Lancaster County, 50 years ago (part 2)

Back in January, I shared a few slides of Lancaster County, circa 1963.  Here are a few more:

lancaster county old photo amish men

Would today’s Lancaster Amish women consider this overdressed?

lancaster county amish women old photos

Lancaster County has the second-most covered bridges of any county in America.  The #1 county? Parke County, Indiana, where a group of Lancaster Amish moved in the 1990s.  Here’s one in Lancaster:

lancaster covered bridge buggy old

For those that might think Amish styles never change, how about these glasses:

amish women lancaster old photo

You might also like to check out the original post Lancaster County 50 years ago.

Photo credit: Russ Glasson.

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    11 Comments

    1. Alice Aber

      Loved looking at the old pictures Erik! Thanks so much for sharing them!! Would be interesting to know what today’s Amish think of the clothing of yesteryear and also how many are old enough to have been raised during those times and what do they think of the past compared to today.

      Blessings, Alice

    2. Very interesting! I was born in Lancaster County nearly 50 years ago. I am told that the nurses thought I was an Amish baby because I had so much thick, dark hair. Thanks for sharing these photos.

    3. Dress, cape and apron, kapp and sunbonnet – do Lancaster women wear sunbonnets much anymore? They are an artifact of farming. I wear and sew sunbonnets for others who find them very useful in gardening. Maybe Lancaster women stopped wearing sunbonnets and outing bonnets as often when motor traffic increased. A bonnet deep enough to keep the sun off one’s face also limits one’s peripheral vision, like blinders on a horse.I have some sunbonnet photos at my blog, and some comments from women who wear them. When it is very hot I wear a wide-brimmed straw hat.

    4. Leo

      Great photos. The straw hat brims appear to be a little wider than they are today in Lancaster County.

    5. Richard (click on my name to go to "Amish Stories")

      Reminds me of the images that i saw at the Intercourse Heritage Festival that i went to last week. In a building they had old pictures of Lancaster i believe dating back from the early 1900s or before. In fact i purchased a book while at that event of the history of the town of Intercourse, if anyone is interested i have some pictures on the blog today from that event. In that building where all those images were, Amish and non Amish alike were seen reflecting on my pictures from their youth. And it was touching to see that . I remember some of those pictures from my childhood when i spent times at a very early age in Lancaster, sometimes pictures can bring joy and other times sadness. Richard from the Amish settlement of Lebanon county.

    6. Christine

      These photos are wonderful, Erik! Thank you! 50 years was when my family spent a good deal of time travelling through the Lancaster County area. My parents also had great respect and interest in the Amish, their way of life, customs etc, so every time we transferred (military) they made sure we made visits to Amish areas, most especially LC. These photos bring back some wonderful memories – when I think Amish, this is what I see in my mind’s eye.

      Blessings on your evening!
      Christine

    7. Howdy folks, glad you enjoyed these photos, and I am glad that Russ was able to share them online. Like others I am very partial to old photos and slides. I am just back from 3 days out of town, so looking forward to catching up with the comments here once I get myself unpacked 🙂

    8. Richard (click on my name to go to "Amish Stories")

      On b/w photos

      Erik welcome, I’ve not seen you on in a while. I’m with you on b/w images i love the mood b/w gives off, if you can understand what I’m saying. I also sent you a e-mail letting you know that my e-mail address has changed. Richard from the Amish settlement of Lebanon county.

    9. Slightly-handled-Order-man

      Yes, Grandpa.

      The man in the middle of the straw hat photo looks like he is a stern but mischievous grandfather, seems to have that twinkle in his eye that says misbehave but don’t get caught. Or it looks like he just saw something hilarious and he’s battling back a giant laugh and is losing.

    10. Thanks Richard, I did get it and just wrote you back. And Shom, great description. Actually each of those fellas has a distinctly different look on their faces.

    11. Charlotte Holtry

      Grew up with the Amish

      I grew up living very close to the Amish of Lancaster. Sixty years ago we just accepted the Amish as part of our lives. They never seemed strange or odd to us because we respected their way of living. They were just our neighbors. It hurt me to see them running from cameras and being pushed off the roads. We learned from them about quilting, farming,canning and hard work. Most of all how to be happy without all of the modern conveniences we have today. Their ability to forgive others their trespasses is amazing. We could all learn valuable lessons from them.