Just got back from Holmes County, and have a good bit of posts from that trip–among other things, I visited Raber’s bookshop, attended a New Order church service, and generally stayed out of trouble. More to come. But since it’s just out today, I wanted to share two things: first, an Amish business article from CNNMoney.com. It’s a nicely done piece by Geoff Williams, with…
Just had a nice talk yesterday evening at the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center (home to the Behalt cyclorama) at Berlin in Holmes County. About 130 people attended, roughly 70% of whom were Amish. I explained that I was glad it was a non-violent, pacifist crowd. I figured that gave me a better chance of survival if I really messed something up in my talk….
Just back from a 10-day visit to Lancaster County. Gave a couple of talks and enjoyed the unfolding of the spring season. A few highlights from the trip: Amish business visits I dropped in for a day at the Markets at Shrewsbury, one of the Pennsylvania Dutch markets in the region. It happened to be Kite Day–Shrewsbury puts on a number of fun family events…
Big news today–Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive featured in Time magazine! It’s a great piece on Amish business by Andrea Sachs. Just a page long, but delves into relationships, family, and doing what you’re passionate about. And how all that fits into making a living. My favorite line comes from “born salesman” Moses Smucker, who operates a stand at…
Judging by my email inbox and the lack of traffic on the roads, today, Easter Monday, is a day off for a number of us. Amish Religious Holidays What holidays do Amish observe? And how does that affect the work schedule? In Amish Enterprise, Donald Kraybill and Steven Nolt write that in Lancaster County, “Church members faithfully recognize Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, And Christmas. …
Today’s the big day. My Amish business book is officially in stores, and if you’ve ordered, it should be shipping by now. Many thanks! If you enjoy it, please tell a friend. I appreciate all the support! Will be doing some speaking in the weeks to come, on radio and in person. Exciting. Also, there will be some print media coverage as well, starting with…
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…
The blog will be relatively quiet for the next few days, as we are working on a few changes here. The blog platform will be switched from Typepad to WordPress–which is a good thing, and something I’ve wanted to do for a long while. WordPress seems to be a much more versatile platform (any WordPress users out there concur?). But, expect Amish America to remain…
The Ultimate Mud Sale Guide | Jump to full 2026 Mud Sale Schedule OR scroll down 2026 Mud Sale Guide (22 Sales) When are the mud sales in Lancaster County? The Lancaster County mud sale schedule for 2026 is now available, with the traditional first event happening soon (February 27 & 28 at Strasburg Fire Company). What is a “Mud Sale”? How did it get…
Kevin over at the informative and fun Amish Cook blog has beaten me to the punch here, but I thought I’d bring to your attention an article in the New York Times on Amish business. It’s a pretty meat-and-potatoes look at Amish entrepreneurship but nice to see in a high-profile spot. Donald Kraybill contributes here, pointing out that in some settlements high majorities–even 90%–of households…