This article is from the The Religious Society of Friends FAQ, by Marc Mengel mengel.nospam@users.sourceforge.net with numerous contributions by others.
Since the city of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania in
the United States were started by Quakers, many businesses and
towns originating in that area mention Quakers in their names.
In fact these names are particularly common in places like
Quakertown, PA., where the names are actually derived from the
name of the town.
This leads many to the incorrect conclusion that members of the
Religious Society of Friends still are in the habit of wearing
the late 1600's period clothing of the person pictured on the
Quaker Oats(tm) box; this perhaps contributes to the common American
confusion between Quakers and the Amish (who really *do* wear
clothing styles standardized in the 1600's).
 
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