Saint / folklore
Hunchbacks as luck-bringers
Background
A Neapolitan belief that a hunched back brings good fortune.
In Naples the hunchback (‘o scartellato) is one of the most powerful charms against bad luck. Touching a hunchback’s hump is supposed to bring fortune, especially before buying a lottery ticket. Lucky amulets often show a little hunchbacked man in top hat and tails, sometimes combined with a horn. In the Smorfia, the traditional Neapolitan key that turns dream images into lottery numbers, the hunchback is 57.
The belief is gendered: the saying goes that a male hunchback brings luck and a female one brings misfortune. Similar beliefs appear across the Mediterranean, and the deformed or dwarfish figure as a bringer of luck goes back to antiquity. Like much of this protective lore, it sits uneasily between affection and cruelty towards the person being touched.
In Naples ’44
Lewis notes lottery-ticket buyers touching or stroking a hunchback’s hump as part of the purchase.
Appears in 1 diary entry.
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November 1 1943Lewis is indignant at the drastic cut to informant funds, arguing money isn't really what motivates their most dedicated Italian contacts.
hunchbacks are considered lucky in Naples; lottery-ticket buyers touch or stroke a hunchback's hump as part of the purchase
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