SOMERSET ― The printing press project, in a straight timeline, was 20 years in the making by the Hoffmann family wheelwrights, is still ongoing, but now visitors and participants can see what it is all about and where the artisans are taking it at Mountain Craft Days.
The festival, now 55 years old, takes everyone back in Southwestern Pennsylvania history and heritage for three lively days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 5 through Sept. 7 on the Somerset Historical Center grounds at 10649 Somerset Pike.
Hosted by the center, on-site parking is free, but there is a small entrance fee. Friday is for school kids arriving by buses.
What’s planned at the Mountain Craft Days festival?
Once there, walking several gravel and grassy loops among a woodland setting, visitors will run into more than 125 artisans, craftspeople and interpreters, all dressed in period costumes made from the material used in their era, with many performances using equipment and instruments and discourse from other eras.
Cooking gingerbread over an open fire at Mountain Craft Days.
Pioneer-era food such as apple dumplings, corn-on-the-cob cooked in a kettle over the open fire, cornmeal mush and a Pennsylvania Dutch potpie or stew made with potatoes, dough and ham or chicken will be plentiful. Many desserts to scarf down while on the move are made with molasses and maple syrup, used as sweeteners in the pioneer days.
Thirsty?
Cider is made from a cider press, styled and dating back to the 18th century. Visitors can watch the process and grab a cup of cider to go.
What’s new
According to Jacob Miller, executive director of Somerset Historical Center, the new demonstrations include reproductions of a flax scutching wheel and a printing press.
Reproductions help the Somerset Historical Society show activities that went on in Somerset County, he said.
The wheel
A flax scutching wheel invented in the 1700s is one of the first agricultural machines to be developed, because the task of scutching is labor-intensive. The wheel helped automate flax scutching, which is removing the outer husk of the scutching plant after it is processed and dried. The wheel is perpendicular to the board and the blades are mounted like on a paddlewheel boat, but hinged.
“We had several artisans and volunteers, including Mark Ware, retired executive director, we put this scutching wheel together so visitors will be able to see that in action,” Miller said.
The flax scutching wheel project was started by the Hoffmann wheelwrights at Mountain Craft Days about 20 years ago, he said. “We got it up and running this year. It will be in the weaving and flax scutching booth,” he said.
The printing press
“We finally got a working, wooden printing press,” Miller said.
The European movable type printing press, invented by German goldsmithJohann Gutenberg in 1448, combined movable metal type with a mechanical press, creating a system that allowed for the rapid, inexpensive mass production of books and accelerated the spread of knowledge in Europe.
This has been about a three-year project to put this together,” Miller said. “This is a Ramage-style printing press. It is based off of an actual example at the Juniata College Museum of Art. They have an original printing press.
“And so, we embarked on a project, where we got grant money from the Community Foundation of the Alleghenies, the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission, and then we worked with some private benefactors. Dean Hottle was a big supporter of the project. One of our Mountain Craft Days artisans built this press, Terry Werner. He built it from scratch. We got mahogany wood and a lot of unique metalwork to it.
“It will be on display. It probably won’t be working, but visitors will be able to see it and learn more about it,” Miller said.
This is part of an overall look at “Goeb Frederick Bible,” which refers to a historical Bible printed by Friedrich Goeb in Somerset as the first Bible printed west of the Allegheny Mountains in 1813 or 1815.
“We’re trying to continue that heritage here in the mountains. We are working with some book binders to show start to finish of the project,” Miller said. “Eventually, we will have some demonstrations of papermaking, bookbinding and printing.”
How it is done
“We realize the hours of dedicated hours these volunteers work to make it happen. It is not just us doing it. It is a community event that could not happen without the community support,” he said.
The Haupt Memorial Auction will be one day only, beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday at the festival, where donated items made by artisans who attend Mountain Craft Days are auctioned off and the proceeds go to the Haupts Memorial Fund for the Advancement of Trades and Crafts. This is how we keep some of these trades alive, as it gets harder to get materials and tools to do it.”
Those monies are given to aspiring artisans in the form of grants, Miller said.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to showcase our site during Mountain Craft Days and what we provide,” he said.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Mountain Craft Days: What’s new, returning for historical festival
