Deconstructing the Myth of the “Hand Charm”: Mundane Clothing Fasteners and Their Curious Transformations into Supernatural Objects

Abstract

Since the 1970s, the “hand charm” has been recognized in plantation archaeology as an early example of an “Africanism,” a perceived supernatural object within African American life, with roots in African culture and belief. The underpinnings of this interpretation are examined, and the myth of the so-called hand charm deconstructed in two parts: first, in a critical examination, the previous arguments that described these objects—which are ornate hook-and-eye clothing fasteners—as primarily supernatural, are discounted; second, a new explanatory model is offered for how and why these ornamented fasteners made their way into their plantation or African American contexts.