Universal York

York County Green Tomatoes Shipped to Florida

2009-11-21T03:57:26Z

A friend and I were discussing my recent York Sunday News column on York County canning houses. I remember my father growing tomatoes in Chanceford Township for the canneries when I a small child. My friend's father had a much larger farming operation and continued farming longer than my family.

She then proceeded to tell me about the green tomato trade in the 1950s:

]]> They would pick perfect green tomatoes when they were about the size of a tennis ball or a little smaller. The tomatoes had to be uniform. Early in the morning she and her sister would take a truckload of tomatoes to a broker a few miles up route 74 from their farm. They started early to wait in line because every tomato would be inspected to make sure they were the same size and had no blemishes.

These York County green tomatoes would then be shipped to Florida to slowly ripen in special facilities. Eventually the tomatoes would be sent to supermarkets all over the country, probably including York County, so that customers could have "ripe" tomatoes all year.

I had never heard the story before, but it makes sense. It also explains why out-of-season tomatoes have never had much taste.

Anyone know of similar story?

Click here for more on York County canning houses.

York Bakers offer Dyspepsia

2009-11-19T03:33:51Z

I came across the two ads above in an 1856 York Gazetteer and City Directory. I understood the wheat and rye bread and the rolls and cakes. I wasn't sure about the rusks and the Dyspepsia completely stumped me. I thought dyspepsia meant indigestion, which wasn't something I thought bakers would mention, even if their wares didn't agree with the customers.

It turns out that dyspepsia really does mean indigestion, or disturbed digestion. So what were the bakers advertising?

]]> They were baking dyspepsia bread, a slightly sweet, somewhat bland wheat meal bread meant to sooth the digestive system (as opposed to bread dyspepsia, which is indigestion caused by bread). Wheat meal is coarsly ground, unsifted flour--think cornmeal. Most dyspepsia bread recipes seem to be for a quick bread sweetened with molasses and using baking soda for leavening. Some do call for sugar or yeast instead.

Rusks probably refer to a sweet raised bread that is sliced and baked again to make it dry and crisp, kind of like biscotti. It would also be the same as zweiback, produced for many years for older babies to chew on. (Zweiback is German for twice-baked.)

You can imagine the odors of fresh-baked breads perfuming the air each morning in the first block of North George St. where the two bakeries above were located.

Want to make dyspepsia bread yourself? The link below with take you to a recipe.

Molasses and baking soda bread.

I don't know if you can find wheat meal, but it seems to be somewhat similar to Graham flour, which is available. Graham flour was named for Reverend Sylvester Graham, an early 19th century healthy eating advocate. Ah-hah, so that's where graham crackers come from.

Click here for more wares with unfamiliar names.

York County Vegetables Tempt with Colorful Labels

2009-11-15T01:52:29Z

Tomatoes and Shakespeare and York County?

I recently wrote my York Sunday News column on the canning houses of York County, going back to the 1920s through the 1950s when the canneries dotted the county. Local farmers could easily haul their fresh vegetables just down the road to be canned and distributed all over the country.

The fanciful labels were lithographed in tempting color, usually depicting lush produce, but sometimes making you wonder why other designs were chosen. You can see the diversity in the photos shown here.

The Wel-Don bean labels above have a great story behind them.

]]> They are owned by a friend named Weldon. He had been looking for some Wel-Don labels for a long time and finally found these a few years ago. The story? His mother had told him that he was named for a can of peas. It seems the Ruff family, who owned the cannery at Woodbine, had a little boy named Weldon (probably the boy on the label). My friend's mother looked at the label on her can of peas and liked the name. You have to admit Wel-Don is also a fitting name for a line of cooked vegetables. Woodbine is in "the lower end" of York County where Lower Chanceford, Peach Bottom and Fawn townships meet at the confluence of Muddy and Bald Eagle creeks.

The Avondale label, from the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives, was printed for tomatoes canned at Shenk's Ferry near the Chanceford and Lower Chanceford township line by the Susquehanna River. The label says Avondale tomatoes were distributed by the "Kroger Grocery and Baking Co., with stores throughout the middle west." Even back then York County was helping feed the nation. I don't quite get the Shakespeare connection with either York County or the Midwest, and tomatoes weren't eaten in Shakespeare's time, but I guess it was a marketing thing to make the tomatoes look classy.

The Red Seal sugar corn label was shared by another friend. The corn was canned by McConkey Bros. at Wrightsville. The red seal on the label is the Great Seal of Maryland. Perhaps they were packed for a Maryland firm. The registration was a little off on printing, but it still was a striking label.

Even though you didn't get all the ingredient and nutritional information we have on labels now, the labels certainly had eye appeal. Come to think of it they probably didn't have nearly the ingredients and additives in the canned goods as we do today. Just the vegetable of choice, water and salt.

York County tomatoes shipped to Florida.

York Potato Chip Manufacturer Developed Snack Vending Machine

2009-11-13T03:10:57Z

Wouldn't you know it? As soon as I think I'm done learning about local potato chip history, something else pops up.

Did you ever think about who first came up with dispensing the little bags of potato chips and other snacks in coin operated machines? Well, guess what:

According to the August 3, 1953 York Gazette and Daily, the first successful machine was developed by staff of the El-Ge Potato Chip Company, whose York County plant is now Frito-Lay.

By the way, I did call the big Frito-Lay plant in West Manchester Township and they do make all flavors of Lay's potato chips here, as well as all flavors of Doritos. In fact the Frito-Lay website says that the York County plant produced 21 million pounds of potato chips last year.

The vending machine article reads:

]]> Vendor Developed Here

Unit Dispenses Uneven Packages

A locally-developed coin vender, believed to be the first capable of dispensing packaged good in bags such as potato chips, popcorn and other delicacies is now on the general market.
The device was developed at the El-Ge Potato Chip company here by Leonard Gillespie (above right) company president; Russell Wilson, vice president and production manager; Russell Miller (left) of the maintenance department; and Paul Long, retired superintendent of the York Corrugating company metal shop.
Patent is pending on the device by production and sales rights have been turned over to the Wright Machinery corporation, Durham, N.C., which began building the machines a few weeks ago.
The coin vendor was perfected after two years of experimentation.
Because of their uneven rounded shapes, bags of chips, shelled peanuts, pretzels, popcorn of cookies cannot be stacked in a vending machine. The Hav-A-Bag machine consists of a series of clips evenly spaced along a chain cable. Bags are hooked to the clips which are released through a chute when they strike a metal wedge.

The Hav-A-Bag machine must have been a success. Less that two weeks later, Billboard magazine reported that Tastychip of Brooklyn, N.Y. had just ordered 100 of the vendors from Wright Machinery at $229 each.

One small side note--I have noticed Miss Vickie's, an unfamiliar (to me) brand of chips recently, so I tried some yesterday when I had lunch at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Not bad for a crunchy-type chip. They are a Frito-Lay brand too. Mine were made in Texas, which I found out through Frito-Lay's nifty Chip Tracker feature.

Click below for previous potato chip posts.

Utz not to be sold after all.
Martin's.
Utz of Hanover.
Bon-Ton /Bickel's.
Senft's.
El-Ge/Eagle Snacks/Frito-Lay.
Charles Chips.

Click below for more York County inventors.

Charcoal heated iron.
Artificial Christmas tree
Dowdel's bedbug-proof bedstead.
Anstine's threshing machine.
Frey's flying machine.
Hanover fires.

York County Potato Chips in the news again.

2009-11-09T04:11:45Z

Utz or Martin's--which is best?

York County potato chips manufacturers are in the news again. It looks like Utz has pulled out of the deal to merge with Snyder's of Hanover.

Before I wrap up my "potato chip series," I want to give a nod to Herr's snack foods, located not too far away in Nottingham. Their sour cream and onion ripple chips are second only to regular Utz in my book. Jim Herr bought a small Lancaster potato chip company in 1946, shortly before marrying wife Mim. They built the business up over the years, surviving a devastating plant fire in 1951. They now make over 340 snack foods and distribute them in 26 states and in Canada.

The chip manufacturers I have been researching had their beginnings in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. In a search for more early chip makers, I checked the Polk's city directories for York County. These directories were issued every two years and covered York city and "all boroughs located on the lines of York Railways Company" [the trolley lines]. York County Heritage Trust doesn't have quite a full run of directories, but I found more than I thought I would. (See below for a sampling of the results).

Who know how many more chipmakers there were out in the rural areas, like my mother and father. Even though my parents didn't stay in the potato chip business and become multi-millionaries, I would love to have one of the little wax paper bags with the imprint of Burk's Potato Chips. I remember some unused ones around the house from my childhood, long after they stopped making chips, but I guess they were eventually discarded. You just never know what might come up at a public sale or antique shop, so if anyone ever locates one, keep me in mind.

Some chipmakers listed in city directories:

]]> There are no potato chip manufacturers listed in the 1907 Polk's directory and 1909 is missing.

1911:
Strine, Jacob W. potato chip mnfr, 574 W. Clark Ave, res. 42 N. West (see ad)

1913:
Crist, Henry W. potato chip mnfr, 726 W. York St., York (home and business)

1927-28:
Coover, George V. 272 S. Richland Ave., York (h 764 W. Princess) (Carrie)

1937-38:
Bon-Ton Potato Chips, 272 S. Richland Ave., York
Coover, Geo. V., 272 S. Richland Ave., York (h 764 W. Princess) (Carrie)
Ziegler, Chester A. (Nellie) 719 Windsor St., York (potato chip mfr., business & home)
Fauth, Edw. B.,(Virgie) 124 E. Broadway, Red Lion (potato chip mfr., business & home)
Marks, Harry (Olive) 449 S. Main, Red Lion (potato chip mfr., business & home)
Wm. C. Kinard, (Marion) 30 E. Main, Windsor (potato chip mfr., business & home)

Click below for previous potato chip posts.

York chip vending machine.
Martin's.
Utz of Hanover.
Bon-Ton /Bickel's.
Senft's.
El-Ge/Eagle Snacks/Frito-Lay.
Charles Chips.

1924 National and Pennsylvania Republicans "SAFE--SANE--STEADY"

2009-11-05T03:54:48Z

Another election has just passed, this one with little fanfare. No federal offices were at stake and only judicial ones at the state level. Many county and local officies were not up for election and some of those who were had only one candidate.

The flier above for the 1924 Republican Party candidates caught my eye when I was looking through a file on elections at the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives. The gentlemen certainly look "SAFE--SANE--STEADY."

Even though 1924 was a presidential election year, it wasn't an exciting election. The American Presidency Project shows that Coolidge won with 54% of the popular vote. Democrat John W. Davis carried only the "solid south" and Progressive candidate Robert M. LaFollette only took his native Wisconsin.

Who were these 1924 Republicans and where is the York County connection?

]]> Incumbent Calvin Coolidge had been vice-president and became president in 1923 upon the death of Warren Harding. The economy was good and Coolidge rode in on that. If things are going well, people aren't apt to vote for change. (If it ain't broke--don't fix it.)

Coolidge is known best for talking little. His running mate, Charles G. Dawes, talked too much. Dawes had won a Nobel Prize for his Dawes plan to salvage the economy of post World War One Europe, but he alienated much of the Senate, as well as Coolidge, by using his 1925 inaugural speech to long-windedly attack the rules of the Senate.

The state candidates include Edward Martin, who was successful in his candidacy for Auditor General. He later served as state Treasurer and Adjutant General and was Governor from 1943 to 1947. Fellow Republican Frank M. Trexler seems to have served a long time as a Superior Court judge.

The York County connection is Samuel S. Lewis (1874-1949), Pennsylvania Treasurer from 1925 to 1929, Lieutenant Governor from 1939 to 1943 and Secretary of the Department of Forest and Waters from 1941 to 1954. During his term he donated 35 acres of his farm to the state. It was combined with the Stine Arboretum and another 35 acres from the adjacent Almoney farm to form the Samuel S. Lewis State Park in Lower Windsor Township. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources added another 14 acres in 1999 for a total acreage of 85 acres. The park is best known for the spectacular views of the Susquehanna River and surrounding countryside and it is a great place to fly kites.

Follow the links below for more York County politics of the past.

Democratic Press staunchly Democratic.

Mudslinging in the 1832 York County election.

Blazing political rally in Red Lion.

Log cabin headquarters for Harrison.

Commerce and government in Hanover.

Hartley wants U.S. capital here.

Peter Bott upset about Tax Collector job.

Reluctant politician.

Post World War II York Celebrates Halloween--Kilroy Was Here

2009-10-30T23:06:57Z

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. Even though the war had ended a year earlier, the party tradition carried on in 1946.

As you can see from the Gazette and Daily photo above, downtown was jammed. The caption reads:

CONTINENTAL SQUARE IN A GALA MOOD--This shot from the Hartman building shows a segment of the many thousands of Hallowe'eners and spectators who jammed the Square and adjacent blocks during the community "witches' night" celebration last evening. Mayor John L. Snyder said the crowd was "at least a third" larger than last year.

The accompanying article further gives further details:

]]>

Carnival Atmosphere Pervades York as Thousands Celebrate Hallowe'en.

Thousands of kids, their harried elders and just plain spectators invaded downtown York last evening for a noisy and colorful Hallowe'en celebration and program sponsored by the city and downtown merchants.

The program was a successor to the pre-war Hallowe'en parades. There were outdoor movies, band music in Continental Square and about 25 window displays which featured such ghostly and gruesome characters as "Digger Odelle, the Friendly Undertaker," Fu Manchu," "The Red Devil," assorted ghosts, cats, serpents, witches--and the elusive Kilroy.

The latter won uncontested first place in popularity, even though most of the thousands who jammed the area in front of the store where he was scheduled to appear saw only the sign "Kilroy Was Here." There were early comers, however, who claimed to have seen the hard-to-find guy in the flesh, and described him as a lean fellow in a tuxedo and mask.

Kilroy, incidentally, was the indirect cause of the most serious damage spotted by the Gazette and Daily. Four cars parked in the 100-block West Market street, in front of the Kilroy window, were dented badly about the tops as youngsters climbed to the roofs for a good view.

A plate glass window at the Sievers and Devers jewelry store on South George street, received a bad crack during the festivities. Otherwise, police said, the crowd was "orderly."

Four children were lost and reunited with their parents, via the loud speaker system, those in charge reported.
The window displays, which attracted large crowds, featured live and mannikin performers--suited to the business establishment. A sports goods store for instance, sported "Red Grange, the Galloping Ghost."

The article also mentions band music, movies and humorous "news" by broadcaster Otis Morse. It also notes that "Almost the entire police force was on hand to keep order."

Does anyone know when York's celebration went back from party to parade?

York County Canneries Go Back a Long Way

2009-10-30T00:27:32Z

Lucky canning house, probably 1930s
My 96-year-old mother-in-law remembers picking string beans at farms in Chanceford Township when she was 10 or so in the 1920s. She says she picked beans during the day and then helped snip them at the Lucky canning house in the evening.

I purchased a Lucky canning house ledger covering September through November, 1943 at a yard sale a few years ago and donated it to the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives. The ledger shows that they were canning corn and tomatoes then.
Wholesale customers for canned corn included Daugherty & Ward, Crisfield, Del.; Fulton, Mehring & Hauser, York; Oriental Paper & Bag Co.; District Wholesale Grocery Co. and Sprague, Warner, Kenny Co., all of Washington, D.C.; Maryland Gro. Co. Baltimore, Md. and Audment Bros., Lancaster, Pa. The U.S. Government purchased both 1,500 cases of corn and 3,750 cases of tomatoes, perhaps to feed World War II troops.

See below for my recent York Sunday News column on York County canners and vegetable pickers and also a photo of the Lucky cannery workers.

]]> York County Canners Prospered
In 1948 commercial canning of vegetables and fruit was at its height in York County. Several lengthy newspaper articles that year stated that York County led the state in processors. In 1947 York County canners had shipped 1,141,239 cases of peas, 475,356 cases of green or wax beans, 586,062 cases or corn and 559,198 cases, plus impressive amounts of other vegetables and fruits. These statistics are based on 24 No. 2 cans a case, multiplying out to a staggering amount.

Hanover Foods has carried on that tradition in the county, becoming a big contender in food processing, as has Knouse Foods in nearby Adams County, but the smaller neighborhood canneries are long gone. They dotted the countryside, especially across southern York County, perhaps because of the ease of shipping from there to Baltimore and further points, first by train and then by truck.

Successful preservation of cooked food in sealed bottles and cans is said to date back to the time of Napoleon, when chef Nicholas Appert answered the general's call for a way to keep food safe to feed French armies.

Commercial canning in York County is traced back to 1874 when D. E. Winebrenner left his father's tanning business to start a canning house. Winebrenner urged local farmers to raise enough vegetables to keep the cannery supplied.

Soon other canneries sprung up, providing a close market to which farmers could quickly transport their fragile crops. Canners sometimes contracted with the farmers in the spring for their later harvest, at times not charging for seed until it could be deducted from the price paid the farmer for the delivered crop.

I'm not certain how many canning houses there were in York County. The 1920 Industrial Directory of Pennsylvania listed fifteen, but there were many more. The 1948 articles mention Spring Grove, Codorus, Airville, Hanover, Delta, Stewartstown, Laurel, Fawn Grove, New Freedom, Woodbine, High Rock, and Hungerford. Some of the smaller canning houses subcontracted for larger firms, such as the one at Shenk's Ferry in Chanceford Township, which canned for Flinchbaugh & Leber, Red Lion. Labels still exist for tomatoes the little Shenk's Ferry canning house canned, under the "Avondale" brand, for the Kroger Foods chain of the Midwest.
One of my childhood memories is the distinctive odor of piles of discarded tomato skins outside the Brogue canning house. It is gone but still commemorated by Canning House Road. My father's diaries from the 1940s show that he trucked many a load of tomatoes out that road to the canning house. Accounts for individuals in a ledger from the Lucky canning house and general store, now at the York County Heritage Trust, mixes crops sold, seeds and canned vegetables bought and necessities, such as shoes, underwear and gasoline purchased, on one page.

Some canning businesses grew to substantial size. The Chas. G. Summers Canning Co. in New Freedom was one of the largest in Pennsylvania in the mid-1940s, canning
peas, green & wax beans, tomatoes, baby limas, corn, mixed vegetables, onions and dried beans. Their "Superfine" label vegetables were distributed in all states east of Mississippi and all major marketing in the west.

A 1963 biography of William A Free, Sr., founder of Hungerford Fine Foods says his firm is "Considered one of the leaders of the canned onion industry." Hungerford Packing Company was among the recipients of the War Food Administration "A" Award and subsequent "star awards" during World War II.

Government bodies were big customers of local canneries, large and small, during wars and peacetime. The writer of one of the 1948 articles felt that quality was somewhat sacrificed for quantity during wartime, but the armed services, government hospitals, state and private institutions meant sales of tons of the big No. 10 cans by the local canners. The 1943 Lucky canning house ledger reflects World War II production and rationing. It lists many thousands of "points" under sales to wholesale distributors such as Fulton, Mehring and Hauser of York and District Wholesale Grocery of Washington, DC, and the notation "Ex of Points" for the 1,500 cases of tomatoes and 3,750 cases of corn sold for a total of $13,439.54 to the U. S. Government that November.

Marketing wasn't too bad those days: The Oct. 28, 1940 issue of Life Magazine carried a two page spread in full color sponsored by the Canned Pea Marketing Institute. It declared October 21 to November 15 as "Canned Pea Carnival," and offered seven tasty recipes for artfully photographed dishes, including "Individual Salmon Mounds with Canned Peas" and "Mushroom Fondue with Canned Peas and Cheese Sauce." A drawing of a smiling boy and girl is captioned "Canned peas are easy to digest and a wholesome source of energy. Children love then." The ad lists 120 top pea processors, including the Summers Co. of New Freedom and the Winebrenner Co. and Hanover Canning of Hanover.

After World War II labor needs were intense. Whole families, often Polish from Baltimore, moved up for the harvesting, often living in plain housing constructed for them. Men, women and children would work in the fields, pooling their earnings by family. Help also came from Puerto Rico, but after 1965, because of mechanization of harvesting and processing, only local people were needed.

The small canneries are gone, but it's nice to know that the tradition of growing and processing quality canned and frozen food is still a large part of the economy of our region, a heritage of which we can be proud.

Lucky canning house workers, probably 1930s.

Click here for more on York County canning houses.

York County tomatoes shipped to Florida.

York Weaver Offers Reward for Stolen Coverlets

2009-10-27T03:04:00Z

Martin Hoke Coverlet

York weaver Martin Hoke was so upset that a thief made off with four of his "coverlids" in 1843 that he offered quite a substantial reward for their return. They wouldn't be too hard to identify as they had both Hoke's name and the name of the client woven into each one.

If you have coverlets of your own, you have an opportunity to register them on Saturday, October 31 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at York County Heritage Trust's first ever coverlet documentation day. Coverlet experts will document the pattern, history and details of the weaver. You can also view the 42 coverlets on display in the From Old Looms to Heirlooms: York County Coverlets exhibit through November 28. The documentation will be held at 250 East Market Street.

See Martin Hoke's descriptive ad from the May 16, 1843 York Gazette below.

]]> "

$10 REWARD

4 COVERLIDS STOLEN

Was taken from the house of the subscriber in the borough of York, on Friday night last. FOUR COVERLIDS, viz: Two of them are of the Style Patern with House Borders, and the owners' names and coverlids in the coverlids on each. Mary Ann Overdeer, Red, Blue and White--Matilda Beck, Red, Blue, Green and White;--and the other two are what is called the Beauty Patern, with Deers around the Border, and the owners; names and colors on each of the coverlids. George Eyster, Red and Blue--Susan Feiser, Red, Blue, Green and White. The subscribers' name is on each of them, and were all manufactured in 1843. The above reward will be paid for the recovery of the stolen goods and detection of the thief, or a proportional amount for either.
MARTIN HOKE.
York, April 4, 1843."

Click here for more on York County coverlets.

Hoke Coverlet in "Beauty" Pattern

Equal Time for York County's Martin's Chips

2009-10-25T01:21:18Z

Undated Martin's brochure with big kettle.

OK, even though I am an avowed fan of Utz potato chips, I feel obligated to give Martin's equal time. Some of my best friends, and even beloved family members, like Martin's best. (As most York Countians know you are an "Utz person" or "Martin's person," rarely both.)

Herr's, Lays, and Middleswarth have small, but faithful, bands of followers in the area. There is also a lot of lingering nostalgia for Charles Chips, similar to Utz, and Senft's, a Martin's kettle cooked type. (Martin's do make a traditional type chip now, but all the stalwarts I know swear by the kettle cooked.)

Did Martin's start up as a very small enterprise in the 1930s or '40s, like most of the rest of the local chip manufacturers?

]]> Yes, Harry and Fairy Martin started frying chips in their farm kitchen in 1941, just like the Utz family and many others that didn't stay in the business (like my parents). Times were tough for farmers in those days, but you had the potatoes and lard readily available to turn them into small bags of crunchy treats. It was labor intensive, but profits were much better.

The Martin's built up quite a following, but kept their business fairly low key. They built a small factory and delivered the chips fresh daily to "mom and pop" groceries and market stands, according to clippings in the Martin's chip file at the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives. They built their larger factory in Thomasville in 1953.

In 1971 Ken and Sandy Potter purchased Martin's, still a small business with one truck, two full-time and four part-time employees. Ken Potter had started working for El-Ge chips when he was a teenager and knew the chip business well by then. The Potters added territory and products, including Wege pretzels and popcorn. According to the Martin's website, they now deliver over 50 routes and produce over a million bags of chips and popcorn a month at their enlarged Thomasville plant. Potter sons now run the business.

I'm not sure how long Mrs. Martin continued to work for the Potters, but one clipping revealed that at age 81 she was still driving a truck of Martin's chips to Eastern Market on Fridays to tend the stand there. She did confide to the reporter that she didn't load the truck herself anymore. Maybe potato chips are the secret of longevity? They sure make life more fun, at any rate.

Click the links below for previous chip posts.
York chip vending machine
Utz sale off.
Utz of Hanover.
Bon-Ton /Bickel's.
Senft's.
El-Ge/Eagle Snacks/Frito-Lay.
Charles Chips.

Hanover's Utz Potato Chips to Be Sold

2009-10-23T03:25:24Z

Utz new Carlisle Street plant in 1950

Here I was, all ready to resume my "potato chip series," working my way up to the biggies, including my favorite Utz chips, and what do I see when I pick this morning's paper of my porch? Utz is being sold! I breathed a little easier when I saw that Snyder's of Hanover is the tentative buyer. The maker of honey mustard pretzels can surely do no wrong. The article sounds like they don't plan to change the chips, just the owners. That's fine--just don't touch my chips!

Previous chip posts:
Bon-Ton /Bickel's.
Senft's.
El-Ge/Eagle Snacks/Frito-Lay.
Charles Chips.

The York Daily Record article has a nice little chronological history of each company gleaned from their websites: Utz and Snyder's The Utz info basically agrees with the information I found in the York County Heritage Trust file, recapped below:

]]> Salie and William Utz started making potato chips in 1921 in their summer house to the rear of their home at 39 McAllister St. in Hanover, producing 50 pounds an hour, using hand-operated used equipment they had bought from a York factory. Their first factory was built on the same site in 1930 and by 1936 they had obtained an automatic potato chip cooker and were producing 300 pounds an hour. Salie made the chips and Bill delivered them to stores and markets.

In 1949 they built a 6,800 sq. ft. plant on Carlisle Street. Salie passed away in 1965 and Bill in 1968, but the business stayed in the family with their son-in-law, F. X. Rice, carrying on the business and expanding. Pretzels were added in 1971, popcorn in the mid '70s, and cheese curls in 1986. Distribution area was expanded from South-central Pennsylvania and Baltimore area into the rest of Maryland and to Washington, DC, and then into more states.

Utz grandson Mike Rice took over in 1978, adding tortilla chips and a variety of other snacks to the line and expanding territory much further.

Their website has some interesting features, like how they pronounce Utz (not like the old-timers do) and an opportunity to sign up for their tasters' club. They also have a gallery tour Monday through Thursday from 9 to 4 at their 900 High Street plant. The timeline on the website has historical pictures of the growing company and relates that Utz now produces over a million pounds of chips a week.

I hope the expanded company gets back into more local outlets. I've complained before about how hard it to find Utz chips in Central Market and the rest of downtown York. I just discovered last week that the White Rose City Cafe, tucked far into the northeast corner of the square has a large selection of Utz chips. The carry-out salad I bought for lunch was quite good, but I smiled for blocks with the Utz chips in my bag.

What Was Found at York's Schultz House?

2009-10-20T03:45:22Z

Tray of items found at one level in one hole of dig

Many thousands of artifacts were found during the recent archaeological dig at the Schultz House, items such as pieces of pottery and dishes, bottle glass and window glass, animal bones, coal, bricks, mortar, plaster and nails--lots and lots of nails. Even a few Native American items were found. I didn't get to participate in the dig, but I was privileged to be one of the volunteers that spent nearly two weeks cleaning and marking the artifacts. Archaeologist Steve Warfel will spend the winter cataloging the artifacts and present a report to Historic York, Inc., the owner of the house, in the spring. The items will be placed with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, also the custodian of the items found in the 1979 limited dig that identified part of the prisoner of war camp.

The four+ acres on which the Schultz House sits was part of the whole tract of 280 acres owned by David Brubaker during the Revolutionary War. Camp Security was located on about 40 acres of the same tract.

It was somewhat disappointing not to find any military-related artifacts, as Camp Security was just across the field. Maybe we shouldn't be too surprised though. The Shultz House is said to have been a tavern during the Revolutionary period. Even if it was frequented by the guards, they may not have left much behind in the immediate vicinity of the house. The prisoners themselves would have been expected to stay close by the camp. The ones confined in the stockade, which still has not been located, wouldn't have had a choice. The others, those with more freedom, still needed permission to move about.

Still, the importance of the dig was twofold. First, the Schultz House is at least 245 years old. As a historic house, it is significant enough to warrant exploration. Secondly, there was no way to know if any military artifacts were there without doing a dig. To me, that underscores the importance of further exploration of other parts of the original 280 acres. My hope is that owners of the two large remaining tracts, known as the Wiest farm and the Rowe farm, someday give permission for further archaeological exploration.

Click the links below for more on Camp Security's history.

Documenting Camp Security.

Another clue to Camp Security.

Camp Security prisoner numbers hard to pin down.

See below for more photos.

]]>
A few of the holes behind the house.

Some of the holes on the western side.

Looking toward the barn from the house.

Looking from the barn toward the area where camp artifacts were found in previous digs

Sunday's York County Heritage Trust Oyster Fest Moved Indoors

2009-10-16T01:47:33Z

Lewis Miller Drawing of Jacob Busser Singing about Wine

You can enjoy a variety of good food and drink in comfort on October 18, no matter what the weather. Because of a dismal weather forecast, the 2009 Oyster Fest will be held at YCHT's Agricultural and Industrial Museum, 217 W. Princess Street. You can keep dry and warm while enjoying oysters, pork sandwiches and shrimp accompanied by fries and apple fritters and washed down with soft drinks, cider, beer or wine.

The York County wine, provided by Naylor Wine Cellars and Moon Dancer Winery, carries on a long tradition of York County vine growing and wine making, as well as the enjoyment of the fruits of the vine.

Artist Lewis Miller captures Jacob Busser singing about wine, surely local in origin, in 1812. Miller records Busser's song, in both English and German, as:

]]> "And who so-ever has a dish full of beans, and has there by a good glass of wine--So I let beans--beans be--and drink my wine."

If Busser had the oysters and the other "good eats" instead of beans he would have them and the wine.

Click here for yesterday's post on Polly Waltemyer's oysters.

Click here for 1828 York vineyard.

York County's Love Affair with Oysters

2009-10-15T01:19:05Z

Lewis Miller drawing of Polly Waltemyer Opening Oysters

Ah--fall, when York County thoughts turn to--Oysters. On Sunday, October 18, York County Heritage Trust will hold the 35th annual Oyster Fest at the Colonial Complex, W. Market St. and Pershing Ave. Oyster lovers can have them fried, stewed, or raw. Non-oyster eaters, like me, won't go hungry. Pulled pork sandwiches and steamed shrimp will tempt, along with the traditional apple fritters. Beverages include soft drinks, cider and beer.

The family event with free colonial activities runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Click here for the full schedule.

To get back to Polly Waltemyer, pictured above with a giant oyster--Polly was the cook, and possibly the owner of a York tavern in the early 1800s. Artist Lewis Miller's caption of the drawing reads:

]]> "Polly Waltemyer, opening Oysters for a Sup to Gentlemen. Well who are they? I tell you--Mr. John Stroman, George Spangler, John Miller, Adam Leitner, and Jacob Wisenthal, do the[y] pay you for your trouble. I before the[y] leave my house, one dollar each of this gentleman. I warn you to give notice." In other words, Polly let them know she would collect their bill before they left, possibly before they washed the oysters down with too much good York beer or spirits.

Click the links below for more about Yorkers and oysters.
Oysters and Ice Cream.

By the quart, peck or bushel.

And beer.
Good Barnitz beer.

See you Sunday. I'll probably be helping out at the Museum Shop stand (unless I'm eating).

Whale Sighted in York

2009-10-14T02:25:56Z

As I have pointed out before, York County, Pennsylvania wasn't as isolated a century or two ago as some might imagine. Early roads, and then railroads, made travel relatively easy to Baltimore, Philadelphia and beyond. York County people go where they wanted, and visitors found it just as easy to get here.

York was a regular stop on the entertainment circuit. Yorkers seemed to have always been a good market for performances and exhibitions from menageries to balloon ascensions to internationally know personalities, such as the diminutive Tom Thumb.

]]> Yorkers were impressed by big things, whether they were pumpkins or the whale illustrated above by Lewis Miller (1796-1882). He only dates the spectacle by "Thirty od[d] years ago, so it would have been exhibited sometime before 1850.

The whole caption reads:

"Thirty od years ago A whale was Exhibited in York in the Barn of Samuel Spangler, got in the Delaware river. 30 feet long."

Makes you wonder how many horses it took to pull a wagon with a whale on it...and how it was perserved.