Big Amish man at Zinn's.

Big Amos, Barefoot Amish Giant

Strasburg, Pennsylvania

Before moving to his current home at Hershey Farm in Strasburg, Amos was the giant fiberglass mascot of Zinn's Diner. He is 15 feet tall, and holds a pre-industrial rake. When his sound system was working, you could stand for minutes and listen to him spout bad Amish jokes in his Pennsylvania Dutch accent. Visitor John Sohl reported hearing this automated plea: "Yumpin' yiminy, by gosh, if you're hungering for great Amish food, we've got heaps inside..."

Amos first appeared at Zinn's in 1969, replacing a proto-Amos that stood there since 1960.

Amos is one of a very few fiberglass colossi in America that is barefooted. The nearest giant unshod brethren may be the dancing acolytes at the Palace of Gold.

August 2005: Amos is looking good, though a bit out of place in our opinion, at Hershey Farm Restaurant and Inn, grouped with a pair of Amish buggies.

September 2004: The Amos statue is in the care of the Lancaster Heritage Center, but he's too big to display at their facility in downtown Lancaster. So the Heritage Center loaned him to the Hershey Farm Restaurant and Inn on Route 896 between town of Strasburg and Route 30. He's there for a five-year stint beginning in 2004.

Big Amos in Strasburg.

December 2003: According to an article in the Ephrata Review the current owners of Zinn's, Lyndon Diner of Denver, PA, sold the landmark diner to a Greek/New Jersey native. Plans include major renovations.

July 2003: Zinn's has been sold, closing on August 17th, 2003. The diner will be remodeled and reopened. Amos will be moved, either to a museum or someone's barn.