Ann Hetzel Gunkel, Ph.D., says on her website Polish Easter Traditions that in modern times, between the 1890’s and 1930’s:
“Polish and Italian immigrants were faced with an American Catholic church hierarchy controlled largely by Irish clergy, most often unsympathetic to the newcomers whom they often regarded as inferior, primitive, overly demonstrative and superstitious.
“In the face of this disdain for Southern and Eastern European Catholicism, Poles responded by forming their own Polish language parishes…while Italians responded by preserving their religious traditions in the form of “Feasts”…run by patronage societies from their home villages and cities.”
As with the green worn by the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, Poles and Italians express their ethnic pride with the “wearing of the red,” a color that appears in both countries’ flags.

Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/feed-mind-nourish-soul/2013/mar/21/st-josephs-day-day-wear-red/#ixzz2wQkr9tFl
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Sanity Claws

(21,849 posts)

2. St. Joseph Day cakes

Reply to bif (Original post)

Wed Mar 19, 2014, 11:51 AM

Mar 2014

I just learned of this tradition from an old-school Italian politician in Brooklyn. I googled "St. Joseph Day cakes" and found great photos of great baked goods.

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