Commune Living: The Bruderhof

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Children and their teacher pick flowers at the entrance to the New Meadow Run community of the Bruderhof (once known as the Society of Brothers).
Children and their teacher pick flowers at the entrance to the New Meadow Run community of the Bruderhof (once known as the Society of Brothers).
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The Bruderhof will soon turn this choice maple lumber into substantial wooden toys.
The Bruderhof will soon turn this choice maple lumber into substantial wooden toys.
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The Bruderhof's commune appears far from the maddening crowd ... although located on the edge of U.S. 40 near New Meadow Run, Pennsylvania. The Bruderhof maintain two other locations in the United States.
The Bruderhof's commune appears far from the maddening crowd ... although located on the edge of U.S. 40 near New Meadow Run, Pennsylvania. The Bruderhof maintain two other locations in the United States.
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The whole world, beginning with the community's front lawn, is a classroom for the Bruderhof's children.
The whole world, beginning with the community's front lawn, is a classroom for the Bruderhof's children.
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Every toy made by the Bruderhof, including these wooden telephones, must pass the most stringent of inspections during assembly.
Every toy made by the Bruderhof, including these wooden telephones, must pass the most stringent of inspections during assembly.
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If children seem especially favored by the Bruderhof, perhaps it's only because the people who live in the peaceful settlement support themselves largely by making toys for the youngsters of this and other countries.
If children seem especially favored by the Bruderhof, perhaps it's only because the people who live in the peaceful settlement support themselves largely by making toys for the youngsters of this and other countries.
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The playthings made by the Bruderhof are designed for children's use rather than parent's looks. Here some satisfied customers attest to the logic of that policy.
The playthings made by the Bruderhof are designed for children's use rather than parent's looks. Here some satisfied customers attest to the logic of that policy.
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Youngsters raised at New Meadow Run are given every opportunity to experience life firsthand before making the big decision:
Youngsters raised at New Meadow Run are given every opportunity to experience life firsthand before making the big decision: "Shall I move away, or stay with the Bruderhof all my life?"
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The Bruderhof's toys are so popular they're produced on mini-assembly lines.
The Bruderhof's toys are so popular they're produced on mini-assembly lines.

Folks keep asking us if we know of a commune that has endured for any length of time … and we keep answering that the only communes which seem to conquer time are those organized around a very strong and dynamic leader or a heavy religious trip. The Group (reported on in MOTHER EARTH NEWS NO. 10) is an example of the first … and here’s a sample of the second.
 
 

The guys in the Hawaiian shirts who come to rubberneck the tourist spots on Pennsylvania’s Route 40 usually go right on by the Bruderhof toy-making commune at New Meadow Run. Maybe that’s because nobody stands outside hawking souvenir salt shakers and painted porcelain plates with pictures of George Washington on them.

But the tourist profiteers and the national battlefields really have nothing on the Bruderhof’s style of commune living … because behind their humble sign on Route 40, the brothers are quietly proving that a well-operated commune can go just about as far as its members want to take it. Through determination and years of hard work, the brothers have created a burgeoning toy business that today — along with a publishing enterprise — makes the commune completely self-sufficient.

Nor does the success of the New Meadow Run community mark the upper limit of the brothers’ accomplishment. The Bruderhof also collectively owns two other prosperous settlements at Rifton, N.Y. and Norfolk, Conn. At all three communes, the brothers practice what they believe to be the most harmonious mode of existence possible to man.

  • Published on Nov 1, 1971
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