The Amish

Can you imagine for yourself a life without electricity? cars? cellphones?
Can you imagine yourself in a whole community that doesn’t use the regular modern inventions?
Meet the Amish:
They don’t use cellphones, computers or cars.
Would you like to learn more about them?
Read the book!

Who are the Amish?

The Amish are a group of traditionalist Christian people that living a different life style than ordinary people.

They don’t use the regular modern inventions; they don’t have electricity or cellphones or even telephones in their homes.

The origin of Amish is Christian.

Amish also called Amish Mennonite, member of a Christian group in North America, primarily the Old Order Amish Mennonite Church.

Where do they live?

The Amish live in North America.

The greatest concentration of Amish is in Holmes and adjoining counties in northeast Ohio, about 78 miles south of Cleveland.  Next in size is a group of Amish people in Elkhart and surrounding counties in northeastern Indiana.
Then comes the Amish settlement in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

The Amish style of dress code is simple and plain.

The men and boys wear dark shoes, dark socks and dark pants with suspenders but no belts with buckles.

In most communities, pants are fastened with buttons instead of zippers because the buttons are not visible on the outside of the garment.

A solid-color shirt is topped with a straight-cut vest or jacket, depending on the season.

Men wear practical, broad-brimmed straw hats that protect their faces from the sun in warm weather, switching to warm, dark-colored felt hats during the winter.

However, the dress code allows for slight variations in hat style among different communitie.

Women and girls wear long dresses that are never shorter than calf length.

The dresses may be in a variety of solid colors depending on the individual community but are always covered with black or white aprons.

According to Amish dress code, the hair of Amish women and girls must always be covered in public.

Most women and girls wear white prayer caps.

Married women wear dark bonnets over the prayer caps, but in some communities, the outer bonnet is worn only in cold weather.

Some groups allow younger girls to wear colored prayer caps.

Amish education is quite simple.

The children go to their own schools for eight years and then they go to work on their parent’s farm.

Most of the things that they need to learn, such as farming, cooking, baking, carpentry or sewing, they learn by themselves.

Amish travel by:

• Horse and Buggy– Amish use the buggy for travel to church on Sunday, excursions to town, and other longer journeys, especially when needing to take the family along. The buggy is a widely-recognized symbol of the Amish, and an essential part of Amish identity.

• Bout and Ship- Amish occasionally travel by boat, often for recreational purposes.

• Automobile- most Amish permit riding as a passenger in a car or bus, but not driving.

• Bicycle and scooter-both are used by Amish, depending on the community.

• Rollerblades- rollerblades and skates are used as a form of recreation and short-distance travel in communities such as Lancaster County.

• Train-Amish take both long- and short-distance trips by rail.

How the Amish make money?

• Produce farming-produce farming requires less land than the traditional dairy.

• At-home Shops-Amish have thrived in the furniture and manufacturing industries.

• Mobile or remote businesses-many Amish operate construction crews or market stands in non-Amish areas.

• Factory and non-farm work-in some communities, work in non-Amish factories has become the primary occupation.

• Sideline businesses-many Amish operate part-time businesses, from quilt making to roadside stands in order to supplement income.

• Other Amish Occupations-Amish may work in a variety of less-common occupations, such as accounting or taxidermy.

Amish homes:

Amish homes are built with spacious main rooms, suitable for large gatherings.

Some Amish hold church within a room of the home, or often the basement, and so must be able to fit up to one hundred or more people.

Traditional Amish homes are built simply, with few architectural flourishes and with an eye to practicality.

Amish family life

Amish couple may have 10 children or even more, they feel that raising children to be good Christians is their highest calling as parents.

As in other fundamental Christian religions, the husband is considered the head of the household, his wife his “helpmeet”.

In average Amish church there are 25 to 35 families.

Why did they choose this way of live?

The Amish choose this simple way of life so they can put more attention to their family, community and religion.