What on earth.....

[landman]

Can someone PLEASE tell me what "Shaker style" is. I keep hearing about "shaker style" kitchens and bedrooms, but what is it ? where does it come from ?

[Clanad]

A very simple, functional style of furniture (and some architecture) in the Country genre' here in the U.S. It arose with the Shaker religious movement in the early 1800's. For pictures and more background, check here:

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/shaker/shakerstyle.htm

[Scarlett]

"Shaker" was the nickname for the Quakers, apparently because they would go into religious quakes when praying, or so I'm told!

[Clanad]

Actually, the Shakers bore only a distant relationship to the Friends. The Shakers rose in England in the mid-eighteenth century, followers of Ann Lee, whom they called the "Blessed Mother Ann." Shaker teaching was that Ann was the female incarnation of Christ come to earth again. There were some Quaker influences on Ann Lee and after Ann came to America, settling near Albany, NY, in 1774, she attracted some Quaker converts. Theologically and in practice, however, the Shakers were different from Friends. Most notably, the Shakers lived in self-contained communities and were celibate. Quakers still exist today, but Shakers have, literally, all but died out. A few years ago there were but 8 remaining in a small village in the State of Maine... (With help from The Shaker Experience In America, published in 1992. )