Following up last week’s photo of a Michigan Amish kitchen, we have another shot courtesy of Karen Johnson-Weiner. Â I think you’ll notice quite a difference between this week’s and last week’s photos. This one was taken in a Swartzentruber Amish kitchen. Â Swartzentruber Amish are among the plainest and most conservative Amish groups: I’ve zoomed in on a couple of bits. Â The utensils: And the stove:…
When I first began spending time with the Amish, I felt like I was entering another world. Â I would drive my car from gritty Decatur, Illinois, where I was living for the summer while selling books, 45 minutes southeast to the farms, fields and fresh air of Moultrie County. Crossing into “Amish territory”, it seemed like I passed through an invisible border. Â Much of what…
Two weeks ago NBC ran a piece on Mennonites building homes in the Gulf area, post-Katrina. Five years after the fact, it’s easy to forget there is still a rebuilding effort going on down there. Â The video below shows Mennonites working on homes in Bayou Country in Louisiana. “We don’t have to know somebody to do good for somebody” says one of the young Mennonite…
Continuing the “10 views” series, today we have photos of Juniata County, Pennsylvania. A couple months ago we had a post on the Juniata County Amish. Â This community is one of the many lesser-known Pennsylvania settlements. With 8 church districts, it’s actually a pretty sizeable one. Â That’s about 1000 Amish, give or take. But Juniata County is overshadowed by nearby Big Valley, nearly 4 times…
I think you’ll notice quite a contrast between this photo and last week’s Swiss Amish home photos. Â This was taken in a Michigan Amish home by Karen Johnson-Weiner: Comparing these photos you can really see the diverse material standards of different Amish groups. I’ve zoomed in on a couple parts to make things more visible: Notice anything familiar? Also if you missed it, inside a…
I left a couple of photos out of last week’s Bowling Green, Missouri Amish collection. Here are shots of an Amish beekeeper’s facilities, and the happy end-product (courtesy of Beth Russo, thank you Beth). Â First, the hives: These hives are located on the Hilty farm, known as Hilty’s Bee Yard. Â In addition to regular pure honey, Hilty’s sell Raspberry-flavored Honey (see below), Buckwheat Honey, and…
The Martyrs Mirror is revered by Amish and other Anabaptists. Â It’s a 1,000+ page book recounting the stories of Christian martyrs. Â In addition to Biblical-era martyrs, it includes tales of the many early Anabaptists persecuted in Europe. The Martyrs Mirror is in the news because a very old (1748) German-language edition is up for sale at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society auction (I’ve linked to…
Following up last week’s look inside a New York Amish living room, we have a couple more photos of an Amish home interior, courtesy of SUNY-Potsdam anthropology professor Karen Johnson-Weiner. These shots were taken in a home in the Swiss Amish settlement in Clarion County, Pennsylvania. Swiss Amish tend to be fairly plain, and I think this interior reflects that. A few things jumped out…
Beth Russo has kindly shared 10 photos of the Amish settlement at Bowling Green, Missouri (Pike County). Â Beth recently made a trip during which she visited an Amish woodworking shop and a beekeeper. Â You can find more of her photos on her Facebook page. Bowling Green is the oldest Amish settlement in Missouri, founded in 1947. Â There are a total of 3 church districts and…
I just got off the phone with an Amish friend, “Alvin”, from Holmes County. Â I like to call Alvin, a furniture maker, from time to time, to check up on things in Amish Ohio. The big news? Â March Madness, or I suppose the Plain equivalent, is apparently heading to Holmes County. I’ve written a number of times about Amish and sports. Â Sports and games are…