THROWING stuff in the water has always had a strange appeal. In the US, companies offer Amish-style wishing wells as lawn ornaments or kits for charities as a sure-fire money-spinner. And in Britain, an exhibition last month at Newcastle Library featuring mundane objects recovered from the bottom the city’s Leazes Park lake was a huge success.
But why do so many of us do it? Commenting on the Newcastle offerings, archaeologist Lindsay Allason-Jones said that she would recommend a water feature as a fund-raiser for any museum, but said that votive psychology itself was a puzzle.
Maybe Frank Sinatra had…
