Pennsylvania Dutch: These books capture York County's quaint culture and make people smile

Twenty years ago, Curvin Diffenderfer made York County smile.

Curvin, actually York countian Lee Woodmansee, amused thousands by publishing a slender humor-filled paperback book early in 1997.

Its cover set the tone: A cartoon showed a balding man with a beard – pretty close in appearance to Tom Wolf – with a pair of scissors.

Its setup line soon became top of mind with countless York countians: "You Can Tell You're a Yorker If ... ."

And then the answer: "You trim the grass along your sidewalks with scissors."

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Lee – we'll go with the author's real name – had the uncanny ability to poke fun at York countians and Pennsylvania Dutch culture without offending those born here. That might have been challenging because Lee is not a native Yorker, coming here about two decades before the book hit stores.

The publication worked, in part, because the playful gags rang true. When the cover showing the Tom Wolf lookalike appeared recently in the Retro York Facebook Group, someone questioned whether scissor-wielding York countians did, indeed, ply their craft on the grass.

Four people responded in rapid fire fashion that county residents were known to do so.

"My grandparents used to do that," one of them wrote, "And so did I when I helped them."

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"You Can Tell You're a Yorker If" soon became the talk of the town and topped the list of Borders' best sellers.

"What a great experience that was; book signings, having to publish more on short notice; people asking for autographs," Lee wrote recently on Retro York Facebook. "I couldn't believe the positive response. Thank you York, it was one of the best experiences of my life!"

The book sparked an outpouring of similar Yorkisms, and Lee sagely incorporated them into the sequel, "... You're a Yorker," that came out later that year.

That book featured a cover illustration of a restaurant server waiting on a man from York County. The setup: "IF You go to breakfast in Ocean City and ask for a 'dippy egg' and they ask if you're from York ... . And then the conclusion: "...You're a Yorker."

"One Yorker volunteered three pages of ways Yorkers use to save money," Lee wrote in the sequel. "The three pages were typed on the back of some recycled old flyers which she had saved for just such a purpose."

Still on the topic of thrift, Lee wrote:  You're a Yorker ... "If you don't buy a copy of this book, you borrow it from a non-Yorker; you read it; and then you return it."

Non-Yorkers – and the occasional Yorker – can still buy both books for a small fee via "You Can Tell You're a Yorker" Facebook page: facebook.com/YouCanTellYoureAYorker.

But if you're a real Yorker, your thrifty nature will direct you to the York County Library System, which has copies.

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Why were those books so popular?

I wrote about Lee's skill at getting the teasing tone just right.

And an anonymous and insightful reviewer on Amazon playfully pointed out that the book was indispensable for both newcomers to York and natives.

The books guarantee that newcomers to York can fit in and act and sound like a Yorker.

It explains local food (hog maw), words and phrases to use ("Come here wunst a minute") and, as we've seen, how to tend to one's lawn.

As for longtime residents: "If you are a native Yorker, the book will show you how you stack up against an objective yardstick of 'Yorkness.' "

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Twenty years after all this success and Curvin's retirement from the public eye, Lee still lives in West Manchester Township.

Time has passed fast. 

But people well remember that moment when York County laughed at itself.

A recent post in the Retro York Facebook Group brought a raft of fond memories and favorite Yorkisms.

One commenter wrote, for example, that You Know You're a Yorker if ...  "All your ancestors came from one province in Germany in the 1740's." 

Why did Curvin and Lee write the books in the first place?

Lee answers that question on his "You Can Tell You're a Yorker" Facebook page:

"I've written two books about my adopted home because it is so unique. I hope you enjoy it as well."

York County does.

So redd up your house. Maybe you will find your 20-year-old copy of "You Can Tell You're a Yorker If" that will make you smile a while. 

Jim McClure is editor of the York Daily Record. Email: jem@ydr.com.

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