Popular Superstitions: Sneezing (colour litho)

Sneezing. In the 17th Century it was customary for an Englishman to salute a sneeze by raising his hat, and to-day most of us are familiar with the saying "God bless you" on such occasions. The custom is supposed to have originated from a belief that the "soul" or "self" sometimes leaves the earthly body, its going and returning being marked by sneezes. In Germany there still exists a quaint bit of country lore to the effect that unfortunate enchanted sprites hide under bridges and sneeze loudly, in the hope that a pious passer-by may say "God bless you" and thus break the spell. This superstition gained ground during the Great Plague owing to the fact that it was accompanied by a prevalence of sneezing. Illustration for one of a set of 25 cigarette cards on the subject of Popular Superstitions issued by Godfrey Phillips in 1930.