Kitchen

[luvboyds]

I ordered the Kuhn-Rikon can opener and it was on a waitlist but received it yesterday. When I opened the package I found a shiny penny taped to the bubble wrap it was wrapped in. Has anyone experienced this before? I thought it was a little weird and was going to post about it last night but I forgot. Wonder what it was for or meant????

[Jessa9]

I remember my mom always told us if we were buying knives for a gift to tape a shiny penny to the package...I don't know what it means. It looks like maybe yours was a return from someone who got it as a gift and forgot to take the penny off.

[robomo]

I think it's cool - no matter the intention or how it got there.

[Akane]

[Topaz Gem]

Consider it your lucky penny.

[luvboyds]

It was cool. At least I thought so just different. I hadn't heard of the penny with knives before. Thanks JESSA!

[AnneMary]

I heard of it when I was a child growing up in NY State. It's a very old and old fashioned thing. Boy, that was a really long time ago. I thought it was a good luck thing. I also remember you didn't give a wallet or purse or coin purse to anyone without putting a penny in it also. Haven't thought of this in years!!

[sashamatthews]

Whenever we give someone a purse we put a penny in it for prosperity. The knife story is new to me.

[FunkyHulaGirl]

I remember the penny in a wallet or purse, but never heard of this. I looked it up and this is what I found:

Did you know there's a superstition about receiving knives as a gift? It applies to can openers, too, or scissors -- anything with a blade.

Apparently it's bad luck to be given something that can sever. The blade, it's thought, will sever the friendship. It's especially bad luck for a wedding gift, where the fear is that the sharp edge will sever the marriage vows.

Some people hold this superstition so strongly that they disapprove of giving knives as wedding gifts. But for most people, the solution is to have the bride "buy" the knife from you instead, for a token amount (usually a penny; sometimes a nickel). My relatives went so far as to insist I follow this rule even for something with as dull a blade as a table knife.

Some gift givers will include the penny for you to give back to them, but that seems to me to defeat the purpose; how much of a "purchase" can you make with money that's been given to you from the person you're supposed to pay?

[luvboyds]

Hmmmm this is turning interesting. I knew about the luck or if you find a penny on the ground if it's tails up you give it to someone and they put it in their shoe. If it's heads you get to keep it.