December 4, 2008 – The Springerle House

In Strassburg, an historical town south of Lancaster, there is a delightful bakery called The Springerle House. In the window at this time of year, there is a pyramid tree, the kind whose blades are set in motion by the heat of candles (although this one was powered by electricity).




When you opened the door, the smells of fresh baked springerle greeted you or the licorice scent of anise.

Springerles are cookies made by pressing dough with carved molds, leaving intricate designs.

Historical note: The European tradition of these “picture cookies” are over a thousand years old. Springerle molds first came to Lancaster County around 1710 among the most treasured possessions of the Pennsylvania German immigrants.

I bought some molds – a very hard choice to make from the large selection.

Molds







And here are pictures of some of the cookies. They may look like they’re too pretty to eat BUT…they were delicious with a cup of tea.

Cookies

December 3, 2008 – Christmas Center Museum

A friend and I visited the Christmas Museum, located on route 30, just east of Lancaster. What a wonderful time we had! There were displays of Christmas traditions from around the world.





There was a replica of a Woolworth store, complete with all the trimmings, toys and ornaments from decades ago.








As you wound your way through the museum there were recreated scenes from a storybook called “A Tudor Christmas” with various animals dressed in Victorian costumes.















At the end you walked the narrow streets of ancient Bethlehem, showing what the town was like during Mary and Joseph’s visit. Of course the culmination was the nativity scene.

What impressed me the most, aside from the thousands of ornaments and Christmas decorations, was listening to the comments other visitors were making and how different items reminded them of something from their childhood Christmases.

A wonderful place to visit, especially at this time of year.

Sunday September 28, 2008 Home in the USA

Much to our disappointment, things did not work out for our return trip to Italy. The quest for the visa took too long and when I was presented with a better offer to return to my old company, I accepted. We had three glorious months in Italy and met some wonderful people whom we now call friends and made memories to last a lifetime. We are settling in at home with many chores to be done. One was a new line for our dog run that also serves a dual purpose as a clothesline. While relaxing one day we noticed a friendly visitor on one of our towels.




Our friend, a praying mantis, decided to stay around a few days and we left the towel on the line for her to bask on. You can tell the sex of the mantis by the number of thorax segments, the female has more. Also the female has a reputation of being around longer, since they sometimes devour their mates.

The mantis is named for its front legs which are together in a position that suggests prayer. They have triangular heads and some species can turn them as much as 300 degrees in search of prey. They are experts at camouflage, which is a tool used in the capturing their food. Their eyesight is excellent with two large compound eyes and three simple eyes located between them. They can see movement as far away as 60 feet.




The mantids are carnivores and their unfortunate recipients are moths, crickets, grasshoppers and flies. It is interesting that they are being sold in some locations for insect control.

Friday August 22, 2008 – Round Barns and Furnaces

Round barns are seldom seen in Pennsylvania, although there are a few that still exist. These barns were developed by the Shakers and we were lucky enough to find one close to the historic Lincoln Highway (Rt. 30). The one we found was built in 1914 and was located approximately 5 miles from Cashtown. The historic particulars of this barn built for the Noah Sheely family are found on this sign.




The barn currently houses a fruit and vegetable market along with some crafts. Here are some pictures taken around the barn as it stands today.







As many may already know, Pennsylvania was also known for its iron and steel industry. We visited two of the charcoal type furnaces for the manufacture of pig iron. The first one was located along Rt. 30 at Caledonia State Park. Caledonia Furnace was erected in 1837 by Thaddeus Stevens, politician and father of the public school system in Pennsylvania. This furnace was completely destroyed by the Confederate Army in 1863 probably due to the fact that Thaddeus was an abolitionist. The current structure was erected in 1927.





We traveled north through Caledonia Park (Rt.233) to Pine Grove Furnace State Park. This was the location of another company town known for the manufacture of pig iron using charcoal and the cold blast method. The charcoal and ore were usually made and mined close to the vicinity of the furnaces. It is believed that the original furnace was erected somewhere around 1764. This facility operated approximately 131 years on South Mountain.

Copula and Copula Door (front)





Ruins of the storage areas





Some of the remaining building in this company town are as follows:

The general store and stable





The Paymasters House ( This was also listed as the general store in the history of the village, which was probably true at that time). Further historical data can be found on the net at http://oldindustry.org/PA_HTML/Pa_PineGrove.html Click on History and then Pine Grove.





The following pictures describe the steel making process and some the pictures posted at the site of the men involved.











History of the Buildings (click image to enlarge).