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At an estate sale I found a color slide of barefoot Big Amos as he looked at Zinn's Diner in the mid-1970s.
[Ray Luce, 02/02/2019]Big Amos, Barefoot Amish Giant:RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report
- Address:
- 240 Hartman Bridge Rd/Hwy 896, Strasburg, PA
- Directions:
- 1.5 miles south of U.S. 30 on Hwy 896. At the Hershey Farm Restaurant And Inn.
- Phone:
- 717-687-8635
- RA Rates:
- Worth a Detour
Here is a recent picture of Amos, the barefoot Amish Man.
[Ed Steinerts, 05/17/2006]Big Amos the wisecracking Amish Guy, displaced when Zinn's Diner closed, is back in free public view. The 15-ft. tall fiberglass statue stood at Zinn's from 1969 until 2003. He's on loan to Hershey Farm Restaurant And Inn from the Heritage Center of Lancaster, where he was donated by Christian Zinn II. His cement mount and official plaque suggest he'll be at Hershey Farm for a while. Amos is freshly painted, but no more broadcast wisecracks -- he's mute. Flanked by two Amish buggies, the once boisterous farmer seems out of place in this basket-and-doily destination.
[Roadsideamerica.com Team, 08/16/2005]The former Zinn's Diner has been sold again the second time in three months. According to an article in the Ephrata Review the current owners, Lyndon Diner of Denver, PA sold the landmark to a Greek/New Jersey native. Plans include major renovations. Amos the famous statue which stood in front of the diner, had been moved to the Heritage Center Museum in Lancaster, PA and not the Henry Ford Museum as previously reported.
[Craig, 12/15/2003]According to Peter Seibert, president and CEO of the Heritage Center Museum: "Yup, the talking fiberglass Amishman is now owned by the Heritage Center Museum. I do not have him on exhibit as he is undergoing a face lift (or should I say "plastic surgery"). When he was removed from Zinn's, it was discovered that the steel structure supporting him had rotted out -- so we have been cleaning him up, repairing him and figuring out how to install him." The HCM is considering sites for him, including "in front of our new quilt and textile museum. However, until the weather breaks in the spring, I doubt we will make any decisions. He will need to be set into a supporting base that will require cement to support him."
Yumpin' yiminy! Zinn's Diner sold; Big Amos museum-bound?
The barefooted, wise-cracking Amos the big Amish farmer statue will lose his home in Denver, Pennsylvania, when Zinn's Diner closes on August 17, 2003. Zinn's, an Amish country landmark since opening in 1950, suffered an increasingly familiar economic beating, and has been sold to Lyndon D. Quinn, owner of diners apparently thriving in Lancaster and Manheim.
With the change in ownership, the whole Zinn's theme and name will be jettisoned, though employees will be retained. Amos could well find himself rotting, covered with spider webs and propped in a Zinn barn unless a suitable new home can be found. Latest word is that The Henry Ford (Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village), Dearborn, Michigan is negotiating to plant Amos in the museum's Automobile in American Life exhibit. This neon-festooned indoor section includes a classic McD's sign, vintage gas pumps, a transplanted diner, JFK's death car, an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, and other salvaged symbols of the highway. [Thanks for the lead to Jodi Rodichok]
[07/17/2003]
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The Amish giant first appeared outside Zinn's in 1969. He's remained remarkably consistent over the years, just like flesh-and-blood Amish.