Lucky Birthstone by Adelbert Kohn

Although rather plain in terms of graphics, because each image is simply a bejeweled golden horseshoe, the "Lucky Birthstone" postcard set, "copyright 1907, A.K. Phila." is notable for bearing the earliest variant of The Tiffany Birthstone Poem. The publisher, "A.K.," was Adelbert Kohn. I know next to nothing about Adelbert Kohn except that he was most likely a relative of mine, because my maternal grandmother, born Ida Kohn, descended from a large Jewish family of authors, printers, typesetters, publishers, and rabbis. The printers in our family bore the surnames Kohn, Kohen, Arnstein, Teomin, Fraenkel, Hirsh, Lipmann, Horowitz, Auerbach, Jaffe, Drucker, Kalonymus, and Luria -- and they can be traced back to the 1600s due to their habit of placing their names in the books they wrote, typeset, printed, and published. Some of the family went to America during the 19th century, and remained in the printing trade, so although i have no direct knowledge of Adelbert Kohn's genealogy, i consider him to be an "unknown uncle" of some degree.

Interestingly, in Kohn's variant, The Tiffany Birthstone Poem sheds some of its 19th century formality and makes way for a slightly more liberal political agenda. (This is in keeping with my family's history as well.) In Kohn's hands, the patristic slant of the original text, with its references to the bejewelled one as a "her" and to a woman becoming a "wife," has been completely eliminated. The poem, having been de-gendered, is now suitable for all people. No longer are we looking at expensive parures and pendants for Tiffany's wealthy women. Now anyone can wear a lucky birthstone, including a man, who perhaps might select a modestly jeweled pair of cufflinks, a tie-clasp, or a watch-fob.

Kohn made other changes to the poem that affect the mood or tone of the verses, rendering them less admonitory and more pleasing to the birth-native of several months. January's "fidelity" is transformed to "felicity," for instance. But with these changes comes the inevitable ruination of the meter. The line "Shall be a loved and a loving wife" is perfect iambic pentameter, but the substituted "Shall be beloved, happy and blessed" is just hash.

The Lucky Horseshoe

"Many Happy Returns of the Day," a postcard printed in Germany circa 1910, with text surprinted at the bottom and outside the image area to enable its use in a variety of languages; the image includes a German farm boy and a swath of lucky four-leaf-clovers

The points-down lucky horseshoe on these postcards will likely drive my readers of Irish descent into conniptions, because in their culture, the horseshoe is only lucky if the ends point upward. They must not point downward lest "the luck will fall out. This belief is not found in Germany, from whence Adelbert Kohn no doubt emigrated. In Germany, and in central and southern Europe as well, the horseshoe generally points downward, providing protection as well as luck. Read more at the Lucky W Amulet Archive Horseshoe page.

In Adelbert Kohn's images, the rusty nails in the old iron horseshoe have been replaced by faceted and cabochon-cut gems. His horseshoes hang from wide ribbons with fancy bows. Hanging the right-side-up horseshoe above a doorway is common in Germany, and the law of gravity makes it obvious why in Ireland and Irish America it is necessary to nail the upside-down horseshoe in place.

JANUARY

Lucky Birthstone Postcards: 01, January, Garnet

"By those who in this month is born
No gems save Garnets should be worn
They will ensure them constancy,
True friendship, and felicity.

Month: January
Zodiac Sign: --
Birthstone: Garnet
Birth Flower: --