This thread was inspired by the pocket knife thread.

A few people talked about local superstitions regarding knives and gifting knives.

The only superstition that I am aware of is the proper use of brooms. I worked in kitchens in Ohio, which is not the south but Cincinnati where I lived was a hub for the underground railroad and I think this superstition came from the southern black population that came north. Most of kitchens I worked in I worked with black people, people of color, is there a PC term so I do not offend anyone. Apologies.

Anyway, I noticed that one day when I was sweeping the kitchen that all the other cooks would walk quickly away from the broom. I asked why they were scared of the broom. They told me that their grandmother told them that if your feet are swept with a broom that it will take your soul, or your money and that the only way to combat this was to spit on the broom if your feet were touched.

When I moved to PDX most of the people that I worked with were from Latin America. The broom thing with them was that if you sweep the feet you will marry an ugly man or ugly women. There was no counter to the sweeping.

Needless to say I spent some time chasing people with a broom.

Strange how it mutates.