Pennsylvania

Entries

• #18

  To make a child rise in the world, carry it upstairs (or to the attic) first.

  Mifflintown, Pa.
• #104

  A dimple is the mark left by the angel’s finger in turning up the face to kiss it when asleep.

  Pennsylvania.
• #171

  Name apple-seeds and place on the lids of the closed eyes. Wink and the first to fall off shows the name of your future husband.

  Winn, Me., New York, and Pennsylvania.
• #200

  Count a hundred white horses and two white mules, and the first person you shake hands with you’ll marry.

  Pennsylvania.
• #310

  On Halloween walk backwards from the front door, pick up dust or grass, bring it in, wrap it in paper, put it under your pillow, and dream.

  Pennsylvania.
• #343

  If the bride just before leaving the house throws her bouquet over the banisters, the one who catches it is next to be wedded.

  Philadelphia, Pa.
• #392

  If hands are crossed at the table while passing a dish, a wedding will follow. The top hand belongs to the person who will be married.

  Pennsylvania.
• #435

  Swallow a chicken’s heart whole and make a wish. It will come true.

  Pennsylvania and Ohio.
• #438

  Find a stray eyelash; place it on the back of the hand with a wish; blow it off. If it blows off at the first trial, the wish will come true.

  St. John, N. B., and Pennsylvania.
• #563

  If you dream of a wedding, you will hear of the death of a friend in that month.

  Pennsylvania.
• #564

  To dream of a wedding means death.

  Mifflintown, Pa.
• #612

  It is unlucky to travel on Friday.

  New York and Pennsylvania.
• #634

  The more nails in the horseshoe, the more luck.

  Western Pennsylvania.
• #647

  If you spill salt, throw some over your left shoulder, and then crawl under one side of the table and come out on the other, to prevent bad luck.

  Bucks Co., Pa.
• #736

  Having a piece of bread and taking another is a sign some one is coming hungry.

  Maine, New York, and Pennsylvania.
• #749

  If you drop the tea-towel, it is a sign of company.

  Pennsylvania.
• #755

  If the fork is dropped at the table, a man will call.

  Pennsylvania.
• #761

  If a knife be dropped at table, a woman will call.

  Pennsylvania.
• #763

  If you drop a knife, your visitor will be a woman; if a fork, it will be a man; if a spoon, it will be a fool.

  Pennsylvania.
• #783

  If your nose itches, you will see an old friend whom you have not seen for some time.

  New York and Pennsylvania.
• #899

  Rub the wart with a stolen dish-cloth, and secrete the dish-cloth until it becomes mouldy and decays, then the wart is cured.

  Bucks Co., Pa.
• #905

  Cut up an onion, rub the wart with each slice, and bury all the slices.

  Bucks Co., Pa.
• #935

  Cold weather comes after the wind has blown over the oat stubble.

  Pennsylvania.
• #971

  If every dish is cleaned at a given meal, then look for fair weather the following day.

  Pennsylvania Germans.
• #1007

  When long cirrus clouds or “cow’s tails” are seen, it means rain.

  Lewisburg, Pa.
• #1090

  New moon, true moon, true and trusty,
  Tell me who my true love must be.

  Pennsylvania.
• #1115

  Plant flowers in the increase of the moon.

  Pennsylvania.
• #1158

  To raise an umbrella in a house is a sign of an approaching death.

  Pennsylvania; somewhat general in the United States.
• #1207

  If one try on mourning when not wearing it, he will have occasion to wear it soon.

  Pennsylvania.
• #1237

  If thirteen sit at table, the one who rises first will not live through the year.

  Somerville, Mass., Newark, N. Y., and Mifflintown, Pa.
• #1249

  Only male relatives take part in the funeral procession.

  Philadelphia, Pa.
• #1277

  Whoever eats the last piece of bread will be an old maid.

  Pennsylvania.
• #1283

  You must leave by the door through which you enter, or there will be trouble with the family, or ill luck to yourself.

  Pennsylvania.
• #1293

  Two persons wiping hands on the same towel and twisting it occasions a quarrel.

  Pennsylvania.
• #1323

  If you stumble with the right foot, it means a glad surprise.

  Pennsylvania (negro).
• #1334

  In drinking water, if you glance over the glass, you are a flirt.

  Pennsylvania.
• #1342

  If you bite the corner of your apron, you will make back-biters bite their tongues.

  Pennsylvania.
• #1344

  If the right ear burns, it is a sign that some one is thinking well of you; if the left ear burns, it is a sign that some one is thinking unkindly of you; but if both ears burn, friend and foe are fighting about you.

  Pennsylvania.
• #1346

  If your right ear burns, a lady is speaking of you; if the left, a man.

  Maine and Pennsylvania.
• #1365

  A long scratch across the palm denotes a sleigh-ride.

  Pennsylvania (negro).
• #1402

  Halloween cabbages are pulled and thrown against the owner’s door as a reminder of his laziness.

  Southern Pennsylvania and Ohio.
• #1403

  Shelled corn is thrown at every one—the significance not known.

  Southern Pennsylvania.