The Village Squire, 1981-08, Page 19Heritage
Catalogue of
Country Living
Elmo Stoll looks forward to his morning
mail. In it he finds unusual requests from
people who read through his mail order
"Catalogue of Country living". A woman
wants credit to buy a cream separator.
She says she will pay for it every week.
bit by bit, from the butter she makes. In
another letter. a travel agency asks to
bring a bus tour of 48 people to sec his
"shop". A man from Utah offers to
become the United States distributor for
Stoll's products. A British Columbia man
wants a wide -brimmed hat.
Elmo Stoll, along with four other
members of his family, are the backbone
of a. unique business. Elmo, his %vile.
Elizabeth, his brother Mark. his sister-in-
law Dora. and Dora's father. Daniel
Miller. Jr. are Amish and they sell
everything from cherry pitters to sausage
making kits. But. contrary to what the
travel agent thought. the Stolls do not
have a shop to browse in. The only
showroom is the catalogue itself from the
Stolls' home called The Pioneer Placctat
R.R. 4. Aylmer. Ontario.
In case the hydro goes out. the Stoll
catalogue can keep you supplied with
kerosene lights. Since the Amish use
these all the time. the lamps get quite
sophisticated. They come with coloured
shades. wall or table styles. and even in
solid brass.
The Pioneer Place has other treasures
for the home.
Mealtimes can be announced with the
dong of a cast iron steer head or post bell.
made from individual sand molds. For
uninvited guests you can buy a wind up
trap for 15 mice. The Stolls even sell oak
barrels as a woodbox or Nvhatever your
imagination can dream of.
An item that sells especially well is an
assortment of hickory rocking chairs.
hand made by a group of 35 Amish
peope. who use no electricity. The Amish
have made and used these hickory
rocking chairs for generations. A man
from the community designed the parti-
cular style they offer. Part of the chair is
oak. ash or cherry. The section your back
rests on is shagbark hickory. Chairs arc
steamed and shaped according to the
lxxly's curves. The Stolls get the
shagbark from the U.S. where it grows
wild. Here in Canada it is very sparse.
The Pioneer Place is more than a
business '„ the Stolls. It gives them a way
of life they want. Elm() says. "1t is a
constructive alternative to working at
The Pioneer Place mail order catalogue
is operated by two Amish couples. They
sell products which use no electricity
and products that have been used by the
Amish for generations, such as these
hand made hickory rocking chairs.
the Ford factory." He and his wife
believe the best way to raise children is to
be with them at home. Their business
contributes cottage industries for their
community.
Elmo admits there is "no shortage of
ideas" in the local Amish community. His
brother Mark designed the cider press
the catalogue sells. And they make their
own butter molds.
The kitchen airtight cookstove is an-
other example of local effort. Hours were
spent designing and redesigning the
stove. Instead of testing it in a laboratory
last winter the stove under)) ent the
strictest test of all—performing in Elmo
and Elizabeth Stoll's kitchen. Local shops
are producing the stove now, but the
Stolls hope to produce it themselves
eventually. It features a large firebox that
will hold a fire overnight.
The Pioneer Place offers another item
which Amish families have used for
generations. Tennessee aromatic cedar
chests. They. conn' with antique brass
pulls or cedar ornaments and handles.
Since almost half of their goods are sold
outside of Ontario. they arc often shipped
disassembled, as is the cider press the
catalog sells.
The Catalogue of Country Living gets
into the kitchen too. The Stolls sel TVP --
textured vegetable protein. a soybean
product with about the equivalent protein
• of meat. Food processors and hospitals
have been using it for years but it's been
available to the consumer mainly in the
form of imitation bacon bits.
by Laura Drummond
TVP can serve as a meat extender. The
texture is fibrous and chewy. With little
flavour of its own. it absorbs the flavour
of the food it's added to. Available in
dehydrated form, in 20 kilogram parcels.
it provides cheap protein.
The women in the community have
started to sell their quilts through the
catalogue. And believe it or not. the Stolls
are known to have sold Collie cattle dogs
through the catalogue.
Elmo and Mark Stoll are more than
businessmen taking mail orders for
products. They live on a farm and milk 14
cows. They are familiar with nearly all,
products offered because they and their
wives use them.
A'35 page catalogue costs 52.00 which
is deducted from your first order. The
Pioneer Place address is R.R. 4 Aylmer,
Ontario N5H 2R3.
The prices in the catalogue are not
bargain basement ones, but the products
are of high quality and made to last. For
example. a bell shaped pitcher ($32) is
made of stainless steel. It will last not
only your lifetime, but your grandchil-
dren's!
The Pioneer Place catalogue has great
appeal. As you leaf through its pages,
you're looking back 75 years into a world
without electricity. It's a world of noodle
cutters. coal hods. apple parers, icecream
makers. cherry stoners, wooden butter
churns. strainers. steamers, juicers and
sausage stuffers. You can become a
gardener of long ago with a spade potato
planter. seeder. sprayer, European
square and pointed hoes. and a cultiva-
tor. Or you can be a butcher with a
butchering block. knife and meat cleaver.
1f you have ever envied your great
grandparents the thrill of ridin? in the
brisk open air in a cutter or enjoying a
cowl summer evening breeze in a
carriage. you can at least imagine doing
the same. Pioneer Place offers buggies.
cutters. coupes and wagons. And if you
really want to have an impressive and
expensive hobby or sport. you could ride
in a $10.000 Canada coach. or a stage
coach. $6500. (An Amish two seater is
only $1250).
The Stolls shopping catalogue does
more than resurrect a past era. It allows
the rest of us a bit of a share in the life
and goods of the Amish world --a world
closed to most outsiders.
VILLAGE SQUIRE/AUGUST 1981 PG 17