I’m on my way to NC today after a week on the road, having visited four Amish settlements – plus one – let’s call it for now “future Amish settlement” – with a stop at a Virginia community still to go.
Usually when I am traveling and staying with Amish friends, I post a bit less here – not because there are not things to post about (quite the opposite), but for 2 reasons.
For one, internet-enabled computer access is more problematic (though that’s less of a problem than say 10 years ago), and second, I’d prefer to spend more of my time with friends and visiting new places.
And truth be told, by the end of a day visiting with the Amish – especially if it is a house full of seven children aged 1 to 12 – I am wiped out!
But as a preview of some things I plan to share with you, here are 5 teaser mystery photos from my trip:
1. There’s something unusual about the bicycle this Amish woman is riding – any guess what it is?
2. Which Amish girls wear this style of head covering?
3. Where did I take this photo?
4. What kind of pies are these? I drove my friend’s mother to her daughter’s place, where they baked 39 of them. Any guess why so many? I got one as thank-you for my taxi services.
5. Why is this rainbow-colored bus parked outside an Amish home? (I’ve blotted out the one give-away detail)
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The 5 photos
Hi there!
#1 This was a man’s bicycle, that could not accommodate the woman’s attire/dress.
#2 I have no context for this kapp, though were I to guess, it is an unmarried/maiden’s kapp (young woman)
#3 You took this photo in a colder area near an intersection – see snow and stop sign.
#4 Those look like blueberry crumb pies, and I will take a slice because I got the answer correct. There are so many because they run a restaurant or they are assembling for a get-together.
#5 This is a tour bus dropping people from one community out of district to another community in another district. The Amish don’t care about garish color if its a means to an end (getting from one place to another).
Keep the good work going!
5 photo guesses
1. Electric assist? I know some communities are adopting them.
2. I would guess an elderly woman’s head covering.
3. Big Valley area of PA (yellow buggy).
4. Are they shoofly? Raisin? Can’t quite tell. Maybe a wedding or funeral?
5. Looks like a book-mobile.
Thanks for the great site!
Answers
1.- electric bicycle, battery pack on back above wheel.
2.-funeral head covering.
3.- big valley, la
4.blueberry pie, wedding
5.book mobile- one house to the next.
1. Midwife services
2. Unmarried Female
3. pennsylvania country
4. Wedding or church dessert
5. Book mobile
1.she is taking children in the back car (or maybe groceries 😉 )
2. girls in Ohio, Berlin area. Photo is taken at Behalt
3. photo is taken from a window in a covered bridge; you see a Byler Amish carriage from Belleville
4. it is looking like Schnitz-pie, served after church at lunchtime
5. this is a tourbus, taken Amish folks from their place to another place far away, maybe to Florida
Response
1. Those handle bars look really high.
2. Perhaps from NY. Swartzentruber.
3. The yellow topper is often seen in Belleville, Pa. I have also seen them in NY State as well. Probably taken from a barn, I’m going with NY.
4. The pies could be oatmeal raisin made for a wedding event.
5. Bookmobile.
These are some nice guesses. I can say that no one has all 5 correct, but 3 of the 5 have been answered correctly so far 🙂
I always enjoy the Amish America “quizzes”, so am glad to see another one.
Here are my guesses:
1) Electric bike powered by battery; also could have option of pedal powered
2) Bonnet of Amish girl from Troyer Amish affiliation
3) Byler Amish buggy from Big Valley, Pa.
4) Looks like one snitz and two shoofly pies; made either for a funeral or Amish Fundraiser dinner/bake sale
5) Bookmobile
Glad you like these Al, it had been a little while since we had one. I’ll be posting answers tomorrow.
Okay, to be honest I really wouldn’t venture a guess on any of these except one — #3. At first I was thinking Big Valley / Belleville, but then the top doesn’t look just right for that. Belleville-yellow-buggies are hard-tops I believe, but this looks to be a rag-top. This, combined with the roll-up door with tiny window, I’m instead leaning towards New Wilmington (PA) instead (although I think the camera auto-exposure has shifted the color of the rag-top just a little bit due to the snow, making it appear yellow-ish instead of NW brownish).
Nice analysis there Don but actually no one has gotten the settlement correct yet. Though you’re getting a bit closer 🙂
The color looks right for Enon Valley. It’s not as “brown” as New Wilmington nor as bright yellow as Byler carriages in Big Valley. The bright yellow material on a Byler carriage is vinyl cloth, so they are not “hard tops” but the frame, trim, and sliding doors can make it look that way.
Erik, Thought you might be interested in this family. See link below.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/meet-the-mccallums-one-of-australia-s-few-amish-families-20181016-p509xn.html?fbclid=IwAR3h9U5riFbbiWLzt1szhNjAg9MSMDfrj7e1YkPYiV96WAwZGKlw4oz2tr4
Australia
Thanks for passing on that link, Tim. Really interesting story – actually we had a post on this around when the article was published. https://amishamerica.com/amish-in-australia/
Here’s a bit I wrote then about the “Are they Amish?” question:
‘So are the McCallums Amish? It’s probably more accurate to describe them as a plain Anabaptist or Anabaptist-ish group at this point, for reasons including their dress (see Gregory’s mustache and the female family members’ dress styles), lack of a local church community and lack of fellowship relationships with other Old Order Amish.’
Hello
I think #1 is a Midwestern settlement, the kiddy kar stands out to me. #2 I’ve seen these prayer coverings used by the Ontario Amish. #3 A New Wilmington daughter settlement either in New York or Maine. #4 Definitely Schnitz pie. #5 blood mobile?
Terry
Second guess on #3
Is this an elusive Enon Valley buggy?