Author Archives: f0024j5

Lucky Number 4 – Germany

Title: Lucky Number 4 – Germany

General Information about Item:

  • Sign Superstition
  • Language: German
  • Country of Origin: German
  • Informant: Juergen Buchsteiner
  • Date Collected: 02-26-2018

Informant Data:

  • Juergen Buchsteiner was born in Ennepetal, Germany on May 16th, 1958. He spent his entire education and higher education in Germany, after which he began working as an accountant at various companies. In his late 20s he moved to Missouri, United States for work. After seven years, he met his wife Meifang Buchsteiner through work. As soon as they got married, Juergen accepted a job back in Recklinghausen, Germany and after moving there, his first son Juergen “Wei Wei” Buchsteiner was born. He kept working at the same company until he retired as Wei Wei started high school. They moved to California, where they still reside to this day.

Contextual Data:

  • Juergen is quite well-versed in German culture as he lived there all his life until his late 20s, when he moved to the United States. He knows various different facets of German culture, including lucky numbers.

Item:

  • The number 4 is lucky in Germany because it is a number that is associated with balance and evenness. Germans tend to keep this number close to them, such as wearing it on sports jerseys or choosing it for their lottery numbers. Furthermore, Juergen said this is part of the reason four-leaf clovers bring lucky.

Collector’s Name: Juergen Wei Buchsteiner

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition
  • Lucky Number
  • 4
  • Germany

Lucky Number 16 – Family Number

Title: Lucky Number 16 – Family Number

General Information about Item:

  • Sign Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Henry Goodwyn
  • Date Collected: 03-01-2018

Informant Data:

  • Henry Goodwyn was born and raised in Rumson, New Jersey. He comes from an Ice Hockey family, as his dad and all his brothers played it as their main sport. He started playing in his elementary Pewee league and played throughout middle school, high school, and on his club team at Dartmouth College. He is currently pursuing a Government major there and hopes to work in congress one day.

Contextual Data:

  • Henry’s father was a rather superstitious hockey player. Throughout his entire youth, he always wore the same number, when playing and even when it was taken by another player, he would do anything it took to get for himself. As soon as he had his own kids, which were old enough to play hockey, he made them all wear the same number.

Item Data:

  • The number 16 is lucky in Henry’s family because it is his dad’s lucky number. He declared to the family that it would be their lucky number as well because it’s very important to them.

Collector’s Name: Juergen Wei Buchsteiner

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition
  • Lucky Number
  • 16
  • Hockey
  • Family Folklore

Unlucky Number 4 – China

Title: Chinese Unlucky Number 4

General Information about Item:

  • Sign Superstition
  • Language: English, Chinese
  • Country of Origin: China
  • Informant: Meifang Buchsteiner
  • Date Collected: 02-26-2018 (via Skype)

Informant Data:

  • Meifang Buchsteiner was born in Taipei, Taiwan in June 27th, 1964. She moved to the US halfway through her college career to pursue a degree in Information Technology at Bradley University. After living in St. Louis, Missouri for about seven years, she met her husband Juergen Buchsteiner through work. Six months after they met, they got married and immediately moved to Germany, giving birth to her first son Juergen “Wei Wei” soon after. Six years later, she gave birth to her second son McCoy. In 2011, she and her family moved to San Jose, California, where they remain to this day.

Contextual Data:

  • While raising Wei Wei in Germany, she was disappointed in the lack of Chinese schools because she felt it was important to keep Wei Wei connected to his ethnic roots. As a consequence, his first language was actually Mandarin Chinese, as she read children’s stories and fables to him all the time. His father was at work most of the day so Wei Wei did not learn German or English until he attended school. Furthermore, she always taught him about other facets Chinese culture, such as lucky numbers.

Item:

  • The number 4 is unlucky in Chinese culture because it phonetically sounds similar to the Chinese Mandarin term for death. Therefore, in China you will see buildings, especially hotels, avoid having a fourth floor by either skipping it entirely (vacant floor) or labelling it as the fifth floor. People will also avoid gifting someone four of an object because that is the equivalent of giving someone misfortune and bad luck.

Collector’s Name: Juergen Wei Buchsteiner

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition
  • Unlucky Number
  • 4
  • China

 

Lucky Number 6 – Chinese

Title: Chinese Lucky Number 6

General Information about Item:

  • Sign Superstition
  • Language: English, Chinese
  • Country of Origin: China
  • Informant: Meifang Buchsteiner
  • Date Collected: 02-26-2018 (via Skype)

Informant Data:

  • Meifang Buchsteiner was born in Taipei, Taiwan in June 27th, 1964. She moved to the US halfway through her college career to pursue a degree in Information Technology at Bradley University. After living in St. Louis, Missouri for about seven years, she met her husband Juergen Buchsteiner through work. Six months after they met, they got married and immediately moved to Germany, giving birth to her first son Juergen “Wei Wei” soon after. Six years later, she gave birth to her second son McCoy. In 2011, she and her family moved to San Jose, California, where they remain to this day.

Contextual Data:

  • While raising Wei Wei in Germany, she was disappointed in the lack of Chinese schools because she felt it was important to keep Wei Wei connected to his ethnic roots. As a consequence, his first language was actually Mandarin Chinese, as she read children’s stories and fables to him all the time. His father was at work most of the day so Wei Wei did not learn German or English until he attended school. Furthermore, she always taught him about other facets Chinese culture, such as lucky numbers.

Item:

  • The number 6 is lucky because in Mandarin Chinese, it phonetically sounds similar to the term for “path”. They connect this path as the “path” to success and prosperity (see the item on 168). Therefore, In China you tend to see the number at Casinos, like the number 7 for Western Casinos. The number can also be seen on license plates and other novelty items, both in its singular form and as a multiple, e.g. “666”. People want to keep this number close to themselves as they believe it will bring them luck and prosperity.

Collector’s Name: Juergen Wei Buchsteiner

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition
  • Lucky Number
  • 6
  • China

 

Lucky Number 168 – Chinese

Title: Lucky Number 168 – Chinese

General Information about Item:

  • Sign Superstition
  • Language: English, Chinese
  • Country of Origin: China
  • Informant: Meifang Buchsteiner
  • Date Collected: 02-26-2018 (via Skype)

Informant Data:

  • Meifang Buchsteiner was born in Taipei, Taiwan in June 27th, 1964. She moved to the US halfway through her college career to pursue a degree in Information Technology at Bradley University. After living in St. Louis, Missouri for about seven years, she met her husband Juergen Buchsteiner through work. Six months after they met, they got married and immediately moved to Germany, giving birth to her first son Juergen “Wei Wei” soon after. Six years later, she gave birth to her second son McCoy. In 2011, she and her family moved to San Jose, California, where they remain to this day.

Contextual Data:

  • While raising Wei Wei in Germany, she was disappointed in the lack of Chinese schools because she felt it was important to keep Wei Wei connected to his ethnic roots. As a consequence, his first language was actually Mandarin Chinese, as she read children’s stories and fables to him all the time. His father was at work most of the day so Wei Wei did not learn German or English until he attended school. Furthermore, she always taught him about other facets Chinese culture, such as lucky numbers.

Item:

  • The number 168 is lucky because of the sentence that it phonetically sounds similar to in Cantonese. It sounds similar to “one path to prosperity”: 1 is “one”, 6 is “path”, and 8 sounds like “prosperity/luck”. Therefore, you tend to see the number 168 at Casinos, on license plates, and other novelty items in China. People want to keep these numbers close to themselves as they believe it will bring them luck and prosperity.

Collector’s Name: Juergen Wei Buchsteiner

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition
  • Lucky Number
  • 168
  • China