Rations

[RyanBWeddle]

Most that you run across in Patent applications flourish immediately after the war (the same w/ so many nifty inventions)...

Here are 1867 & 1869 examples from Scientific American respectively...

In short, use another implement if you can't prove period documentation.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

I second what Robert Johnson wrote on this thread. A period can opener that the average soldier would have had or used looked EXACTLY like a bayonet or knife.

[Amtmann]

Actually period can openers were small handled openers known as a "can knife". I had posted a pic out of the 1865 Hardware catalogue on the old version of the board. I also own an original (or one that's pretty close in date).

*And here I keep saying I'm going to quit posting*

[VIrginia Mescher]

"If you are portraying a soldier on campaign, it would look like your bayonet or pocket knife. There were can openers during the period, but I am not aware of a wide spread usage of any one example. I have my doubts of a soldier carrying one of these heavy dangerous contraptions."

I haven't done in depth research on the use of can openers, either civilian or military, but I do have some information. Just guessing and knowing some general information on cans and can openers, I would expect that a soldier would have used a knife or bayonet to open cans.

It took 50 years after the introduction of canned foods for the can opener to make an appearance. The first can opener was patented by Ezra Warner on Jan. 5, 1858 (#19,063) and was titled, "Can Opener." It had a two pronged opening area with the bottom being the cutting blade and the top stablized the cutting blade on the can.

Among the cargo of the Steamboats Arabia (sunk in 1856) and the Bertrand (sunk in 1865) were a great deal of canned foods but no can opener.
I looked in the Russell Erwin 1865 hardware catalogue but did not find a specific can opener or can knife. In 1887, 1884, and post 1885 hardware catalogues can openers were featured but all were post war design.

Canned foods had been produced since the early 1800s, people had devised many methods for opening them. A can [made of iron] of roast veal that William Parry took on his Arctic expedition in 1824 read, "Cut round on the top with a chisel and hammer." It was not until 1885 that the British Army and Navy Cooperative Society offer can openers. In reading mid-19th century cookbooks, some recommended using a knife or chisel to open the cans.

[RJSamp]

Camp dump sites are full of cans with X cuts in the tops.....

RJ Samp

[Charles Heath]

Does anyone know what a period can opener looks like? If so, are there any reproductions out there?

"One more thing to tote may be the very one to sink the boat." - Anon.

A simple single-blade pocketknife can be one of your best friends in the field, as well as every day. It can be everything from a food slicer, spoon maker, fingernail cleaner & cutter, pea trencher, hoof pick, line cutter, splinter remover, can opener, chisel, hole punch, toothpick maker, light spokeshave, and so much more. Don't try all this at once, and clean the blade (fire is good) between certain uses. Just as there are several ways to skin a cat, there are several ways to open a can with a knife. Here's a few ways that may convince you a heavy can opener is not always needed:

Sometimes relic cans are found in camps with an "X" cut into the bottom and four corners pried up. How they did this is not readily apparent from examining the relic can, but one only need to have the pocket knife close up on one's finger only once to guess the process. Simply take the point of the knife with the fingers low on the blade and centered on the bottom of the can, and tap gently to make a small slot. Turn the knife 90 degrees and make another small slot. This should look like an "X" or the top of a Phillips head screw at this point. The next step is to insert the knife into each end of the small slotted opening, and cut the slot to the rim of the can. It will now be a big "X," and vaguely resemble a pie cut into four sections. Be very careful lifting the four sections with the knife (instead of your fingers). The contents are ready to be poured into another container, or cooked as is right in the can. The sharp edges can be simply pushed into the ground a few times to bend them back into the can. Why open the bottom? For a good number of period cans, the method for sealing involved a multi step process. (A good website on period cans will provide more details.) The top was soldered to the walls, and the large "filler hole" was left open for the contents to be inserted. After heating, the steam escapes from the pinhole in the filler hole cap (about the size of a modern dollar coin -- size does vary), and then the pinhole is sealed. Evidently, someone got wise to the drop of solder dripping from the pinhole into the victuals, and a small tin sturrip or shield was installed directly below the pinhole in a good number of cans. Not all cans had this feature, but it is easier to enter the bottom of this type of can rather than the top. The number of relic cans opened from the bottom indicate this, but it isn't a 100% rule in any case.

Note: If this post slightly reminds anyone of the "how to sharpen a pencil" homework assignment from Technical Writing 101, please feel free to laugh -- at me. :wink_smil

A more common method is to take the point of the knife with the fingers low on the blade to prevent that sudden fold up surprise, and cut along the inside of the top offsetting maybe 3/16th of an inch or less to compensate for the strength in the (fold) of the lid as it goes over the side wall of the can. For the most part, the paradox of the modern can with a period-style label comes into play, and the crimp doesn't add any detectable rigidity to the can at that point. Simply insert to make a hole, and follow around the rim. Some cut the top off, and some leave a hinge on the lid. Your choice. Far more cans appear to be opened in this manner than the "X" method described above. The same thing can be done with a triangular bayonet used with patience, and I'm going to assume a saber bayonet or artilleryman's short sword would be a bit cumbersome to use, but the job could be done with a modicum of care.

A third way to open a can of just liquid is to simply poke two slots into opposite sides of the top. Pry gently to make the slots a tad wide for better flow. Why do this at all? A can of milk is less likely to spoil or be spilled with a pouring slot of about 1/4" and a vent slot of similar size. A small nail or ice pick works for this, too, but this is about fun ways to open a can with a pocketknife.

Sardine cans take a little skill and patience, and the can be made into primitive lamps with a little bacon fat and a strip of cloth as a wick. A little experimentation will develop the skill to making something more akin to a smoky little Betty lamp rather than a grease fire.

On the subject of cans themselves, there is really no really good answer, and while this has been covered in many, many, posts in the past it bears bringing up once again. Most sanitary foodstuffs are in obviously modern cans, and other than selecting non-aluminum cans in somewhat period shapes, and putting on period-style lables, there isn't a good solution, and, frankly, I don't think this is a great solution, but there are times when the scenario or vignette dictates some form of canned goods would be present be it tinned lobster, English bully beef, whole cooked chickens, peaches, tomatoes, sardines, oysters, and such. The other alternative is to fill period containers with the attendant sanitation risks, and having had some experience in the food preservation area over the years, courtesy of the Cooperative Extension Service, I'd rather not repeat the sort of mass food poisioning usually associated with the Bovril Co. and the Span-Am War. The other factor with using filled period reproduction cans as a disposable food serving container is cost. Would reusing crudely opened reproduction cans filled with decanted canned foods be a compromise? In the right setting, it may be. I simply do not know, since I have not tried it. It is getting harder and harder to find remotely appropriate (and they are still wrong in a literal sense) modern cans.

This was about pocketknives, and remember a sharp knife is a safe knife. Some vendors sell slightly larger knives that open cans a little easier than small pocket knives. The Steamship Arabia museum has a large display of knives very similar to the "skinning" or "trade" knife sold by Jas. Townsend & Son. (Warning: Only a very few items in their catalogue have any bearing on the CW.) Other similar knives can be purchased from other vendors and makers. A knife like this is also handy for cutting the rind from real dry cured bacon if a meat saw is not handy in the wagon.

A key thought about cans, before I use all of Paul's bandwidth today, is the appropriateness of the setting. The vignettes of the 157th NY Inf. guards trading canned goods with the prisoners at Fort Pulaski during the Immortal 600 events is good. Having sutlers hawk canned goods in winter camp can be backed up by many mentions in letters and journals, and receiving some canned items in boxes from home, where appropriate, is also good, as seen at the recent Winter 1864 event as the 151st NY Inf. in Newfane, NY. Rebs chowing down on the spoils of Second Manassas is another fun example, and there are others, but keep in mind a can of something special, like peaches, in a knapsack weighs much more than the dried equivalent. Less can be more.

Seems I'm slated to teach some of this period food service stuff beyond bacon burning, hardtack munching, and coffee cooling, as part of Field Cooking 201 class in about 3 weeks at at COI in the always comfy, warm, and dry confines of Fort Ontario in Oswego, NY. Thanks for getting my creative energy going!

Charles Heath

[Secede1863]

I agree with Charles, Kevin, and the others.

The can opener WOULD HAVE BEEN your knife or bayonet (All Models, though the "candle stick" model would have had to have more precision). Most foods were not canned, but if you were lucky enough to recieve some canned peach or apples,or what have you they would have been a rarity and so it was thought that if it was not common (except possibly in garrison) why bother with the contraption?

Andrew Stebbins - Commoneer

[Drygoods]

I can't imagine why you would want to make your own essence of coffee when you can still buy it at the grocery store. I find that my local Safeway Store still sells it in the coffee and tea isle. I have a couple of original bottles that were originally used for essence of coffee, one of them called Peterson's Camp Coffee stamped into the side of the bottle.

One of my bottles has a pontelled bottom which I believe is earlier.....perhaps 1850s? Molded blown bottles are easier to find, the trick is finding the right bottle to match your product.

After I refill the bottle, I cork it and seal it in heavy lapidary wax and then wrap the top with gold foil. It looks accurate and provides me with that fine 'elixir of Eqypt' that I need to get my day going. The bottled essence coffee is very strong, too much for the stomach unless you dilute it.

Judith Peebles

[hireddutchcutthroat]

American Heritage of Inventions and Technology magazine had an article on can openers and food packaging between 1993 and 1995. You may be able to find a back issue.

http://www.inventionandtechnology.com/

[hardtack1864]

I have a top of a tin can from Ceder Creek and as you know with Ceder creek that federal troops had been there for a long enough time for the sutlers to come, but the can seems to have been opened with a knife though.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

as you know with Ceder creek that federal troops had been there for a long enough time for the sutlers to come.

Were they? I don't have the exact dates at hand, but the Army of the Shenandoah encamped along Cedar Creek in the general vicinity of Belle Grove Plantation probably around October 11-12, 1864, after marching north from Harrisonburg (much further up the Valley) and engaging in "The Burning" of the central portion of the Shenandoah. Really, Sheridan's army was at Cedar Creek for literally one week before Early attacked him on October 19. Given that there was active skirmishing between the two armies in this time, I rather doubt that there were sutlers on the scene in the Federal camp, although I will readily admit I do not have handy any documentation one way or the other regarding the presence of Federal sutlers prior to the battle of Cedar Creek.

Regardless, a common soldier may have had a can opener, but he probably did not. A knife of the ubiquitous bayonet does the same darn job, and the soldier needed to carry these items, whereas he did NOT have to carry a can opener.

[hardtack1864]

I thought I heard something in Guns of Ceder Creek that during that surprise attack the rebs looted both sutler tents and soldiers tents, but to the point again, a soldier use something that he already had "knife, bayonet" instead of buying a heavy can opener which had only one purpose.

[markj]

Greetings,

I know I've mentioned this elsewhere but the U.S. Navy sure as heck had can openers during the war: I've found USN ships stores contract bid solicitations for "can openers" published in various 1864 numbers of the "United States Army and Navy Journal." Whether these items filtered into army camps via purchase, theft, or trade remains a matter of speculation....

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Jimmayo]

Since this topic rears its head occasionaly, I put some ration cans about half way down on the following page . There are two dug opened ones and one unused can.

http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/j_mayo/relics.html

[paulcalloway]

I thought I heard something in Guns of Ceder Creek that during that surprise attack the rebs looted both sutler tents and soldiers tents, but to the point again, a soldier use something that he already had "knife, bayonet" instead of buying a heavy can opener which had only one purpose.
Sean it is a priveledge that we have given our users that they would have a 24 hour edit ability on posts. It used to be infinite but it was abused. Now I see we need to restrict editing even further.

Why? Because you have seen fit to edit out the comments that a moderator placed in your post. So now I have to take that ability away from you... but as you might be able to guess, I can't just take it away from you, I have to take it away from everyone.

Nice job there Sean.

[GaReb52nd]

I was just wondering if the pans with the "Cold Handle" on them are authentic or if they came later.

[HOG.EYE.MAN]

I happen to like the edit button too....

Thanks Sean!!

[Arkansas Box Boy]

I think I will take a visit to both the library and the book store and conduct a more in-depth research. Thank you for all of your replies, they have been quite helpfull.

Kevin,
Purchase a reprint of:
THE ORDNANCE MANUAL FOR THE USE OF THE OFFICERS OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

from (dare I say it) Fall Creek Sutlery.

Great info for Small arms Ammo Boxes, Artillery boxes & chests, Musket Packing Boxes, ect....Great Stuff!
Quite possibily the best 'detail' book I have ever seen.

Thanks,
Don Tolbert
Holmes Member
tolberd@polaroid.com

[Fod]

Previous discussion on boxes...

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=165

[Arkansas Box Boy]

Mr Doolin,
A few questions:

What type of wood are you using?
Thicknesses of the tops/bottoms & ends?
Type /size of nails?
Does your boxes come with the farby 'cleats' that are usually attached to the tops?
Strapping - have you considered using 'light iron' instead of wood?
Do you have any stencils for the Cincinnati, OH depot ? (most western troops got their bread from there)

The only reason I bring this up is because of the preponderence of 'wrong' boxes that are available out there today.

Here is some research:

1863 SPECIFICATIONS
Assistant Commissary General of Subsistence - [Lt. Col. C.L. Kilburn "Notes on Preparing Stores for the United States Army and on the Care of the Same, etc, with a few rules for Detecting Adulterations" Printed 1863]
...The packages should be thoroughly seasoned, (of wood imparting no taste or odor to the bread,) and reasonably tight. The usual method now adopted is to pack 50 pounds net, in basswood boxes, (sides, top and bottom 1/2 inch, ends 5/8 of an inch,) and of dimensions corresponding with the cutters used, and strapped at each end with light iron or wood...
Thanks for your response,

Don Tolbert
Holmes Brigade
tolberd@polaroid.com

[Arkansas Box Boy]

Mr. Moffett,

You might consider picking up a copy (reprint) of the 1861 Ordnance Manual.
559 pages of research material.
Very detailed section on Implement storage boxes.
Lists the contents of each box - I am sure you will find a box to fill your needs, as there appears to be about 100 different sizes and types.

If you need further information about this, let me know.

I am planning to make a set of these boxes for my Artillery Impression to fill our limber chest, and could be 'coaxed' to make extras, if the need arises.

Thanks,
Don Tolbert
Holmes Brigade
tolberd@polaroid.com

[26th NC]

Sam,

Always looking for a good, authentic box. As with anything, I'd want to see the documentation. I'd have to do a bit of research to come up with dimensions and type of wood, not withstanding the previous gentleman's post on the cracker box. Basswood not withstanding, I would think pine more plentiful and easier to work than basswood. Of course it also stands to reason that basswood is sturdier than pine, and therefore more able to stand the rigors associated with moving military supplies. Perhaps that is why the Assistant Commissary for Subsistance officer called for it. If you make this box with the same care, authenticity and workmanship as your canteens and the ammo box you made me, I'll buy one.

Layton Pennington

[hardtack1864]

Has anybody seen or heard of a hardtack box just having 50 LB. on the ends of the it like in hardtack and coffee?

[ephraim_zook]

Judith (or anyone else who may know)

What is this stuff (the essence of coffee sold in the Safeway) called, or who makes it? There are no Safeway stores anywhere near me -- we'd have to fly somewhere to find one. None of the groceries near me carry any such thing -- and I checked four stores since you posted your message the other day. I'm just curious; I have no problem making my own essence of coffee.

thanks
Ron Myzie

I can't imagine why you would want to make your own essence of coffee when you can still buy it at the grocery store. I find that my local Safeway Store still sells it in the coffee and tea isle. I have a couple of original bottles that were originally used for essence of coffee, one of them called Peterson's Camp Coffee stamped into the side of the bottle.

One of my bottles has a pontelled bottom which I believe is earlier.....perhaps 1850s? Molded blown bottles are easier to find, the trick is finding the right bottle to match your product.

After I refill the bottle, I cork it and seal it in heavy lapidary wax and then wrap the top with gold foil. It looks accurate and provides me with that fine 'elixir of Eqypt' that I need to get my day going. The bottled essence coffee is very strong, too much for the stomach unless you dilute it.

Judith Peebles

[Drygoods]

Ron, and all others,

The essence of coffee that I buy at the grocery store is made by Victorian House and it is more commonly known as concentrated coffee. It comes in fours flavors, such as; french roast, decaffeinated french roadt, mocha java, and vanilla nut. I think most people buy it to flavor their iced coffees, espresso, and as I call them, twinkie drinks.
You can write to the company yourself or call their 800 number for more information.
Ryan Coffee Company
2993 Teagarden St.
San Leandro, CA 94577
www.ryancoffee.com or mail@ryancoffee.com
1 800 452 8331

I hope this will help some folks out. I certainly found this to be the best tasting and easiest to use concentrated coffee since all I have to do is pour it directly into my historic bottle. Good luck Geez, I hope it's ok that I posted an address on this forum board? :confused:
Mfr,
Judith Peebles

[ephraim_zook]

Many thanks for the info. I'll stick with my home-made "knock yer sox off" essence of coffee; it's closer to the original stuff. BTW, our term for twinkie drinks is "foo-foo coffee".

Ron Myzie

[CitizenSoldier]

Sam,
To manufacture the wood bands for your boxes I would recommend a riving break and froe. Drop me an email at ddorwig@yahoo.com and I will be happy to assist with sketches and instructions of the process.

Sounds like a great project!

Darrek Orwig

[2ndNHDOC]

If this is posted in the incorrect forum please move to correct one. I am looking for a good source of correct salted beef. Can it be picked up at the grocery store if so what is it called today other then salted beef? Any assistance would be appreciated.


Brian Schwatka

[Vuhginyuh]

Try this http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2334 or scroll to the bottom of the current page to the SIMILAR THREADS box and click on Pickled beef link.

[Silas]

From a manual I prepared several years ago:

IV. PREPARING SALT BEEF
The Action of Salt on Meat according to Beeton's Book of Household Management (London, 1861):
"By its strong affinity, salt extracts the juices from the substance of meat in sufficient quantity to form a saturated solution with the water contained in the juice, and the meat then absorbs the saturated brine in place of the juice extracted by the salt. In this way, matter incapable of putrefaction takes the places of that portion in the meat which is most perishable. Such is not the only office of salt as a means of preserving meat. Also, it acts by its astringency in contracting the fibres of the muscles, and so excludes the action of air on the interior of the substance of the meat. The last-mentioned operation of salt as an antiseptic is evinced by the diminution of the volume of meat to which it is applied. The astringent action of saltpetre on meat is much greater than that of salt, and thereby renders meat to which it is applied very hard; but, in small quantities, it considerably assists the antiseptic action of salt, and also prevents the destruction of the florid colour of meat, which is used by the application of salt. Thus, the application of salt and saltpetre diminishes, in a considerable degree, the nutritive,and to some extent, the wholesome qualities of meat. Therefore, the quantity applied should be as small as possible, consistent with the perfect preservation of the meat."

Authentic Salt Beef (Beeton's Book of Household Management)
1/2 round of beef, 4 oz sugar, 1 oz saltpetre, 2 oz black pepper, 1/4 lb. bay salt, 1/2 lb. common salt.
Rub the meat well with salt, and let it remain for a day, to disgorge the slime. The next day, rub it well with the above ingredients on every side, and let it remain in the pickle for about a fortnight, turning it every day. It may be boiled fresh from the pickle, or smoked.
Note: the smaller the beef, the less time it takes to salt it. A joint of 8 or 9 lbs. will be sufficiently salty in a week.

Corn Beef (Adamson's Grandmother in the Kitchen)
To each gallon of cold water, put 1 quart of rock salt, 1 ounce saltpetre and 4 ounces of brown sugar (it need not be boiled). As long as any salt remains undisolved, the meat will be sweet. If any scum should rise, scald and skim well; add more salt, saltpetre and sugar; as you cut each piece of meat into the brine, rub it over with salt.

Authentic Beef Pickle (Beeton's Book of Household Management)
6 lbs. salt, 2 lbs. sugar, 3 oz saltpetre, 3 gallons water.
Boil all the ingredients gently together. Remove from heat. When quite cold, pour it over the meat, every part of which must be covered with the brine. This may be used for pickling any kind of meat, and may be kept for some time. A ham should be kept in the pickle for a fortnight; a piece of beef weighing 14 lbs. for 12 or 15 days.

Salt Beef or "Salt Horse" (Pequot Mess)
Take a chuck roast of the desired size. Rub thoroughly with sugar first, then with saltpetre (obtainable from your local pharmacy) and then with salt. Let the meat sit for a day and drain off the accumulated juices. Prepare a brine of the following proportions; three handfuls of salt per one quart of water. Bring brine to boil until salt dissolves. Let cool and pour over meat. Soak meat in brine for, at least, two weeks turning meat over daily. Keep the meat in refrigerator unless you wish to re-enact dysentery also. Before using, soak meat in fresh water for about twelve hours and use as you would any beef. Expect it to be salty. A salt beef ration was usually boiled.

V. METHODS OF COOKING MEAT
A. Spit Cooking (Pequot Mess)
Cooking on a spit, when done properly, can produce the finest meal ever eaten in the field but, as my alter ego has put so graphically, it is not for the faint of heart. Pig, chicken, turkey or even the shapeless ham loaf; there comes the moment of truth wherein the insertion must be made.
Spit cooking is simply the process of suspending meat above heat and allowing the meat to cook while slowly revolving to allow for evenness throughout. There are two basic methods for suspending the meat; the traditional horizontal bar held up by uprights and the hanging spit. The hanging spit is merely a piece of meat hung over a fire from a rope or twine and set to spinning by winding up the rope periodically. The meat must be reversed for even cooking and care must be taken not to allow the rope to burn through or you will wind up with extra crispy. The beauty of this method is that the only thing required to carry in a haversack is the rope or twine, a good knife can fabricate the rest.
Remember, what cooks the meat is heat, not flame. It may look pretty to see the dancing flames leap up and lick the chicken or ham but the result will be a burnt skin and raw interior. The ideal heat is generated from coals. Build the fire to the side and rake coals under the spit allowing for continuous and even heating. There are times when good wood is unavailable and you have to make do with poor or green wood. When that happens, erect the spit to the side of the firepit and cook the meat out of the flame using the radiant heat of the fire. This will take longer so allow extra time.
In cooking over a good bed of coals you can use the following rule of thumb; suspend the meat approximately eighteen inches over the heat and allow approximately twenty minutes per pound. With a little trial and error you will be able to tell when the meat is done. The flavor is worth the effort.

B. Boiling Salted Meats
Boiled Salt Beef
Soak for several hours. Dump water and refill with fresh water. Bring to hard boil. ADD SALT BEEF. When meat becomes whitish/gray (should occur quickly), remove from direct heat and simmer. This Hard Boil Then Simmer method seals the juices in the beef and makes it tender. If the meat is hard boiled for too long, it becomes hard and inedible.
If the meat is added with the cold water and brought to a boil, then you are making soup. All the flavors will be leached from the meat and into the water. Adding the meat to cold water and bringing it to a boil makes your meas as tough as shoe leather.

Boiled Salt Pork
Soak for several hours. Dump water and refill with fresh water. Add salt pork. Bring to a boil. After it has thoroughly cooked, remove the fat and enjoy the meat (what little there is of it.)

C. Fried Salted Meats
Salt Beef
Soak for several hours. Cut into small strips. Fry in grease or butter if available. Great when added with fried potatoes.

Salt Pork
Salt pork is mostly salt and fat. There is very little meat. As a flavor enhancer, salt pork is highly valued. As food, it leaves much to be desired. If you intend to eat fried sowbelly, fry bacon instead. If you cannot eat it, what good is it?
"The westward migration owes much to salt pork. For pioneers, it was considered a staple in every larder. [ ] Homesteaders prized it above hard money. [ ] Saltpork begins as the fatty parts from the back, side, or belly of a hog. [ ] Fattier than bacon, it was cured by the dry-salt method but not smoked. Western cooks used it a a flavor and as a supplement to meat. [ ] Unlike meat, salt pork would keep awhile without spoiling. [ ] The flavor imparted to foods is unique to itself. At a time when spice racks were usually unavailable, salt pork served heroically with bland foods. [ ] [Soldiers] often carried salt pork. They fried it, sopping hardtack in the grease, thereby softening what was an otherwise jawbreaking form of bread. Cowhands in line camps generally dredged slices of salt port in flour and then fried it. The grease served as a substitute for butter. By modern taste standards, it sounds pretty dreadful. Old-timers were damn glad to get it. The alternative was to go hungry. Offin the wilderness, several days might pass before some form of game found its way into the cooking pot. Salt pork, bread, and coffee provided a welcome supper and sustenance for tomorrow's hardships." From Matt Braun, Western Cooking.

Salt Pork Suggestion (Adamson's Grandmother in the Kitchen)
Soak salt pork (cut into slices for broiling or frying) in a one to two quarts milk and water; soak it over night if it is for breakfast, and for several hours before any other meal. The milk maybe either fresh or sour, and it is diluted with an equal quantity of water. Before cooking the slices, rinse them in water until it is clear. It will be found a very excellent method, and when once adopted will invariably be the choice of preparation.

Salt Pork and Sour Apples (Adamson's Grandmother in the Kitchen)
This makes a very satisfying summer dinner when served with Boiled New Potatoes. Cut the slices of pork; lay them in cold water in the spider (a spider is a frying pan with legs on the bottom - ed.); boil them for 2 to 3 minutes; then pour off the water and set the spider again on the coals; now dredge the slices in cornmeal seasoned with pepper and brown them on both sides in the spider. In another spider, fry 1/2 inch slices of good tart cored but unpeeled apples in butter or drippings after dredging them in a little flour mixed with a pinch of cinnamon or ginger. Serve the pork and apples together.

Floured Bacon (Matt Braun, Western Cooking)
Use thick sliced bacon. Lightly flour each side of the bacon. At medium heat, fry strips until brown on side. Flip and brown on other side.
This makes for exceptionally crispy bacon.

Ham and Red-Eye Gravy (Matt Braun, Western Cooking)
Fry ham in skillet. Remove ham but leave drippings. For each pound of ham, add 1/2 cup strong black coffee to pan drippings. Stir constantly and bring to boil. Serve over ham and biscuits.
This works well for all types of pig fat. You will be surprised how good it tastes.

Wild Pigeon (Adamson's Grandmother in the Kitchen)
Skin the birds to avoid the troublesome pinfeathers. Examine the inside very carefully, especially the liver, to make sure the birds were healthy. Soak them 30 minutes in a good deal of water to remove the blood. Truss and boil them with a little salt for another 1/2 hour and take off the scum as it rises. Take them out, season and flour them well; lay them into a dripping pan; strain the water in which they were boiled and put part of it into the pan; stir in a little piece of butter and baste the pigeons often. Let the birds roast in a warm (350 degree) oven about 1 1/2 hours. Check for doneness; pigeons need to be cooked a long time.

[Sam Doolin]

Greetings comrades,
Info on these boxes was taken from Kautz's "Customs of Service for Non- Commissioned Officers and Soldiers" and an article authored by James Loba and Leslie Jenson.
Tops, bottoms and sides are of 1/2", ends are of 3/4". They are made of pine as Basswood would drive the cost too high to be practical. Pine is however a very suitable alternative and in these dimensions is also stronger.
Construction uses a simple butt joint at corners and the two piece top and bottom use a tongue and groove joint as did originals. 5d cut box nails from Tremont Nail Co. are used to fasten the whole assembly. Sapling bands are of Elm as Hickory is non existant in Colorado. The bands are a continuous loop with a scarf joint made with polyurethne glue. This is the only modern concession and was done to provide a box that could be used repeatedly without having to destroy any components. If done properly, you can't even see the splice.
These boxes were used at Mansfield so many folks have seen them and could comment about appearance. The men from the 15th Texas own two of them. I include a couple of photos. (I hope)

Sam Doolin

[markj]

Hi,

Very nice. And, once again, these cost how much....?

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Sam Doolin]

We have three accurate stencils; AT Hanks, Robert Stears, and Mechanical Baking Company. Month/year can be any date desired and uncut cardstock stencils will be provided with various dates to allow a lot of flexibility in the use of the boxes. As far as a depot designation, there is none, only the point of origin which would be the maker or baking company. This could be added easily by painting such designation on ends or sides.
At present we would ask $110 for a finished , shipped box with your choice of makers stencil and date. for $90 we would supply what could be called a "kit". This would be completely stenciled and finished and would require just nailing the marked pieces together in predrilled pilot holes. This would allow a flat compact shipping package which is substantially less expensive to mail.
More info can be had from Dan Doolin(dedoolin@msn.com) or myself, Sam Doolin(oldrebshop@aol.com) I appreciate all the interest. I sorta look around and see items that are lacking in accurate reprductions and set out to rectify the situation. The boxes are one result as are the canteens I have been making. Thanks,
Sam Doolin
The Old Rebel Workshop
oldrebshop@aol.com

[Arkansas Box Boy]

Sam,
They look great!
In response to the question about wood type: It appears that Basswood was used in order to minimize a transfer of scent and taste to the bread itself. I can sympathize with you about the availability of basswood. I finally found some, but will have to plane it down to 1/2 & 5/8 inch thicknesses.

A good price for the amount of work you have put into them.

Don Tolbert
Holmes Brigade

tolberd@polaroid.com

[Sam Doolin]

I agree that Basswood would be preferable, but it's cost in modern greenbacks is over twice that of pine. Photos of surviving originals show pine was used there also. I have no reservations about using pine. It also must be planed to thickness as would the Basswood.
Sam Doolin

[Andy]

Lads,

I thought there was a thread on this before, but it must have been before "the crash", as I couldn't find anything after a search...

I wanted to bring some dried apples with me to my next event to compliment my other rations, and I was wondering how similar the dried fruits we buy in our modern grocery store are to period dried fruits. And if they don't look period enough, does anyone have any tips on drying my own?

Thanks.
Andy

[PigPen]

I have two of these fine boxes and can't say enough about them. We used them at our recent event at Mansfield and they are great! It took we all weekend to figure out where the dern bands were spliced. Way to go Sam!

[huntdaw]

These boxes are fine indeed if the ones at Mansfield are any example. However, I want to know where you finally found your brother after he disappeared Saturday evening?

[Enfilade]

Dried cherries, dried strawberries, and dried apples are best found at a specialty type store rather than the processed packaged stuff you see at like a major grocer isle. The dried apples at that time had no preservatives like they use in modern packaging today, so they wouldn't have the "white" appearance they have from a major supplier like "Mott's" or similarly packaged food source. We have a local Mom and Pop grocer in my hometown who carries dried apples wrapped in a plastic bag. They are browned and cost about $3.50 apound. They taste fine and look much better. You can do your own if you get the right kinds indigenous from Virginia or wherever your supplies are arriving from.


I hope thios helps.

Mark Berrier
North State Rifles
combinations@northstate.net

[KathyBradford]

Hi, Andy,

Attached, please find a picture of drying fruits, vegetables, and herbs taken at the Yorktown Victory Center kitchen. You can see dried apples, sliced thinly and strung. Also, notice the whole green beans. They were soaked and boiled to make a dish called "leather britches".

To make your own dried apples in the traditional method, optimum conditions require a cool, dry, dark place with good ventilation (e.g. a drafty attic in the fall). Slice apples into horizontal circles less than 1/4 inch thick, no peeling necessary. Allow them to dry a bit in a single layer. String loosely, and hang to dry until they turn leathery. Eat them as is, or to reconstitute them, soak in warm water for at least an hour. Soaked and heated with a little sugar, they would make a tasty addition to breakfast.

Firm, less sweet apples will dry best and naturally will not turn as brown. Apples available this time of year are often past their prime, soft, and turning sugary. Hank, may you please recommend the best varieties that would have been available?

Since it's spring and dry, drafty attics are getting harder to come by, you can also dry apple slices in about 24 hours in an oven on the coolest setting (200 degrees or less) or in a gas oven with just a pilot light. (Optional: to keep dried fruit from turning overly brown, dip each slice in a mixture of 2 cups of water and a tablespoon of lemon juice before drying.) Turn once to be sure to dry thoroughly. The less moisture in the dried fruit, the better it will last. This will also work for pears. Peaches are more difficult to dry without low heat because of their high moisture content. A food dehydrator would be another option. A google search will turn up all kinds of methods of drying fruit if you're opposed to decorating your rafters with foodstuffs.

How common would it have been for soldiers to be sent dried fruit from home? Might they more frequently have gotten it locally by different means?

Did anyone else save the thread about dessicated vegetables?

Thank you,

[vbetts]

Horne Creek Living Historical Farm, near Pinnacle, North Carolina, has a small wonderful fruit drying building, with a place to build a fire at one end, a stone covered flue under the racks of trays, to a chimney on the other end, if I remember correctly. It was clearly a pretty ambitious undertaking and I'm guessing that the family probably produced more than they actually needed.

On their calendar of events, this year on September 11 they will feature "From Peel to Pie." Cidermaking, apple peeling contests, fruit drying techniques, a display of Southern heritage apples, apple butter, apple cider, and fried pies. Discussions with Lee Calhoun on orchard traditions and techniques and tours of the Southern Heritage Apple Orchard also take place. Apple products available at the country store. Nominal fee for food and drinks. 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hs/horne/horne.htm

If I were closer to North Carolina, I'd be there.

In the lower South I've read more about dried peaches than dried apples.

Vicki Betts
vbetts@gower.net

[KathyBradford]

Vicki,

What an all encompassing apple day! Alas, North Carolina is too far from here, too.

Do you have any information about methods for drying peaches? The fruit drying building would be just the thing to dry them before they had time to spoil, but you're correct that it sounds like an ambitious item for common folks.

On a personal note, thank you so much for all the research information you've posted. Just today, I put together my next research trip wish list from your Godey's index.

With high regards,

[Sam Doolin]

I drove around from Mansfield to Pleasant Hill twice that night. Didn't find him till Sunday AM with those La. boys who marched all night to P.Hill .

Sam Doolin

[Medic14]

That sounds cool
So could you send me a price list??


Josh Coughenour
Muddy Creek Mess

[SparksBird]

Here is a quick list of some period apple varieties, winesaps are still my favorite.
Westfield
Chandler
Pound Royal
Tolmans Sweeting
Queening
Rhode Island Greening
Roxbury Russet
Rome Beauty
Rambo
White Pippin
Jonathan
Winesap

In regard to drying houses, they were frequently seen on farms in the 1860s as an outbuilding. I have also seen them attached to outdoor bake ovens. I would love to rebuild one myself. But, you could tell that a dry house was for producing alot of dried fruit. I have come across first hand diary accounts of farm families then selling dried apples or peaches at market. One more way to mass produce on the farm.

Rick Musselman
Buckeye Mess
GHTI

[vbetts]

A number of years ago I visited the 1850 Homestead at Land Between the Lakes (northern Tennessee), and I think they were drying fruit by making a square of something like lathing, maybe 2' by 3' or thereabouts, then tacking down cheesecloth, laying the fruit across it, then another layer of cheesecloth, then putting the squares in a outdoor dry but not sunny place, with good air ventilation through the cheesecloth, presumably away from animals and insects. I suppose you could do the same with old mosquito netting. I'm not sure where they got this technique, but I was impressed with the rest of the operation there and am pretty sure they documented it in some way, if only by oral history. They did (or do) put out a little cookbook on cooking by the seasons, and when I get a chance I'll check to see if they mention dried fruit in there.

I've got a lot of other gardening/cook books where I could check, but I'm heading into a pretty busy family weekend. I'll try to remember to check next week if I don't find some spare minutes at home before then. Thomas Affleck, professional nurseryman from Mississippi then Texas, also lists apple varieties suitable to the lower South in his 1860 farm and plantation almanac. I'll look up his suggestions when I get a chance in case we have some coastal state Southerners following this thread.

Vicki Betts
vbetts@gower.net
East Texas

[Drygoods]

I know that many purists would not like this idea, but what about using a food dehydrator? My trouble is that I have a busy household and cats which does not leave me much room to hang fruit. I have heard of drying apples or tomatoes under cheesecloth but that too is taking too much room away from our home space. If you dried your food in a dehydrator would it look all that different from hanging it on string?

And just on a personal note, I think that brandied peaches are much more tasty than dried ones :wink_smil and brandied peaches were sold clear across the country. Finding those period fruit bottles is a bit of a challenge though but antique bottle shops often have them. If I can figure out how to use a digital camera, I will send photos of them.

Mfr,
Judith Peebles

[SparksBird]

I suppose you could prepare them in a food dehydrator, but that would take some of the fun out of preparing dried fruit in a period way. Personally, I have used the method that Vickie is talking about by using a frame with cheesecloth, and I have hung them. Either way works quite well. Once that they have dried out, I put them in a period correct jar to store. Vickie, I will look for you, I do have documentation on the method with the cheesecloth. I will post it after the weekend. Lastly, Mrs. Peebles, if you are in the market for some good repro glassware, please look at Dog River Glassworks. They carry some excellent bottles that are reproductions. The only problem with using original jars, besides them being original, is that you never know what was stored in them. We had a really good thread going last year on old crocks and jars and the hazards of using them. Hope this helps.

Rick Musselman
Buckeye Mess
GHTI

[vbetts]

I was able to spot the Land Between the Lakes cookbook while I was home at lunch, and this is what they say about dried fruit:

"The peaches and plums the women dry for winter use are cut in half and pitted, and then set on the scrubbed wooden railings of the porch in the hot mid-summer sun. They must be turned at least three times a day and taken in at night and during wet weather. In a few days, they shrink to half their size, turn brown-red, and feel like scraps of leather. Wild berries and grapes dry into small, hard balls. Sometimes soft summer fruits are mashed to a pulp and dried in a thin layer spread on clean boards or a cloth. The soft and pliable sheet that forms when the fruit dries is called "fruit leather."

Dried fruits are stored in the attic above the dogtrot kitchen, where the air is warm and dry and somewhat smoky from the fire below. Soaked in water, they turn soft and moist again; dried, they substitute for expensive raisins and figs in cakes and fruit pies. The best eating, according to the children on the farm, is dried fruit eaten straight from the sack like chewy candy.

Drying is simple, inexpensive, and straightforward, asking of the cook nothing more than her time. . . ."

---Fraser, Kathryn M. _By the Seasons: Cookery at the Homeplace--1850_. Golden Pond, KY: TVA's Land Between the Lakes, 1983, pp.53-54. Remember, this is a secondary source at best, but they do live what they teach on site so it has the ring of experience.

As far as brandied fruit go, I think they would look superb in one of Dog River Glasswork's food bottles, or for smaller fruit, the cathedral bottle:
http://dogriverglassworks.com/NineteenthCentury.htm so that you can see the fruit in the brandy syrup!

Vicki Betts
vbetts@gower.net

[MtnRebel]

Depending on where you live, you may be able to obtain the real deal from folks in a Mennonite or Amish community. Dried apples are a large component of baking and cooking in those communities and they hew to doing things in a traditional manner (i.e., without modern equipment). There are many vendors online who sell Amish food products, so try your luck there if you are not near one of these communities.

Good luck

Wendell O'Reilly

[Spinster]

A fine source for commercially available dried fruit is:
http://www.oldschool.com

We've also had good luck with our state's (Alabama) agricultural bulletin, available through the cooperative extension service---we've purchased from various local farms, and had excellent luck.

Last September at Tunnel Hill, Georgia, we occupied ourselves by preparing green beans to dry. I took great bundles of them home and hung them in the attic. After about 3 days, the bundles were significantly smaller, and I pulled a clean pillow case over them--and there they stayed until last weekend, when we went to Shiloh.

We prepared them by pulling the strings out and putting them on to soak Friday night. They cooked over a slow fire Saturday and were really just getting soft enough to chew on Sunday. I also added about a dollars worth of smoked neck bones for seasoning.

While I've always known this dish as "leather britches", my partner, Susan Morris, was raised in Kentucky--and she refers to them as "rattlesnake beans".

[Andy]

Thanks everyone for your great feedback! I think I will give it a shot and try to dry some of my own. (And maybe by some from an Amish seller as back up in case what I make is only suitable for squirrels and racoons. :) )

Thanks again.

Andy

[deaj02]

Was coffee typically issued to Fed. soldiers in the green, or roasted state?
Please do not quote the regulations (which I'm aware of); I want to know what the soldiers usually received, not what the Army intended.
Also, would you all be kind enough to provide
references for your information?

Jeff D. Mr. Dean, Welcome to the AC Forums, Id like to take this oppurtunity to remind you that the signing of your full name to every post is one of the fundimental rules here. This can easily be accomplished by editing your signature in the User CP menu. Justin Runyon, Forum Moderator

[theknapsack]

Jeff,

I have a few reference that may be of some help.
In A Yankee Private's Civil War by Robert Hale Strong (105th ILL. Inf. Co. B.), he mentions "parched" coffee beans(pg 104):

". . .and coffee, sometimes with sugar. . . Our coffee was generally parched. As we had no coffee mills or grinders, we would put the parched beans in our tin cups and pound them with our bayonets, then boil them right in the cup."

He also mentions how they would boil the beans whole, dry them, put them in a sack and trade them to the local people for "cornbread, milk, or butter."
From Si Klegg and his Pard by Wilbur Hinman (Captain, Co. E., 65th OVI, Pg. 207b-208a):

"As a general thing, coffee was issued to the army roasted, but unground. This was the most convenient form for transportation in sacks or barrels. More than that, it insured to the soldier the genuine article. Had ground coffee been furnished, the virtue of the contractors would hardly have been proof against the temptation to put money in their pockets by liberal adulteration. Whatever strength it had would soon have wasted by evaporation."

Thats all I have right now, maybe I will find more references to roasted or green coffee. Should this be in the camp of instruction?

[Jim of The SRR]

One account from "The Life of Billy Yank" states, "We were issued dried apples and peaches, but these seemed to be mostly dried cores and peels."
I must then assume that what soldiers were issued varied in quality.
Per Vicki's post, fruit rollups are not a new innovation. That was very interesting indeed.

Regards,
Jim Butler
The SRR

[deaj02]

That's the kind of info. I was looking for; thanks very much! More of this type from others would be greatly appreciated. We're using it at Pamplin Historical Park to support our LH impressions.

Jeff,

I have a few reference that may be of some help.
In A Yankee Private's Civil War by Robert Hale Strong (105th ILL. Inf. Co. B.), he mentions "parched" coffee beans(pg 104):

". . .and coffee, sometimes with sugar. . . Our coffee was generally parched. As we had no coffee mills or grinders, we would put the parched beans in our tin cups and pound them with our bayonets, then boil them right in the cup."

He also mentions how they would boil the beans whole, dry them, put them in a sack and trade them to the local people for "cornbread, milk, or butter."
From Si Klegg and his Pard by Wilbur Hinman (Captain, Co. E., 65th OVI, Pg. 207b-208a):

"As a general thing, coffee was issued to the army roasted, but unground. This was the most convenient form for transportation in sacks or barrels. More than that, it insured to the soldier the genuine article. Had ground coffee been furnished, the virtue of the contractors would hardly have been proof against the temptation to put money in their pockets by liberal adulteration. Whatever strength it had would soon have wasted by evaporation."

Thats all I have right now, maybe I will find more references to roasted or green coffee. Should this be in the camp of instruction?

[Glenn Milner]

Please do not quote the regulations (which I'm aware of); I want to know what the soldiers usually received, not what the Army intended.
Also, would you all be kind enough to provide references for your information?

Well,
This is a somewhat... interesting attitude. "Do my research for me to my specifications, be quick about it and provide good documentation for me while you're at it."
Perhaps we could write a term paper for you while we're at it?
I'm wondering why this post wasn't removed by the moderators?
Glenn Milner

[coffee boiler]

Jeff, I want to thank you and the rest of the staff for putting on a great living history program. We really enjoyed working with you. As for the coffe reference, I'll take a look through my notes and see what I can dig up.

[Charles Heath]

Jeff,

"We're using it at Pamplin Historical Park to support our LH impressions."

A fixed location and a known timeframe could be useful, since these things lend themselves well to figuring out who was there and what they were doing at the time, and, with luck, what they had in terms of issue and private purchase items. You have that at Pamplin Park, which is great. A little unit specific research would help learn what may or may not have been there at the time.

In the absence of that, coffee for the federals has a few choices:

1. Green whole bean
2. Roasted whole bean
3. Roasted ground
4. Essence of coffee

Tea was also available.

The mention of impurities in coffee and shady practices by contractors brings to mind a couple of quotes. The first is this brief bit:

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/civwarlett-browse?id=F0667

The second is much longer, and comes from the meat packing industry. The reference to the Civil War is not immediately clear, however, it is important to remember the scale of production at the time of the war was rather industrialized, and the many documented instances of men finding unusually disgusting foreign matter in their food seems to be common. Imagine a cat's paw or claw in your sausage, and you may get the picture. Medicines, food, and many consumables were not regulated until the early 20th century, and as we all know, the Bovril "Embalmed Beef" during the Span-Am War was particularly deadly.

From Chapter 3, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle

"There is over a square mile of space in the yards, and more than half of it is occupied by cattle pens; north and south as far as the eye can reach there stretches a sea of pens. And they were all filled--so many cattle no one had ever dreamed existed in the world. Red cattle, black, white, and yellow cattle; old cattle and young cattle; great bellowing bulls and little calves not an hour born; meek-eyed milch cows and fierce, long-horned Texas steers. The sound of them here was as of all the barnyards of the universe; and as for counting them--it would have taken all day simply to count the pens. Here and there ran long alleys, blocked at intervals by gates; and Jokubas told them that the number of these gates was twenty-five thousand. Jokubas had recently been reading a newspaper article which was full of statistics such as that, and he was very proud as he repeated them and made his guests cry out with wonder. Jurgis too had a little of this sense of pride. Had he not just gotten a job, and become a sharer in all this activity, a cog in this marvelous machine? Here and there about the alleys galloped men upon horseback, booted, and carrying long whips; they were very busy, calling to each other, and to those who were driving the cattle. They were drovers and stock raisers, who had come from far states, and brokers and commission merchants, and buyers for all the big packing houses.

Here and there they would stop to inspect a bunch of cattle, and there would be a parley, brief and businesslike. The buyer would nod or drop his whip, and that would mean a bargain; and he would note it in his little book, along with hundreds of others he had made that morning. Then Jokubas pointed out the place where the cattle were driven to be weighed, upon a great scale that would weigh a hundred thousand pounds at once and record it automatically. It was near to the east entrance that they stood, and all along this east side of the yards ran the railroad tracks, into which the cars were run, loaded with cattle. All night long this had been going on, and now the pens were full; by tonight they would all be empty, and the same thing would be done again.

"And what will become of all these creatures?" cried Teta Elzbieta.
"By tonight," Jokubas answered, "they will all be killed and cut up; and over there on the other side of the packing houses are more railroad tracks, where the cars come to take them away."

There were two hundred and fifty miles of track within the yards, their guide went on to tell them. They brought about ten thousand head of cattle every day, and as many hogs, and half as many sheep--which meant some eight or ten million live creatures turned into food every year. One stood and watched, and little by little caught the drift of the tide, as it set in the direction of the packing houses. There were groups of cattle being driven to the chutes, which were roadways about fifteen feet wide, raised high above the pens. In these chutes the stream of animals was continuous; it was quite uncanny to watch them, pressing on to their fate, all unsuspicious a very river of death. Our friends were not poetical, and the sight suggested to them no metaphors of human destiny; they thought only of the wonderful efficiency of it all. The chutes into which the hogs went climbed high up--to the very top of the distant buildings; and Jokubas explained that the hogs went up by the power of their own legs, and then their weight carried them back through all the processes necessary to make them into pork.

"They don't waste anything here," said the guide, and then he laughed and added a witticism, which he was pleased that his unsophisticated friends should take to be his own: "They use everything about the hog except the squeal." In front of Brown's General Office building there grows a tiny plot of grass, and this, you may learn, is the only bit of green thing in Packingtown; likewise this jest about the hog and his squeal, the stock in trade of all the guides, is the one gleam of humor that you will find there.

After they had seen enough of the pens, the party went up the street, to the mass of buildings which occupy the center of the yards. These buildings, made of brick and stained with innumerable layers of Packingtown smoke, were painted all over with advertising signs, from which the visitor realized suddenly that he had come to the home of many of the torments of his life. It was here that they made those products with the wonders of which they pestered him so--by placards that defaced the landscape when he traveled, and by staring advertisements in the newspapers and magazines--by silly little jingles that he could not get out of his mind, and gaudy pictures that lurked for him around every street corner. Here was where they made Brown's Imperial Hams and Bacon, Brown's Dressed Beef, Brown's Excelsior Sausages! Here was the headquarters of Durham's Pure Leaf Lard, of Durham's Breakfast Bacon, Durham's Canned Beef, Potted Ham, Deviled Chicken, Peerless Fertilizer!

Entering one of the Durham buildings, they found a number of other visitors waiting; and before long there came a guide, to escort them through the place. They make a great feature of showing strangers through the packing plants, for it is a good advertisement. But Ponas Jokubas whispered maliciously that the visitors did not see any more than the packers wanted them to. They climbed a long series of stairways outside of the building, to the top of its five or six stories. Here was the chute, with its river of hogs, all patiently toiling upward; there was a place for them to rest to cool off, and then through another passageway they went into a room from which there is no returning for hogs.

It was a long, narrow room, with a gallery along it for visitors. At the head there was a great iron wheel, about twenty feet in circumference, with rings here and there along its edge. Upon both sides of this wheel there was a narrow space, into which came the hogs at the end of their journey; in the midst of them stood a great burly Negro, bare-armed and bare-chested. He was resting for the moment, for the wheel had stopped while men were cleaning up. In a minute or two, however, it began slowly to revolve, and then the men upon each side of it sprang to work. They had chains which they fastened about the leg of the nearest hog, and the other end of the chain they hooked into one of the rings upon the wheel. So, as the wheel turned, a hog was suddenly jerked off his feet and borne aloft.

At the same instant the car was assailed by a most terrifying shriek; the visitors started in alarm, the women turned pale and shrank back. The shriek was followed by another, louder and yet more agonizing-- for once started upon that journey, the hog never came back; at the top of the wheel he was shunted off upon a trolley, and went sailing down the room. And meantime another was swung up, and then another, and another, until there was a double line of them, each dangling by a foot and kicking in frenzy--and squealing. The uproar was appalling, perilous to the eardrums; one feared there was too much sound for the room to hold--that the walls must give way or the ceiling crack. There were high squeals and low squeals, grunts, and wails of agony; there would come a momentary lull, and then a fresh outburst, louder than ever, surging up to a deafening climax. It was too much for some of the visitors--the men would look at each other, laughing nervously, and the women would stand with hands clenched, and the blood rushing to their faces, and the tears starting in their eyes.

Meantime, heedless of all these things, the men upon the floor were going about their work. Neither squeals of hogs nor tears of visitors made any difference to them; one by one they hooked up the hogs, and one by one with a swift stroke they slit their throats. There was a long line of hogs, with squeals and lifeblood ebbing away together; until at last each started again, and vanished with a splash into a huge vat of boiling water.

It was all so very businesslike that one watched it fascinated. It was porkmaking by machinery, porkmaking by applied mathematics. And yet somehow the most matter-of-fact person could not help thinking of the hogs; they were so innocent, they came so very trustingly; and they were so very human in their protests--and so perfectly within their rights! They had done nothing to deserve it; and it was adding insult to injury, as the thing was done here, swinging them up in this cold-blooded, impersonal way, without a pretense of apology, without the homage of a tear. Now and then a visitor wept, to be sure; but this slaughtering machine ran on, visitors or no visitors. It was like some horrible crime committed in a dungeon, all unseen and unheeded, buried out of sight and of memory.

One could not stand and watch very long without becoming philosophical, without beginning to deal in symbols and similes, and to hear the hog squeal of the universe. Was it permitted to believe that there was nowhere upon the earth, or above the earth, a heaven for hogs, where they were requited for all this suffering? Each one of these hogs was a separate creature. Some were white hogs, some were black; some were brown, some were spotted; some were old, some young; some were long and lean, some were monstrous. And each of them had an individuality of his own, a will of his own, a hope and a heart's desire; each was full of self- confidence, of self-importance, and a sense of dignity. And trusting and strong in faith he had gone about his business, the while a black shadow hung over him and a horrid Fate waited in his pathway. Now suddenly it had swooped upon him, and had seized him by the leg. Relentless, remorseless, it was; all his protests, his screams, were nothing to it-- it did its cruel will with him, as if his wishes, his feelings, had simply no existence at all; it cut his throat and watched him gasp out his life. And now was one to believe that there was nowhere a god of hogs, to whom this hog personality was precious, to whom these hog squeals and agonies had a meaning? Who would take this hog into his arms and comfort him, reward him for his work well done, and show him the meaning of his sacrifice? Perhaps some glimpse of all this was in the thoughts of our humble-minded Jurgis, as he turned to go on with the rest of the party, and muttered: "Dieve--but I'm glad I'm not a hog!"

The carcass hog was scooped out of the vat by machinery, and then it fell to the second floor, passing on the way through a wonderful machine with numerous scrapers, which adjusted themselves to the size and shape of the animal, and sent it out at the other end with nearly all of its bristles removed. It was then again strung up by machinery, and sent upon another trolley ride; this time passing between two lines of men, who sat upon a raised platform, each doing a certain single thing to the carcass as it came to him. One scraped the outside of a leg; another scraped the inside of the same leg. One with a swift stroke cut the throat; another with two swift strokes severed the head, which fell to the floor and vanished through a hole. Another made a slit down the body; a second opened the body wider; a third with a saw cut the breastbone; a fourth loosened the entrails; a fifth pulled them out-- and they also slid through a hole in the floor. There were men to scrape each side and men to scrape the back; there were men to clean the carcass inside, to trim it and wash it. Looking down this room, one saw, creeping slowly, a line of dangling hogs a hundred yards in length; and for every yard there was a man, working as if a demon were after him. At the end of this hog's progress every inch of the carcass had been gone over several times; and then it was rolled into the chilling room, where it stayed for twenty-four hours, and where a stranger might lose himself in a forest of freezing hogs.

Before the carcass was admitted here, however, it had to pass a government inspector, who sat in the doorway and felt of the glands in the neck for tuberculosis. This government inspector did not have the manner of a man who was worked to death; he was apparently not haunted by a fear that the hog might get by him before he had finished his testing. If you were a sociable person, he was quite willing to enter into conversation with you, and to explain to you the deadly nature of the ptomaines which are found in tubercular pork; and while he was talking with you you could hardly be so ungrateful as to notice that a dozen carcasses were passing him untouched. This inspector wore a blue uniform, with brass buttons, and he gave an atmosphere of authority to the scene, and, as it were, put the stamp of official approval upon the things which were done in Durham's.

Jurgis went down the line with the rest of the visitors, staring openmouthed, lost in wonder. He had dressed hogs himself in the forest of Lithuania; but he had never expected to live to see one hog dressed by several hundred men. It was like a wonderful poem to him, and he took it all in guilelessly--even to the conspicuous signs demanding immaculate cleanliness of the employees. Jurgis was vexed when the cynical Jokubas translated these signs with sarcastic comments, offering to take them to the secret rooms where the spoiled meats went to be doctored.

The party descended to the next floor, where the various waste materials were treated. Here came the entrails, to be scraped and washed clean for sausage casings; men and women worked here in the midst of a sickening stench, which caused the visitors to hasten by, gasping. To another room came all the scraps to be "tanked," which meant boiling and pumping off the grease to make soap and lard; below they took out the refuse, and this, too, was a region in which the visitors did not linger. In still other places men were engaged in cutting up the carcasses that had been through the chilling rooms. First there were the "splitters," the most expert workmen in the plant, who earned as high as fifty cents an hour, and did not a thing all day except chop hogs down the middle. Then there were "cleaver men," great giants with muscles of iron; each had two men to attend him--to slide the half carcass in front of him on the table, and hold it while he chopped it, and then turn each piece so that he might chop it once more. His cleaver had a blade about two feet long, and he never made but one cut; he made it so neatly, too, that his implement did not smite through and dull itself--there was just enough force for a perfect cut, and no more. So through various yawning holes there slipped to the floor below--to one room hams, to another forequarters, to another sides of pork. One might go down to this floor and see the pickling rooms, where the hams were put into vats, and the great smoke rooms, with their airtight iron doors. In other rooms they prepared salt pork--there were whole cellars full of it, built up in great towers to the ceiling. In yet other rooms they were putting up meats in boxes and barrels, and wrapping hams and bacon in oiled paper, sealing and labeling and sewing them. From the doors of these rooms went men with loaded trucks, to the platform where freight cars were waiting to be filled; and one went out there and realized with a start that he had come at last to the ground floor of this enormous building.

Then the party went across the street to where they did the killing of beef--where every hour they turned four or five hundred cattle into meat. Unlike the place they had left, all this work was done on one floor; and instead of there being one line of carcasses which moved to the workmen, there were fifteen or twenty lines, and the men moved from one to another of these. This made a scene of intense activity, a picture of human power wonderful to watch. It was all in one great room, like a circus amphitheater, with a gallery for visitors running over the center.

Along one side of the room ran a narrow gallery, a few feet from the floor; into which gallery the cattle were driven by men with goads which gave them electric shocks. Once crowded in here, the creatures were prisoned, each in a separate pen, by gates that shut, leaving them no room to turn around; and while they stood bellowing and plunging, over the top of the pen there leaned one of the "knockers," armed with a sledge hammer, and watching for a chance to deal a blow. The room echoed with the thuds in quick succession, and the stamping and kicking of the steers. The instant the animal had fallen, the "knocker" passed on to another; while a second man raised a lever, and the side of the pen was raised, and the animal, still kicking and struggling, slid out to the "killing bed." Here a man put shackles about one leg, and pressed another lever, and the body was jerked up into the air. There were fifteen or twenty such pens, and it was a matter of only a couple of minutes to knock fifteen or twenty cattle and roll them out. Then once more the gates were opened, and another lot rushed in; and so out of each pen there rolled a steady stream of carcasses, which the men upon the killing beds had to get out of the way.

The manner in which they did this was something to be seen and never forgotten. They worked with furious intensity, literally upon the run-- at a pace with which there is nothing to be compared except a football game. It was all highly specialized labor, each man having his task to do; generally this would consist of only two or three specific cuts, and he would pass down the line of fifteen or twenty carcasses, making these cuts upon each. First there came the "butcher," to bleed them; this meant one swift stroke, so swift that you could not see it--only the flash of the knife; and before you could realize it, the man had darted on to the next line, and a stream of bright red was pouring out upon the floor. This floor was half an inch deep with blood, in spite of the best efforts of men who kept shoveling it through holes; it must have made the floor slippery, but no one could have guessed this by watching the men at work.

The carcass hung for a few minutes to bleed; there was no time lost, however, for there were several hanging in each line, and one was always ready. It was let down to the ground, and there came the "headsman," whose task it was to sever the head, with two or three swift strokes. Then came the "floorsman," to make the first cut in the skin; and then another to finish ripping the skin down the center; and then half a dozen more in swift succession, to finish the skinning. After they were through, the carcass was again swung up; and while a man with a stick examined the skin, to make sure that it had not been cut, and another rolled it tip and tumbled it through one of the inevitable holes in the floor, the beef proceeded on its journey. There were men to cut it, and men to split it, and men to gut it and scrape it clean inside. There were some with hose which threw jets of boiling water upon it, and others who removed the feet and added the final touches. In the end, as with the hogs, the finished beef was run into the chilling room, to hang its appointed time.

The visitors were taken there and shown them, all neatly hung in rows, labeled conspicuously with the tags of the government inspectors--and some, which had been killed by a special process, marked with the sign of the kosher rabbi, certifying that it was fit for sale to the orthodox. And then the visitors were taken to the other parts of the building, to see what became of each particle of the waste material that had vanished through the floor; and to the pickling rooms, and the salting rooms, the canning rooms, and the packing rooms, where choice meat was prepared for shipping in refrigerator cars, destined to be eaten in all the four corners of civilization. Afterward they went outside, wandering about among the mazes of buildings in which was done the work auxiliary to this great industry. There was scarcely a thing needed in the business that Durham and Company did not make for themselves. There was a great steam power plant and an electricity plant.

There was a barrel factory, and a boiler-repair shop. There was a building to which the grease was piped, and made into soap and lard; and then there was a factory for making lard cans, and another for making soap boxes. There was a building in which the bristles were cleaned and dried, for the making of hair cushions and such things; there was a building where the skins were dried and tanned, there was another where heads and feet were made into glue, and another where bones were made into fertilizer. No tiniest particle of organic matter was wasted in Durham's. Out of the horns of the cattle they made combs, buttons, hairpins, and imitation ivory; out of the shinbones and other big bones they cut knife and toothbrush handles, and mouthpieces for pipes; out of the hoofs they cut hairpins and buttons, before they made the rest into glue. From such things as feet, knuckles, hide clippings, and sinews came such strange and unlikely products as gelatin, isinglass, and phosphorus, bone black, shoe blacking, and bone oil. They had curled-hair works for the cattle tails, and a "wool pullery" for the sheepskins; they made pepsin from the stomachs of the pigs, and albumen from the blood, and violin strings from the ill-smelling entrails. When there was nothing else to be done with a thing, they first put it into a tank and got out of it all the tallow and grease, and then they made it into fertilizer. All these industries were gathered into buildings near by, connected by galleries and railroads with the main establishment; and it was estimated that they had handled nearly a quarter of a billion of animals since the founding of the plant by the elder Durham a generation and more ago. If you counted with it the other big plants--and they were now really all one--it was, so Jokubas informed them, the greatest aggregation of labor and capital ever gathered in one place. It employed thirty thousand men; it suppported directly two hundred and fifty thousand people in its neighborhood, and indirectly it supported half a million. It sent its products to every country in the civilized world, and it furnished the food for no less than thirty million people!
To all of these things our friends would listen openmouthed--it seemed to them impossible of belief that anything so stupendous could have been devised by mortal man. That was why to Jurgis it seemed almost profanity to speak about the place as did Jokubas, skeptically; it was a thing as tremendous as the universe--the laws and ways of its working no more than the universe to be questioned or understood. All that a mere man could do, it seemed to Jurgis, was to take a thing like this as he found it, and do as he was told; to be given a place in it and a share in its wonderful activities was a blessing to be grateful for, as one was grateful for the sunshine and the rain. Jurgis was even glad that he had not seen the place before meeting with his triumph, for he felt that the size of it would have overwhelmed him. But now he had been admitted--he was a part of it all! He had the feeling that this whole huge establishment had taken him under its protection, and had become responsible for his welfare. So guileless was he, and ignorant of the nature of business, that he did not even realize that he had become an employee of Brown's, and that Brown and Durham were supposed by all the world to be deadly rivals--were even required to be deadly rivals by the law of the land, and ordered to try to ruin each other under penalty of fine and imprisonment!"

This is telling, "...offering to take them to the secret rooms where the spoiled meats went to be doctored." In other sections of the book describing the practices of Packingtown, the "ingredients" are even more morbid. If it could be swept from the floor, it went into production. While a postwar look at meatpacking practices, much the same can be said for wartime food packaging practices, if not worse.

Why is that important? The military figured they would be robbed if they trusted their suppliers to provide them with ground coffee. Walnut and chestnut sawdust both resemble ground coffee, and were good product stretchers, and in an era when rocks were placed in bacon boxes to up the weight, shady and unsanitary practices were common.

Here's a brief article that may be of some help. It was first posted in May 1999, and recently updated.

Notes on Coffee
Copyright 1999, 2004 Charles Heath

The coffee making question bodes well for both the loquacious reenacting philosopher, and the famished inner man. Making coffee goes far beyond the simple act of boiling something in a cup, and it begins with building a fire.
Coffee in a mess cup will usually be made while in camp, or at a halt while on the march. Many picket posts are ordered to be "cold," therefore, there is no fire. Subsitute a nice quality tinned can boiler, such as peach or tomato, for the mess cup if so desired. It will most likely let the mess cup last longer.

There is a difference in fire-building technique between a roadside cup of coffee and making one in camp. For the fire on the march, you'll want a "hot fire" and not the delightful bed of coals we normally associate with a "camp" or "cooking fire." Combustibles such as dry twigs, pine cones, gum balls, dried dung, lighterwood, pine straw, dry leaves, and softwoods will produce a hot fire. (Now, some wag usually asks if all fires are hot. Yes, some fires are hotter than others. Take, for example, the difference between a fire utilized for forge welding and a fire for barbequeing a pig.) This means a short duration fire to boil water quickly, and the quicker the better.

This small fire need not be much larger than the diameter of the mess cup, but remember 3-4 other pards will in all likelyhood be right there with ready cup. This is where a bail on a cup can come in handy to keep it in the sweet spot of the fire when the bayonet is on the musket in the stacks, yet small branches are available as cooking implements. Many small fires work better than one big fire in this instance. With a 10-15 minute halt, and some teamwork, a good cup of coffee can be had, and shared. Moving out while the coffee is half boiled is a period experience, as sad as it is, so it straggling to "cool" your coffee. In camp, the mess fire will normally be larger, and coffee preparation can be accomplished at a more leisurely pace. This fire affords coals by which to bring the water to a rolling boil slowly. Remember, the fastest cup of coffee is not necessarily the best, but while on the march one need not be picky about the beverage known as "the soldier's restorative."

Over time, you'll discover how different woods provide different fires. Yellow pine provides heat, but little or no coals. Hickory cranks out the BTUs. Oak coals well, but green oak is tough to burn. Walnut burns fast, but provides little heat. Poplar and soft maples acting in a similar fashion, but they produce a little more heat. Sweet gum is a world unto itself. A big piece of beech, persimmon, rock maple, cherry, or elm can be a good nightcap for the fire. Ironwood (a beech) makes a nice "cook set," if you are so inclined. The boys of '61 knew more about wood than most of us ever will. Learning the local wood can be a blessing.

So much for fire philosophy.

The coffee itself creates a debate from time to time. As a very loose rule of thumb, for federals, green coffee beans were early war, roasted coffee whole and ground begin to show up in mid-war, and in late war roasted ground coffee is common. Take these time spans loosely, as there was a lot of overlap. It really depends on the research for the scenario. Ground coffee shows up throughout the war, as does green whole bean, roast whole bean, and once in a while a mention of essence of coffee is out there. It appears to be a love/hate relationship with the latter.

While it has been rightly suggested ground coffee from the contractor is subject to adulteration, the reason for the conversion from green coffee beans to roasted ground can be attributed to a federal surgeon who noticed how much coffee was wasted by soldiers roasting and grinding their own. The story of this process, and the period letter describing the wasted coffee, was reprinted in a Civil War Times Illustrated article a few years ago. The doctor believed coffee was akin to a miracle drug, and was fighting hard to make sure soldiers received their fair share in a useable form.

If you haven't had the pleasure of working with green coffee beans, I suggest a simple search at http:// www.google.com for "green coffee" or "green coffee beans." Prices were hovering around less than $3 per pound shipped a few months ago when I bought my last batch. Go in with a pard on the coffee, as 5 pounds of beans is a bit much for one fellow. Some smaller volume vendors catering to the needs of the CW reenactor can supply smaller quantities.

This roasting and grinding of green coffee is a great vignette builder for those laid-back living history event ration issues. It takes time to develop the roasting skill, and the pards seem to enjoy fooling with the beans as an activity. Fit the type of coffee to be issued to the scenario if there is no other documentation to guide you.

Roasting the beans is a slow task. If you like nasty coffee, burn those beans quickly over a hot fire. You'll know when they are done, as the sweet coffee smell is overpowering. Test a few beans first before making coffee. It takes a little more skill to roast coffee beans at night, but it can be done.

For those interested in roasted beans at a moderate price, check near the bulk coffee beans in the local supermarket for pre-bagged house brand coffee beans. The local grocery store has them less than $3 per bag, and it is surprisingly good coffee. It doesn't have to be good, just hot, black, and slightly bitter.

To grind or not to grind? Try it both ways, and the ground coffee appears to release more coffee flavor in a shorter amount of time. On the other hand, if you need to stretch a small quantity of beans, boiling them whole can make a handful last for days. Whole beans can be used several times before crushing or trading to the local citizens for food, too.

Having a very small period reproduction coffee grinder at an early war event on the battalion wagon with the mess kettles might be fun, but for the most part grinding is in the mess cup with a bayonet, or in the plate with a musket butt (cover the beans in cloth first to prevent flying bean projectiles), or some other means. By nesting two canteen halves, a perfectly good grinder can be formed, too. Grinding beans can be more fun than it sounds, so give it a try sometime.

What about the ground coffee? It works fine, and will go just as stale in the haversack as anywhere else. Ground coffee also has the ability to pick up flavors, so when my favorite coffee-stealing-pard filches my coffee, he usually complains it tastes like salt-pork, slab bacon, or salt-fish. Um, don't put the lye soap next to the ground coffee, either. It is a bad move.

Coffee makers generally fall into two camps. The boil-then-add camp, and the add-then-boil camp. The latter works well enough for me, but some folks do like to get the water boiling before adding their coffee. I'm sure the boys of '61 argued the same thing with the same enthusiasm as any Liliputian egg-end debator.

Covering the bottom of the cup with 3/4" to 7/8" of grounds to start (I like coffee that walks and talks then grabs me by the throat and slaps me around for a while), but secret is in the slow boil. For me, filling the cup 1/2-2/3 full with water after the grounds are delivered, and letting the coffee come to a rolling boil makes a good cup of coffee. The only time I stir the coffee is when I add the water. If the coffee appears to be more akin to a spewing volcano of Guiness Stout than a gently bubbling cup of Java, then the fire is too hot.

Resist temptation, and don't stir the dang coffee at this point, Jonah. Let the coffee boil gently over some nice coals for 4-5 minutes. The longer it boils, the better the elixir, but don't let it become a foul tar-like substance. Watch the coffee carefully at the 3.5-4 minute point, as that's when bigfooted Jonah is most likely to knock over your coffee. If a horseshoe stands up in the coffee it is about right. If the horseshoe stands up for a moment and then dissolves slowly, the coffee is ready for consumption.

Remove the cup with the mess rag, add a few ounces of cold water to settle the grounds, and let the cup sit for a moment on the ground so the cup cools. (Remember to soak that canteen cover upon filling, so the water will at least be cool from evaporation, per the designer's intent.)Sometimes a canteen without a cover makes a good heat sink to cool the rim of the cup. For those who don't mind carrying an extra piece of tin, the classic peach can boiler works well for making coffee and then shifting it into the mess cup. My favorite coffee-stealing-pard (he knows who he is) does this, and it works just fine. The boiler comes in handy for other things as well.

Some folks strain their coffee with an old tea strainer. Is that something you want in your knapsack? Maybe not. Some folks have elaborate boil, lift, boil, schemes. Well, I'd lose the dang tea strainer the first time I fiddled around in the knapsack at 2:30 a.m., and I'm lucky not to spill the coffee handling it just twice. What works for you works for you.

Haven't said much about confederate coffee. Cargo documents indicate coffee came into Wilmington up until the capture of that fine port. Just about every account of the Appomattox Campaign mentions Lee and Longstreet's encounter with the first "real" coffee they had enjoyed in ages while dining with a civilian family, so coffee was certainly around. Adverstisements for real coffee show up in Petersburg newspapers in very late war, so the expensive elixir was available for civilians. It was available through the supply system in some quantity, available through trading with the yanks, and available via foraging. All of this is nice, but in my humble opinion we should be using more coffee substitutes as the war progresses, and be very happy when a CS pard shows up with a rare quantity real coffee. Of course, all of this depends on the event scenario. Substitutes are a whole world unto themselves, and a fun one to explore. Vicki Betts has some good coffee substitute information online, if memory serves me.

So, what's a substitute? Ready to use chicory can be found in grocery stores, and it beats digging, grating, roasting, etc. just to get an ersatz coffee. Sweet potatoes thinly sliced and baked in the oven make an interesting brew that's not half bad. Roasted barley, wheat or rye is a good drink, and Postum brand coffee substitute is not that far away from that. I have tried ground roasted okra seeds (hey, a great use for those woody end-of-the-season-pods), and it has an interesting taste. Avoid those pink/treated seeds found in the stores this time of year, as they are poison.

Roasted peanut hulls make good coffee. I have not tried acorns yet, but they were used. Probably the worst cup of coffee I've ever had is from dry roasted corn meal. Part of the confederate reenactor's experience should be trying these substitutes and appreciating the experience. While I can find no documentation for it, with the exception of chicory, ground coffee could be adulterated with these "coffee stretchers" for effect. If sawdust is used as a filler, avoid walnut, oak, exotic woods, and any anti-rot treated lumber.

Raw sugar can be had in the form of "Sugar in the Raw" in 2lb boxes from Cumberland Packing Corp., 2 Cumberland Street, Brooklyn, NY 11205 or http://www.sugarintheraw.com Most grocery stores carry it these days, and many in smaller size bags.

A type of sugar is available from the Hispanic section of many markets (even Wal-Mart). These are small cones. In the last few years, smaller cones are falling into disfavor due to additional research. Broken up small cones look a lot like broken up large cones if the pieces are small enough. Larger cones and nippers are available from James Townsend and Sons, and elsewhere. Molasses is a dandy sweetnener, but it begs a tight container. it can be bought in bulk from the local feed mill. Honey is good, and is sometimes available, and even lemon drops being used to sweeten and flavor coffee.

Essence of coffee was available, and provides much entertainment watching men attempt to spooning the stubborn substance from a container. Tins and labels are readily available for those who want to tin their own Essence of coffee. Several recipes are online. This is a good link as a starting point for Essence of Coffee information:

http://www.fugawee.com/coffee.htm

Perhaps another way, courtesy of J. Gillett via Camp Chase Gazette, but this uses modern ingredients:

"Add a teaspoon of instant coffee, powdered cream, and sugar untill have your desired amount. Then, carefully, add teaspoons of water untill you stir it into a THICK paste. If it gets too runny, add more amounts of the prediscribed ingredients."

What of canned ground coffee? According to the Coffee FAQ website, "The first company to sell coffee in a sealed tin container was Chase & Sanborn in 1878. At this time most people still roasted their own coffee at home. Chase & Sanborn sole coffee in sealed one and two pound cans as 'Chase & Sanborn Seal Brand' and 'Crusade Coffee'." So, that makes it very much post war.

That is probably more than you wanted to know, and then some. Don't take my word for it, instead take some quality time to reread what the usual first person accounts say about coffee. What about a coffee pot? Depending on the scenario, they can be just fine. Just remember who has to tote the thing."

A good way to interpret rations for younger folks:

http://www.nps.gov/gett/gettkidz/hardtack.htm

I'd like to thank Silas of CHAPs for reminding me to at least get around to updating this coffee article, and having a few odds and ends to add to it. :cool:

Petersburg Campaign? Hmmm, I wonder if the federals were roasting and grinding coffee in bulk back in the City Point commissary area where they were baking bread so fresh it was still warm by the time it arrived by USMRR train to be issued to the front line troops? Might be an area for additional research as part of that CW era forward depot concept.

Lots of holes in this, but it may be of some use.

Charles Heath

[deaj02]

Charles, thanks for your reply.

We do have a few refs. on CS coffee (detailed citations available on request):
"Our ration of meat has been reduced to a quarter of a pound of bacon per day, or three quarters of a pound of beef, but they are giving us lard in place of it. Besides we draw sugar, rice, coffee, and dried fruit pretty often. Our flour rations is eighteen ounces per day yet, and very likely to be so for the winter." [Garibaldi, 27th Va. Inf., ANV, letter #29, 1/9/64, Camp near Orange C. H.]
"This winter we drew coffee and sugar regular. They are making out to give us some clothing every once and a while so that there is not much complaining in camp." [ditto, letter #33, 4/22/64, Camp Stonewall Brigade]
"Our rations were not abundant while at Taylorsville; one pint of unsieved meal and a quarter of a pound of bacon per day. Coffee was made of parched wheat rye, and sometimes of rice when we had it." [Johnston, 7th Va., ANV, p. 236, Winter 63-64, Taylorsville, Va.]

[deaj02]

Jeff, I want to thank you and the rest of the staff for putting on a great living history program. We really enjoyed working with you. As for the coffe reference, I'll take a look through my notes and see what I can dig up.

Thanks, Bob. I was a small player in a big show. You guys did great. I especially appreciated your loud cheers at the appropriate times during the recruitment rally. Getting Union recruits from a pro-southern crowd can be difficult!

[MontReb]

A few months ago someone inquired as to the status of Mechanical Baking Co.. I can no longer access their web site, and I was wondering if anyone knew if they were still in business.

[Charles Heath]

...I was wondering if anyone knew if they were still in business.

Why not give them a call? This phone number may or may not still be current: (309) 353-2414.

Charles Heath

[Agate]

Concerning green coffee beans issued to the Federal Army.

Does anybody have anything that specifically supports the purchase of green coffee by the US Subsistence Department in any quantity during the earlier (or any, for the matter) period of the Civil War?

I understand that it is widely accepted, my question is what is this based upon? Is it advertisements, or is it the fact that someone found that one could purchase these goods from an earlier period living history supplier, thought it neat, and it becoming a trend.

I've looked for advertisements from the QMD for clothing in papers both east and west, and during different periods of the war, and have run into a number of advertisements placed by the Subsistence Department. I don't believe I've ever come across such concerning the procurement of green coffee. What follows serves as an example of what I have found:

Cincinnati Daily Gazette
April 4, 1862
Pge. 3, Col. 4

Army Stores

Bids will be received (from first hands and from citizens loyal to the Government of the United States only, and from whom the oath of allegiance will be required on acceptance of bid,) until 12 M., April 4th, 1862, marked "Proposals to be opened April 4th, 1862." for-

350 brls. Mess Pork, full weight;
50,000 lbs Bacon Sides, ribbed, in 200 lb strong boxes, strapped;
333,000 lbs. Hard Bread, in 50 lb. boxes, strapped;
300 bush. Beans in barrels lined;
33,000 lbs. Hominy. course, in brls. lined;
1,000 lbs. Black Tea, in strong boxes;
30,000 lbs. Rio Coffee, roasted, not ground, in barrels lined;
50,600 lbs. Brown sugar, in barrels lined;
4,300 lbs. Star Candles, full weight;
13,300 lbs Soap, in boxes;
210 bush Salt, in barrels lined;
633 gals Molasses, in barrels;
633 gals. Whiskey, in brls.

Cooperage must be of the best kind, and no charge for packages. All the above stores to be the best quality, to be ready for delivery on the Eighth day of April 1862, and bills in detail must be rendered by or before that day. Certificates of inspection, signed by the authorized inspector, must accompany each bill. Actual tare required. Packages to be marked, "C. S. Nashville, Tenn." Also with the contents, name, and address of seller. Bids for part of the above stores received-which for convenience, should be separate for different articles. The Beans and Salt to be in measured bushels. Marked samples required, except meats. The hardbread must be thoroughly dried and cooled before packing. For the Roasted Coffee, samples of the green coffee will be required.

C. L. Kilburn, Maj. and C. S.

In the very same colum btw, is an advertisement for beef to be delivered at Washington, as well as another from Kilburn (in Cincinnati) to be delivered at Nashville.

I would really like to see firm documentation supporting green coffee issued to the Federal Army. As I've asked for this before on the board, and nothing was presented, could we please do so now, or put it to rest as a reenactorism.


Regards,

John Sarver
Co. D,
1st Regt. Ky. Vols.
Cin. O.

[Hank Trent]

Searching the ORs for "green" near "coffee" gives a few examples.

Here's one, from a letter written by Charles Tripler, medical director of the Army of the Potomac, on Feb. 7, 1863, concerning the period Aug. 12, 1861 to March 17, 1862:

"...a regimental surgeon complained to me that green coffee was issued to his men, without the means of properly roasting it, and that they could not get the 'extra' rations ordered. Colonel Clarke, to whom I referred the complaint, promptly replied that green coffee was always issued; that it should be roasted in a mess-pan, or a Dutch-oven, or other vessel, purchased with the company fund..."

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Charles Heath]

I understand that it is widely accepted, my question is what is this based upon? Is it advertisements, or is it the fact that someone found that one could purchase these goods from an earlier period living history supplier, thought it neat, and it becoming a trend.

For many years people had trouble finding green coffee beans in small quanitity, but this is no longer a problem, and they no longer have to be purchased in 50 or 100lb sacks. It may be based more upon numerous individual soldier accounts via letters and journals which back up period cooking chapters in manuals of the time rather than newspaper requests for bid advertisements.

A number of events have featured green coffee, and roasting (with various degrees of success) based on period letters for a specific unit in a specific location. If memory serves me, the background information provided for the Harrison's Landing event featured such a letter, perhaps from a fellow in the 83rd PVI, as just one example. Look for comments about kettles in journals and letters, and soon or later the writer will comment on the burned coffee beans from inexperienced cooks cooking them so fast the oils burn quickly and impart a bitter taste.

As a hint towards using packaging as a guide, coffee referenced in bags tends to be green, and coffee in barrels tents to be roasted. As always, there are exceptions, and the various OR citations Hank mentioned are a good place to start your research.

Charles Heath

[Sprowls]

Yes, definitely give them a call.

A few months ago they were experiencing some computer difficulties
and the best way to contact and do business with them, at that time,
was by phone. Anyway, that was my relatively recent experience.

Chuck Sprowls



Why not give them a call? This phone number may or may not still be current: (309) 353-2414.

Charles Heath

[Agate]

Thanks for the replies, very much appreciated.

I think the best place for further research on this would be a look for records of procurement in the Serial Set.

I should explain that I've run across at least thirty-five or forty advertisements placed by the department, and have just not found a record of their advertising for green coffee other than as a sample of quality.

Had Mr. Trent not provided something of authority, would not have much choice but to somewhat question this.

This advertisement business certainly doesn't mean they didn't purchase it, very much agree, as it is after all an advertisement, and not a record of procurement. Hopefully more will be shed in the records of the Congress. If the interest is there, will report back if anything is found.

Regards,

John

John Sarver
Cincinnati

[RebelReefer]

What were normal rations issued to a private in the Army of Tennessee? I've read that Rebs in the west were not issued salt pork nor hardtack, so what were they issued? Cornmeal and beef? Am just trying to find "safe" authentic foods that i can bring to an event that won't spoil in a haversack over a weekend.

[markmason]

What were normal rations issued to a private in the Army of Tennessee? I've read that Rebs in the west were not issued salt pork nor hardtack, so what were they issued? Cornmeal and beef? Am just trying to find "safe" authentic foods that i can bring to an event that won't spoil in a haversack over a weekend.

For starts find a copy of THE LIFE of JOHNNY REB by Bell Irwin Wiley and
read....

Another source to try is Sam Watkins CO. AYTCH

[FederalDrummerBoy]

Ethan,
I reccomend SOLDERING IN THE ARMY OF TENNESSEE.

_______________
Alex Kuhn CCFD

[Charles Heath]

You may find this of value as an example of one such regiment:

http://members.aol.com/cbbelt/Food/

The part about "blue beef" is interesting. At one time, a handy Florida beef producers website had a brief article on the topic of blue beef.

Charles Heath

[Amtmann]

Russel & Irwin Catalogue 1865. Can knives. Anyone interested can email me for a scan.

[deaj02]

"The coffee was sometimes issued to the companies from the Commissary Dept., green and unground and then ground up in coffee mills by the cooks, but as a general thing it was issued ground as we received it from our stores at the present time." [Pvt. Ryan, in Barnard, Campaigning with the Irish Brigade, pp. 74-75, 28th MA, no date or location]

[RebelReefer]

I've been racking my brain to think of a way to keep bacon from spoiling in the field for a weekend. I know salt pork was what the U.S. Army was issued but the modern version you can buy at the grocery store is unauthentic, so what do i use? My first choice would be bacon, but what else? Also how could i safely carry it in my haversack other than deep freezing it and cooking it all on friday night?

Ethan, please check this thread http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2560&highlight=bacon (http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2560&highlight=bacon). It should answer your question. Please use the "search" feature prior to asking questions as the topic may have been discussed. Thanks - Mike Chapman

[Charles Heath]

Forgive me for posting this yet one more time. Keep in mind this is The Sinks, and this has been reposted a zillion times by everyone and his brother anyway. I was going to post this to this week's bacon question, but it was already closed, homogenized, pasteurized, simonized, and treated for lice.

Bacon, More Than You Want to Know

This is a test of the Emergency Bacon System. The following information should only be used in a real bacon emergency.

Bacon is cured and/or smoked hog meat from the pig belly. Bacon produced at home, is typically dry-cured with salt, nitrites, sugar, and spices for a week or longer. Because of concern over N-nitrosamines, the use of nitrates for bacon curing is not allowed commercially (USDA FSIS 1997c). Home preparations, such as Morton Smoked-flavored sugar cure, contain nitrates and are recommended by the manufacturer for the use in bacon curing (Morton Salt Co.1996). Some ethnic bacon (Canadian bacon and Irish bacon) is made from leaner cuts. Pancetta is Italian bacon that is not smoked.

Real Bacon: The meat is first rubbed down with two kinds of salt and two kinds of brown sugar, to a traditional recipe. The meat is placed for a few on trays to allow the juices to drain, then hung for a week or thereabouts. It is then bone dry containing only meat. Often oak chippings are used to smoke bacon, giving them a distinctive flavour.

Non-Bacon with a Baconish Label & Vague Baconish Flavor: Large scale factory processors inject their meats with a saline solution by pumping the meat with hundreds of needles. The solution also contains monosodium glutamate, which is an artificial flavour enhancer, needed to cover the injection of the water and salt solution. This process often doubles the size of the meat to increase profit margins. Pork can contain up to 35% water naturally. Saline injection methods can increase the water content to a staggering 65-70% The white glue-like liquid and water that comes out of rashers when cooked is the water and monosodium glutamate, causing your rashers to shrink watching them fry or grill. Traditionally cured bacon only loses 2-3% when cooked

Don't try this at home.

Haversack bacon is considered a hazardous substance by OSHA and is regulated through the EPA as well as some state and local agencies. If you drop cooked or raw bacon at a living history, that site may eventually become as polluted as Love Canal in New York, and be listed as a Superfund Site. Be very careful with bacon or else you will become very familar with the Center for Disease Control's protocol for bacon transporation, storage, and preparation.

Before handling bacon (always wear your hazmat suit, neoprene gloves, and respirator before entering the bacon contaminated area), it is advisable to read the following material for a better understanding of the potential dangers, and what specific actions should be taken if any meat escapes the bacon containment area:

Alden L. 2001a. Bacon Glossary. The Cooks Thesaurus. Available from: http://www.switcheroo.com/MeatcureBacon.html. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Alden L. 2001b. Ham Glossary. The Cooks Thesaurus. Available from: http://www.switcheroo.com/MeatcureHams.html Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Alden L. 2001c. Bacon Glossary. The Cooks Thesaurus. Available from: http://www.switcheroo.com/MeatcureSausage.html. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Alexander MA, Stringer WC. 1993. Home Curing Bacon for a Mild Flavor. Columbia, MO: Missouri Cooperative Extension. Available from: http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/ansci/g02528.htm. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Andress EL. 2001. Should I Vacuum Package Food at Home? Athens, GA: FACS Extension University of Georgia. Available from: http://www.fcs.uga.edu/pubs/PDF/FDNS-E-46.pdf. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Associated Press. 1997. Tainted ham suspected in deadly bacteria outbreak. Atlanta, GA: Cable News Network. Available from: http://www6.cnn.com/HEALTH/9711/07/salmonella/. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Borchert LL, Cassens RG. 1998. Chemical Hazard Analysis for Sodium Nitrite in Meat Curing. Madison WI: American Meat Institute Foundation. Available from: http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~meatsci/borca2.htm. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Bruhn, C. 1997. Consumer Concerns: Motivating to Action. Emerging Infectious Diseases. Vol. 3. No 4. P511-515.

Busboom J. 1997. Curing and Smoking Poultry Meat. Pullman, WA: Washington State University. Available from: http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1660/eb1660.html. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Campbell T. 2001. Secrets of Salt Curing: The Oldest Food Preservation Technique. Burbank, CA. ABCNews.com. Available from: http://archive.abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/Geek/geek990610.html. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Cassens RG. 2001. Safety of Cured Pork Products. Washington DC: National Pork Producers Council. Available from: http://www.nppc.org/facts/cured.html. Accessed Sep 30.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1986. Trichinosis Maine, Alaska. MMWR 35(3);33 5 Jan 24. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/epo/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000671.htm. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1987. International Outbreak of Type E Botulism Associated With Ungutted, Salted Whitefish. MMWR 36(49)ec 18. Available from: http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/fishbot.html. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1994. Clostridium perfringens Gastroenteritis Associated with Corned Beef Served at St. Patrick's Day Meals Ohio and Virginia, 1993. MMWR 43(08);137 138,143 144. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00025191.htm. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1995. Outbreak of Salmonellosis Associated With Beef Jerky New Mexico, 1995. MMWR 44(42):1995 Oct 27. Available from: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/jerky.html. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1997a. Foodborne Botulism From Eating Home Pickled Eggs Illinois, 1997. MMWR September 01, 2000 / 49(34);778 780. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4934a2.htm. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1997b. Outbreak of Staphylococcal Food Poisoning Associated with Precooked Ham Florida, 1997 . MMWR December 19, 1997 / 46(50);1189 1191. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00050415.htm. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1997c. Vibrio parahaemolyticus Infections Associated with Eating Raw Oysters -- Pacific Northwest, 1997. MMWR June 12, 1998 / 47(22);457 462. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00053377.htm. Accessed 2001 Sep 30.

Condon S. 1999. Enhancement of the quality and safety of fermented and other acidified consumer foods through the interaction of nitrite and acid. Cork, Ireland: Unive