Universal York

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textiles Archives

Advertisements in old newspapers give us a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors. Here is a sampling from the December 21, 1824 York Recorder, on microfilm at the York County History Center: FRESH CRANBERRIES The Subscriber begs leave to inform his friends and the public generally, that he has

(Illustrations from A Treatise on the Mulberry Tree and Silkworm and on the Manufacture and Production of Silk, 1839. Courtesy of York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives) Silk has been prized for as long as 5,000 years, since the fibers spun by silkworms were discovered in China and spun into luxurious

Here are some more local news items, this time from Shrewsbury in December 1889. This time I didn’t even have to go to the newspaper microfilms at York County Heritage Trust myself. Friend, relative and Dallastown native, Apyrl Zarfos Anderson, who now lives in France, has been in York County

One of the colorful patterns from Abraham Serff’s pattern book, now in the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives. Weavers were essential members of the community in 18th and 19th century America. In Pennsylvania before the Industrial Revolution you would raise sheep for wool and cultivate flax for linen fibers. After