This is the gift shop for the Historic site of the Ephrata Cloister. The gift shop contains many things that are associated with the community. The community was a very different environment, and not easily explained. Much of the stuff in the gift store reflects the old fashioned nature of the community, but it goes much deeper than that. The story behind this unique site is a complicated mixture of religion and history, which is reflected by the products of the gift shop. There are the more practical items that would have been found in the village such as plates, wooden bowls, and other small kitchen tools.
There are also embroidered cards and woven items, along with homemade soap and natural honey. It has a very quaint feel to it. There is little on the religious part of the village, except traces of it an be seen through various objects that do not come off as openly religious. One of the only items I found distinctly associated with faith was the certificate of Baptism.
These figures show what the brothers and sisters of the cloister used to wear, as they are in white, hooded robes. These look like homemade figures in odd clothing, but the reason behind them is that the congregates wore the robes in order to cover/hide their figures, as they were celibate, and did not want to draw attention to their bodies. Everything they did was for modesty and humility. They wanted the focus to be on the eternal, not the present, so they tried to focus on God and not the needs of the human body. Out of this desire for a different way of life, they did not sleep or eat much either.
They had one meal a day, and about six hour of sleep. The wooden pillow was used as a way of not letting the brothers and sisters get into too deep of a sleep. That way they could get up easier for the late night prayer and worship, and the early morning work. They also believed deep sleep left them more vulnerable to the devil, so they wanted to be somewhat alert, even in their sleep. They also believed Jesus might come back for them in the middle of the night, and did not want to miss His arrival.
Here are the ordinary looking, locally influenced books, since Ephrata is near Lancaster. There are books on the Amish, and the local attractions, along with kids books and other tourist looking items. There are even stuffed animals for children, but this can be explained by the fact that this reserve is one of the largest preservations of natural land and wildlife in the area.
Another very interesting item sold in the shop is the German calligraphy inspired by the unique art the cloister made and produced. This specific kind of German calligraphy was named frakturschriften. The cloister produced beautiful art, and music, as one of their main activities and jobs. They then published it using their publishing house, which was equipped with a paper mill, printing press, and book binding area. They used this area to publish the music written and produced by the brothers and sisters in the community as well. Though their music is religious, the art is historical and not religiously based, yet the music can still be appreciated for its unique use of a four part harmony, and boycott on formal instruments.
Most of the things found in the store are not blatantly religious, due to the fact that it is looked at more as a historic site, and not for its religious history. The religious side is incorporated more so in recent years, because it explains the story much better, but an area as mundane as the gift shop holds more common items for sale rather than sacred. The unique aspect of the gift shop is that it carries many locally made items, rather than mass produced trinkets. Even the atmosphere is noticeably different in the gift shop; it gives an instant feel of small and quaint. After all, what a shop contains makes up the character and feel of the shop. Ironically, in comparison to the items in a church gift shop being associated immediately with religion, the items in this gift shop I assocaiteed automatically with the historical background of the site. Even if not everything in the store is historical, it seems to get associated because of the environment, just as a church gift shop may not have all religious items, but it is assumed by association.
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