Happy Tuesday!
Today the Great Allentown Fair begins! It's one of the hallmarks of the end of the summer. It used to be that schools opened after the fair--- but life changes. I used to like to go to look at the agricultural and domestic arts exhibits. Unfortunately, our schedule won't allow that this week.
Domestic exhibits and judging have been going on for over a century. Barbara Brackman even wrote about our Allentown fair. She was focused on the unusual names of quilt patterns at the fair. You can read it here. I don't know why the Pennsylvania German women named their quilts what they did, but I'm not surprised. The older women in my family had all kinds of odd names for things. Like this succulent commonly known as Chicks and Hens. Nana Betty always referred to it as "Clucks and Peeps." 😄
For years, my mother couldn't successfully make a recipe that my great-grandmother shared. Turned out what Grandma referred to as "molasses" was actually Karo corn syrup.
We all just enjoyed the fanciful language of our elders and laughed with them at the mix-ups. As simple as our confusion could be at language between generations, it was nothing in comparison to families who were Pennsylvania Dutch. I have often wondered how my Mother-In-Law, a well cultured woman from Delaware, navigated the early years of marriage with her very Pennsylvania Dutch in-laws.
One of the things I used to enjoy at the fair were the 4-H exhibits. I love 4-H and although I wasn't ever a member, I have a deep appreciation for the work that organization does with children. How many of you were members of the 4-H?
A really wonderful article is here and features 4-H quilts--including one that the writer's mother made when she was in 4-H! Beth gave sewing lessons to her local 4-H children for years. Just a week ago, she was out and saw someone who looked familiar--turns out it was one of her old sewing students who is now in college for nursing---and the student still sews!
The late and much loved Nancy Zieman learned to sew at 4-H and I wonder just how many sewing and quilting students continued to sew through their lifetimes--I bet a lot!
Wishing you all a fun and festive day!
I was in 4-H with dairy goats. We showed them in the county and state 4-H fairs as well as the state fair. My sister moved to Tennessee. She said when her Pennsylvania Dutch mother-in-law visited, they had to send her out with an interpreter. I remember being called Snicklefritz. Always a fun word to say!
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