Hooks and Eyes
Hooks and Eyes, German Haken (or Haften) und Oesen. The modern Old Order Amish require the use of hooks and eyes as fasteners on men's and boys' coats and vests (buttons are used on other clothing). These fasteners have become so much a mark of the Amish that they are sometimes called simply the "Hook and Eye People." In South Germany the Amish were known as "Häftler" and the Mennonites "Knöpfler". The reason for the Amish practice is obscure since no Biblical authority is or can be cited, such as is the case with the beard. The obvious answer is that the Amish have simply perpetuated, out of their basic conservatism and opposition to change, the old type of fastener in use before buttons came into general use. Buttons were at first more expensive and often used primarily for ornamentation; hence their introduction would naturally find opposition as a violation of simplicity and nonconformity.
Author(s) | Harold S Bender |
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Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Bender, Harold S. "Hooks and Eyes." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 21 Aug 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hooks_and_Eyes&oldid=82208.
APA style
Bender, Harold S. (1959). Hooks and Eyes. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 August 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hooks_and_Eyes&oldid=82208.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 1094. All rights reserved.
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