Hi All! I hope you will take a minute to read this e-mail and respond. You may even be a little entertained by it. I know its long, but I would appreciate your help. This fall, the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, which operates the Arms Family Museum of Local History in Youngstown, Ohio, will open a new exhibit on wedding traditions. We are trying to research wedding traditions outside of Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania and thought that this listserv would be the perfect place to begin. In the exhibit, we will not only look at commonly known and practiced wedding customs, we will also look at traditions that seem to be common only to the Mahoning Valley (area includes Youngstown and surrounding counties.) We need your help and input desperately. We are trying to find out if some of our local customs are really local. The following customs appear to be Youngstown phenomena: #1. The Youngstown Wedding Buffet: When you come to a wedding reception in Youngstown, you are generally served buffet-style. Recently, sit-down and family style dinners are more popular, but the buffet seems to be the norm. The menu is almost always: Roast beef au jus; pasta (usually rigatoni and meatballs); green beans almondine; baby red skin or white potatoes in a butter/parsley sauce; some form of chicken, usually roasted; salad drenched in Italian dressing; and a dinner roll. I have only been to a few weddings that have served different things. #2. The Youngstown "Cookie Table": I have had some people who have come in for weddings and have commented that this is a little bizarre. I have never been to a Youngstown wedding without a cookie table. This table (or tables) is usually overflowing with homemade cookies lovingly prepared by friends and family. For our family weddings, each of my sisters and mom bake upwards of 10-12 dozen cookies (EACH!). Popular varieties include the Buckeye (of course), pizzelles, clothespins, and little Italian iced tea cookies. To give you an idea of what these tables look like. . .Imagine 6 8-foot (what my sister had) tables piled extremely high and end to end with cookies. The most recent thing is to provide cute little bags that guests can fill for enjoyment later. I once went to a wedding in West Virginia where they only had punch, cakes and pies. No cookies. #3. Wedding Soup--This soup, supposedly from Tuscany, is made locally with greens (usually escarole), meatballs, chicken, and little pastine (acini de pepe). Some Italian women put egg in the soup, and others add carrots and onions. When I have seen this outside of the Youngstown/Cleveland/Pittsburgh area (where it seems to be most common) it looks completely different than the soup described above. It is often served at holidays in Italian homes (though everyone regardless of background eats it), at local restaurants, and at sit-down wedding receptions. Campbell soup even sells it now. #4. The gargantuan wedding reception--600-800 guests can be a common thing here, though the usual number seems to be around 400. This might not be such a Youngstown Thing though. I am not sure if these are just regional customs. I can tell you that Youngstown suffers from a poor internal self-image. Recently, public service announcements on the radio have been directed at raising community pride. They site the cookie table and wedding soup as two great reasons to love living in Youngstown! So, here are my questions. . .Have you seen cookie tables anywhere outside of the area? We would love to hear about how your wedding receptions/customs differ. Have you seen wedding soup, and is it the same as the recipe described above? What about the menu at Youngstown receptions? Have you seen similar buffets at wedding receptions you have attended? What do people usually serve in your area? Do receptions in your area usually have a regional feel? When you have visited other cities for weddings, what have you observed? We could really use your help. Any and all information would be appreciated. Thanks! Elizabeth Nohra Assistant Director Mahoning Valley Historical Society 648 Wick Avenue Youngstown, OH 44502 330-743-2589 _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).