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Culinary History

Saratoga County Was Once A Leading Pork Producer

April 24, 2022 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Duroc Pig courtesy National Swine RegistryNot that they’re boasting, but lots of Saratoga County people like the ring of the “health, history and horses” theme used by the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. But 150 years ago, the thoroughbreds didn’t yet run at Saratoga Race Course on Union Avenue, and the county motto could have been “homesteads, harvests and hogs.” [Read more…] about Saratoga County Was Once A Leading Pork Producer

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History Tagged With: Culinary History, Food, local farms, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable

Crimes Against Butter: The Oleomargarine Controversy

April 12, 2022 by Milton Sernett 6 Comments

Hippolyte Mège-MourièsThe butter trade was once so important to dairy farmers in Orange County, NY that the bank in Goshen, the county seat, printed its currency on yellow paper. Popularly known as “butter money,” this currency symbolized how significant the trade in butter was to dairy farmers in dairy regions across the state prior to the introduction of refrigerated railroad cars to ship raw milk, first using blocks of ice and then mechanical cooling.

The original shipment of milk from Orange County to New York City is believed to have taken place in the spring of 1842 via the New York & Erie Railroad. Prior to this raw milk could be transported only short distances by farm wagon.

Butter, however, could be transported to markets many miles from the farm or factory where it was produced. As symbolized by “butter money,” blocks of butter were once as good as gold. [Read more…] about Crimes Against Butter: The Oleomargarine Controversy

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Agricultural History, Chicago, Culinary History, Cultural History, Dairy, French History, Goshen, Industrial History, Legal History, Madison County, Orange County

The Daniel Parrish Witter Agricultural Museum: A History

March 19, 2022 by Milton Sernett Leave a Comment

Daniel_Parrish_Witter_Agricultural_Museum,_New_York_State_Fairgrounds_-_20210411 The Daniel Parrish Witter Agricultural Museum at what is now known as the Great New York State Fair opened officially on April 30th, 1928. Daniel Parrish Witter, a long-time New York State Assemblyman representing Tioga County was born in 1852 at Richford. Witter assumed the greater responsibility for working the family farm after his father became disabled, one of his older brothers was killed in the Civil War, and two others were seriously wounded in the same conflict. [Read more…] about The Daniel Parrish Witter Agricultural Museum: A History

Filed Under: Food, History, Mohawk Valley, Western NY Tagged With: Agricultural History, Culinary History, Dairy, Franklin County, local farms, Museums, New York State Fair, Political History, Schoharie County, Syracuse, Tioga County

Wall Street History: The Great Depression & A New Deal For Working People

March 14, 2022 by James S. Kaplan 1 Comment

out of work men during the Great Depression (retouched)In 1933, during Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s first year as President, the Democrats launched a number of New Deal social welfare and economic recovery efforts to combat the Great Depression.

Among the more popular and successful of these was the creation of the Public Works Administration (PWA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), jobs programs which were modeled on similar programs in New York State. [Read more…] about Wall Street History: The Great Depression & A New Deal For Working People

Filed Under: Food, History, New York City Tagged With: Agricultural History, Charles Evans Hughes, Culinary History, Dairy, Economic History, FDR, Financial History, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Great Depression, Industrial History, Labor History, Legal History, New Deal, New York City, Political History, Supreme Court, Wall Street, Wall Street History Series, World War Two

‘Cradle of the Breed’: Gerrit Smith Miller & His Kriemhild Holsteins

March 13, 2022 by Milton Sernett 2 Comments

dedication by A. J. Strohmeyer, Jr., August 17, 1929 On August 17th, 1929, the German airship Graf Zeppelin was attempting to encircle the world. Baseball fans were still marveling about how Babe Ruth had reached the 500 mark in home runs the previous Sunday at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio. The Great Bull Market of the 1920s was yet to crash.

None of these matters preoccupied Henry A. Strohmeyer, Jr., animal photographer, as he positioned himself and his camera to capture a picture of the man of the hour. Son of a famed expert in stereoscopic photography who made a career in capturing images of the estates of the wealthy, Strohmeyer had built his own reputation largely by taking pictures of cows and bulls. He was about to photograph Gerrit Smith Miller who at eighty-four was the oldest and most respected Holstein cowman in the country. [Read more…] about ‘Cradle of the Breed’: Gerrit Smith Miller & His Kriemhild Holsteins

Filed Under: Food, History, Western NY Tagged With: Agricultural History, Culinary History, Dairy, Environmental History, local farms, Madison County, Netherlands, Peterboro

Mott’s Apple Empire Began in Saratoga County in 1842

February 17, 2022 by Guest Contributor 9 Comments

Horse Powered Apple PressYou may have noticed that “Since 1842” appears on the label of all Mott’s apple products. That was the year Samuel Mott began selling apple cider and vinegar to his neighbors in Halfmoon, Saratoga County, NY. The Mott’s apple processing empire we know today grew from that humble beginning. [Read more…] about Mott’s Apple Empire Began in Saratoga County in 1842

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History Tagged With: Agricultural History, Apples, Culinary History, Food, Fruit, Halfmoon, Industrial History, Kayaderoasseras Patent, local farms, Madison County, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable

Ice Harvesting in Saratoga County

February 13, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Ice Harvesting in Clifton Park – Early 20th CenturyBefore refrigeration, food had to be eaten in a short time before growing bacteria could cause disease. Drying, smoking and salting were used but each had their limitations. In the ancient world, ice was a luxury available to those with great power.

Prior to the nineteenth century, ice harvesting was a local and small time operation. Ponds were the best source, because still water freezes first, but all sources of water were employed. January or February was considered the best month for harvesting. Often communities or groups of farm families would work cooperatively, dividing the “crop” proportionally. In addition to hard work, the “icing” was a social occasion and opportunity for locals to pass gossip and news. [Read more…] about Ice Harvesting in Saratoga County

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History, Nature Tagged With: Ballston Spa, Culinary History, Hudson River, ice, Industrial History, Labor History, Round Lake, Sacandaga River, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Saratoga Lake, Saratoga Springs, winter

A Dog’s Tale: Dachshunds, Hot Dogs, Coney Island & Greenwood Cemetery

January 31, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp 2 Comments

The Feltman mausoleumExploding urban populations during the nineteenth century demanded new solutions towards burying the dead. Traditional congregational graveyards were either full or overcrowded. A combination of practical thinking and the wish to commune with nature (inspired by Romantic poetry) led to the development of serene burial grounds outside the city boundaries.

Founded as a “rural” or “garden” cemetery in 1838, Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery is famous for its picturesque landscape features with evocative names such as Camellia Path, Halcyon Lake, Oaken Bluff, or Vista Hill. Elaborate monuments and mausoleums, designed in an array of architectural styles, honor the Lispenard dynasty (Norman), William Niblo (Gothic), the Steinway family (Classical), and others.

And then there is the Feltman mausoleum, the columns of which feature Corinthian capitals. On each side of the doorway stands a trio of mourning figures. Those on the left hold symbols of faith (cross and doves); those on the right show grief and sorrow. The pediment features two cherubs holding a wreath with the initial F in the center. On top of the temple is a cupola with the Archangel Michael standing guard, sword at the ready. The building serves to celebrate the memory of just one man. Who was this person? A Founding Father maybe? A respected politician (if that is not a contradiction in terms)? A celebrated artist? [Read more…] about A Dog’s Tale: Dachshunds, Hot Dogs, Coney Island & Greenwood Cemetery

Filed Under: Food, History, New York City Tagged With: American Kennel Club, Brooklyn, Cemeteries, Coney Island, Culinary History, dogs, FDR, Food, German-American History, Green-Wood Cemetery, Immigration, Manhattan, World War One, World War Two

Jonathan Swift’s Oyster Test: Oysters, Sex and Culture

January 22, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

satirical print after Robert Dighton, Molly Milton, the Pretty Oyster Woman, 1788At least since Roman times oysters were associated with sex. The most obvious reason for this association is the oyster’s resemblance to the pudendum. Raw oyster was praised as an aphrodisiac. Giacomo Casanova boasted to have eaten fifty at breakfast together with a lady of his fancy.

European painters used oyster as a symbol of fertility and sexual pleasure. Aphrodite (Venus), the Goddess of love and lust, was blown over sea on an oyster shell landing at either Cythera of Cyprus (both islands were regarded by the Greeks as territories of Venus). In “The Birth of Venus” Botticelli painted her approaching the shore on a giant oyster (clam) shell. By then, the associations with female beauty and physical love were well established. [Read more…] about Jonathan Swift’s Oyster Test: Oysters, Sex and Culture

Filed Under: Arts, History Tagged With: Art History, Culinary History, Cultural History, Food, Literature, Musical History, Oysters, painting, Poetry, Vice

Oyster Slurpers: A Tale of Two Rivers

January 19, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

The Cryes of the City of LondonFor thousands of years the Thames provided London’s inhabitants with a plentiful supply and variety of fish. Until the 1820s locally caught fish was the city’s staple diet. Subsequent pollution of the river drove many professional fishermen and their families into financial ruin because of the collapse of fish populations.

Up until the twentieth century New York Harbor oysters reigned as the quintessential New York food long before pizza, pretzels, bagels, or hot dogs took their place. The metropolis once was a Big Oyster. There too, reckless management of the marine environment led to the obliteration of a huge natural resource. [Read more…] about Oyster Slurpers: A Tale of Two Rivers

Filed Under: Food, History, Nature, New York City Tagged With: Culinary History, Environmental History, fish, Fisheries, fishing, Hudson River, London, Long Island, Manhattan, Maritime History, New Amsterdam, New York City, New York Harbor, Oysters, pollution, shellfish, spanish history, Suffolk County

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