Shoes and Their Bad Luck

[1]

Considered to originate as an old wives’ tale which dates to medieval times [1], the superstition that placing shoes, dirty or new, onto a table gives you bad lack is still going around today. There was a tradition from the North of England’s coal mining industry in which the shoes of a miner, who had passed from a colliery accident, would be placed on the table to show respect for the fallen worker but since the action of putting footwear on a table relates to death, people would now view putting shoes on the table as tempting fate. The superstition may have originated during times when footwear was much more expensive, and the less wealthy people only had one pair of shoes, so looking at the shoes on a dead body was a form of identifying the person. Since the shoes were so expensive, they were often passed down from the dead onto a new fellow who most likely had no idea they came from someone who is deceased [2].

Another reason why the superstition could have come from the theme of death could be that a long time ago when streets were much dirtier and science had not developed advanced medication, putting your footwear on a surface where you would eat food could later result in illness and most likely, death [2].

Everyone has heard of the theatre saying “break a leg” which is supposed to bring good luck to the crew but the theatre world also thinks that putting shoes on a table from the dressing room will bring bad luck, most likely in the form of a poor performance [1].

On a less lethal note, it is more common for people to believe that placing footwear on a table will result in having bad luck during the day, an argument or even losing your job position. The superstition can actually make a lot of sense because you definitely do not want to contaminate eating surfaces which could possibly lead to you being ill and you do not want to have arguments with family members to tarnish the day [3].

Bibliography

[1] Wikipedia 2020, Shoes on a table, Wikipedia, viewed 07 October 2020, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoes_on_a_table#:~:text=It%20may%20have%20something%20to,can%20be%20associated%20with%20contamination.>.

[2] The Simple Things 2018, Stories behind superstitions | New shoes, The Simple Things, viewed 07 October 2020, <http://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/stories-behind-superstitions-new-shoes>.

[3] Bambi Turner 2015, 10 Superstitions That Are Actually Spot-on, HowStuffWorks.com, viewed 07 October 2020, <https://people.howstuffworks.com/10-superstitions-that-are-actually-spot-on.htm>

Referencing

[1] Martin Vorel. (2016). Leather shoes. Old woman leather brown shoes on wooden floor. Pair of used shoes. Vintage style boots.. [image]. Available from: https://libreshot.com/leather-shoes/ [Access date: 07/10/2020]