A Visit To An Amish Candle Shop (10 Photos)
A look today at an Amish candle business I visited in Holmes County last month. Sunset View Candles & Such is a little shop sitting a stone’s throw from the Amish owner’s front door, typical of shops like this.
There was a buggy parked outside when I pulled up, and one customer in the shop when I dropped in, speaking with who I assumed was the proprietor, a middle-aged Amish lady.
Inside, the store has the common layout of several aisles of products in a simple setting with concrete floors and austere metal siding for the walls and ceiling.
Here are the rows of candles, with dozens of scents, including Gooseberry, Raspberry, Vanilla, Bayberry and many more:
The “and such” covered a range of other items, and while I didn’t take a super-close look (spent most of my time in the candle aisle), it had a variety store feel, with things like toys and useful home items.
This shop sells candles, but that’s not what it uses for illumination. Here’s a shot of the ceiling gas lighting you often see in Amish shops, along with the natural version coming in the window on this wintry Thursday afternoon.
You can see the metal heat shield protecting the ceiling and the double mantles which glow brightly when the gas is lit, generating considerable light and heat:
After perusing the aisle I eventually settled on a “French Toast Maple Syrup” candle. There were actually two types of the “maple” variety, I believe the second was “Maple Sugar”. It really has a nice maple smell, at least unlit.
Here’s the business card and contact info for Sunset View:
Sunset View Candles & Such
Mary Wengerd
9078 TR 656
Fredericksburg, Ohio 44627
If you get a chance to visit, or you have another favorite Amish “candles & such” shop, let us know about it!
business
I am curious as to how the Amish business works in gaining customers. Do they usually have their shops on main roads? Or, in general, is tourism the way they are known and therefore customers seek out the business? I would imagine it would be hard to attract customers if one is off the beaten path.
How do customers find Amish businesses?
Dana good question, some Amish businesses are on main roads and some benefit to some degree from tourism, but there are many off-the-beaten-path businesses, this I’d say is much more common. People find out about them through word of mouth, sometimes online, and also media stories (there is some appeal to writing an article on an Amish business that a non-Amish business doesn’t have, we could call it novelty in lieu of a better word). Here is a recent example of one from a few days ago but these stories are quite common: https://www.leadertelegram.com/country-today/country-life/amish-family-creates-tasty-treats-at-toasty-oven-bakery/article_aaa874f7-a31a-557a-a0d6-c77683f7c92f.html
But yes many are off the main roads, a lot of them do put up signs that are on the more main highways going through their areas which will point you in the right direction. The candle shop in this post is not one that I was looking for, just randomly came across it as I was driving through the area, and that’s a pretty common experience.
Smells so good!
I’ve been in some Amish gift shops in Shipshewana, and while they’re not entirely candle shops, they usually carry a nice selection of Amish-made candles. Just opening the door and walking into one of these shops is a scent-sual (!) delight. I love scented candles, and they’re always on my “wish list” for Christmas, Mother’s Day, my birthday. I use them daily, especially in the winter. Depending on the scent, they can calm you, inspire you, excite you…on and on!
I wish I could visit this little shop, as I’m sure I’d walk out with an armload of candles! (Do they ship?)
Tell me, Erik, do you find yourself craving French toast dripping with maple syrup when you burn this candle? (I try to buy mostly natural scents, as it’s too hard to control my appetite when burning food-scented candles!)
Alice Mary
Alice Mary I don’t know if they ship and I don’t have a phone number I can give you (the business is listed online but didn’t see a phone number attached) but maybe they do…
On the topic of scents you reminded me of the experience of walking buy a perfume shop say in the mall…I don’t go in those places but it’s enough to walk by to be walloped by an overwhelming wall of scent. I really don’t know how the employees work in those places, I’d have a headache after about 5 minutes. A candle shop might actually be pleasant though, more subtle scents.
And it’s a good question as I haven’t lit it yet! But I was probably hungry when I bought it so you’re onto something, I’ve noticed some of them have quite true-to-life scents and I’ve wondered how they manage that.
Another one worth seeing is “Lamp, Light, and Candle” near Walnut Creek Cheese. I like watching them hand-dip and carve candles. 🙂
My favorite candle scent there? Campfire!
Burning wood is one of my top 5 favorite smells, so I would definitely get that candle if I came across it. Thanks for letting us know.
Lancaster, PA
Do you have a list of Amish owned small businesses in Lancaster, PA?
Amish businesses in Lancaster County
Angela I can point you in a couple of directions, one resource updated yearly is the Lancaster County Business Directory. You can access this online here, looks like the 2018 version is still the latest available: https://www.davcoadvertising.com/lcbd-2018/
It’s not going to tell you if the business listed is or is not Amish, but if you know what to look for you can make a pretty good guess – particularly going by the last name of the owner, which may also be in the business name, and the type of business. This won’t guarantee 100% that the business is Amish (there are former Amish and others who have “Amish” last names), but should get you going in the right direction depending what you are looking for. If you don’t know the common Amish last names in Lancaster County, they include Stoltzfus, Lapp, King, Zook, Beiler, Fisher. There are also several articles on the site here on common Amish names.
You can also check the Amish business directory pages on this site, there is a link in the menu above. Those listings are not comprehensive but are broken down by category and you’ll be able to tell by the address where they’re located. Hope that helps.
We are about to take my first Amish trip in May this year. I am overjoyed to say the least. It is a dream come true for me. Our family is staying in Harrisburg PA. Price was right for all of us. Looking for any pointers or places not to miss when down there. We are central to other areas and willing to travel a 1 hour radius. Anything right in Harrisburg Amish related would also be awesome. Would love to hear from anyone about their favorite places not to miss. You can email me at cironeveronica@hotmail.com. Thanks Eric and readers
Hi Veronica sounds great, I hope you enjoy it. You’re probably going to want to drive a bit from Harrisburg to Lancaster County since you’re so close (although there is a community in Dauphin County of a pretty good size, but nothing like Lancaster County). An hour’s drive will get you to Lancaster County. Intercourse, Bird-in-Hand, Strasburg are some of the main tourist areas with lots of Amish farms around. Amish in general are settled more in the eastern half of the county though there are some that have moved into the west. Don’t know exactly what you’d want to do but I would recommend driving some of the back roads and stopping in at Amish businesses that look interesting. Also there are a lot of restaurants serving PA Dutch style food.
Amish dependence on petroleum
It’s always struck me as funny / odd that Amish love petroleum – gasoline, kerosene, paraffin, plastic, and petroleum-based fertilizers, etc. but shun electricity. I’m sure there aren’t amish guys working in oil fields and rigs, but most of their lifestyle seems to heavily involve petroleum. They won’t drive a car, but most will hire a van driver or let someone else drive them daily to work. Buildings lit by petro fuels like gas and kerosene, etc. It’t not my place to tell them what to do etc of course but it seems the heavy dependence on petroleum products is not “traditional” in any way. Using refined petroleum products that can’t be produced without oil drilling and refineries, doesnt seem it can be in any way independent, traditional, etc. Perhaps because they feel more independent in buying the fuel and running off grid operations without being hooked up to an electrical grid, I understand that. But there are solar ways to do that now. Oil is almost gone, it would be wise to adjust lifestyles so that driving to mexico and other states and countries don’t become part of the yearly routine, fields don’t rely on petrochemical pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and tractor fuel, etc. Having solar panels, wind generators, etc is no more “modern” or “worldly” than keeping some oil rigs and refineries in business.
Amish Quilts
I was wondering if you could give me the names and addresses of a few places that I could contact in order to buy an Amish quilt.
Buying quilts
Im lucky enough to live near where a wonderful Amish auction is held every Memorial Day Weekend. I’ve purchased a few quilts there and you cannot beat an amish auction for beauty or price. If you have specific colors you’re looking for and want to contact me I would be thrilled to help someone join in on collecting quilts! I have an obsession myself
Candles.
I wish they had mail order as I would love to but some of them, especially the maple!!!!
Quilts
I too am interested in purchasing Amish made quilts
I live in New Palestine Shelby County Indiana I would very much have any information on local auctions or shops that I could purchase from. Thank you
Amish Quilts
Cynthia and Marilyn,
My Amish neighbor makes and sells quilts. If you email me, I can get you her info. She makes potholders and dolls for me quite often that I use for giveaways and such.
jebspredemann (at) gmail (dot) com
Blessings,
J. Spredemann