​Rubbing Noses

Forget rabbit’s feet and four-leaf clovers.  This is how you get lucky.

























By Janet Wolfe
Posted January 20, 2026


     We were standing in front of a bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln, located at the entrance to his tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois.  The former president looked just as somber in dark, weathered metal as he usually does on canvas and in photos, with one exception: his nose.  The Rail-Splitter’s smelling device took on a happy, golden gleam in the July sunlight.


     Was it an illusion?  An act of graffiti?  A cruel joke?


     Actually, it was luck, or at least the pursuit of it. 


     For years, people around the world have been rubbing the protruding body parts of public statues—like the nose on Lincoln’s bust—in the hope of acquiring a little bit of luck from the sculpture’s immortalized subject.  As a result, the dark brown or black layer of oxidation that accumulates on the metal over time is polished off, and the bronze returns to its shiny, gold-like hue.


     Hence, Abraham Lincoln’s beaming beaker.


     You may not initially think of Abraham Lincoln as “lucky.”  He was shot in the back of the head while watching a play, after all.  


     However, he had survived a previous assassination attempt—before he was even inaugurated—and he did navigate what was arguably the most stressful presidential term ever.  He ended slavery, and he helped bring an end to the deadliest war ever fought on American soil.  The fact that he survived as long as he did and accomplished as much as he did is, in fact, quite lucky.


     No one seems to know when the practice of rubbing statues started, but plenty of polished art pieces exist to prove its powerful pull. 


     My son and I first encountered this “tradition” on his elementary school field trip to Gettysburg, Maryland, where we rubbed the rather shiny nose of Colonel Patrick O’Rorke.  In Washington, D.C., visitors have given a similar makeover to Albert Einstein’s face.  They’ve also rubbed Will Rogers' feet to a shine in both D.C. and Claremore, Oklahoma; polished the foot of John Harvard at Harvard University; and brightened the horns, nose, and—ahem—testicles of The Charging Bull in New York City.


     According to the folks at the Sangamon County Historical Society in Illinois, people may have been rubbing Lincoln’s nose as early as 1931, after Lincoln’s Tomb was renovated.  Local folklore, however, suggests the practice may not have started until about eight years later, when soldiers started leaving for World War II.  


     While many people argue that rubbing statues should be off-limits because it harms the artwork, some cities seem to embrace the practice.  In fact, the city of Springfield’s tourism website currently includes a page about Lincoln’s tomb with only three lines of descriptive text.  The third line reads, “At the entrance to the Tomb itself, there is a bronze bust of Mr. Lincoln where visitors from around the world have stopped to rub the nose of the statue for good luck.”


     This wasn’t always the case in Springfield, however.  In 1970, state officials had Lincoln’s bust raised a foot-and-a-half to keep Honest Abe’s nostrils out of reach of the public.  There was such backlash to the action that the Department of Conservation eventually relented and re-lowered the bust in 1976.


     If you find yourself within arm’s length of Mr. Lincoln—or any publicly-displayed bronze statue— and you feel the urge to give it a rub, keep the following in mind:

  • Watch for signs.  If you see any notices warning against touching a statue, be mindful and respectful and keep your hands to yourself, no matter how unlucky you’ve been lately.

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  • Be gentle.  Even though rubbing statues is a popular tradition, it does cause damage (erosion) to the statues, so if you rub one, do so lightly and gently.  Lincoln’s bust has actually already undergone at least one repair, after tourists rubbed the left side of his nose too thin.  Other original statues have been replaced with replicas because of the damage done by handsy tourists.

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  • Be respectful, and follow the light.  If you choose to follow the tradition of rubbing a statue, make sure you’re rubbing the right part.  Look for the shiniest part of the figure, and rub out of reverence, not ridicule.

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  • Wash your hands.  Hundreds, if not thousands, of other hands have been there.  Take the memories, but leave the germs.



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