Folk Groups

Folk groups I belong to: nationality/family, occupational, and age.

Nationality/Family Folk Group: I am European American with Italian, Czechoslovakian, French, English, Irish, and German heritage. However, the dominant folk influence I have is from the Italian side of my family. The Italian side has remained close and connected, while the other sides of my family have disbanded over the years. I actually know very little about the cultural traditions of the other cultures that comprise my family tree. The Italian side of my family is rich in oral, customary, and material folklore. My Italian grandmother tells lots of stories about growing up in an Italian neighborhood in New York City. For instance, she tells about packages of figs mailed from relatives in Italy and by the time they arrived in New York, they were rotten. Another story she tells is when she hurt her arm and her mother took her to a woman they called the "witch doctor" who lived in her building, and the woman put herbs and oil on her arm and massaged it. There are many other stories she tells, such as how her mother saved a neighbor's life, how her parents were introduced by "Piasons" (Italian friends), or historical stories regarding WWII, the Great Depression, and working at the First World's Fair in 1939. Certain Italian phrases have also been passed down.
Customary traditions include the hand gestures that my grandmother and others on the Italian side of my family use when telling stories.
Material folk traditions include the traditional foods such as eggplant parmasean, bowtie cookies, Easter Bread, homemade tomato sauce and bracciola, meatballs, and ravioli.
My Czechoslovakian grandmother also makes a traditional poppyseed pastry. I don't know very much about her side of the family. All I know is that her parents immigrated to Pennsylvania from Czechoslovakia and that she moved to D.C. to get a job. I don't know anyone on her side of the family and she rarely speaks of them.

Occupational: I work as a substitute teacher and I have had teachers jokingly say to me "It's true what they say, you can't smile until December." This proverbial expression explains that if you want to have a well-behaved class, then you have to be firm.

Age: I am a college student. Some of the customs associated with college students include spring break in Miami and Mexico, and irresponsible drinking.


Christine Watkinson