Christmas in Pennsylvania

By Don Yoder and Alfred L. Shoemaker

Bestselling classic with historical accounts, full-color vintage images, and a selection of recipes from Pennsylvania's Christmas past

Originally published in 1959 and written by one of the seminal figures in American folklife studies, this classic work examines the folk origins of Christmas in the Keystone State. Composed of interviews and contemporary newspaper reports, it records holiday traditions from the eighteenth century through the early twentieth century, including mummers, Christ-Kindel and Kriss Kringle, Christmas trees and trimming, Belsnickels, the Philadelphia carnival of horns, Moravian pyramids and putzes, Pittsburgh firecracker celebrations, and holiday treats. Now with full-color images, this edition includes Don Yoder's new expanded afterword on recent research of Christmas customs and a selection of traditional recipes.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1493046748
• ISBN13: 9781493046744
• Release Date: August 2019
• Publisher: Globe Pequot Publishing
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A visit to Christmas past in Pennsylvania.

"Christmas in Pennyslvania" is the best kind of research book! There are many lively and vivid newspaper accounts and diary exerpts combined with Shoemaker's research. The result is charming. I think that anyone interested in general history, Christmas customs, or Pennsylvania would love this book. I did. (Guess what people on my Christmas list are going to receive?)