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usc digital folklore archives a database of folklore performances skip to content usc digital folklore archives a database of folklore performances menu home search archives contact prof tok thompson birthday cake tradition text in my family we take birthdays seriously one of the birthday traditions we never break is that the birthday person must always take the first slice of cake if they don t they will get bad luck i don t believe this is just a tradition within my own family however we never break it when i overhear the birthday person say i dont want cake i always make sure to explain to them that they have to take the first bite i really don t know how much i believe in that rule but it is easier to take a bite of the first slice than deal with the stress that i will get bad luck context my informant grew up in miami in a family that takes birthdays very seriously one unbreakable rule at every birthday is that the person celebrating has to take the first slice of cake if they don t it s bad luck she doesn t think the tradition is unique to her family and she enforces it herself stepping in to remind the birthday person of the rule whenever they try to pass on cake analysis the rule that her family practices is simple but the logic behind it is a great representation of folk belief the person being celebrated has to actively participate in their own celebration the cake is symbolically for the birthday person and refusing the first piece is a way of refusing the celebration itself which folk belief treats as inviting bad luck for the year ahead the informant s role as enforcer is also very important to the passing of traditions she doesn t just follow the rule herself she makes sure other people follow it too even when they re not part of her family that kind of active transmission is how folk belief spreads beyond its original household additionally the fact that she was unsure about whether it s specifically her family s tradition or a more widespread one is also typical of folklore because many people assume their family customs are universal until they encounter someone who doesn t share them this entry was posted in folk beliefs foodways life cycle rituals festivals holidays on may 14 2026 by sophia rosenberg wedding superstition text my mom always told me you can t try on your wedding dress with both shoes on before the wedding like you can have one shoe on for the fitting but never both she said it would jinx the marriage i didn t believe her but when i got married i still only wore one shoe at every fitting because i wasn t gonna be the person who tested it context my informant s mother is italian american and grew up with a lot of wedding superstitions she passed this one down without ever fully explaining the reasoning the informant didn t believe in it but followed it anyway during her own fittings analysis this account represents a hyper specific rule with no clear explanation passed down between generations also followed by people who don t even believe it the shoes do symbolic work putting on both completes the bridal outfit so leaving one shoe off saves the wedding day as the only moment the full image of the bride can exist by saying i wasn t gonna be the person who tested it the informant doesn t believe it literally but the cost of compliance is low and the cost of being wrong feels unthinkable this is exactly how superstition works for people who consider themselves rational this entry was posted in folk beliefs on may 14 2026 by sophia rosenberg russian new year text my family is russian and every year and new year s we write a wish on a small piece of paper burn it with a candle drop the ashes into a glass of champagne and drink it while the clock strikes midnight this has always been a tradition but i had not started doing it until i turned 18 context my informant comes from a russian family who has performed this new year s ritual every year for as long as she can remember the whole family takes part each person writes their own wish on a small piece of paper burns it with a candle drops the ashes into their glass of champagne and drinks it as the clock strikes midnight she says it s something everyone in russia does and her family has continued the practice in the u s analysis this is aa example of russian new year s folklore and similarly to a lot of calendar customs it compresses a symbolic action into a very short window of time the ritual has to happen exactly at midnight and that precision is part of what gives it power the transition from one year to the next is a liminal moment a brief threshold when folk belief across many cultures imagines the boundary between worlds the chimes of the clock essentially open a window and the ritual has to be completed while that window is open this entry was posted in material rituals festivals holidays on may 14 2026 by sophia rosenberg 12 grapes on new years text every new year s eve at midnight my family eats 12 grapes one for each chime of the clock you re supposed to make a wish with each grape one for each month of the coming year if you don t finish all 12 before the chimes end it s bad luck my mom is from spain and she said everyone there does it we ve done it every year my whole life my american friends always think it s the weirdest thing but honestly it feels wrong to start a year without it context my informant s mother is from spain where eating 12 grapes at midnight on new year s eve is a widespread tradition the family has practiced it every year of the informant s life and she now considers it essential to ringing in the new year analysis the 12 grapes ritual is one of the most practiced calendar customs in spain this account shows how a national tradition travels through immigration and stays alive inside a single family abroad the basic structure of the ritual is specific twelve grapes twelve chimes twelve wishes one for each month of the coming year with bad luck for failing to finish in time that kind of rule bound structure is typical of calendar folklore the ritual works so well and is so easy to follow because it s the same every year at the same exact moment this entry was posted in rituals festivals holidays on may 14 2026 by sophia rosenberg camp song text i went to camp matoca in maine and i went for seven summers from 2013 to 2019 so for ages 9 to 15 and every single summer one of the biggest camp traditions was the sing festival so basically college league every year there s four teams in the camps divided into four different college teams and you compete throughout the whole summer and like different like greek games sports whatever and then at the end the last wednesday of camp there s on the sing festival so basically the captain and co captain will lead the entire team there s about like 90 people per team with a chant and we start with a cheer which is basically like a remix to like any song but like with something about your team like pepin zest from the colors red and yellow if that was the colors something like that i don t know if that makes sense and then there was a remembrance which is like a slow song which usually has like a deeper meaning so like for ours i remember my last year camp it was about a girl graduating college and going onto the next chapter of our life so it kinda tells that story but also like jack exposes that with him her last summer at camp and taking that all in i guess she was probably graduating high school and then the last one is the alma matter so this one starts like slow like the remembrance and then the captain gives a speech halfway through and the cocaptain leads the team through like a b of nanas like basically just like in the background everyone s nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana like just as background color and the captain will give a speech kind of thinking the whole team and like addressing like her time at camp and how it s coming to close and everything that she s learned leading this team and some other sappy things and then the comeback is after the speech so that s kind of like the climax of the song so it s like the upbeat part and this is also usually like where the whole room shakes because it gets so loud and four teams go each do their own songs and after everyone gets fudge popsicles it s camp tradition and they announce the college winners and the senior co captains who are also 15 years old like the co captain for the cat whatever give a plaque to their captain with a nice snow and the whole camp listens to their speech and it s like one of the best nights of camp and then there s a fireworks ceremony by the lake and i will never forget saying after all these years oh also you wear like your sing shirt so it s like your college league shirt that like the captains make and then white i think it s white shorts and then french braids everyone is in two french braids with ribbons of their colors context my informant attended camp matoaka an all girls summer camp in maine for seven consecutive summers from age 9 to 15 the sing festival was the climactic event of every summer held on the last wednesday of the season she participated as a camper for years before eventually being on the senior side of the tradition herself she remembers it as one of the best moments of the summer and still recalls every detail of the structure costume and ritual analysis this is the kind of tradition that lives inside a specific community in this case a summer camp and gets transmitted year after year through performance and participation rather than through any written rulebook sing festival has is made of a fixed structure cheer remembrance alma mater required costuming specialized vocabulary banana comeback college league and a fixed calendar slot none of this is written down anywhere official it s passed from older campers to younger ones through years of watching and eventually doing this entry was posted in folk speech general musical on may 14 2026 by 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