Christine Habegger Purves offers this interesting story about proper clothing. The story is reprinted from the Spring newsletter of the Swiss Community Historical Society.

By Christine Habegger Purves

There was a good bit of argument among the early settlers from Mennonite backgrounds as to proper clothing.

My grandmother, Caroline Riesen, married to Christian Baumgartner, liked a bit of lace at the wrists of her plain clothing. She may have added some colored braid to her daughters' aprons.

These touches could result in some more conservative school children hounding the Baumgartner girls with, "You're going to hell fer sure."

Even the neighbors took part. A man from a neighboring farm was berating one of the girls who had a bit of red on the handkerchief around her neck.

When Grandma Caroline heard this, she darted out to the fence where the conversation was taking place.

"Ja, du," she said. "Wenn rot seting sunde sie, warum hat d'liebe Got deine nase sehr rot macht?"

(If red is such a sin, why did the good Lord give you such a red nose?)