The Origin of Superstition

Robert Farrell

Why do people avoid walking under a ladder? Step around a black cat? Throw spilt salt over their shoulder? If you’ve ever wondered about any of these, The Origin of Superstition radio show has the answer for you! Also known as “Superstition on the Air”, The Origin of Superstition was a 1935 series of short stories that showcased many of the more popular superstitions of modern life. These were dramatizations that took the listener across space and time to explain when, where, how and why superstitions originated. The show was meticulously researched: The episodes add or subtract nothing to the superstition, but let the facts speak for themselves. The only fiction in the show was the names, which had been changed for purposes of discretion. Superstitions are often ridiculed, until a coincidence or quirk makes us wonder if fate guides our destinies, after all. In episodes such as “Rabbit’s Foot”, “Knocking on Wood”, “Opening an Umbrella Indoors”, and “Breaking a Mirror”, you may hear superstitions that you yourself observe, and come to understand their origins. Included in the series are superstitions less well known today, such as “Sing Before Breakfast”, “Don’t Stand Behind a Chair”, “Two Walkers Separated”, and “Bubbles in a Tea Cup”. There are thirty-nine episodes in all, including “Horseshoe Over the Door”, “Three on a Match”, “Thrown Shoes” and “Itching Palm”. The Origin of Superstition was produced and syndicated by Transco, the same company that produced the Cinnamon Bear. The show featured actors Verna Felton, Hanley Stafford, Gale Gordon, Howard McNear, Barbara Jean Wong, all of whom also performed on “The Cinnamon Bear” radio show, which was recorded in the same Transco studio in 1937. The narrator of The Origin of Superstition , Lindsay MacHarrie, was the director of The Cinnamon Bear” program.

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.

License