In The Media
'Possum Huts and Cowches: One Woman's Journey
Country Folk Art, February 1995
Helga Tacreiter
Helga describes the simple motivations that led her to build her 'possum huts and then, how her work at a dairy farm led her into rescuing and providing sanctuary for cows. In her journey as an artist from wood to stone to fabric, she relates how the essence of all three is the same. ... Read the full article.
Possum Huts: Rustic Cabins on a Miniature Scale
Country Home, August 1986
Irene M. K. Rawlings
Helga Tacreiter is no ordinary carpenter. Although she has been building houses for the past 15 years, she does not own a full-size hammer and saw. In fact, all of her tools would fit comfortably inside a large coffee can. The houses she builds are miniature cabins so accurate in every detail that it is difficult to believe they are only 2 feet high. ... Read the full article.
A Stable Home
Nutshell News, December 1988
Helga Tacreiter
Helga describes how she taught herself her stonework technique. The challenge presented to Helga was to reproduce in miniature an elaborate full-size home. Two years later, the completed miniature stone house is a triumph in miniature construction. ... Read the full article.
Not Dream Homes, but Homes for Dreaming
Nutshell News, May 1985
Sybil Harp
Helga Tacreiter's rustic 'possum huts capture the essentials that for her mean home: sleeping, eating, dreaming, reading, and staying warm. ... Read the full article.
'Possum Huts: An Introduction to the Book
Creative Crafters Journal, Winter 1985
A master carftsman whose works are all priced in excess of $100 each can quickly find out sales can be ew and far between ... Needless to say each hut requires hundreds of hours to create---even months---hence the price is a bargain paying its creator on a shrunken scale. ... Read the full article.
What Cows Do: Personality Sketches of My Cows
Humane Innovations and Alternatives, Volume 8, 1994
Helga Tacreiter
One day an almost-exhausted helium balloon drifted into the field. The cows stampeded towards it, then surrounded it, making lots of BRRHHH alarm noises. After watching it for quite some time, the bravest cow stepped forward from the circle, reached her long tongue out as far as it would go, and licked the balloon. ... Read the full article.
Just A Simple Country Church
Nutshell News, November 1988
Helga Tacreiter
Helga builds a miniature stone church with Gothic arches, stained glass windows, and multi-purpose furnishings including fine details such as a wood cookstove and as many mugs and bowls as there were pew spaces. ... Read the full article.
Cowches To Graze At Home
The New York Times, July 16, 2006
Lisa Suhay
If you're in the market for a cow, Helga Tacreiter can be of some help. She doesn't use cloning or gene therapy, but rather a combination of sewing and vegetarianism to create what she calls a cowch. These creations are life-size animal floor pillows, each named and individually patterned after the cattle tended by Ms. Tacreiter. ... Read the full article.
Moos You Can Use
People Magazine, September 2, 1996
A vegetarian for more than 20 years, Tacreiter developed a thing for cows while working on a New Jersey dairy farm in 1975. "I immediately fell in love," she says. "They had such great personalities." Alas, she quickly learned what happerns to cows when they stop producing milk---they become steaks. ... Read the full article.
The Happy True Story of Harvey Wallbanger and the Lightning Herd, or How Cowches Came To Be
PETA News, Spring 1992
Helga Tacreiter
There are as many ways to change the world as there are people in it. Here is one woman's account of how she stopped feeling helpless and created a unique way to save the lives of six orphaned calves. ... Read the full article.
The Happy True Story of Harvey Wallbanger and the Lightning Herd, or How Cowches Came To Be
PETA News, Spring 1992
Helga Tacreiter
There are as many ways to change the world as there are people in it. Here is one woman's account of how she stopped feeling helpless and created a unique way to save the lives of six orphaned calves. ... Read the full article.
And Sew On
Sew News, September 2002
Laura Taylor
As Harvey grew and Cowches caught on, calf-size and full-grown models emerged from the old Singer. As more real cows came to Helga's farm, the Cowches changed colors, and grew horns and long hair. ... Read the full article.
'Possum Huts: A Book Review
Smithsonian Magazine, April 1985
Don Lessem
What does a maid do when she isn't a-milking? She builds 'possum huts. That is, she does if she is the talented and persistent Helga Tacreiter. ... Now, in this delightful book, she invites us inside her panoply of 'possum huts. ... Read the full article.
Cows And Cowches
Teddy Bear and Friends, April 1996
Helga Tacreiter
To feed real cows, the author makes life-size stuffed versions and tells stories of Oblainka, a blind cow and #9, a swett gentle Holstein. ... Read the full article.
Cows And Cowches
Teddy Bear and Friends, April 1996
Helga Tacreiter
To feed real cows, the author makes life-size stuffed versions and tells stories of Oblainka, a blind cow and #9, a swett gentle Holstein. ... Read the full article.
Sanctuary for Unwanted Animals: Shiloh Woman Sells Crafts to Keep Farm Going
The Daily Journal, November 7, 2006
Nina Izes
Helga Tacreitrer makes no distinction between farm animals and household pets. She loves all animals so much that she is willing to use any money that she makes to rescue cows, horses and other animals that would otherwise be killed. ... Read the full article.
Bovines are Pets and Furniture at Shiloh Farmhouse
The Press of Atlantic City, March 28, 1993
Michelle Brunetti
There's a cow farmer here whose bulls are "fixed," but whose cows reproduce anyway. Or, to be more precise, they get produced---just so people can sit on them and snuggle with them. They're Helga Tacreiter's trademark Cowch cows, which are giant, realistic-looking stuffed animals big enough to use as a piece of furniture. ... Read the full article.
Rescued Animals are Inspiration for Crafter's At-Home Business
The Bridgeton Journal, December 26, 2002
Alma Hunter
Helga Tacreitrer enjoys a peaceful existence on a farm surrounded by her rescued animals --- 14 companion cattle, four horses, three dogs, six cats, two emu, two goats, three geese and two chickens. These animals, all gentle and most nuzzling her as she greets them, provide Tacreiter with the inspiration to create her life-sized, soft-sculpture floor pillows. ... Read the full article.
Cozy Up To A Good Cause
Vegetarian Times, May 1996
Helga Tacreiter makes and sells fuzzy, fake-fur "cowches" to support their real-lie counterparts: 16 cows who have been rescued from slaughterhouses and live on her New Jersey farm. ... Read the full article.
