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Electric Cars - 21st century technology from the 1880s.

Posted By Blogmaster on March 29, 2009

Todays car manufacturers are working hard to bring a cutting edge technology to the 21st century by developing an efficient electric or hybrid car, but, instead of looking to the future, they might take a look back to the 1800’s. That’s right, the 1800’s; electric cars and trucks were used extensively during the late 19th and early 20th century! And that cutting edge technology? Well, it hasn’t changed much and, like so many other innovations and technologies, the Pennsylvania Dutch were right at the forefront of its development. Electric vehicles were built in Philadelphia, Boyertown, and other places here in our own region.

The Boyertown Auto Body Works produced Boyertown Built Electric vehicles, better known as Battronic Truck Company. Boyertown Electric Bus, Himmelsberger Carriage Works, The Hahn Motor Company of Hamburg, and the Commercial Truck Co of Philadelphia were all producing electric vehicles during the 19th and early 20th centuries. But those early electric vehicles were small and simple things, right? Wrong! How about a 28,000 pound, high torque, powerful electric delivery truck built in Philadelphia? Or, the elegant electric passenger cars, stylishly copied after the Victorian horse drawn coaches that the Anderson Electric Car Company produced. These were much favored by fashionable ladies… they didn’t smoke or backfire, and they didn’t require cranking the motor over to get them to start. They were clean and simple… no clutch to break, no fuel problems or fiddling with the timing… just push on the throttle and go… in clean, quiet comfort. In fact, Thomas Edison gave Henry Ford’s wife a present of an Electric car. Any lady would rather ride in an elegant electric car than in her husband’s rather crude economy car, the Ford Model T.

So, what happened to electric powered cars? They were well on the way to becoming a mainstay of the American landscape, but cheap gas and oil prices made the electric vehicles less desirable and interest in them waned… Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? What would they look like today if we had kept that course? What if the electric car that Thomas Edison gifted to Henry Ford’s wife had been the prototype for the popular Ford Model T? Well, we can’t answer those questions but, at the Kutztown Folk Festival, you will have an opportunity to view many early electric vehicles and ask questions of the vehicle historians of the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles. The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles has one of the largest collections of antique electric vehicles in the country, as well as a solar powered motorcycle and a prototype electric car built in the 1980’s that will rival the most contemporary gasoline vehicle on acceleration, speed and economy. These vehicles will be on display at the Kutztown Folk Festival.

The Kutztown Folk Festival is the oldest folklife festival in America, and is known for its unusual and unique demonstrations and presentations of the Pennsylvania Dutch. This 9-day festival has been called “one of the most unique Festivals on the East coast” by the Washington Post, and with good reason.
This year is the 60th Anniversary for the Kutztown Folk Festival. The Festival runs from June 27 through July 5, 2009, and is held in Kutztown, PA. Please visit our website at www.kutztownfestival.com for more information.

60 Years of the Kutztown Folk Festival

Posted By Blogmaster on February 11, 2009

2009 will mark the 60th year of the Kutztown Folk Festival. It has had a long, distinguished… and sometimes not so distinguished past. Started by three professors interested in folklife, they chose the PA Dutch to focus their first experimental folklife festival on. The first festival lasted 5 days, and featured hands-on experiences to the visitors, who were able to “emerse themselves in the culture and traditions of the PA Dutch”. A visitor was able to see and talk to local craftsmen - a blacksmith, wheelwright, barn star painter, cooper, weaver, and a variety of home crafts demonstrators, including a quilting bee. You could try your hand at cutting and stacking grains, shucking and grinding corn, splitting rails, as well as other crafts that changed from day to day, depending upon who was available. There were a wide variety of old fashioned childrens activities, traditional church services, plenty of PA Dutch dialect and even more PA Dutch foods! The first funnel cake ever sold in America was at that first day of the Festival in 1950. Viola Miller offered these cakes for sale. They were a family recipe she had been giving to her family as snacks when they were working in the fields. The first Hex Signs, morphed from the traditional Barn Stars, appeared in 1951, painted and promoted by Johnny Ott, an eccentric folk artist and bartender from Lenhartsville. 
The first festival was a success; and so they tried it one more year, and the rest is now history. Through the years there have been many changes, and many, many,  notable events and experiences. In 2009 the Festival will be unique, as it is every year, and will be greatly changed from those first festivals in the early 1950’s. However, the mission and the challenges have not. A visitor can still expect to be “emersed in the PA Dutch traditions and culture”, and “be able to  experience first hand the history, traditions, and the culture… constantly changing, of the PA Dutch of Eastern Pennsylvania. We invite you to share your experiences of past festivals, and what you remember that made them special.

‘08 was Great - Now Welcome to the 2009 Folk Festival! This is Your Blog Site! Join in the discussion…Just click on “Comments” to get started!

Posted By Blogmaster on May 21, 2008