Black Buggy
Every common scene in areas populated by Anabaptists is that of a black buggy traveling along the road. This painting reflects the plain people and their lifestyle. Interestingly, buggies come in various colors depending on the communities where they were built. Colors may include white, brown, gray, and yellow. Black is by far the most common buggy color. It’s used by Amish from many different affiliations – from the various groups in Holmes County, Ohio, and northern Indiana, to those in Buchanan County, Iowa, to the Renno Amish of central Pennsylvania, to the Dover, Delaware churches, to the tiny Kokomo, Indiana affiliation. The rarest and most striking color of them all is yellow. The Byler Amish community in Belleville, PA is the only community that uses these bright yellow buggies.
This buggy, however, has a few twists. Common with many “English” are the stick figures on the back of their car depicting something unique in their life. This stick figure represents the toil of physical labor common in their life. Secondly, common are yellow “How Am I Driving” stickers on commercial vehicles. With this driving sticker, we are asked how the driving is but with a reminder that the Bible does not want us to judge.
This painting does not have a driver because the horse knows the way home.