Tradition

Folk custom and novelty

Customs and objects people use to mark a moment or prompt a thought — a fortune handed out after a meal, a toy that answers questions, a paper novelty that curls in the palm. They circulate as entertainment and as small rituals of everyday life.

0 passages · 3 to draw

To draw

NoveltyFor amusement
Ask the orbA toy that answers yes-or-no questions at random. You think of a question, you turn it over, and a reply surfaces. The replies below were written for this collection.
NoveltyFor amusement
Fortune cookieA folded cookie with a slip of paper inside, handed out after a meal. The custom began in Japanese-American bakeries in California in the early twentieth century and spread through Chinese restaurants across the United States.
NoveltyFor amusement
Paper fortune fishA thin cellophane fish laid on the palm, where the warmth and moisture of the hand make it curl. Which part moves is read against a printed key. The fish has been sold as a party novelty since the middle of the twentieth century.