The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

Funeral Superstition

One should never count the number of cars in the line of a
funeral procession. For every car which one counts, he/she will
lose a year of his/her life.

Submitter comment: My grandmother, who is Italian, told me of this superstition
when I was five years old. The reason that she told me of this
particular belief is that I had just learned to count and I began
to count all of the objects that I looked at. For example,
railroad cars were a favorite of mine to count. Therefore, she
believed that if she told me of this belief, I would have a long
and prosperous life.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; KALAMAZOO

Date learned: 00-00-1975