> One recent accession is a "Birthday Greeting" postcard from ca 1910,
> made in Germany, A.S.B. shield 319, showing a girl, boy at a well, and
> basket full to overflowing with horseshoes, four leaf clovers, and
> ==>mushrooms with caps red with white speckles, white stems.  The first
> two I understand, but what is the significance of the mushrooms???
>
> Chris Bobbitt, Curator of Collections
> Monroe Co. Historical Museum, Bloomington, IN
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>
 
The mushrooms are supposed to bring good luck.  In fact, I have two
marzipan examples of them in little cellophane bags right here on my desk
that have the words "Viel Gluck" (i.e., Good Luck or Lots of Luck) written
on them.  They were New Year's Eve presents that my wife and I received in
Austria last January.  The Austrians have the same preoccupation with pink
pigs.  I asked a few of the local inhabitants about the origin of the
ritual, but they didn't know.
 
Robert M. Ehrenreich
National Academy of Sciences
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