The advertisement shown here goes these one better and promises a free vial of Van Van oil with each rabbit’s foot the formula is a Louisiana hoodoo favourite that “clears away that evil mess” and increases the strength of any good luck charm to which it is applied. There, now let’s move on to some of the good stuff about rabbits’ feet.Ĭatherine Yronwode provides information on the rabbit’s foot on her Lucky W Amulet Archive, describing the foot as catalogue offerings from the early-to-mid twentieth century:Īs for the foot itself, a circa-1940 mail order catalogue from the Standard O and B Supply Company, a Chicago-based distributor of African-American hoodoo material, offered undyed rabbit foot charms “made with a metal band and a link to attach on chain.” The Johnson-Smith Novelty Company offered identical charms in its 1941 catalogue.

Just as a smart modern magician finds a reasonable substitution for liquid quicksilver/mercury (and thus avoids madness and poisoning), a wise student of folklore and folk magic remembers that just because a sentiment appears in print doesn’t make it right or appropriate. There are words that appear here which would likely incite violence if used lightly today, so please understand that I present them here as a piece of the folklore to which they belong. Many of the sources I’ll be citing in this post also date from earlier eras, and thus have a great deal of offensive material in them. They are used for general luck, gambling aids, love enhancers, and other areas where a bit of extra luck might help.Ī quick word of warning, however. Rabbit foot charms have been around since at least the mid-to-late 19 th century in North America, and likely predate the Civil War. There are plenty of theories about this particular luck charm, but not much that can be definitely put down regarding its origin or provenance. For today’s post, I’m looking at the folklore and magic surrounding one of the most ubiquitous pieces of conjure paraphernalia, the rabbit’s foot.

Are lucky rabbits feet real