The Luck of the…French?

It’s March, the month when we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.   Shamrocks are on display everywhere: on buttons, party hats, and balloons.   Almost everyone associates the shamrock with luck.  However, there is an entire language of good luck associated with charms.  This vintage French postcard, circa 1918, translates some of the symbols of the langage des porte-bonheur.

Elephant:  happiness
Hand: joy
Heart: love
Horseshoe:  money, success
Pansy:  remembrance
Pig: prosperity, wealth
Shamrock: happiness
Thirteen:  be happy