How much do Amish interact with the public? It’s a broad question, without a straightforward answer. Two recent stories show Amish crossing boundaries of sorts. Law Enforcement On the whole, Amish are less likely than your average American to call the police. They have been criticized for this reluctance, particularly when criminal matters are involved. Amish have cooperated with the law in the recent…
Amish Workshops has posted a great look at the process Amish women go through to pin up their hair. The article features over 2 dozen photos illustrating the procedure. Amish women don’t display their hair for Biblically-based reasons. They also do not cut their hair, pinning it all up underneath a kapp, or prayer covering. When I posted this article on the Amish America Facebook…
Karen Johnson-Weiner shares a photo of homemade Amish soap, the work of a Swartzentruber Amish woman. It’s interesting to see the range of home amenities used by Amish. When it comes to cleaning products, you get families who buy fine hand lotions from places like Wal-Mart to those who still make their own soaps. Here’s a close-up. If I didn’t know otherwise, I might have…
What is this? I bought it at an Amish variety store in Adams County, Indiana, earlier this summer, for $3. To make things more fun, the first one to guess correctly wins a back issue of the Connection magazine. I have no idea if you’ll find this easy or difficult, but I’ll be checking back in on this post to see if anyone’s hit it–and…
An Amish friend, whom we’ll call “Aaron Miller”, recently discussed aspects of Amish society with a college class. Aaron later wrote a follow-up letter to the class, in which he addressed a few issues raised during the discussion. Aaron has kindly shared the letter, from which we’ll post a few excerpts on the blog. You may remember Aaron, aka “Anonymous Amish Person” or “Mr. X”,…
The skill of slaughtering animals is one now beyond the capacity of most modern folks, though it was once quite common. Many Amish still do kill chickens and other farm animals for food. A running joke among Amish farmers has something to do with a visitor from the city thinking milk “comes” from a grocery store. Wish I could remember the punchline but the point…
Most Amish and some Mennonite farmers use steel wheels on their tractors, an aspect of church rules that encourages slower and less driving. It’s hard to get a fast (or at least a comfortable) ride when you feel every pebble in the road thanks to the unforgiving metal. Thus steel wheels deter unnecessary trips (in contrast, in a few Amish communities, rubber-tired tractors have meant…
An Amish businessman in Lancaster County has turned the camera in the other direction in an attempt to catch a thief. Apparently the culprit in question, likely assuming the Amish-owned businesses would be lightly protected, was brazen enough to break into the same four shops multiple times over a period of a few months. One unlucky store was robbed on six separate occasions. Knowing that…
Richard Stevick, Messiah college professor and author of Growing Up Amish: The Teenage Years, has kindly shared an interesting report on an unusual new Amish publication (excerpts to come) based in the Sunshine State: Sunny Pinecraft, Florida, may not be replacing frozen Alymer, Ontario, as the creative and intellectual center of Amish thought and writing, but at the least, Pinecraft seems to be experiencing a…
A reader in Canada has shared some photos and background on the small settlement located near the village of Springford in Ontario. The community consists of 4 church districts and was founded in 1954. It is apparently quite conservative, using outhouses and open-front buggies and oil lamps for lighting, and blankets used to keep warm in winter. One particular point of interest in this community,…