The Blossom Festival -- Save the Date
Antique cars, dixieland jazz, soft rock and roll-all will be part of the Blossom Festival held April 13 from
10-4 PM at the Heritage Orchard and Saratoga Civic Center courtyard. The event is free and open to the public.
Activities include a wide range of music, entertainment, Saratoga historical characters, artists and artisans.
Gourmet food trucks will also be part of the fun. Children's activity tables, petting zoo, and more are planned.
The Girl Scouts are handing out flowers commemorating the historic festival.
First produced in 1900, this historic event ran successfully for 41 years. Come help us celebrate this tradition.
Produced by the Saratoga Historical Foundation and sponsored by the city of Saratoga.
For more information: 408-867-4311 or www.saratogahistory.com
Strike While the Iron is Hot — new exhibit
Come see the new the new exhibit, “Strike While the Iron is Hot” and see how the role of the blacksmith helped
shape the community. Blacksmiths were the “go-to” craftsperson in the 1800s for most any item made from metal.
They made household items such as pots, pans, and sewing needles. If you needed tools, they made hammers,
nails, axes, shovels and more. This exhibit will run until the end of February.
A new permanent building has been added to the Historic Park. The McWilliams blacksmith exhibit includes the
tools of the blacksmiths of the 1800s. The blacksmith was a key part of the growth of new communities
providing much needed skills and tools to the community. Combining film and real tools, the exhibit demonstrates
the breadth of the blacksmith’s work.
Currently on Exhibit
Currently on exhibit at the Saratoga History Museum is a crewel yarn stitchery made by Mrs. Robert Pelz. The stitchery of early day
Saratoga was designed by Delvona Stadjuhar and framed by Laura Mitchell. The stitchery called, “Saratoga,” won several awards including
first place at the Creative Needle Exhibition. The stitchery included the first post office, the Episcopal-Methodist church, Paul Mason
winery, Cunningham house and many other structures. Mrs. Pelz estimated the stitchery took over 40 hours to complete and called it a
“project of pleasure.”
Crewelwork and needlepoint embroidery are ancient techniques. Crewelwork uses 2-ply wool thread that is called crewel, which gives the
embroidery its name. Crewelwork is typically done on fabric compared to needlepoint which is done on canvas with holes. Crewel needles are
usually large and have sharp ends pointed, while needlepoint needles have blunt ends to pass through the canvas meshes easily. The sharp
crewel needles allow the user to efficiently work through the fabric and penetrating through previous stitches’ wool. The colorful 5’ x3’
stitchery will be on display through February.
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The Saratoga Historical Foundation Museum located at Saratoga Historical Park: 20450 Saratoga-Los Gatos Road, Saratoga, CA |
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- 2023 Upcoming Events
- The Blossom Festival -- April 13 from 10:00AM to 4:00PM
- Zoom Lectures:
- TBD
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Latest recorded lecture video available
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Take A Moment Out and Read About the History of Saratoga Blacksmiths!
The attached presentation gives a quick overview on the roles of a blacksmith in 1850 as well as the blacksmiths that once worked in Saratoga. The information was
given in a presentation to the Saratoga Foothill Club as well as was part of a display in the Saratoga Library lobby.
Click here for the presentation: The History of Saratoga Blacksmiths
Community Service
Saratoga High School students looking to fulfill community service requirements can contact Linda Hagelin at the Saratoga History Museum. Please e-mail HERE with the date you can work. The museum is open Friday and Sunday from 1-4PM, Saturday from 10PM to 4PM.
Visit the Museum Gift Shop
Stop by the Museum gift shop and see the new book from Author and Lecturer Robin Chapman: "The Valley of Heart's Delight--the True Tales from Around the Bay. Chapman has written many popular books about the Bay Area-- including "California Apricots-- The Lost Orchards of Silicon Valley. This book promises to be just as interesting and more! It's a compilation of various vignettes of people in Santa Clara's history. It will make a great Christmas gift or just a gift of friendship to someone interested in history. Come on by and purchase a copy. You'll find other books by Robin in our gift shop!!
The Museum Gift Shop has copies of the hard to find Florence Cunningham's "Saratoga's First Hundred Years" along with over 20 other books on local history, postcards, notecards and more.
The gift shop is open Friday and Sunday from 1-4 PM and on Saturdays from 10AM-4PM.
Support the Saratoga Historical Foundation with AmazonSmile
The Saratoga Historical Foundation is now on the AmazonSmile list. Visit www.amazonsmile.com when you want to purchase an item and select the Saratoga Historical Foundation, by doing so, .5% of your purchase will be donated to the Saratoga Historical Foundation. No extra cost to you-- it is part of a program initiated by Amazon to give back to the community.
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