Date Collected
11-23-2013
Informant
Seth Manesse
Point of Discovery/Informant Bio
Seth is a student at Utah State University studying computer science. He is 21 years old and grew up in Spanish Fork, Utah. He is the second of three sons. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Wisconsin. He enjoys music, reading Calvin and Hobbes, and being out in nature.
Context
I went down to Cedar City with Seth to have Thanksgiving with his family. In his kitchen there are blocks in which multiple sets of dishes were displayed. We sat in his kitchen and discussed what the plates were used for. He said that for Thanksgiving dinner and for birthday breakfasts, each member of the family, as well as guests, get to choose what plate that they would like to eat off of. The plates stand on display for the remainder of the year.
Text
See attached images of a selection of plates from the Manesse plate collection.
Texture
Seth and his mom talked about this tradition with enthusiasm, reminiscing about specific holidays. There was also discussion about what plates people usually chose and why. Seth told me that he liked to choose the biggest one so that he could fit the most amount of food on it. I asked Seth’s mom about one of the dish sets and she told me that she had made them, so she held this set more precious than the others. She said that this set used to have a bowl that matched that she had made, but that her youngest son had broken it.
Course
ENGL 2210
Instructor
Dr. Lynne S. McNeill
Semester and year
Fall 2018
Theme
G8: Objects with/of Customary Use
EAD Number
3.21
Recommended Citation
Miller, Alana, "Pick Your Plate" (2013). USU Student Folklore Fieldwork. Paper 427.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_folklore_all/427