Tuesday, December 3, 2013

DOREEN'S AMISH HANDMADE GOODS

Amish Handmade Goods

 

The Amish in my area live in the south western portion of New York State and I believe are the Swartzentruber Amish. The main towns are Leon, Cherry Creek, Conewango Valley, and Randolph. They have very strict ways such as; they use a horse and buggy, no electricity, no telephones, and no indoor plumbing which obviously means the use of outhouses. Their buggies and homes are also very plain.

 

A lot of the Amish have hand made signs outside of their homes near the road that tell what they make and sell. Sometimes there will be a handmade sign on a street corner with an arrow telling which direction a particular business can be found.  Businesses like the harness maker and woodworker have separate buildings on their property, but most of the “quieter” businesses like a quilt maker, basket maker, or rug maker, have a room attached to their house usually on the side with a separate door  that they display and sell their products. Through the years I bought several of their beautiful hand goods.

 

The oil lamp with an oak wood backing was made by a wood worker that also makes furniture. They had beautiful chairs, tables, and boxes like our English “hope chests” that can have a persons name carved into the wood. I collect oil lamps and bought two of these to hand on my wall.

 

The basket was made right in an Amish home and was displayed and sold on their enclosed front porch. They can see you pull in their driveway and stop what their doing to answer questions and complete the sale. Sometimes women are baking or tending to their children when they come to greet you. My basket is signed and dated by the weaver on the bottom.

 

The iron hook was made in their iron shop, not by a blacksmith. Of course the process is the same but without the horses. They have a coal fire going where the metal is heated, pounded, and turned into this lovely creation. This is all done in a separate building near the house, and gas engines with belts are used to power any machinery that’s required.

 

The main driving route to get to the Amish area is Route 62. As you get close and start to see the horse and buggies on the road, one of the first businesses that you come by is The Cheese Shop. It’s not Amish owned, but they use the Amish milk to make their cheese, so it’s an important business to the community. Along with having delicious cheese in a large variety, they have a little show room that sells some of the Amish handmade goods. They usually have a map available to show where some of the Amish  farms are that have items for sale. It’s wonderful to spend an afternoon driving around the area and finding these unique places and seeing the farms, children, and horse and buggies. If you’re planning to be in this area and would like directions, you can contact me through Marilyn on New York State of Mind and I can send you a map. Mine is quite old, but I’m quite sure the businesses are in the same places.


I THANK DOREEN FOR THIS POST.  IF YOU HAVE ANY AMISH OR OLD ORDER MENNONITE ITEMS, PLEASE TAKE PICTURES AND TELL US A BIT ABOUT THEM.  SEND THEM TO ME AT: LINCOLNLADY1121@YAHOO.COM  I WILL PUT IT ON A POST HERE.

 

 





10 comments:

Vickie said...

Very, very interesting. And nice! Thanks for sharing. =)

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Morning Vickie,
Glad you liked them. Hope Henry is still celebrating his Birthday today.

Marilyn and Pierre

Anonymous said...

Hello.....

It is wonderful to see the Amish handmade products. In looking around our home, we have quite a few Amish handmade wood items that we treasure. The furniture is of excellent quality and beauty. We live a days drive from Lancaster and purchase much of our items in that area. Thank you for your blog - I look forward to reading it each day.
Chris

New York State Of Mind said...

Hi Chris,
Would you be willing to take some of pictures of the items in your home so I could put them on here as a post? I am sure we would all like to see them.

Marilyn

Countryside Reflections said...

I hope others will send you pictures of their Amish goods. I would love to see what the Amish and Mennonites make in other parts of the country. I have more items that I'll photograph and send in soon.

Right now on Amish America there are pictures of some Swartzentruber Amish farms. They look much different from the very neat and tidy Lancaster PA farms. These pictures are very typical of the Amish in my area.

Doreen

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Morning Doreen,
Thank you so much for your pictures. I hope more people will send theirs. Of course, I look forward to more of yours. The Swartzentruber Amish houses look like the ones in the Lyons area around here. I saw Amish America's pictures. I go there every day. I do have some pictures of those houses, I just haven't put them on yet.

Marilyn

Tom said...

Marilyn,
The Conewango Amish that you refer to are known as "Troyer Amish" a group just a little more progressive than Swartzentruber Amish. Most of the Amish in lyons, Rose, Clyde area moved in from the Conewango community.
Tom The Backroads Traveller

New York State Of Mind said...

Hi Tom,
Thank you for telling me. I saw in a newspaper a while ago that a group a group in the Clyde area were Swartzentruber. Of course, the paper is not always right in more ways than one.

Marilyn

Countryside Reflections said...

Thanks Tom. I felt uncomfortable asking them about their religion so I just assumed they were Swartzentruber after reading the description of this group on Amish America. It sounded just like them. Elmer is so open regarding answering any of our questions, but I just don't feel right asking questions of an Amish man that I might possibly offend. They're a very quiet group, especially speaking to women.

Doreen

New York State Of Mind said...

Hi Doreen,
Thank you for sending the recipe and picture back. I got them today.

Elmer doesn't mind anyone asking questions. He puts up with all of mine.

Marilyn