By Kevin Williams
This is one of our occasional peeks into Etsy and its array of Amish offerings there. I think thing with almost any item on Etsy that you buy is can you verify the authenticity of the item? If you can, then great, if not, buyer beware.
AMISH-MADE CAT LITTER STAND: Even if this is an authentic Amish-made item, I'd probably pass. Yes, it'd be nice to have the cat litter box hidden away in some cabinet. But The problem is the cat would probably kick litter out inside the cabinet, or then maybe the cat would miss the litterbox and spray on the inside of the cabinet and then you'd have a $399 cabinet that is a real mess. Cat litter boxes are dirty and yucky, I don't know that I'd want to put anything like that in something that costs $400. But click here to take a look.
Interesting Amish quilt
AMISH QUILT: I know we have readers that know a lot more about quilts than I do, but if this is authentic, then it is a really interesting piece. (and at $1200, not cheap). Anything from the Amish from the 1920s and 1930s (as this purports to be) really interests me because it would reflect the Amish culture as "it really was", before tourism got entrained into their lives. Today, many Amish quilts reflect less their personal preferences and more what the tourists want (bright, cherry, festive). So click here to read more about this pictured quilt.
AMISH TOBACCO BARN BOARDS: Hmmm, this is where provenance becomes important.....I guess...$80 for some boards that are from an Amish tobacco barn in Lancaster. Although, really, how is a board "Amish", what difference does it make whether the boards came from an Amish barn or someone else's barn? Click here to see for yourself.
AMISH MAN COFFEE CREAMER PITCHER: This pottery is easier to verify authenticity because the bottom is stamped, so you get a real gem of a piece of Pennsylvania Dutch folk art. Check out this kind of near creamer pitcher here.
BANANA BREAD: Banana bread doesn't typically do very well on this website, but, sheesh, this looks like a good loaf and this baker is in Pennsylvania so she probably is drawing from Pennsylvania Dutch culinary traditions (she adds banana pudding to the bread mix), so, yum, I may just have to order some of this sometime. Click here to see.
VINTAGE AMISH COOKBOOK: I wish this said when it was printed...but this appears to be a very local (focusing on southern Lancaster County) and old cookbook and those are my favorites because of their authenticity. Click here to take a look.
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