Old Order Amish Join New-Economy Marketing

WALNUT CREEK, Ohio (RNS) -- Day after day, Roy Wengerd makes leather belts in a barn behind his Holmes County home. Using tools powered by compressed air, it is a slow, deliberate process. A burner fueled by gas heats his workshop, which battery-powered lights illuminate from overhead.

His 15-year-old daughter, Martha, works by his side, preparing belts generally sold to wholesalers, shoe-repair shops, and harness shops. This is the way of the Old Order Amish, who avoid much of today's technology.

Yet the belts that Wengerd crafts so painstakingly in the old way are now for sale on the Internet.

R.W. Leather, of Walnut Creek, is one of eight Amish vendors linked on the world wide web by Orrville-based Spectrum Publications at the website

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"The Amish don't adapt to new methods. They shun modernism," Wengerd said while showing off his handiwork and the templates used to put designs on belts. "For me to go on the Internet, personally, I wouldn't do it. But [the Spectrum representative] is a wholesale account, and how he markets them is his decision, whether it's through the Internet or stores."

Mitch Naumoff, webmaster at Spectrum, said Wengerd was the first Amish businessman to agree to sell through his website, which offers everything from homemade noodles and jam to small wood products, cedar chests, and handmade quilts. But Naumoff was rejected by a number of Amish who didn't understand the concept of not having to pay for a service that is intended to increase their sales.

"It's very intimidating for a lot of them, just the idea of becoming involved in this new technology," Naumoff said. The website was launched in February with 150 products, and plans are in the works to have 300 products by the end of the year.

Old Order Amish people believe that the Bible instructs them to lead a life of simplicity.

They also believe it directs them to maintain a distinct separation between the church and the world. They've chosen to refrain from many forms of technology and other cultural changes in an effort to maintain cohesive family structures and stay true to their faith.

All the Amish vendors now participating in amishshoppingmall.com have been advertising for years in Spectrum Publication's Amish Heartland magazine, which targets tourists. The company plans to market the site this year on the web and various other media throughout the country.

Iva Yoder, manager of Helping Hands Quilt Shop & Museum in Berlin, Ohio, said she decided to sell quilts on the new site because it's an opportunity to share with the world the art of hand quilting. Prices range from $150 for a 30-by-30-inch quilt, to $1,200 for a queen- or king-size quilt that generally takes 500 hours to complete.

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