If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 730

 

 

 

 

 

Amish Carriage Maker

 

The card shared this week, is an unused postcard featuring a picture of an Amish carriage maker at work.  The card was published by Country Studio of Photography, Witmer, Pennsylvania.  Mel Horst Photography is printed at the lower left corner on the reverse.  At the upper left corner on the reverse is a blurb:  “Heart of Amishland. Amish Carriage [Buggy] Maker.  Skilled Amish craftsmen make horse-drawn buggies because the automobile is forbidden by the sect.”  This is another card that was in a shoe box jumble in a local antique mall.

 

 

 

Illustration of an Amish horse-drawn buggy. 

 

In the United States the term buggy is used instead of carriage for these conveyances.  The buggies are typically pulled by one or two horses.  Amish carriage or buggy makers make and repair the lightweight four-wheeled horse-drawn buggies that are portrayed in the illustration found on the bottom of the center line on the reverse of the card and used in their communities. 

 

The buggy has a rectangular body like a shallow box.  There is a single seat for two people and room behind the seat for storing luggage and goods.  There are two elliptic springs, one in the front and one in the back over the axles.  Amish buggies come in enclosed and open designs.  The buggies are usually also fitted with lamps for night driving and pulled by one horse.  Former Standardbred horses that were used in cart racing are the preferred breed used by the Amish since these horses are used to pulling carts.  The Amish do not use modern machinery for farming but continue to use Draft horses and/or mules.  Most Amish communities are found in Pennsylvania, other northeastern and midwestern states.   

 

The Amish people are considered ethnoreligious because they mostly remain separate from surrounding populations and are Christian church fellowships with Swiss and Alsatian origins.   They are known for practicing a simple life style, wearing plain clothes, are self-sufficient, and value rural life, manual labor, and humility. The Amish sell many of their handmade goods, such as furniture, toys, quilts, jams, jellies, candy, natural beauty products, maple syrup, and others items.  "Amish made" has come to signify superior craftsmanship.  

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buggy_(carriage)