It was an ordinary day. Amos is OK! You know...Amos the dummy!
No...I don't mean he is stupid...but, he really is a dummy. Made out of wood! He's the fifteen foot tall iconic statue that recently survived a fire at Hershey Farm in Strasburg Township, Lancaster County! He was looking directly at the pile of charred wood and twisted metal that used to be Hershey Farm's Restaurant. He was mighty lucky since he was standing just steps away from the fire that closed the restaurant. The fire left him completely untouched. 
It was back in September of 1972 that Amos had his back turned when a fry cooker ignited a fire that gutted Zinn's Diner, the Denver, Pennsylvania restaurant where he had been set up at the entrance three years before. Amos "escaped that fire with only a scorching of the seat of his pants," according to a January 1973 Ephrata Review story on the reopening of the restaurant that was gutted and rebuilt after the fire. The current bearded Amos, who wears a wind-brimmed black hat and holds a wooden pitchfork, replaced an earlier version of an Amos the Amishman that had been set up outside Zinn's Diner in 1960. Shortly before he was swapped out, the original Amos had lost an arm in what was reported at the time as a theft. An introduction of the new Amos in 1969 coincided with an expansion of Zinn's Diner. Wouldn't that be great if we could be swapped out with another one of us if something goes wrong with us. Well, both Amos statues were created by Rodman Shutt, a Strasburg artist who made large works that have become roadside curiosities in several states. In Lancaster County, Mr. Shutt has also made the green dragon that sits atop the sign at North Reading Road, (Route 272) and Garden Spot road for the Ephrata Township auction and market of the same name. He also constructed the large pretzel on the sidewalk outside the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery at 219 E. Main St. in Lititz. Mr. Shutt died in 1990. The original Amos the Amishman statue that he created in 1960 for Zinn's Diner was one of the earliest major works for Shutt, who operated Rodman Shutt Advertisement Display Co. in Strasburg. Mr. Shutt also created the statue outside Katie's Kitchen that depicts a farmer with an ice cream cone in one hand and a pig in the other arm who's is standing behind a pig in a wheelbarrow. The pig in the wheelbarrow is holding a banana split and the other pig has a hamburger. That statue in front of the 200 Hartman Bridge Road restaurant in Strasburg Township was made when the restaurant was a Freez and Frizz. When Zinn's Diner closed in 2003, its owner, Christian Zinn, donated the statue to the Heritage Center of Lancaster County, which loaned it the next year to Hershey Farm. When the Heritage Center dissolved in 2012, the organization transferred its assets, including Amos, to LancasterHistory. All are relieved that no one was injured in the fire, including Amos, and hope, from his spot in the parking lot, he will help oversee the rebuilding of this popular tourist destination. Amos remains at Hershey Farm through a no-fee loan that has been periodically renewed, an arrangement both parties say they are interested in continuing. Today Amos stands on a concrete pad at the edge of a detention basin. He is directly facing the restaurant, just across from the driveway that leads back to the Inn. Amos provides an ideal spot for photos. It's a great picture opportunity. Amos is "truly a cultural icon...as much a part of Lancaster County as any object in the museum's collections. To Lancastrians, he is part of the story of our community. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
It was back in September of 1972 that Amos had his back turned when a fry cooker ignited a fire that gutted Zinn's Diner, the Denver, Pennsylvania restaurant where he had been set up at the entrance three years before. Amos "escaped that fire with only a scorching of the seat of his pants," according to a January 1973 Ephrata Review story on the reopening of the restaurant that was gutted and rebuilt after the fire. The current bearded Amos, who wears a wind-brimmed black hat and holds a wooden pitchfork, replaced an earlier version of an Amos the Amishman that had been set up outside Zinn's Diner in 1960. Shortly before he was swapped out, the original Amos had lost an arm in what was reported at the time as a theft. An introduction of the new Amos in 1969 coincided with an expansion of Zinn's Diner. Wouldn't that be great if we could be swapped out with another one of us if something goes wrong with us. Well, both Amos statues were created by Rodman Shutt, a Strasburg artist who made large works that have become roadside curiosities in several states. In Lancaster County, Mr. Shutt has also made the green dragon that sits atop the sign at North Reading Road, (Route 272) and Garden Spot road for the Ephrata Township auction and market of the same name. He also constructed the large pretzel on the sidewalk outside the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery at 219 E. Main St. in Lititz. Mr. Shutt died in 1990. The original Amos the Amishman statue that he created in 1960 for Zinn's Diner was one of the earliest major works for Shutt, who operated Rodman Shutt Advertisement Display Co. in Strasburg. Mr. Shutt also created the statue outside Katie's Kitchen that depicts a farmer with an ice cream cone in one hand and a pig in the other arm who's is standing behind a pig in a wheelbarrow. The pig in the wheelbarrow is holding a banana split and the other pig has a hamburger. That statue in front of the 200 Hartman Bridge Road restaurant in Strasburg Township was made when the restaurant was a Freez and Frizz. When Zinn's Diner closed in 2003, its owner, Christian Zinn, donated the statue to the Heritage Center of Lancaster County, which loaned it the next year to Hershey Farm. When the Heritage Center dissolved in 2012, the organization transferred its assets, including Amos, to LancasterHistory. All are relieved that no one was injured in the fire, including Amos, and hope, from his spot in the parking lot, he will help oversee the rebuilding of this popular tourist destination. Amos remains at Hershey Farm through a no-fee loan that has been periodically renewed, an arrangement both parties say they are interested in continuing. Today Amos stands on a concrete pad at the edge of a detention basin. He is directly facing the restaurant, just across from the driveway that leads back to the Inn. Amos provides an ideal spot for photos. It's a great picture opportunity. Amos is "truly a cultural icon...as much a part of Lancaster County as any object in the museum's collections. To Lancastrians, he is part of the story of our community. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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