• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Amish 365
  • About
  • Amish Recipes
  • Amish Culture
  • Amish Marketplace
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Amish Recipes
  • Amish Culture
  • About
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Amish Recipes
    • Amish Culture
    • About
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Everything Amish » Plain Culture

    Ask the Editor: Why Are Amish Doors Blue?

    Published: Apr 4, 2017 · Updated: Apr 4, 2017 by Kevin Williams | 2 Comments

    CAPTION:  This is a door to an Amish home in the Conewango Valley of New York where doors are typically blue, but they aren't blue in every Amish settlement.  Just a matter of local tradition.

    By Kevin Williams

    Betty asked me a question about why the Amish paint their doors blue?

    Good question, Betty.   My answer:  they don't all paint their doors blue.  In fact, only in certain areas do they do this and I once asked an Amish woman why, hoping for some answer rich in history and tradition.  But she just sort of shrugged and said "tradition."   And I believe that is likely the case.  We "English" try to ascribe all sorts of meaning to Amish traditions:  the curtains in an Amish home are tied a certain way it means they have a single daughter, celery on a wedding table symbolizes fertility, a blue door is a courting ritual.

    "Well, how do you get that exact same blue color for all the doors," I asked.

    "We just take some to the hardware store and they do a color match," the woman said matter-of-factly.

    I've asked many Amish in many places about the significance of this or that tradition and am often met with the same shrug type answer.  Made customs are just tradition and their original meaning, if they ever had any, have been lost to time.  Some Amish traditions may have had meaning originally, like I've heard a plausible reason explaining why the Amish of Berne, Indiana have open carriages, such that early on a covered carriage seemed very "aristocratic", but that meaning doesn't resonate with Amish today.  So, yes, most of these quirky traditions are just that: traditions.

    Sorry for the unexciting answer.

     

    « Weekly Blogroll: Angelica Amish, Going North, Amish Pot Roast, Meemaw's Coconut Cream Pie, and More!
    Amish Amazon: Reese's Amish Fudge, Tomato Jam, Give Me This Mountain, and More! »

    About Kevin Williams

    Hi, my name is Kevin Williams and I am owner of Oasis Newsfeatures and editor of The Amish Cook newspaper column.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Nana

      April 04, 2017 at 1:31 pm

      There may be a different answer to the blue paint as I learned when visiting in Louisiana and Texas. The natives tend to paint their porch ceilings blue and sometimes the door as well. The theory offered was that insects , especially wasps, thin it is sky and do not attempt to make wasp nests in the corners nor fly through the door. I have no idea if this works or is folklore.
      I no longer get a newspaper and I do miss it. I not only read it thoroughly , especially the Sunday papers, but I used the paper for wrapping glassware against chipping., wrapping peelings for the garbage can, drop clothes for cleaning and painting, washing windows, packing boxes. I think people were more frugal years ago. Use it up and make do.

      Reply
      • Kevin

        April 06, 2017 at 10:25 am

        Nana, very, very interesting about the blue door-wasp theory. See, that is exactly what I was talking about in that there may well have been a reason years ago for the start of the tradition, but the reason has been lost over the generations...

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Kevin Williams - The Amish Editor Amish Cook Column

    Hi There, I'm Kevin!

    Welcome to Amish365, where I share my knowledge of Amish cooking and culture! I’ve spent almost three decades exploring Amish settlements and kitchens from Maine to Montana and almost everywhere in between. I’ll occasionally throw in stories of my travels, journalism adventures (I’m a Pulitzer prize-nominated journalist), fascination with grocery stores and Kmarts, and much more!

    More about me →

    Latest Amish Recipes

    • Amish Ham & Potato Skillet Supper
    • What Language Do The Amish Speak? (German or English?)
    • Amish Honey-Molasses Cake (Easy Sweet Treat!)
    • The Amish Cook - Daniel's Delicious Crispy Homemade Waffles
    dutchcrafters

    Download The "Almost Amish" Ebook

    Footer

    Footer

    About

    • About The Amish Editor
    • Download "Almost Amish" Ebook
    • Amish Communities
    • Amish Marketplace

    Contact

    • Work With Us
    • Contact

    *As a member of various affiliate programs I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2000 - 2020 Amish 365 | Powered by Touch The Road