Americana Insights presents the latest research and discoveries on traditional American folk art and material culture. Groundbreaking essays by leading scholars provide a wealth of new insights on a wide array of artistic traditions, covering a broad geographic area—including New England, the mid-Atlantic, South, and Midwest—and spanning the colonial era to the early twentieth century. Together, these essays bring depth and color to our understanding of the diverse American experience. This is the only interdisciplinary publication devoted exclusively to traditional Americana and folk art.

In this third volume, authors explore a beloved aspect of American folk art—Pennsylvania German redware. Focusing on redware’s production, use, and collecting in southeastern Pennsylvania from the mid-eighteenth to the early-twentieth century, the authors provide fresh insights into renowned potters such as Georg Hubener and Samuel Troxel as well as lesser-known figures. Other essays delve into the work of twentieth-century potters like Jacob Medinger, considered the last of the traditional Pennsylvania German potters, and Mildred Keyser, a pioneering revivalist potter. The authors also explore broader themes, including the use of political imagery and hunting iconography, and redware’s role in cultural exchange between Anglo-Americans and Pennsylvania Germans. A celebration of this vibrant folk art tradition and a vital scholarly contribution, Americana Insights 2025 represents the most comprehensive study of Pennsylvania German redware in more than a century.

Contributors: Johanna M. Brown, Laini Farrare, R. Erich Hess, Christopher Malone, Lisa Minardi, Karl Pass, Candace Perry, Jeff Pressman, Justin W. Thomas, Jean D. Renshaw, Adam Zayas