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Happy Foot Sad Foot sign

1985 establishments in CaliforniaBuildings and structures completed in 1985Echo Park, Los AngelesIndividual signs in the United StatesLandmarks in Los Angeles
PodiatrySilver Lake, Los AngelesSuperstitions of the United StatesUse American English from May 2026Use mdy dates from May 2026
Happy Foot Sad Foot sign in Los Angeles sad side
Happy Foot Sad Foot sign in Los Angeles sad side

The Happy Foot Sad Foot sign (also written 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. The sign was installed in about 1985 for the Sunset Foot Clinic at Sunset Boulevard and Benton Way on the border between the Silver Lake and Echo Park neighborhoods of Los Angeles. The podiatrists who owned the clinic said that the sign successfully attracted customers. After the clinic lost its lease in 2019 and moved to a new location, a local shop owner put the sign on display in his store, Y-Que Trading Post, in the nearby neighborhood of Los Feliz.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Happy Foot Sad Foot sign (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Happy Foot Sad Foot sign

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N 34.080745833333 ° E -118.27036055556 °
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Happy Foot Sad Foot sign in Los Angeles sad side
Happy Foot Sad Foot sign in Los Angeles sad side
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Silverlake Lounge
Silverlake Lounge

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