"Wes Stewart"
> Also, our next-door neighbor's parents live in Spring Green, WI (Mecca
> for the cultists that worship the murderous Frank Lloyd Wright) and we
> have visited them on both trips. Leo, the neighbor's father, was born
> in Spring Green and loves to tour us around in the backcountry.
We spent some time is southern and SE Wisconsin a couple of years ago. We
are really looking forward to going back, probably next spring. For those
who have not been there this is a beautiful and fascinating place to be.
Frank Lloyd Wright is just the best know example of the interesting and
creative (if not off-beat) people that were and are in the area. Sauk
County and Spring Green are examples of traditional America. The area has
artists, craftsmen (women), wineries and great resturants. Moreover prices
are more than reasonable.
In article <[email protected]>, Andy Dingley
<[email protected]> wrote:
> On 13 Oct 2004 14:54:07 -0700, [email protected] (Horizon Custom
> Homes) wrote:
>
> >Horizon Custom Homes - Mission & Teak Furniture
>
> Wow ! "A Mission Morris chair as made famous by Frank Lloyd Wright
> in the 1930s" !
>
> And does anyone else find the idea of a Shaker TV cabinet slightly
> odd?
I didn't follow the link. Thanks for being the guinea pig. <G>
As for a Shaker TV cabinet, just yesterday I visited a local (Northeast
Texas) furniture store, which sells nothing but Amish-crafted
furniture. Once a month, the owners take a truck to Ohio to pick up new
orders. They place all orders by mail, or by a fax service that
delivers personally.
My first thought upon entering the store: "Wow, I didn't know Stickley
was Amish!"
My second thought, after inspecting the inlay work on a buffet: "Wow, I
didn't know they had horse-drawn routers!"
The use of modern power tools is apparent on some pieces, and I know
the Amish (just like the large Mennonite communities where I grew up)
have big, serious disagreements about the degree of modernity that they
will permit. They periodically fracture over such issues, seek out
others who agree with them, and establish new communities.
Anyhoo, that's just a brief aside. I have no quibble with their use of
power tools, or even fairly modern production methods. The quality of
construction vastly exceeded anything available at our mainstream
furniture stores, for about the same price.
I'm not sure if it's a quibble of craftsmanship or aesthetics when I
wish they'd have cleaned out the routed corners with a chisel, to make
the inlays sharp. And I would definitely prefer a finish other than
polyglop.
Some pieces were beautifully artistic, such as the bowed-back dining
chairs. Mass-production factories would never waste the wood required
to produce the curved cuts.
Back to aesthetics for a moment: I wish they'd discover leather
upholstery. There were many beautiful A&C/Stickley/Morris style pieces,
so far as the wood goes. And they were draped with horrid prints or
weaves reminiscent of Early American Mobile Home. *yech!*
If the same pieces had been clad in green leather, at this moment I'd
be figuring out how to put off the new roof, since our roof money would
be in the hands of the furniture store. So I guess I shouldn't complain
too much. ;-)
Kevin
"RonB" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<h8wbd.4196$EZ.1546@okepread07>...
> > The use of modern power tools is apparent on some pieces, and I know
> > the Amish (just like the large Mennonite communities where I grew up)
> > have big, serious disagreements about the degree of modernity that they
> > will permit.
>
> I had alway heard this too. However, we live about 30 miles from a staunch
> Amish community in South Central Kansas. There are two furniture shops that
> do wonderful work. These folks drive the horse-drawn buggies to work, wear
> traditional clothing and beards, use very old tractors to do farmwork and
> light the showroom with gas lights. I took a peek into their wood shop a
> year or so ago and it would have turned Norm green. They have figured it
> out.
As an old Amish dude told me one time, "We're simple; we're not stupid."
Dick Durbin
On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 01:40:59 +0100, Andy Dingley
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>On 13 Oct 2004 14:54:07 -0700, [email protected] (Horizon Custom
>Homes) wrote:
>
>>Horizon Custom Homes - Mission & Teak Furniture
>
>Wow ! "A Mission Morris chair as made famous by Frank Lloyd Wright
>in the 1930s" !
>
>And does anyone else find the idea of a Shaker TV cabinet slightly
>odd?
<g> I'm still trying to find out why "you people" follow those
obviously spammed links.
-------------------------------------------
Stain and Poly are their own punishment
http://diversify.com Comprehensive Website Design
======================================================
"Wes Stewart" <n7ws_@_yahoo.com> wrote in message
:
: She said, "Oh yes, it is, but the Amish are allowed to work with
: machinery, they just can *own* it." She went on to say that it was
: just dandy for Amish to ride in cars, they just couldn't own them and
: that they were in using her telephone all day long.
Thank you for this anecdote, this explains a lot.
So all those years growing up when I worked my ass off to own a car, my
friends were actually Amish? This might also explain why they didn't have
their *own* cigarettes. Now that I think about it, I must have moved into an
Amish neighbourhood... I wonder when my neighbour is planning on returning
my CMS.
-Brian
On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 10:08:49 -0400, WoodMangler
<[email protected]> wrote:
>There's something distinctly unshakerlike about the Shaker Maple Buffet
>Cabinet, but I can't figure out what it is that bugs me about it.
The framing around the carcase and the doors. It's too thick and
obvious on the carcase frame, too narrow on the doors.
It's hard to say without seeing it for real, but this stuff _isn't_
ugly and if it's not made of squashed crapboard then it might even be
decent stuff. Prices are damned cheap certainly - that's the main
thing that concerns me.
And what's a "Shaker barstool" doing in there ? 8-)
On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 07:26:25 GMT, Kevin Craig <[email protected]>
wrote:
[snip]
|
|My first thought upon entering the store: "Wow, I didn't know Stickley
|was Amish!"
|
|My second thought, after inspecting the inlay work on a buffet: "Wow, I
|didn't know they had horse-drawn routers!"
|
|The use of modern power tools is apparent on some pieces, and I know
|the Amish (just like the large Mennonite communities where I grew up)
|have big, serious disagreements about the degree of modernity that they
|will permit. They periodically fracture over such issues, seek out
|others who agree with them, and establish new communities.
SWMBO and I have taken a couple of three-month long RV trips through
the American heartland. Her ancestors were brought up in Nebraska and
Iowa and on one trip we did a lot of poking around in tiny little
towns looking for gravesites and other genealogical stuff.
Also, our next-door neighbor's parents live in Spring Green, WI (Mecca
for the cultists that worship the murderous Frank Lloyd Wright) and we
have visited them on both trips. Leo, the neighbor's father, was born
in Spring Green and loves to tour us around in the backcountry. On
one of these tours we went to an Amish country store. We were loading
up on fresh baked bread, preserves, etc. when I heard the drone of a
gasoline engine emanating from an out building.
I asked Leo, "What's up with that?" He told me that the local
government required them to refrigerate certain products if they were
to be sold to the public, so it was okay to have electricity if the
government "forced" it on them.
Similarly, we were in some tiny little town with lots of Amish riding
around in horse-drawn buggies, where we were doing research at city
hall. The town "historian" was a woman, who was also the Mayor.
During our conversation, I mentioned that we had visited a lot of
communities where "Amish furniture" was for sale and it sure looked
machine-made to me.
She said, "Oh yes, it is, but the Amish are allowed to work with
machinery, they just can *own* it." She went on to say that it was
just dandy for Amish to ride in cars, they just couldn't own them and
that they were in using her telephone all day long. But strictly for
business.
I also recall seeing an article someplace (probably FWW) where an
Amish guy was using lots of power tools, but they had all been
converted to hydraulic motor drive. As long as they weren't electric
it was okay. Go figure.
On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 01:17:31 GMT, Larry Kraus
<[email protected]> wrote:
>I seem to remember that the electricity isn't objectionable, it's the
>fact that the electric network makes them less self reliant. Their
>hydraulic and pneumatic tools are frequently powered by stationary
>diesels at a cost much higher than commercial electric.
I can understand that argument, but why not have their own generators
and keep the machines electrically powered ?
I suppose that there's then a risk they'll succumb to electric
lighting and Playstations. Maybe their pragmatic smartness is getting
the better of sheer conformance to rules.
--
Smert' spamionam
"Larry Jaques" <novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> <g> I'm still trying to find out why "you people" follow those
> obviously spammed links.
Car wrecks - can't turn away.
> The use of modern power tools is apparent on some pieces, and I know
> the Amish (just like the large Mennonite communities where I grew up)
> have big, serious disagreements about the degree of modernity that they
> will permit.
I had alway heard this too. However, we live about 30 miles from a staunch
Amish community in South Central Kansas. There are two furniture shops that
do wonderful work. These folks drive the horse-drawn buggies to work, wear
traditional clothing and beards, use very old tractors to do farmwork and
light the showroom with gas lights. I took a peek into their wood shop a
year or so ago and it would have turned Norm green. They have figured it
out.
I was also admiring some prayer-plaques that were made of walnut and about
2' x 3' in size with an ornate prayer, grapes and leaves carving. On
inspection, I asked the showroom salesperson how long the Amish had been
doing laser etching. She smiled and said "Well, we farm some of our stuff
out to the Mennonites."
On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 16:56:41 +0100, Andy Dingley
<[email protected]> wrote:
[snip]
|Prices are damned cheap certainly - that's the main
|thing that concerns me.
No kidding. If it sounds too good to be true....
Andy Dingley <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 08:21:38 -0700, Wes Stewart <n7ws_@_yahoo.com>
>wrote:
>
>>they [powered machinery] had all been
>>converted to hydraulic motor drive. As long as they weren't electric
>>it was okay. Go figure.
>
>Now that's the one that always puzzled me. So hydraulics are somehow
>holier than electrics ?
I seem to remember that the electricity isn't objectionable, it's the
fact that the electric network makes them less self reliant. Their
hydraulic and pneumatic tools are frequently powered by stationary
diesels at a cost much higher than commercial electric. Seems to me
that they are still reliant on the "English" for their diesel fuel as
I have not seen any oil refineries in the "Amish" areas of Ohio.
My impressions only - I may be all wrong. I do know the "Amish"
furniture store in Berlin, Ohio was happy to ring up our furniture
purchases on an electric cash register and verify the Visa payment on
the phone line.
On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 11:34:25 +0100, Andy Dingley
<[email protected]> wrote:
|On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 01:17:31 GMT, Larry Kraus
|<[email protected]> wrote:
|
|>I seem to remember that the electricity isn't objectionable, it's the
|>fact that the electric network makes them less self reliant. Their
|>hydraulic and pneumatic tools are frequently powered by stationary
|>diesels at a cost much higher than commercial electric.
|
|I can understand that argument, but why not have their own generators
|and keep the machines electrically powered ?
|
|I suppose that there's then a risk they'll succumb to electric
|lighting and Playstations. Maybe their pragmatic smartness is getting
|the better of sheer conformance to rules.
I'm the last person that should be commenting on religions' rules, but
if I'm wrong I'm sure to be corrected.
Seems to me that the Amish allow their young men to go off into the
wild world for one yearlong bachelor party before they come home to
the fold.
One of the anecdotes we heard during our travels was about some young
men who went to the big city and became construction workers. While
their co-workers went bar hopping and skirt chasing after hours, the
Amish kids went back to their rooms and watched television. This was
*really* sampling the forbidden.
Considering what's on TV these days, maybe they're on to something.
Andy Dingley did say:
> It's hard to say without seeing it for real, but this stuff _isn't_
> ugly and if it's not made of squashed crapboard then it might even be
> decent stuff. Prices are damned cheap certainly - that's the main
> thing that concerns me.
>
> And what's a "Shaker barstool" doing in there ? 8-)
The solid teak steamer lounge chair... I'd be hard pressed to find the
teak for that price.
And as for the Shaker barstool - Howd'ya think they got the shakes in
the first place?
--
New project = new tool. Hard and fast rule.
On 13 Oct 2004 14:54:07 -0700, [email protected] (Horizon Custom
Homes) wrote:
>Horizon Custom Homes - Mission & Teak Furniture
Wow ! "A Mission Morris chair as made famous by Frank Lloyd Wright
in the 1930s" !
And does anyone else find the idea of a Shaker TV cabinet slightly
odd?
Wes Stewart <n7ws_@_yahoo.com> writes:
> On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 07:26:25 GMT, Kevin Craig <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> ...
> I also recall seeing an article someplace (probably FWW) where an
> Amish guy was using lots of power tools, but they had all been
> converted to hydraulic motor drive. As long as they weren't electric
> it was okay. Go figure.
I was in one fellow's shop in southern Minnesota, and he had a whole
lineup of very nice modern power tools, but the motors had been
removed, and they were turned with belts from an overhead shaft, just
like in the old days. I forget whether it was steam or water power
that turned the shaft.
Regards,
Allen