Cute midcentury key art illustrations highlight this fun little 4-page article about superstitions, jinxes, luck charms 'n juju, etc... via the May 1950 issue of Bandwagon Volume 10 #5.
"...birds are all a'twitter with omens." Maybe that is where H P Lovecraft got the idea of the whippoorwills as bad omens from The Dunwich Horror.
"...but coal is still good juju in spite of its criminal record." Well, coal is a relative of a diamond, and with the exception of The Hope Diamond, all other diamonds are considered lucky.
True story, believe it or not, I was taking my time going down the steps of the train station on my way to work, and I saw a sparkling stone on one of the steps. I figured it was only cubic zirconia, but it looked nice so I picked it up, I wrapped it in a bit of paper and went to work. A month or so later I took it to a jeweler to satisfy my curiosity, and after testing it he told me it was a one third of a carat yellow diamond. It must have fallen out of someone's ring or necklace, but now its mine living happily ever after in a safe deposit box. For me at least, that cousin of coal (a diamond) was lucky for me.
The jeweler said it was worth about a hundred dollars, it is a yellow diamond so it sells for less than a blue-white diamond. With lab grown diamonds becoming popular, it might sell for a bit less now. I am considering having it set into a ring at some point, but I am in no hurry.
While the diamond find was a nice surprise, the stuff you find in your area sparkle brighter than most gemstones.
Thanks as always for all the great posts here on AEET and THOIA.
"...birds are all a'twitter with omens." Maybe that is where H P Lovecraft got the idea of the whippoorwills as bad omens from The Dunwich Horror.
ReplyDelete"...but coal is still good juju in spite of its criminal record." Well, coal is a relative of a diamond, and with the exception of The Hope Diamond, all other diamonds are considered lucky.
True story, believe it or not, I was taking my time going down the steps of the train station on my way to work, and I saw a sparkling stone on one of the steps. I figured it was only cubic zirconia, but it looked nice so I picked it up, I wrapped it in a bit of paper and went to work. A month or so later I took it to a jeweler to satisfy my curiosity, and after testing it he told me it was a one third of a carat yellow diamond. It must have fallen out of someone's ring or necklace, but now its mine living happily ever after in a safe deposit box. For me at least, that cousin of coal (a diamond) was lucky for me.
Ahhh very cool! Did the jeweler tell you the actual value?
DeleteThe jeweler said it was worth about a hundred dollars, it is a yellow diamond so it sells for less than a blue-white diamond. With lab grown diamonds becoming popular, it might sell for a bit less now. I am considering having it set into a ring at some point, but I am in no hurry.
ReplyDeleteWhile the diamond find was a nice surprise, the stuff you find in your area sparkle brighter than most gemstones.
Thanks as always for all the great posts here on AEET and THOIA.
Coal is also a relative of dinosaurs. So look out.
ReplyDeleteI dearly love that wicket cat (and the wicked devil is pretty great, too. If perhaps a little salty).
HAPPY OCTOBER ERRYBODY!
There's a lot to love on the simple art here because the facial expressions and so ... er .. expressive.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the naughty cat and my second favorite is the devil getting plastered right in the eyes with salt!