Hex, No!

by Alfred L. Shoemaker

The barns in the Pennsylvania Dutch country are decorated with curious geometrical designs. They are always the same - a star within a circle - and these are the farmers' "hex signs." They are supposed to prevent the devil from entering the barns to give the cows milk fever. So says a writer in a recent issue of the "New York Times." Statements of like character are frequently come upon, especially in popular articles on the folk-culture of southeastern Pennsylvania. Occasionally one even meets up with similar accounts in the press abroad. But is this fact? Author Shoemaker here looks into the validity of these claims and seeks an honest answer to the question: What do the geometrical designs on Pennsylvania Dutch barns mean? Adolph Riff, world-famed curator of the several museums in Strasburg, the principal city of the Alsace region in northeastern France, notes that long years of study of these geometric symbols have not uncovered "any evidence that they are used but for decorative purposes." That is the present picture. But who is Mr. Riff - who is anyone for that matter - to say what significance these designs may have had, say five hundred years ago? The debate continues, and this book attempts to sort fact from fiction on the origin and purpose of these geometric decorations.

32 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1953