Ursinus College Digital Commons @ Ursinus College Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine Pennsylvania Folklife Society Collection Spring 1987 Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 36, No. 3 Michael Colby Donald Graves Monica Pieper William T. Parsons Ursinus College Helen Urda Smith Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag Part of the American Art and Architecture Commons, American Material Culture Commons, Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Cultural History Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, Fiber, Textile, and Weaving Arts Commons, Folklore Commons, Genealogy Commons, German Language and Literature Commons, Historic Preservation and Conservation Commons, History of Religion Commons, Linguistics Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits oy u. Recommended Citation Colby, Michael; Graves, Donald; Pieper, Monica; Parsons, William T.; and Smith, Helen Urda, "Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 36, No. 3" (1987). Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine. 116. https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/116 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Pennsylvania Folklife Society Collection at Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. I------.w'l_____ -----,.-~ ~tnn~ lJ {vania oeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeo ul Ii e (tontril1utor~ MI C HAEL COLBY, a teacher in the Bethlehem A rea School District, a nd DO ALD G RAVES, a freela nce wri ter for the Bethlehem Globe­ Times a nd Early American Life magazine, are deeply in volved in 18th century life a nd traditions. T hey have bee n growing a nd ha nd -processing fl ax- spinning, dyeing a nd weaving the fi ber into cloth as was done by the settlers in colonial Pennsylva nia- a nd have been connected with the Jacobsburg Environmental Center a nd Historic Bethlehem, Inc. , since 1983 . WILLIA M T. PA RSONS, Ph.D., is professor of history, director of the Institute on Pennsylva nia Germa n Studie a nd archi vist a t Ursinus Col­ lege, Collegeville, Pa . A mong his contributions to Pennsylva nia Germa n affa irs a re severa l historical a nd fo lk cultura l books, and litera lly dozens of a rticles in numerous journa ls a nd peri odicals. T he a rticle that a ppears herei n was first presented a t the Confe rence on A mis h a nd Mennonite Life held at Essen, West Germa ny, in 1986. MO ICA PI EP ER, who has a Ph.D. in theology from the Uni versity of Mainz, is a Germa n church histo ria n whose speciality is dealing with the history of sects whose members have migrated to A merica. She teaches religious education, Germa n la nguage a nd litera ture, a nd Ita li a n a t a high school in Ludwigshafen in the Rhinela nd -Pa latina te. HELE URDA S MIT H was born in Pa lmerton, Pa ., the da ughter of Slovakia n immigra nts; they ta ught her lovak traditions as a n ethnic heritage. She grew up in a n immigra nt community in a small compa ny town, a nd visited Czechoslovaki a in 1960 a nd 1964. A writer with interests in music, a ntiques a nd history, she has worked in local businesses and in the government of Monroe County; she led the fi ght for passage of legisla­ tion providing rebates of real estate taxes to retired people in Pennsylva nia. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: Thomas E. Gallagher, Jr. Richard P. Rich ter Evan S. Snyder MA AGI G EDITOR : Nancy K. Gaugler EDITORIAL ADVISORS : Mac E. Barrick Monroe H. Fabian Albert T. Gamon Mrs. Anhur D. Graeff Terry G . Jordan Hilda Adam Kring Al fred Hans Kuby Monica Pieper Antje Sommer Paul R. Wieand Don Yoder SUBSC RIPTI ONS: SPRING 1987, VOL. 36, NO. 3 Nancy K . Gaugler FOLK FESTIVAL DIR ECTO R: Mark R. Eaby, Jr. FOLK FESTIVAL P UBLI C R ELATIO S: Peg Zecher Gail M. Hartmann CONTENTS P EN SYLVAN IA FOLKLlFE, Spring 1987, Vol. 36, No.3, pub­ 98 Die Farbarei: Bethlehem's 18th Century lished four times a year by Penn­ Dye House sylvania Folklife Society, Inc., P.O. MICHAEL COLBY AND DONALD GRAVES Box 92, Collegeville, PA. 19426. $3.00 for single copies, Autumn, 119 Daniel Sudermann, Schwenkfelder Winter & Spring. $2.50 for Sum­ mer. Yearly subscription $8 .00; Hymn Writer Back issues (v. 21-30), $3.00 each; MONICA PIEPER others P.O.R. MSS A D PH OTOG RAP HS: 128 The Pernicious Effects of Witness The Editor wi ll be glad to consider Upon Plain-Worldly Relations MSS and photographs sent with WILLIAM T. PARSONS a view to publication. When unsuit­ able, and if accompanied by return 136 Traditional Slovak Courtship and postage, care will be taken for their Wedding Customs return, although no responsibility HELEN URDA SMITH fo r their safety is ass umed. Editorial correspondence: 142 AIdes un Neies/ Old & New ancy K. Gaugler P .O . Box 92, Collegeville, Pennsylvania 19426 CONTRIBUTORS Subscription, business correspondence: (Inside front cover) P .O . Box 92, Collegeville, Pennsylvania 19426 COVER: Folk Festival correspondence: The remains of Bethlehem's last dye house. 461 Vine Lane "Thousands of yards of fabric and yarn . .. were Ku tztown, Pennsylva nia 19530 Phone 215-683-8 707 dyed here, and until ready-made cloth could be Folk Festival public relations: purchased in the early nineteenth century, this Zecher Associates dye house remained an integral part of the com­ 461 Vine Lane munity. " Kutztown, Pennsylvania 19530 Phone 215-683-5313 The collection of Pennsylvania German ma­ Layout and Special Photography terial, housed in Myrin Library on the Ursinus College campus, is under the WILLIAM K. MUNRO supervision of Dr. Will iam T . Parsons, Archi vist for Pennsylvania German Studies at Ursinus College. Copyright 1987 Fnlcrcd 3\ \(cond cla'\\ mallcr al Collegc:ville. Pa ISSN 0031-4498 DIE FARBAREl· BETHLEHEM'S 18TH CENTURY DYE HOUSE by Michael Colby and D onald Graves INTRODUCTION T he textiles for these dyes remained prima rily linen a nd T he Swedes a t Fort Christia na bega n the fi rst successful wool. Philadelphia' sheep were kept in a common fold in colony in the Delaware Va lley in 163 1, but it wasn't until the town liberties. By 1690, Willia m Bradford was a ble to 1650 tha t enough flax, hemp a nd shee p were raised to lessen write Penn in Engla nd tha t "the Woollen ma nufacturies the colony's dependence on imports, often purchased fro m have made a beginning here, a nd we have got a Publick English ships when Swedish upplies were delayed . Al­ fl ock of sheep, a nd a hepherd or two to attend them."4 In­ though Little is known a bout this Swedish textile productio n, deed , one ma nufactory hired carders a nd pinners, as well it is likely the colonists, perha ps with lndia n help, experi­ a three weavers. ( evertheless, the English, in genera l, mented with local pla nts, ba rks, a nd nuts to find out wha t preferred , with the mother country's encouragement, to colors were ava ila ble.1 Most of thei r dyei ng was for coarse import textiles ra ther tha n ma ke their own.5 Engla nd 's woolens called wadma l, si mila r to duffe l. colo ni al policy wa simple: the colonies we re sources of raw By the time of the arriva l of the English settlers under ma terial which were hipped to Engla nd fo r processing, Willia m Penn, ma ny Swedish fa rmers were prospering. then hipped back to be sold as fi ni hed goods, ea rning "Their clothing was plain, domestic linen bei ng worn in the money fo r the Crown in both directi ons.) summer a nd domestic woolens, kerseys and linseys in wi nter, Linen productio n was the provi nce of the Germa n immi­ with some ca licoes a nd cottons of imported stock. T he grants, fo r those tha t a rrived with Da niel Pastorius to settle domestic cloth was good in qua lity but badly dyed . For Germa nt own we re mainly professional linen weavers. fi ner occasions, plush, a nd sometimes satin, were used 2 Within two yea rs of their arriva l, Penn was writing pro udly Penn knew tha t Pennsylva nia's tempera te climate a nd rich of the cloth they were turning out. T he Pala tinate, where soil we re perfect fo r European pla nts, a nd he encouraged much of the Germa n immigra tion originated (i t wa the his colo nists to bring seed with them. He pla nned his Penns­ home of Bethlehem 's first dye r), had been growing flax for bury esta te to be a model of wha t could be grown here. In centuries, but it wa also fa mo us for its woad , a nd in ad­ So me Account of the Province of Pennsylvania in America , diti on to flax seed , the ettlers probably brought dye seed as written mainly to encourage immigra ti on, he mentions the well. 0 , while it's li kely the Germa n colonists raised woad la nd is thought to be ca pable of produci ng woad , madder for their blue dye- pa rticularly since imported indigio was a nd potash- two primary dye pla nts a nd a major mordant. costl y- it use is not mentioned in any period source until Neither woad nor madder is listed in the inve ntory of Penn's Bethlehem 's own dye house inve ntory of 1763 .