Popular Superstitions: Passing under a ladder (colour litho)

Passing under a ladder. A great many people take the wise precaution of not passing beneath a ladder occupied by decorators or builders at work upon a building, for there is always a chance of something dropping upon them. Others will take the same precaution, though the ladder be obviously unoccupied, for they believe that the act of walking beneath it is sufficient in itself to bring bad luck. The origin of the superstition goes back to the 18th Century, when criminals taken to Tyburn for public execution had to stand beneath the ladder whilst the rope was being adjusted upon the crossbeam of the gibbet. Illustration for one of a set of 25 cigarette cards on the subject of Popular Superstitions issued by Godfrey Phillips in 1930.