In other traditions[edit]

There is another folk tradition that may use a variation of "Rabbit", "Bunny", "I hate/love Grey Rabbits" or "White Rabbit" to ward off smoke that the wind is directing into your face when gathered around a campfire.[16] It is thought that this tradition may be related to the practice of invoking the rabbit on the first of the month. Others conjecture that it may originate with a North American First Nation story about smoke resembling rabbit fur. This tradition may be more of a social tradition in a group setting than a genuine belief that specific words will change the wind direction and may be more of a childhood tradition than an adult one. Children have sometimes adapted from Rabbit to "Pink Elephant" or other comical derivatives.[17] Because of this more mutable usage, the historical record is even more scarce than other more static meanings.

"When I was a very little boy I was advised to always murmur 'White rabbits' on the first of every month if I wanted to be lucky. From sheer force of unreasoning habit I do it still—when I think of it. I know it to be preposterously ludicrous, but that does not deter me." – Sir Herbert Russell, 1925.

[18]

"Even Mr. Roosevelt, the President of the United States, has confessed to a friend that he says 'Rabbits' on the first of every month—and, what is more, he would not think of omitting the utterance on any account." – newspaper article, 1935.

[19]

"On the first day of the month say 'Rabbit! rabbit! rabbit!' and the first thing you know you will get a present from someone you like very much." Collected by the researcher Frank C. Brown in in the years between 1913 and 1943.[20]

North Carolina

"If you say 'Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit' the first thing when you wake up in the morning on the first of each month you will have good luck all month." Collected by Wayland D. Hand in Pennsylvania before 1964.

[20]

"Say 'Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit' at the first of the month for good luck and money." Collected by Ernest W. Baughman in New Mexico before 1964.

[20]

"...it must be 'White Rabbit' ... but you must also say 'Brown Rabbit' at night and walk downstairs backwards." Reported in a small survey that took place in , Devon in 1972.[21]

Exeter

"Ever since I was 4 years old, I have said 'White Rabbits' at the very moment of waking on every single first day of every single month that has passed." , 2006.[22]

Simon Winchester

"...the more common version 'rabbit, rabbit, white rabbit' should be said upon waking on the first day of each new month to bring good luck." Sunday Mirror, 2007.

[23]

As with most folklore, which is traditionally spread by word of mouth, there are numerous variants of the superstition, sometimes specific to a certain time period or region.

Three hares

Rabbit's foot

Stamping (custom)

"Pinch and a punch for the first of the month"

Cavendish, Richard – Man, Myth, & Magic Volume 9. BPC Publishing, 1970

Cavendish, Richard – Man, Myth, & Magic Volume 17. BPC Publishing, 1970

Knapp, Mary – One Potato, Two Potato: The Folklore of American Children W. W. Norton & Company, 1978 ( 0-393-09039-6)

ISBN

– An attempt to catalogue different "rabbit rabbit" variations and determine their origins.

On the White Rabbit Theory