Folklore

Have you ever sat around a crackling campfire, listening to a spooky story that made you shiver with delight. Or maybe you've sung a silly song on the playground, a tune that all your friends seem to know by heart. When you lose a tooth and tuck it under your pillow, who do you hope will come and leave a surprise. Those are all little whispers of me. I am the secret stories people tell in the dark, the special songs that travel from one friend to another, and the family traditions that make holidays feel so warm and magical. I have been around for as long as people have had tales to share, passed down from grandparents to parents, and then to children just like you. I am a shared secret, a happy memory, and a cozy feeling all rolled into one single, wonderful idea. I am Folklore.

For thousands and thousands of years, I didn't have a name. I just lived inside people’s voices and in their memories. I was the story a mother told her child at bedtime, or the legend a village elder shared with the young people. But as time went on, some people started to worry. They worried that I might disappear as the world got busier. In a country called Germany, two brothers named Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm felt this worry very strongly. They loved stories. Starting in the year 1812, they began a special quest. They traveled around and listened carefully to storytellers, writing down all the wonderful tales they heard, like 'Cinderella' and 'Hansel and Gretel.' They wanted to save me for everyone to enjoy. A little while later, a man in England named William Thoms was thinking about all these traditions and tales. He knew they needed a proper name. In a letter he wrote on August 22nd, 1846, he came up with the perfect word. He took the word 'folk,' which means people, and 'lore,' which means stories or knowledge. He put them together, and just like that, I had my name. He called me Folklore—the stories of the people.

You might think I only live in old books, but I am all around you, every single day. I am there when your family bakes a special cookie recipe that your great-grandma used to make. I am the song you sing when you celebrate a birthday or the special way you decorate your house for a holiday. Do you have a secret handshake with your best friend. That’s me too. I can even be a funny joke that everyone in your family tells over and over again. Every family, every group of friends, and every town has its own special collection of me. And the best part is, you help me grow. Every time you share a family story, teach a friend a new game, or sing a lullaby you learned from your parents, you are keeping me alive. You are a storyteller, and you help connect everyone in one big, beautiful, and ever-growing story.