Popcorn Balls

/ sandramervillehart / 2 Comments

The Fannie Farmer Cookbook was originally published in 1896. Fannie Farmer’s name is still well-known today.

A recipe for Popcorn Balls stated that it was “an authentic old-fashioned version.” Intrigued by a recipe considered “old-fashioned” in 1896, I decided to make it.

Preheat oven to 250. (All temperatures are Fahrenheit.)

Pop 3 quarts of unbuttered, unsalted popcorn. To do this frugally, add 1/3 cup of popcorn to a lunch-sized paper bag. Important—tape the bag shut. Microwave it on the popcorn setting until popping slows. This makes at least 10 cups of popcorn, which was plenty.

Coat a large, oven-safe bowl with shortening. Pour the popcorn in the bowl and keep warm in a 250 oven.

You’ll need 2 to 4 tablespoons of butter later. For now, butter a large spoon or fork and set it aside. You’ll need some wax paper for the hot popcorn balls as well.

In a 3-quart heavy pot, combine 2 cups light corn syrup, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Stir to mix together.

Cook over medium heat. Use a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature of the syrup until it reaches the hard-ball stage of 250 degrees.

There was a strong vinegar smell when the syrup began to cook that dissipated after a few minutes.

The recipe says you can stir occasionally, but I had to make this twice because I forgot to add vanilla at the end the first time. The final caramel-type mixture worked better without stirring.

When the temperature reaches 200, watch carefully as it begins to shoot up quickly.

Remove from heat when it reaches 250. Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla. I was surprised that the vanilla sizzled. Stir to mix it in.

Remove the warm popcorn from the oven. Moving quickly, use the buttered spoon to toss the popcorn as you pour it slowly from the kettle. The caramel is very thick and pours in a thin ribbon while you move the popcorn around to cover it.

Butter your fingers. Since the popcorn sets quickly, as soon as the popcorn mixture cools enough to handle, begin shaping it into 3-inch balls. Start from the outside parts that have cooled a bit. Keep buttering your fingers to enable you to work with the sticky popcorn.

My husband and I both thought these popcorn balls tasted like Cracker Jacks. Delicious! But, if you cook it until 250, the caramel is little hard. I’d remove it at about 240—or even a little less. Experiment for the caramel consistency you enjoy.

I had fun learning how to make this, but the makers of Cracker Jacks have perfected it long ago. I think I’d buy a box next time. I bought Cracker Jacks a few months ago for a baseball party so they are still around.

Enjoy!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.

 

 

Civil War Women: Susie King Taylor, Union Nurse and Teacher

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Born into slavery in Georgia in 1848, Susie Baker lived with her grandmother in Savannah after turning seven. She and her younger sister and brother secretly attended school taught by black women.

In April of 1862, the Civil War had been going on for a year when Susie accompanied her uncle to Saint Catherine Island, seeking protection from the Union fleet there. They were taken, two weeks later, to Saint Simons Island. About 600 black men, women, and children lived there.

Susie received two large boxes of books and Bibles from the North. She used these to teach about 40 children on the island, making her the first black teacher in Georgia for free African American students. Several adults came to her in the evenings to learn how to read.

She married Edward King, a black noncommissioned Union officer, while on St. Simons Island.

Cases of varioloid (a form of smallpox) broke out among the soldiers. One soldier had to be quarantined in his tent with only his doctor allowed to see him. Having been vaccinated, Susie nursed him daily. She also faithfully drank sassafras tea, believing this kept her blood clean.

After the island was evacuated in October of 1862, Susie traveled with her husband and brothers’ regiment. She nursed the wounded, laundered clothes, and taught many black soldiers to read.

Shrapnel, bullets, and cannon balls wreak havoc on the human body. Susie’s compassionate heart allowed her to look past the gruesome wounds as she sought to relieve the men’s suffering. She bound wounds and gave water to the parched men, alleviating pain as much as she was able.

After the war, she and her husband returned to Savannah. She started a school for freed children. In 1866, Edward died before their first child was born. Susie had started two more schools by 1868.

A job as a domestic servant took her to Boston, where she met and married Russell Taylor.

Susie didn’t forget the soldiers. She helped organize Corps 67, a chapter of the Women’s Relief Corps, and served as President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Guard of this corps.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Butchart, Ronald E. “Susie King Taylor (1848-1912),” Georgia Encyclopedia, 2019/03/30 https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/susie-king-taylor-1848-1912.

 

Lardas, Mark. African American Soldier in the Civil War: USCT 1862-66, Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2006.

 

Taylor, Susie King. Edited by Malone, Margaret Gay. In My Own Words: The Diary of Susie King Taylor, Civil War Nurse, Benchmark Books, 2004.

 

 

The Love Letter by Rachel Hauck

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The story begins with a wounded soldier, Hamilton. He seems near death yet he must retrieve a letter that is very important to him.

Hamilton is a Revolutionary War soldier, fighting for independence from England. Though Esther loves Hamilton, she and her father are Loyalists. Their story is interwoven with that of a modern couple.

Actress Chloe Daschle is desperate to play a part where her character doesn’t die. Playing the part of Esther in a movie by a new scriptwriter, Jesse Gates, will rescue her from that typecasted role.

Jesse Gates’ play, based on an ancestor’s letter, has more to do with a tragedy from his own life than he cares to admit. Though Chloe tugs at his heart, he’ll never heal from his past enough to love again.

Despite failures in past relationships, Chloe still believes in love. In marriage. Jesse captivates her yet he has put up walls between them.

The author has woven an intricate story, binding the past and the present in a way that kept me turning pages.

Believable, likeable characters all face their own internal battles in a dual story that will stay with readers.

Recommend!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

Early Baseball Snacks

/ sandramervillehart

Doscher Brothers, a Cincinnati confectioner, made a type of flat popcorn ball and named it Popcorn Fritters. The snack, resembling a rice cake, was sold to the Cincinnati Red Stockings, probably beginning in the mid-1870s. Their home ballpark from 1876-1879 was Avenue Grounds, located about four miles from the center of Cincinnati. Fans traveled in trains and horse-drawn streetcars to games.

Two brothers, Frederick and Louis Rueckheim, experimented with adding molasses and peanuts into popcorn and introduced the treat when the World’s Fair came to Chicago in 1893. They perfected the product and began selling it as “Cracker Jacks” in 1896.

“Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks” is a line from the popular 7th inning stretch baseball tune “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” This song, written by Albert Von Tilzer and Jack Norworth in 1908, immortalized both baseball snacks.

Sometime from 1896 to 1908, Cracker Jacks had become a popular snack at ballgames.

The song also mentions peanuts. That salty snack got its start in 1895. Harry Stevens, a ballpark concessioner, sold advertising on scorecards. A peanut company paid for their advertisement with peanuts—a very wise decision because Stevens sold them to fans at the ballparks.

It seems we can also thank Harry Stevens for bringing hot dogs to ballparks.

Ice cream—another early ballpark food!—wasn’t selling well on a cool Spring day in 1905. Stevens sent his employees to buy sausages and Vienna rolls. The sausages were served on the rolls to fans and called “red hots.” They sold so well that he kept them on the menu. In 1910, a cartoonist shortened the name to “hot dog.”

What about drinks?

Brooklyn’s first enclosed ballpark included a saloon on an outfield corner where they sold beer.

The Cincinnati Reds ballpark from 1902-1911 was the Palace of the Fans, a grandstand designed after the Chicago’s World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. This park either had a bar on the grounds or one nearby because waiters served beer to standing-room crowds on “Rooter’s Row,” an area underneath opera-style boxes that jutted out three rows from the grandstand.

Since families attended baseball games, it seems likely those early ballparks also sold lemonade, tea, or coffee.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

“Reds Ballparks,” Reds.com, 2019/03/23 http://mlb.mlb.com/cin/history/ballparks.jsp.

Suess, Jeff. “Red’s legendary Palace of the Fans symbol of baseball’s growth,” Cincinnati.com, 2019/3/22 https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2017/04/05/reds-legendary-palace-fans-symbol-baseballs-growth/100063096/.

“The History of Ballpark Food,” History.com, 2019/03/23 https://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-ballpark-food.

“The Story Behind Peanuts and Baseball,” National Peanut Board, 2019/03/25  https://www.nationalpeanutboard.org/news/whats-story-behind-peanuts-and-baseball.htm.

Weber, Roger. “A History of Food at the Ballpark,” SportsLibrary.net, 2019/03/25 http://baseballjudgments.tripod.com/id45.html.

Wilson, Laurnie. “Candy History: Cracker Jacks,” Candyfavorites.com, 2019/03/25 https://www.candyfavorites.com/blog/history-of-cracker-jacks-retro/.

Woellert, Dann. Cincinnati Candy—A Sweet History, American Palate, 2017.

 

Civil War Women: Harriet Tubman, Union Spy

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Born into slavery on a Maryland plantation, Araminta Ross’s parents nicknamed her “Minty.” Minty later took her mother’s name, Harriet, to honor her.

At age twelve, she stepped between an overseer throwing a heavy object at a fugitive slave. It struck Harriet instead, breaking her skull. The injury caused headaches and narcolepsy that lasted all her life. She fell deeply asleep at random.

She married a free black man, John Tubman, around 1844.

Learning that she and two of her brothers were about to be sold, they escaped on September 17, 1849. Her brothers returned to the plantation, but Harriet pushed on, following safe houses on the Underground Railroad. She walked about 90 miles to freedom in Pennsylvania. Over the next few years, she rescued about 70 people, including her parents and other family members. Her husband had remarried and chose to stay in Maryland.

When the Civil War began, Harriet worked as cook, nurse, and laundress at Fort Monroe, Virginia. She assisted fugitive slaves there.

In May of 1862, soldiers and fugitives were dying of diseases when she arrived in Port Royal, South Carolina. Her knowledge of local roots helped significantly in treating their illnesses.

In 1863, Harriet, reporting directly to General David Hunter and General Rufus Saxton, commanded a team of espionage scouts searching for escape routes for slaves.

She found warehouses and ammunition and reported the locations to Colonel James Montgomery.

Late on June 2, 1863, Harriet led 150 black men, soldiers of 2nd South Carolina Battalion, on the Combahee River Raid. The surprise attack freed over 750 slaves.

After the war ended, Harriet and her family settled in Auburn, New York, and she continued to help folks in need.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Biography.com Editors. “Harriet Tubman,” A&E Television Networks, 2019/03/30 https://www.biography.com/people/harriet-tubman-9511430.

“Harriet Tubman,” History.com, 2019/03/30 https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/harriet-tubman.

“Role in the Civil War,” Harriet Tubman Historical Society, 2019/03/30 http://www.harriet-tubman.org/role-in-the-civil-war/.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Harriet Tubman: American Abolitionist,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019/03/30 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harriet-Tubman.

 

 

Flowers from Afghanistan by Suzy Parish

/ sandramervillehart

A tragedy leaves a hole in Mac’s heart and a mountain of debt. He can’t stand the raw grief in Sophie’s eyes so he does the only thing he can do for his wife—sign up as a contractor in Afghanistan. The dangerous work pays well.

Guilt fights with grief as he travels across the world. The miles apart don’t heal his relationship with his wife. They both mourn Little Mac’s death in their own ways.

This story is told entirely from Mac’s point of view as he faces danger in Afghanistan and the turmoil of his heart. He meets other men battling their own issues in the Afghanistan heat.

Believable story. Believable, flawed characters that touched my heart.

An adventure and a page-turner. Recommend.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

 

 

 

Soda Fountains Still Inspire Nostalgia

/ sandramervillehart / 2 Comments

An 1895 photo of the soda fountain and candy store at Mullane’s on Fourth Street in Cincinnati, Ohio, shows men and women ready to serve customers. A long marble-topped counter appears to have spindle-backed chairs (not stools) for at least twenty customers.

Mullane’s made their own syrups—over 30 of them—for ice cream sodas. Some of the store’s interesting flavors were Catawba syrup, Ives Seedling syrup, beef tea syrup, and Nesselrode, which was a Victorian drink with candied pineapple, Maraschino cherries, hazelnuts, and rum flavoring.

Other flavors available in the late 1800s were Cherry Smash, Orange Julep, Orange Crush, and Green River. Root beer and Coca-Cola flavors have thrived to this day.

Just how long have soda fountains been around? Samuel Fahnestock received the first patent for his soda fountain in 1819, and other inventors continued making improvements.

A soda jerk squirted the highly-concentrated soda fountain syrup into a glass and then added carbonated water and phosphate. Watching their tasty drinks being prepared must have been part of the customers’ anticipation.

Drugstores often had soda fountains, first appearing around the 1830s and growing in popularity. In 1888, Jacob Baur started manufacturing carbon dioxide in tanks. This made it easier to establish soda fountain shops, which were in demand through the 1950s.

Our tastes may have changed over the years but the sight of an old-fashioned soda fountain and ice cream parlor can still inspire nostalgia—even for those of us who never experienced its heyday.

When you see one of these shops, stop a few minutes. Relax and enjoy an experience readily available to our grandparents and great-grandparents—who probably walked to the soda shop after a movie date.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Bellis, Mary. “The History of the Soda Fountain,” Theinventors.org, 2019/3/22 http://theinventors.org/library/inventors/blsodafountain.htm.

“History of the Soda Fountain,” Soderlund Drugstore Museum, 2019/03/22 http://drugstoremuseum.org/index.php/soda-fountain/soda-fountain-history.

“Invention and History of Soda Fountain,” History of Soft Drinks, 2019/03/22 http://www.historyofsoftdrinks.com/soft-drink-history/history-of-soda-fountain/.

“Syrup Dispensers and the Drugstore,” Soderlund Drugstore Museum, 2019/03/22 http://drugstoremuseum.org/soda-fountain/syrup-dispensers/.

“The Drugstore Soda Fountain,” Soderlund Drugstore Museum, 2019/03/22 https://www.drugstoremuseum.com/soda-fountain/.

Woellert, Dann. Cincinnati Candy—A Sweet History, American Palate, 2017.

Civil War Women: Mollie Bean, Confederate Soldier

/ sandramervillehart / 10 Comments

Confederate Army of Northern Virginia cannons at Gettysburg Battlefield

On February 17, 1865, the train guard on the railroad cars between Danville and Richmond demanded to see the papers of a soldier dressed in light-colored corduroy pants, Yankee great coat, and fatigue hat dipped at a jaunty angle, almost touching the wearer’s right ear. The delicate soldier didn’t have any papers signed by the Provost Marshal nor did he seem concerned about the lack of documentation allowing him to ride the cars.

The soldier was arrested and taken to the chief of police. Rigorous questioning revealed an astonishing fact—the soldier was a young woman.

Mollie Bean claimed to be a soldier with the 47th North Carolina State troops. She’d served with them for two years and been wounded twice. Her wounds didn’t give away her disguise so they probably were minor wounds to the head, arms, or legs.

Mollie was taken as prisoner to Castle Thunder.

The reporter of the Richmond Whig didn’t believe her story of being with the 47th North Carolina for two years.

The Charlotte Daily Bulletin called her Mollie Bear, but the other papers noted referred to her as Mollie Bean.

Mollie’s regiment was in winter quarters near Hatcher’s Run when she was arrested.

Her regiment was part of Pickett’s Charge under Brigadier General James Pettigrew at the Battle of Gettysburg. They were at Cold Harbor. They took part in the long Petersburg siege, so Mollie surely experienced difficulties in her two years with the Confederate army.

There’s no record of how long she was held at Castle Thunder or what happened to her when she was released. Who she was and what happened to her remains a mystery.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

“47th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry,” National Park Service, 2019/03/18 https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=CNC0047RI.

“Historical Sketch and Roster of the North Carolina 47th Infantry Regiment,” Amazon, 2019/03/18 https://www.amazon.com/Historical-Carolina-Infantry-Regiment-Regimental/dp/1517383056.

“Mollie Bean,” American Civil War Forum, 2019/03/18 https://www.americancivilwarforum.com/mollie-bean-2248424.html.

“Mollie Bean,” Soldier-Women of the America Civil War, 2019/03/18 http://civilwarsoldierwomen.blogspot.com/2011/01/mollie-bean.html.

“Mollie Bean,” Wikipedia, 2019/03/18 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mollie_Bean

Northkill by Bob Hostetler & J.M. Hochstetler

/ sandramervillehart

Book One of Northkill Amish Series

Jakob Hochstetler and his wife Anna have fled persecution of the Amish in the Alsace region to live in the Pennsylvania wilderness. The novel begins in 1752. Readers experience the danger immediately. The warriors threatening the Hochstetlers were not from the Delaware tribe that the Amish families in the community had befriended.

Though the family survives that first hostile encounter, the event foreshadows the looming French and Indian War.

The story is told from several perspectives though nearly all of them are the Hochstetler men. Differing points of view build sympathy and compassion for each character. The story shows the escalating tension that leads to increasing violence in the midst of an Amish family called to peace.

A word of caution: the story contains violence. At that point, I was too engrossed in the drama to stop reading—I had to know what happened.

This is book one in a series.

This action-packed adventure will appeal to male readers and fans of American history.

An adventurous page-turner that kept me up too late!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Christianbook.com

Baseball Cards First Sold with Gum?

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Did you know that baseball cards celebrated a 150-year anniversary in 2018? In 1868, the first baseball cards were produced by Peck & Snyder, a sporting goods store in New York.

Tobacco companies began including baseball cards with their products in the 1880s. This practice eventually died out because they learned that children were the main audience for the cards—most states prohibited children from purchasing tobacco by the end of World War I.

So, when were baseball cards first included with gum?

H.D. Smith & Company, a Cincinnati company that began in 1856, may have been the first to include a baseball card packaged with gum. An ad that mentions HD Smith & Co.’s products in Leslie’s is dated October 27, 1888. A partial ad reads:

“A novel production of theirs this season is the St. Louis and Detroit Champion Baseball Gum—a piece of gum with a perfect lithograph picture of one of the champion nine of the National League or American Association on each piece. The pictures were made to order in Germany, and are wonders in their way.”

When an auction house came across two baseball cards from 1888, they researched the origin. The players were Sam Thompson and Ned Hanlon. “H.D.S. & Co.” was printed on one of the tabs. Further digging led to the H.D. Smith & Company. If these were printed early in 1888, they believed they might have found baseball cards from the first chewing gum company to include them.

This company manufactured and sold a variety of chewing gums. The “Big Long Chewing Gum” was advertised as “the best paraffine gum made.” They sold a patented medicinal gum called “Cough.” “Red Riding Hood” gum was advertised on ceiling fan pulls.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Blitz, Matt. “How Gum and Baseball Cards Became Intertwined,” Food & Wine, 2019/03/18 https://www.foodandwine.com/news/how-gum-and-baseball-cards-became-intertwined.

“Spectactular 1888 Scrapps Uncut Pair of HOFers – Sam Thompson/Ned Hanlon – SGC Fair 20,” Love of the Game Auctions, 2019/03/18 http://loveofthegameauctions.com/spectacular-1888-scrapps-uncut-pair-of-hofers—sa-lot3962.aspx.

“Pictorial history of baseball cards covers 150 years of diamond dandies on cardboard,” Starr Cards, 2019/03/18 http://starrcards.com/history-of-baseball-cards/.

Woellert, Dann. Cincinnati Candy—A Sweet History, American Palate, 2017.