Tuesday, August 3, 2010

The People of Amish and Mennonite Country

Ohio Amish Country is a 3-5 county area of Ohio where approximately 
40,000 Amish people live and work.  It consists of Holmes County,
 where nearly half the county's residents are Amish, plus 
Tuscarawas Coshocton, and Wayne Counties. 




Amish or Amish Mennonite are a very traditional sect                                                                                               or a subgroup of the Mennonite Church. Founder of this sect was                                                                         Jakob Amman and his followers came to be known Amish.




 Mennonites are a Christian group of Anabaptists                                                                                      following the  teachings of their swiss founders. 






The name Mennonites is drawn from Frisian Menno Simons                                                               
   who through his works  articulated the teachings                                                                                              of the original peaceful Anabaptists.



Anabaptists literally means “again Baptists” believe                                                                                                that the meaningful baptism of an individual                                                                                                       into the faith can only happen once the individual                                                                                                 is old enough to take an informed decision about                                                                                                  the future of his life.



 It is only then that an individual can truly commit to lead
 his life as per the lord’s teachings.Both Amish Mennonites
 and Mennonites are  Anabaptists.                                                                                                                Apart from this they are very different.



Where the Amish Mennonites have come to observe                                                                                              very strict and traditional practices the Mennonites have                                                                                established a reputation of being very strict followers                                                                                                    of non violence. Mennonites are also known as the peace church.










The main distinguishing feature of Amish from the Mennonites is                                                                              the Amish resistance to embrace modern technology. Amish make                                                                         very little use of technology and generally maintain very little                                                                              contact with the outside world, no more than necessary.    




        They dress up in very traditional outfits and live in very small
 tight knit communities. The Mennonites                                                                                                                  on the other hand dress up                                                                                                                              in plain clothes but generally would not be distinguishable                                                                                       from anyone else by their clothes. They neither have any                                                                       problems using technology and nor maintain                                                                                                     a separation from the outside world. 



Amish Mennonite communities generally hold                                                                                                 services in private homes of the members.                                                                                                      Besides their strong commitment to lead a simple                                                                                                life by minimum use of technology the Amish                                                                                                        are also firm believers in Nonresistance.  






              They seldom defend themselves in court for
 the same reason. Members not following the                                                                                               church rules are often excommunicated but given
a chance to correct their behavior and                                                                                                                 return to the church.




 The Mennonites have their own  churches but do 
not live in separate communities.                                                                                                  
 They live amongst the normal population. 




Although practicing a plain and simple lifestyle                                                                                                          they are much more  moderate towards the use of modern                                                                                                                  technology and do not abstain from it.



I always enjoy spending time here
There are times that I wish I could stay
and live a simpler life



Monday, August 2, 2010

Teacups







I don't know what this pattern is

I bought the cup recently
for $3
If anyone knows
please let me know








This is Bordallo Pinheiro
Vine Pattern
I recently purchased for $3.50



The Portugese cartoonist, Rafael Bordallo Pinheiro
began creating unique ceramic tiles & pottery at 38 years of age.
He became renowned for some of his creations
and quickly became known as a Master in the pottery
world. Relatively unknown in America, Bordallo Pinheiro
pottery is very popular in Portugal and abroad. The production
facility still exists in Portugal where is started 120 years ago.
Many of Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro's works are housed
in a museum in the interior of the factory
where pottery is still produced today.
Faianças Artísticas Bordalo Pinheiro, Ltd,
continues to produce beautiful pottery and dishware
following the design and standards set
forth by Rafael Bordallo Pinheiro over a century ago.
Many of the designs feature animals, fish and
other motifs found in nature. The combination of rich colors
and natural subjects makes the Bordallo Pinheiro
line of pottery highly collectible and still useful in today's kitchen.




Pope Gosser 
Clementine 
I recently purchased this tea cup
for $3







The Pope-Gosser company was organized in Coshocton, Ohio in 1902 by Charles F.  Gosser  and Bentley Pope.  In the beginning Pope Gosser experimented with high quality decorative pieces.  Later on the concentration  was on dinnerware.  The company closed in 1958.



Pope was a skillful decorator
 who was born in England. 
He came to America in 1870                                                                    
  and worked at Trenton until 1891, 
when he moved to Ohio.  
At that time he become manager                                                         
 of KTK until 1903, when he left to
 form the Pope-Gosser 
China Company with Gosser The wares 
were "excellently potted"
 and the shapes were a departure                                                                                              
  from existing models. The company begin to immediately
 produce high grade translucent                                                             
  china for vases, etc.  Not finding the profit in this line,
 the company switched                                                                                          
 to dinnerware which was harder than the
 usual dinnerware of the times.
Pope-Gosser joined the ill-fated 
American China Company in 1929.                                                                                                 
After the demise of that company, Pope-Gosser
 was re-organized                                                                                                           
   in 1932 by Frank Judge.  
The company continued to make                                                                                                                      semi porcelain wares until 1958, 
although the quality of these                                                                                                     
          wares was not up to the 
standards of the old company.
Turn of The Century Dinnerware by Joanne Jasper).











Sunday, August 1, 2010

Furniture Finds

While on our vacation
we "ran into"many finds
We had in mind a chair
for my hsb computer - check

got this for $65 at an antique store in Marietta
(doesn't need to be redone)


a dresser for the guest room - check
$169 at a second hand store
in West Va
(does not need to be redone)









we also got this chair there
for $35






We wanted some sort of box
for the computer monitor
and we got this in Amish country
we found this small stool
for $7
that works perfectly for it




We got this window for $8
at an antique store in Berlin



















Amish Schools

While vacationing in Amish Country
we came across 
many of the schools

1889










Spring Wood 1982









I love this school
it is in the town of 
Charm Ohio
1938




It just cracks me up



I know easily amused



Scenic Valley School 1993