Linking to simpler times
I had a home for several years in Ashland County, Ohio, home to one of the largest concentrations of Amish in the country. Known for their primitive ways and steadfast disconnect from the “English” world, the Amish lived up to their reputation in Ohio.
For the most part, anyway.
My wife Anne made an avocation of keeping one particular basket-making family in business the first year or two with her Christmas gift buys, and she got to know the 30-something Andy – already the father of eight –- as a customer.
If Wal-Mart is at one end of the retail shopping chain, the Amish would be at the other end, but are making up ground as they move to the Internet to sell their homemade products. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)
Separate from the world
When Anne met this Amish farmer, she told him I was a journalist and he wasn’t quite sure what that was. Join the club, Andy. But when Anne mentioned I covered the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, he drew a total blank. Then she asked him if he knew of the 9/11 bombings. He scratched his head and said that, yes, he thought he had heard something about an explosion.
It came as no surprise that this member of a nationwide Christian community numbering about 225,000 keeps himself separate from the world outside. Just how separate, however, was a surprise in a world where 9/11 is one of the widest-known events in history.
And it came as a real surprise to discover that Andy was using the Internet to sell those baskets. Since this particular community of Amish could not have electricity, they had to use some non-Amish computers from neighboring “English” families.
One way or another, however, their baskets and other crafts found their way to web sites, and they purchased some of their raw materials via the same Web.
Links to the past
I was thinking about that this week when I was at the mall buying some gifts. Thinking about the Internet, which brings us so many mind-blowing applications, also can make it easier for us to find simple, homemade, American goods.
A major web site for these kinds of products is Lehmans. In business for 55 years, Lehmans notes it is in business “to serve the local Amish and others without electricity. The Kidron, Ohio., company ships old-fashioned, high-quality merchandise all of the world.”
Says proprietor J.E. Lehman, “My idea was to preserve the past for future generations. My goal has always been to provide authentic historical products to those looking for a simpler way of life.”
A shop for Amish
Lehman’s is a kind of general store for products made and used by the Amish and their somewhat more progressive cousins, the Mennonites. Its departments include appliances, books, home goods, natural goods, stoves, farm tools, toys, and even water. Under this last department are things like buckets, heaters, and pumps.
Within the Natural Goods Department can be found things like, “A Book for Midwives,” a breathing hand washer (“Plunge up and down to force soap and water through clothes and linens.”), high-density heating bricks, and a supply of 20 Mule Team Borax household cleaner.
Pricey stuff
In Appliances, you can find an artisan wood-burning cook stove (for a healthy $6,295) or a 15 cubit foot gas refrigerator for $1,880.
A common myth is that the Amish are poor, but just because they live plainly doesn’t mean they don’t have money. Andy once told us he turned down a $2,000 for one of his cows.
Omar Stoltzfus, who works for Beiler Brothers, an Amish roofing company, carries a piece of copper roofing while installing a new roof on a historic home in Unionville, PA.. Amish contractors say they can bid low because they work fast and have a cheaper lifestyle. (Laurence Kesterson/Staff Photographer/AP Photo)
Over in Personal Care is a book on “Basic Soap Making,” and a set of six arthritis heated hand balls in a bag (“These air-activated balls slowly heat up to a comfortable warmth, providing hours of relief from the pain of arthritis and other ailments.”). You can also find a set of canning jar soap pump lids (“turn your new or old jars into practical, pretty soap or lotion dispensers…”), and – of course – lots of suspenders.
Simple magic
In the same department you can find a therapeutic corn pillow, a jar of carbolized mutton tallow (“recommended for use on cold sores and chapped hands…”), or a bottle of Humphrey’s Original Witch Hazel.
In the Farm Tools Department you can find a Sno Wovel Snow Shovel, billed as “The world’s safest snow shovel – the snow shovel on a wheel.” This device allows you to roll the shovel along on its 33” diameter wheel, then lift to throw the snow anywhere you want. “Outperforms snow blowers, without the expense, fumes, maintenance or noise.”
An eBay of handmade goods
Another site I recently discovered is Etsy, which opens up a huge world of handmade products. It’s a virtual eBay of classic handmade — many American — goods, including – no surprise – Amish products.
What is more Amish than quilts, and you can find many on Etsy, including one from the 1800s in a folk art pattern that sells for $1,200. Another, featuring “traditional ocean waves,” and a “black hole design” in the middle, goes for only $450.
Global buyers
Etsy says of itself, “Our mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers. The Etsy community spans the globe with buyers and sellers coming from more than 150 countries. Etsy sellers number in the hundreds of thousands.”
Another large site featuring Amish products is Amish Trader Country. This web site notes, “Amish Trader Distribution started out working directly with Amish craftsmen and distributing their high quality handcrafted products directly to store owners. “
The company did away with the retailer or middleman, selling from its “cash and carry warehouse” and shipping department. The Amish Trader Distribution warehouse is in Paradise, Pennsylvania.
Amish Trader
Amish Trader features many pieces of finely crafted wood products ranging from a large wood stove cover to a tiny hanging wooden heart. Other departments in the store are candles, craft parts, inside iron, lanterns, outside iron, watering cans, signs, and rusty items (for decorative purposes).
Users must first log in to see the prices of the Amish Trader items.
If you’re serious about looking for some Amish-made wood furniture, a great spot is the Amish Oak Furniture Co. in Loudonville, Ohio, complete with its own catalogue web site. I’ve been in this store several times, and it is amazing to see how good Amish craftsmanship can be.
A world of wood
This stuff isn’t cheap, but you can find virtually any kind of bed, chest, bookcase, breakfront, or storage cabinet you could imagine. If it’s made of wood and made by Amish hands, it’s probably here.
When we think of the Internet, we usually think about high-tech products and services, so it’s refreshing to know that this same Web can take us back to simpler times and handmade goods.
Hmmm…using the new to connect to the old … could be some new mobile apps coming for those Droids or iPhones that take us back to the farm instead of deeper into the virtual unknown.
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Comments
This post is very infomative and rose a lot fo questions in my mind. I don’t see how and individual can necessarily live their lives separate from the world and exclude selling baskets as part of that. I do understand that people want to live simpler lives, but I don’t understand how one can make exclusions in a world that governs everything else that they do.
What a amazing coincidence. Because I go to church every Sunday and just one week ago I heard the Amish for the first time. Although try their best to explain what is Amish, I still confused a lot, so I ask do they use the phone? Car? Light? How they make money something. Because this is unbelievable for me. But after more and more reading about this special group I realize the simple life sometime sis also a good way to lead. When I prepare the TOEFL, there always has this kind of question: do you think cell phone is necessary? Do you think TV is necessary? In my opinion, absolutely necessary. without these I cannot say I will still be a normal person. But what Amish do is really a powerful evidence to say simply life is still works.
When the world becoming too complicated, the value of simple will be realized again. Japanese famous brand Muji is a good way to conduct simple idea in the business area. Muji in Japanese means no label, all the things sold by Muji is only one color and very simple but they focus on the overall quality and the simple life.
I really like the title of this article and I think sometimes I will choose simple rather than complicated.
Bryan Carson
Comm200 Response Post
this article is interesting that this man has found a way to get his product online. the Amish are usually no exceptions about their simple lifestyle. this is great that even when they want to remain simple in their lifestyles they can still manage to enter the global and local markets by being able to sell their products to others. it was crazy reading about how Gary did not even know about 9/11 and yet he is selling things online.
What I can not understand is how a group of people like the Amish can live in such ignorance of the world around them? There are so many ways in which news travels, but I can not seem to grasp how Amish folk are able to so seclude themselves from such messages. The most disheartening part about your blog is the Amish farmer…he sells goods online, but he still does not know about 911? How is this even possible, what with the Internet being so vast?
Mass Comm:
It is very interesting to see how in the world we are living in today, how people can still be some basic and plain and keep to themselves. I personally could not imagine living a life like that, considering what I know now, but for those that can I commend them and their efforts to keep their traditions and culture going strong through this ever changing world.
I love this post. How interesting that in our world of go-go-go and new-new-new and more-more-more there are still people (like myself) who want to go back to a simpler way whether that means living an Amish lifestyle or supporting homemade/handmade crafts and appliances. I become overwhelmed with children’s toys and gadgets and the abundance of technology on even my own 18 year old sister’s christmas list. I think that this transition to a web that connects buyers and sellers and brings life back to purchases is extremely uplifting and makes me hopeful that the future is not always going to be 100% technology driven.