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Welcome & Good Luck, Class of '13: Falvey Presents Unique and Unusual Superstitions

What do Maneki Nekos, dragons, crows, coins, horseshoes, rabbits’ feet, acorns, rice, crickets, salt, pigs, jade, bamboo, ladybugs, broken mirrors, dragons, four leaf clovers, stars and umbrellas have in common? They are all part of a large, colorful window display to welcome the Class of 2013.

Because thirteen is considered a lucky number in some countries and unlucky in others, Joanne Quinn, the cultural windows designer, decided to focus on superstitions, a fun and fascinating subject to research. Each item noted above is associated with a superstition, and Joanne accompanied all with informative cards.

cats_edlh3Joanne even broke the mirrors included in the display but said she limited herself to two; she couldn’t afford more than fourteen years of bad luck!

She collects Maneki Neko cats, Japanese cats which are also known as Welcoming Cats, Lucky Cats, Money Cats and Fortune Cats. These cats are good luck charms, and the ones in the window are part of her own collection.

In addition to the objects, Joanne included numerous books from Falvey’s collections.ladybugs01_edlh2 Pot of Gold and Other Stories, Shamrock and Spear, How Superstition Won and Science Lost, The Encyclopedia of Superstitions and Amulets and Superstitions are a few of the books included in the exhibit. Joanne noted that there are many more on Falvey’s shelves.

Kathleen O’Connor, Systems librarian, and Marie Roman, Resource Management specialist, also loaned objects for the display. Ann Stango, Interlibrary Loan specialist, helped mount the display.

This fascinating exhibit has a wealth of colorful objects, large and small, to please the eye and information to satisfy the mind – a wonderful welcome to both our new and returning students.

By Alice Bampton


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Last Modified: August 21, 2009

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