Gipsies. What do you know about them.

[mooman]

I'm trying to learn as much about the local culture as possible and was told there is a large Gypsy population in the little town (if you can call it that) nearest me. All I know about Gypsies is stereotypical stuff like they play tambourines and are known to be "shifty". Looking for other cultural facts or observations.

[Rick]

I'm wondering if any of our members are or have been ( or are now) known as "gypsies".

When I was doing moving and hauling in the 70's, I moved a guy and his "fortune teller". They had a Servel propane / natural gas refrigerator. Never thought of that again until just now.

I don't know about any customs. I'd be willing to bet you could introduce yourself to them and get some background firsthand.

[chickenista]

I don't know if you mean gypsies or 'travellers'. Now, the travellers are seriously bad news. They are a sub culture and do things differently. Girls are married off early in arranged marriages to older men...etc. Tight society and hard to escape from.
The men travel around and rip people off.. mostly the elderly with faux home improvement guises.. roofing, painting, paving driveways.
You can see them coming in droves in the summer.. new trucks..two men per truck, SC license plates.
The have the warnings every year on the local news over and over again..
some violence, but mostly thievery..
One guy distracts the older woman at the door while the other sneaks in the back etc...

[Sonshine]

Don't know if this will help you, but your question got me curious so I did a search. This is the link that fascinated me the most.

http://www.imninalu.net/Roma.htm

[frogmammy]

When I was in Fort Worth, TX and working at a 7-11 near some Gypsies, they had a bad rep for stealing. I never had a problem with them, in fact loaned some of them money from time to time and ALWAYS got it back when they said I would. They never stole from me.

Other clerks and other stores had problems though.

They did tend to let their kids drive cars awfully young...most I saw were about 10-12 years old, driving Cadallics or Chryslers. There would be a brick or block of some type tied to the gas & brake pedals so the kid could reach them.

Mon

[ajaxlucy]

I have a friend who is Romani. She moved here from Macedonia where she was a nurse - no tambourines at all. She and her family still speak the Roma language, which is related to Sanskrit, the ancient Indian language.

Here are some websites for more information:

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural...ope/gypsy.html
http://www.romani.org/
http://www.geocities.com/~patrin/

[manfred]

When I lived overseas I saw them often. A 6 month old baby could hold their hands in the "praying" position to beg for money. Gangs of 8 to 10 year-olds would surround foreigners and take your wallet. What are you going to do? Hit them?

[Old John]

You can do a quick search on Irish Travelers, at www.dogpile.com

And, you'll find all sorts of information on the Irish Travelers, here in the US.
They are the Folks who go from place to place, fixing driveways, painting barns and other chores.
They mostly are Roman Catholic, or at least use to be. A parish in Cincinnati OH, St. Patrick's Church, where I grew up in the 40's, had their Weddings and Funerals regularly. They were pretty neat, for a 10 year old.
These Folks have their own culture and mores. They certainly are interesting.
Good Hunting.

[ronbre]

my only encounter was when I was working at a store..they would pick stores with just one or two clerks and they would cause a rucus in the back of the store while someone else would rip off the front..or they would cause a diversion while others ripped you off big time.

now as far as what I have read..it all seems so magical and interesting..but I don't find that to be true in real life.

[agmantoo]

I live close enough to Travelers Rest SC to have become aware of the the band of travelers that reside there that have made that small town notorious. I would say that they have ripped off at least 20 percent of the people in the rural area around me. They paint metal roofs with diluted silver paint, sell import tools that fail, blacktop driveways with just a skim coat of asphalt, etc. I understand that the women and children shoplift but I have only read that part. I have seen all the other first hand. Here is what their devious ways fund..... http://www.sciway3.net/clark/freemoors/traveller.html

[Curtis B]

In my area they are well known to be thieves and conartists. They do not move around and are establised. They have been banned from most stores and resturants due to theft. The only first hand experiance that I had was when I worked in a resturant and they convinced their server that if she didn't get their meal for free that they would curse her(it was convincing enough that she spent the entire night and most of the week in tears). The rest of my/friends encounters were similar (wanting something free or stealing and then trying to return for money). The police even have gotten involved as they own scrap yards and were cheating people consistantly. I don't know where you are, but round here you stay clear of the Marks family.

[mooman]

I live in Marietta, a few miles north of Traveler's Rest. Thank you, I was not aware of the distinction between the Romani and Irish Travelers. Now that I do it explains the Name of the town "Traveler's Rest". One thing I've noticed is the HUGE number of roadside junk sales and semi permanent flea markets. Perhaps hawking ill gotten gains maybe? (I'm sure not all are shady, but it does make sense)

For the record, I have not had any problems with any neighbors yet. Everyone I've become familiar with seem like good people. My property is a little ways off the main road and situated on a dead end road so hopefully I will not have problems. If i have to start locking my doors and padlocking my barn that would suck (I didn't move to the country for that). Perhaps a strategically placed road sign riddled with bullet holes and hung around the barn is in order? I can't imagine anybody trying to rip off rural folks. You can get yourself killed that way.

[mooman]

Ok just realized something. About a week ago a dirt bike pulls up and a guy knocks on my door. Kinda scummy looking. He says he used to know people that lived hear (has facts to back it up). I'm a friendly guy so we chat for a while. He seemed genuinely nice, however he keeps offering to do various odd jobs, telling me how he's out of work. I politely hint that I stretched to get the place and if I can't do something myself it don't get done.

Think he was casing my house? Like I said, he seemed nice and a lime green dirt bike with no muffler isn't exactly incognito but.......

[godsgapeach]

They do travel around looking for new "opportunities." They stopped on our farm road and asked Daddy if he needed any roofing done. He was right at the shed where lots of his equipment is stored. Pretty much just an opportunity to case the joint. When he came back later his backpack blower and his pressure washer were gone.

[Curtis B]

I'm a long ways away, so can't speek for your "nieghbors", but I would watch out. The reason I called the gypsies here a family is because they are. They allways work together, and that is why they have been banned and watched carefully, you can only watch so many at a time and the one that you see is almost never the one who is actually ripping you off.

[frogmammy]

They do have different clans, probably some better/worse than others. The ones that I knew in Ft Worth were Adams clan. They really were pretty good thieves.

Mon

[chickenista]

The next time he stops by and has you occupied at the front door.. walk out and around your front yard while talking... look towards your garage etc....

And the Travellers are very nicely dressed in brand spanking new trucks etc....
I think it is a different situation.

[RAHN]

I used to spend summers up your way- in the Gap Creek/River Falls area. That area of the country was full of old still site from the 'revenue days' and lots of wildlife. There were some pretty wild people too. I made it into Travelers Rest often (and was through there again a few years ago- grown up a bit, it has). The story I always heard on the name was that it was about as far as you could get via a normal horse/carriage ride from Greenville going to Hendersonville, so folks used to stay there the night.

We never had problems with anyone- folks didn't seem to be any more or less honest than anyone else. Most of people we knew were decent, hard working folks- many of them salt-of-the-earth types. But I do remember the area being something of a base of operations for the Irish Travelers. As I recall though, they mainly did their 'dealings' away from home, in other towns and states.

[mooman]

I was just thinking that. Me jawing on the front porch for 15 minutes while some guy sneaks down through the woods in back. He even made friends with my dog (who has no bite, but at least her bark would have offered a deterant). At least the conversation got around to dove hunting so he knows I'm armed.

[MushCreek]

I didn't know that about Travelers Rest. I also didn't know how many neighbors I'll have when I move there! We have acreage north of TR, almost to Tigerville. I had no idea there were so many HT'ers in the upstate.