Today, an interview with Ira Wagler on his new memoir, Growing Up Amish. Ira was born in the Aylmer, Ontario Amish community and grew up in Bloomfield, Iowa. During his youth and young adulthood he spent time on a Nebraska cattle ranch, Canadian wheat fields, and in Amish communities across the country. Ira struggled with life as an Amish person before finally leaving for good…
That was the question asked in this thought-provoking video I watched over the weekend. The tone of the narrator is a little too “kindergarten teacher” for me, and don’t watch if you don’t want to see people in beach-style attire in a few places. But it makes a pretty interesting point. Compared to our predecessors, we live like kings (behold the $4,000 1980s brick cellphone). The…
Summer is prime time for auctions. The town of Belleville smack dab in the middle of Big Valley in Mifflin County, PA is home to a long-running auction and flea market, which attracts a large contingent of Amish and English alike. The auction is held each Wednesday year-round. Livestock, farm equipment and many other items go up on the block each week. The flea market…
Attacks against Amish have a long history. These have ranged from verbal abuse to more serious offenses such as theft, vandalism, and arson. In some cases, Amish have been injured or even killed. A series of barn burnings in Big Valley, PA in the early 1990s, or targeted assaults and robberies against Amish in the Nappanee, Indiana area, are just a couple of the more…
About four years back, Geauga County, Ohio native John Gingerich undertook to translate a text very important to the history of the Amish and other Anabaptists. History of the Bernese Anabaptists was written by Ernst Müller and published in 1895. Up until now it has never been available in English. In today’s interview, John explains how the translation came about while offering a fascinating look…
How do Amish folks maintain such a calm demeanor? Well, while poking around my friend’s library, I think I came across the secret. Attitude Adjustors: This innocent box just happened to be lying there on the shelf (within easy reach of a work desk, a stack of bills and other scary-looking papers, I might add). It seems Attitude Adjustors come standard in Amish homes. The…
I remember the first time I got a sense that Amish might approach medicine a bit differently than the rest of us. I was selling books in Indiana. An Amish woman whom I met at the door casually mentioned that her children were battling whooping cough. “You’ve had your shots, right?” she asked. “Yes…I think?” One of the hazards of the job, I suppose. Well,…
The New York Department of Taxation and Finance is now requiring electronic filing of sales tax returns. And it’s causing some Amish in New York problems. Apparently there is an out–those lacking internet access can request an exemption. If they don’t, they face a $50 fine. Some Amish have been hit with this fine, though it’s not clear why–by the article, it sounds like a…
Back in January, I shared a few slides of Lancaster County, circa 1963. Here are a few more: Would today’s Lancaster Amish women consider this overdressed? 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: For those that might think Amish styles…
Beth asked yesterday about recommendations for visitors to Lancaster County. I mentioned two of my favorite towns, Strasburg and Churchtown. Strasburg is a bit more on the beaten path, Churchtown a bit more off. Strasburg in particular has a lot of beautiful historic stone and brick homes from the 1700s and 1800s (I lived here for a summer so got to know it fairly well). A…