After three weeks in the county, three more observations from Lancaster: Hair–men’s hairstyles here seem to range from the very short and close cropped to the much more Swartzentruber-esque bob. Women’s hair is arranged a bit differently than midwestern Amish curled in tightly at the sides–almost too tight–but more on that later. Mennonites–the Old Order Mennonite population is significant here, with many ‘buggy Mennonites‘ populating…
Update: below is the back-story of how I came to know the Amish. I’ve been long “retired” from selling books in Amish communities, but starting in 2004, this was my intro to Amish life. Over the next several years, I visited thousands of Amish homes in five states, including the four largest Amish settlements. Inspired by the experience, I started this website as a basic…
In places like the heavily-touristed areas of Lancaster County you see “Pennsylvania Dutch” (or just “Dutch” for short), or “Amish” attached to just about anything with something to sell. To take a few examples: “Jakey’s Amish BBQ”, “Amish Paradise Homestays”, “Dutch Delights”, etc. This naturally makes visitors assume that the Amish must have something to do with the Pennsylvania Dutch. But are they the same…
A couple quick observations from Lancaster County: I recalled today how Amish usually try to switch to English whenever English people are around. I was talking to an Amish guy today and one of his friends walked up to ask for help working on the school playground. Obviously the most comfortable tongue would be PA Dutch, but, seeing I was there, he chose to speak…
I had a chance to catch up with a couple more friends the Thursday before last–‘Martin’, a minister of the New Order Amish persuasion, his wife, ‘Annie’, and their neat kids. My timing was perfect–suppertime! A grinning Martin plunked me down in front of a ‘haystack’–a potato-lettuce-chili-cheese- crumbled nachos concoction Annie had just prepared. Yum. (Yeah, I definitely had seconds). As we dug into our…
I’m still picking the splinters out of my hands this morning and counting up the nicks and scratches on my arms. The Amish broke a city boy in yesterday. But it was only about three and a half hours, so I guess they went easy on me. Hay is ‘made’ in groups. It’s something Amish farmers need to do regularly in the growing season. I…
The Sugarcreek, Ohio Budget newspaper is a vital print lifeline stretching across the diverse Anabaptist settlements of North and South America. Founded in 1890, this weekly paper out of Sugarcreek, Ohio, serves as an information exchange for families sometimes separated by great distances and formidable technological barriers. The Budget is among the favorites when it comes to Amish reading material. Budget ‘scribes’ regularly report on…
photo: Randall Persing Amish women let their hair grow from birth. If you ever catch an Amish female with her hair down, the sheer length of it can be surprising. In fact, with locks often reaching well past waist-length, the typical Amish head-covering seems to somehow bend the laws of physics. Where is their room for it all up there? A quick diversion: A follicle…
The caption accompanying the above photo in an AP story on Amish and gas usage reads:Â “Using real horse power to get around, an Amish buggy makes its way through Middlefield, Ohio, unconcerned about the rising gas prices…” Actually, the Amish aren’t as oblivious to rising gas prices as we might think. While it’s true they don’t have to worry about filling up a gas-slurping…
When a baptized Amish person leaves the community for another church, it can be a jarring experience, both for the family involved and for others in the church. And especially so, in the very rare occurrence when one party stays behind. Most cases I have come across of Amish leaving have involved the full family;Â one or two peculiar situations have not–with the wife remaining…