Bring on 2021!

Please check the PHMC Events Calendar if you're planning ahead. The Trailheads Rec Room to the right of your screen has all kinds of online offerings, available whenever you need a taste of the Trails of History.

This will be the last Trailheads post for 2020, as we take a little break until after the new year. However you're celebrating in the coming week, I hope that you are safe, warm, have plenty of good food, and get to spend time with people you love, be it in person or remotely. As we wave goodbye to this unexpectedly awful year, I want to thank my colleagues for their inspiring and resilient work to keep history alive and well and in front of the public. And as we ring in 2021 with as much optimism as we can muster, I hope that we will soon be welcoming people back on site in person, while continuing to use all these new skills. Watch for news of new virtual events and tours coming in 2021.

Speaking of virtual programs, PHMC's first Virtual Collections Showcase went off without a hitch this past Saturday. Hosted by Josh Roth, site administrator at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum, the program featured presentations by staff at Eckley Miners' Village, Old Economy Village, Pennsbury Manor, Pennsylvania Lumber Museum, and Pennsylvania Military Museum. Each site chose an object from their collection to illustrate this month's theme, food, and had five minutes to highlight their choice.

Screenshot of Eckley Miners' Village still with gallery of presenters

Objects included a homemade still, cookie cutters, a Long Island Cheese Pumpkin (living collections are part of what we do), a 1941 Christmas dinner menu from the Civilian Conservation Corps, and military rations. Several presenters shared recipes (check out boilo, gingerbread cookie, and pumpkin pie recipes, plus some bonus material). We had some lively back and forth among the staff, answering audience questions and building on each other's presentations. Near the end of the showcase, audience members had a chance to vote on their favorite object via a Zoom poll. The Eckley Miners' Village still and the Pennsylvania Military Museum's rations tied for first place and will share the PHMC championship belt until the next showcase.

We recorded the program and hope to have it available soon on PHMC's YouTube channel. We plan to offer these programs monthly and are finalizing plans for January. Keep an eye on the PHMC Calendar of Events for details.

You thought I was joking about the championship belt, didn't you? Kudos to Josh Roth.

Christmas Programming

There's still time to get your tickets for "Witness to History," this year's online version of Ephrata Cloister's popular Lantern Tours. Student historians will fill the roles of residents and field reporters on scene of the Revolutionary War hospital at Ephrata in the winter of 1777-78. WGAL 8's Jere Gish will anchor the broadcast, and there may be some breaking news. The program premieres Saturday, Dec. 26 at 7 pm, but ticketholders will have access to the recording until the end of the month. Purchase tickets via Ticketleap for $10 per viewing screen.

Pennsbury Manor has been counting down to Christmas on its Facebook page by exploring the "history of Christmas in William Penn's life and legacy." You can learn about how Chrismas was (and wasn't) celebrated in the 17th-century. You can also enjoy some modern celebration, such as this Christmas greeting from the Pennsbury Manor stables.

Selected Greetings from the Pennsylvania Trails of History

Starting today everyday has a little bit more of Light!

Posted by Conrad Weiser Homestead on Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Christmas is right around the corner. This is a piece from the Landis Family Collection....

Posted by Landis Valley Museum on Monday, December 21, 2020

It’s a silent night at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. https://rrmuseumpa.org @rrmuseumpa #rrmuseumofpa...

Posted by Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania on Thursday, December 24, 2020

From the Museum Educator: For my final post of 2020, I share with you a photograph I took of one of the front doors of...

Posted by Old Economy Village on Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Click here to watch the videos and to see other great videos! https://www.youtube.com/c/LandisValleyVillageFarmMuseum/videos

Posted by Landis Valley Museum on Wednesday, December 23, 2020

These are just a few of the friendly faces you might see at Historic Hope Lodge. As an all volunteer nonprofit...

Posted by Historic Hope Lodge on Monday, December 21, 2020

Throwback Thursday features Christmas Past at the Homestead! Most of our current traditions can be traced directly to...

Posted by Daniel Boone Homestead on Thursday, December 24, 2020