CommercializationofAmishQuilts.pdf

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Clothing and Textiles

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The online version of this article can be found at:

DOI: 10.1177/0887302X0502300204

2005 23: 102Clothing and Textiles Research Journal
Jana M. Hawley

Meanings
The Commercialization of Old Order Amish Quilts: Enduring and Changing Cultural

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102 Clothing Textiles ©2005 International Textile & Apparel Association

The Commercialization of Old Order Amish Quilts:
Enduring and Changing Cultural Meanings

Jana M. Hawley

Key Words
Amish, Culture Change, Values, Economic Development

Abstract
Traditional Amish culture is an enduring culture that is characterized and driven by a simplicity
that is sharply contrasted with the complex daily lives of contemporary mainstream Americans. Yet,
Amish culture is not static; rather it is a dynamic culture that has realized change primarily driven by
increased interaction with the non-Amish who have become interested in Amish-made products. Th e
purpose of this paper is to illustrate how quilts, a symbol of traditional Amish culture, have become a
catalyst that has contributed to both change as well as perseverance in Amish culture. Th is research is
based on a year of ethnographic participant observation in an Old Order Amish settlement. Th e com-
mercialization of Amish quilts has created an important economic connection to the complex outside
world and as a result has contributed to both enduring and changing cultural meaning.

Traditional Amish quilts have long been admired by collectors and quilt enthusiasts. Th ey are valued for their humble simplicity,
quality workmanship, and their appealing graphic
design. Outsiders recognize characteristic Amish
quilts by the bold graphics of solid-colored fabrics,
simple piecing techniques, exquisite fi ne-stitching,
and skillful juxtaposition of bright and dull hues.
Originally an item intended for warmth, Amish
quilts have transcended this practical value and have
become highly sought collectibles. Only a few an-
tique Amish quilts remain in the freehold of the Old
Order Amish (hereaft er referred to as the Amish).
Instead, data from this research revealed that the
quilts have been used to their threadbare demise,
sold during times of hardship in order to buy fam-
ily necessities, or acquired for private or museum
collections. Even though not all older Amish quilts
have exquisite workmanship, there is still an exten-
sive demand and short supply of late 19th century
and early 20th century traditional Amish quilts.

Each year at the International Quilt Festival in
Houston, Texas, traditional Amish quilts from vari-
ous collections earn special exhibition space. When
an increased interest in traditional hand-made
craft s occurs, meanings can become fragmented and
changed. Th e purpose of my research is to illustrate
how the Amish quilt has become a catalyst impact-
ing change as well as perseverance in Amish culture.

Th e Old Order Amish are a conservative reli-
gious group that is driven by a simplicity that has
remained comparatively unchanged for over 300
years (Hostetler, 1993). Slow-changing Amish cul-
ture can be attributed to the basic Amish tenet of
remaining “separate from the world” and contrasts
sharply with the fast-paced change of contempo-
rary American culture. However, as mainstream
American culture is faced with increased pressures
from hectic schedules, technological encroachment
on our lives, and consumer excess, many indi-
viduals are seeking a simplifi ed lifestyle. In rural
communities near Amish settlements, community
development strategies have focused on cultural
tourism based on the curiosity of Amish goods and
services (e.g. handmade furniture, rag rugs, baked

Author’s Address: Department of Textile and Apparel
Management, 137 Stanley Hall, University of Missouri,
Columbia, MO 65211.

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103©2005 International Textile & Apparel Association Volume 23 #2 2005

goods, and quilts). Th is increased commercial in-
teraction with the “outside” world has contributed
to an increased rate of change in Amish cultural
traditions (Kraybill, 1989). Amish quilts have
become a clear example of this shift . Ironically, it
is the very simplicity of traditional Amish culture
that creates and sustains the appeal for Amish
quilts and other Amish-made products.

Conceptual Framework

My study draws from and contributes to Hamilton’s
(1987) metatheory, a useful heuristic for under-
standing the cultural meanings of Amish quilts.
Hamilton argued that culture consists of three com-
ponents: ideology or world view, social structure,
and technology. Ideology, or what J. W. Hamilton
(1985) referred to as world-view, is the set of values,
beliefs, principles, and sentiments that govern the
social structure and technological choices within a
culture. Examples of world-view related to Amish
quilts would include the conviction of simplicity, the
value of women’s handiwork, and the principles of
low-level technology that in a broader sense serves
as an icon of Amish culture. Social structure refers
to such things as the organization of groups, defi ned
roles, as well as gender and age divisions. Examples
regarding the Amish quilt would include women and
young girls as quilters, Amish men who are involved
in developing markets for the quilts, and the separa-
tion of Amish and non-Amish in the production and
distribution of the quilts. Technology refers to the
built environment or tools and techniques used by
the culture. In the case of Amish quilts, technology
would include treadle sewing machines, room-sized
wooden quilting frames, and the simple (oft en non-
printed) fabrics. Because Amish quilts are cultural
objects and therefore material manifestations of their
culture, they embody all three cultural components.

Background

Amish History and Culture

To better understand how Amish quilts are imbued
with cultural meaning, a brief overview of Amish

history and culture is necessary. For an expanded
background of Amish culture, refer to Hostetler
(1993) and Kraybill (1989).

Amish history. Th e Amish are a large Christian-
based group whose conservative values and
commitment to tradition, family, and community
have set them apart from the rest of America. Th e
Amish represent a permutation of the 16th century
Swiss Anabaptist movement that was part of the
Protestant Reformation in Switzerland, Germany,
and France. Th e Amish believed that church and
state should be separate and that the fi nal au-
thority for Christianity was the Scripture. Th ese
fundamental beliefs resulted in relentless and oft en
violent persecution. As a result, the fi rst Anabap-
tist refugees escaped to America in 1683, settling
in and around Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
During the following century and a half, waves of
Amish immigrants followed.

In the early 19th century, the Amish began migrat-
ing outside of Pennsylvania and have since settled
in other states, primarily Ohio, Indiana, Missouri,
and Iowa. Migration of the Amish occurs for two
primary reasons, (a) the search for viable farm land
to maintain the agricultural integrity of the group,
and (b) discontent with the level of orthodoxy/pro-
gressiveness mandated by a particular local group.
Today, many of the Midwest Amish have little or no
contact with the Amish from the Pennsylvania area
and, as a result, social and ideological diff erences
have separated the two groups. Th e diff erences be-
tween the two groups are important because it has
resulted in a distinctive diff erence between Pennsyl-
vania Amish quilts and Midwest Amish quilts.

Despite predictions, the Amish have not been as-
similated into the dominant society. Unlike other
immigrant groups from Europe, the Amish adhere
to an ideology that embraces separation from the
world. Being “separate from the world”, has allowed
the Amish to not only avoid assimilation, but also
to double their population every twenty-two years.
According to Kraybill (personal communication,
November 30, 2004), there are approximately
185,000 Amish who live in 23 of the United States,
one Canadian province, and Mexico.

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104 Clothing Textiles ©2005 International Textile & Apparel Association

Amish world view. Old Order Amish are among
the most conservative of what are oft en referred to
as the plain people. Th eir primary tenants of faith
include the refusal of infant baptism, the abso-
lute independence of the Amish Church from the
authority of the State, the submission of individual
members to the authority of the Amish community,
the development of self-sustaining methods of live-
lihood that result in a commitment to stewardship
for the land, and the rejection of violence, a posi-
tion that eventually led to the practice of conscien-
tious objection (Redekop, 1989). Th e Amish adhere
to a commitment of boundary maintenance that
makes the Amish unique from dominant Ameri-
can culture. Boundary maintenance is controlled
through simplicity in dress and property, strict
discipline (Kraybill, 1989), avoidance of outsiders,
and the practice of socially ostracizing wayward
Church members, sometimes referred to as shun-
ning. Although they seek to remain separate from
the world, the Amish fi nd themselves interacting
politically, economically, and socially with the wider
American culture (Hawley & Hamilton, 1996). Th e
Amish are recognized by their resistance to modern
technology, rejection of worldliness, horse-and-
buggy culture, distinctive appearance, Pennsyl-
vania Deutsche dialect, and commitment to rural
existence. Th e fundamental rules that govern life in
a particular Amish district, called the Ordnung (in
the dialect, pronounced “ott-ning”), vary along a
continuum from orthodox (Old Order) to progres-
sive (sometimes referred to as Beechy Amish); or, as
Hawley and Hamilton (1996) revealed, the Amish
compare their own Amish district to other districts
as “lower” or “higher.”

Regardless of the community-specifi c details of the
Ordnung, the values that govern daily life of mem-
bers of all Amish communities include (a) mod-
esty and stewardship regarding personal property
including family farms, house and farm buildings,
and personal appearance; (b) the sharing of wealth
through an intricate system of mutual aid designed
to assist community members in times of economic
stress; (c) a strong work ethic that still focuses
on agricultural work despite increasing reliance
on non-farm income; and (d) a commitment to
thrift . Boundary maintenance is aff ected through

symbolic meanings attached to appearance, cloth-
ing, speech patterns, architectural styles, modes of
transportation, work patterns, and technological
simplicity. Th ese culturally symbolic meanings
provide a means of social control and function as
daily individual reminders of who one is and is not
(Hamilton & Hawley, 1999).

Despite their commitment to tradition and separa-
tion from the world, the Amish are cognizant of
change and seek to regulate it through changes
in the Ordnung, thus accounting for diff erences
between “lower” and “higher” church districts. Ac-
ceptable changes in an Amish community are usu-
ally a result of desired economic rewards claimed
as advantages for the entire community. Such
changes are eff ected only aft er months or years of
careful assessment of how proposed changes might
impact community values and ultimately maintain
separation from the dominant cultural system.
Formal changes to the Ordnung are always a result
of a unanimous Church district vote.

Amish social structure. All adult Amish, men and
women, have equal voting power when it comes to
changes in the Ordnung, farm work expectations,
and economic contributions to the household. Yet
distinct diff erences prevail along gender lines, par-
ticularly when it comes to dealing with the outside
world. Amish men are designated spokespersons
for making deals and interacting in the outside
world. Th e Amish also have organizational distinc-
tions based on age, church leadership, economic vi-
ability, and levels of committed-ness to the church
and cultural traditions.

Amish levels of technology. Th ere is much in popu-
lar media that focuses on both the quaint and the
old-time lifestyle of the Amish. Th is quaint image
is buttressed while disregard is given to the reality
of hard work in daily lives of a culture that values
low levels of technology. Although most Amish
are committed to sustaining their traditional levels
of technology, they are also tempted to use more
modern technology when possible. As examples,
the Amish will oft en hire taxi services from the
non-Amish rather than using the troublesome and
time-consuming eff ort of hitching the horse and

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105©2005 International Textile & Apparel Association Volume 23 #2 2005

buggy, and many cottage industries have replaced
or enhanced the subsistence farm economy.
Regardless, the Amish have remained carefully
proscribed as they have successfully managed to
adhere to as many of their traditions as possible in
the face of modern encroachment.

Consumers of Cultural Products

Cultural objects imbued with cultural meaning.
Duhaime, Joy, and Ross (1995) contend that the
ideology of a culture is found in extant cultural
objects and that these objects are able to “refl ect,
persuade, and convince” (p. 351), transferring
cultural meaning to the viewer. Amish quilts mean
diff erent things to diff erent people. For many of
us in the dominant American culture we either
covet or possess Amish quilts because the quilts
represent a simpler existence compared to our
hectic lives. For collectors, Amish quilts serve as
an economic investment. For the Amish, though,
the quilts are domestic products that support the
Amish ideals of simplicity, humility, creative outlet,
and community.

Littrell and Dickson (1999) state, “[Cultural] craft
consumers . . . seek linkages with indigenous
lifestyles, long nostalgically for the past, or search
for the exotic as a contrast to their more mundane
daily lives” (p. 49). Th e value of the products are
mediated through market forces and commercial-
ization in an eff ort to develop products that fi t a
contemporary marketplace while at the same time
holding true to the cultural identity and traditions.

Appadurai (1986) has suggested that “things
with a particular type of social potential . . . are
distinguishable from ‘products,’ ‘objects,’ ‘goods,’
‘artifacts,’ and other sorts of things” (p. 6). As cul-
tural goods are produced and subsequently move
through the capitalist market system, they gain
use-value and are transformed into a commodity.
Kopytoff (1986) explained that in Western cultures,
commodities are most oft en understood as goods
(or services) that are commonplace in the market,
while rare and collectible goods are perhaps elevat-
ed to a special distinction in that they are removed
from the “mundane and the common” (p. 69).

Appadurai (1986) further argued that a com-
modity’s value is increased through the diversion
process. In other words, goods are enhanced by
virtue of “placing objects in unlikely contexts” (p.
28). Th us, when Amish quilts are carefully sus-
pended on a museum wall, they have been elevated
from their practical value as a warm bed covering
to a piece of art. Mukerji (1978) made a distinction,
however, between goods that are produced and
collected for their aesthetic qualities versus practi-
cal goods that become accessioned into collections
because they are deemed worthy of preservation.
Amish quilts represent both of these conditions
and collections can be found, for example, at the
International Quilt Study Center at the University
of Nebraska—Lincoln or the Heritage Center Mu-
seum in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

McCracken (1988) argued that consumer goods are
used to bridge hopes and ideals. Th ey are used to
cultivate lost or at least displaced cultural meaning.
Consumer goods become “concrete and endur-
ing” (p. 113) objects used to bridge the discrepancy
between the real and the ideal. When cultural
consumer goods are obtained, they become articles
of endearment and serve as a way to conveniently
store the memories and feelings of the past (Belk,
1988). Consumers seek out goods that render or
represent the values, hopes, and ideals that they
feel are lacking in their life. Since goods are “extant,
plausible, possess-able, and above all, concrete”
(p. 115), they serve as tangible connections to an
“entire style of life” (p. 110). McCracken (1988)
warned, however, acquiring the good may not bring
satisfying realization to the consumer. What was
once lost or displaced may remain lost or displaced.
He suggested that a possible solution to lost mean-
ing would be to “buy what is scarce and rare” (p.
113). Th ose items that are already considered scarce
provide an elusive uniqueness that mass manufac-
tured goods cannot provide. It is in this capacity
that traditional Amish quilts represent the epitome
of search for meaning based on traditional values in
what is otherwise a complex Western world.

American values. Much has been written on the
values of Americans (Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan,
Swidler, & Tipton, 1985; Williams, 1970). Th ese

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106 Clothing Textiles ©2005 International Textile & Apparel Association

American values are widely understood as part
of the common language of what it means to be
American and infl uence our attitudes about free-
dom, democracy, fairness, responsibility, produc-
tivity, community, family, and work. It has been ar-
gued that the power of this set of American values
has declined and is being replaced with selfi shness,
increased violence, and subsequent breakdown of
family structure and work ethic (Williams, 1970).
Many Americans long for traditional values that
were built around a social base such as the local
farmer, independent business person, community,
or neighborhood (Bellah et al., 1985). Th ese tradi-
tional values remain important sources of meaning.
Th e complex structure of American culture (i.e.,
corporate power, political control, re-structuring
of the family unit), however, makes it diffi cult for
many Americans to realize these values.

Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton (1981)
provided empirical evidence and a theoretical
foundation to explain the complex relationship
between the current American ethos and the
relationship to material goods. Material goods
mediate self-confl ict, express self-qualities, provide
status signs, and symbolize social integration. Th us,
objects can serve as the catalyst within, among,
and between people as the people respond to their
environment. Amish quilts provide a link to the
simplicity of yesteryear; a simplicity that seems
somehow lost in the complexity that is characteris-
tic of contemporary American life.

Research Method

When I arrived at the research site in 1991, my
intent was to conduct traditional anthropological
fi eldwork and participant observation where all as-
pects of Amish culture would be studied. My focus
was to be on Amish business practices with particu-
lar interest in the role women played in business,
including the increasing business opportunities with
Amish quilts. Th e primary research question for my
study was how has the changing use and produc-
tion of Amish quilts become a change agent for
Amish culture as a whole. To answer the question,
I asked participants the following: how long had

the quilter been quilting, how s/he used quilting in
their personal and social life, how Amish culture has
changed with the increased interaction with clients,
whether or not s/he quilted for hire or quilted for
the local tourist shops, what levels of technology
s/he utilized when quilting, choice-processes s/he
used for color and design, how style changed over
time, and whether or not s/he was teaching the chil-
dren how to quilt. Th ese questions were formulated
around Hamilton’s (1987) cultural components to
better understand whether or not quilt production
for business had impacted Amish culture.

Participant-observation is not characterized as a
single method, but rather a set of methods de-
signed to allow a researcher to “collect rich detailed
data based on observations in natural settings”
(Edgerton & Langess, 1974). My goal was to study
the signifi cance and meaning of the data from the
Amish perspective. Success of my study depended
on my ability to live as intimately as possible with
the Amish. Replicability of participant observation
has oft en been challenged, but the credibility, integ-
rity, and dependability of the method is supported
by the prolonged participation and observation of
the subjects, on-going interaction with the study
group, and refl exive journals and notes kept while
in the fi eld.

Th is research refl ects 11 months of fi eldwork
that required that I establish a network of both
Amish and non-Amish informants at the study
site. Once these relationships were established,
I conducted unstructured (n = 38) interviews
with Amish quilters. Th e unstructured interviews
primarily focused on quilter’s ideas about Amish
quilts and the process of quilting and whether the
process paralleled Amish life. I also conducted oral
histories of Amish women and men (n = 15) who
were involved in making quilts for a wide range of
distribution channels including family, friends, lo-
cal and regional tourist shops, internet distribution,
benefi t auctions, and commissioned work. Nearly
all Amish women quilt at some point in their lives.
Th e sample included fi ve women over the age of
75, 22 women between the ages of 25 and 75, 10
teenagers, and one 87-year-old male.

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107©2005 International Textile & Apparel Association Volume 23 #2 2005

As part of the traditional participant observation
method, I also took part in Amish daily life and
special event activities including quilting bees,
working in tourist shops and fabric stores, con-
ducting quilting lessons, and sharing quilting ideas
with Amish quilt- makers. It became important
to interpret the attitude, social relationships and
structures, and the technological applications in
Amish quilting. Th ere was also ongoing checking
and rechecking of my understanding with that of
other informants and in varying contexts, daily
recording of fi eld notes, and note taking. Hence,
being there was fundamental to the ethnographic
method. By being there I got a deeper sense of
the intimate details of family life, cultural group
interactions, work, and festive events—sometimes
trivial but oft en profound in making sense of my
year with the Amish.

Study Site

Th e data were collected through observation of
and participation in a Midwest Amish group
that would be considered to be low to medium
(relatively conservative) on an orthodox-progres-
sive continuum. To protect anonymity, the site is
referred to as Schumok.

In the spring of 1953, eight Amish families had
migrated to the rural area surrounding Schumok.
Six of the Amish families moved from Iowa, one
from Kansas, and one from Delaware. Since 1953,
the Amish population of the Schumok area has
grown to approximately 1,800. Schumok Amish
live on small farms ranging from 40 to 200 acres
in a fi ve-mile radius from Schumok proper. Th e
English1 population of the Schumok town is 582
(U.S. Census of Population and Housing, 2000).
Schumok is about 10 miles from the nearest market
town. Th e Amish rely heavily on local Schumok
Amish and English merchants for groceries, hard-
ware, and farm supplies. Schumok is 20 miles from
a major highway that leads to a large midwestern
metropolitan area another 70 miles away.

Data Collection and Analysis

Aft er initial contacts and some assurances of
cooperation by one Amish business owner, my
children and I moved to Schumok in July 1991, and
remained there for 11 months in daily interaction
with the Amish. In order to facilitate acceptance
with the Amish, I adjusted my normal appearance,
foregoing makeup and wearing plain skirts and
blouses. Th e use of a simple vocabulary and limited
attention to grammar also proved useful. Moreover,
the fact that I had children, had grown up on a
farm, understood the pressures of farm life, and was
a quilter all combined to defi ne a measure of legiti-
macy in both the English and Amish communities
that facilitated acceptance. Th e continual require-
ment to operate in my own technologically modern
world and a world that required a conscious “step
back in time” was, however, challenging.

Soon aft er arriving, I found myself assisting the
Amish in making apple cider on an oak hand-press
cider mill, loading hay bales on a horse drawn
wagon, baking pies and bread in a wood-burning
stove, washing clothes in a diesel-generated wring-
er washing machine, making candy on a kerosene
stove, driving untold miles in the role of “taxi”
driver for the Amish who are not permitted to own
or drive cars, working many full-time days with-
out pay in an Amish store, and quilting with the
women on several quilting projects. Th ese kinds
of activities endured throughout the research year.
By the end of my time in the fi eld, I had attended
Amish mealtimes, birthday parties, auctions, wed-
dings, “singings”, volleyball games, church services,
work bees, quilting frolics, hospital visits, barn rais-
ings, and a host of more routine daily events. At the
end of each day, I recorded fi eld notes, refl ective
remarks, and organized data. Data were then coded
and analyzed using Atlasti® soft ware for analysis of
qualitative data.

By demonstrating interest in and understanding of
farm life, by communicating respect for Amish val-
ues and lifestyle, and fi nally by showing a willing-
ness to participate in the much-valued work ethic,
I was able to gain what for this closed community
was a remarkable degree of acceptance. Th is daily

1Th e Amish refer to the non-Amish as English or sometimes “white-
folk”. Th ese should not be taken as derogatory terms.

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108 Clothing Textiles ©2005 International Textile & Apparel Association

interaction with the Amish allowed an in-depth
understanding of Amish values, beliefs, attitudes,
social structures, and levels of technology for quilt
making. While in Schumok, I developed life-long
friendships, so that even aft er 10 years from my
initial fi eldwork I remain in ongoing contact with
the Amish of Schumok. Th is has allowed me to be
informed of changes that have occurred since the
initial period of study. Changes over the past 10
plus years have been minimal, which parallels the
slow rate of change indicative of Amish culture.
A signifi cant change that has occurred, however,
is that there has been a change in who is hired by
outsiders for quilting. Ten years ago, the women
who were highly sought by outsiders because of
their exquisite workmanship are no longer the pri-
mary quilters for hire. Instead a new set of master
quilters has emerged. Th is change resulted because
quilting is oft en seen as extra income for a family,
so when fi nancial pressures or other priorities (e.g.,
taking care of children or elderly parents) change,
the master quilters would recommend someone
else to take their place.

Findings

Economic Importance of Amish Quilts

Traditional Amish quilts from the Midwest diff er
from the Pennsylvania quilts in that the Midwest
quilts oft en resemble the traditional Midwest pat-
terns of their non-Amish …