Mona asks: How do the older people date/marry after a spouse dies? Or even the younger spouses who may lose a spouse to an accident, etc.? Divorce is taboo in the Amish church, but Amish people do fairly often remarry after a spouse dies. If you look through an Amish publication like The Diary for instance, you can find a monthly record of marriages, with several…
I recently heard that a number of Amish in the Lancaster County community have begun using regular electric washers (like any English home might have, except powered by the diesel generator). With the widely-used wringer washers (ie, the old Maytag style), the clothes are still pretty wet when you finish. Using a regular washer, the spin cycle forces a lot of that extra water out,…
This photo was taken in the New Wilmington PA Amish settlement. I’ve mentioned before how I’m no big fan of cell phones. That said, they sure are handy to have on hand when you actually need to talk to someone. The pay phone is one of those things, like the roadside diner and the family radio, that seem destined to become a quaint relic of…
A sign you often see outside Amish shops. This one is from the North Carolina Amish community at Union Grove. Are Plain businesses the only places where “modesty is appreciated” anymore? Asheville, NC Amish Furniture
Reader Roberta shares a photo of a barn raising she attended a couple weeks ago in a New York Amish community: This took place in the vicinity of Newport, which is in Herkimer County. Roberta adds: They started on Wednesday morning. There are about a hundred men involved. Most came in buggies but a few got rides. Since they don’t want their pictures taken, we…
The picture above was taken at an Amish farm in Hardin County, Ohio (we’ve mentioned this settlement already this summer, see the unusual buggy post). Can you guess what’s happening here? The family only does this once a year. Luckily, that was the day I stopped by! UPDATE: if you guessed apple butter, well done! See below in the comments for a bit more background…
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…
Sarah writes: I know pregnancy is a taboo subject in the Amish culture… what are the does and don’t when discussing? I have very close Amish friends. The woman is about 8 months pregnant by my estimate and today is the first day her husband has even acknowledged her pregnancy to me, and quite honestly, he only acknowledged it because she needs to go see…