Amish heat their homes in various ways, including wood and coal stoves and natural gas heaters. But how do they stay warm when they hit the road? The answer to this question would depend in part on what kind of buggy you drive. Those Amish whose Ordnung prohibits a storm front (the “windshield” enclosing the front), such as the Nebraska Amish group, have a harder…
Over the weekend a number of readers sent me a Lancaster Online article which happens to be the best behind-the-scenes look at the ‘Amish Mafia‘ program, and reaction to it, that I’ve read. Â Some highlights below. On main character Lebanon Levi, from an Amish-raised man who knows him: “He’d rather sit back in a corner than go after somebody,” the man said, claiming he’s hung…
That may seem a dumb question. Hard work = exercise after all, and “hard work” is one of the bullet points in the Amish job description, for most Amish folks anyway. However I think there is a difference between the two. What I mean is the 21st-century Western approach to exercise, where we isolate it as its own, often-intense activity done strictly for health, weight…
“Amish-founded bank” may be a better way to describe the proposal to create a new bank in eastern Lancaster County.  Lancaster New Era/Intelligencer Journal reports that operations at Bank of Bird-in-Hand could begin “in the next few months”.  The heavily-Amish area is apparently underserved, and the investors see an opportunity there. The article reports that a “substantial” number of the bank’s 18 investors are Amish.  If you…
It’s safe to say the past few years have seen increased interest in the Amish. We can see this, among other ways, by the sheer amount of cultural offerings–books, TV, films, and so on–appearing on the scene. This Washington Post slideshow provides a brief listing of reasons why. It accompanies a column on Amish interest which takes as its jumping-off point the popularity of the Amish Mafia…
A reader in Indiana shares photos and a description of a water pump system in an Amish home: This is the most common configuration for a well pump in the Northern Indiana community. A water pump driven by a Honda engine. This picture was taken in one of the houses we looked at buying. This particular unit was located in a side room of the…
What are the boundaries of Amish work?  Besides tech limitations, conscience corrals the jobs Amish will do.  Morally-questionable businesses are out-of-bounds.  For instance, you won’t find Amish working at reservation casinos in Wisconsin, or selling liquor in downtown Philadelphia. But what about working in vineyards?  Grape cultivation falls under agriculture, a comfortable occupational zone for Amish.  Many Amish have their own home vines, using their…
A reader writes: I took this picture about a month ago in Shipshewana. The surrey buggy on the right is totally different than others in the community. It was a new buggy. I showed the picture to an Amish friend and he said something to the effect of “once and a while you see things like that. Seems like it’s usually new people moving into…
The following is taken from an anonymous obituary found in The Diary.  The gentleman in question, a Mr. Stoltzfus, was in his early 80s at the time of death.  According to the obit, among other relatives, Stoltzfus was survived by “98 grandchildren; 32 step-grandchildren; 143 great-grandchildren; numerous step-great-grandchildren”. I am always amazed by numbers like these, which are not uncommon for Amish individuals, especially when they…
Al in KY recently reminded me of the photo quiz posts we did last year (wait, I guess I mean 2011, not quite last year anymore). He is right, it’s a nice time to do another. Below you’ll find three photos from three different Amish communities.  Your clues: 1) Each is from a different geographical region of America 2) None is from the three largest Amish-population…