How do you count to ten in Pennsylvania Dutch? In the video below by Virgil Schrock you can hear a variety of speakers doing just that, in different accents. The video also includes a little bit of 11-20. There is a cute segue about 2/3 through, with a young Amish boy doing his own counting, but not in PA Dutch. Listen to the end, where you’ll…
Just what is a skid house? And why would you want to move one? Karen Johnson-Weiner explains below, complete with photos of a skid house being loaded and moved in a Swartzentruber Amish community in upstate New York. — A “skid house” is the equivalent of a mobile home for more conservative Amish. It is built—on wooden skids—so that it can be taken apart and moved….
Karen Johnson-Weiner follows up last month’s Ohio ice harvest post with a look at how the practice differs among the Swartzentruber Amish in upstate New York. — The recent article about ice harvesting in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, brought back memories of an ice harvest in nearby Heuvelton, New York—a similar event with a similar goal. In each case, thick ice on an outdoor pond was cut…
How do roles and expectations of women differ in Amish and non-Amish society? Serving the Amish author Jim Cates explores the question of gender roles in this first of a three-part look at the Amish and women’s issues. A Natural Woman When Aretha Franklin crooned “You make me feel like a natural woman” she was thanking the man who fulfilled her, and not a way of…
We’ve seen plenty of examples of beautiful Amish-made quilts, treated as artwork and displayed in galleries. But what about the heavier, less-stunning bed coverings, the ones you might want to actually wrap up in rather than hang on a wall? Today, Janneken Smucker explains “haps”, which, depending on where you live, you may know by another name entirely. — This time of year my bed is piled…
There’s a communication challenge Amish people deal with that most of us do not. It’s the fact that in Amish communities, names repeat themselves. With a limited pool of surnames, and the popularity of Biblical and other traditional names, it’s inevitable that you find people with the same first and last names. How many Sam Stoltzfuses are there in Lancaster County? Or Mary Lehmans in northern Indiana? Or…
This 19-second video shows an Amish buggy doing donuts in the snow (snonuts?). It was filmed in Polk, Ohio (Ashland County), by Shayla Buhl, employee of the Polk Market and Deli. “I just looked out the window and grabbed my phone. They had it up on two wheels at one point,” Buhl told Fox 8 Cleveland. Ashland County contains all or parts of three Amish settlements. Given…
I’m happy to welcome Karen Johnson-Weiner as a new contributor here at Amish America. Karen is Professor of Anthropology at SUNY-Potsdam, and has studied the Old Order Amish for over 30 years. Karen’s books include New York Amish: Life in the Plain Communities of the Empire State, Train Up a Child: Old Order Amish and Mennonite Schools, and The Amish (with co-authors Donald Kraybill and Steven Nolt). We’ve…
A frankly creepy story has hopefully come to an end in Lancaster County. Last November you might have caught a report of an intruder entering Amish homes in eastern Lancaster County. The man in both cases would touch Amish females while they slept. He would speak to them and then leave. A 27-year-old Lancaster County man was arrested Friday and charged in one incident in East Earl township: According…
I met Bob by accident, or fate, hard to know which it was. He and I spent three hours together one Sunday morning in September, walking the countryside, my Sunday shoes getting wet from the dew. He was a good listener, but he often got bored and wanted to run. He is young so you have to forgive his wandering attention. Bob has four legs…