With the execution-style murders of five Amish schoolgirls, the lesser-known and out-of-the-way community has once again come under the media’s scrutiny. Everyone, everywhere is talking about Amish beliefs, customs, peace-loving nature, forgiving, and incredibly simple way of living. With so much written and read about them, there really is nothing new to say. But after some deep research and digging, I found some lesser-known trivia about the Amish community.

We always thought that the Amish did not use technology. The Amish do use disposable diapers, gas grills, skateboards, and cell phones! They use machines that run on batteries and not electricity. The Amish can ride in cars and buses, but they cannot own them.

The Amish are not just engaged in agriculture. They are experts in carpentry. Amish furniture, made of solid wood, is very popular throughout the United States. To make wholesale Amish furniture, they use modern machinery operated by sometimes ingenious combinations of diesel engines that are used to drive hydraulic and air pumps that replace the electric motor.

Amish boys and girls begin their search for a spouse when they turn sixteen. The young man asks his girl to marry him, but instead of a diamond ring he gives her china or a watch.

Amish women wear blue at their weddings. Navy blue, sky blue, and shades of purple are the most popular colors for Amish brides. Her wedding attire becomes her Sunday church attire after she gets married. She will also be buried in the same dress when she dies. No one in the wedding party carries flowers. The groom wears a black suit, white shirt, black shoes and stockings, a bow tie, high-top black shoes, and a black hat with a three and a half-inch brim. There is no best man or bridesmaid.

Wedding dates for the Amish are limited to November and part of December, when the harvest is complete and severe winter weather has yet to arrive. Most weddings take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are used as prep or clean up days. Saturdays are not used as wedding days to avoid work or cleaning the next day, Sunday.

The couple’s first night is spent at the bride’s house because the next day they must get up early to help clean the house. The couple live with the bride’s parents until they can set up their own home the following spring.

Amish women never cut their hair, they wear it in a bun at the nape of the neck. On their heads they wear a white prayer shawl if they are married and a black one if they are single. In earlier times, women wore flat straw hats.

An Amish man does not shave his beard after getting married; a long beard is the mark of a grown Amish man. Mustaches are associated with the military and are therefore prohibited among the Amish.

Since many Amish have the same names, a person is sometimes identified by the name of their parents and grandparents, such as “Amos’s John’s Sammy” or “Jake’s Suzie’s Mary.” Sometimes a man even gets a nickname from his wife’s name.

Smoking pipes and cigars is the accepted practice. Cigarettes, however, are seen as ‘mundane’. Older men seem to have more “right” to chew or smoke than younger men. Some modern lighters are used by some. Previously, it was common for older women to smoke a pipe.

The carriage, or buggy as we non-Amish call it, may not have changed much in design, but now the body of the carriage is made primarily of fiberglass rather than wood.

The Amish use car batteries and other alternative sources to power their machines. The new machines were used first because the manual ones broke, they were old and could not be replaced because they were no longer made. To recharge such batteries, some Amish use solar panels, which can recharge a 12 V battery in about seven days.

The Amish have used telephones for years. Before they were common in the home, they used the ones in the city. Later, as they became more common, a phone booth or telephone “shack” was often built outside and shared by several neighbors. Many Amish businesses used to rely on answering machines or services, or instruct their customers to call at a set time when they would be on the outside phone.

The Amish will never cease to amaze us. Your resilience and inner strength will continue to stun us for years to come.