The pretzel has popularized in Germany in the 12th century and made its way to America with emigration. The German emigrants largely settled in Pennsylvania, giving birth to an industry that is still thriving today. Americans consume $500M of pretzels each year, with Pennsylvania being the source of 80% of these goodies. Pennsylvanians are also credited with consuming 12 times more pretzels than others in the U.S. If I’m interpreting this right – we make and consume all of the pretzels in the U.S.
There are dozens on pretzel factories in southeastern Pennsylvania, including all of the brands we know and love. However, the best tasting hard pretzel is the Unique Pretzel Split. Unique Pretzels is based in Reading and the result of 16 generations of evolution -
originating in the late 1800′s, later forming into the Unique Pretzel company in 1921, and finally being a product that can be found on the shelves of Pennsylvania retailers.
I’m going to say this again because it is unequivocally true – Unique Pretzels are the best hard pretzels in the country, which puts them high in the running for best worldwide. You won’t truly understand that until you purchase a bag. I highly recommend them and recently picked-up 10 cases at the Reading bakery where they are made of them because I couldn’t find them at my local grocer.
Fortunately, they do ship pretzels and they can be found on store shelves in southeastern PA – but, distribution is spotty across New Jersey, New York and the western part of the state. However, you should call to inquire, because there are specialty stores around that do carry the Splits. You’ll want to purchase the “dark splits” – they’re the ones that are simply amazing.
UPDATE: For people that are sensitive to wheat, Unique Pretzels also makes pretzels made from sprouted wheat. Once the wheat grain is sprouted, it becomes a vegetable and is easier to digest.
e established in 1909 as a battery company and introduced a high-impacted, injected molded flashlight in the 1940′s. The product was aimed at the mining industry which was prominent in Luzerne County. Their products are distributed by WESCO, but you can find a few for sale on Ebay and other outlets on the internet.
understanding of how to make chocolate years before when she had worked at a candy shop at the age of 12. Gertrude had quit school after her father died to help earn money to support her mother and her who suffered from a heart ailment. Gertrude married at the age of 19 and raised two sons, Elmer and Richard. 
ft. facility that they moved into in 1992.
reknown Cabelas opened one of its few East Coast stores in Hamburg, Pa. 
Channel Craft makes many of their own toys, but they also distribute a very nice selection of other Made in the USA toys from around the country – all beautifully designed and packaged.
Pennsylvanians – and the “Made in the USA” sticker is still stamped on the packaged product that you’ll find in Walmarts nation wide. The company was founded in 1992 and employs 10 people – perhaps, the entire population of Penn Run, which sits about a dozen or so miles away from Indiana, Pa and about the same distance north of Johnstown.
based Martin Guitars is still run by the Martin family - 6 generations after its beginnings in the 1800′s. Martin Guitar has maintained its commitment to quality and innovation over its 175 history, having to adapt from folk music to the hard-edged rock style popular in the 1960′s and 70′s. 
precision screwdriver, isn’t exactly what many would associate with luxury watches, but Michael Kobold may change all of that. The Frankfurt, Germany born Kobold, launched Kobold Watch Co. in 1999 and has turned a lot of heads with how quickly it has found success. In fact, some are touting Kobold watches as being of the same quality as a Rolex and other prestigious Swiss brands. Part of Michael Kobold’s secret is that he uses the same parts suppliers as his Swiss counterparts. Kobold served as an apprentice in Europe to a well known, Swiss watch maker – that experience earned him a few good connections and the right to purchase high-end parts from Europe – not to mention a crash course in high end watch making.
are phosphate free, chlorine free, dye & perfume free. Their secret is the use of plant, fruit and vegetable oils that are extremely effective and umpteen times more healthy for you and the environment.
to a broad selection of wooden childrens toys that are all handsomely painted and would be excellent for any toddler. Holgate Toys has capitalized on parents interest in purchasing safe, non-toxic, locally made toys that will last through multiple generations. The toys are all incredibly well built and make great gifts!
manufacturer still selling wares in Pennsylvania.
from their 
Company, Crayola is headquartered in Easton, Pa and has its main manufacturing facility down the road in Bethlehem where it produces Crayons, markers, paints, and clay among other things. The company’s was first major product was dustless chaulk that won a gold medal for at the 1902 St. Louis World Fair. A year later, the company produced a wax-based product – the Crayola Crayon, meant for children. Crayola was a brand to represent their children’s line of products, which was considered the first non-toxic marketing utensils for the age-category. The company has been a sibsidiary of Hallmark since 1984 and also is known for Silly Putty and wshable markers. Also, check out their Easton Visitors Center for kids (and adults) – a 20,000 sq. ft. creative & visitors centers dubbed the “cornerstone of the revitalization of Easton”). 
In a day and age where you are more likely to find a iPod, cell phone, and USB drive in someone’s jeans pocket than a knife, W.R. Case still manages to produce and sell the same high quality, handcrafted knives that made it a famous at the turn of the previous century. The Case brothers originally started selling handcrafted knives off of the back of wagon in upstate New York in 1889. By 1905, the company was recognized as the premier knife company in the U.S. when the relocated their company to Bradford, Pa. Soon after, the company was called upon by the Government to produce knives for servicemen and women during World War I. According the company’s 
ability to cook at very high and very low temperatures - your first stop should be Reading based Prizer Painter to take a look at BlueStar stoves. Prizer Painter has been in business since that 1880′s and is still manufacturing stoves in Reading. The company has adapted over the years, originally selling coal ranges and furnaces, later it focused on restaurants and businesses, now the company sells high-end residential stoves with the helping hand of celebrity chefs. The company has a cult-like following and describes itself as a small company, but folks from all over the country and world fly to test out the stoves in the Reading showroom. 
students put their heads together trying to solve the Pennsylvania outdoorsmen quandry – how to get the maximum payload capacity out of a pick-up truck. They built a diamond plate aluminum truck cover that could support the weight of a four wheeler while maintain the usability of the space underneath. I’m going to make a wild guess that they may have been worried about where to put a deer if they were hauling there ATV as well, but common sense tells you that this product could be used for all sorts of things. What would result is the fast growing, Philipsburg, Pa based 
organic ”sodas”. The outfit prides itself on being certified as a “fair trade” company. Many of the ingredients are from the jungles of South America – Ceylon green tea, Guayaki yerba mate extract, Sambazon acai juice and guarana extract. They also use natural cane sugar instead of processed sugars like corn syrup. Although the product sounds niche, there have been tremendous success stories of healthy sodas going big. Izzys of Colorado has been a absolute hit and is now distributed virtually everywhere. Izzys claim to fame is that there product is only fruit juice mixed with carbonated water – far healthier than a Coke. SteaZ has a long way to go before they get that big – but they are hoping to hit $14M in revenue this year – up from $6M last year. That’s great news – the company is a great Pennsylvanian company with the beverage being made at the Lion Brewery Inc., in Wilkes-Barre and the rest of operations out of a 220 year old brick building in Newtown. The product is available in healthy food stores, including Wegmans, Whole Foods and our local favorite…ACME. - check out their store locator to find out where you can buy it.
