European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 09, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Jore in the essence of life the Procter a Gambia Symbol which wot the company t trademark Tince 1651, became if Center of Contro Veny after con Tumen claimed that it represented Het to demonic worship. The Symbol it a Crescent Moon with a bearded Man profile facing a duller of 13 Ian. The Start represent the original 13 . Colonies and the Man in the Moon wot a popular character added in 1851. Page decided to drop the logo Latt Tpring due to the Rumon linking it to satanism. Boarding flight 847 itself. This is the equivalent of silting around a campfire and making a Circle against the night Abrahams said. It s ancient stuff in modern to the experts then America today is awash in folklore. Headlines and news stories about killer bees tainted cheese poisoned watermelons cancer nuclear War robots computers and Street crime All generate folklore. Office photocopying machines circulate it in the form of cartoons and jokes that Are shared by office workers. Shaggy dog stories Are modern Folk legends. Changing patterns of ethnicity religion occupation class and even migration have produced new genres of folklore in the United states Urban folklore Lor example. These Are expressed As Urban legends stories about kidnappings from shopping malls alligators in the sewers pets that Are put into microwave ovens to dry and end up exploding or grandmothers who die in the Back seat of the family car while the family is on vacation. There is also now a kind of corporate folklore none of it True most of ii reflecting our Lack of Trust in corporations tales of Devil worship at the Procter & Gamble co. And a tale currently making the rounds in Lember 9,1985 Detroit of poisonous Snake eggs found in the sleeves of clothes manufactured in Taiwan. In terms of detail these Are purely american Phenomena but the attitudes they draw on Are As medieval As you can get said Abrahams referring to the belief in satan and the fear of Competition military and economic from other countries and City states. Medici a become the subject of Many new entries to american folklore in part because modern Medicine is Lite with uncertainty. So there is a lot of counter Active Medicine around said Frances tally an archivist of the Urcla collection. In Short what modern Medicine cannot cure modern folklore can for cystitis there is a peeled onion in the sock and Tor High blood pressure a dose of garlic. Experts Point out that As in the Case of garlic which has been found useful in treating hypertension Many of these Tolk remedies contain a Kernel of truth. According to tally. American folklore does not exhibit significant regional differences. In Pennsylvania children Are told that babies Are found under rocks in the Forest while in Arizona the Story is that babies Are found under desert stones tally said. The differences in detail Are born largely of geography and the types of animals plants and weather characteristic of an area. The Basic stories however Are the same. I am firmly convinced that people All Over the world think alike tally said. And they have been thinking the same things for thousands of in contrast to the almost structureless Folk tale Many superstitions follow the formula if a then b with an optional Dundes said. For example. Ii you break a Mirror then you will have seven years bad Luck unless you throw the broken pieces into a moving Stream. Or if you spill Salt then you will have bad Luck unless you throw some Over your left shoulder. The meaning of these superstitions has often been lost to the conscious mind. Dundes said. But he added behaviour does t exist without meaning people would not practice customs unless they meant something to the thus an american Bride still throws her bouquet because she is considered deflowered. Whoever catches the bouquet is supposedly endowed with sympathetic magic and will be the next Bride. Many societies share the same superstitions the evil Eye. Tor one is found in indo european and semitic cultures. Where people believe in the evil Eye. Dundes said one never says a child is pretty for tear that it will get sick nor does one talk about a Job application in Case such talk jinxed the chances of employment. People who come from evil Eye cultures will never Praise the cooking or hospitality enjoyed Al the Home of a son in Law or daughter in Law again fearing that Praise will bring misfortune. The strength of such beliefs is that people can live and die by them Dundes said. People Are scared to death of violating their belief he noted for example that in the United Stales doctors and family members often wonder whether to Tell terminally ill people that they Are going to die. Or would the Lelling somehow dictate that death As an expression of the evil Eye Dundes said. The Way in which a superstition is contrived experts say. Reveals a culture s fundamental traits. Fatalistic societies such As those in Asia and the Middle East do not have the optional a escape clause in their superstitions. Dundes said. Ii a happens. B follows and there is no Way out. Such societies he said tend to be oriented to the past and use divination techniques to find out Why things happened. Meanwhile folklore in agrarian societies such As medieval Europe tends to Deal with Harvest and Calendar cycles. In american folklore stories that idealize strangers such As tales of the Lone Ranger reflect our fixation with the unknown the Frontier. The current manifestation of this is a spate of movies on extraterrestrial themes for another our concern with signs and portents of what is to come including our obsession with polling and Survey research reflects i orientation toward the future. Finally our of such things As halloween which in Europe honors the dead but in the United states celebrates childhood Points to a National adoration of youth. Americans Are also anxious about the forces of nature and science s ability to control those forces. That is Why Bigfoot. Ufos s. Astrology and supernatural Phenomena will never die in this country scholars say. It does t matter that Bigfoot does t exist Dundes said. Its role in our culture is to outsmart science. People need to believe in in a sense then Abrahams said. American folklore highlights not the american dream but lie american dread. We have a need to Tell one another How dangerous modern life has he said. And we need to seek out things that Are threatening to us. We worry most that we won t be where something is the stars and stripes Page 15
