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krw[_3_]

In article ,
says...
Visited the towns of Intercourse, PA (the town commonly used in movies
about the Amish, such as "For Richer or Poorer" starring Tim Allen and
Kirstey Alley) and Bird-in-Hand, PA, a few years ago.

We did the tourist thing and visited the quilt shops and antique
stores. Quite a few seemed to exist for the purpose of shaking down
us English. High prices. Some were not even run by Amish... they
just looked Amish on the surface, so tourists spent money there!
Sick. If you see a horse and buggy and a woman dressed funny, she may
only be there to shake you down. Buyer beware. The Amish masquerade
party.

We bought a quilt in the Ohio Amish area too. They aren't cheap
(the quilt for the King bed was $1600), but they do marvelous work.
The shop is on the main drag but was really a consignment shop for
the Amish women in the area. You could special order pattens from a
book but the lead time was 1-2 years. We didn't want to wait around
for them to finish. ;-)

You're right though, other shops featured Chinese and Indian
imports. WalMart is cheaper.

We got tired of that and visited a few true Amish shops off the beaten
path (from a block behind the main drag, to many miles away). My wife
wanted some cloth swatches for her own quilts, so we visited a few
fabric stores. They ranged from having electric lights, calculators,
credit card machines, and even electronic cash registers, to very
non-technological... gas lights, simple kind people, and very
reasonable prices, depending on where you went. Some even use
plastic grocery bags (presumably recycled). I think, given the credit
card machines and grocery bags, when it comes to doing business, they
do have a lot of leeway.

That's exactly the way it is in the Ohio Amish community. When I
was a kid we used to visit the Illinois community every year or so
but I don't remember that detail.

Bought some homemade root beer from one elderly gentleman with a
hand-lettered sign in front of his barn. It was meant to be read by a
customer in a very slow-moving vehicle, I think, as it was only 8x10
inches. We had to back up and read it again... it was worth the stop.

Damn. You got me. I love good root beer (bottle of IBC in front of
me). My uncle used to brew it (about 1% alcohol.

Farms around the area sometimes put out fruit and vegetables on tables
and stands in the front. Never any people around, you just take what
you need and leave money in a jar, on the honor system. Sometimes
they don't even put prices on things... you just pay what your
conscience tells you to and make your own change (which means they
probably get about 10x what they would have asked if they had posted
prices.)

Farms in VT would do that too. Several reported minimal losses and
in fact made more when their prices weren't marked. People really
don't like ripping off the little guy. Roadside stands that use the
"honor system" aren't just an Amish thing. It's nice to see
whenever, though.

A word to anyone visiting the area... get out and drive around the
whole area. Get lost, then get found again. If you are out driving
around Lancaster County and you don't see any other cars, but you see
horses and carriages, you are in Amish Country. If you see more cars
than horses, you are in Tourist Trap.

It's worth a trip. I hope to go again someday.

I have to get back to the Ohio area. I want a couple more dining
room chairs (we bought a house with a big enough dining room),
perhaps some bar stools, and maybe a corner cupboard. They sure
spoiled me on furniture stores. I can't stand shopping for
furniture anymore. It's all expensive crap.

--
Keith