The great decline in membership came after the second world war. The cluster of old buildings that houses the community seems at first to be a small but classic New England village . Today's Shakers grow, dry and pack herbs for sale, make the traditional Shaker boxes, and grow vegetables. More income comes from a gravel pit, a tree farm and leased property at the side of the lake. The Shakers stopped caring for such children in the 1960s, when popular sentiment turned against orphanages.
Excitement is provided by a trip to the bank.
But the Shakers have never been Luddites . On their free evenings, they can often be found watching television. In an age preoccupied with individual satisfaction, the Shakers' lives seem perverse. Perhaps that is why this tiny community is unperturbed by its apparently precarious existence.