Only in York County

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A look at the Official Pennsylvania Dutch Guide-Book, a 1960s treasure

Heaven only knows where I found the book I’m talking about today! It’s a copy of the Official Pennsylvania Dutch Guide-Book, published by the Pennsylvania Dutch Tourist Bureau of Lancaster in the 1960s. (Mine is the 1966 edition!)

While the book’s purpose is, it states, “making the tourist’s visit to Lancaster County the interesting and enjoyable experience it should be,” there is a short mention of York, as well as some fun information on the Pennsylvania Dutch culture that is certainly applicable to us, Lancaster’s neighbor to the west!

Above is a look at what the book says about York. Similar snippets are included for other area towns, such as Carlisle and Gettysburg.

Some of the most interesting excepts to me, though, were articles about our regional heritage and culture! They’re somewhat long, so if you’d like to read more, follow the links to see a PDF version!

· Foods – And How We Like Them by Edna Eby Heller (who you might also remember as the author of The Art of Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking)
· The Pennsylvania Dutch Language by Dr. J. William Frey, then chairman of the department of German and Russian at Franklin and Marshall College

I hope you’ll enjoy these book excerpts – they’ve been fun reading material for me!

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