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.
I'm surprised that they have non-Amish stuff for sale. There's no reason why they shouldn't have, of course.
ReplyDeleteno, there really isn't, but it surprised me. commerce, you know.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteit was! I think I bought six presents there, and it was FUN!
ReplyDeleteshopping - fun. Now ther are two words that don't often go together.
ReplyDelete