My WWII-era novel-in-progress, tentatively titled One Person’s Loss, includes rituals that the protagonists, German Jewish immigrants, use to ward off the “evil eye” when their baby is born. I researched whether their Italian immigrant neighbors might have similar superstitions. Jews tie red ribbons on the carriage, and/or a red string called a roite bindele around the infant’s left wrist, to protect it from the envy of demons. Italians wear a cornicello, a charm resembling a red pepper, to ward off bad luck and tocca ferro (touch iron). Read more about these and other good luck rituals in BEHIND THE STORY.
