Universal York

In my April York Sunday News column, which I posted a few weeks ago, I shared my shock at how many children were included in the migrant workers that came to help harvest York County crops in the late 1940s.  An August 1948 Gazette and Daily article and accompanying full

I started working on my April York Sunday News column, which you can read below, about two months ago.  We were just starting to hear more about COVID-19 then.  By the time it was finished and published in the paper a couple of weeks ago, it became even more relevant. 

Some of us can remember when the big furniture factories in Red Lion were in full production.  Local workers crafted fine furniture shipped around the country and perhaps beyond.  A couple of weeks ago, while I was writing my recent York Sunday News column, I saw a news item that

We sometimes seem to have a love/hate relationship with old buildings.  We act like we would love to save them for their historical ties or architectural significance.  On the other hand we often seem to hate committing funds to preserve them.  This isn’t a new problem. There have always been

My last month’s York Sunday News column condensed some of the eight-part Gazette and Daily series that ran in the spring of 1940 on the thriving amateur baseball leagues of York County.  Besides an introductory article on the clubs that had come and gone before then, the first four columns

I admit I know only the basics of baseball, but I might be in the minority in York County.  For as long as I can remember, family members followed their favorite major league teams on radio and television, as well occasionally trips to the ball park to see the action

A couple of months ago I wrote a column on the basket makers of Bullfrog Alley.  Many of them seem to be the same families that were known as York’s Gypsies.  Just about all these people came to York from southwestern Germany around 1840 to 1860.  They settled around East

York’s Bullfrog Alley (part of East King Street) had a distinct personality over the years.  It was famed as the home of “gypsies” who went out traveling each summer and for basket making, some of which seem to be in same families.  It was also the home of a gang

Suppose you were ready to spread your toast and the margarine was white instead of yellow.  It is not very appealing, is it?  Some of you might remember when margarine came packaged with a capsule of yellow food coloring; it was mixed in at home to make the spread look

In my column a couple of months ago on the Weaver Organ and Piano Company, I asked readers to share their stories about with the company and its instruments. I have heard from several people about their Weaver encounters, as well as from some that would currently be happy to give