Community Connections

When visiting historic sites across the nation, interpreters get one very common question:

“Where did you get that stuff?”

It might refer to the clothing being worn, the tools being used, or something else entirely. We often get this question here on the farm, especially because our story covers the period from just before the founding of our nation to the year before the United States entered World War II. The technological advances over that time were, and remain, life-changing. As tractors began taking over the fields, many harnesses were hung up, never to be oiled or used again. Across the nation, horses slowly disappeared from the fields.

Museums responded in the years that followed by preserving and showcasing the skills, tools, and equipment that were once part of everyday life. But that created another problem for museums:

“Where do we get this stuff from?”

For us here on the farm, the answer is often surprisingly simple:

“Just down the street!”

Lancaster County is a special place. People from around the world come here to visit and learn about our Amish and Old Order Mennonite neighbors. These communities have maintained traditional ways of life and, in doing so, have helped preserve many crafts and skills that have disappeared elsewhere. Because of this, Lancaster County has also become a resource for historic sites across the country looking for the tools, equipment, and craftspeople they need to tell their own stories. Wheelwrights, coach shops, harness makers, foundries, and others still produce or repair things that have long since disappeared from everyday life elsewhere. Plow parts, wooden wheels, harnesses, and other pieces of farm equipment that were once commonplace can still be made and repaired here.

With our new team of horses ready to get into the fields, we felt that a new harness was in order. In a place known for horse-and-buggy traffic, it should come as no surprise that harness shops can be found throughout the areas where these communities live. Farmer Jake worked with a local Amish harness maker named Samuel to create a harness that combined historic tradition with modern ingenuity. If you visited Landis Valley before 2019, you may have already seen much of Samuel’s leatherwork on the teams here at the farm. To keep that partnership going, we returned to Samuel with our new team.

Together, Jake and Samuel looked at paintings, photographs, and historic farming magazines for inspiration. The goal was not to recreate one particular harness, but to bring together details and features that would have been familiar to a farmer in the past. Some of those details have largely disappeared from modern harness making. Brass fittings have often given way to stainless steel, which requires less polishing. Real leather is not always the first choice today, with materials like Biothane becoming popular because they are easier to clean and maintain. Wooden hames, once common, have largely been replaced by steel. Old latches and hooks have been replaced with strong safety-release shackles in case of an emergency—a modern improvement to an age-old tradition. One especially meaningful detail is the custom nameplates on the nosebands of the bridles.

By bringing together these small details, Jake and Samuel created something special: a beautiful, handmade piece of equipment that is practical for our horses today while reflecting the traditions of the past and the craftsmanship of Pennsylvania Germans today.

It took just over two months for this custom harness to go from sheets of leather to cut pieces to a stitched-together harness ready for work. Halfway through the process, Jake was invited into Samuel’s shop and, with Samuel’s permission, took photographs of the work in progress and the harness shop, which you can find below. We acquired the harness in early September. After the proper adjustments were made, the team began doing regular work in their new gear. You’ll now find Farmer Jake and his team walking around the site, pulling a cart or doing fieldwork as needed.

While what we do on the farm has changed over time, we are excited to introduce the public to our team and let visitors see this beautiful new harness at Harvest Days on October 10 and 11. Weather permitting, we will do fieldwork demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday, and the barn will be open for visitors. Farmers Joe and Jake hope to see you there!

So, sometimes when a visitor asks, “Where did you get that stuff?”, the answer is not a catalog, a museum collection, or a warehouse somewhere far away.

Sometimes, for us, it really is “from a good neighbor just down the street!”