CALLIE ALEXANDER AND GRACIE GARRISON The Amish GE

CALLIE ALEXANDER AND GRACIE GARRISON The Amish

GE LANGUA Speak English, Swiss, German, and Pennsylvania German (Dutch). Pennsylvania Dutch is not the same as the Dutch spoken in the Netherlands. Pennsylvania Dutch is spoken in everyday conversation as the primary language of the home, business, and social interaction. Dialect is different in certain communities and Swiss Amish speak dialect so differently that Pennsylvania Dutch speakers find it hard to understand. Worship services in German.

G CLOTHIN Men wear mutza to church, funerals, and other formal events (no collars, pockets, or lapels). Women wear dresses no shorter than middle of knee to the floor with long sleeves. Women cover their heads with white prayer covering if married and black if single. Women do not wear jewelry or cut their hair; Little boys have bowl cut style haircuts. Men cannot cut facial hair after marriage. Men wear big, broad, black felt hats. Age and status reflect on the dimensions of the hat.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE Grown crops such as corn, hay, wheat, tobacco, soybeans, barley, potatoes, and other vegetables. Raise livestock and grow various grasses for grazing as well. Tobacco, potatoes, some grains, hay, and vegetables are raised for marketing. Farming is done with horse drawn equipment with metal wheels (no rubber tires). Not all Amish farm, some prefer it because they can stay home with family and work closely with God’s creations.

ENT ENTERTAINM Playing games and read together in the evenings. Generally do not play instrument, but harmonicas are acceptable in some communities. Typically sing songs from a High German songbook known as the Ausbund. Hunting, fishing, camping, sports, board games, card games, reading, and sewing.

N EDUCATIO Children first learn English, reading, writing, and arithmetic. Sing songs in English with an uplifting religious theme before the days lesson. Provided education through 8 th grade and do not go to high school or college. Goals: hard work, ethical living, and how to be valuable member of Amish community; teach skills of Amish life.

HOLIDAYS Public holidays such as Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day are recognized and sometimes granted days off of work depending on the employer. Some Amish fireworks on 4 th of July. Religious holidays: Christmas, 2 nd Christmas, Easter, good Friday, Easter Monday, Pentecost, and Ascension Day. Christmas- no tree, Santa Claus, or church service. Easter Sunday- no church service and children color eggs. Good Friday- fast all day

HOLIDAYS CONTINUED Work holiday schedules- NOT given time off for Memorial Day, 4 th of July, and Labor Day, but are for Ascension Day, Pentecost Monday, and Fall Fast Day.

TECHNOLOGY AND MODERNISM Amish believe electricity and technology make them “conformed to the world” as the bible says they shall not be. Most Amish do not oppose modern medicine, but believe that good health is a gift from God. Instead of electricity the Amish use gas power for water heaters, modern stoves, and refrigerators. It is acceptable to use limited forms of electricity (such as battery powered lights on their buggies). Governed by the “Ordnung”, which means “Order” in German.

THE AMISH HOME The Amish participate in an activity called barn-raising, which is when the community comes together to build a barn in under 10 hours. A common Swartzentruber home has an angular look to it with a metal roof, white paint, and a windmill. Not all Amish homes are “plain” and can have elaborate stonework, imposing size, and unorthodox design.

CUSTOMS: CHURCH AND FUNERALS Church: services are held every other Sunday. After a service, a light lunch is served which consists of coffee, bread, “church spread” (consists of peanut butter and marshmallows), jam, apple butter, red beets, pickles, cheese, and sometimes shitz (dried apple) pie. Funerals: believe “God willed that it be so”. Most communities embalm the bodies and bury them in a plain casket.

HISTORY AND RELIGION The Amish came from Jakob Amman, who was an Anabaptist who took a harder line on religious practices than his brethren. Jakob Amman was a Swiss Elder and, via a church schism, founder of the Amish branch of Anabaptism. The Lancaster County settlement, founded sometime around 1760, is the oldest. Members of the Amish faith came to Pennsylvania in the early 18 th century to escape persecution in Europe for their Anabaptist beliefs.