Two years ago, I wrote about Aaron and Abner Zook, two Amish brothers who became prolific visual artists, creating three-dimensional carved wooden “paintings.” In Abner’s 2010 obituary, it was noted he had created over 800 of the famous dioramas, depicting rustic Amish country life.
It turns out that Abner’s son Joel was an apple that didn’t fall far from the tree. Joel Zook also took an interest in folk art. Rather than doing exactly what his father had done, he took more of a “miniature-building” approach. Joel Zook built scale models of carriages, wagons, surreys, and buggies. His most famous builds were meticulously recreated Conestoga Wagons. His first ever Conestoga Wagon was crafted in 1987. One of his Conestoga Wagon models sold for over $5,000 at auction in 2023. There weren’t many made, and each one is a “one of one” but occasionally a collector will decide to part with one at auction.
The Conestoga Wagon was the semi-truck of the pre-automotive age in America. Traversing the country from east to west and north to south, these sturdy behemoths were first invented and produced here in Lancaster County, making them one of our iconic claims to fame. Joel Zook made most of his miniatures in the 1990’s. Besides Conestoga Wagons, he also made ice wagons, milk wagons, covered wagons, and other examples of early Americana.
Joel Zook got into building the miniatures as a way to make a living when his health dictated, he could no longer be a farmer. The meticulous nature of building the miniatures helped keep him focused and gainfully employed. On average, it took Joel 100 hours to complete one of his miniatures. In total, Joel completed 200 miniatures. He was working on number 201 when he passed away, at the age of 88 in 2009.