Hand painted crest of a saint on the exterior wall of the Helvetia Cheese Haus

Identifier:

4224.Helvetia.Photo.007.3.18.17

Title:

Hand painted crest of a saint on the exterior wall of the Helvetia Cheese Haus

Date:

2017-03-18

Creator:

Hilliard, Emily

Description:

The town of Helvetia, West Virginia, population 59, was founded by Swiss-German immigrants in 1869. In the late 60s, around Helvetias centennial, town matriarch Eleanor Mailloux worked to revive many of Helvetias Swiss traditions, co-founding the Hutte Swiss restaurant, collecting a cookbook of community recipes, and restoring the Fasnacht celebration as a public event. Helvetia also has a long-standing cheese making tradition, practiced in private homes, and in the semi-public Cheese Haus, which now is located in an old renovated mechanics garage. Documentation of foodways traditions in the community is part of the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance. Learn more: https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/Also see Emily Hilliards piece on Helvetias seasonal celebrations via The Bitter Southerner: https://bittersoutherner.com/my-year-in-helvetia-west-virginia Read her piece on the Hutte Restaurant, Something Good from Helvetia, for the Southern Foodways Alliance: https://www.southernfoodways.org/something-good-from-helvetia/ and NPR piece on Fasnachts foodways traditions: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/17/386970143/swiss-village-west-virginia-mardi-gras-feast-fasnachtLearn more about Helvetia via the website maintained by Helvetia resident Dave Whipp: http://www.helvetiawv.com/

Subject:

Cheesemaking, Food habits, Helvetia (W. Va.), foodways, Painted signs and signboards

Rights:

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Location:

Helvetia (W. Va.)

Format:

image/tiff

Source:

A&M 4224, West Virginia Folklife Program Collection