Hunky Culture

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Hunkies
Total population
Regions with significant populations
Languages
English
Religions
Predominantly Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. A small minority practice Protestantism and other faiths. Some Hunkies have atheistic or agnostic beliefs.
Related ethnic groups
Other Slavic peoples, especially West Slavs

The Hunkies are a composite Polish, Hungarian (Magyar), Rusyn, Slovak ethnic group which primarily inhabits western Pennsylvania and speaks English. The immigrants came en masse prior the turn of the century (starting around 1880) searching opportunity and religious freedom. The Hunkies image was a departure from Hungarian prestige that peaked around Louis Kossuth's visit in 1851-1852, aka Triumphal Tour^[1].

The term Hunky can be applied to various Slavic and/or Hungarian immigrants to America from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Many of these immigrants fled religious persecution and loss of personal freedoms in their native land. Deriving from a rich culture, the people are entrenched in music, food and family. Hard work and traditions of family are considered important. Traditional food of the Hunky culture include: fried cabbage, halušky / galuska, stuffed cabbage or 'pigs in a blanket' (halubki/gołąbki), kalacs and pierogi.

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The overwhelming majority of these economic immigrants (initially 85%, later 65%) consisted of young working age men. Originally they planned to spend only a few years in America, and then return to Hungary with enough capital to transform themselves into independent farmers or self-employed artisans. This was precisely the reason why, instead of moving into agriculture in line with their traditions, they went to work in the coal mines and steel mills. Only in heavy industry did they have a chance to collect enough money to be able to fulfill their goals back in the Old Country. Vardy[2]

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Hunkies settled in highly industrial areas: they worked in steel mills in western Pennsylvania; in the coal mines of West Virginia and Scranton, Pennsylvania; and in the shoe factories, leather tanneries, and rubber mills in the area around Binghamton, New York. Northeastern Ohio has a vibrant Hunky culture, especially the former steel towns of Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio. Cleveland, Parma and Sandusky were also heavily settled by ethnic Hungarians arriving after the turn of the century; the same applies to the town of New Brunswick, New Jersey.

The use of the term Hunky as a disparaging reference to a person, especially a laborer, from East-Central Europe, is falling into disuse.^[3] It primarily exists in the specific regions where the families remain.

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