When it came to warding off bad luck on Friday the 13th, the town of French Lick wasn’t taking any chances.
So in 1939, officials in the southern Indiana community came up with an unusual precaution: They passed an ordinance requiring all black cats to wear bells on the supposedly unlucky day.
The idea was to give residents fair warning if one of the agents of misfortune was about to cross their path.
With another Friday the 13th approaching this week, the ordinance offers a reminder of a time when folklore legends — and perhaps a little small-town mischief — could find their way into local government.
Newspaper clippings provided by French Lick West Baden Museum.
“It was a little bit of superstition, a little bit of jest,” said Kenton Allbright, director of the French Lick West Baden Museum.
According to news reports, the town board adopted the requirement on Friday, Oct. 13, 1939, directing the town marshal to place silver bells on black cats within the town limits.
The unusual decree attracted media attention across the country and continued to make headlines periodically for the next 15 to 20 years, Allbright said.
There’s no indication the ordinance was intended to ease the superstitions of the well-heeled customers at the town’s gambling halls and mineral water spas of that era. But at least one news report suggested unwanted consequences if the law wasn’t followed.
A 1942 article in The New York Times said a “number of minor mishaps occurred” when the town skipped enforcement in 1941. The report didn’t explain what went wrong or whether any black cats were to blame.
Allbright said newspaper accounts from the era are unclear about how seriously the ordinance was taken. He also hasn’t found it in the town’s surviving online ordinance records.
But, he said, the story fits the character of French Lick in the late 1930s, when religious traditions, superstitions and practical jokes were all part of community life.
Around Halloween in 1939, for example, pranksters stole the town’s downtown fire bell, only to return it under cover of darkness. Someone also dyed the town’s famous Pluto mineral water green.
“There were a lot of local hijinks going on that year,” Allbright said.
Why the superstitions?
The fear of Friday the 13th has roots in centuries-old religious traditions and folklore, although its precise origins remain uncertain.
Moira Marsh, who retired this year as a folklore librarian at Indiana University, said the number 13 has long been considered unlucky in Western culture.
One explanation points to the Last Supper, when Jesus dined with his 12 apostles, including Judas, who betrayed him.
Friday, meanwhile, acquired an ominous reputation in Christian tradition because it was the day Jesus was crucified.
But the combination of Friday and the number 13 appears to be a relatively modern superstition, Marsh said. References to the date as unlucky appeared in 19th-century French literature, and the belief spread in the United States during the early 20th century.
Black cats developed their own unfortunate reputation during medieval Europe, when they became associated with witches, evil spirits and the devil.
Some believed witches could transform themselves into black cats. Others feared that a black cat crossing their path foretold misfortune.
Not every culture shares that belief. In parts of Britain and elsewhere, black cats have traditionally been considered signs of good luck.
“For any place that says such and such is bad luck, there’s another place, another time, that says it’s good luck,” Marsh said. “Because it’s all made up anyway.”
Whatever its original aim, French Lick’s black cat ordinance eventually faded into obscurity.
Allbright said he has found no official record of the requirement in the town’s online ordinance collection, leaving questions about its legal status and enforcement.
But it remains one of his favorite pieces of local history, a reminder of the colorful character of a resort town with a healthy dose of tomfoolery.
Greg Weaver is an FPI News freelance contributor. You can reach him at gregoryeweaver@gmail.com.
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