The "Decorative, Functional, Or Satanic?" Story

Decorative star found on barn.  "Decorative" more than functional.

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a second story written by "The Scribbler", a columnist for the daily Lancaster, Pennsyl- vania newspaper, about metal stars that appear on the sides of homes in the Lancaster landscape.  In his first column he said that the stars were popular, but purely decorative.  A former administrator at nearby Landis Valley Museum stated that the stars mimic the decorative elements originally placed on the ends of summer beams.  In house construction, summer beams carry the load between the first and second floors of houses.  

Decorative cast iron "S" with rod
through it with a nut on the end.
This would be more functional
than it would be decorative.

On many older homes you might see a cast iron script "S" or even an "X" on the end of a rod that goes beneath the summer beam.  On other homes you may see a circular decorative cast iron disc.  On the ends of these ornamentations, if you look close, are probably threads with a nut attached to it to keep the item in place.  Eventually stars became popular as fasteners on the ends of these metal rods used to hold the summer beam and keep the wall in place.  These stars were first found on the sides of barns and these barn stars date to the 19th century.  Well, today's "The Scribbler" column goes a bit further telling about the cast iron stars of the past having more than a decorative function.  One reader of the story who wrote to "The Scribbler" said the stars are actually attached to a turnbuckle that spans the width of the home and are tightened and left to provide a mechanical aid to hold the dual-course brick walls in place.  Another reader said that her school's new Chinese professor wondered why so may houses in Lancaster are decorated with red stars which happen to be the symbol of the Chinese government.  Whoa!  A friend and former teacher I worked with said that those small script "S" and "X" symbols actually had more that a mechanical function.  He said they were used to deter Satan from entering the home.  Wow!  Maybe I should look into getting a real big red star to put on the side of my "Beach House"  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

A modern looking "X" which appears to be functional rather than decorative.

This home with a large star on it appears to be decorative.  A functional star need not be this large to be useful.