00:29 - It all started with

00:31 - a group called the kitchenettes

00:33 - it was a women's society club

00:35 - that met here in Biglerville

00:37 - and they had the idea that Biglerville should have a

00:40 - historical society and it wasn't until nineteen ninety

00:45 - that

00:46 - Claire Ditzler gave the eighteen

00:48 - fifty six Pennsylvania bank barn to the society

00:51 - to open the apple museum.

00:56 - Apple

00:56 - industry started a lot more in this area because of the fact that

01:00 - William penn.

01:02 - he knew that apple's were such a big part of their life

01:06 - so his requirement was

01:08 - that whenever they came

01:10 - or whenever they got here they would get from someone else

01:13 - they had to plant an apple tree

01:15 - before they could even start their house

01:18 - and this will give you

01:19 - food

01:20 - it would give you something to drink

01:22 - and it would give you a

01:23 - preservation with a apple cider vinegar so that was a big

01:27 - focus of

01:28 - early settlers so that they could sustain their own family

01:32 - so i think

01:34 - it's kind of in our blood

01:36 - to.

01:37 - You know honor apples in what we do

01:40 - and it's also a connection to youth i think

01:43 - everyone knows apples give an apple to your teacher.

01:47 - Kids need to know where their food comes from.

01:50 - Only a small percentage of the country are currently

01:53 - farmers

01:54 - and if we lose that connection and think we just

01:57 - pick something off the shelf and we got food.

02:01 - I don't think that's beneficial for us so

02:03 - that's another one of our missions here is to make

02:05 - clear

02:06 - the effort that goes into everything that we eat

02:09 - and

02:10 - to honor those farmers who do that work.

02:26 - I was raised on a fruit farm my grandparents had fruit and also

02:31 - Raised cattle and pigs

02:34 - and then i

02:36 - married into a farm

02:38 - and now my husband and i own a barn.

02:41 - So Pennsylvania is the fourth

02:43 - largest fruit growing

02:45 - area in the nation

02:48 - and Adams county accounts for seventy percent of that fruit production

02:52 - so these are the

02:54 - latest

02:55 - ladder designs that

02:57 - most pickers and most farmers use

02:59 - and they have the tripod design

03:02 - they are a different material it used to be made of wood now it's aluminum

03:07 - it makes it

03:09 - that they last longer they're easier to clean and sanitize especially with our

03:16 - food safety that we need to maintain.

03:19 - They are more durable as well

03:21 - it has basically been that same design

03:24 - where it goes wider to the

03:26 - more narrow end

03:29 - and with a single-pole it makes it easier to

03:31 - go back into the tree a little bit further

03:34 - and

03:35 - so that

03:36 - it's easier for the pickers to reach those apples

03:39 - so apple trees before they cultivated them into dwarf trees

03:44 - were approximately eighteen to twenty two foot tall

03:48 - and about eight to ten foot wide

03:50 - and so it did become difficult for

03:53 - pickers to.

03:56 - Go up ladders and carry those heavy

03:59 - bags back down the tree then.

04:02 - well you'd either use a stepladder that could turn into a straight ladder

04:05 - well i used that until the day i fell out of it

04:08 - learned why it was called widowmaker cause

04:11 - the

04:11 - way that it is designed you can't do like the

04:14 - standard great ladders that you if you roll you just

04:17 - bring yourself back around with that one when

04:19 - when you get off balance it throws you down through the tree

04:22 - and i went down through the tree

04:24 - and when i was laying on the ground

04:26 - my dad hollered down and said well whenever you can breathe

04:29 - you can get up.

04:31 - Apple museum will have been part of.

04:34 - Our

04:35 - thoughts for the future so i would come in and i would

04:37 - do tours for him i would do the gift shop occasionally

04:40 - but i would go past here every day

04:43 - on my way to work.

05:18 - This museum is nestled on a little bit of farmland

05:22 - right beside the main town of Biglerville

05:25 - and it shows

05:27 - how we can keep a glimpse of

05:29 - farmland and how it operated close to us in the town

05:34 - which isn't always possible just standing outside and seeing the lovely.

05:40 - The lovely grounds

05:42 - and then

05:43 - the town

05:44 - right around it

05:45 - i think it's an interesting

05:46 - perspective that people might enjoy

05:49 - you know i would bring my kids here

05:52 - to see the exhibits

05:53 - and it would just go on and on.

05:56 - The kitchen display upstairs is one of my favorites.

06:00 - The kitchen display was donated

06:02 - by Thomas brothers country store that was owned by Marion and Jean

06:06 - they donated

06:08 - a lot of products we have drying racks for fruits and vegetables

06:12 - we have a coal and wood

06:15 - Stove

06:16 - we have butter churns which is a horizontal churn

06:19 - washbasins so you can really see how

06:22 - each element domestically would be handled in this area

06:26 - their store

06:27 - carried everything

06:28 - you could go in there and get your wedding gown

06:30 - you go in there get your diamond ring you could go in

06:32 - and get your potatoes

06:33 - your eggs your molasses why whatever it was at you needed

06:37 - and

06:38 - so what they gave us was

06:40 - an area that we have upstairs that is an actual a replica of

06:45 - what the country store was here in Biglerville

06:47 - everything that we have in there except for the crackers pretty much everything else

06:52 - is at least one hundred or more years old

06:54 - and it just is so very.

06:57 - Neat memory for me cause i came there to the store

07:01 - and so i saw those things and now I get to see them every day.

07:06 - You know i really love

07:08 - the it's going to sound funny but the pollination

07:11 - part of how

07:13 - apples are produced

07:15 - it shows

07:16 - a small.

07:18 - Jar of honey

07:20 - and the number of bees.

07:23 - That it takes to produce that small amount

07:25 - the number of miles they had to travel

07:27 - the number of flowers they

07:29 - visit

07:30 - and you just get a concept of

07:31 - you know not only is it a lot of man hours and focused knowledge and dedication

07:38 - to producing our food

07:40 - but it's also

07:42 - nature is cooperating and we're working with nature

07:45 - so if we didn't have those pollinators bees and wind and other insects

07:50 - we wouldn't have any fruit.

07:53 - Honeybees are used for pollination cross pollination between apples

07:58 - and so

07:59 - a lot of farmers will put bee hives in the beginning

08:02 - of the season before that blossom is ready to open

08:05 - and what those bees then do is take that pollen from one tree to the other and it can

08:10 - increase the production of those fruit trees.

08:14 - I think it's being able to be outside is the main thing and dealing with mother nature

08:20 - it's definitely

08:22 - stressful

08:24 - for sure

08:25 - but to

08:26 - have the pride that we have

08:28 - in being part of something

08:31 - so good great.

08:34 - Technology has made things

08:36 - more efficient

08:37 - and easier to maintain

08:41 - for sure and technology is definitely the biggest aspect

08:46 - and fruit also has progressed into so many different varieties

08:52 - that they've come out with

08:54 - different

08:54 - sized trees makes it more efficient as well.

09:02 - Semi dwarf trees are always grafted and they have that little bit of a union there

09:06 - which tends to be weaker because the caliper

09:09 - of the tree isn't

09:10 - quite as big

09:12 - there are a little bit shorter in stature

09:14 - which helps

09:16 - with the safety.

09:18 - More efficient when you're doing your chemical applications

09:22 - and more efficient when you're picking as well.

09:27 - they would be picking with

09:29 - the

09:29 - baskets

09:30 - then they went from that to picking in bags

09:34 - those are still used today a lot

09:36 - they also have bags that can hold about three quarters of a bushel

09:40 - those are ones that we'll see upstairs then

09:43 - they have a metal frame that goes around. some of 'em have

09:46 - metal on the side some have canvas

09:48 - and that's pretty much the way things are picked today with

09:52 - they've experimented in a couple of other things

09:54 - but those are still the basic ways to be able to.

09:57 - Get the apple to the bag

09:59 - to whatever the container is

10:01 - we use apple picking buckets

10:04 - which reduces the risk of bruising

10:07 - or any kind of fissures or anything in the the fruit

10:10 - and then what we do was put them into

10:14 - bulk bins usually anywhere from ten bushel bins to twenty bushel bins

10:20 - and then

10:21 - from there they're taken off to

10:24 - either the factory if they're going for

10:27 - Processing apples or if they're going for fresh

10:30 - fruit apples they'll go into the cold storage as well

10:34 - you know at first

10:35 - you have a family farm and that is feeding your own family.

10:41 - If you have anything

10:42 - left over you can sell that at your local market in town.

10:46 - Or to your neighbors if they have a need

10:49 - people started expanding more

10:51 - from their orchard they will put

10:53 - barrels of apples and they'd take them to places around here

10:56 - that were established

10:57 - selling just to local then expanding to be

11:00 - a commercial product railroad started being part of it

11:04 - and as railroads started being

11:06 - pickup points for it then we started expanding into

11:09 - more processing plants along with his pickup places

11:12 - Mott's started out

11:14 - as Adam's apple

11:15 - it was in by a company in

11:17 - new York and they were just a small packing area for

11:22 - processing area for apples they also did tomatoes

11:25 - and other

11:26 - vegetables and other fruits then too.

11:29 - Musselman's started in this area

11:31 - as far as

11:33 - starting

11:34 - the processing that

11:36 - is

11:36 - part of it now

11:38 - in 1907

11:40 - They are mainly

11:42 - sourced here.

11:43 - This is where their products are sourced as well all of the fruit and apples

11:48 - and this is they have several different production plants around here

11:52 - they definitely

11:54 - make up for a large portion of our

11:58 - economy here in Adams county

12:05 - This machine is a peas peeler

12:08 - this was used in the factories at home

12:10 - you would use a knife or you would use one of the

12:13 - three hundred and some different

12:15 - apple peelers that have been

12:17 - Patented.

12:18 - However

12:19 - this was using the factory

12:21 - this now is all automated but it was for years done by hand

12:25 - i got the

12:26 - opportunity to be able to use this one year whenever

12:29 - there were

12:30 - union members that went on strike and the

12:33 - stockholders had to send someone i got to be the one know from our family that got to

12:37 - go

12:38 - what they would do is

12:41 - this part right here.

12:43 - This part right here will core the apple.

12:46 - This part will peel the apple.

12:49 - If anything else is there it was still

12:51 - or and peel it

12:52 - so you learn really quickly how to get these apples on to get them on properly

12:57 - whenever you would put on

12:59 - an apple here you had to be ready for this one and this one

13:02 - because these

13:04 - peeled.

13:05 - Each of these peels fifty apples

13:08 - per

13:09 - minute.

13:10 - That's a lot of apples.

13:13 - The original founders had a sense

13:16 - of

13:17 - how the community wanted to preserve

13:20 - the way of life

13:21 - that developed around the apple industry here in Biglerville

13:25 - and

13:26 - the northern part of Adams county.

13:28 - From the original donations of housewares

13:31 - the apple industry a

13:34 - and very early farming donations

13:36 - they developed a

13:38 - series of

13:39 - exhibits that take you through how

13:42 - the apple industry developed in our area.

13:46 - The original way of building Barns

13:48 - is what is reflected in our structure that's all exposed and you can see

13:53 - how they built the barn

13:55 - and how it's surviving to this day

13:57 - but of course it always needs help

13:59 - so we recently got a Grant from the

14:02 - daughters of the American revolution

14:05 - historic preservation Grant

14:06 - for almost ten thousand dollars

14:08 - to replace our an

14:10 - eastern wall that donation is really going to help us to restore

14:15 - the sliding on that wall

14:16 - so we're excited about that.

14:19 - I do have a lot of pride in the rich history

14:21 - of Adams county and especially fruit growling

14:24 - so the mission of the apple museum is definitely to educate

14:29 - and to bring awareness

14:31 - to

14:32 - the agriculture to the history rich history of Adams county

14:36 - and what it's done for our community

14:39 - and so many families in this area have a background in agriculture

14:45 - and we just like to highlight that

14:47 - we have

14:48 - a wonderful library here at the national apple museum

14:52 - that is filled with

14:54 - the genealogical records the

14:56 - family

14:57 - that are.

14:58 - Based here

14:59 - and have perhaps moved out of the area

15:02 - family members can come and do research

15:05 - by appointment or when we're open on the weekends

15:07 - we have horticultural science and.

15:11 - Wonderful reference books and going back to the

15:15 - you know mid nineteenth century which

15:18 - fascinating to look at

15:20 - and we have.

15:21 - Recordings from the growers in our area

15:24 - which tell about the process and how

15:27 - it has changed and

15:28 - about their family connections with the area

15:31 - and

15:32 - in addition to that we have

15:34 - apparently the largest collection of apple crate labels beautiful artwork

15:38 - so there are a lot of things that can be gleaned

15:41 - from the history of apples that have to do with the hit the

15:44 - culture and history of the whole country

15:47 - something is really interesting is barrels were not

15:49 - not cheap to make

15:50 - and that was how everything with shipped well they were finding that these apples.

15:55 - As they got commercialized if they went to Baltimore if they went to Washington if

15:59 - they went overseas those containers never came back to them

16:03 - so they kept finding ways to be able to mark them so that they did

16:07 - which came about with the crate labels and i know barrels that i saw they would

16:12 - that were older older ones they did a lot with burning you know like it with that they

16:17 - would burn on Pitzer fruit farm or they would just put on

16:20 - p fruit farm in there something like that

16:22 - so

16:23 - they did the crate labels which was really very pretty.

16:27 - To be able to get a brand i guess is what you'd call it

16:31 - somewhat put their name such as i said ours was Pitzer's fruit farm and then have a

16:35 - really pretty picture and they would have the name

16:37 - of the farm and then they would have the

16:39 - address or where it was what county it was from

16:42 - with the

16:43 - that it has developed more into just stencils

16:45 - then like on the boxes the corrugated boxes

16:48 - you can stamp it.

16:51 - Well as i say as we get more

16:53 - automated

16:55 - more

16:56 - distanced

16:57 - from our food production.

17:00 - It's important to remember the efforts of the generations that went before us.

17:05 - What they did but

17:06 - also how they did it

17:08 - just to know

17:09 - that we're not.

17:10 - Alone in our ventures you know that

17:13 - that everyone is working together on projects like food production

17:18 - and i hope that makes people feel proud of their country and

17:23 - more connected to their community.

17:25 - I can say the last five years is almost.

17:29 - Weekly.

17:31 - That

17:31 - i get some kind of phone call or some kind of email

17:35 - with people wanting to donate things.

17:40 - We used to at our fruit stand

17:43 - we had a fruit stand and sort of a.

17:46 - A little store kind of thing with it too

17:49 - we would dry apple heads.

17:51 - We would make little clothes for them

17:53 - and had them set up. well one of the ladies that bought this from us

17:58 - now about forty five or fifty years ago and she wanted it to come back to me

18:03 - and so she brought it in one day for me

18:06 - and

18:06 - i said no.

18:08 - I really like other people to see it so.

18:11 - You know i put it here at the museum

18:13 - to be able to be seen

18:15 - we have over two hundred members

18:17 - and

18:19 - also we have one hundred

18:20 - or so volunteers that come here and collaborate

18:23 - so we have a new website

18:25 - and that has podcast of our growers and other people involved with our museum

18:31 - we just constantly have

18:33 - new projects all the time going on the the podcasts have been wonderful I've been

18:37 - part of some of the podcasts

18:39 - we had a gentleman his name was Don Horst

18:42 - he would go to different

18:44 - families

18:45 - and record them and get the background

18:47 - which is very very special

18:49 - one of the young ladies.

18:51 - Had never met her grandmother. on the podcast

18:54 - we did an interview with the grandmother

18:57 - and

18:58 - she

18:59 - sent me a

19:00 - send an email she sent a text

19:02 - she gave me a letter

19:04 - she had never heard her grandmother

19:06 - so that was so special for her

19:09 - to hear her grandmother's voice everything she knew

19:12 - was either in pictures

19:13 - or what her father mother or some family member had told her

19:17 - i think from

19:18 - archival photos we have you can see that the home community came together to

19:23 - celebrate this idea of presenting

19:26 - a public face

19:27 - on a community that had been working so hard at everyday

19:31 - life and production of the fruit that we may care

19:35 - and that has stayed with

19:37 - the museum

19:39 - and

19:40 - you know you can see by our hundred

19:41 - volunteers that people are still always involved.

19:45 - They can rent our space so we have lots of parties downstairs in our community room

19:50 - and our pavilion we have weddings here

19:53 - so

19:54 - always the community is still involved and interactive. Events like the

19:59 - Adams county blossom festival

20:02 - we have local bands that come in and utilize our facilities

20:06 - we rent the facilities out for parties and things

20:09 - and we also

20:12 - do a music on the porch series'

20:15 - during the summertime that people can come there

20:18 - we have the museum open during that time as well

20:22 - but our main

20:23 - focus is to educate on the history and the local agriculture

20:29 - people who come from afar

20:31 - stay connected with us with newsletters and on our Facebook page

20:36 - so i think that it's been a wonderful

20:39 - Catalyst to opening up the community's

20:44 - Treasures, that is to say.

20:47 - It's been a resource to opening up.

20:50 - Our community's

20:52 - wonders

20:53 - to.

20:54 - Other people and outside the area

20:57 - and it's also helped our community come together.

21:01 - As a focal point

21:03 - very pleased to see this represents

21:05 - my legacy the legacy of this the area

21:08 - the food industry

21:09 - you know the farm to table type of of thing that

21:12 - that makes it so special everything intertwines with one another working together.

21:18 - Know that someone is preserving the history that i grew up

21:22 - hearing stories from

21:24 - is thrilling

21:25 - and i hope to help that

21:27 - It's just an honor to our ancestors and it's

21:31 - important information we don't want to lose

21:33 - so

21:34 - i'm thrilled to help out

21:35 - any way i can.