The next township southwest of me has a large group of Amish. I enjoy driving through the countryside, seeing their simpler processes for farming. Many of the roads in that township are dirt, which is good for horse-farming.
A couple of weeks ago I saw a sign that pointed to an Amish Gift Shop. I had to stop. I only looked that day, but came back this morning for some purchases, including a child-size rocker for the great-nephew and niece to use. The store is interesting. They do have a phone, as they need a line to do bankcard transactions. The lighting is via skylights. Many of the "gift" items are not made locally, and some are not even Amish-made. The pricing is extremely fair. Mark-ups must be much different in their culture.
Hat sizes for men appeared to stop at about 7 3/8. I wonder if large-headed men can special order the dark dress hats? There was an aisle of material for clothes-making, all plain colors with a lot of black. There were some hand-made baby items on consignment in that area, all adornment free, and nursing blankets that were very interesting looking.
The mother-daughter duo who waited on me were very cordial. I asked a few questions about the Amish and their Christmas customs (they do celebrate with gift-giving and a few simple decorations, no trees) and the mom was kind about answering them.
Cultures meet with commerce.
5 comments:
I'm surprised that they have non-Amish stuff for sale. There's no reason why they shouldn't have, of course.
no, there really isn't, but it surprised me. commerce, you know.
I bet it was wonderful to step back in time visiting the Amish area and step out of the rush, rush of our busy world for a little bit.
it was! I think I bought six presents there, and it was FUN!
shopping - fun. Now ther are two words that don't often go together.
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