This Was Doylestown

This Was Doylestown, 1941

The Trapp Family Singers perform at Aldie, a Christmas party is held at the Bucks County Home, and Doylestown businesses and homes display "V" for "Victory," 71 years ago this week.

Editor's note - In 1938, the Trapp Family Singers emigrated from Austria to the United States and began making concert tours of the country. Martha Mercer, widow of sculptor William R. Mercer, Jr. (brother of Henry C. Mercer), invited the group to perform at her annual Christmas concert on Dec. 22, 1941 at Aldie, her mansion in Doylestown Township. Baroness Maria von Trapp and her seven stepchildren performed; her husband, Baron Georg von Trapp, and their three youngest children were not present. Seventeen years later, Doylestown Township resident Oscar Hammerstein II would co-write "The Sound of Music," a partly fictional musical version of Maria's life. The Trapp Family Singers performed old carols for about 200 guests at the annual …

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This Was Doylestown

This Was Doylestown, 1941

The governor marries a Doylestown widow, Pearl Buck speaks on war, and Bucks County's first blackout is slated, 71 years ago this week.

Pennsylvania got a new First Lady at noon Wednesday when Doylestown's pretty widow, Mrs. Emily Radcliffe Case, became the wife of Governor Arthur H. James at a simple but impressive ceremony in the Doylestown Presbyterian Church. Close to 200 people, including the highest political dignitaries of Pennsylvania, members of Governor James' cabinet, friends of the bride from Ithaca and other places in New York State, and a number of Doylestown folks, most of them friends of the bride since girlhood, attended the ceremony. Admission was by card only, and a long line of Pennsylvania Motor Police saw to it that no locals "crashed the gate." Two plainclothes men at the entrance to the church did the rest. The ceremony was performed by Rev. William…

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Christmas For Aldie Breaks Record

The Heritage Conservancy raised about $60,000 at what it called its most successful fundraiser to date.

Christmas For Aldie reached a new high this year. The annual black tie gala dinner held at Aldie Mansion on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011, raised about $60,000. The money will go toward the Heritage Conservancy's preservation mission and assist with the upkeep and ongoing renovations of the mansion. According to Conservancy spokeswoman Esme Artz, 198 guests attended this year's event. Attendees enjoyed a champagne and open bar, hors d'oeuvres and a seafood and beef entrée provided by Max Hansen catering. Central Bucks South High School Choir performed Christmas carol favorites during dessert and after the meal in the mansion's Great Hall. "Historic buildings and structures like Aldie Mansion help define our culture and heritage," Linda Cacossa, …

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Christmas is Coming to Aldie Mansion

Heritage Conservancy's black-tie gala fundraiser is set for Dec. 4.

The annual black-tie gala Christmas for Aldie is scheduled for Sunday, December 4th, Heritage Conservancy announced Friday. The event will take place at Aldie Mansion at 85 Old Dublin Pike in Doylestown. Historic Aldie Mansion is the headquarters of the Conservancy, whose mission for more than 50 years has been to protect and preserve this region’s natural and historic heritage. Once the private home of William and Martha Mercer, Aldie is an English Tudor Revival mansion, complete with gargoyles, vintage leaded glass windows and intricate brickwork. Aldie Mansion’s survival throughout the years is the result of a cooperative effort at preservation. Proceeds donated at this year's Christmas for Aldie fundraiser will further the Conservancy’…

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