Mark Curtis let me take a few photos of his two-seater buggy while in Ohio last month. We took this to supper on the night I arrived. Very chilly that evening, so the extra-thick blanket you see below came in handy. I don’t know how many people you could fit in one this size (brings to mind the stunts with clowns cramming into a VW…
You might recall our recent look at the kid box, a special compartment on the backs of some open-top Swiss Amish buggies. These allow children to ride protected from the weather. Torey has sent in some further photos of much larger (adult-sized) carriage compartments, taken in the two large Swiss Amish communities in Indiana. The first photo is from the Allen County settlement: The second…
On this week’s buggy heater post, Don Curtis mentioned an unusual carriage which had appeared in his son’s Amish community in Ohio: He said that there is a family from Allen County, Indiana that has recently moved into the Belle Center community. They still drive an open two seater surrey. However, this winter they have placed a kind of enclosed cab over the back seat…
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…
So often we see only the exterior of an Amish buggy. The distinct silhouette of an Amish carriage is so easily recognizable it’s become a symbol of the people. What’s inside that buggy? Interiors can vary based on what’s accepted in a given Amish church, and also on the age of the driver (with the more “creative” interiors found in the vehicles of the younger…
Webster County, Missouri Amishman Emanuel Schwartz shares his road safety concerns with a news station in this video. Schwartz would like the Missouri DOT to create more buggy pull-offs on a dangerous stretch of highway. These are particularly important in hilly areas or on curves where visibility is poor. Amish take into account road traffic when founding a new community. However that is just one…
Good news for Amish drivers in southern Indiana. The Amish settlement in Daviess County will be getting buggy lanes on one major road. The Odon-Cannelburg road runs north-south through the middle of this community. The road, also known as County Road 900 E, is a major economic artery with Amish buggies, semi’s, cars, and all types of motorized transportation sharing the road, with sometimes disastrous results. The…
Have a look “behind the wheel” of an Old Order Mennonite buggy. This was taken by Tom at the New York Haiti Auction. What do you notice? Tom notes that it has “a speedometer. LED lights, windshield and all the bells and whistles. I asked a man what a buggy like this one would cost and he said $5,000.00 and then the same or more…
The horse-drawn buggy is essential to Amish society. Amish buggies are both practical transport, and symbolic of the people. Though most Amish allow riding in motor vehicles such as cars and buses, no Amish permit ownership of the automobile. Amish feel the horse-drawn carriage promotes a slower pace of life and greater reliance on community. Amish buggies are not all alike. Different designs designate specific…
I’m working on a huge Amish buggy post for Friday. Many photos, including some lesser-known buggy styles and designs. One example: Extra credit to anyone who knows where this photo was taken.