The God of Good Luck

If there is one object that completely embodies the spirit of The House of Good Fortune, it is this vest.

This magnificent vest… depicts The Billiken in the center beneath a horseshoe (prongs down) with a black cat standing on top of it. To buy a Billiken was said to give the purchaser luck, but to receive one as a gift would be better luck. The vest describes the Billiken as “God of Good Luck” (close, he is the God of Things as They Ought to Be).

Or does “God of Good Luck” refer to the original owner of this vest??

Beneath the Billiken it says “CHEER-UP” (good advice) flanked by two swastikas, which were ancient symbols of good fortune before being corrupted by Nazis. It’s hard to tell from this photo, but there appear to be two four-leaf clovers near the shoulders.

The 1stDibs listing says that it was collected from an “eskimo” at the Yukon Pacific Expedition in 1909. This context seems right because “In 1909, the Billiken began its appearance in souvenir shops of Alaska. In Nome, Alaska, an Eskimo carver by the name Angokwazhuk copied a Billiken figurine in ivory brought to him by a merchant. Since that first appearance in Alaska, some Eskimo carvers began to include the billiken in the collection of figurines they created.” (according to Wikipedia)

But who created this masterpiece of a vest? The House would love to know.
Further Reading:

Billiken: https://www.houseofgoodfortune.org/the-billiken