Happy Foot Sad Foot sign

The Happy Foot Sad Foot sign was an advertising sign for a podiatry clinic in Los Angeles, California, United States. Known locally as a fortune-telling device and neighborhood landmark, the sign continuously rotated to show two sides: one with a cartoon of an injured foot with an unhappy face, and the other side with a cartoon of a smiling and healthy foot. A local superstition held that if a person saw the sad side first, this was an omen of bad luck for the day, while seeing the happy side first suggested good luck for the day. Authors of novels and other creative works have incorporated the sign into stories, including Jonathan Lethem and David Foster Wallace.