We are priviliged to have some good friends who live in the heart of Ohio. On weekends when they go to visit family, they travel through an Old Order Amish community. The Amish in that area are referred to as "Dusty" Amish, which means that they are the "poorer" Amish. The families in Amish country ride in a black buggy type carriage , which is pulled by horses. The Amish children still pack up the horse buggies with baked goods, eggs, fresh produce, and baskets where they take them to sell along the roadside every weekend. These children in Amish country travel in their horse & buggy over a 15 mile distance one-way ( in other terms: 4 hours each way ) just to find potential customers. Being unable to control the lack of tourism in Amish country by taking the tourists out to see their outstanding products, we do have the honor and technology of giving their handcrafted items "worldwide" exposure! This site puts Amish country in your backyard. Please help us to help them!
The Old Order Amish in Amish country live a very simple life with minimal furnishings in their homes. It goes without saying that there are no refrigerators, televisions, computers, radios, electricity, telephones, fans, etc. But what might surprise you, is finding there are no pictures, dollies, what-nots, or even couches inside their homes! An Amish country home is furnished with basic dressers, wooden beds, handmade quilts, a kitchen table with a few hardwood chairs, and wooden floors without even a throw rug.
In Amish Country it is not unusual to see a young boy around the age of 9, controlling a team of horses pulling him around a field on a buckboard wagon. These wagons have wooden wheels with large spokes or thick steel wheels. The wooden wagon wheels have to be sturdy in order to carry logs to the sawmill or hay to the barn. In Amish country, the Old Order Amish do not use rubber on their wheels; even the hub is wood. A metal band (steel tire rim) actually rolls on the roadway. The wagon wheels are a lot like what you might see on covered wagons in old western movies, with the exception they're a little narrower.
In Amish country, the Amish are trained from a very young age that a job worth doing is worth doing well. They are very hard working, decent people with an unbelievable work ethic. This instilled value is what makes their products so special. Quality craftsmanship, using old-fashioned construction methods and hand tools, will carry on for generations in Amish country.
The two photos directly below are of an home & barn of an Amish family in Amish country that handcrafts some of our quality products, the two under that are of a frozen pond on their property , where they harvest ice for the hot summer months. In Amish country, nothing is wasted!
