Amish Business

Peacocks, Irons, And Other Amish Auction Finds

Beth Russo shares photos from the recent Bowling Green, Missouri Amish auction. Amish people frequently patronize auctions and sales of one variety or another. These events can have a treasure hunt aspect to them.  Estate sales in particular may yield old furniture, books or other heirlooms.  Who knows what you might come across. Here are a some of the things Beth came across at Bowling…

Amish Fur Buyer

An Amish fur buyer in northern Indiana.  No photos of the furs, so you’ll just have to use your imagination.  I had “fur buyer” on one of the lists of odd Amish jobs, focusing on Holmes County, Ohio.  Here is a reader comment about another in a Minnesota Amish community “where they process all types of fur and also salt deer hides”.

Gordonville Mud Sale

We had a look at the Lancaster County Mud Sales yesterday.  Today, Terry Berger shares a few photos from one that happened just a week-and-a-half ago, at Gordonville. Terry adds, “One of the best parts of going is being with so many people that l look like and getting lost in the crowd so to speak.” End of the day buggy jam up on Route…

Horse-powered grain mill

Earlier this week we heard from a reader who visited the Unity, Maine Amish community.  We learned about the Kenneth and Katie Copp family, who run a pair of businesses, the Living Grains Bakery and Locust Grove Woodworks. In the video below Kenneth gives a brief tour of the workings of his horse-powered mill which produces the flour used in Living Grains.  You’ve also got…

Ask an Amishman: How self-sufficient are the Amish?

When you read or watch something about the Amish, you might be told that they live separately from the world. It may be further implied or stated that the Amish are a self-sufficient people. Likewise, some seem to assume Amish wake to days full of churning butter, cobbling shoes, and forging metal goods. Seeing an Amish person filling a cart in Wal-Mart can send these folks into shock….

An Amish bank for Lancaster County

“Amish-founded bank” may be a better way to describe the proposal to create a new bank in eastern Lancaster County.  Lancaster New Era/Intelligencer Journal reports that operations at Bank of Bird-in-Hand could begin “in the next few months”.  The heavily-Amish area is apparently underserved, and the investors see an opportunity there. The article reports that a “substantial” number of the bank’s 18 investors are Amish.  If you…

What happened to Sugarcreek?

Last month when commenting on a favorite Amish restaurant, reader Cherie wondered: A couple of decades ago, Sugarcreek was the major shopping and dining area in Amish Country. Not so much anymore. The Amish tour train no longer operates. The ice cream shop is no more. I don’t understand why Sugarcreek is losing favor with tourists when it is so close to I-77. Perhaps someone…

“Amish Mafia” Brain Drain

Tuesday thoughts and links, starting with the upcoming Amish Mafia (reality? fiction?) show: “Amish mafiosi” keeping code of silence? The much-discussed “Amish Mafia” premieres tomorrow, but the “sneak peek” is on tonight.  Some reporters have been asking Amish experts what they think of the idea of an Amish mafia. Donald Kraybill calls it fiction, and David Weaver-Zercher says he first thought it was a parody sketch…

Illinois Amish quilt benefit auction

Illinois Amish quilt benefit auction

At any given moment there is an auction going on or about to happen somewhere in Amish America.  Amish auctions are social events, fundraisers, and a chance to buy goods at a decent price–and often all three rolled into one. Amish auctions are plugged in various ways–in local publications, Amish newspapers, flyers, word-of-mouth.  If you’ve ever been to an Amish auction, you know the festive…

Ada the quiltmaker

A reader shares the following thoughts on his friend Ada, an Amish quiltmaker.  Per request I have changed people/place names and one minor detail. I liked this: It never ceases to amaze me at the openly honest and frank relationship I have with my friend Ada.  She is the daughter of my first real friend, her father Reuben who passed away a few years ago….