Pennsylvania German Arts and Antiques

Welcome to My Blog about Pennsylvania Dutch Stuff

Hello from Lititz, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

I hope you will visit my pages here often, to see what's happening in the world of Pennsylvania German folk art, antiques, and folklife.

Come back again, soon.  I will leave the porch light on.

P.S. That fraktur above was made in 1799 by Mennonite farmer Hans Jacob Brubacher of Lancaster County, PA .

P.S. P.S. ...you can send email to me Here.

Clarke Hess

Kutztown Folk Festival in California Newspaper

"For 60 years, the Kutztown Folk Festival has been a part of the Lehigh Valley's summer. Old and young alike have enjoyed eating buttery cobs of corn and steaming ox roast sandwiches, listening to brass bands, watching the nimble fingers of quilters work their magic and watching a traditional Amish wedding."

Read this article.

Emmaum Library Offers Pennsylvania German Language Classes

"The course is designed as a start to reading, writing, and talking this dialect. Local instructors Vernon Frederick and Richard Stoudt will teach."

Read this article.

 

Paint Decoration Workshop at Mennonite Heritage Center in Franconia

"Workshop instructor Jim King has a B.A. in art from Goshen College, Goshen, Ind., and is a Ten Thousand Villages store designer. He currently sells his work at craft shows in the east, including the Pennsylvania German Folk Art Sale at the Mennonite Heritage Center."

Read this article.

The Triumphs and Tragedies of Alfred Shoemaker, Founder of the Kutztown Folk Festival

 

Image: Pennsylvania Folklife Society, Ursinus College

"More than 50 years later, the fate of perhaps the most important force in the post-World War II revival of Pennsylvania Dutch culture remains shrouded in mystery."

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60th Kutztown Folk Festival

"Sixty years ago, the same year East and West Germany were established as nations, three professors from Kutztown University had an idea to introduce people to the German heritage of the local Pennsylvania Dutch. That idea — the Kutztown Folk Festival — is now the oldest, continuously operated folklife festival in America."

Read this article.

Bridge Club Restores a Pennsylvania German House at Fort Loudon

"The Tuesday Bridge Club met every week for eight years to restore the Martin-Negley house, a log building that is a fine example of the Pennsylvania German three-room plan. Last year, local Boy Scouts laid old bricks atop sand in the cellar and built the bins that would have served as the place where Germans kept roots, vegetables and sauerkraut."

Read this article.