Forget dusty folklore anthologies. Fanny D. Bergen's Current Superstitions is a time capsule, a direct recording of the odd, charming, and sometimes alarming things ordinary Americans believed at the turn of the 20th century. Published in 1896, the book is a straightforward compilation. Bergen, a dedicated folklorist, gathered these beliefs not from ancient texts, but from living people—neighbors, farmers, and families—primarily in the northeastern United States.

The Story

There's no traditional plot here. Instead, the book is organized like a field guide to the supernatural in daily life. It's divided into sections: beliefs about the body (itching palms, hiccups), the household (spilled salt, brooms), love and marriage, weather, animals, and death. Each entry is brief, often just a sentence or two stating the belief as it was told to her. You'll learn that to cure a sty, you should rub it with a gold wedding ring. That if your right ear itches, someone is praising you; your left, and they're cursing you. That planting potatoes in the dark of the moon makes them grow deep, but planting corn during a full moon makes it grow tall. The 'story' is the collective voice of a community trying to make sense of luck, health, and nature through a web of inherited rules.

Why You Should Read It

I loved this book because it's endlessly surprising and weirdly relatable. It’s easy to smirk at the idea that carrying a potato in your pocket prevents rheumatism. But then you catch yourself doing your own little ritual for good luck before a big meeting. Bergen doesn't judge; she just reports. This neutrality lets you see the creativity and even the comfort in these superstitions. They were a way for people to feel some control over the uncontrollable. Reading it, you start to see the patterns—the deep human desires for health, love, and protection that fuel these beliefs, desires that haven't changed a bit.

Final Verdict

This book is perfect for anyone curious about history, psychology, or just the strange side of everyday life. It's a fantastic browse—you can dip in for five minutes and find three bizarre gems. It's for the person who loves hearing old family sayings and wondering where they came from. While it's a scholarly work, it doesn't read like one. It reads like a conversation with the past, and it might just make you think twice the next time a black cat crosses your path.