Berks County, Pennsylvania—with Reading as its bustling seat—has long been a stronghold of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) culture, where Christmas traditions blended Old World customs with American innovation. From the mysterious Belsnickle prowling on Christmas Eve to the thunderous "shooting in" of the New [...]
For generations of Reading, Pennsylvania residents, the Christmas season didn't officially begin with the first snowfall or the first carol on the radio. It began with Pomeroy's. Standing majestically at the corner of Sixth and Penn Streets, the department store was more than [...]
William Penn wooed and won people from their troubled homes in the Palatinate and Upper Rhine in the middle of the 17th century. Since then, the Pennsylvania Dutch have been known for their love of good food, their large tables, and the heartiness [...]
In 1914, the youth group of First Baptist Church, Reading, began the annual Easter Dawn Service on top of Mount Penn, Reading. Below: Easter Dawn Service at the Reading Pagoda, 1914. The first service was held at the Pagoda, drawing several hundred people [...]
Coronavirus kept Santa from making his traditional appearance in the Reading Holiday Parade this year, but they made up for on Friday by touring the city in a fire truck. Santa Claus visited neighborhoods on Friday, December 18, 2020, in a caravan by [...]
In 1950, Santa Claus was banned from the Reading Christmas parade. Not that the city didn't believe in Santa. But the parade sponsors, the young men of the Reading, Pennsylvania, Junior Chamber of Commerce, also known as the Jaycees, wanted the observance to [...]
The mistletoe Americans are familiar with -- phoradendron serotinum -- grows primarily in the Southeast and as far west as Texas and Oklahoma. In swamps, it can be plucked off low-hanging branches by hand. It can sometimes be taken by ladder or by [...]
William M. Koziar, the creator of Christmas Village, began decorating his home and property in 1948 for the pleasure that he and his wife, Grace, and their four children derived from the unusual display. People appreciated and applauded the beauty of the Koziar's [...]
Perhaps because people are spending more time at home, they'll take any excuse to brighten things up in this crazy year. Getting ready for the holidays is happening earlier this year, perhaps because people are spending more time at home and they'll take [...]
Around 1880, the first Slovaks arrived in Reading, PA. They came from Saris, Spis and Zemplin, areas in Czechoslovakia, and later from Trencin, Orava and Nitra, also in Czechoslovakia. During their first years in Reading, they attended Mass at St. Paul's Roman Catholic [...]
