You may ask me, “Is this a typical Amish shop?” Good question. Let me explain why. Another shop ten miles from here might be run totally with a generator, and contain a computerized CNC machine to work with cutsheets drawn up on a word processor. And a third shop, the same distance away, might not have one bit of electrical equipment anywhere, down to the…
There’s another Plain program on the airwaves, but this one isn’t about the Amish. National Geographic Channel’s Mennonite Made (despite the name, not a response to Amish Mafia) is about building things–log homes, to be precise. From the Nat Geo website: Mennonite Made follows a tight-knit crew of traditional Mennonites, who practice craftsmanship passed down through generations to build one-of-a-kind log homes. Spearheading the log home…
The photos below show some typical items used in the Adams County, Indiana Amish community. The Amish of Adams County are considered “lower” or more traditional than many other groups. These photos were taken in a local shop. This first photo shows a common style of oil lamp, the form of lighting used in this community. Our contributor notes that pink is also a common…
It’s Friday, and I think we’re due for another roundup post. Here we go: The Plain Side Loren Beachy writes a column for The Goshen News called “The Plain Side”. Loren is a school teacher and auctioneer living in the Elkhart-Lagrange Amish community. I’ve been reading some of Loren’s archives lately, including one on preserving the PA Dutch dialect and a funny tale about his…
My friend Katie Troyer was featured in a pair of bonus videos for the recent PBS film The Amish: Shunned. You may already know Katie from her excellent photos and blog focusing on life in the Pinecraft community in Florida. On the PBS website, The Amish: Shunned creator Callie Wiser comments on the people whom she met “whose stories I did not get to tell”. Callie…
A reader shares some photos taken over the weekend in the Shipshewana area. As you can see in these photos, there’s a good bit of snow on the ground. Apparently it is piling up. Another friend in Indiana suggests that could mean serious spring flood danger, at least in his neck of the woods. Update: Here’s a bonus photo that was taken northeast of Shipshewana…
Ervin R. Stutzman is the author of a just-released work of historical fiction called Jacob’s Choice, the first in a three-novel series called Return to Northkill. The book is based on the story of 18th-century Amish pioneer Jacob Hochstetler, whose example of non-resistance in the face of violence has inspired generations of his descendants. From the press release: Based on actual events, Jacob’s Choice, Book…
The copyright for an Amish-created quilt design has been acquired by a Lancaster County retailer called Almost Amish, and they are enforcing it. From the Lancaster Online article: From now on, Light in the Valley, a quilt pattern that creates an optical illusion that lends it a three-dimensional effect, can no longer be quilted. That particular pattern has been copyrighted, and Almost Amish, the company…
Our contributor Ed shares some photos from last week in Lancaster County (note: these photos date to 2013), where local versions of the Winter Olympics are happening all around the community. Ice hockey is a popular winter activity among Lancaster County Amish. These first two shots were taken by the Strasburg Railroad Yards: Amish children, teens, and sometimes adults play ice hockey. Natural frozen surfaces…
Delaware’s lone Amish community is experiencing a whooping cough outbreak, at least the third significant occurrence in the community in the last 30 years. This Delaware Online article reports that eighty percent of the four dozen cases are in children under the age of eleven. The outbreak has so far been restricted to the Amish community, located west of state capital Dover. Whooping cough is…