What is this? I bought it at an Amish variety store in Adams County, Indiana, earlier this summer, for $3. To make things more fun, the first one to guess correctly wins a back issue of the Connection magazine. I have no idea if you’ll find this easy or difficult, but I’ll be checking back in on this post to see if anyone’s hit it–and…
After yesterday’s Arthur Amish photos, here’s another ten–from the northern Indiana Amish of Elkhart and Lagrange Counties. I’ll be taking all next week off from posting (family vacation), but will return to a regular blogging schedule Monday Sep. 19. In the meantime, we’re doing a little contest. I’ve got a few back issues of Amish magazine The Connection to give away (The Connection is headquartered…
Two weeks, 5 states, 15 communities. Five (plus) pounds. It was a whirlwind trip as I packed a month of visiting into 2 weeks of time. I spent the past weekend zonked out and resting up (3700 road miles will do that to you). But I’ve recovered enough to put together a collection of highlights from my recent Amish trip: Dessert at the home of…
If you’re near Hicksville, Ohio, tomorrow, you might want to drop in on the Defiance County fair for one of America’s rarest sporting events: I picked this flyer up at the Topeka auction house here in Indiana. I found the terms of the race pretty interesting–“a limit of five horses per race”; “all drivers must wear a helmet”; “any type of cart or buggy may…
SMV triangle, streamlined top, mini-door. What is this thing? A road-ready chicken coop? I took this photo yesterday in the Allen County (Grabill) Indiana Amish settlement. Today I’m off to Michigan. Will have more on this photo tomorrow, but til then, what do you think? Update: Mystery shack explained? We got a lot of interesting guesses on the Allen County mystery shack. Everything from a portable…
The Amish home is changing When you visit Amish communities, can you pick out the Amish homes? As a general rule, the more conservative the community, the easier it is to tell the Amish dwellings from the English. The lack of power lines is one giveaway. So is the style and design. A Swartzentruber Amish farm home has a distinct angular look to it. The (often…
The Connection is one of numerous new Amish periodicals Amish readers have enjoyed a variety of new publications over the past few years. One of my favorites is called The Connection. The Connection is published out of Topeka, Indiana, and features a variety of columns and articles written by Amish from around the country (as well as a few non-Amish). Two things that makes this…
I’m away from the computer for a couple of days, but have auto-posted some hat shop photos. The first is from the Nappanee, Indiana Amish community. Nappanee is the 3rd-largest Amish community in Indiana, and 6th-largest in the nation. There is also a small Old Order Mennonite community near Nappanee: You can see a few different styles here (notice the bottom row). And even more…
“We could probably build a better car than Detroit can. I will go out on a wing and say that. I honestly believe we could do that.” It’s not often you hear an Amishman make such a claim. But it almost makes sense – when you learn that the fellow who said this is from northern Indiana. Northern Indiana Amish are different than most Amish….
After regretting (on the original buggy sign post) that we had no Allen County, Indiana sign, reader Torey has kindly shared this photo, taken near the town of Grabill. You may be aware that Amish in Allen County are considered “Swiss Amish”. Swiss Amish differ in a few ways from most other Amish (most Amish are considered to be of “Pennsylvania German” ethnicity). Swiss Amish…