Last week’s look inside an Amish home drew quite a few comments, here on the website and on our Facebook page. Some of you felt the home was beautiful. One commenter “love[d] the simplicity.” Others felt the home looked “a little fancy for Amish”. It made me realize we all have different ideas of what an Amish home “should” look like. The Amish, as tends to be the…
We often talk about the largest Amish communities – meaning the geographic locations where Amish live. The Lancaster County settlement is one example of an Amish community. Amish affiliations are something different. As noted in an earlier post on affiliations, the term “describe[s] groupings of Amish churches of similar practice, identity, and lifestyle.” To take the example above, the “Lancaster” affiliation includes the Lancaster County Amish–but also includes…
Where do the Amish do their shopping? Obviously, without a car in the drive, it’s not as simple as jumping behind the wheel and zipping to the store when you’re running low on sandwich bread or hairpins. But Amish still have quite a few more- and less-convenient shopping options available to them. Here are five venues Amish people turn to when they need to buy something. Five Places Amish Do Their…
Why are we so interested in the Amish? I thought about this the other day. You see, I have Google set up to spit out stories which contain the word “Amish”. The article I’d landed on had a passing mention of “Amish Country”. But–surprise–it turned out to not be about the Amish at all. This wasn’t the first time that had happened. I suspect writers and editors try to…
Updated April 2021 What color is an Amish buggy? If someone asked you that, what would your answer be? Odds are you’d first think either black or gray, the two most prevalent hues. But as you may know, those aren’t the only Amish buggy-top colors. Here are the six colors of Amish buggies (listed from most common to least), and a little background on each color:…
On a post about an Amish store, reader Terry wrote: We have a bulk food store about 15 minutes from us, but what fun is that…to just go and buy what you need and come home? We save $ at that store, but it’s just not the same “experience” as traveling the back roads in rural Wisconsin, heading to Amish country, and spending the whole…
Talking about the “Amish approach” to health care is nothing if not complicated. For one, with diverse churches and individual differences, it’s hard to say there is an “Amish approach”. But one thing is for sure–many Amish people, admirably, care about their health. That’s the conclusion you have to draw after observing the efforts they put forth to get and remain healthy. Amish people certainly do…
I’ve been fortunate enough to be invited to Amish church services close to a dozen times. As an outsider, you naturally notice things that are either like or unlike the services you’re accustomed to. And if you don’t speak Pennsylvania German, you don’t really have the preaching to keep your mind occupied. Thus my senses naturally hone in on other aspects of the service. I put together a list of a few things…
Have you ever heard one Amish person suggest another Amish person is “behind the times”? It might sound funny, but you do hear things like that in places like Holmes County, Ohio. That community is a grab-bag of Amish groups–some very restrictive of technology, some liberal. Of course, Amish aren’t anti-technology. But different groups make different decisions about technology. In fact, many do use certain modern devices, tools, and gadgets. LED lights, recumbent…
Which are the most friendly Amish communities? Yes, to answer that question we do have to generalize. But I think it’s true that Amish communities can take on a certain character. If you’ve visited more than one Amish community and met enough people you may have noticed this. People in some places just seem more happy to see you than in others. Below are my (non-scientific) choices for “most…