Here is a tour of York’s Center/Continental Square, featuring the big star that was the centerpiece of the decorations from the late 1940s through the 1950s. I’m not sure when the star was first fabricated and when it was replaced with other decorations. These photos, showing the square from various
As I noted in my last post, showing photos of the Christmas trees of the Small family boys at the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century, you don’t see too many snapshots from that era. The first consumer camera had been recently introduced by Kodak and they were
It looks like children of over a century ago received plenty of toys for Christmas if they were from well off families, like Morris Small and Henry Spahr Small, pictured here. The photos are from an album of photos taken from 1896 to 1910 and donated in 1957 to the
I was in the East York post office the other day for the first time in a while. I was very pleased to see the black walnut Thanksgiving statues proudly standing in the lobby on their marble bases. It is so heartening every time you see some of our local
The photo above could have been taken about the same time as the one I recently posted of the Davy Crockett merchandise. This one is also from the Simon Collection at the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives. It is identified as McCrory’s toy department and is probably from the 1950s.
I hope you all have the best New Year ever. Here a few more of the popular New Year’s postcards from the beginning of the last century. They are from the Library/Archives collections at York County Heritage Trust. Assistant Librarian Victoria Miller has 28 New Year’s cards on exhibit in
Over the years folks have donated thousands of postcards to the York County Heritage Trust Library. Many are the scenic type, depicting local towns or specific buildings. The collection also has a large number of the holiday type, sent like we send greeting cards today. The YCHT librarians often draw
Touring the wonderful Christmas displays at Winterthur Museum has become part of my annual holiday celebration. I was thrilled Sunday to hear the Winterthur guide tell us that the very first area we were touring this year was based on an account of a Christmas fair held by the Dorcas
Halloween 1946 in Downtown York As far back as I can remember, the parade through the streets of York has been the biggest event of the Halloween season. According to the November 1, 1946 Gazette and Daily, the parade had been replaced during the war years with a downtown party.
First National Thanksgiving Marker, East Market Street, York Have you passed by the marker above, tucked into a mini-park in downtown York, PA, and wondered about the story behind it? The marker reads: “THE FIRST NATIONAL THANKSGIVING WAS PROCLAIMED FROM YORK BY THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS ON NOVEMBER 1, 1777 TO