Birth of the American barista
Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Tim Hortons — today there are coffee shops everywhere. Back in the 1870s, however, such establishments were rarely heard of.
Hard work helped by early technology
For centuries, grain was threshed by beating the grain with flails, trampling it with horses or oxen, or by pulling stone or wooden rollers and sledges over it.
Pennsylvania can claim first covered bridge
The first covered bridge in America is believed to have been the High Street (later, Market Street) Bridge across the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.
Pioneers were thankful for just one room
Those pioneer cabins were small, but efficient.
Sears and Roebuck shaped Christmas traditions
My Christmas column this year is, as they say on the air, an “encore presentation,” having appeared in December of both 1995 and 2000.
How...
Hand-written memories retell saw mill story
About half a mile from the one-room school I attended was a saw mill that was owned by a farmer named Harvey Smith, and that was operated by Smith and his oldest son, Harold.
Restoring old tractors is rewarding, but costly
I don’t claim to be “restoring” a tractor, as to me that means making it exactly as it was when new, an almost impossible undertaking unless one has unlimited funds.
The dreaded parlor stove makes its return again
Folks in the latter half of the 19th century went through an unpleasant ritual along about this time of year, or probably a little earlier in Northern climes, called “putting up the parlor stove.”
Night cap: Looking for a good night’s sleep?
Miss Nancy and I, along with my little sister B.G. Theiss who is visiting from North Carolina, enjoyed the afternoon at the Farm and Dairy’s recent 100th Anniversary open house at the Salem Community Center.
‘Punkin pie’: Dessert to be praised across the globe
There are many, many pumpkin pies bought or made from scratch and served at American tables around this time of year.
