Amish Phone Booth (Lancaster County PA)

Covey22

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Really...the Amish acknowledge the necessary evil of having a phone, but won't let it stay in the house. And smartphones are definitely a no-no.

VAC-PA-2018-027-Edit-LREdit.jpg
 
There's such a thing as an important incoming call - a point I have tried (and failed) to make to my mother, with regard to leaving her mobile phone switched on when away from home.

-R
 
My dear sweet little grey haired old mother - who used to be a supervisor at Weybridge telephone exchange back in the 1940s and who once disciplined a night telephonist named Norman Wisdom for answering calls with the words "rubber knees!" instead of "number please" - always said that a ringing telephone was an invitation to answer, not a demand to do so...
 
It's not an outhouse. ;) PA state law requires indoor plumbing.

Secondly, I also visited the Amish local equivalent of a department store (Amish run), they had a phone way in the back of the storage area. it kept ringing, and had a voice call out that read the Caller ID. Both proprietors (Couple) were up front manning the register and front office. Clearly it was not a call they were concerned about answering. I asked the stupid question and they said they only answered on numbers related to their suppliers. Otherwise it was more for calling Out than In.

The proliferation of technology is slowly making it's way into Amish culture. Most of the items (I will post pics separately) in this store are absolutely the things you would find at Walmart, etc., albeit at a bit of a markup. The Amish houses all run electric items based on either battery, solar or propane. They just have a basic objection to connecting permanently to the Grid because it will lead to TVs, Internet and other activities that undermine their basic schedule and priority of family time *together*.

Smartphones are their big big Bugaboo. Their children are exposed to it from their Mennonite (who have no objections to modern Life, they are using AC, drive cars, fly on planes etc) and English (meaning everyone else) friends. When on Rumspringa, it's not unheard of that Amish kids drive really nice cars, wear English clothes, etc., totally indistinguishable from your kids or mine.

Fascinating intersection of two worlds.
 
Stumbled across several Amish websites a few months ago. Seemed very ironic

Amish America

Looks like an English (everyone else) person running the blog. One of my Tour Guides worked for the Hershey Company for 20 years, was a Vietnam Vet in the Air Force, retired to Lancaster County. He said nearly all his friends are Amish, and very few are English. When he goes to weddings, people stare at him because he's the odd one out. But by virtue of that, he knows a lot about the real ways of the Amish. Amish also work in many trades now, not just farming. They're very heavy into construction too, they just can't get very far without hitching a ride. Most construction gangs in the area are nearly 60 percent Amish just by looking at them. They've lost much of the mystique that bad movies like Harrison Ford/Kelly McGillis in Witness and other Hollywood contrivances would lead us to believe.
 
Looks like an English (everyone else) person running the blog. One of my Tour Guides worked for the Hershey Company for 20 years, was a Vietnam Vet in the Air Force, retired to Lancaster County. He said nearly all his friends are Amish, and very few are English. When he goes to weddings, people stare at him because he's the odd one out. But by virtue of that, he knows a lot about the real ways of the Amish. Amish also work in many trades now, not just farming. They're very heavy into construction too, they just can't get very far without hitching a ride. Most construction gangs in the area are nearly 60 percent Amish just by looking at them. They've lost much of the mystique that bad movies like Harrison Ford/Kelly McGillis in Witness and other Hollywood contrivances would lead us to believe.


They do what they can to stay pure but certain laws require certain standards.

And certain functions these days can only be done online.
 
Just came across this thread, the more I dig into the older threads it's surprising how many posts have been from my local area.

If you ever find yourself down this way again, let me know, Lancaster and the surrounding towns* are in my virtual backyard. My maternal grandfather was PA Dutch so the area was a pretty frequent visit growing up. The modern world is indeed starting to edge out the various orders (the sects each have several distinct orders within the families) but it's still some of the nicest areas to drive through and in recent years has become popular for motorcycle riders. Be sure to stop off at Shady Maple smorgasbord!




* This is a family friendly site so I won't give some examples of town names in that area! 🤣
 
My dear sweet little grey haired old mother - who used to be a supervisor at Weybridge telephone exchange back in the 1940s and who once disciplined a night telephonist named Norman Wisdom for answering calls with the words "rubber knees!" instead of "number please" - always said that a ringing telephone was an invitation to answer, not a demand to do so...
Or as the mother of a friend of mine has it, "Just because someone has decided to call me doesn't mean I have to drop everything I'm doing and answer." Good point. An invitation. I like that.
 
* This is a family friendly site so I won't give some examples of town names in that area! 🤣

LOL - My 2nd or 3rd trip to Lancaster and surrounding was with my son's HS Band. I was the bad parent and pointed out the famous sign when we arrived in said specific town. :D Hey, they were all old enough to appreciate the humor.
 
LOL - My 2nd or 3rd trip to Lancaster and surrounding was with my son's HS Band. I was the bad parent and pointed out the famous sign when we arrived in said specific town. :D Hey, they were all old enough to appreciate the humor.

Which one??? LOL - I grew up 20 miles east of Gettysburg and there were 2 towns, one is one word and started with an "I", the other is 2 words and both words start with "B" :D
 
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