There are very few superstitions today about Friday, except for the ever popular Friday the 13th. In today’s world, Friday is the start of the party weekend, but in the recent past it was a day of misfortune.
Friday Superstition Fast Passing Away
The Friday superstition appears to be dying out.
From time immemorial this time honored superstition has swayed the minds of men and women. Why Friday should be considered more unlucky than the other days of the week is lost in the mists of obscurity. The first individual that placed a ban on this particular day must have handed it down to his issue and from him sent it rolling down the ages, till the search light of reason belonging to the twentieth century sealed its doom.
People of all classes have been affected by the hoodoo of Friday. Many have an idea that it has been confined to people of limited education or a low grade of intelligence, but this is a mistake. Educated and intelligent persons, while not willing to acknowledge the impeachment, have been governed in their actions by this tabooed time of the week. People who have gone through life and laughed at the idea of there being such thing as an unlucky day have been solemnly warned of their rashness and the most dismal prophecies have been made as to their fate if they persisted in such a course. But nothing happened to them and the brave stand taken has borne fruit; the superstition is dying a slow death, and bids fair to lose its terrors in a short time.
Railroad men have always been affected by the Friday hoodoo. They have been known to refuse to take out their first run even when threatened with dismissal, and it has been common report among them that more accidents have occurred on this day than on the other six combined. A large number of good people in the past, and some cherish the belief yet, that dire punishment is in store for them if they should attempt to move on that day. Timid young maidens would not under any consideration become engaged or be married to the man of their choice and men of affairs could not get their consent to sign a note or make an investment in the proscribed period.
Many persons would never dream of starting on a journey on such an unlucky date, and if it was a case of life and death, they might be persuaded to go but they were likely to tremble at the probably consequence of such a rash step.
Sailors are among the most superstitious of men and the forecastle has been the hotbed of voodooism. A large portion of humanity have refused to make a deposit in a bank or cash a check, or receive money or do any of the hundred and one things that might bring to them the demon of ill luck if they were done on Friday. The superstition has taken hold of all classes in the past and held on with such a death grip that it has not only affected the actions of individuals but it has even extended to the nation also.
But a healthy reaction has set in and people are laughing the hoodoo of an unlucky Friday out of the minds of the superstitious. Railroad trainmen go out on their runs on any old day. Marriages are contracted and consummated, folks move when they please, business is transacted without hesitation, journeys are made when it is most convenient and even jack tar has gotten rid of some of the moss-grown ideas about Friday being unlucky. The records of the county show that nobody is afraid to take out a license on the fifth day of the week, and even divorces are granted without fear.
“Three years ago,” said Harry Abbott, marriage license clerk in Judge Waters’ office, “Friday was a holiday with us. No one ever came after a marriage license and we couldn’t have given one away on that day. Within the last two years, however, the number of applicants on Friday has constantly grown and I confidently look forward to its being our biggest day some time. I have suggested the old superstition to several applicants, but they laugh at it and declare their willingness to take all chances.”
Source: The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.), 04 Oct. 1902.
