Opening an umbrella indoors
An umbrella opened inside the house brings bad luck to the household.
Household superstition
House superstitions
House superstitions: never pass someone on the stairs, never leave shoes on a table, never open an umbrella indoors. First recorded: Varies; threshold customs documented from antiquity. That makes it more than 1,500 years old — joint 2nd oldest of the 45 superstitions we have dated.
- Earliest record
- Antiquity see the history below
When it actually starts
How old is this one
First recorded
Varies; threshold customs documented from antiquity
That makes it
more than 1,500 years old
Rank by age
Joint 2nd oldest of 45 dated here
Category
Household
Thresholds, stairs and doorways carry most of these rules because they are boundaries — between inside and outside, safe and unsafe. Carrying a bride over the threshold is attested in Rome — Plutarch asks why brides were lifted over it — though explanations of its purpose differ.
Why it stuck. Boundaries attract rules in many cultures, which is why similar customs appear in places with no contact.
1 of the dated superstitions here were written down earlier and 32 later, while 11 share its date.
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The versions people follow
What exactly is believed
Shoes on the table
New shoes placed on a table invite a death in the family or a quarrel.
Leaving by a different door
You should leave a house by the same door you entered, or you take the luck with you.
Salt and bread for a new home
Bread and salt, sometimes with a coin, are the first things brought into a new home so it never goes hungry or poor.
How the bad luck is traditionally undone
A broom placed across the threshold, or bread and salt on the table, is traditionally used to protect a new house.
Where it lives today
Housewarming gifts of bread and salt are still common in Eastern Europe, and many people avoid opening umbrellas indoors out of habit.
What people say
Never pass someone on the stairs, never leave shoes on a table, never open an umbrella indoors.What is going on
A common explanation for the umbrella rule is practical: Victorian umbrellas had stiff metal spokes, and opening one indoors could break things.Where it applies. European and North American; East Asian house rules follow feng shui logic instead.
Other household superstitions
Nearest in age
House superstitions are joint 2nd oldest of the 45 dated superstitions here. Of those, 3 date from 1900 or later and 14 predate the common era.
First-recorded dates are the earliest documented appearance in written sources, not the earliest possible origin — an unrecorded practice can be older. How the dating works and where it is uncertain →
Cite this page
AstroHot. “House Superstitions: Origin, Meaning and When It Began.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/superstitions/house-superstitions/
For Wikipedia
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