Collection of Latvian 4H

The Latvian Mazpulki (4H) is a youth organisation, founded in 1929 in Latvia, but experienced its golden years during the authoritarian regime of Kārlis Ulmanis from 1934 to 1940. Members of the organisation were invited to subscribe to the Latvian Agricultural Chamber’s monthly periodical “Mazpulks”, which often posed questions regarding various traditions, customs, meteorology, etc. However, the systematic collection of folklore material began in 1936 with the invitation of O. Berziņas article ‘A Job for Our Youth’ (Mazpulks Nr. 7, 1936). Referencing the previous activity of school children, the article calls on members to collect folklore materials that would later be submitted to the Archives of Latvian Folklore: “That is why the actions of the educators of our youth are all the more praise-worth, who already from an early age strive to nurture a proper understanding of our spiritual heritage in our youth, thus nurturing also an emotional pride and self-esteem that no people can ever have too much of.” The following month (Mazpulks Nr. 8, 1936), another motivating article followed clearly stating what types of materials it would be necessary to collect. And in future issues, questions on specific topics would be printed in the “Questions and Answers” section of the newspaper that members of the Mazpulki would be encouraged to respond. The editors gave prizes for the best answers at the end of each month.

Some Mazpulki troups had their own folklore collections, but most of the materials are combined in a single collection [1552]. The first materials were recorded in 1936, in response to the questions raised in the article in Mazpulks issue 10 of that year (Mazpulks Nr. 10, 1936). Materials were actively submitted between 1936 and 1939, while the latest folklore recorded in this collection is dated 1940. Most of the material consists of answers to specific themes presented in the periodical, however some of the materials are written in free form, outside the questions. The manuscript includes almost all folk genres—beliefs, customs, folk songs, popular songs, riddles, spells, information about medicinal plants, plant dyes, etc. 44 806 folklore items are recorded in this collection.