Something strange is happening around my little town. These things have been popping up all over the community in recent months. In varying sizes and colors, they are affixed to houses, generally in an upper gable and sometimes near a door. They are multiplying; when one appears on a block, two or three others follow close by.
They remind me of hex signs seen on barns in Pennsylvania Dutch country, but these are simpler, have only five-point tips, and aren't nearly as artistically interesting. If they are hex signs, I want to know the reason the first homeowner installed it, and if the subsequent ones were put up as a defense against the first.
Some companies selling them call these "Amish Barn Stars", but I wonder how accurate that description really is. Are they "Amish" because they are made by Amish, do the Amish actually have these simple stars on their barns, or is the name a marketing ploy to add a bit of perceived value and sentiment to a piece of tin or wood?
I think they're most likely just the latest primitive decor craze - probably featured on Oprah or HGTV, and now everyone who wants to be part of the in-crowd has to have one. After all, I did notice that The Biggest Loser house has 6-8 of them affixed to an exterior wall.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Seeing Stars
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4 comments:
I have noticed the same thing in College Town. There are two of them within a block of each other in my neighborhood. How bizarre.
Oh, Catch, you never learn. "Biggest Loser house?" You can't say stuff like that in a small town! (But for those of us who don't have to live there, you sure do know how to entertain us.) As for "Amish" there's nothing Amish about them. No Amish house or barn I've ever seen has ever had one. They're about as Amish as those fake fireplaces, some schlock company keeps buying full page ads for in our local fish wrapper.
Now, prepare to be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail. Ouch.
Local reader disclaimer: I am merely commenting about the stars and where they are located. This in no way reflects negatively upon the character of the people owning them.
Do you think that will help?
Won't help a bit, Catcher. Watch out for matrons wearing polyester sweaters embroidered with "Amish barn stars" and carrying pitchforks. You might wish you had kept that mole hair for a weapon.
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