Mrwelder, hope you won't mind a little story here that Al's post brought to mind.
Not my family, just a story:
One Thanksgiving, a young girl was watching her mother prepare the ham for cooking. The mother took a sharp knife, cut off both ends of the ham, added all her other 'special' items for flavoring, put the ham in the pan and into the oven.
The girl asks, 'Mother, why did you cut the ends off of the ham?' 'Why, I don't know, that's the way my mother always did it.'
Later, when all the family was together for the meal the mother asks 'Mom, why did you cut the ends off the ham?' She says, 'I can't recall, oh, mom always did it that way.' They look over to the Great Grandmother who is sitting in her seat smiling. Great Grandma says, 'I had to cut the ends off because my pan was to short to fit the ham in whole.'
By pure observation, a habit, a procedure, a course in history may be set for generations that has nothing to do with the finished product, science, or fact.
Have a Great Day, Brent