This superstition seems to be widespread. How did it originate?
Not just statues of religious figures or others that might be thought to confer a blessing - four generations of Toronto parents have encouraged their children to touch Timothy Eaton, founder of a department store.
Usually, a specific part of the statue has to be touched. For Eaton and John Harvard, it's the toe; for the statue of Juliet at Verona, it's her right breast.
Even the bronze orangutan at the Toronto Zoo is kept shiny by people petting and rubbing it.
Not just statues of religious figures or others that might be thought to confer a blessing - four generations of Toronto parents have encouraged their children to touch Timothy Eaton, founder of a department store.
Usually, a specific part of the statue has to be touched. For Eaton and John Harvard, it's the toe; for the statue of Juliet at Verona, it's her right breast.
Even the bronze orangutan at the Toronto Zoo is kept shiny by people petting and rubbing it.