Folk Religion and the Pennsylvania German Broadside

Abstract

Broadsides (often called broadsheets in the British Isles) are pieces of paper printed on one side. They are usually ephemeral, meant to be read and discarded, although some, like the certificate commemorating the rites of passage, were saved and put away in one' Bible or bureau drawer. While some broadsides had political or military themes, advertised patent or folk medicines, announced theatre productions or provided texts of street songs, most of the broadsides show an orientation to religion, either organized or folk. The examples featured in this lecture are all from the Pennsylvania German world and in a very real sense provide a window of understanding into that three-centuries-old American culture.