LVHM:

A slide-lecture, “Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas,” will be held at 1 p.m. Dec. 10, Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, 432 W. Walnut St., Allentown.

“This talk is for anyone interested in the history of Christmas in America,” said Joseph Garrera, executive director of the museum. “The Pennsylvania-Dutch introduced many holiday traditions to our popular culture.”

The slide-lecture will explore old-time Pennsylvania-Dutch holiday customs. In the 1700s and early 1800s, many Pennsylvanians did not celebrate Christmas. Some churches at that time did not celebrate Christmas because many of its holiday traditions have pagan origins.

For the Pennsylvania-Germans, aka Pennsylvania-Dutch, who settled the Lehigh Valley, however, Christmas was a religious holiday with many folk traditions attached to it. These folk traditions included the custom of decorating Christmas trees and the idea of a magical Christmas gift-giver, important contributions to American popular culture. Other holiday traditions also share Pennsylvania-German origins, including the custom of eating poultry for Christmas dinner, thought by the Pennsylvania-Dutch to bring good luck.

The program is structured to teach visitors about historical Pennsylvania-Dutch holiday customs. It is not designed to promote or inhibit any culture or religion over another.

Information: lehighvalleyheritagemuseum.org, 610-435-1074