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Subject: Pennsylvania German Culture

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Baptismal Certificate of William Warwood, Allentown, Pennsylvania, April 28, 1869Baptismal Certificate of William Warwood, Allentown, Pennsylvania, April 28, 1869

Printed baptismal certificate filled in and signed by Martin Wetzler, a Jewish scrivener, for William Warwood on April 28, 1869 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The certificate, printed by Leifenring in Allentown, is notable for Wetzler's rarity as a Jewish scrivener in the Lehigh Valley at that time. Wetzler, known as the "Jewish Dindamann" (penman), wrote in Hebrew, German, and English and sometimes included a Star of David on these Christian certificates.

Birth Certificate of Michael Cassyte: A Pennsylvania German Taufshine Inscribed by Martin WetzlerBirth Certificate of Michael Cassyte: A Pennsylvania German Taufshine Inscribed by Martin Wetzler

Birth certificate of Michael Cassyte, created on April 10, 1861 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The certificate is a Taufshine, a type of Pennsylvania German birth certificate, filled in and signed in Hebrew and German by Martin Wetzler, a Jewish scrivener. The document is significant due to Wetzler's Jewish identity, a rarity for a scrivener in the Lehigh Valley at the time. Wetzler's signature includes a Star of David.

Starck's Tagliches Handbuch (Philadelphia, 1834), Bound with Tagliches Gebet-Buchlein (1834), and Family Records by Martin WetzlerStarck's Tagliches Handbuch (Philadelphia, 1834), Bound with Tagliches Gebet-Buchlein (1834), and Family Records by Martin Wetzler

Leather-bound Pennsylvania German daily prayer book, published in Philadelphia by Mentz und Sohn in 1834. Includes a fraktur bookplate and four pages of family records in the hand of Martin Wetzler, a Jewish fraktur scrivener, dated June 1859. Additional birth records in another hand are present, dated in the 1860s. The book also contains a letter written in Hebrew characters.

Watercolor Caricature of a Wealthy JewWatercolor Caricature of a Wealthy Jew

A watercolor caricature depicting a stereotypical portrayal of a wealthy Jew. The drawing, possibly copied from a Pennsylvania German ABC book, features exaggerated facial features and attire. It is characterized by anti-Semitic tropes and was likely created circa 1885.