2014: Mascots, Witches, and Opera Jun 20, 2020

Today, mascots for businesses and sports teams are effectively synonymous with logos, though usually there is an animated component. This idea however has a far more sinister history, wherein animals, children, and people with handicaps and disabilities would be kept around for superstitious beliefs of bringing good luck. Indeed, the term comes to English from the French opera La Mascotte about a woman (a mascot) who brings good luck so long as she remains a virgin. This story involves sorcery, and indeed, the term is just a feminine diminutive of the French 'masco' meaning 'witch', though that word may itself come from Arabic meaning 'mascarade'. In sports, supposed real human good luck charms, and not just characters in costumes, often mentally disabled, were used by teams into the 20th century.

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