Amish Furniture, Quilts, and Clothing

Welcome to Amish-originals.com! Our Web site has the unpresumptuous distinction of being an electronic media devoted to information about the Amish culture. This is an irony that I hope is not lost on you, for reasons I will set forth hereafter. Our site is informative in nature, and is not a sales pitch. While the word Amish is a branding term, we do not purport to represent Amish people or to advocate any product or service by anyone, anywhere.

And now, on to the irony. The Amish are an ultra-conservative religious sect that lives predominantly in the United States and Canada. What does ultra-conservative mean you might ask? In this case it means that they embrace tradition, and eschew anything they view as a threat to their way of life.

Does this sound like the GOP? Well it shouldn’t, the Amish could teach any conservative politician a thing or two about tradition. They take the concept of shunning new inventions to a whole new level. Forget not learning how to text or take pictures with a phone. In fact, forget phones entirely. While you’re at it, forget automobiles, electricity, and just about any innovation of the past two centuries.

Amish are properly called Amish Mennonites. They are a sect that split from the rest of the Mennonites back in 1693. Shortly after splitting from the Mennonite religion, the Amish emigrated from Germany, Switzerland, and Holland to the United States to give themselves free reign to practice their own religion.

And what is their religion? Well it is founded on principles of community, selflessness, humility, and hard work. The work is necessarily hard when the entire industrial revolution is considered to be evil. Today the Amish live in small farming communities along the eastern sea board of the US and Canada. They sustain themselves by farming, and crafting furniture for home, office, and patio, as well as Quilts and other handicraft items. These items are sold to those outside the communities to help support the community.

The advent of the internet has presented special challenges for the Amish community. They now have an avenue to reach a broader market for their goods than ever before; but capturing market share has never been a goal of theirs. They simply want to be able to maintain their way of life. A way of life which I should mention would prohibit the use of the internet.

To circumvent religious prohibitions on the use of things such as TV, newspapers, and the internet there are go betweens for the Amish. These people take care of advertisement and customer service, simply contacting the Amish with orders for their products. This allows the Amish to keep to their way of life and still be able to sell their goods.

One especially notable feature of all Amish made goods is their unassuming stateliness. Because the Amish are religiously opposed to showmanship or showiness in general, they built simple furniture with sparse decoration. This furniture really stands out in today’s over decorated world. In a twist of fate, by attempting to not stand out or self promote, Amish furniture has become instantly recognizable and unique.

 

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