Strange Superstitions: Shoes on the Table

I recently witnessed a friend casually plopping their shoes on my table. Naturally, I reacted like they had just unleashed a plague of locusts… I simply freaked out. They stared at me, utterly baffled, as if I’d suddenly sprouted a second head. Fair enough—why on earth was I having a meltdown over a pair of shoes on a table?

This little quirk comes courtesy of my mother’s extensive collection of bizarre Irish and British superstitions, which she would generously share with us daily. So, when my friend committed the ultimate table-shoe sin, I knew exactly where my panic stemmed from. To confirm, I had a quick chat with my sister, and lo and behold, the new shoes on a table thing is 100% a real superstition—not just some leftover nonsense from our childhood.

Curious about the origins of this oddball belief, I took a deep dive into the world of Google. Spoiler alert: it’s as weird as you’d expect. This rather uncommon superstition warns that placing shoes on a table invites a buffet of bad luck, ranging from a family squabble to—you guessed it—death. Why such drama over footwear, you ask? Well, back in the day, new shoes came with hobnailed soles, which were as dangerous to your dining table as they were to your feet. Those sharp nails could leave a table looking like it had been through a wood-chipper.

There’s also a grim tale from the North of England (where I’m from) that links this superstition to the coal mining industry. When a miner tragically lost his life in a colliery accident, his shoes were placed on the table as a sign of respect. Naturally, doing this on any old day was seen as tempting fate—or, at the very least, showing a complete lack of taste.

Whether you believe it brings bad luck or just a ruined table, putting shoes on the table is a tradition that I’ll continue to treat with the utmost seriousness in my home. After all, it’s probably just as much about avoiding a hygiene disaster as it is about dodging some ancient curse. So, the next time you visit, please keep your shoes on your feet or at the front door—or risk the wrath of my mother’s superstitions!

Sources:  Wikipedia,  Bloomsbury International British Superstitions