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Posted: 15 Dec 2014

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An Amishman and His Buggy at Zimmerman's Store, Intercourse, Pa.

An Amishman and His Buggy at Zimmerman's Store, Intercourse, Pa.
A taken unawares photo (shots of people who clearly have no idea they're being snapped) for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

A photo of the W. L. Zimmerman and Sons grocery store in Intercourse, Pennsylvania, shows an Amishman with his horse and buggy (mouse over the image above for an enlargement that makes it easier to see the man in his dark clothes).

Since the Amish religion prohibits photography, it's likely that the man in this photo was either unaware that he was being photographed or else he did spot the photographer and turned his back to the camera.

As scholar Donald B. Kraybill explained in a Top Ten FAQ about the Amish for the PBS Web site, "Amish churches forbid individuals to pose for face-on photos for two reasons. First, they cite the second of the Bible's Ten Commandments: 'Thou shalt not make… any graven image, or any likeness of any thing….' (Exodous 20:14). Second, in a communal society that values humility, posing for photos is a sign of pride that calls attention to oneself and rubs against Amish beliefs about the importance of deferring and yielding to others."

It's ironic, then, that this grocery store appeared in the 1985 film Witness when actor Harrison Ford, who played the part of an undercover detective dressed in Amish garb, made a call from a telephone booth located on the porch of the store. That was a later phone booth, since the booth visible in this photo is the small but elaborate building situated between the buggy and the Gulf gas pumps (it has a "Zimmerman's Store" sign on one side and a very faint "Enterprise Telephone Co." sign painted above its front door).

Unfortunately, Zimmerman's grocery store (the sign partially visible beyond the phone booth probably refers to "[Lanco] Service Stores," a local affiliation of independent grocers) went out of business in 2014. The store's role in Witness was described in "Lancaster County Grocery Store Featured in Harrison Ford Movie Closes Its Doors," an article by Tim Stuhldreher that appeared on LancasterOnline, April 3, 2014.

Check out Google's street view of this same scene, which dates to 2011 when the store was still open.

, , and 2 other people have particularly liked this photo

Comments
 Deborah Lundbech
Deborah Lundbech club
Great photo.
I've learned recently, to my surprise, how varied rules among the Amish are - depending greatly on the local council. (with the exception of ultra conservative Amish.)
A friend whose father spent many years living by (and being helped by) the Amish, was recently astonished when a young Amish man who had a home business gave my friend an website address.
It had been voted OK by his committee (or what ever you call them) as a necessary thing to advance his business. So my understanding is that technology is considered on a case by case, community by community ruling.
By the way, what a fantastic telephone booth. An American Tardis challenger!
9 years ago.
Alan Mays club has replied to Deborah Lundbech club
Yes, although most Old Order Amish groups stick to a more conservative set of rules, or Ordnung as they call them, there are striking variations in beliefs and practices among different affiliations of Amish, Mennonites, and other related groups.

It's interesting to see how these differences sometimes manifest themselves in striking though seemingly minor ways. One group, for instance, might ban all belts and suspenders for men, while another might allow only one suspender, and a third goes with two suspenders. Although many of the Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania--one of the major tourist destinations for seeing the Amish--drive gray buggies with black trim, other communities--like Big Valley (also called Kishacoquillas Valley) in the middle of the state--have a variety of groups with different colored buggies--white buggies with brown trim, yellow buggies, or completely black buggies, for instance. You can see all the different variations in clothing and transportation at a farmers market that's held each Wednesday in Belleville, a town located in Big Valley.

For more on this topic (which I, at least, find fascinating), see Amish and Mennonite Groups in the Big Valley.

Oh, and that Tardis-like phone booth is something else! I tried to determine when that style of booth might have been used in an effort to date the photo, but couldn't find any info on it (guess I'll need a real time machine to investigate further 8-).
9 years ago.

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