.

100 Days Chant

Background

Informant is a friend of mine from high school. She is now a junior at USC. She is a first-generation Vietnamese American, and is from Woodbridge, Virginia. She does not have any specific religious affiliations. We both attended The Madeira School, although she graduated two years before I did. Various alumnae were interviewed to compare versions of the same lore from the school. She is referred to as “AH”.

Context

I asked the informant to recite a chant sung by the seniors at our high school.

Content

Interviewer: Can you recite the Madeira chant senior chant for me?

AH: Oh my God. Wait, hold on the 100 days one?

Interviewer: Yeah.

AH: Do I even remember it? Um, how does it start? Oh!

Hark the Herald angels shout!

A hundred days till we get out!

A hundred days till we are free

from this penitentiary

(While clapping)

back to smoking

back to drinking

back to sex!

and evil thinking

hark the Herald angels shout!

A hundred days till we get out!

Analysis

Unlike the other traditions from Madeira, I only asked AH about this tradition, as it has become “canon” at Madeira. This chant is specifically sung after 100 Days, a special day that marks 100 days to graduation. The seniors perform the chant on 100 Days and at all-school events until graduation, counting down to graduation. For example, if graduation is in 35 days, then 35 would be subbed out in the lyrics instead of 100. The origins of this chant, however, are unknown. It is also questionable about how it became endorsed by the school, as it includes references to illicit behaviors, which are very much not allowed by the school. Unfortunately, I had stopped recording at this point, but AH remarked on the hilarity of the statement “back to”, as if Madeira students had been engaging in those behaviors prior to high school. Madeira is extremely explicit in their policies against drugs, alcohol, and lewd behavior, and gets referred to as “Prison School” by some boarding students due to the strict check-out policies for boarders. This chant is entirely satirical and humorous, poking fun at the school, as well as a tool for the seniors to celebrate their proximity to graduating high school.