Once upon a time, there was a blacksmith named Jack, who was also a drunkard. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, Jack was a liar, con man and cheat of such renown that even the devil heard of him. Some even said that Jack was a bigger liar than the devil himself. The very idea that anyone was a better liar than Satan infuriated that devil. Determined to remove his rival, the devil decided to collect Jack’s soul.

So, the devil disguised himself as a corpse and lay on the road Jack always took to the pub. When Jack saw the body, he paused to roll the corpse over and check its pockets for any valuables. The devil leaped up, very much alive, and announced Jack’s soul now belonged to him.

Jack was momentarily terrified and knew there was no way out, but he gambled on one last request. Would Satan come with Jack to the pub, so Jack could enjoy a final drink of ale? Surprisingly, the devil agreed. The two went to the pub and made a night of it. But at dawn, Satan announced it was time to go to Hell.

Jack reached in his pocket and discovered he had no coin to pay the bill. The devil also lacked funds. So, how would they pay the tab?

Some say it was Jack’s idea; others say it was Satan’s, but between them, they decided that the devil would turn himself into a coin to pay the bill, and when the bartender wasn’t looking, the devil would change himself back and take Jack to Hell.

So, the devil became a silver coin. As soon as the coin hit the bar, Jack put his hand over it, picked the coin up and put it in his pocket. As luck would have it, Jack’s pocket also contained a silver crucifix, effectively trapping the devil in Jack’s pocket, because the devil can never escape a Christian symbol.

Satan was not happy, but he was stuck, so he made a bargain. If Jack would release him, Satan promised not to take Jack’s soul for 10 years. And so the deal was done. After all, a lot can happen in 10 years.

The years passed. Jack became more of a trickster than he had been before. On All Hallow’s Eve, Jack was on his way to the pub when the devil met him on the road. Once again, Jack knew his time was up. But . . .

It was a long way to Hell and Jack was hungry. Would the devil allow Jack to grab some apples from a nearby tree. The devil agreed. Why, I do not know. But when they arrived at the tree, Jack was not tall enough to climb it. So, the devil climbed the tree to retrieve apples for Jack.

Why the devil would do such a thing, I can’t imagine. But Satan climbed the tree and began picking apples. While he was busy, Jack carved crosses around the tree’s base. Once again, the devil was trapped.

The devil demanded that Jack release him immediately. Jack thought about it and decided to make another bargain. If Satan promised he would never take Jack to Hell, Jack would remove one of the crosses so the devil could escape. Done! The devil disappeared and Jack never saw him again in this world.

Years passed, and eventually Jack died. St. Peter met Jack’s soul at the gates of heaven, and refused him entry.

“But where am I to go?”

“Try Hell.”

So Jack’s soul made its way to Hell where Satan stood at the door.

“Our contract forbids it. But, as a favor, I’ll give you an ember of hellfire to light your way.”

Jack returned to earth and hollowed out a turnip to make a lantern for the the ember. Every night, Jack wanders the earth, but he’s only visible on Halloween when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest.

If you chance to see him on Halloween night, look away, because Jack is still a wily trickster and will try to convince you to hold the lantern for him. “Only for a minute,” he’ll say. But then Jack will be off, and you’ll be the one wandering the world while holding a turnip lantern.

Happy Halloween!

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Halloween Greetings 1910; Death & the Highwayman by Thomas Rowlandson 1815; Interior Tavern by David Teniers, the Younger 1600s; Peasants Beside the Road by Pieter de Molijn 17th century; Devil Won’t Take Him. What a Pity. Napoleon at the Gate of Hell 1805; Traditional Irish Turnip Jack o Lantern Attribution: Rannpháirtí anaithnid. Jack O’Lantern – The Original Irish Legend of Stingy Jack. USA Kilts.

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In the early 19th century, Johnny Appleseed planted seedling apple orchards across the midwest. And as the crops came in, the small, bitter apples were pressed into cider. Meanwhile, farmers found it easier to distill whiskey than ship their grain overland. With whiskey priced at about 25 cents per gallon, whiskey and cider were cheaper than coffee or tea; they were safer to drink than water or milk. Alcohol also served as currency at a time when each state regulated its own money supply.

Estimates of alcohol consumption in 1830 put the total personal average of 5 gallons of distilled liquor annually, and 15 or more gallons of hard cider. If men consumed the majority of liquor, the figure works out to 4-5 shots daily.

But, about 1830 American culture experienced a broad movement for social reform. A rebirth of religious zeal known as The Second Great Awakening, inspired social reform movements, including a national campaign against alcohol consumption. The American Temperance Society founded in 1826, urged Americans to practice self-control around alcohol. Social reformers identified excessive drinking as the root cause of domestic violence, abuse, poverty, crime, moral decay, and political corruption.

The initial goal of limiting alcohol consumption became a campaign for total abstinence of both spirits and hard cider. “It takes a long time to make a man a drunkard on cider, but when made, he is thoroughly made, is lazy, bloated, stupid, cross and ugly, wastes his estate, his character, and the happiness of his family.”

Once a source of prosperity, seedling apple trees became the cause of social disaster. One reformer argued that if a farmer gathered his apples, he must make them into cider. Thus, the only true pathway to reform was to burn the orchards.

William Henry Harrison: The Log Cabin & Hard Cider Candidate

As this social reform debate raged, Americans went to the polls in the 1840 presidential election. The candidates were Democrat Martin Van Buren running for re-election and Whig William Henry Harrison. The candidates had met before in 1836 when Harrison lost. But as Van Buren campaigned for a second term, Harrison supporters blamed Van Buren for the economic Panic of 1837, and called him Van Ruin.

Van Buren’s people dubbed Harrison Granny Harrison, an out of touch, possibly senile man who would rather sit on the porch outside his log cabin and drink cider. Harrison’s people turned what the Van Buren supporters thought was an insult, into the image of an American frontiersman who understood the needs of the common man.

The contrast between the elitist Van Buren and the homespun Harrison placed the two candidates in stark contrast and also introduced new popular campaign tactics. Harrison became the Log Cabin and Hard Cider Candidate, a true man of the people. [In the illustration at left, note the barrels of cider leaning against the log cabin.]

He was the first candidate to hit the campaign trail with mass rallies featuring free food and barrels of cider. Harrison’s campaign was the first to feature mercandise, including tea cups and saucers. Harrison’s campaign slogan Tippecanoe and Tyler Too reminded voters of Harrison’s military battles against Native Americans while also bringing Tyler national attention in an appeal to southern voters. In many ways, Harrison launched the first modern presidential campaign, and he did it one barrel of cider at a time.

When the votes were counted, Harrison received 234 electoral votes in comparison to Van Buren’s 60. Harrison won the popular vote 1,275,390 : 1,128,854. On March 4, 1841, Harrison gave an inauguration speech that lasted almost two hours. Harrison died of pneumonia about a month later on April 4, 1841.

Meanwhile, the Temperance Movement picked up speed between 1840 and 1860. By the time the American civil war began, alcohol consumption per person had dropped to about 2.5 gallons per person, about what it is today.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Johnny Appleseed Festival, Lisbon, Ohio; Revival by Kelloggs & Comstock 1849; Drunkard Hitting His Wife, 1871; William Henry Harrison by Albert Gallatin Holt; Harrison at Cabin in North Bend of Ohio, 1840; Log Cabin Tea Cup with Saucer; Log Cabin Music 1840. Daniel De Visé. “Americans are Drinking as Much Now as in Civil War Days.” The Hill. June 12, 2023. Adalyn Schuenemeyer. “Burn Them! A Myth of Cider, Orchards & Prohibition.” Montezuma Orchard. Jan. 14, 2021.

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In the northern hemisphere, fall is Harvest Time. Pumpkins & winter squash, sweet potatoes, root vegetables, and various fruits, including pears, grapes, cranberries, figs & pomegranates. But today, my focus is on apples.

Seventeenth century apples bore little resemblance to the many apple varietals we harvest today. The Puritans brought apple seeds with them when they migrated, but the apples the seedling trees produced were small and often too bitter to eat. The fruit, however, was good for making cider, which quickly became the standard colonial beverage.

Water was often unsafe to drink, and grains used for brewing beer were difficult to cultivate. Cider, on the other hand, was consumed by all ages at every meal. [A weaker cider, called ciderkin, was served to children.]

In the autumn, colonists gathered seedling apples and crushed them into a pulp which was placed in a wooden screw press and pressed to extract the raw juice. The juice went into large wooden barrels where naturally occurring yeast on the apple skins fermented the sugars into hard cider. A large family might put up 100 barrels of cider to tide them over the winter. [Each barrel held 31.5 gallons of cider.]

Colonists produced applejack by leaving the cider outside during the winter. Water in the cider became ice, and was easily removed, leaving a more potent cider. The process could be repeated six or seven times with each cycle producing a more potent beverage. Fermenting the hard cider also produced apple cider vinegar which colonists used to preserve vegetables by pickling.

Colonists kept barrels of cider throughout the winter for direct consumption and for use as currency to pay taxes, wages, and church tithes.

American Alcohol Consumption

By the 18^th century, Americans consumed large quantities of alcoholic beverages. Per capita annual intake in 1790 is estimated at 34 gallons of beer and cider; 5 gallons of distilled spirits, and about a gallon of wine. Alcohol was served at christenings, weddings, funerals, trials, and on election days. Candidates could not bribe voters, but there was no harm in a celebration on the way to the polls.

George Washington disapproved of serving liquor as a way to entertain voters. In 1755  when he ran for the Virginia House of Burgesses, he failed to provide refreshments and lost 271:40. When Washington ran again in 1758, he treated voters to 28 gallons of rum, 50 gallons rum punch 34 gallons of wine, 46 gallons of beer, and 2 gallons of cider royal, which equates to about half a gallon of alcohol per voter. Washington received  331 votes, and won the election.

Interestingly, when he died in 1799, Washington had the largest distillery in Virginia, producing 10,500 gallons of whiskey and brandy each year.

Other prominent Founding Fathers also enjoyed their alcohol. John Adams began the day with a tankard of hard cider. John Hancock was accused of smuggling wine. Samuel Adams managed a brewery. Thomas Jefferson called his Taliaferro cultivar the “best cider apple existing.” Alcohol consumption was part of American life, and the alcohol most frequently consumed was hard cider.

As Benjamin Franklin observed in Poor Richard’s Almanac:

“He that drinks his cider alone, let him also catch his horse alone.”

The Myth of Johnny Appleseed

In 1948 Walt Disney Productions released a film called Melody Time featuring seven stories. One of these stories was the Legend of Johnny Appleseed, based on stories about John Chapman, an itinerant farmer who planted apple trees throughout the Midwest.

In Disney’s version of the story, a young farmer tends his apple orchard and wishes he could follow Americans migrating to the frontier. One day an angel appears and tells Johnny to leave his farm, go west, and plant apple seeds so settlers will always have something to eat as they follow the trail. Johnny listens to the angel, and begins starting apple orchards. He also befriends a skunk after which all the animals trust him. Eventually, the trees mature and are a blessing for the pioneers.

The Rest of the Story

Disney may have embellished John Chapman’s biography, but the legend was based on facts. Chapman, generally remembered as Johnny Appleseed, did plant apple trees in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. He was known for his kindness. He carried a sack of apple seeds and a Bible. And he wore a tin pot for a cap. He also walked in bare feet.

Some of Johnny’s inspiration came from the Ohio Company of Associates. In 1792 the company offered anyone who built a permanent homestead in the wilderness beyond Ohio’s first permanent settlement 100 acres of land. To prove their claim, settlers had to plant 50 apple trees and 20 peach trees over the course of 3 years. A seedling apple tree took about 10 years to bear fruit.

Johnny deduced that if he planted the orchards, he could sell them at a profit to arriving settlers. When Johnny arrived at a site, he acquired land and established nurseries. When the settlers arrived, Johnny sold them his young trees for 6-1/2 cents each. Since it cost him nothing to grow the trees, and he sold thousands of the plants, he made a clear profit. The small, bitter apples were not worth eating, but they could be pressed into either hard cider or an applejack of up to 66 proof.

As the 19th century progressed, American culture changed, and apple cider, once a mainstay of American life, fell out of favor. Details in my next blog.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Apple Harvest by Camille Pissarro 1888; Cider Mill 1897; George Washington in 1754 by Ernest Fischer; Johnny Appleseed Festival, Lisbon, Ohio; Johnny Appleseed 1855. Sam Kean. “The Debaucherous Legacy of Johnny Appleseed.” The Disappearing Spoon Podcast. Oct. 18, 2022. Ed Crews. “Drinking in Colonial America.” Colonial Williamsburg.

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It’s time to get out your dirndls and lederhosen in preparation for Oktoberfest which, despite its name, is held throughout the world in September. 

In the U. S., for example, Oktoberfest takes place in Philadelphia, Tulsa, San Francisco and numerous other cities and towns. The largest Oktoberfest in North America occurs in Kitchener-Waterloo near Toronto, Canada with 17 festival halls, parades, sausage, pretzels, and, of course, beer. Other celebrations take place in southern Brazil, China, Namibia, Jamaica, and Australia. And at almost every Oktoberfest, brass bands play Ein Prosit Der Gemütlichkeit.

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit ~~ A Toast, a toast
Der Gemütlichkeit ~~ To Coziness & Good Cheer
Eins, Zwei, Drei G’suffa ~~ One, Two, Three, Drink!

This year the annual global festival dates are September 19 – October 4.

And, if you would like to attend the Oktoberfest sponsored by the Rotary Club of Hilo Bay on October 3, 2026, you can get your tickets here.

How Did the Festival Begin? Glad I Asked

Once Upon A Time in Munich

On October 12, 1810, Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria married Princess Therese Charlotte Luise Friederick Amalie von Saxe-Hildburghausen. The wedding was in the Court Chapel, but everyone in Munich was invited to join the week-long celebrations that featured a prodigious amount of food: 32,065 buns, 3,992 pounds of Swiss cheese, 880 pounds of mutton, 8,120 sausages, and 13,300 pairs of smoked sausage, all served with over 6,000 gallons of beer and 104 gallons of Austrian white wine.

Entertainment included two free theaters, 150 musicians, a ball, a folk festival, and best of all, on October 17^th the National Guard Cavalry organized a horserace. Thirty horses started the race in front of 40,000 spectators. 

The weeklong celebration was a such spectacular success, people wanted to do it again for the couple’s anniversary. In 1811, there was another horse race and an agricultural show sponsored by Bavarian Agricultural Association. Five years later carnival booths began to appear, along with merry-go-rounds and wheelbarrow races.

In 1819, the city began organizing the annual event and permanently changed the starting date to September and the festival grew from one to two weeks.

Why September?

Since 1872, Oktoberfest officially starts the first September Saturday after the 15th and continues until the first Sunday in October. A September start means celebrants can enjoy mild late summer days instead of shivering in cold, rainy autumn weather.

And the most important reason to begin Oktoberfest in September? BEER

In 1820, Bavarians began brewing beer in the fall, and continued brewing until the late winter beers brewed in March. “Märzen” had a high alcohol content which made it easier to store in barrels in a dark cellar or cave over the summer. But the barrels had to be emptied in time for the grain harvest in October. What a perfect time for a beer festival! As long ago as the 15th century, there were beer festivals in September.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Traditional Slap Dance; Princess Therese Portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler 1825; Prince Ludwig Portrait 1807; First Horserace at Theresienwies by Wilhelm von Kobell 1811; Munich Beer Garden by Max Libermann 1844; Plakat-Muncher Kindl-Brau. “The First Oktoberfest in 1810.” “Why is Oktoberfest in September?” Culinary Institute of America.

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Earlier this month, I baked a Red Velvet Cake from scratch. Judging by the number of recipes on-line, this is a very popular cake. I eventually settled on a recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction, which turned out to be a good choice. I was a bit surprised by some of the ingredients, such as unsweetened cocoa powder, white vinegar, and buttermilk. Red gel food coloring seemed an obvious addition since I was pretty sure red velvet fabric would not be good in a cake. 

On the left is a picture of the first slice from the cake I baked. And it’s fair to say I’m not going to switch careers to become a baker. As a contrast to share what a Red Velvet Cake can look like, I offer the photo on the right. Two aspects that stand out are the brilliant red color, and the four layers.

Still, I enjoyed the process and learned a few things while putting together the cake, one of which was where the switch for my mixer is. Another, that I don’t separate eggs as well as I once did.

What I Learned About Cakes

During the 18th and early 19th centuries, cakes were heavy. A pound cake, for example weighed four pounds, because the ingredients were a pound each of butter, flour, sugar, and eggs. Today pound cakes are smaller, but still somewhat hefty. In fact, other than sugar there wasn’t a huge difference of texture between cakes and bread. The use of white flour became more common after 1850.

Sponge cakes were an alternative to pound cakes. Angel Food Cake, so light it reminded people of angels or less happily, aching arms and shoulders from whipping egg whites, was a popular cake with a more velvet crumb.

A recipe for Suffrage Angel Cake from a 1915 suffrage cookbook reads as follows.

• 11 eggs
• 1 full cup Swansdown Flour (after sifting)
• 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 heaping teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 pinch of salt

Beat the eggs until light, not stiff; sift sugar 7 times, add to eggs, beating as little as possible. Sift flour 9 times, using only the cupful and discarding extra flour; then put the cream of tartar into the flour. Add mixture to eggs and sugar. Now add vanilla. Put in angel cake pan with feet. Put in oven with very little heat. Great care must be used in making this cake to insure success.

Aside from egg whites, another way to bake a lighter cake was to use almond flour, cocoa or cornstarch to soften the proteins of regular flour, giving it the consistency of velvet. Other products also became available. In 1846, baking soda appeared. When combined with acids found in vinegar or buttermilk, it produced carbon dioxide for a cake with instant leavening. But it was hard to know how much acid was in the buttermilk or vinegar being used.

Baking powder made from acid mixed with baking soda appeared in 1856. When added to liquid, the baking soda and acid in the powder caused carbonation. [Sidebar: This reminds me of the little plastic frogmen children got from cereal boxes in the 1950s. When baking powder was placed in the reservoir, the frogmen would sink to the bottom of a bucket of water and then resurface. Ah, simpler times. But I digress.]

Once Upon a Time . . .

In 1888, John A. Adams launched a food flavoring company featuring products like Adams Best, a vanilla flavor. He was inspired by his wife who wanted a flavoring that could tolerate baking and freezing. In 1905 for reasons I don’t know, Adams moved his family to Beeville, Texas, near Corpus Christi, and began selling his flavors door-to-door. In 1922, Adams’ son Fred relocated the business to Austin. Twenty-five years later, his son John G. Adams took over the business, now called the Adams Extract Company.

Dessert at the Waldorf-Astoria

On October 1, 1931, the “new” Waldorf-Astoria on Park Avenue opened its doors. The Art Deco hotel covered an entire city block and was the tallest, most expensive hotel in the world. Maître d’ hôtel Oscar Tschirky introduced well-known dishes like Eggs Benedict and Waldorf salad. The hotel also famously served Red Velvet Cake, though it did not create the recipe.

It was said that one patron asked for the recipe. The chef graciously shared directions for creating the cake, and added a high charge to the bill. The customer was outraged, and demanded a refund, which the chef refused. In retaliation, the customer spread the recipe. There is no record that this actually happened, but the rumor led to Red Velvet Cake becoming known as the “$100 cake.”

However, in 1947 John Adams and his wife Betty dined at the Waldorf Astoria and had Red Velvet Cake for dessert. The experience inspired Betty Adams to create a similar cake using red food dye, vanilla extract, and butter flavoring. The latter because in the wake of World War II, butter was still being rationed. The result was a marketing campaign: the Red Velvet Cake Kit with a bottle of red dye, a bottle of vanilla extract, and an accurate recipe card. Red Velvet Cake left fine dining establishments and moved to the American kitchen.

Back to my Kitchen

So, I started with Sally’s recipe from Sallys Baking Addiction which promised the cake would be dense, soft, moist, and have a velvety crumb. It would also have cream cheese frosting, my favorite. I’m not going to copy the recipe here. Go to Sally’s Baking Addiction for the full recipe and preparation process. Or you can check out Sally’s YouTube.

I checked the ingredients and went to the local grocery store. Sally uses cake flour which is lighter than regular flour, so you don’t have to spend a hour sifting it. There is unsweetened cocoa powder. There’s also buttermilk which isn’t very popular these days. I had to go to a second store for that, but it’s a necessary ingredient to activate the baking soda. And, of course, the red gel coloring.

The recipe also requires 4 large eggs, separated. Sadly, some naughty yolk snuck into the white, so the whites didn’t whip up like they were supposed to with the result my cake was less velvety than it might have been. But it still came out pretty well.

To the left is a picture of my completed Red Velvet Cake standing on a genuine nostalgic 1950s cake platter. She lacks glitter, and the cream cheese frosting looks a bit haphazard, but the important thing is that after a long time thinking of the kitchen as a room to pass through on the way to the door, I managed to produce a tasty cake.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Red Velvet Cake Slice by Author; Red Velvet Cake, 4 layers by Flickr user~Twon~; Angel Food Cake by Kimberly Vardeman; Baking Soda, 1938; Adams’ Logo. Adams’ Recipe Card. Broken egg on black surface by Balise42. Velvet Cake by Author. L. O. Kleber.

Sally McKenney. “Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting“. Sally’s Baking Addiction. Suffrage Cook Book. Equal Franchise Federation of Western Pennsylvania. 1915. “Dye Hard: A History of Red Velvet Cake.” Part 1. Adventures in Taste & Time. Mar. 7, 2020. “Ibid., Part 2, Apr. 7, 2020.

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The post Red Velvet Cake & What I Learned About Cakes first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Food was an important part of my travel tour in southern Italy and Sicily, so it’s only fitting to complete my vacation memories with a few stories about Italian cuisine.

I’m always up for a visit to the local outdoor market. The one in Locorotondo was especially enticing. Among the offerings were fresh figs, a treat I seldom enjoy. We also visited several sites directly related to well-known Italian foods which gave my palate a new appreciation for these unique flavors.

Buffalo Mozzarella

I was already familiar with mozzarella cheese, and often purchased it from the deli section of my local grocery store. Before visiting Italy, however, I had never tasted fresh mozzarella, a totally different experience. I also didn’t know about buffalo mozzarella until visiting a production center for this unique cheese from Campania.

Buffalo milk has double the fat content of cow’s milk, which gives the cheese a creamier taste. Arabs introduced water buffalo to Sicily during their conquest of the island, and the Normans brought the beasts into Compania. At the end of World War II, departing German soldiers destroyed most of the buffalo herds. During the post war years, farmers introduced water buffalo from India to restart the industry.

The first buffalo mozzarella is dated to the 13^th century when dairy farmers began using buffalo milk as a less expensive alternative to cow’s or goat’s milk. Today about 33,000 pounds of buffalo mozzarella are produced annually in the €300 million industry.

Caprese Salad, named after the island of Capri, is a simple and popular dish during the summer months. Ingredients are sliced fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, and salt. A perfect light meal for a hot summer’s day.

Olive Oil Tasting

One of our more interesting activities was an olive oil tasting. Not being a discerning cook, it had never occurred to me that there was enough of a difference between olive oils to have tasting events, much like wine tasting.

We visited the Il Frantolio D’Amico organic olive oil estate in Cisternino in the Itria Valley of Puglia where the D’Amico family has been producing olive oil since 1917. Olives on the estate are harvested by hand from October thru December, and the oil is cold extracted shortly after harvest.

Extracting olive oil involves washing the olives which are then crushed, including the pits, into a paste. The paste is then pressed in a hydraulic press to separate the oil from the solid elements of pulmonary and pits.

Sorrento Lemons

Sorrento lemons are an Italian variety of lemon native to the Sorrento peninsula. Travelers on the Silk Road introduced the fruit, and the Romans cultivated lemon groves.

Sorrento lemons are quite large compared to lemons I’d seen before. They are the size of grapefruits with a thick, bumpy rind. The lemons themselves are highly acidic. The trees grow in protected terraces on the coastal mountain sides and produce fruit about four times a year.

Limoncello Recipe

We visited the Sorrento Lemon Farm established by the Ruoppo family in the early 19th century. Their recipe for two liters of Limoncello, a refreshing citrus alcoholic beverage is as follows:

• 6 ripe lemons
• 1 liter – 95% alcohol
• 1 liter water
• 700 grams sugar
• bottles with caps
• a funnel with a gauze filter

1. Wash & dry the lemons
2. Pour the alcohol into a glass bottle
3. Remove only the yellow part of the lemon rinds. Add to bottle with alcohol. Shake vigorously.
4. Put the bottle in a cupboard for seven days – shake it occasionally
5. Then put sugar and water in a pot and cook the mixture until a syrup forms.
6. Let syrup cool.
7. Take the bottle out of the cupboard and pour the liquid, but not the rind, into a pot
8. Add syrup and mix well.
9. Pour contents through the funnel with the gauze filter into the bottles, and cap tightly
10. Put the limoncello back into the cupboard for 20 days.
11. Now you can drink it. Serve chilled.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Market at Locorotondo, Photo by Author; water buffalo, Photo by Author; Author holding Caprese Salad; extra virgin olive oil from a mill in southern Italy by Amending. Sorrento Lemon, Photo by Author; shot glass filled with limoncello by FakirNL. Rudolfo Morais. “The History of Buffalo Mozzarella.” Grapes & Grains. Oct. 1, 2017. Il Frantolio D’Amico Sovrano di Trisole. Sorrento Lemon Farm.

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The post Mozzarella Cheese, Olive Oil, & Lemons — Eclectic Italian Foods first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

The city of Herculaneum was small in comparison to the better-known city of Pompeii, a town for high-ranking Romans seeking an escape to the seaside with its cooling breezes. It was blazing hot the day I visited. Over the years, Herculaneum sank beneath the earth that grows above ancient cities, and though the site isn’t too far from the sea, it is further inland than it was in AD 79. On the day I visited, there was no breeze and no shade, but there was a planned ancient city with mansions for its wealthy inhabitants.

In AD 79, Mount Vesuvius, a somma-strato volcano, erupted with explosive violence and released a cloud of stones, ashes, and volcanic gasses as well as molten rock and pulverized pumice. By way of comparison, the force was 100,000 times more thermal energy than that released by the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

When Mount Vesuvius erupted, most of the volcanic material fell onto Pompeii. Roofs collapsed under the weight of debris and ash, but only a few centimeters of ash fell onto Herculaneum. Instead, ash and hot gas flowed down the mountain and through the town at about 100 miles an hour. Over six flows, city buildings were buried about 66 feet deep. The high temperature of the first volcanic flow carbonized wood in the buildings resulting in artifacts that were destroyed in Pompeii. Volcanic rock called tuft covered the site for 1700 years with an air tight seal.

The primary cause of human deaths was the intense heat from volcanic gas which reached a temperature of 1022 degrees Fahrenheit. In particular, excavations from 1980-1982 uncovered 55 skeletons on the ancient beach in front of the city walls. Further excavations uncovered more skeletons raising the death toll to 340. Male skeletons rested on the beach while women and children took shelter in warehouses, now called boat houses. All awaited a rescue that never came. The bodies turned into vapor, leaving only jewelry and other metal objects on the skeletons.

The eruption buried Herculaneum in about 66 feet of ash, protecting the site from looting and weather damage. Essentially, the city slept, its material culture preserved until 1738 when men digging a well found the theater. Today 75 per cent of the site has yet to be excavated.

The remains of Herculaneum are now an open-air archeological museum and UNESCO World Heritage site. 

In comparison to the Villa Romano on Sicily, it felt strange to walk the streets and enter the houses at Herculaneum. Perhaps the sensation was due to Herculaneum’s abrupt and violent end in comparison to the villa which was probably abandoned before being buried. The villa holds its secrets without drama. But in Herculaneum, I was conscious of life’s fragility whether in the first century AD or our own time. Going about their routines, the people of Herculaneum were aware of Vesuvius, but could not know that everything was about to abruptly stop, freezing the historical moment until modern excavations. History is more than documents or material culture. It is being able to reach back in time.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Ancient Roman city of Herculaneum by Diego Delso, 2023. Herculaneum Past, Present & future by Charles Waldstein, 1908. Lava from Vesuvius by Pietro Fabris 1760. Boat Houses, Photo by Author. Artifacts, Photo by Author. Interior Fresco, Photo by Author.

Guillermo Altares. Herculaneum, the Roman city destroyed by Vesuvius. El Pais 50. July 31 2023.

The Story of Herculaneum. Herculaneum Society.

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The post Touching the Past — My Visit to Herculaneum first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

It’s hard to imagine the past. As an historian, my imagination can stretch as far back as the 18th century. With a little extra creativity, I can reach the 17th century. But earlier times are elusive unless I can connect with the material culture to build a bridge that connects to the distant past. I think this is why traveling to distant locales is such an important part of my life.

This year I escaped to Sicily and southern Italy, places I’ve never been before, and hiked through extreme heat to visit sites connected to Ancient Rome and Greece. The sites did not disappoint. One of them was the Villa Romano Del Casale.

Located on Sicily, the Villa Romano is a World Heritage site built in the middle of the fourth century. The villa’s claim to fame rests on its well-preserved and extensive Roman mosaics covering about 3500 square meters, as well as frescoes on the exterior walls and interior rooms. The site continued to be in use until a landslide in the mid-12th century covered the villa. Though some evidence of the past was visible above ground, the area was used for crop cultivation. The first professional excavations took place in 1929, and have continued over the years since.

The villa was probably a hunting lodge until the Romans partitioned much of the Sicilian hinterland into agricultural estates called latifundia. The Villa Romano was one of these. The landowner in his role of patron needed a place to receive clients. Multiple reception and state rooms were also needed as well as private apartments for the owner and his family. African artisans are credited with designing and installing the mosaic floors.

Over time, the villa expanded along three terraces organized around three axis. The first terrace with private apartments, teh basilica, and the Corridor of the Great Hunt is in the east. The next terrace has a dining area and an oval courtyard, accessible from the Corridor of the Great Hunt. The third terrace includes baths and a large entrance area.

Coronation of the Winner

One fresco is surprisingly well-known. Called Coronation of the Winner, the fresco depicts female athletes competing in contests that are usually interpreted as weight lifting, discus throwing, running, and batting a ball. An official on the bottom left of the picture holds the trophy crown and palm frond. At the center of this panel, the victor is crowned. Some modern viewers fixate on the contestants’ athletic attire, comparing the two-piece ensemble to contemporary swim wear. It strikes me the athletes were more interested in modesty and ease of motion.

Corridor of the Great Hunt

The Corridor of the Great Hunt, probably created in the year 330 AD, is the 197 feet long, the longest extant mosaic from the Roman Empire. The entire floor is covered with images of the hunt to capture exotic animals from Africa and bring them to Rome for display. Carthage is pictured as the departure port where animals were loaded onto a boat known as a navis with both sails and oars for transport to Rome where they are offloaded at the nearest port.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Erotic Scene Mosaic, Photo by Author; Villa del Casale Plan, Public Domain; Coronation of the Winner, Photo by Author; Exotic Animal Transportation, Public Domain; Mosaic Bird, Photo by Author. Patrizio Pensabene and Enrico Gallocchio. “The Villa Del Casale of Piazza Armerina.” Expedition Magazine, vol 53, No 2. 2011.

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“Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.” — Brian O’Driscoll, Rugby Player

Botanically, the tomato is a fruit. According to botanists at the New York Botanical Garden, fruits are usually sweet and eaten as a dessert.

In contrast, vegetables are savory and usually eaten as part of a main course.

More technically, a fruit is the edible ovary of a plant. The ovary protects the reproductive part of the plant from its youngest stage in developing a flower until seeds develop.

Common fruits include stone fruits like peaches, apricots, and plums. Bananas are among the most popular fruits in the world. Berries of all kinds and dragon fruit are also fruits. And tomatoes, the focus of this blog, are a fruit containing seeds.

How Tomatoes Became Vegetables

In the early 19th century, plantation agriculture in the American South grew tomatoes as well as other agricultural products. Southern growers shipped their tomatoes to market in the northern states until 1860 when civil war broke out between the northern and southern states.

During the war, northern merchants sourced tomatoes from the Caribbean. After the war ended in 1865, southern farmers wanted to re-establish their business exporting tomatoes and other vegetables to northern markets. So, they lobbied Congress for a 10 percent tariff on all vegetables imported from outside the United States, resulting in the Tariff Act of March 3, 1883 which imposed the tariff on “vegetables in their natural state, or in salt, or brine.”

Not so fast, importers John Nix & Co. argued. The same act also listed food imports not subject to the tariff, I.e., “fruits, green, ripe, or dried.” Nix & Co argued the tariff didn’t apply to tomatoes, because the tomato was a fruit.

John Nix & Co were among the first merchants to source produce from Florida, California, and Bermuda. At one time the company chartered a steamship to bring onions to market more quickly. Nix & Co. exported fruit to Europe and returned with potatoes.

Nix v. Hedden, 149 U.S. 304

On February 4, 1887 John Nix & Co. filed suit against Edward L. Hedden, Collector of the Port of New York to recover back tariff duties paid under protest for tomatoes imported from the West Indies in the spring of 1886.

The plaintiffs read dictionary definitions for the words ‘fruit’ and ‘vegetable.’ They also called two witnesses who had been selling fruit and vegetables for 30 years and asked them whether the words ‘fruit’ or ‘vegetable’ had any meaning in trade that differed from the dictionary definitions.

Neither thought the words had any special meaning in trade or commerce.

The defendant’s attorney read definitions of the words pea, egg plant, cucumber, squash and pepper.

Nix’s attorney countered with definitions of potato, turnip, parsnip, cauliflower, cabbage, carrot, and bean.

The defendant’s attorney requested the court to direct a verdict in favor of the defendant, and the court agreed.

Justice Horace Gray, delivering the opinion of the court, concluded that since the words fruit and vegetable had no special meaning in trade or commerce, they must have their ordinary meaning.

Botanically, he said, tomatoes were a fruit of a vine, like a cucumber or a squash. But in the common language of the people, tomatoes were vegetables, eaten the same way as potatoes, cabbage, or celery at dinner, and not as a dessert when fruit was more generally eaten.

And that is how a fruit became a vegetable, and southern farmers once again supplied tomatoes to vegetable markets in the northern states.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Bright red tomato & cross-section of another tomato, Fir0002/Flagstaffotos; Autumn red peach; from Vilmorin-Andrieux & Co.; Edward L. Hedden; Horace Gray; from Vilmorin-Andrieux & Co. Lawrence M. Kelly. “What is a Fruit?” New York Botanical Garden. Aug. 6, 2014. “The Tomato Conundrum: How a Supreme Court Case Redefined Fruits & Vegetables.” The Holcomb Group.

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The post When is a Fruit a Vegetable? Consider Tomatoes. first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Have you planted tomatoes in your garden or windowsill pots yet? You might even be on your second planting by now. Statistically, 55 percent of American households have a garden. About 43 percent of those gardens grow food, and tomatoes are planted in 86 percent of food gardens. In fact, Americans eat about 1 billion pounds of tomatoes annually. With over 10,000 varieties to choose from in a cornucopia of colors, tomatoes could be called an all-American fruit. Or are they vegetables?

Tomato Trivia

Tomatoes originally grew wild near the Andes mountains. Over time indigenous people brought the plant they called tomatl north through Central America and into Mexico. The tomatl was used in cooking and as a gift for newlyweds to promote fertility.

When Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico in the early 16^th century, they called the food tomate. It is said Cortez discovered the fruit in Montezuma’s gardens and brought the seeds back to Spain. The first variety of tomato to reach Europe was probably yellow, leading to the name poi d’oro, or yellow apples.

Over time, the plant made its way further into Europe, most commonly as an ornamental plant. The new plant had several names. In 1544 Italian herbalist Pietro Andrea Mattioli classified the tomato as a nightshade and a mandrake. Mandrakes were known as aphrodisiacs, which may be why the French called the new fruit a love apple —the pomme d’amour—or golden apple. This potentially scandalous application limited the number of people willing to try the new food.

Many thought the new plant was poisonous, and called the fruit a poison apple. In fact, the leaves, stems and roots of the tomato plant contain solanine, a neurotoxin and should not be eaten. The tomato plant is also a relative of deadly nightshade. Botanist Joseph Pitton De Tournefort gave the new fruit its official name of Lycopersicon esculentum. The moniker translates as edible wolf peach. Peach because the fruit was round, and was thought to be the poison Galen referred to in the 3rd century when discussing ways to entice and then kill unwanted wolves.

Alternatively, German myths claimed that witches used mandrake and nightshade to summon werewolves. And the earliest German name for tomatoes was Wolfpfirsich which translates to wolf peach. Later in the 18th century, Carl Linnaeus modified the translation of Lycopersicon esculentum to “edible wolf peach.”

Some people tried the fruit, and lived to tell the tale. But, the didn’t care for the taste or the smell. In 1597 English botanist John Gerard declared tomatoes were corrupt and of rank & stinking savor.

However, these technical details were not why people thought the tomato was poisonous. Many upper class Europeans died after consuming tomatoes, proving it was better not to eat the fruit, no matter how delicious it looked. It turns out this was a false association. Upper class Europeans ate off of pewter plates, and acidic tomatoes leeched lead out of the pewter. Thus wealthy diners died from lead poisoning after consuming tomato based dishes off pewter dishes. Sometimes common pottery makes the best dinnerware.

But tastes change. In the 19^th century Italians began using tomatoes in their pasta dishes. Previously, Italians had used lardo, the pig back fat that was a byproduct of processing prosciutto, with their pasta dishes. But in the 19^th century, pig farmers changed to a different breed that produced a leaner prosciutto. The lardo, however, did not taste as good as before. Italian cooks began experimenting and settled on tomato based sauces to accompany pasta dishes.

Over time, tomatoes became better known in North America. Maria Parloa’s 1872 Appledore Cook Book included an early recipe for Tomato Soup.

Peel & slice tomatoes enough to fill a two-quart basin. Put them into the soup kettle with six quarts of water & 2 pounds of beef. Boil 3 hours. Season with pepper, salt & and spoonfuls of butter. Strain. Serve with toasted bread.

During the tomato’s checkered history, it was considered a fruit. The story of how the tomato became a vegetable is in my next blog.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Garden Tomatoes by Mdmad1234; Yellow Tomatoes by Goldilocks; Tacuinum Sanitation Mandrake Dog c. 1390; Tomatoes, gouache on vellum by Hans-Simon Holtzbecker, 17th century; Pasta Eater: Allegory of Taste by Luca Giordano, 17th Century; Illustration from the original Appledore Cook Book; Bowl of Tomato Basic Soup by Srujanabotcha. Jacqui. “Neapolitan Zita Pasta with Italian Lardo.” the Pasta project. Feb. 23, 2022. Peggy Trowbridge Filippone. “The History of Tomatoes as Food.” The Spruce Eats. Dec. 28 2022. Dale E Hammerschmidt & Michael J. Franklin. “The Edible Wolf Peach.” Translational Research. Vol. 146, Issue 4, October 2005.

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The post Tomatoes: From the Andes to Your Garden first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

The realization that the month of May is nearly upon us always brings The Lusty Month of May from the movie Camelot (1967) to my mind.

Before the forbidden romance and the tragic fall of Camelot, there was the Lusty Month of May, described in the Lerner & Loewe song as the lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray. Either that, or they succumb to hay fever.

And truly, history abounds with romantic notions about May. The Romans may have been the first celebrate May as part of their Floralia Festival from April 28 to May 3 in honor of the goddess Flora, who presided over Youth, Spring, and Flowers. Celebrations included games, plays, and events to promote fertility such as releasing animals and scattering beans.

[Sidebar: You may wonder why Romans thought scattering beans was good for fertility. I certainly did. According to Jennifer Evans at the University of Hertfordshire, early medical and botanical sources detailed foods that filled the body with wind, or what we might call flatulence. These writers thought wind filled the body with lust. Thus, beans, nuts and pulses enhanced the male libido which, in turn, improved fertility.]

Meanwhile . . .

The Roman army marched across Europe and reached Briton in 43 CE. Over the next 45 years, the Roman army increased its control over the island, and Floralia merged with the Celtic Beltane to create a new festival that featured bonfires, flowers, a maypole, and a queen.

By the Middle Ages, the spring festival was complete.

Villagers went a-maying to collect flowers and a tall birch tree to serve as a maypole for the festival of games, pageants, and dances. A pair of oxen dragged the maypole, a fertility symbol, into the village. Once in place, the maypole was raised and decorated with colorful streamers dancers carried in a circular dance to encourage fertility in crops and livestock.

And what would May Day be without a May Queen to symbolize Spring, dressed in a white gown and a crown of flowers.

In some traditions, the May Queen battles the Winter Queen for dominance as the new growing season commences. And some say the May Queen is Guinevere in Camelot or Lady Marian in Robin Hood. As spring flows into summer and crops ripen, the May Queen enters a mothering phase that continues until autumnal Samhain when Cailleach sends the May Queen and mother away into the darkness.

When winter comes to an end, Cailleach stamps her staff into the ground and becomes a mountain. On the night of Beltane, the May Queen is reborn as warmth and fertility return.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Goddess Flora by Luca Giordano; Maypole Dancing at Village Fair at Bishopstone, East Sussex by Kevin Gordon, 2006; Queen Guinevere’s Maying by John Collier, 1900; Landscape with the Floralia by Andrea Locatelli 1715-1741. Jennifer Evans. “When Beans Were the Food of Lust.” BBC History Magazine. 2014. 45-47. Patti Wiggingoton. “Legend of the May Queen.” Learn Religions. Dec. 21, 2019

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Wednesday, April 22 is Earth Day. This year’s theme is Our Power, Our Planet with an emphasis on the daily actions that support our planet, an orb that floats in the darkness of space.

The Earth Day Revolution

On December 7, 1972 Apollo 17 astronauts on their way to the moon captured an image of earth that became the symbol Earth Day. Now called the Blue Marble, the iconic photo taken 28,000 miles away from planet Earth depicts a fragile planet surrounded by the darkness of space.

Two years before, Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day as a way to force environmental issues into public discourse. The Blue Marble demonstrated what was at stake. There is only one planet Earth.

“My primary objective,” Nelson remembered, “was to show the political leadership of the nation that there was broad and deep support for the environmental movement.” [EPA Journal]

On that first Earth Day, 20 million Americans, demonstrated against the impact of 150 years of industrial development. Those demonstrations were a response to environmental factors that could no longer be ignored.

In 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring to raise awareness of the link between pollution and public health. Specifically, Carson stressed the hazards posed by pesticides, particularly DDT, which could kill hundreds of different species – insects, birds, and mammals, including humans. 

Scientists developed DDT in 1939. Its first major application was to clear South Pacific islands of insects that could cause malaria. It was also used as delousing powder. In 1945, the war was over, and DDT was available for civilian use.

Carson’s book described how DDT entered the food chain, how it remained toxic in the environment, how it harmed animals and the world food supply. Silent Spring became an unlikely bestseller. As a child, I remember watching crop-duster biplanes fly over agricultural fields next to the highway. In middle school, I read Silent Spring and wondered about the air I breathed that day.

Years later, as if to stress the environment’s fragile balance, two major events captivated public attention.

On January 28, 1969, Union Oil’s Platform A near the Santa Barbara coast had a blow-out. Within 10 days 80-100,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the Santa Barbara Channel and onto the beaches of Santa Barbara County. At the time, it was the largest oil spill inAmerican history. Approximately 3500 sea birds as well as dolphins, elephant seals and sea lions were killed. Public response resulted in numerous pieces of environmental legislation.

That summer the surface of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire at a time when the public was watching. The Cuyahoga River was the site of various industries. The economy was booming though the river was polluted, and its surface was usually covered in oil slicks.

On June 26 an oil slick on the river caught fire and burned for half an hour. The fires were so common, no one thought much about it until Time magazine and National Geographic both published articles. The Cuyahoga River became a symbol of industrial pollution.

Earth Day & Environmental Legislation

The publicity surrounding these incidents and public outrage led to legislation to protect the environment, continuing public interest in the issue, and that first Earth Day in 1970. 

In 1969 Congress passed a National Environmental Policy Act requiring all federal agencies planning projects that would impact the environment to submit Environmental Impact Statements.

By 1980 Congress had passed the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, Resource Conservation & Recovery Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and established the Environmental Protection Agency. Congress also banned the use of DDT and leaded gasoline.

In 1990 President Clinton awarded Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his leadership in founding Earth Day.

Environmental research and a better understanding of climate change and its effects led to the Paris Climate Agreement signed by 196 nations in 2016. The signatory nations pledge to reduce the rise of the global surface temperature. The United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement in 2020, returned to it in 2021, and withdrew a second time in 2026.

Fifty-four years after Apollo 17 astronauts shared the photo that became known as the Blue Marble, an astronaut on Artemis II took this photograph of earth appearing behind the moon. In 1972 the Blue Marble inspired people to see our earth as a fragile planet surrounded by the darkness of space. If we don’t stand together fighting for the environment of our vulnerable earth, this photo may come to represent mankind’s greed as darkness covers our planet.

Care for our environment is everyone’s responsibility. Our Power, Our Planet.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

The Blue Marble taken Dec 7, 1972 by an Apollo 17 astronaut; First Edition Cover of Silent Spring; Crop Duster Bi-Plane over Imperial Valley Farms, 1972; Union Oil Platform A; The Manitowoc Sailing up the Cuyahoga River, 2025; Environmental Protection Agency poster: Environment + Economy = A Win-Win, 2014; Photo by Artemis II astronaut of Earth from the dark side of the Moon. The Story of Silent Spring. NRDC. Aug. 13, 2015. Lorraine Boissoneault. The Cuyahoga River Caught Fire at Least a Dozen Times. Smithsonian Magazine. June 19, 2019. Gaylord Nelson. “Earth Day ’70: What it Meant.” EPA Journal.

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In the early 20^th century, the emerging field of Home Economics gave educated women an opportunity to become professionals within a respected field of expertise. As new electrical appliances became available in the early 20^th century, home economists became responsible for training housewives in their use. Home economists could translate technical knowledge into every day language and show women how to apply it. 

I have mixed thoughts about the emergence of home economics as a field. They probably stem from the home economics classes I had to take in middle school. While boys learned woodworking and tried not to hit their fingers with hammers. Girls learned to set a table properly and make white sauce without lumps. I’m sure the classes must have had other topics, but those are the ones I remember. The recipe for white sauce, by the way, first appeared in the 1950 Betty Crocker Cook Book. Milk, flour, butter, seasonings, and lots of stirring. Not surprisingly, learning to stir white sauce didn’t teach me any technical knowledge. But enough about my culinary disasters.

The problem women had in the early 20^th century was that, in general, women were considered to be less intelligent than men. Pioneers in the home economics discipline believed that with proper technical skills, women could prove their intelligence and gain respect without crossing male boundaries by, for example, attending chemistry classes.

Home economist Marion Talbot spent most of her career at the University of Chicago where in 1912 she created the Department of Household Administration. The topic of Sanitary Science had previously been a coeducational program housed in the Department of Sociology. But with Talbot’s innovation, the topic was reserved for women only.

“Home economics is the best subject yet found to teach the power of things,” Talbot said. “It is humiliating to be conquered by things.” Talbot and other leaders in home economics believed that as women gained scientific knowledge about food, cleaning, and efficiency, they could make informed decisions for themselves and their families.

Catherine Beecher said much the same thing in 1872:
“The care of a house, the conduct of a home, the management of children, the instruction & government of servants, are as deserving of scientific treatment and scientific professors and lectureships as are the care of farms, the management of manure and crops, and the raising and care of stock.”
But Beecher’s thoughts didn’t found a new academic discipline.

The mantra of the American Home Economic Association established in 1908 was that for women to improve their position, they must follow expert advice from home economists and denounce tradition. And yet, most women continued to perform the same domestic tasks as they did before, albeit with more modern design principles.

Mary Pattison observed in her Principles of Domestic Engineering published in 1915, “our hope is to bring the masculine and feminine mind more closely together in the industry of home-making by raising housework on the one side to the plane of scientific engineering, and by proving on the other, fuller individual returns for every complete and right domestic activity.” And yet, as this 1927 illustration demonstrates, male and female roles remained much the same.

Iowa State College became the first college to offer an undergraduate Bachelor of Science program in the study of household equipment. Between 1930 and 1955, Iowa granted 308 BS degrees. The school followed up with a master’s degree program that taught women how to understand and repair equipment. Both programs proved women could fully understand the new household technology.

Graduates of this and other collegiate programs found positions with utility companies and appliance manufacturers. In 1935, Betty Melcher who worked at Buffalo General Electric, observed “If Mrs. Jones swears she can’t bake a cake and threatens to throw her range out, it is my job to prove to her that she can and incidentally sell her on keeping the range.”

Of course, Betty didn’t need a home economics degree to sell electric ranges. But without it, she had no credentials for the job. In 1949, a woman without a degree in home economics couldn’t possibly know anything about how the new electric ovens worked, or teach middle school girls how to stir a white sauce. And if women and girls didn’t know these things, they would be as ignorant as the greater culture assumed.

It wasn’t until the second wave of feminism that young women had a choice denied to the founders of home economics. In 1960, women were six percent of doctors, three percent of lawyers, and less than one percent of engineers. In 2022, 37 percent of doctors and 15 percent of engineers were women. In 2024, 41 percent of lawyers were women.

Women have broken out of the domestic cage, and have choices Catherine Beecher never imagined. From my perspective, that’s progress. No stirring required.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Ladies Home Journal, 1948; Home Economics Class at Goshen College, 1948; Vacuum cleaner Advertisement, Saturday Evening Post, 1920; Marion Talbot, 1911; Title Page for Beecher’s The New Housekeeper’s Manual, 1873; Country Gentleman, 1927; Electric Stove, 1949; College of DePage President Dr. Ann Rondeau by COD Newsroom, 2018. Glenna Matthews. “Just a Housewife”: The Rise & Fall of Domesticity in America. 1987. Barbara Spindel. “The Secret History of Home Economics Review: Engineering the Everyday.” Wall Street Journal. May 2, 2021.

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This is my second of blog celebrating Women’s History Month. The commemoration gives us many opportunities to cheer women’s achievements. Often, however, the ordinary activities of women’s lives are, if not overlooked, at least unsung. It is impossible to consider women’s history without noting women’s activities in the home, the often invisible work space where women have spent much of their time. Historically, thoughts on household activities were confined to middle class white women who had not only their own homes to look after, but also the education and training of household servants.

In the early American Republic (c.1790-1830), women were praised as Republican Mothers and Angels of the House. Their well-ordered homes were sanctuaries from the stresses men faced on a daily basis, a source of love in a cruel world. Beyond that, women were the custodians of civic virtue who upheld the morals of their husbands and children. Both roles were crucial to establish a model American Republic of domestic tranquility.

However, as Abigail Adams had warned, in exchange for their invaluable service to the young nation, women lost their separate identity at the time they married. With few exceptions, many women could not sign contracts, let alone vote. Married women could not own property. Children belonged to their fathers.

In 1841 Catherine Beecher, an unmarried minister’s daughter, published A Treatise on Domestic Economy. The book made Catherine a household name and gave her an independent identity and income. Catherine built on the model of Republican Motherhood to assert that only women’s efforts in the home could prevent society from fragmenting under the pressure of industrialization, immigration, and growing cities with their noise and dirt. Catherine believed that if women gave up efforts to actively participate in civil society, they could claim their rightful place as society’s moral leaders in education and philanthropy. Catherine emphasized that by creating well-ordered homes, women could hold society together.

Catherine’s vision of a well-ordered home was a structure that by today’s standards seems like more than a full-time job. The housekeeper aka wife must be knowledgeable about health, nutrition, cleanliness, appropriate clothing, exercise, manners, orderly habits, charitable giving, and able to supervise domestic workers. And everything must be done efficiently which is why Catherine included instructions for building houses and arranging work spaces, including this plan for laundry and food storage rooms. No detail can be overlooked, including locations for the ice closet which is next to the linen closet and the laundry area with its own stove.

You cannot make women contented with cooking and cleaning, and you need not try. — Ellen Swallow Richards

Ellen Swallow Richards is generally viewed as the founder of the discipline of Home Economics, a profession that welcomed professionally trained women scientists into its ranks while uplifting women who were still trying to figure out how to prepare nutritious food. She and her disciples explained to middle class women that thanks to improvements in science and efficiency, they can provide a healthy home for their families with such efficiency that not only could they forgo the necessity of servants, but also have time for themselves. But the women must be diligent in their efforts.

Ellen herself was a highly educated woman. In 1868 she entered Vassar College to study astronomy, receiving her bachelor’s degree two years later and embarking on a quest for a Master of Arts degree, which she also received after writing her thesis on her chemical analysis of iron ore. Armed with academic degrees, Ellen applied for several positions as a commercial chemist, but no one would hire a woman in such a masculine field.

Disappointed but undeterred, Ellen applied for admittance to the school that became the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was admitted as a special student. The designation made it clear that MIT would not open general admissions to women. It also meant Ellen did not have to pay tuition. In 1873, Ellen received a bachelor of science degree. For the next five years Ellen taught chemistry and established a Women’s Laboratory without a salary or official academic appointment.

In 1875 Ellen married Robert Richards, chair of the MIT mining & engineering department. MIT graciously allowed Ellen to continue volunteering her academic services and also to donate $1000 annually to further women’s scientific education. [Note: One thousand dollars in 1875 was the equivalent of about $29,568.36 in 2013.] Ellen developed a curriculum stressing chemical analysis, industrial chemistry, mineralogy, and applied biology.

Ellen decided that the best way to provide a career for other women scientists and to allow women to pursue interests outside the home was to apply basic scientific principles to the home with an emphasis on nutrition, food safety, appropriate clothing, physical fitness, sanitation, and efficiency in carrying out household tasks so women could pursue interests outside the home. Ellen Richards had the same basic approach as Catherine Beecher, though whether the two women would agree is difficult to say. Ellen would probably argue that her academic qualifications outranked Catherine’s thoughtful advice. In 1882 Richards published The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning: A Manual for Housekeepers. The Chemistry of Cooking sounds so much more official than A Treatise on Domestic Economy, even if both authors had the same goals of efficient households and women who could turn their talents to social problems in the greater society.

To Produce and Perpetuate Perfection—or as Near to Perfection as may be Attained in a Household

Just in time to spread scientific ideas about domestic economy, the first issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine appeared on May 2, 1885. In its early years, Good Housekeeping published numerous articles on food safety and food adulteration. In 1888, an article discussed candy contaminated with pulverized asbestos, and in 1902 there was an article about formaldehyde in infant formula, milk and cream.

As the century turned, running a household was becoming complicated. Some of the confusion was due to the increasing amount of household equipment powered by electricity. But a more powerful challenge was changing domestic expectations as professional women carved out a career path for themselves and their sisters. What would this new world look like?

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Liberty in the form of the Goddess of Youth by Mabel Brady Garvan Collection 1796; The Artist & His Family by James Peale 1795; Floor Plan of Laundry & Food Storage Rooms from the New Housekeeper’s Manual 1873; Ellen Swallow Richards between 1890 & 1900; From the Boston Cooking School Magazine 1896; Good Housekeeping Cover by John Cecil Clay 1908. Glenna Matthews. “Just a Housewife”: The Rise & Fall of Domesticity in America. 1987.

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The post Women’s Roles: From Republican Motherhood to Scientific Household Management first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Women’s History Month begins March 1. It’s a month designated to celebrate women’s achievements, talents, history, and aspirations. A month in which women’s efforts to achieve economic, social, and legal can be highlighted. So, it seems fitting to take a moment to highlight the timeline of events that led to this month with its focus on women.

The idea that women contribute to the historical record, have a history as valuable as the history made by men, and deserve the same legal and economic rights as men has always been an extremist one.

In 1776 Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her husband John who was attending a congress to discuss American independence from Britain while she remained at home running their farm and raising their children. I long to hear that you have declared an independency, she wrote, and by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could.

A sentiment to which John responded, As to your extraordinary code of laws, I cannot but laugh.

It wasn’t until the early 20th century that Americans slowly saw women’s legal status change.

The Socialist Party of America organized the first Women’s Day on February 28, 1909 on the one-year anniversary of the 15,000 women who marched across New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay, and the right to vote. In 1913 socialists in Europe and America declared March 8 as International Women’s Day, a date that continues to be observed.

The 1913 postcard on the left explains the reason women wanted to vote: For the work of a day, For the taxes we pay, For the laws we obey, We want something to say.

The American campaign for women’s right to vote began in 1848 and proceeded on a state-by-state basis until August 18, 1920 when the 19^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. Two days later the Secretary of State signed the proclamation granting American women the right to vote. A mere twenty-eight words marked the beginning of change in women’s legal status. “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” The amendment did not, it should be noted, remove systemic impediments that prevented American citizens from voting. Neither did it change the legal or social status of women. The struggle for equality continued.

Fast-forward fifty years. In 1971, Congresswoman Bella Abzug of New York introduced House Joint Resolution 52 to designate August 26 as Women’s Equality Day. The resolution stated, in part, that Women’s Equality Day is a symbol of women’s continued fight for equal rights, and, that the president is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of women’s suffrage.

In 1978 the Celebration of International Women’s Day morphed into a Women’s History Week. Nine years later, in 1987, the National Women’s History Project petitioned Congress to pass Public Law 100-9 to designate the entire month of March as Women’s History Month.

“If they don’t give you seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” — Shirley Chisholm

In 1968, Shirley Chisholm began her first term in the United States Congress. She was the first African American woman to serve in Congress, and in 1972 became the first woman and first African American to seek nomination as president of the United States.

During her tenure in Congress, Chisholm championed racial and gender equality, fought poverty, and opposed the war in Vietnam. In her later years, Chisholm said, “I want to be remembered as a woman who dared to be a catalyst for change.”

Women’s History Month is a time to remember the courage and accomplishments of women from all walks of life. Today’s blog is the first of three blogs for Women’s History Month. The movement to establish Home Economics as a profession is the topic of my next blog. And the last will touch on the social trend of trad wife, a movement based in current social media.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

We Can Do it by J. Howard Miller 1942; Abigail Adams by Benjamin Blyth 1766; Votes for Women Postcard c1913; Bella Abzug, 1970s; Shirley Chisholm, 1972. Women’s Equality Day. National Women’s History Museum. Aug. 26, 2013. Debra Michals. “Shirley Chisholm.” National Women’s History Museum. 2015.

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The post March is Women’s History Month first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

On December 16, 1773, about 100 Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians and boarded three English merchantmen carrying a cargo of Bohea tea. The Americans used hatchets to open the 342 chests of tea and dumped a total of 92,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act of 1773. The tea was valued at £9,000, or $1.7 million in today’s currency. The British were, understandably upset with Bostonians, and relations became tense.

Why did a tax on tea ignite so much resistance?

On the surface, the Tea Act doesn’t seem to have had malicious intent. The British Parliament passed the Act to give the East India Company a monopoly on the sale of tea, and undercut the price of the tea Americans smuggled into their colonies.

But it was more, because the struggle over taxation rights had been going on for almost twenty years. Delegates at the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 declared that “it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people, and the undoubted rights of Englishmen, that no taxes should be imposed on them, but with their own consent, given personally, or by their representatives.” Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, and replaced it with the Townsend Acts.

The Townsend Acts of 1766 and 1767 included indirect taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. Americans vigorously protested the right of Britain to tax them when no American was a member of Parliament. Eventually, Parliament repealed the taxes, except the tax on tea. Parliament wanted the colonies to know, in no uncertain terms, that Parliament had the sole authority to tax the American colonies.

“No Taxation Without Representation”

In 1789 the recently independent American states ratified the United States Constitution. At the time, Benjamin Franklin famously declared that

Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

Indeed, the United States Congress divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.” [Article 1, Section 8]

And also All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives. [Article 1, Section 7] Thus, Americans were represented in Congress through their representatives, and since representatives served two-year terms, voters would be able to remove a representative if he did not represent their interests.

On July 4, 1789, President George Washington signed the first tax law of the United States into law. The Tariff Act of 1789 required foreign ships (i.e., British or French ships) to pay a 50 cent per ton duty on all shipping, whether manufactured or raw products, that were delivered to American ports. American ships delivering the same goods paid 6 cents per ton. [Note: In 1789 $1.00 was worth $36.83 in 2013.]

The average American didn’t notice the tariff’s impact. Moreover, the federal government was still quite small and didn’t require a great deal of revenue.

The First Tax on Income

Americans didn’t have a tax on their personal income until 1862 when President Lincoln created a Commissioner of Internal Revenue. To pay wartime expenses, Americans were taxed 3 percent on incomes between $600 and $10,000, and 5 percent on incomes over $10,000. [In 1862 $1 was worth $32.09 in 2013.]

Most Americans never noticed the new tax on income, but those who did, objected to it. In 1872, Congress repealed the income tax. Between 1868 and 1913, 90 percent of government revenue came from taxes on liquor, beer, wine, and tobacco. This was potentially problematic since the government was much larger than it had been in 1789. 

In 1909 President Taft recommended a constitutional amendment giving the federal government the power to tax incomes. Supporters of the amendment thought an income tax was a better method to collect revenue than tariffs. In 1913, Wyoming ratified the 16th Amendment to the constitution, and it went into effect, giving Congress the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived.

Since then, it’s fair to say, income taxes have increased steadily. The Revenue act of 1918 imposed a progressive income tax to support the war effort.

And The Revenue Act of 1942, sometimes called the Victory Tax, was the most comprehensive and progressive tax in American history. For the first time, 75 percent of American workers paid a tax on their income. And to reduce the burden of coming up with a lump sum when the tax came due, the government required employers to withhold money from tax payer wages. Of course, if too much money was withheld, the IRS would refund the overage. By the time the war ended in 1945, 90 percent of American workers filed income tax forms.

My investigation into the history of American taxation with representation has enabled me to procrastinate on the process of actually completing my tax return. If you feel grumpy about taxation, remember that through your representative, you have a voice in the taxation process. It may not be a loud voice, but at least you don’t have to dump 342 chests of tea into the nearest body of water to get the federal government’s attention. You can vote.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor by Nathayel Corrier 1846; No Taxation Without Representation, Clipart Library; Burning of the Stamp Act, Boston, 1903; Benjamin Franklin 1789 by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis & Jean-Francois Janinet; George Washington by Gilbert Stuart 1796; Civil War Envelope; The Fresh Cow by Charles Lewis Bartholomew, c1913; Detail from Two Tax Collectors by Marinus van Reymerswaele 1540s. Beverly Bird. “A Brief History of Taxes in the U.S.” Investopia. Sept. 3, 2025.

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The post Americans & Taxation first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.