Black Cats and April Fools: Origins of Old Wives Tales and Superstitions in Our Daily Lives

by Harry Oliver, Mike Mosedale (Illustrator)

An intriguing look at the origins of some of our most popular superstitions and old wives tales. People have knocked on wood to ward off misfortune, or watched a bride throw a bouquet over her head at a wedding, but how often have they stopped to consider where such customs originate, or why they endure? Behind many of our daily rituals and beliefs lies a fascinating history of weird and wonderful notions, some rational, others fanciful. In this diverting volume, Harry Oliver delves into the stories behind our rich traditions to explain them with characteristic wit and flair. So before you search for any more four-leaf clovers or worry about the next Friday the 13th, dip into this little book to find out why.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Folklore, History

258 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Lou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much info here, mostly saying "no one knows the origin". That would be quite all right if there was humor or graphics to add interest.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although enjoyable learning some new superstitions, i found that the origins as the in the title of the book where either left out or not defined. The book is more a reiteration of old folk tales.

[Completely Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review in Wrap Up Vlog
https://youtu.be/kCy9r937eU8

[Tanwen Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book where I found out about a lot of superstitions and old wives tales I hadn't heard about before. They are well laid out by topic, making it easy to read. However, the origin part of the book felt a little lack luster to me. I know many of these origins are lost to time, but there were a few too many instances of 'no one is sure where this superstition started' considering that was the premise of the book.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely little book about Superstitions. I am a little bit superstitious but I am also a bit tongue in cheek about it. Some things I do without even thinking about it so it is always nice to find out where these superstitions come from. A bonus is that some of the superstitions are hilarious

[Kaja Pająk · Rating 3 out of 5]

na początku bardzo fajna i ciekawa ale po jakimś czasie trochę już za dużo przesądów i za mało wyjaśnień, skąd się mogły wziąć
mimo wszystko można wyciągnać z niej jakieś ciekawostki

[Carole Tyrrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading these compendium books as you never know what inspiration you might find inside that might inspire you. It’s a very comprehensive collection of the ‘origins of old wives tales and superstitions in our daily lives’ as it says on the front cover. And it certainly does what it says on the tin! These are the tales and superstitions that we’ve always hear of such as ‘Red sky t night, Shepherd’s delight’ but never really thought about their meaning.
The author has certainly done his home work about the where they came from and their significance and I really learned a lot especially about the ones that I’d never heard of.
A good little book, well researched and entertaining and doesn’t just include the more common ones.

[Alayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting volume of superstitions and their explanations or origins. I was surprised to learn that most of them originated in Victorian times, after the so-called Age of Enlightenment!

[Susan Liston · Rating 3 out of 5]

good quick reference for everything superstition related...

[Marife · Rating 5 out of 5]

Info dump it explain all of the famous superstitions that we have in our daily lives

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just boring and mediocre - so bad I couldn't be bothered to finish it.

[vicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

? my dad forwarded a photo of this book (since it's april fools) and i honestly still have no idea why but uhhh it's an ok book. very brief but it does cover a wide variety

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with intresting information about the history and meaning of common sayings throughout time.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

"...in the past the Bible was considered the word of God..." Really Harry? Hence the low rating.

Not only for this ridiculous statement but the constant misinformation (if not lies) about Catholic traditions/superstitions being Biblical.

Most of the superstitions the author labels as Christian or being derived from the Holy Bible is just plain false. (Don't get me started on his passing comment that baptism is done in order to receive forgiveness of sins!) Sadly most people don't read the Bible, so they wouldn't know they're being misinformed about the origin of some of these superstitions.

I don't know whether this author is ignorant (in thinking that Catholicism is Biblical Christianity) or if he's bias; wanting to pass the Bible of as an old superstitious book. Either way, I could not enjoy this book (like I thought I was going to) because of these errors.

[Rachna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about numerous superstitions from all over the world and how they may have originated. Such as knocking on wood may be from an old kids game where touching wood meant “safe”. Giving white and red flowers in a bouquet is bad luck, it is believed to be this way because blood and bandages are also red and white. If a girl drew water from the well on the first day of the New Year she would be considered lucky. My favorite was the carrot myth, if you eat carrots you can see in the dark. It’s a myth because people thought that’s what British pilots did in WWII instead of using radars. Another favorite was peacock feathers bring bad luck, it’s believed to be like that because of its evil looking eye appearance.

[waiwaiee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Flipping a page, random at best, might be entertaining. There are some interesting tales, though mostly it would leave you baffled. Not in the way, oh-yeah-that-could-have-happen-in-the-past, but instead, here-you-you-go-i-hope-this-is-random-enough-for-you. Watching life science documentary should be a pre-requisite before reading books from this genre. This is because you could then understand the reasoning and belief behind every occurances.

Quite frankly, superstitions is to make beliefs and it is to be embelished. Let all reality be grasped on the first hand. Heed not a convert of superstitions!

[Xanthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally speaking, I don't consider myself a particularly superstitious person, but this book's topic held my interest from start to finish. It was easy to read during my breaks at work, with bite sized sections. There were a fair few superstitions covered by this book, that I have never heard of before, and almost as many that I had, but never knew where or how they originated. An entertaining read.

[Kellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

happened upon this at the library and thought it would be entertaining while waiting for kid lessons. turns out to not have had actually that much real information about the origins, mostly speculation and modern use - but it entertained me for an hour anyway and gave me a few nuggets of useless trivia to share.

[Amanda Witt]

Features bite sized chunks of information, in plain English about all sorts of things once thought to be either old wives tales and/or superstitions.
Brief explanations are given, with most dating back to years past when there really were reasons to think that way but now modern medicine and better education has meant most of these are no longer believed.

[Carissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read some of the first chapter and skimmed the rest. I was looking for something with more references... along the lines of the "Pop Goes the Weasel" book.
I also disagree with passing under a train... it's good luck!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an entertaining and interesting insight into some of the worlds most common superstitions. It's a very good 'pick up' book that you can read a few entries here and there.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of fun - light reading.

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

You should never give anyone a knife--it's bad luck. If you must, throw salt over your left shoulder.

[Kimberley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book even of it did make me a bit paranoid about superstitions I never even knew existed!

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's full of entertaining and interesting tidbits, but overall the delivery and research could have been better.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's definitely interesting to read about how all the old superstions come about.

[Charissa Ty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read!

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this collection of explanations for superstitions quite interesting, but very patchy. The best chapters (in my opinion) were 21 and 22.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book about the origins of superstitions. Some of the superstitions I have heard before, but many of them I have not.