Document Type
Correspondence
Files
Download Full Text (654 KB)
Date
1950
Keywords
Ailanthus, Raymond E. Hollenbach, Chinese Sumac, Himmelsbaum, plant lore, tree-of-heaven
Description
A handwritten letter from Raymond E. Hollenbach addressed to Alfred L. Shoemaker, dating from circa 1950. Within, Hollenbach discusses the plant lore of a tree known as Ailanthus. Hollenbach speculates that Ailanthus might also be what the Pennsylvania-Dutch call the Himmelsbaum.
Sender
Raymond E. Hollenbach
Recipient
Alfred L. Shoemaker
Corresponds to:
Packet 53-28
City
Royersford, Pennsylvania
Transcription
Himmelsbaum = ailanthus, also called "Tree of Heaven" and "Chinese Sumac".
This tree is a native of China and was not introduced into this country until some time around the middle of the last century.
If this is the "himmelsbaum" to which the Penna. Dutch attribute protective powers against lightning, this belief must be of local origin.
This tree is not mentioned in any of a number of British and German books on plant lore.
The tree has leaves something like a sumac, and grows on almost any ash pile - there is one of these trees in many backyards in the old part of Philadelphia.
REH
Language
English
Rights Statement
This item is available courtesy of the Ursinus College Library Special Collections Department. It is not to be copied or distributed for commercial use. For permissions which fall outside of educational use, please contact the Special Collections Department.
Recommended Citation
Hollenbach, Raymond E., "Letter From Raymond E. Hollenbach to Alfred L. Shoemaker" (1950). Alfred L. Shoemaker Folk Cultural Documents. 23.
https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/shoemaker_documents/23
Included in
American Material Culture Commons, Cultural History Commons, Folklore Commons, Linguistic Anthropology Commons, Social History Commons, United States History Commons
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