Pennsylvania Dutch Halloween Scherenschnitte
The intricate designs that fill this collection of Pennsylvania Dutch scherenschnitte feature rambling phantoms, laughing ghosts, and dancing witches. The accompanying poems, written in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect with an English translation, conjure the spirit of Halloween.  As old as the culture itself, this style of scissors cutting is a cherished tradition. Through exacting incisions and artfully shaped features, Peter V. Fritsch creates elaborate cuttings with sinister moons, mischievous jack-o-lanterns, and frightful ghouls. A brief history of the Pennsylvania Dutch culture and dialect, a glossary of dialect terms, and an instructional page for readers to make their own Halloween paper cutting round out the book. Peter V. Fritsch has practiced the art of scherenschnitte (scissors cutting) and fractur (calligraphic drawing and lettering) for more than four decades. A seventh-generation Pennsylvania Dutchman living on his ancestral farm, Fritsch fluently speaks and writes in the dialect. He is a retired teacher, having taught art in the public school system and Pennsylvania-German history and culture at the college level. Fritsch lives in Alburtis, Pennsylvania.