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Curious Customs: The Stories Behind 296 Popular American Rituals
Describes the origins and history of American holidays, superstitions, foods, etiquette, and popular customs
210 pages, Hardcover
First published February 14, 1987
3 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Tad Tuleja
42 books3 followersTad Tuleja (b. 1944) is a graduate of Yale, Cornell, and the University of Sussex. He has been a journalist, editor, and researcher, and has authored numerous short-entry reference books. He teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 12, 2018
With so many customs and rituals to choose from, it would be difficult to decide which to cover and there will always be ones people would want to know (like the variations of a cakewalk) or feel shouldn't have been included. This reviewer felt the selections covered a wide variety of topics and were as grounded as possible in historical basics.
It was refreshing to have the male author discussing the male dominance and female subservience effects of many customs--even if frustrating.
It was refreshing to have the male author discussing the male dominance and female subservience effects of many customs--even if frustrating.
May 11, 2016
I received this book, along with quite a few others [1], many of which I still have to read, when some friends of mine went on a discount book-shopping effort. Their thought, at least as far as I can interpret it, is that this book was purchased to provide for research material on American customs, to see if it would bolster our shared perspective on the heathen nature of many customs. If this was their thought, it was an accurate one, as the author is generally candid about admitting what he calls the “pre-Christian” origin of many customs relating to Christmas and Easter and other festivals. This is not to say that the author’s understanding is perfect—he tends to take the accounts of the Talmud as Gospel truth on such matters as the age of Esau and Jacob when they separated or the age that Abraham supposedly rejected the henotheistic and monolotrous ways of his family [2], a fallacious post hoc explanation for the fact that a bar mitzvah occurs when a Jewish boy turns 13, and some of what the author considers to be Christian habits, like the crossed finger, appear to have been done by superstitious Hellenistic Jews who had already departed from apostolic doctrine and practice.
In terms of the contents of the book, the author divides up 296 rituals into various categories: etiquette, gestures and postures, transitions, the mating game, costume and appearance, ways of dealing with food, family affairs, entertainment, holidays, superstitions, and a miscellaneous catch-all category at the end for those rituals the author wishes to write about that did not fit into the other categories. In writing about these rituals the author mixes comments from research, where the sources are named and occasionally critiqued, personal stories from the author or family members, and a great deal of personal commentary and speculation, especially when it comes to cultural and sexual politics. How the reader feels about this personal commentary will depend on how much they appreciate comments like this one, about the wake: “On one level, such display is merely distasteful. On another, it serves a psychological function, albeit a sad and defensive one: to deny the reality of the obvious, to put on a clown’s face to keep from crying. There may also be a social function, however, that relates to primitive beliefs about the dead (35).”
What kind of reader would most appreciate this book? It is hard to say. On the one hand, this book does give a great deal of effort in explaining the origin of rituals, but the origin of many rituals is opaque and challenging, and this author both acknowledges too much uncertainty for the work to be a definitive one and engages in too much pontificating and distasteful speculation, especially when it comes to the author’s cultural agendas, to make this book’s commentary frequently unpleasant. Those readers who have a dim view of habits and traditions that spring from heathen cultures will find a great deal of ammunition against such practices, but the author appears to hold no such difficulty with pagan origins even as he frankly admits them in many cases. Nor does the author of this book appear to have any sort of knowledge about biblical law except as it can be found in its degraded form in the Talmud or in commentaries about the behavior of Hellenistic Christians who had already become greatly acculturated to the Hellenistic and other pagan European ways. The book is useful as reference material, but not a pleasurable book to read.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
[2] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
In terms of the contents of the book, the author divides up 296 rituals into various categories: etiquette, gestures and postures, transitions, the mating game, costume and appearance, ways of dealing with food, family affairs, entertainment, holidays, superstitions, and a miscellaneous catch-all category at the end for those rituals the author wishes to write about that did not fit into the other categories. In writing about these rituals the author mixes comments from research, where the sources are named and occasionally critiqued, personal stories from the author or family members, and a great deal of personal commentary and speculation, especially when it comes to cultural and sexual politics. How the reader feels about this personal commentary will depend on how much they appreciate comments like this one, about the wake: “On one level, such display is merely distasteful. On another, it serves a psychological function, albeit a sad and defensive one: to deny the reality of the obvious, to put on a clown’s face to keep from crying. There may also be a social function, however, that relates to primitive beliefs about the dead (35).”
What kind of reader would most appreciate this book? It is hard to say. On the one hand, this book does give a great deal of effort in explaining the origin of rituals, but the origin of many rituals is opaque and challenging, and this author both acknowledges too much uncertainty for the work to be a definitive one and engages in too much pontificating and distasteful speculation, especially when it comes to the author’s cultural agendas, to make this book’s commentary frequently unpleasant. Those readers who have a dim view of habits and traditions that spring from heathen cultures will find a great deal of ammunition against such practices, but the author appears to hold no such difficulty with pagan origins even as he frankly admits them in many cases. Nor does the author of this book appear to have any sort of knowledge about biblical law except as it can be found in its degraded form in the Talmud or in commentaries about the behavior of Hellenistic Christians who had already become greatly acculturated to the Hellenistic and other pagan European ways. The book is useful as reference material, but not a pleasurable book to read.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
[2] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
February 18, 2010
I have to say, I loved this book. I learned so many interesting tidbits!
Though it isn’t exactly new, Curious Customs is a valuable trend spotting (and general knowledge) resource because it allows individuals to become more familiar with the historical context behind various cultural artifacts and practices. Each ‘custom’ entry is relatively brief, and the research behind them is not extensive, but the subjects offer a good jumping off point for additional research and encourage the reader to consider the embedded significance behind various objects and practices instead of simply taking them at face value.
Ultimately, the greatest insight I gleaned from Curious Customs is that history counts. One cannot predict future trends and behaviors without understanding how developments have evolved in the past!
Though it isn’t exactly new, Curious Customs is a valuable trend spotting (and general knowledge) resource because it allows individuals to become more familiar with the historical context behind various cultural artifacts and practices. Each ‘custom’ entry is relatively brief, and the research behind them is not extensive, but the subjects offer a good jumping off point for additional research and encourage the reader to consider the embedded significance behind various objects and practices instead of simply taking them at face value.
Ultimately, the greatest insight I gleaned from Curious Customs is that history counts. One cannot predict future trends and behaviors without understanding how developments have evolved in the past!
December 12, 2008
This is a "cultural studies lite" kind of read. I cruised through it this morning over my coffee. It's interesting to think about the orgins of customs, but this guy is a bit iffy at times...drifting into a less-than-academic tone especially when discussing certain issues. I imagine that he's attempting to be interesting/entertaining, but it lacks something. Plus, this book is from 1987, which makes some of the discussion/examples very funny to me (example: the American quest for the Holy Grail is the quest for the perfect martini. ?!?!?! HA!)
January 14, 2015
Got this from a friend who was moving. It was interesting. Not awesome but there were definitely some interesting origins of the customs we experience every day. At this point some of the references and jokes are dated but it's perfect for a bathroom book or anywhere else were you just have a few minutes to read an entry or two.
May 30, 2007
Interesting read about the origins of different customs and holidays. A good resource to have around.
February 17, 2016
The stories behind 296 American rituals. Why do we cross our hearts and thumb our noses? Why do we throw rice at weddings? Why do we dye Easter eggs? Light reading for waiting in lines, etc.
April 28, 2017
This fun book makes a genuine effort to succinctly consider the origins and reasons for many American customs we follow without thinking -- and to separate the incorrect ideas or odd stories that pass around for "reasons why we do this" from the more genuine explanations. The book does provide a decent bibliography, but the entires themselves lack citations/footnotes, so if you are looking to do your own research on 1 specific custom, you'll have to do some of your own research/recreate the authors.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews