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Wed on Sunday, Cupid’s wooing;
In the morning, quick undoing.
Unsuperstltious President
Some of the most interesting stories regarding superstition are those of people going out of their way to defy commonly-held beliefs. One of these was U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, a man not often thought of as having a sense of humor or a whimsical nature. Yet Wilson deliberately planned dinner parties composed of thirteen people.
Later, when Wilson's plan for the League of Nations failed, his critics pointed out that he had invited twelve guests to the Versaille Peace Conference and that this flagrant violation of the thirteen taboo may have caused his downfall.
In the 1880's, a time when Victorian sensibility included belief in many superstitions, a small band of journalists formed the "London Thirteen Club”, a cynical group dedicated to ridiculing the superstitious beliefs of the day. Among those asked to join was Oscar Wilde, who declined saying. “Don’t make us too offensively sane.”
The first dinner was held on Friday, the 13th of January, in 1884. There were six tables with thirteen diners each. Guests were summoned to dinner by the smashing of mirrors and walked into the dining room under the ladder. In further acts of defiance, they were served by cross-eye waiters and they spilled salt from coffin-shaped saltcell.
The London Thirteen Club created a furor, with readers of the newspapers reporting on their activities rising up in indignation and outrage.
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