Popular Superstitions: Whistling for a wind (colour litho)

Whistling for a wind. There are fisherman still to be found, especially in the West of England, who are provoked into whistling for a wind when prevented by a calm from getting into port with a fine catch. Whistling by sailors was, in ancient times, an invocation to "the Prince of the power of the Air" to exert himself on their behalf, and in this connection it is interesting to note that Pliny mentions how, in his time, all nations worshipped flashes of lightning by "whistling or chirping of the lips." Illustration for one of a set of 25 cigarette cards on the subject of Popular Superstitions issued by Godfrey Phillips in 1930.