On January 10, 1894, the Galesburg Daily Mail carried an article about superstitions related to salt. It had been copied from the Washington Post. In those days newspaper editors often copied from other publications in order to fill their columns.

The spilling of salt has been considered unlucky for a very long time. Some say it goes back to the Last Supper when Judas upset the salt cellar. To avoid catastrophe, the person who spilled the salt must throw some of it over the left shoulder or eat a pinch of it. Others point out that Judas was the thirteenth person at the supper.

Dictionaries define superstition as a belief not based on reason or knowledge. It can be based on supernatural causes, belief in luck or the belief that the future can be foretold by unrelated events. Superstitions are more likely to be negative than positive. Philosophers and theologians oppose superstition as a contradiction to religious belief.

In his autobiography, Always the Young Strangers, Carl Sandburg wrote that he and his friends watched to see if anything unlucky happened on Friday, the thirteenth. They didn't observed any ill effects from the day's events and concluded it wasn't true. They heard it was bad luck to step over a broom and walk under a ladder. The boys tried doing those things and nothing happened.

Carl had four warts on his hands. He heard that tying a piece of string with four knots and burying it under a maple tree by the light of the full moon would make the warts go away. The warts disappeared many weeks later. He didn't believe the knots, the maple tree or the full moon had helped.

Carl's friends may have carried a buckeye or rabbit's foot in their pocket for good luck. The number thirteen may have been considered unlucky while seven was lucky. They boys may have had a lucky glove for playing baseball.

Today there is ambivalence about superstitions, but individuals may still avoid stepping on a crack in the sidewalk so their mother's back won't be broken. They won't adopt a black cat from the local animal shelter because they bring bad luck. Knocking on wood to prevent something nasty from happening is a custom in the United States as well as Sweden. A Swede will say “Peppar, peppar, ta ti tra” (touch wood).

Bad luck can come from walking under ladders or opening an umbrella indoors. Good luck can come from a cricket in the house or finding a four leaf clover. We grow up with superstitions and half believe them.