For Slovak/Polish NEPA Residents (& Visitors) (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre: hotel, house)

[Jungle George]

My cousin stopped over the other day, & we were reminiscing about our family. Being of Slovak heritage, we talked about how growing up in NYC years ago all the ethicities were "clustered" together in the same neighborhoods & about the old customs they brought over from Europe & that we grew up on.

That sent me off on a tangent to put together a "basket of Slovak goodies" for her for a Christmas present, & started me on a 3-day computer search to find out more about Christmas traditions & finding "goodies"....

Being that my grandparents came over & settled in NEPA, that's where my search started & I found some great links to share with NEPA folks (and visitors) with the same ethnic heritage!!

I found a Slovak website based right in NEPA that has great info on the Slovaks in NEPA as well as links to other sites (including help to find genealogical info on your family)!!

Slovak Heritage Society of Northeast PA

Also I found a site that has TONS of Christmas-related Slovak info including Carols, recipes, legends & traditions!!

Christmas in Slovakia

I hope y'all enjoy them as much as I did!!

[I LOVE PA!]

Jungle George!!!! I'm Slovak too!!! My Dad was born and raised in Swoyersville, his Dad was a coal miner. My grandfather lived in the house that him and his wife bought when they were first married until he passed away at 94. (1993) I was so sad to see it sold...I still drive by when I am in that area....

[Jungle George]

Originally Posted by I LOVE PA!

Jungle George!!!! I'm Slovak too!!! My Dad was born and raised in Swoyersville, his Dad was a coal miner. My grandfather lived in the house that him and his wife bought when they were first married until he passed away at 94. (1993) I was so sad to see it sold...I still drive by when I am in that area....

Hey ILP!!! Jak se másh?

My grandfather was a miner also & lived in Honeypot/Nanticoke!! I'm looking forward to seeing my grandma's house in December...1st time in 40 years!!!

[I LOVE PA!]

How I wish I could just knock on the door to my grandparents home...ah....such memories!!!

Oh....my grandma was famous for the slovak comments, but she died when I was 17...really don't remember much. Except her slovak cooking!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cathyde]

Originally Posted by Jungle George

Jak se másh?

OMG!! My grandmother would say that when we went to visit! Were your relatives like mine, speaking in Slovak when we were young so we didn't know what they were saying??

My paternal grandparents were full Slovak and lived in Nesquehoning. My grandfather and my uncle both worked in the mines in town (can't remember the number of the mine though). For a time my grandmother lived in Wilkes-Barre and worked as a maid for a family that lived just a few doors down from the Sterling Hotel. When I was home from Kings she always asked about that place!

Sadly, their home, which also was home to my aunt, was sold a little over a year ago after she died. I know the guy who bought the place and he's completely renovated it. While it looks lovely, I so missed the familiar scents and sights that the house held. *sigh*

[Jungle George]

Originally Posted by cathyde

OMG!! My grandmother would say that when we went to visit! Were your relatives like mine, speaking in Slovak when we were young so we didn't know what they were saying??

My paternal grandparents were full Slovak and lived in Nesquehoning. My grandfather and my uncle both worked in the mines in town (can't remember the number of the mine though). For a time my grandmother lived in Wilkes-Barre and worked as a maid for a family that lived just a few doors down from the Sterling Hotel. When I was home from Kings she always asked about that place!

Sadly, their home, which also was home to my aunt, was sold a little over a year ago after she died. I know the guy who bought the place and he's completely renovated it. While it looks lovely, I so missed the familiar scents and sights that the house held. *sigh*

LOL!! Oh yeah...they'd talk Slovak so the kids wouldn't understand!! My cousin who was here the other day got tired of that, so she actually LEARNED some Slovak on the side (at 10 years old) so she'd know what they were talking about!!

I'm sure when we're there in December I won't recognize the area (or grandma's house) at all (thank God for GPS)...time marches on......

[Bagldot]

Slovak here too! On both sides. Father was one of 12 children and Mom was one of 10, but spent more time with my Dad's side of the family. Actually, since my father is 100% Slovak and my Mom was only half, that makes me more Slovak than my Mom.


My father's parents and his oldest brother came over on "the boat" in 1922 and I was finally able to trace a record of their passage through the Ellis Island website a few years back. For years my Grandmother tried to find a legal copy of her records but was told that they had been destroyed. When the Ellis Island website opened to the public I tired for days to get on and research, then finally found what I was looking for at 2 am in the morning. I sat and cried once I found it. There was all the documentation of my family's entry into the country. Of course, by then my Grandparents had died, so it was sad they never had copies of their records. It showed that my Grandfather was a laborer and evidently had $25 dollars in his pocket when they arrived in America, and it showed the address of his relatives in Scranton.

And yes, the whole family spoke Slovak in front of the children whenever things got heated or they didn't want us to hear. I just loved hearing it anyway, it was kind of comforting in a way. Funny.... I think every Slovak kid learns Jak se másh! And (please pardon my phonetic spelling) Die me buszhe! (Give me a kiss)

As for Christmas traditions, we always had split pea soup, papuchkies (those little balls of dough covered with poppyseed/honey) and fish. You always had to pick those poppyseeds out of your teeth afterwards!! My Aunt would come from NY and bring the Oplatky blessed by a Slovak priest in the city. I think we served it with honey. Of course, there was always colach for desert. We lived in Jersey (I still do) and my Mom would send Dad to a some mysterious little butcher store somewhere in Dunmore to get the poppy seeds because she said that was the ONLY place that had acceptable ones. So Dad made the trek to the mysterious butcher shop 2nd week of December, no fail. I hear they're now long out of business.

There's a Slovak Festival each year in Sept at the Arts Center down the Parkway in NJ. We went with Mom a couple of years ago and my almost grown children really enjoyed learning more about their heritage.

Here's the bumper sticker I bought, and hangs in my home office, says it all:

[johnqpublic]

Breaking the wafer at Christmas??? ducks blood soup??? or red beet soup??? pickled herring?nana and djajau??? sundays were always at a relatives house??? or , sadly. black lung???? all in my family!!!

[Jungle George]

Originally Posted by Bagldot

Slovak here too! On both sides. Father was one of 12 children and Mom was one of 10, but spent more time with my Dad's side of the family. Actually, since my father is 100% Slovak and my Mom was only half, that makes me more Slovak than my Mom.


My father's parents and his oldest brother came over on "the boat" in 1922 and I was finally able to trace a record of their passage through the Ellis Island website a few years back. For years my Grandmother tried to find a legal copy of her records but was told that they had been destroyed. When the Ellis Island website opened to the public I tired for days to get on and research, then finally found what I was looking for at 2 am in the morning. I sat and cried once I found it. There was all the documentation of my family's entry into the country. Of course, by then my Grandparents had died, so it was sad they never had copies of their records. It showed that my Grandfather was a laborer and evidently had $25 dollars in his pocket when they arrived in America, and it showed the address of his relatives in Scranton.

And yes, the whole family spoke Slovak in front of the children whenever things got heated or they didn't want us to hear. I just loved hearing it anyway, it was kind of comforting in a way. Funny.... I think every Slovak kid learns Jak se másh! And (please pardon my phonetic spelling) Die me buszhe! (Give me a kiss)

As for Christmas traditions, we always had split pea soup, papuchkies (those little balls of dough covered with poppyseed/honey) and fish. You always had to pick those poppyseeds out of your teeth afterwards!! My Aunt would come from NY and bring the Oplatky blessed by a Slovak priest in the city. I think we served it with honey. Of course, there was always colach for desert. We lived in Jersey (I still do) and my Mom would send Dad to a some mysterious little butcher store somewhere in Dunmore to get the poppy seeds because she said that was the ONLY place that had acceptable ones. So Dad made the trek to the mysterious butcher shop 2nd week of December, no fail. I hear they're now long out of business.

There's a Slovak Festival each year in Sept at the Arts Center down the Parkway in NJ. We went with Mom a couple of years ago and my almost grown children really enjoyed learning more about their heritage.

Here's the bumper sticker I bought, and hangs in my home office, says it all:

Actually, oplatki is the 1st thing I found for my cousin's Xmas basket...on Ebay of all places!!

Thanks for starting the Ellis Island thought in my head....now I'm gonna have to go trace my grandparent's trek!! I think they came over between 1898-1901....their "love story" is kinda cool....

My grandparents came from Austria/Slovakia (not sure because of all the border changes in that area). My grandfather's parents were well off & owned a small estate there & raised horses for the gentry. My grandmother's parents were poor shepherds for them. When she was a little girl, my grandmother would play with the son of these people her parents herded sheep for, but then the boy's family left for America when my grandmother was 8 y/o.

My grandmother's parents decided a few years later to also go to America to do better and they settled in Nanticoke. One day when my grandmother was 16 she went (escorted of course) to a church dance in Wilkes Barre. She started dancing with this nice gentleman & they started talking. Turns out it was my grandfather & he was the one she played with in Europe as a child!!

Talk about a small world.

My grandfather's folks were doing very well financially and he told them he was going to ask my grandmother to marry him. Since her family were poor they told him "no" & that he would be disinherited if he did...

Long story short, he married my grandmother, got disinherited and ended up a coal miner.

Always thought that would've made a great play or movie!!

[Bagldot]

Awww, that's such a wonderful story, thanks for sharing! Sounds like your grandfather was a rebel Great story.