Cantwell's Ink Spots

I enjoyed thinking about Cantwell's "Ink Spots," especially when he describes, in the beginning, a festival of folklore and the different versions of stereotype people encounter when attending such things. Everyone is dressed in "traditional" costumes, but Cantwell raises the question of--are those costumes, or little reminders of "traditional" folk costume/life, just versions of stereotypes? He then goes into the question of--how to blend the (overall) friendly atmosphere of these encounters at a festival with, say, the encounters of daily life.

I thought about this in my own life--the strange blend of Pennsylvania Dutch and Puerto Rican culture that influences the city where I grew up--Allentown, PA. During said festivals one could encounter bright skirts, wonderful spicy food and more traditional Spanish food and customs. As for the PA Dutch--you could have some shoefly pie, a look at Hex signs (and the wonderful and weird meanings behind the symbols on them--in fact, I have a pair of little post hex-sign earrings with birds on them, signifying "friendship"), and listen to the weird blend of English and German language. Yet, during every day life we do not see these things--the overabundance of this "traditional culture". It exists in small ways--in daily food, in daily interaction with language, and as always, differences in communication between cultures. It came to a head when my two neighbors Bob and Bonita, a coal miner and a woman who barely speaks English, fell in love and got married. These two cultures come to a head at their parties. He talks about just wanting some steak and potatoes, maybe some saurkraut, and she turns on her favorite Spanish dance music and makes him dance with her. It is an interesting combination. It is also nice to see them take on sometimes very stereotypical roles and places as representations of their culture, but also have elements of their culture in a more subtle, everyday tone.

Jennie Ziegler