Abstract

When German settlers arrived in the valleys of Pennsylvania in the early 1700’s they brought with them the decorative folk arts of the old country. Isolated from the outside world, these people would come to be known as the Pennsylvania Dutch and they decorated their belongings with beautiful folk art. Even their barns and out buildings received special care with the final touch on any new construction being the application of a hex sign. These circular images, painted in bright colors, carried meanings in their symbols and shades. It’s a folk art tradition that carries on today as well as the belief in the protection these images carry for the buildings they decorate.