Rations

[Duke20thSC]

How about some coffee substitutes? Southern troops should not be using real coffee very often. Instead, chickory, sweet potatoes, acorns, roasted corn, peanuts, roasted wheat or rye, and a multitude of other substitutes should abound at events. If we're trying to experience the realities of the campaign, this should be the norm. At the Hodge March in 2000, Co. K, 35th NC issued wheat to be toasted and canteens filled with honey to sweeten the hot beverage serving as a coffee substitute. These items are all too seldom used, though.

[Milliron]

To all you folks who like to grind it in the poke sack, do that too many times and you won't have a poke sack very long. My feeling is that troops would likely not have ground their coffee like that very often, for that reason. (not that you couldn't find documentation of it)

My method is to use bayonet and cup, as of old. However, the trick is not to wait until you feel like making coffee to do it--do it during down time and save it for when you have less time. Grinding coffee seems to be the one utterly stereotypical activity the veterans recall, at least on the Union side. So grind during daylight, it annoys far less than at 4:00 a.m., and is a great interpretive activity.

As far as making it, my method is to grind it as fine as you can get it. I go for strength, as camp coffee can be notoriously weak (unless, of course, I made it). I admit I haven't tried the boil first method, always felt it wouldn't be strong enough. And yes, use a lot of it. Chris Piering may remember sidling up as Colonel up to our fire at McDowell a couple years ago and trying our coffee. I think the colloquy was: "My God, I can feel my heart palpitating." "Just the way we like it, Sir."

As far as preventing yourself from spot-welding your lips to the cup, my pard and I make it in his cup and decant it into mine, then share it. Recently, we both invested in small coffee pots and have been wondering how we survived all this time without one. Another way to make yourself nuclear coffee is to simply put the beans in a large cup or can of water and sit it by the fire at bedtime. It will be heart-palpitatingly strong by morning.

Anyway, that's how we do it.

[Charles Heath]

At the Hodge March in 2000, Co. K, 35th NC issued wheat to be toasted...."

It was cereal rye, and most of the fellows receiving the issue boiled up the raw seed without knowing it needed a good toasting beforehand. Perhaps this is a good time to repost Vicki Betts' collection of newspaper blurbs:

CONFEDERATE COFFEE SUBSTITUTES
Articles from Civil War Newspapers

BELLVILLE] TEXAS COUNTRYMAN, June 12, 1861, p. 2, c. 6
The times are so hard, that many families have taken to drinking coffee but once a day. It is a good time to retrench and reform, when you can't help it.

[LITTLE ROCK] WEEKLY ARKANSAS GAZETTE, June 15, 1861, p. 4, c. 1
A Suggestion.—The following communication contains a suggestion for the times:
A very good coffee can be made, costing only 12½ cents, by mixing one spoonful of coffee with one spoonful of toasted corn meal, boil well and clear in the usual way. I have used it for two weeks, and several friends visiting my house say they could not discover any thing peculiar in the taste of my coffee, but pronounced it very good. Try it and see if we cannot get along comfortably, even while our ports are blockaded by the would be kind. I can assure you it is very pleasant, though not strong enough to make us drunk.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], August 25, 1861, p. 3, c. 2
Greensboro', Ga., August 23, 1861.
To the Editor of the Chronicle & Sentinel:
Having heard you were great coffee drinkers, and always relished a good cup, and knowing that you desired to run Lincoln's blockade into nonentity, to obtain a good cup, (such as you have no doubt often tasted at the French Market, New Orleans,) I enclose to you the receipt--the very latest--for making the very best domestic coffee. This coffee, when made by the receipt, is of excellent flavor, and very nutritious. It is of sufficient strength, and not excitable in its action. It is mild, healthy, persuasive, and sufficiently exhilarating for any epicure. When you smell it, you will say "I believe it's Java;" when you taste it, you will say, "I think it is Java;" when you drink it, you exclaim (foreignly,), "I'll pe tamn [sic??] if it isn't Java coffee!" It is true, it has not that foreign accent; but by adding a little rich milk or cream, it speaks almost the foreign tongue. Try it, as an antidote for the blockade.

Receipt.

Take the common garden beet, wash it clean, cut it up into small pieces, twice the size of a grain of coffee; put into the coffee toaster or oven, and roast as you do your coffee--perfectly brown. Take care not to burn while toasting it. When sufficiently dry and hard, grind it in a clean mill, and take half a common sized coffee cup of the grounds, and boil with one gallon water. Then settle with an egg, and send to the table, hot. Sweeten with very little sugar, and add good cream or milk. This coffee can be drank by children, with impunity, and will not (in my judgment,) either impair sight or nerves. Col. Wm. W. D. Weaver and myself have tried it, and find it almost equal, when properly made, to either the Java, Brazilian or Mocha coffee. I am indebted to the Colonel for this excellent substitute; and as every man has his beet orchard, so has he his coffee. And like Cuffee, we exclaim, "bress God for dis blockade. Nigger now get him plenty of kophphee, and Mr. Lincoln am no where." R. J. Dawson.
P.S. There is a percentage of water in the beet which is extracted as you toast the coffee particles to a nice brown.

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], August 27, 1861, p. 1, c. 1 [left edge in fold]

How to Get Coffee.

Greensboro', Ga., Aug. 23, 1861.
To the Editor of the Chronicle & Sentinel:
Having heard you were great coffee drinkers, and always relished a good cup, and knowing that you desired to run Lincoln's blockade into nonentity, to obtain a good cup, such as you have no doubt often tasted at the French market, New Orleans,) I enclose you the receipt--the very latest--for making the very best domestic coffee. This coffee, when made by the receipt, is of excellent flavor, and very nutritious. It is of sufficient strength, and not excitable in its action. It is mild, healthy, persuasive, and sufficiently exhilarating for any epicure. When you smell it, you will say, "I believe it's Java;" when you taste it, you will taste (?) it, you will say, "I think it is Java;" when you drink it, you exclaim (foreignly) ?? shure it is Java." It is true, it has not that foreign accent; but by adding a little milk or cream, it speaks almost the foreign tongue ?? it, as an antidote for the blockade.

Receipt.

Take the common garden beet, wash it clean, cut it into small pieces, twice the size of a bean of coffee; put into the coffee toaster or pan, and roast as you do your coffee--perfectly brown. Take care not to burn while ??ing it. When sufficiently dry and hard, grind it in a clean mill, and take half a common size coffee cup of the grounds, and boil in one gallon water. Then settle with an egg, and send to the table, hot. Sweeten with very? little sugar, and add good cream or milk, ??? coffee can be drank by children with impunity, and will not (in my judgment,) either impair sight or nerves. Col. Wm. W. D. Wea??? and myself have tried it, and find it almost equal, when properly made, to either the Java, Brazilian or Mocha coffee. I am indebted to the Colonel for this excellent substitute; and as every man has his beet orchard, so has he his coffee. And like Cuffee, we exclaim, "Bress God for dis blockade. Nigger now get ?? plenty of kophphee, and Mr. Lincoln am ??here."

R. J. Dawson.

P.S. There is a per centage of water in the beet, which is extracted as y you toast the ??? particles to a nice brown.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, August 29, 1861, p. 1, c. 7
War Coffee.—A very good coffee can be made, by costing only12½ cents, by mixing one spoonful of coffee with one spoonful of toasted corn meal; boil well and clear in the usual way. I have used it for two weeks, and several friends visiting my house say they could not discover anything peculiar n the taste of my coffee, but pronounced it very good. Try it, and see if we can't get along comfortably, even while our ports are blockaded by the would-be king. I can assure you it is very pleasant, though not strong enough to make us drunk.—Exchange.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], August 31, 1861, p. 3, c. 2
Greensboro, Ga., Aug. 28, 1861.
To the Editor of the Chronicle & Sentinel:
You will excuse me for taxing again your patient indulgence upon the subject of Beet Coffee, and add this note to my former, in order than no one may be deceived in making an article of this desirable beverage. For fear some of the more ignorant might not follow up (what common sense has heretofore usually supplied) making good coffee, I would state this coffee is regulated by taste, as all coffee is made. If you wish it high-toned, take one cupful of grounds to the gallon; if not, take less. Modify to suit your taste, and then little sugar and rich cream or milk, and your joy will have been complete. One half cupful of grounds for children, well boiled, and one full cup, for adults, and y you can make no mistake.
Your friend, R. J. Dawson.

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, September 9, 1861, p. 1, c. 3

Affairs in Gwinnett.

Oak Grove, Gwinnett County, Ga., }
September 4th, 1861. }
Mr. Editor:--Thinking that your readers would be interested in hearing the news from upper Georgia, I herewith submit you a few dots.
. . . Sugar and coffee are getting scarce and high. The sugar we are learning to dispense with, and we have an excellent substitute for coffee, very cheap and abundant. It is rye—we have been using it in our family for six weeks, and I think it equally as healthy, and as palatable as the Rio. It is prepared in the same way as coffee, being browned and parched, and afterwards ground fine. So you see as far as coffee is concerned, we don't care a straw about Lincoln's blockade. But, sir, coffee is not the only article we have learned to do without. Our fair daughters are busying themselves in preparing homespun for their dresses, and for their brothers and husbands. Many an old spinning wheel and handloom have been put to work anew, to help in maintaining Southern independence; Yankee tweeds, casimers, and broadcloths, also calicos, ginghams, and delaines will soon go a begging. . . . Gwinnett.

SEMI-WEEKLY RALEIGH REGISTER, September 11, 1861, p. 3, c. 5

For the Register.

Messrs. Editors:--Remembering when quite a boy, that during the war of 1812, Rye was used in my father's family as a substitute for coffee.—I resolved to see if I could not reduce the cost of old Java, by introducing it again into use. As soon as I could obtain a peck of this rather scarce grain, I carefully weighed two pounds, which I added after parching to the same quantity of coffee, and from one tea-cup of this admixture, we obtained as good coffee, and we believe a far more healthy beverage than from the coffee itself, especially for Dyspeptics.
Some of our knowing friends, who could see farther than the most of us, and anticipating the blockade, have well supplied themselves for some time to come, may feel no interest in this saving, but if even they will try the Rye, they can find that they can spare to their less fortunate friends one half their supply, and yet enjoy as good a coffee.
J. M. T.
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER [MS], September 21, 1861, p. 1, c. 3

Asparagus for Coffee.
[From the Annual of Scientific Discovery]

'Liebig states that Asparagus, contains, in common with Tea and Coffee, a principle which he calls Taurine, and which he considers essential to the health of those who do not take strong exercise. By this, a writer in the London Gardener's Chronicle was led to test Asparagus as a substitute for Coffee. He says: The young shoots were not agreeable, having an alkaline taste. I then tried ripe seeds, and they, roasted and ground, made a full flavored Coffee, not easily distinguished from fine Mocha. The seeds are easily freed from the berries by drying them in a cool [warm, I suppose he means,] oven, and then rubbing them on a sieve.'
'There is in Berlin, Prussia, a large establishment for the manufacture of coffee from acorns and Chicory, the articles being made separately. The Chicory is mixed with an equal weight of turnips, to render it sweeter. The Acorn Coffee, which is made from roasted and ground Acorns, is sold in large quantities, and frequently with rather a medicinal than an economical view, as it is thought to have a wholesome effect upon the blood. Acorn Coffee is, however, made and used in many parts of Germany for sole purpose of adulterating genuine Coffee.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], September 27, 1861, p. 2, c. 1
Coffee.--This luxury--esteemed the greater from its present scarcity--is retailing from 38 to 40 cents per pound for Rio in this city; (Java has about "gin out.") rye and barely [sic] are being adopted as substitutes in many families; and sweet potatoes, beets and ground peas are also brought into requisition. All these, people say, make a very palatable drink; and we have no doubt, if we try, we can bring ourselves to believe they each and all make a beverage equal to the best Java or Mocha.

SEMI-WEEKLY RALEIGH REGISTER, September 28, 1861, p. 3, c. 2

An Excellent Substitute for Coffee.

For a family of seven or eight persons, take a pint of well toasted corn meal, and add to it as much water as an ordinary sized coffee pot will hold, and then boil it well.—We have tried this toasted meal coffee, and prefer it to Java or Rio, inasmuch as genuine coffee does not suit our digestive organs, and we have not used it for years. Many persons cannot drink coffee with impunity, and we advise all such to try our receipt.—They will find it more nutritious than coffee and quite as palatable.
CHARLESTON MERCURY [SC], October 5, 1861, p. 1, c. 6
An Excellent Substitute for Coffee.--For a family of seven or eight persons, take a pint of well toasted corn meal, and add to it as much water as an ordinary sized coffee pot will hold, and then boil it well. We have tried this toasted meal coffee, and prefer it to Java or Rio, in as much as genuine coffee does not suit our digestive organs, and we have not used it for years. Many persons cannot drink coffee with impunity, and we advise all such to try our receipt. They will find it more nutritious than coffee and quite as palatable.--Raleigh Register.

[BELLVILLE] TEXAS COUNTRYMAN, October 9, 1861, p. 1, c. 5
Substitute for Coffee.—Scrape clean three or four good parsnips, cut them into thin slices, bake till well brown, grind or crush, and use in the same manner as coffee, from which it is scarcely distinguishable. This is not only a beverage equally as good as coffee, but it is likewise a cure for asthma.

MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER [AL], October 9, 1861, p. 2, c. 3
An Excellent Substitute for Coffee.--For a family of seven or eight persons, take a pint of well toasted corn meal, and add to it as much water as an ordinary sized coffee-pot will hold, and then boil it well. We have tried this toasted meal coffee, and prefer it to Java or Rio, inasmuch as genuine coffee does not suit our digestive organs, and we have not used it for years. Many persons cannot drink coffee with impunity, and we advise all such to try our receipt. They will find it more nutritious than coffee and quite as palatable.--[Raleigh Register.

SEMI-WEEKLY RALEIGH REGISTER, October 9, 1861, p. 2, c. 1

Wheat as a Substitute for Coffee.

Editors Dispatch:--Being on a visit to the county of Mecklenburg a short time since, I was told by one of my female acquaintances, near Clarksville, that she had found an excellent substitute for that very popular and indispensable article called "coffee." It consists in wheat parched, ground, and prepared in the same manner you do coffee. Experienced and devoted lovers of coffee have tried the wheat and report it equally as good as the genuine article. The grains being of different sizes, they should be parched separately, and afterwards ground together, when the coffee imparts to the wheat its genuine aromatic properties. Two-thirds wheat and the remainder coffee make a most excellent drink.
Truly "necessity is the mother of invention." Let those who disbelieve but make the experiment. We have plenty of wheat; who cares for the blockade?
Pro Bono Publico.
Charlotte co., Va., Sept. 28, 1861.
[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, October 17, 1861, p. 1, c. 6
Recipes for the Times.—To Make Coffee.—Take tan bark, three parts; three old cigar stumps and a quart of water, mix well, and boil fifteen minutes in a dirty coffee pot, and the best judges cannot tell it from the finest Mocha.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, October 17, 1861, p. 2, c. 4
Coffee.—This luxury—esteemed the greater from its present scarcity—is retailing at 38 to 40 cents per pound for Rio, in this city; Java has about 'gin out.' Rye and Barley are being adopted as a substitute, in many families; and sweet potatoes, beets and ground peas are also brought into requisition. All these, people say, make a very palatable drink; and we have no doubt if we try, we can bring ourselves to believe that each and all make a beverage equal to the best Java or Mocha.—Augusta Chronicle.
We have tried these substitutes, but the best we ever found was acorns. These, hulled, dried, roasted and ground, not only taste like coffee but have the same qualities or medicinal effects. Unless well dried, you can detect a sort of soft, unripe flavor, but, properly prepared they are an excellent substitute for coffee. Let some of our friends try it and give us the results of their experiment. We once know a wealthy man, an epicure to boot, who preferred his acorn coffee to the finest Java or Mocha.
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER [MS], October 18, 1861, p. 1, c. 5
A Light Matter. The days get shorter, daylight is becoming scarcer, and candles dearer. Coal oil is said to be where coffee is--out of sight. The substitute for coffee is rye, the substitute for coal oil is a black cat, which when rubbed strongly on a frosty night will shine.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER [MS], October 30, 1861, p. 1, c. 5
Substitute for Coffee. We are requested to recommend Field Peas, dried, parched, and ground, as an excellent substitute for Coffee, said to be better than wheat or rye.--Fayetteville Observer.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], November 3, 1861, p. 1, c. 1
New Substitute for Coffee.--Dr. Poiterin, in the Mobile Tribune, recommends the acorn of our native oak, (Quercus Alba) as a substitute for coffee. It is pronounced an excellent remedial agent, as well as a source of economy.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER [MS], November 5, 1861, p. 1, c. 2

The Best Coffee.

From the Mobile Daily Tribune.
In times of famine, occasioned by the total loss of a crop, by scarcity, the protracted operation of a siege, or by a blockade such as now prevails, while food is diminished and dear, efforts are usually made to substitute for articles of prime necessity others that approximate most nearly to them in their taste and general sanitary effects. Under circumstances it pertains to all enlightened and practical hygienic systems to select for the purpose of such experiments, those substances which are most wholesome. At the South, several substitutes for coffee have been resorted to. Neither of them is unwholesome; but, at the same time, neither is designed to produce salutary results. By roasting corn, wheat, oats, or potatoes a considerable consumption of genuine coffee is certainly economised, the latter being used by in such quantity as is necessary to flavor. Now, if in adhering to the small quantity employed for imparting taste to the decoction, the roasted acorn shall be adopted, the problem is solved.
The acorn of our native oak (Quercus Alba) is found in great abundance from Canada to Florida. This species approaches nearest to the fruit bearing oak (Quercus Hispanica) which is palatable, raw or cooked and which constitutes an important element of traffic in Old Castile. If the reader will carefully note the analysis given of it by Lorvig, the chemist, he will be convinced that it contains such substances as are, at once, most nutricious [sic] and medicinal; Greasy oil, rosin, gum, tannin, or bitter extract, starch and the remainder potash and calcium salts.
Acorns supplied the food of man before wheat was discovered. In France, during the scarcity of 1709, the indigent were compelled to have recourse to this resource for them, the only one. Pulverised into flour, they made use of it for bread; and, under the first consulate, upon the establishment of the continental system, some industrial economists conceived the idea of substituting the roasted acorn for coffee, and styled it "indigenous coffee."
In 1840, while I was stationed in the Grecian Archipelago, I visited from time to time the principal islands--Samos, Scio, Imbros, etc. The Greeks who inhabit those countries have recourse to acorn coffee in the slightest affections of the stomach or intestines; and I have seen subjects suffering from chronic dyspepsis, or diarrhoea, cured in less than four or five days.
The reader may assure himself of the correctness of my statement by opening any standard work on materia medica; and he will learn that acorn coffee is a tonic proscribed in scrofula, debility of the digestive organs, and recommended as a substitute for coffee to nervous persons. If, therefore, the blockade should continue, and the importation of coffee is rendered impracticable, it would be very natural that the use of acorn coffee, mixed with the genuine should become universal. The poor would find it equally a source of economy and a valuable remedy; and soldiers in camp would be less exposed to diarrhoea, one of the most terrible evils that can exist in an army.
In order to prepare this coffee, the acorns must be first roasted in an oven. The hard outer shell is removed, and the kernal is preserved, which, after being roasted, is ground with ordinary coffee. A. Poiteven, M. D.

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], November 7, 1861, p. 3, c. 1
How to Get the Very Best Coffee at About Ten Cents a Pound.--In these war times it is quite an object to make economical investments in this article, but aside from this, the coffee that you can make from this recipe will be found far superior to the very best you can get anywhere, either North or South, and those who give it a fair trial will be unwilling to go back even to the best Java.
Take sweet potatoes and after peeling them, cut them up into small pieces about the size of the joint of your little finger, dry them either in the sun or by the fire, (sun dried probably the best,) and then parch and grind the same as coffee. Take two thirds of this to one third of coffee to a making.
Try it, not particularly for its economy but for its superiority over any coffee you ever tasted.

[LITTLE ROCK] DAILY STATE JOURNAL, November 8, 1861, p. 2, c. 1
Substitute for Coffee—Dr. Polterin, in the Mobile Tribune, recommends the acorn of our native oak as a substitute for coffee. It is pronounced an excellent remedial agent, as well as a source of economy.

AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE [TEX.], November 9, 1861, p. 4, c. 2
Save your okra seeds. Okra is the best substitute for coffee that is known. Besides this, the okra plant will kill out noxious weeds, even coco, better than any other known means. The okra plant makes a shade so dense, that nothing will grow in it. Gardens that have been allowed to go to the weeds have in this way been cleared of them. Fields may be in the same way. An acre of okra will produce seen enough to furnish a plantation of fifty negroes with coffee in every way equal to that imported from Rio. The green pods taken from an acre of okra and dried, would furnish the best thickening for soup in the winter, that could be made. Okra is the most valuable plant that is raised. Save your okra seeds.--Telegraph.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], November 13, 1861, p. 3, c. 2

[Communicated]

Mr. Editor: In reference to a paragraph in your paper on Acorn Coffee, allow me to remark that it has long been a substitute for coffee in foreign countries, and especially for children, it is considered more healthy and desirable.
We are happy to state that an enterprising citizen, Mr. F. C. Ludekens, has given some attention to the manufacture of this article, and has employed many poor children during the fall in gathering the soundest and best acorns.
We have not been initiated in the different processes of his manufacture, for which we hear Mr. L. has erected costly machinery, but can only speak of the coffee itself as a most excellent beverage.

SEMI-WEEKLY RALEIGH REGISTER, December 4, 1861, p. 2, c. 3
Coffee.—A friend gives us the result of experiments in coffee-making, which, at this time, may prove serviceable to housekeepers. The "Old Dominion" coffee-pot is highly recommended, inasmuch as it makes the beverage clearer and better than any other, besides being economical. wheat is now much used with coffee, and the following is the way to prepare it: Get some red wheat, (for there is as much difference between white and red wheat as between Rio and Laguayra coffee,) soak it in warm water until the bran or outside becomes a little soft, (a few minutes will suffice,) take it from the water, and parch it as you would coffee; have one fifth as much coffee ready parched, and just as they get done, mix them in a pan over the fire, stirring in at the same time some butter, or, if you prefer clearing at first, some white of an egg; then prepare your mixture in an "Old Dominion," and you will thank us for a good cup of coffee.
Richmond Dispatch.

ALBANY [GA.] PATRIOT, December 12, 1861, p. 2, c. 3
A Good Substitute for Coffee--At the present time, when coffee is selling at a dollar a pound the following suggestion from a correspondent of a Southern paper, is worth trying:
Many worthless substitutes for coffee have been named. The acorn need only be tried once to be discarded. Corn meal and grits can be easily detected by the taste. Rye is only tolerable. Oakra [sic] seed is excellent, but costs about a dollar a pound, which puts it entirely out of the question. What, then, can we use? We want something that tastes like coffee, smells like it, and looks like it. We have just the thing in the sweet potato. When properly prepared, I defy any one to detect the difference between it and a cup of pure Rio.
Preparation--Peel your potatoes and slice them rather thin; dry them in the air or on a stove; then cut into pieces small enough to go into the coffee mil, then grind it. Two tablespoons full of ground coffee and three or four of ground potatoes will make eight or nine cups of coffee, clear, pure and well tasted.
The above is worthy of a trial. We have thoroughly tested its qualities, and can perceive no difference in taste from the genuine coffee. One table spoonful of ground coffee to two of the ground potatoe [sic] makes five cups full of a cheap, pleasant and healthy beverage. It is preferable to parch the potatoe [sic] in thin slices by the sun, as the parching or drying will be more regular, and not so apt to burn as when parched on a stove. We regard it as every way equal to Rio, Java, or the Mocha coffee.

TENNESSEE BAPTIST, December 21, 1861, p. 4, c. 2
We Have Tried It.—We have been somewhat skeptical about the various substitutes that have been proposed for coffee.—We have doubted whether any thing would have the flavor of the genuine article. But, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating." We have tried the okra coffee, and had we not known it to be okra, we should have supposed it the best of Laguyra or Java. It has all the rich spicy aroma of the genuine article, and we have no doubt, is equally nutricious [sic] and probably less injurious.
We would advise all our friends to reserve a large space in their gardens or farms, for planting okra. It will do, and no mistake, blockade or no blockade.—Mississippi Baptist.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, December 26, 1861, p. 3, c. 3
Rio coffee is selling in Baltimore at 16½ cents wholesale. Rye(o) coffee, a superior quality, is selling in Little Rock at from 3 to 4 cents per pound. Who cares for the blockade!

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, January 9, 1862, p. 3, c. 6
We have received a letter from a friend stating that he had tried acorns as a substitute for coffee. He complains of an unripe taste which will be got rid of by cutting the acorns and letting them dry. In other respects he thinks the substitute is admirable, and says that if coffee could be had for ten cents a pound and acorns for fifteen cents, he would prefer to buy the acorns. He adds that he has been an habitual coffee drinker for fifteen years, and unless he drank two cups of coffee in the morning, had a headache all day. But one cup of good acorn coffee has the happy effect of freeing him from headache and he thinks the acorn equal to that of Mocha.—Let our readers gather a few acorns, cut them up, dry them, parch like coffee and try them. White oak mast is preferred by some. The different oaks yield acorns that make coffee different in its astringent properties and flavors.

CHARLESTON MERCURY [SC], January 16, 1862, p. 1, c. 1
Richmond, January 13.
. . . Rye is the coffee now in general use at the boarding houses, and the substitute for tea is believed, by the best judges, to be hay. Hermes.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, January 16, 1862, p. 2, c. 4
Several weeks ago we stated that acorns were a good substitute for coffee, and since gave the substance of letters from a friend who had tried it. The Gazette republishes this and commenting upon it, says:
["]If the writer be not mistaken, and we hope he is not, the oak mast will be of additional importance. We have heard of persons having sheet iron stomachs, which we always doubted, but it does seem to us that the continued use of acorn coffee would have the effect of tanning the stomach, and making it as tough as leather. Let some one try the experiment and see what is in it.["]
The tannic or tanning properties of the oak is strongly exhibited in the bark, but it by no means follows that the acorns contain it in any considerable quantity. The bark of the chinquapin tree is fully as astringent and contains as much tannin, but the chinquapin nut does not have the effect of tanning the stomach. Let the Captain taste the bark of an apple tree or of a peach tree, and see how widely they differ in taste and other properties from the apple or peach which grew on them.
Some fifteen years ago we were acquainted with a wealthy man who drank acorn coffee in preference to any other kind. Several of the planters in the "up country" of Carolina used it altogether. It was often a subject of conversation, and a scientific man who married in the family of one of Carolina's most distinguished sons, made an analysis of the acorn and coffee berry. His capabilities for the task will be admitted, when it is known that he was regarded in the schools of Paris as one of the best analytical chemists there, and upon his return to this country was engaged in several scientific enterprises of great importance. We have not the formula now of his analysis, and it would be, perhaps, too technical for the general reader. We remember that the acorn and the coffee berry had certain constituents in common, and upon these depended the effects produced by coffee, such as wakefulness, gentle stimulation, and others. This also gave a similarity in flavor. In fact, the acorn from the white oak, afforded a softer beverage than the coffee and those who used it greatly preferred it. The black oak, red oak and other different varieties of the quercus have acorns that make a stronger or more astringent coffee, but not so strong as the common kinds of coffee often sold.
We find the following in a late number of the Memphis Avalanche, and reproduce it to show that we are not alone in our estimate of acorn coffee.
["] A correspondent, writing to the Picayune, gives the following interesting account of a substitute for coffee, which is so different from any we have yet heard of, that we give it for the benefit of those who wish to experiment in supplying what has been an article of necessity with us in the South, and which is now placed beyond our reach for a time. He says:
At a Medico-Botanical society of London, in 1837, the President introduced to the notice of the members a new beverage which very much resembled the real coffee. It was made from acorns, peeled, chopped and roasted. The acorn, which gives out this fragrant drink, is well known to be the fruit of the oak of our forests, of which there are a great variety and abundance in almost all of the States. Whether the white, the black, or the red species of quercus acorn is used for this purpose, is not stated. The experiment, however, is simple and easy, and ought to be tried. There are reasons why it should prove to be a better substitute than any yet offered for the real berry. The chincapin tree, I think, belongs to the same genus, though of much smaller growth, produces a similar, but smaller acorn, and from its peculiar flavor, I am much inclined to think the chincapin, properly prepared, will make a first rate cup of coffee.["]
We suppose it is too late to try it this season but let any of our readers make the experiment. We have seen old coffee drinkers, who professed to be connoissieurs [sic] and gourmands, tried with a cup of it without knowing it was made from acorns, who smacked their lips over it and pronounced it excellent.

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], January 18, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
--A soldier's food should be well cooked; (no tainted meat) his meals at regular hours; no violent exercise after eating; a hearty breakfast, and at least one meal of animal food a day, with plenty of vegetables, as carrots, onions, rice, etc., ripe fruit, and after exposure or fatigue, good hot soup, cleanliness observed, and the feet kept dry if possible. He should have coffee once or twice a day, but if not to be got, the substitutes are, acorns stripped and roasted, ground sassafras nuts [sic?], grated crust of bread, rye or wheat, parched with butter, beech root, horse beans, etc. The substitutes for tea are--the yopon [sic], rosemary, strawberry leaves. But the best home tea is made of good, well made meadow hay (infusion). While on the subject, I'll say that starch can be made of frosted potatoes, and the tops make good potash when burnt; and the myrtle, glycerine, etc., will furnish the other component of soap.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [JACKSON, MS], January 20, 1863, p. 1, c. 2
One of our exchanges publishes a new recipe for making coffee, which we recommend to the steward of our boarding house. Take coffee grains and pop corn of each an equal quantity. Roast the same together. The corn will hop out, and what remains will be unadulterated coffee.

CHARLESTON MERCURY [SC], January 24, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
We make the following extracts from a letter addressed by a planter of Chapel Hill, Texas, to a gentleman of Mobile, which breathes a spirit of patriotism even more ardent in the portions which we neglect than in those which we make room for, because of the general character of the information contained:
. . . "You say give us coffee and salt and a continuation of warm weather, &c. Now we do not care a fig for coffee, as we have the best substitute in the world, viz: sweet milk and butter milk; it is better adapted to the constitution, with more nutriment. We substitute a mixture of okra and coffee, say one fourth coffee. The difference is not noticed by visitors, not even when told. We can use, if we choose, sage tea, green tea, or the old woman's yopon, that "kept her out of heaven twenty years, bless God," or grubheisen, better known as sassafras. .

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, January 30, 1862, p. 3, c. 5
In 1860, the importation of coffee in the then United States was the enormous amount of two hundred millions of pounds, at a cost of fifteen millions of dollars. The people of the South use doubly as much coffee as the people of the North. Nearly one-half of this vast sum was expended by the people of the Confederacy. If a substitute could be found, it would save us seven millions of dollars a year.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, February 6, 1862, p. 4, c. 3
A soldier's food should be well cooked; (no tainted meat,) his meals at regular hours; no violent exercise after eating; a hearty breakfast and at least one meal of animal food a day, with plenty of vegetables, as carrots, onions, rice, etc., ripe fruit, and, after exposure or fatigue, good hot soup, cleanliness observed, and the feet kept dry if possible. He should have coffee once or twice a day, but if not to be got, the substitutes are—acorns, stripped and roasted, ground sassafras nuts, grated crust of bread, rye or wheat, parched with butter, beech root, horse beans, etc. The substitutes for tea are—the yopon, rosemary, strawberry leaves. But the best home made tea is made of good well made meadow hay (infusion). While on the subject I'll say that starch can be made of frosted potatoes, and the tops make good potash when burnt; and the myrtle, glycerine, etc., will furnish the other components of soap.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER [MS], February 7, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
Cotton Seed Coffee. We have been favored by a friend, with a sample of Cotton Seed Coffee prepared by Dr. H. Ravenel, of Poosilee, St. John's Berkley, which we had served up at breakfast yesterday morning, and found very palatable. The Cotton Seed is parched, and ground or powdered, as if it were the Coffee bean, and prepared for use accordingly. The aroma is very like that of Coffee, but rather more like that of Brom [?]. We have little doubt that a mixture of one-third or one-half Coffee, and the rest of ground or powdered Cotton Seed, would easily pass for good, if not pure, Coffee.
We have also tried Rye alone, and in mixture with one-third Coffee, and found both preparations good substitutes for the aromatic bean.--Charleston Courier.

CHARLESTON MERCURY [SC], February 8, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Rye Coffee vs. Rio--How to make the former.--To the Editor of the Charleston Mercury: Take Rye, boil it, but not so much as to burst the grain; then dry it, either in the sun, on a stove or a kiln, after which it is ready for parching, to be used like the real Coffee Bean. Prepared in this manner it can hardly be distinguished from the genuine Coffee. The Rye, when boiled and dried, will keep for any length of time, so as to have it ready whenever wanted for parching. F. W. Clauussen.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], March 11, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Rye Coffee.--We find the following in the LaGrange Reporter:
Many of our people are daily in the habit of using rye as a substitute for coffee, without being aware of the fact, that the grain when burnt contains upwards of fifty per cent of phosphoric acid, which acts injuriously upon the whole stony structure. In the young it effectually prevents the full development of the osseous tissues, and in the old, it lays the foundation for dry gangrene. It possesses the power of dissolving the phosphate of lime, which constitutes upwards of fifty per cent of the bone in man. The same power it exerts over utero gestation, and thereby brings about all the concomitant evils of abortion. Cases of this kind have come under my professional observation during a few months past, and I think the facts ought to be spread before the people. L. J. Robert, M. D.
LaGrange, Ga.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], March 15, 1862, p. 2, c. 2

Rye Coffee.

To the editors of the Chronicle & Sentinel:
An extract in your daily of Tuesday, signed L. J. Roberts, M. D., taken from the LaGrange Reporter, contains two such grave errors, that we cannot refrain from correcting them, particularly as many persons who use rye as a substitute for coffee, might be frightened out of an innocent beverage.
The extract says: "The grain when burnt, contains fifty per cen. of phosphoric acid." Now, unscientific people would suppose this to mean when parched. We suppose the Doctor intended the ash of the grain. What is the true analysis of rye according to the best authorities? 1,000 pounds produces only 10 1/2 pounds of ash; and of this 10 1/2 pounds only 0.46 of a pound of phosphoric acid; not quite half a pound to 1,000 pounds of the grain, and not quite 5 per cent of the ash instead of upwards of 50 per cent; being not quite the one fifth of one per cent of the solid grain. Besides, the Doctor forgets that not one particle of the earthy salts is probably held in solution by a common weak decoction of the rye; and if the whole grain was swallowed there would only be the medium amount of phosphoric acid contained in wheat and other cereals, just about enough to make bone instead of destroying it.
The effects of rye, or the phosphoric acid in it, on utero-gestation, is equally fallacious, and quite as grave an error. It is the ergot of rye that produces abortion, not the common, healthy grain used for coffee. It is a long, black, stinking grain, easily distinguished from the other, and only occurring under certain unfavorable circumstances. The common rye is quite as innocent as wheat or coffee in this respect.
Will the papers (we have seen it in several,) which published the extract, give this an insertion? E. M. Pendleton, M. D.
Sparta, Ga., March 12th, 1862.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], March 27, 1862, p. 3, c. 2

Rye Coffee.
"Who shall decide when doctors disagree."

Mr. Editor:--My short article on rye coffee, which appeared in your paper two weeks since, seems to have excited a considerable interest, not only on the part of editors, but also among some of our medical fraternity. In the Augusta Chronicle & Sentinel of the 15th inst., Dr. E. M. Pendleton, of Sparta, Ga., has denounced the said article as containing "two grave errors." The first in my quantitative analysis, and the second in "the effect of the rye, or the phosphoric acid in it, or the utero-gestation."
Now, I having asserted, and the Doctor denying, throws the onus probandi upon him, and not upon myself. However, as I am not desirous of controversy, being pressed by professional duties, I will simply refer the Doctor to "Booth's Encyclopaedia of Chemistry," page 861, (the best authority extant, and as this book is not accessible to all, I copy thefrom [sic] verbatim et literatim Fresentus' and Will's analysis of the grain of the rye when burnt or reduced to ashes, viz:
Potassa.................................11.43
Soda.....................................18.89
Magnesia..............................10.57
Lime...................................... 7.65 [?]
Phosphoric Acid...................51.81
Sulphuric Acid........................0.51
Silica......................................1.90

The above, then, proves conclusively the correctness of my quantitative analysis. Now as regards the effects as of phosphoric acid, which I have described, not only upon utero-gestation but also upon the whole osseous structure, I presume Dr. Pendleton himself, will not deny.
Although the editor of the Chronicle & Sentinel may "stick to his beverage," the so called "startling revelation of the LaGrange physician" is literally true.
With reference to "Ergot," I will only add that I never once mentioned this article. I have no time to write further. With this I dismiss the subject. L. J. Robert, M. D.

RYE COFFEE NOT A POISON--AN EMINENT CHEMIST'S OPINION.

To the Editors of the Delta:
I notice in the morning a paragraph extracted from the LaGrange Reporter, which, allowed to go uncontradicted, may produce much mischief. In it a Dr. Robert states that "the habit of using rye as a substitute for coffee, acts injuriously upon the bony structures, from the amount of phosphoric acid it contains." In the young he says "it effectually prevents the full development of the osseous tissues, and in the old, it lays the foundation for dry gangrene." It also possesses the power of dissolving the phosphate of lime in the bones, and produces abortions, &c. Now the whole of this is one tissue of absurdity and error. Rye in common with all the cereal grains, contains a large proportion of phosphoric acid, this however never being in the free state, but always combined with lime, and its proportion is somewhat less than that of wheat, which the sapient Dr. Robert does not seem to condemn.
The great value of the cereals as food, consists in this very amount of phosphate of lime, which is absolutely necessary for human nutrition, the body containing upwards of eight pounds of this compound. None contain free phosphoric acid, which, however, contrary to the dictum of Dr. Robert, (unless in a very concentrated form,) does not dissolve phosphate of lime, never produces dry gangrene, and cannot cause abortion. It is true that rye, under certain conditions, is subject to a disease resembling the smut in wheat, and if made into bread and eaten in this condition, might produce serious effects; but even if the spurred rye were used for coffee, the process of roasting would effectually destroy this noxious tendency. The public may rest assured the rye coffee is perfectly innocent, and may be used with as much safety as the finest Mocha. Dr. Robert must have drawn largely upon his imagination for his facts, and is only another illustration that a little learning is a dangerous thing.
I. L. Crawcour, M. D.
Prof. of Chemistry, N. O. School of Medicine.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, March 27, 1862, p. 3, c. 3
Rye Coffee.—Important Information.—Many of our people are daily in the habit of using rye as a substitute for coffee without being aware of the fact, that the grain when burnt contains upwards of fifty per cent of phosphoric acid, which acts injuriously upon the whole bony structure. In the young it effectually prevents the full development of the osseous tissues, and in the old, it lays the foundation for dry gangrene. It possesses the power of dissolving the phosphate of lime, which constitutes upwards of fifty per cent of the bone in man. The same power it exerts over utero gestation, and thereby bring about all the concomitant evil of abortion. Cases of this kind have come under my professional observation during a few months past, and I think the facts ought to be spread before the people.
L. J. Roberts, M. D.
LaGrange, Ga. LaGrange Reporter.

CHARLESTON MERCURY [SC], March 31, 1862, p. 1, c. 1

Cotton Seed as a Substitute for Coffee.

To the Editor of the Charleston Mercury:--Seeing a notice, some time ago, that cotton seed was a good substitute for coffee, I was induced to try a mixture of two-thirds cotton seed and one-third coffee, and found it answered extremely well. The seed merely requires to be washed and parched before grinding, the same as coffee. We have been using it for six or seven weeks constantly in our family, and many of our friends who drank it without knowing what the mixture was, pronounced it equal to the best coffee. A friend suggests that parched cotton seed in future may be known as "Carolina Mocha." As these are times in which all are called upon to practice economy, I send you the result of my experiment, requesting an insertion as early as convenient, in your paper. An Old Housekeeper.

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, April 2, 1862, p. 1, c. 3

Cotton Seed as a Substitute for Coffee.

To the Editor of the Charleston Mercury:
Seeing a notice, some time ago, that cotton seed was a good substitute for coffee, I was induced to try a mixture of two-thirds cotton seen and one-third coffee, and found it answered extremely well. The seed merely requires to be washed and parched before grinding, the same as coffee. We have been using it for six or seven weeks constantly in our family, and many of our friends who drank it without knowing what the mixture was, pronounced it equal to the best coffee.—A friend suggests that parched cotton seed in future may be known as "Carolina Mocha." As there are times in which all are called upon to practice economy, I send you the result of my experiment, requesting an insertion as early as convenient, in your paper.
An Old Housekeeper.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, April 10, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
An unfortunate medico of Lee Grange [sic], Georgia, named Robert, promulgated the theory that rye coffee was injurious. Medical and scientific men all over the Confederacy are pitching into his theory and exposing its absurdity.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], April 12, 1862, p. 3, c. 2

For the Chronicle & Sentinel.
Rye Coffee.
Review of Prof. Crawcour's Article.

"I notice in the morning papers," says Prof. Crawcour," a paragraph extracted from the LaGrange Reporter, which if allowed to go uncontradicted may produce mischief."
Were the Prof. has evidently conceived the wind, and brought forth the whirlwind, is the shape of a monstrous nullity! What mischief can possibly result from spreading before the people, a well authenticated fact with reference to Rye as a substitute for Coffee? When I give the analysis of the grain of Rye, reduced to ashes, to be upwards of fifty per cent. of Phosphoric acid, I do it upon the very best authority, and to which every man is at liberty to refer. See Booth's Encyclopaedia of Chemistry (Large London Edition) page 861 and Liebig's Agricultural Chemistry (from the fourth London Edition) page 249. Is there any mischief in this? When I say that Phosphoric acid is a solvent of the phosphate of Lime (one of the essential elements of bone, and constituting upwards of fifty per cent. of the bone in man) and refer to the "United States Dispensatory," page 817 in proof of this fact; can there be any mischief in this? When I assert that Phosphorus (which by uniting with Oxygen, forms Phosphoric Acid) is a violent and irritant poison, so much so that the manufacturers of Lucifer matches are liable to [?]osis of the jaw-bone, and refer as proof on this point to the same book (U.S.D.) pages 554 and 556, can there be any mischief in this? Or when I say that from my own personal observation I am inducted to believe that Rye Coffee is injurious in consequence of the large amount of Phosphoric acid it contains; can there be any mischief in this?
O tempora! O mores! The immortal Professor has denounced all this, as "One tissue of absurdity and error," and seems to predicate the whole of his denunciation, upon the simple fact that I said nothing about the analysis of Wheat!!
Now the self styled Professor of Chemistry must remember that my article was written under the caption "Rye Coffee;" not "Wheat," potatoes, okra, burnt syrup, or any other substitute for coffee; and hence I was no more responsible for the analysis of "Wheat," than for the analysis of any of these other substitutes. Rye was the only subject under consideration, and as far as I could learn, the only substitute for coffee, within the precincts of the circulation of the LaGrange Reporter. Again, my second article which appeared in the Chronicle & Sentinel of the 27th ultimo, immediately over the Professor's reply, contained the full analysis of Rye (grain) and from this, no many of ordinary intelligence would for one moment presume that I ever intended to be understood as saying, that the Phosphoric acid in the ashes of the grain of Rye, was not in a state of combination.
Even in my original article I left not the slightest room for such an absurd conjecture! I simply stated that "the ashes of the grain of Rye, contained upwards of fifty per cent of Phosphoric acid." The remaining fifty per cent. evidently was in combination with it. Surely, Professor, "much learning doth make thee mad." Lastly (though not least,) the Professor asserts that the process of roasting effectually destroys this noxious tendency of Spurred Rye," and therefore argues that "Rye Coffee may be used with as much safety as the finest Mocha." This is most superlatively absurd! The chemical analysis of the grain when burnt even to ashes, discovers, as I have already stated, the existence of the poisonous compound. How, then, can "roasting destroy its noxious tendency." Well may the immortal Professor exclaim that, which by sad experience he has learned. "A little learning is a dangerous thing."
In conclusion, with all sincerity of soul the "sapient Dr. Robert" exhorts the immortal Professor to drink deep of books not the Pierian spring. L. J. Robert, M. D.
P.S.--All papers that have published Prof. Crawcour's article, will please copy the above.
LaGrange, Ga., April 8, 1862.

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, July 19, 1862, p. 2, c. 7

Augusta Auction Sales.
By W. B. Griffin.
Coffee and Chickory.

Tuesday, the 22d instant in front of store, commencing at 10 o'clock, will be sold,

100 Bags
Prime Green Rio Coffee
and
100 Bags
Chickory,
A very superior substitute for Coffee, generally used
as such in Europe.

Terms Cash.

THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], August 20, 1862, p. 3, c. 4
Substitute for Coffee.
Chickory, at R. M. Smith's Drug Store, No. 10 Broad St. Aug.20.

CHARLESTON MERCURY [SC], October 15, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
A Few Words About Chicory.--Chicory, Succory (Cichorium Intybus), a perennial herbaceous plant, indigenous to Europe, but naturalized in this country. It has been found that the root, cut into thin slices, roasted and ground, is an admirable substitute for coffee; and, when combined with the latter in the proportion of two to one, improves the flavor of coffee very much. In these blockade times, when none but the wealthy can indulge in pure coffee, the chicory will be found to answer all its purposes. Chicory is used to a great extent in Europe, and throughout Germany coffee is scarcely ever prepared without the addition of a portion of it. Several of our own citizens are now using chicory, and speak of it in the highest terms.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, October 22, 1862, p. 1, c. 3
Acorn Coffee.—A friend who has tried acorns as a substitute for coffee, says that he is satisfied it is the best substitute yet found. H took the white oak mast, cut it up and dried the pieces by heating them. He is of the opinion that by drying in the sun and air, it would be better. Others are trying the experiment. The acorns should be hulled, cut up in the size of grains of coffee, well dried, and then parched. Experiments with the different kind of mast, the white oak, the black, etc., will give coffee differing more or less, in astringent qualities and in their power to refresh the system. A number of families have gathered acorns enough to last them a year, and we would not be surprised if acorn coffee should come into general use and favor.

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, October 31, 1862, p. 2, c. 3

The
Nobility of Europe
Always Use
Chiccory,
to
Improve the Flavor
of
Coffee

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, October 31, 1862, p. 2, c. 4

Every One Who Use
Chiccory
Say it is
The Best Substitute
for
Coffee.

CHARLESTON MERCURY [SC], November 19, 1862, p. 1, c. 1-2
Vernonsville, November 14.
. . . You cannot buy wheat here under six dollars per bushel, and very inferior at that. Rye cannot be obtained either for sowing or as a substitute for coffee....

MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, November 19, 1862, p. 1, c. 2
A friend informs the Little Rock True Democrat that white oak mast is the best substitute for coffee yet found. The acorns should be hulled, cut into the size of grains of coffee and then parched.

[BELLVILLE] TEXAS COUNTRYMAN, November 22, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
The following is well known in your city, but may be new to you country readers; I knew it is to a good many in this section:
To make Coffee:--Take a teacupful of green coffee; parch and grind in the usual way; take a quart of molasses and burn it (or candy it) till every particle of molasses taste is burnt out of it; then set it off the fire and let it cool a few seconds until the fiery heat is gone; then stir your ground coffee into it well, and pour out into greased plates to cool. To make coffee, a piece of this substance about the size of a thimble will make a strong cup of good coffee by pouring hot water on it and letting it stand a few minutes; or take a piece of it about the size of your thumb and make in the usual way and it will do a small family one time.—Telegraph.

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, November 27, 1862, p. 1, c. 3

[For the Savannah Republican.]
Practical Hints for Hard Times.
"What man has done, man may do."
NO. IV.—FOOD.

13. SUBSTITUTES FOR COFFEE.—Except in its stimulating qualities, and its peculiar and delicate aroma, coffee can be so perfectly counterfeited as to defy detection, by mixing together [illegible] the following substitutes in such [illegible] that the coffee taste of all of them shall predominate, and the peculiar flavor of no one of them shall be perceived: viz: Rye, wheat, barley (scalded and then parched,) okra seed, rice (parched black, but not ground,) sweet potatoes (cut into ribbons, or into dice, dried in the sun and then parched,) corn grits (parched to a dark brown,) sweet acorns, chiccory (parched brown, then broken and ground.) These should be parched separately, and then combined in about equal proportions, or in such proportion as experiment shall decide to be necessary. If possible, a little coffee should be combined, simply for truth's sake. The best critic can scarcely distinguish between the spurious compound and the real coffee.

CHARLESTON MERCURY [SC], February 4, 1863, p. 1, c. 4
One of our exchanges publishes a new recipe for making coffee, which we recommend to the steward at our boarding house. Take coffee grains and pop corn of each an equal quantity. Roast the same together. The corn will pop out, and what remains will be unadulterated coffee.

THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], February 11, 1863, p. 3, c. 4

Okra--A Substitute for Coffee.

Mr. Archer Griffeth, of Ala., gives us the following directions for preparing okra seed as a substitute for coffee. He expresses himself as highly pleased with the beverage:
Parch over a good fire and stir well until it is dark brown; then take off the fire and before the seed get cool put the white of one egg to two tea-cups full of okra, and mix well. Put the same quantity of seed in the coffee pot as you would coffee, boil well and settle as coffee.
Directions for Planting and Cultivating.--Prepare a rich spot as for cotton, by bedding 3 1/2 feet. About the 10th of April open the ridges and sow the seed, and when up, chop out to 12 inches in the drill and cultivate the same as cotton. it will grow 6 to 8 feet high and will yield abundantly--one acre of good land producing ten bushels of seed. The seed will be dry in July.
Since writing the above, we have tried some of the okra coffee prepared by the above directions, and find it better than pure Rio and almost equal to old Java.--Try it.

THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], February 11, 1863, p. 3, c. 6

Okra for Coffee.

A Small lot of Okra Seed--the best substitute for coffee--for sale at James I. Colt's.
Feb. 11.

[MARSHALL] TEXAS REPUBLICAN, February 12, 1863, p. 1, c. 4
A new substitute for coffee, viz.: take equal portions of popcorn and coffee, and parch it together till all the popcorn pops out.

MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, February 25, 1863, p. 2, c. 2
The New York papers publish reports of an investigation held in the case of a family in Brooklyn who were supposed to have been poisoned by the use of rye coffee. The entire family were suffering; one of them described as being very sick, face bloated and disfigured like the dropsy, eyelids distended, eyeballs bloodshot and dilated, headache and great dizziness. A lot of the rye coffee they had been using was taken and a strong dose tried upon a dog, which made him exhibit great restlessness and weakness, and increased his pulse from 100 to 172. The Health Officer reported that the coffee contained noxious ingredients of a poisonous character, and ordered the destruction of the whole stock at the place where it was obtained. He adds that nobody should be surprised at these effects of rye coffee, "for with the rye itself, raw ergot and other poisonous plants, and unless their seed be carefully separated from the rye, poisoning is inevitable."

SAN ANTONIO HERALD, March 7, 1863, p. 2, c. 5
How to Make a Good Article of Coffee.--Take coffee grains and pop-corn, of each an equal quantity. Roast the same together. The corn will hop out, and what remains will be unadulterated coffee.--[Mobile Register.

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], April 10, 1863, p. 1, c.3-4
...Columbus is considered the Lowell of the South. It contains 8,000 inhabitants, and it is situated on the banks of the Chattahoochee, at the head of navigation.... . . Here chickory is used as a substitute for coffee. Rice is mixed up with flour and corn meal. It is put into biscuits, batter cakes, hominy, &c. Sweet potatoes are in great abundance, therefore they are eaten at all meals. . . . And the signs over the grog shops of this city are in good taste, viz: The Smile, The Pleasant House, &c. . .
. Viator.

[MARSHALL] TEXAS REPUBLICAN, June 13, 1863, p. 1, c. 3
The Barley crop has assumed an importance that entitles it to mention. It is a fine substitute for corn, being excellent feed. It is a good substitute for coffee. Our Texan friends will see its fine crops can be raised and harvested by June, and if the corn crop fails, they can fall back on the barley.

MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, September 23, 1863, p. 2, c. 1

Okra Coffee.

To those who, like ourselves, are too poor to drink coffee at seven or ten dollars per pound, we can recommend a substitute which is as good to our taste as the original. We received from Col. James B. Merriwether, of this county, a specimen of okra seed, ground and parched, which had so much of the appearance and odor of the genuine coffee that, notwithstanding our prejudice against substitutes, we had prepared in the usual way, and found it as good as the best. We do not believe anybody could discover the difference. There is no reason why okra coffee should not be a most wholesome drink, as it certainly is a most pleasant one to our palate. It was certainly used in this country as early as 1821, and it may even at an earlier period.
Parch the seed slowly and carefully, so as not to burn them; then prepare the decoction properly, and, our word for it, you have as good a cup of coffee as anybody but a Confederate quartermaster, a successful blockade runner, or a sugar speculator can afford to drink.
THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], October 28, 1863, p. 2, c. 5
...--But another important item is, to save the seeds of the persimmons after they have boiled, and you let out the slop, for they are excellent for coffee, rather stronger or rougher than the genuine Rio; hence, I mix two parts of dried sweet potatoes to one of persimmon seed. Dr. Buck says this coffee is equal to Java coffee! By the boiling the seeds are rid of all musilaginous substances, and just right for coffee or buttons. If you use them for buttons, the washer woman will hardly break them with her battling stick. For coffee they should be parched twice as long as any other substitute, so as to make them tender to the centre.
Alabama.

THE DAILY INTELLIGENCER [ATLANTA, GA], November 8, 1863, p. 4, c. 2
But another important item is, to save the seeds of the persimmons after they have boiled, and you let out the slop, for they are excellent for coffee, rather stronger or rougher than the genuine Rio; hence I mix two parts of dried sweet potatoes to one of persimmon seed. Dr. Buck says this coffee is equal to Java coffee. By the boiling the seeds are rid of all mucilaginous substances, and are just right for coffee or button. If you use them for buttons the washer woman will hardly break them with her battling stick. For coffee they should be parched twice as long as any other substitute; so as to make them tender to the center.
Alabama.

MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, November 18, 1863, p. 3, c. 1
Persimmon Coffee.—The Petersburg Express states that the seeds of the persimmon when roasted and ground produces a beverage, which cannot, even by old and experienced coffee drinkers, be distinguished from genuine coffee. We wish some of our lady readers would try the experiment and inform us as to the result.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 9, 1864, p. 1, c. 3
Richmond, Monday, January 4
. . . Reports of a want of food in Lee's army circulated yesterday. Some officers say there is an insufficiency of food, and of shoes and blankets. Others say there is a plenty, at least to eat. Many officers are here in town and they look blooming. Really some of them are splendid looking young fellows--healthy, handsomely dressed and game looking. The privates may not fare so well, but I hear of no complaints. They make excellent coffee out of toasted "hard tack," use fodder blades for yeast, and by hook or by crook get along finely. Talking about substitutes for coffee, let me advise you to try persimmon seed parched and ground. It is the exact thing, so far as taste is concerned.
Hermes.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 20, 1864, p. 1, c. 4
Coffee and Its Substitutes.--The use of coffee as a beverage seems to have originated among the Turks in Arabia, from whence it was carried to Europe in 1669. It has gradually become a national beverage to Europeans and Americans, as well as the Moslems, and it has been called one of the chief necessaries of life among the people. The coffee bean is the seed of the Coffee Arabica, a shrub which grows to about the height of 30 feet, but it is usually cut down to about six feet, to increase the yield of the bean. Its cultivation was confined until within the past century to Egypt and Arabia, but it is now cultivated in the West Indies and East India Islands; also in Brazil upon a most extensive scale. A single tree sometimes yields about 20 pounds of beans, and about 1100 pounds are obtained as the crop of an acre of land. There are a number of varieties of coffee, but Mocha or Arabian is still the most famous. Its beans are small and of a dark yellow color; Java is a larger bean, and the color is a paler yellow; West India and Brazilian coffee is of a bluish grey color.
Physiologists have endeavored to account for the extended use of coffee by ascribing to it a peculiar quality for preventing the waste of animal tissue in the living being. This principle is called caffeine, and is composed of carbon 8, nitrogen hydrogen 10, and oxygen 3 parts. Roasted coffee contains about 1240 parts of caffeine. In roasting coffee great care should be exercised not to overheat it, because the caffeine in it is so liable to volatilize. The best temperature to roast coffee is 362 degrees Fah., and the operation should be performed in a close revolving vessel. When the beans have assumed a bright brown color, they should be cooled, if possible, in the vessel in which they have been roasted, so as to retain all the aroma that has been developed by the roasting operation. Burnt coffee beans are just as suitable for making an infusion as charred wood. Upon no account, therefore, should coffee beans be so heated in roasting as to char them. Coffee should never be boiled, because the boiling action volatilizes the aromatic resin in it, and this constitutes nearly three per cen. of the beans. It should be ground as finely as possible, and scalded with water heated to the boiling point. It can be clarified with the white of eggs or isinglass. This information relates to pure coffee. In Germany and England the poorer classes, who cannot afford to buy coffee, use mixtures of it, and in many cases, other substances as entire substitutes. In Germany dried yellow turnips and chicory root mixed together are employed as a substitute; chicory is also very generally mixed with common coffee in England. Lately several mixtures and substitutes for coffee have become more common among our own laboring people on account of the great rise in the price of coffee. In some of our country villages German families roast acorns, and use these as substitutes for coffee. Roasted rye is an old and well-known substitute, and so is "Cobbett's coffee," which consists of roasted corn. Many persons roast white beans and peas, and mix them with coffee; others roast carrots and beets, and make a mixture of them with coffee. In some parts of France a mixture of equal parts of roasted chestnuts and coffee is used.
It makes a very superior beverage to chicory, turnips, and all the other articles mentioned. The substitutes for coffee are innumerable, and so far as taste is concerned, this is a mere matter of cultivation. If any of these substitutes for coffee contained caffeine or a similar principle, they would answer the same purpose, and their use should be inculcated; but in all the analysis that we have examined of chicory, turnips, carrots, beets, peas, beans, corn and rye, no such substance as caffeine is mentioned, therefore they are not true substitutes for it in a chemical and physiological sense. We have been unable to obtain a satisfactory analysis of chestnuts and acorns, but it is well known that these contain tannic acid, and it is certain the caffeic acid is very nearly allied to it: hence they may have a close resemblance to coffee, in taste, and perhaps in effect also.--Scientific American.

MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, January 27, 1864, p. 3, c. 3
A friend, who has tried persimmon seeds in coffee, says he will defy any man to detect the difference in the taste between a decoction of roasted persimmon seeds and the genuine Java—not Rio—which can be imitated successfully, as we are informed, with parched ground peas and now and then a cockroach thrown in, says the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph.

THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], February 4, 1864, p. 3, c. 5
Barley, Barley.--An excellent substitute for coffee, for sale by
Feb. 3 I.M. Kenney.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [ATLANTA, GA], June 11, 1864, p. 1, c. 2
The English garden pea, picked from the vine when dry and roasted to a dark cinnamon brown, is said to produce a decoction resembling pure Java coffee in color and flavor.

ALBANY [GA.] PATRIOT, June 30, 1864, p. 1, c. 4
A Substitute for Coffee.--A friend sent us some days ago an article which had every appearance of the well roasted ground Java coffee, with the request that we would try it and give our opinion of its merits as a substitute. We did so, and found it incomparably superior to anything that we have seen in use, not excepting the more common varieties of coffee. The taste is slightly pungent and most palatable, and we would not turn on our heel to exchange it for the genuine article. The preparation consists simply of the common English garden pea, picked from the vine when dry and roasted to a dark cinnamon brown. Try it.--Savannah Republican.

THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], March 15, 1865, p. 1, c. 4

Substitutes for Coffee.

Editor Southern Cultivator:--Nobody has had more occasion to mourn over the blockade than that numerous and highly respectable class, the coffee topers. Many an one would cheerfully munch his dry crusts at breakfast, if he could wash them down with the cheering beverage which used, in former times, to atone for the short-comings of cooks and fortify him against a day of vexations. For the stimulating property to which both tea and coffee owe their chief value, there is unfortunately no substitute; the best we can do is to dilute the little stocks which still remain, and cheat the palate, if we cannot deceive the nerves. The best substitute which we have yet found for either tea or coffee, is plenty of good, rich milk, which is at least nutritive, if not stimulating. But alas! the price of butter plainly tells that milk is almost as scarce as coffee, and many persons want something hot to drive off the fogs of the morning. After many unsatisfactory trials of rye, wheat, corn, potatoes, okra, acorns, and almost everything else that can be purchased, we have found in molasses, we will not say a substitute for, but an adulteration of coffee, which leaves but little to be desired, but the stimulus. Don't be alarmed, Mr. Editor, we are not about to propose "long sweetening." Molasses when boiled down until it scorches, is converted into an intensely bitter substance, called by chemists caramel. Our method is to put a quart or more of sorghum syrup into any convenient vessel, and stew it down over a slow fire, as if making candy, stirring constantly until the syrup is burnt black; then pour it out into a greased plate to cool. The blackish porous mass thus obtained is pounded, when quite cold, in an iron mortar. We mix it with twice its bulk of ground coffee, and use a teaspoonful of this mixture for each person; thus one teaspoonful of caramel and two of coffee will make six cups of a beverage which, as far as taste is concerned, is far preferable to pure Rio coffee. The burnt molasses or caramel, attracts moisture when exposed to the air, and must, therefore, be kept in a close vessel. It would be well, for the same reason, to prepare it in small quantities. If the molasses is burnt too much, it is reduced to charcoal and loses all taste. By the way, though a very simple matter, many housekeepers do not know that it is perfectly easy to clear coffee by adding a small quantity of cold water, just as it "comes to a boil." CHEMICUS.

FORT SMITH NEW ERA, October 22, 1864, p. 1, c. 1-3

From Texas.
Statement of a Former Resident.

[From the Rochester Democrat.]
Frank G. Radway left New York State in 1856, and went West to "try his fortune" in those new fields which enterprise was then marvelously developing, and where the artificial and unreal theft [?] had sprung up, which only the dreadful collapse of 1857 completely exposed. When the revival came, Radway drifted to Texas, to try again. There the rebellion caught him, and he has this summer, for the first time, found himself able to escape. . . . He represents the condition of the inhabitants as wretched in the extreme. . . . His meals, at hotel, and cabins where he stopped while travelling through Texas, cost him just $10 each, and they consisted of cornbread and dried beef, with corn coffee. . . .


Source: http://www.uttyl.edu/vbetts/coffee.htm

Of the coffee substitutes I've prepared and issued in the field:

- Sweet potato is excellent, but it will smoke up in inside kitchen. The smell wafting through the house is excellent, but it will set off every smoke alarm for miles around.

- Toasted corn meal has a surprisingly good taste, especially when mixed with a little of the real thing. This is easy to accomplish in the field to stretch coffee.

- Chicory prepared from scratch is a PITA. Do it one time, and then buy it ready to serve off the shelf, if you live in the South, or by mailorder if you live north of the Potomac. Preparing five or ten pounds takes considerable time. Chicory straight gives a good bite, but has no caffiene, so the usual directions posted here several so many times apply. Of a more recent research note, some of the substistence entries indicate the rebs were mixing chicory and coffee in the field just prior to issue. This would be at a 50/50 rate.

- Okra seeds are excellent. Finding non-treated okra seeds is challenge unless you raise your own. Up here in the depths of Yankeeland, no native knows what an okra is, so you are on your own to order from 100% certified organic seed sellers.

- Roast whole grains, such as wheat, rye, oats, barley, corn, and buckwheat are useful, but really need to be cut with real coffee. Buckwheat has a heck of a hull on it.

- Peanut hulls roast well, but have a bitter taste. This is stronger than chicory, and a little bit goes a long ways.

Preparing a pound or two of coffee substitute for a mess doesn't take much time or effort, but preparing enough for a large issue is truly a labor of love.

[Rob Weaver]

You have to use about 2x as much grounds when making boiled coffee than you would if making coffee at home. The old cowboy rule was a handful of grounds for each cup of coffee, plus one for the pot. That translates to 2 for the average tin cup. I like to let it steep overnight, too. At least then I get a cup of coffee in the morning, even if it's raining.
A trick to cool the lip of your cup is to hold the spout of your canteen against a spot on the lip for a moment. The cool metal of the canteen conducts the heat away from that spot.

[Charles Heath]

At many of the events in which we participate, the emphasis is on the active campaign: marching, fighting, etc. From the descriptions I've read, I get the impression that roasting beans was something that was done before the actions we portray began. Is it possible that we're beginning to over-represent the coffee preparation thing?

Using the brigade return figures from 1863, and the Starbucks coffee recommendations listed by Mark and Pat, the average Iron Brigade soldier had the potential for just a little over 10 cups of coffee per day, so someone was boiling up some soldier's restorative along the way. We can assume some soldiers drank more, and some less.

How was federal coffee issued? If you go back to that elusive 1975 CWTI article that defines the three phases of federal coffee issue, the green whole bean, roast whole bean, and ground roast bean phases aren't precise, but work out to early, mid, and late war with the usual overlap here and there. Should we be roasting green coffee beans at every event? No. Do people take great pains to make sure reenactors get a chance to roast a few green beans at early war events? Some do. Some don't.

People get more from events when they put more into events.

[Rob Weaver]

Using the brigade return figures from 1863, and the Starbucks coffee recommendations listed by Mark and Pat, the average Iron Brigade soldier had the potential for just a little over 10 cups of coffee per day, so someone was boiling up some soldier's restorative along the way. We can assume some soldiers drank more, and some less.

How was federal coffee issued? If you go back to that elusive 1975 CWTI article that defines the three phases of federal coffee issue, the green whole bean, roast whole bean, and ground roast bean phases aren't precise, but work out to early, mid, and late war with the usual overlap here and there.

No wonder they were so brave. There wasn't a drop of blood in their caffeine! I remember reading that article when it was originally published! I was a teenager at the time and it made an impression on me for some reason. I've found that as important as the boiling part of making coffee is, there's some steeping that happens after you take it off the fire. If you can bear to leave it alone for about 5-10 minutes, about the time needed to "frizzle up" a piece of bacon, as Mr Catton put it, you have a really tolerable cup of restorative. Oh, and don't forget the most important part: put a stick on top of the cup while boiling so it won't boil over!

[milo1047]

Mr. Weaver,

How does the stick keep the coffeee from boiling over? I'm a bit confused on that point.

[coastaltrash]

Hey now Charles, don't lump me in with the Weak Bean Mess. I never said I drank it that way, that was the recommended amount for a POT of coffee (the ones folks have at office buildings that are long silver tubes with the push handle on top) Never drank it, just served it.

[Silas]

Charles, you posted way too much useful information. In some ways thats worse than posting none at all. Too dang long to read. It was so long you could have serialized that post over the next hundred years.

Landrum, you're talking about French presses. That's makes the best coffee that there is. It allows the flavor of the bean to be tasted in the light brews and the roast in the dark brews. I'm polishing the last part of a cup made from a press right now. It's a boil first method which is virtually the same as what I do in the field. The only difference is that I don't have to wait for the grounds to cool, drop to the bottom, and be decanted. I just plunge and pour after the grounds have had enough time to react with the water.

[coastaltrash]

No Silas, I'm not talking about a French press, as stated, I worked around them for several years, and they the ones seen in most office builings, or breakfast bars at hotels and most other places where coffee is served. I don't know of any commercial shop who uses a french press to make coffee, it would make about as much sense as using a slow perculator, which in my opinion beats out any modern process for quality.

Charles, to get this thread back on track, thanks for the information on commissary issue and supply, your knowledge in this area is always appreciated and I hope some of this thread answered the original posters questions.

[Charles Heath]

Charles, to get this thread back on track, thanks for the information on commissary issue and supply, your knowledge in this area is always appreciated and I hope some of this thread answered the original posters questions.

I share what little I know. We don't hear the term "black hominy" all that often, but that was something Surgeon A. C. Swartwelder called the cracked charcoal at the bottom of a mess kettle. Heck of an apt description, I'd say.

[coastaltrash]

After the great Silas-Chawls-Landrum Coffee debate I ran across this in a great journal entry:

"The only time a soldier can not drink his coffee is when the use of that ration is suspended. In fact there is nothing so refreshing as a cup of hot coffee, and no sooner has a marching column halted, than out from each haversack comes a little paper sack of ground coffee, and a tin cup or tin can, with a wire bale, to be filled from the canteen and set upon a fire to boil. The coffee should not be put in the water before it boils. At first I was green enough to do so, but soon learned better, being compelled to march before the water boiled, and consequently lost my coffee. I lost both the water and the coffee. It takes but about five minutes to boil a cup of water, and then if you have to march you can put your coffee in and carry it till it is cool enough to sip as you go. Even i we halt a dozen times a day, that many times will a soldier make and drink his coffee, for when the commissary is full and plenty, we may drink coffee and nibble crackers from morning till night. The aroma of the first cup of coffee soon sets the whole army to boiling; and the best vessel in which to boil coffee for a soldier is a common cove oyster can, with a bit of bent wire for a bale, by which you can hold it on a stick over the fire, and thus avoid its tipping over by the burning away of its supports."

That's from the June 20th Entry in Sgt Osborn H. Oldroyd's of the 20th Ohio Co E's journal. The book is entitled "A Soldier's Story of the Siege of Vicksburg.

[GrumpyDave]

I agree, especially on Monday morning...

Great post.

[Charles Heath]

More importantly, after a 7 year search, I finally have my hands on a copy of a certain October 1975 CWTI issue. Thank you, Mr. Tyler!

[Moonshine]

Mr. Heath,

Please post, please post!!! If you can!

[Moose]

Charles read some quotes of that siad issue. It really sounded interesting. I should have taken advantage of a 40 hr. car to read the article.

Joseph Caridi
CR/POC'R Boy's Mess

[Charles Heath]

Joe, as many times as I'd asked our hobby research community for a compensated copy of that article, I'm considering having it bronzed, matted, and framed. Little did I know The Quiet Man of Rochester would come through like that. Now, I have no excuse to procrastinate completing that danged ol' rations monograph. It's funny that same issue had Bailey's Red River Expedition dam article in it. Timely stuff to read on the way out to BGR, IMHO.

[Vicksburg Dave]

I am making some hardtack and ammo boxes for our living history program at Vick NMP. Does anyone know where I can find a set of hardtack box stencils? I have searched the forums and google, and have found several sets of plans for the boxes, but no stencils.

Thanks,

[wmkane]

David,

I recall stencils being talked about recently, so you may wish to try doing a search in the forum for "stencils" . . . for what it's worth, last I checked, there weren't any concrete leads on where to find them . . . only the typical: Search Google, or Look on Ebay . . . I've personally done both, and haven't found anything that satisfies me.

Good luck, and if you do find something, please be sure to pass the information on. Myself and others will appreciate it.

[redroosterinalabama]

try sullivan press.
mike boyd

[C.R. Henderson]

I made my own. I wish I had a pic of one of my boxes- I'd post it.

[maineman]

Dixie Leather works has them and I made mine simply from their picture on their web site.
also try this site http://charliesboatworks.home.comcast.net/AboutColorsandStencils.htm

[Chuck Reynolds]

I got some 2" and 1" stencils at Dixieline Lumber

[Army30th]

Also, you can check Ebay. Sometimes they have auctions for brass, connectable letters in various sizes. I got a set for 35.00 a few months back.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

A few years ago one of my comrades made cracker boxes for our group and worked a long time to make some good, accurate repro stencils. Drop me an e-mail (please, not PM) and I can put you in touch with him.

[Poor Private]

You can also find stencil machines thru Ebay. They come in various sizes of stencil sizes. These machines can make a stencil as long as you wish and if memory serves me right they can be as deep as 4 or 5 lines. I think they are called Dictograph stencil machines.


Cris Westphal
1st Mich.

[Chuck Reynolds]

googled the machines and we are talking over $1,000 :(

[Amtmann]

How about some coffee substitutes? Southern troops should not be using real coffee very often. Instead, chickory, sweet potatoes, acorns, roasted corn, peanuts, roasted wheat or rye, and a multitude of other substitutes should abound at events. If we're trying to experience the realities of the campaign, this should be the norm. At the Hodge March in 2000, Co. K, 35th NC issued wheat to be toasted and canteens filled with honey to sweeten the hot beverage serving as a coffee substitute. These items are all too seldom used, though.

We've roasted period variety okra seed and boiled them. It comes close, just a little more bitter.

[Charles Heath]

Rick,

That reminds me we probably need to have a conversation about reproducing a certain original shoe polish tin and tinned match safe of the cylinder variety at some point. Since these are both in public collections, perhaps access is not too terribly difficult to manage.

Okra....boy howdy do I ever miss an ample and regular supply of fresh okra.

[roi rex]

sirs:

ah, how apropos that my first post should be about one of my favorite pastimes, roasting green coffee.

some tips for the fireside roaster:

use a well-seasoned, cast iron skillet;
keep the beans moving by constantly shaking the skillet or stirring the beans;

first crack sounds like popcorn. this is a rather light roast. i recommend continuing to the second crack, which sounds like snapping fingers. this is the most common u.s. roast, aka full-city roast. if you prefer espresso roast, roast through the second crack, that is, until the second crack ends;

the beans continue to roast internally after you remove them from the heat source. stop active roasting when the beans are slightly lighter than the desired roast stage. so, if you want to roast to full-city, remove the beans from the heat source just as you hear the first snap on the second crack;
immediately lay the beans out on a cloth and fan them vigorously, or pour them from one cup to another constantly until they are cool enough to touch. this indicates they are under 90 degrees F, so you can stop the cooling process. another indicator is they will have stopped smoking;
fresh-roasted beans may be ground and brewed right after roasting, but it is recommended that you wait at least four hours and, optimally 24/36 hours before milling and brewing them. this is when they are at their best;

store your fresh-roasted beans in a glass mason-type jar, if possible, loosely capped. the beans will vent co2 for several hours. you do not want them to blow up! after about 24 hours, you can firmly close the lid;
freshly roasted coffee beans are good from one to two weeks depending upon how much air they are exposed to; the more air, the quicker they will stale.
grind immediately before brewing, never more than ten minutes in advance.i know this is a somewhat unconventional beginning, but i have always believed it is best to start with what one knows well. if you have further questions, please post them or pm me. i will be happy to assist you if i can.

regards,
roi rex

[Vicksburg Dave]

Thanks for the pointers folks. Here's what I found:
Dixie leather works has a few Selma and Frankfort Arsenal, and hardtack stencils left in stock at bargain prices. They won't last long. Charlies Boat Works, while not selling stencils, will sell the hardtack box lids, already painted and cut, for $25.00.

[Parault]

I am looking for period labels for cap tins. I have one of Federal issue ie,. J Goldmarks Perc. I called myself looking here in the search for labels. I have even went through pages of search engines. I have found several good choices for my Federal impression. I know that the Confederate Goverment had suppliers too. Any help on where to look, would be appreciated

[Jim Mayo]

Infantry received their caps with cartridges in the cartridges packs in both armies therefore I assume you are talking pistol cap tins?

[Tom Ezell]

To expand a little on what Jim was referring to, arsenal-made small arms ammunition included a tube of caps in each 10-round packet of musket or rifle cartridges. US-made packs included 12 caps per 10 cartridge pack; Confederates tended to include 13 due to the lessened reliability of the caps. So, when you were issued your forty rounds in four packs of ten, you got your caps included with it. See Thomas' Round Ball to Rimfire... for a good coverage of small arms ammo from the Federal perspective.

One exception is the British-made cartridges for the Enfield rifle and rifle-musket. While British cartridges were still bundled in packs of ten, they came packed in a wooden keg rather than a box, and the caps were all contained in a tin canister packed in the middle of the keg. See Roads' The British Soldier's Firearms, 1850-1865 for details and images of these.

[Parault]

Thank you guys for that information.

[JLHurst]

Good info. I, along with a messmate were enlisted to make 400 pieces of hardtack for "Life on The Line". I'll be reproducing a couple of boxes for that as well. I just can't see paying that much for them + shipping for something I can accuretly reproduce myself.

[DougCooper]

Am a little late here but Sam Doolin of Colorado made me several extra box lids with varying dates that really came in handy. I no longer have Sam's contact info but will search for it. If anyone else is up with Sam, sing out. His boxes are superb.

[coastaltrash]

Doug,
A number of people have had problems contacting Sam.

Jeremy,
Don't worry, I have a box already.

[Joe Walker]

David- I have the period brass stencils but you need the contractor logo as well. (i.e. "mechanical baking company") I can send you the stencils if you just want them. Not a problem.

Joe Walker

[Amtmann]

Rick,

That reminds me we probably need to have a conversation about reproducing a certain original shoe polish tin and tinned match safe of the cylinder variety at some point. Since these are both in public collections, perhaps access is not too terribly difficult to manage.


Shhhh.... I'm not supposed to talk about that kind of stuff. Someone will cry to the other Moderators that I'm trying to "advertise" something.

[kevin]

Gents,
I can only speak from my own limited experience with camp coffee. I am a boil then add kind of man. This way I am occupied by grinding my beans while my water boils. I boil in a boiler then carfully pour the coffee into my cup using my pocket knife to hold back the grounds while the liquid flows under. It takes a little patience and you still get some ruffage in the bottom, but oh what a good cup!
On the argument of boil then add or add then boil, allow me to share a piece of wisdom from Leander Stillwell in "the Story of a Common Soldier"
The author states that while stopped on a march, the boys would always build thier fire and then boil the water adding the coffee only when the water was ready. This way if the order was given to fall in, the water could be thrown away without the waste of the coffee or if the coffee was done, it could be taken along. Of course this was the practice as L. Stillwell of the 61st Illinois when on the march. Who knows how it was done in more civilized camp surroundings.

[boreguard]

Couldn't resist chiming in on this conversation early this morning while drinking my Community Dark Roast...a pot a day !

Ronnie, I buy community beans, keep them in a ditty bag which has a nice dark patina and aroma from a few years of use. I also have a smaller bag that I transfer some bean to, use the butt of my rifle, hatchet, or other to grind, I have sat with the bag in hand and just kneeded it and accomplished the same thing.. I then add the bag to my billy cup, close the lid and boil. After what seems like probably 20 mins or so I take it off, let it cool some and my taste and need for strong coffee is met.

I hang the ditty bag that I used for boiling the grinds from knapsack or haversack for a little while after removing the grinds and stuff it in my haversack later.

I don't eat much breakfast, but can fight the world as long as I get a cup of coffee in me in the morning.

Of course this subject has brought out all variety of opinions' from "the coffee thing is too represented", to "we shouldn't be using coffee if in Confederate impression". Bottom line is I gotta have my coffee as I'm sure you do, so I share what has become an easy, tried, and as quick as is can be expected method that gets the caffine into my system and doesn't require a lot of noise, rustling, discussion, opinions, help, scholarly input or disertation...
This method/process works for me.

[Huck]

While bored at work I google a search against the words "adamantine candles" (from the US Army QM museum web site) and came across this: I don't know if this has already been posted, but I figured I would share:

Lighting: Candles, Lamps, and Matches
Articles from Civil War Era Southern Newspapers


ALBANY [GA] PATRIOT, January 19, 1860, p. 1, c. 5
Crockery, crockery ware, coal oil, and fluid lamps.
Home again. I have just returned from Europe, where I bought the largest and finest stock of fancy, gilt & white china, ever in this market. Also a large Stock of common and white Granite Ware, of the best patterns that comes to this country. I would call the attention of Merchants to my samples now on hand, which I am sure are preferable to any thing in this section. I have a good Stock now on hand of Waiters in sets, castors, china tea setts [sic], cheap, coal oil lamps, fluid lamps, goblets, tumblers, &c. I have a fine lot of coal oil no. 1, to be here in a few days. All the above goods offered cheap to make room for stock coming in. R. P. McEvoy.
Macon, Ga., July 21st, 1859.

ALBANY [GA] PATRIOT, March 22, 1860, p. 3, c. 5
T. R. Ripley's New Cash Crockery, China, Glass, and Lamp Store, Washington Street, Near Hill & Co's Livery Stables, Albany Geo.
Where can be found a good supply of the above named articles of the latest styles.--Burning Fluid, Alcohol, Camphene, Kerosene Oil, &c., to which the undersigned would most respectfully invite the attention of the citizens of Albany and surrounding country, flattering himself that he can please the most fastidious. W. T. Mead, Agent.
December 1, 1859.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, March 19, 1861, p. 3, c. 4
Star candles--100 boxes Proctor & Gamble's full weight Star Candles, received and for sale by Ray & Grant, Natchez Landing.
Soap--200 boxes Proctor & Gamble's Soap, received and for sale by Ray & Grant, Natchez Landing.

ATHENS [GA] SOUTHERN WATCHMAN, August 7, 1861, p. 4, c. 6

Kerosene Lamps.

As the long winter nights are approaching, when "More Light" will be required, we would call attention to a large and varied assortment, which we have just opened, which we will sell at a small advance for cash.
Nov. 8 A. M. Wyng & Co.

ATHENS [GA] SOUTHERN WATCHMAN, August 7, 1861, p. 4, c. 6
The Subscriber has just received an assortment of Kerosene Centre Table Lamps. Lard Lamps altered to burn Kerosene Oil. A. K. Childs.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, September 11, 1861, p. 2, c. 1
Charleston Made Matches.--We have received a box of Lucifer Matches, manufactured by Mr. W. M. Sack, of this city. On a trial, we found the matches to inflame with great facility, even after being wet for a short time. We hail with pleasure this new effort of native industry.

AUGUSTA [GA] DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, September 12, 1861, p. 3, c. 2
Charleston Made Matches.--We have received a box of Lucifer Matches, manufactured [by] Mr. W. M. Sack, of this city. On a trial, we found the matches to inflame with great facility, even after being wet for a short time. We hail with pleasure this new effort of native industry.--Courier.

AUGUSTA [GA] DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, September 27, 1861, p. 1, c. 1
To Consumers of Kerosene Oil.--The Mobile Register warns those who are using Kerosene Oil, that in consequence of the scarcity and high price of the article, inflammable and explosive fluids are mixed with the oil, endangering life and property. Those who burn kerosene should test a small quantity by fire before putting it in lamps.

AUGUSTA [GA] DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, October 9, 1861, p. 3, c. 4
The following items are clipped from the latest Texas papers received:
Texas Oil for Burning.--The Hempstead Courier has an editorial showing that the castor-oil plant can be easily cultivated, grows well in Texas, and the oil extracted from the beans, on a yield of 30 per cent., is not surpassed for illuminating purposes by the best whale oil.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, October 25, 1861, p. 1, c. 6
Candle manufactory. The undersigned has established in the City of Natchez, a candle manufactory, where he has now and will constantly keep on hand a good supply of Candle.
His place of sale will be at his residence near the Gas House, and opposite the store of Hunter & Mariner, at the Landing. N. Levin.

More Light. "Cotton is King." Cotton seed oil--a lamp burning every night at my store throws light upon the subject. Just received and for sale by W. H. Fox.

AUGUSTA [GA] DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, October 26, 1861, p. 3, c. 1
Soap and Candles.--A writer in the Charleston Courier says:
We have been so long dependent on our Yankee enemies for supplies of the above named articles of universal use, that we have forgotten that we can make them ourselves. To our shame we admit that, even on our plantations in the low country and seaboard, abounding in materials for making the best candles in the world, millions of pounds have been annually permitted to mature and decay unused. The low bush myrtle, indigenous to our coast from Virginia, ad libitum, South, the berries of which are now mature, will afford a supply of wax, that, with the addition of one-third tallow, will furnish candles sufficient to light every house in the Confederacy, for the next year, and put a stopper on the exorbitant extortion now practiced on the people for that article. So, also, on every plantation, nay, in almost every kitchen, the monthly waste of ashes and grease, with the addition of a little lime and salt, and the labor of one person for one day, will make soap enough to cleanse every man, woman and child, and their clothing. Now, why should we any longer pay thirty cents a pound for soap and sixty cents for candles? I for one will not.

SAN ANTONIO HERALD, November 2, 1861, p. 2, c. 1
Friction matches are now being made in Galveston--the first probably ever made in the State, if not in the South.

AUGUSTA [GA] DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, November 2, 1861, p. 2, c. 6

Kerosine Oil.

Just received, Kerosine Oil. For sale by Chichester & Co.
oct30 3t.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, November 8, 1861, p. 1, c. 3
A great curiosity was sent us by Mrs. Blanchard. It is a "model economical candle," sixty yards long and it is said will burn six hours each night for six months, and all that light at a cost of about fifty cents. It is made by taking one pound of beeswax and three-fourths of a pound of rosin, and melting them together; then take about four threads of slack twisted cotton for a wick, and draw it about three times through the melted wax and rosin and wind it in a ball; put the end up above the ball and light it, and you have a very good candle. Ours is very fancifully wound on a corn cob, and makes a pretty ornament.--The curious can see it at our office.--Vicksburg Whig.

DALLAS HERALD, December 4, 1861, p. 1, c. 1

Economy.

The Vicksburg Whig notices a favor sent to the office by a lady as follows:
A great curiosity was sent us by Mrs. Blanchard. It is a model economical candle, sixty yards long and it is said will burn six hours each night for six months, and all that light at a cost of about fifty cents. It is made by taking one pound of beeswax and three-fourths of a pound of rosin, and melting them together, then take about four threads of slack twisted cotton for a wick, and draw it about three times through the melted wax and rosin and wind it in a ball; pull the end up above the ball and light it, and you have a very good candle. Ours is very fancifully wound on a corn cob, and makes a pretty ornament.—The curious can see it at our office.
These lights have been used in Texas for many years, and a good joke is told of a certain "root-doctor" who, once upon a time, visited the house of a very economical lady, and mistook a roll of these "wax tapers" for a bundle of Sarsaparilla roots.—Thinking here was a good chance to enlarge his stock of roots, the doctor incontinently pocketed the bundle and went home. He did not discover the mistake until he had plunged them into a pot of boiling water, for the purpose of making a decoction of Sarsaparilla. His consternation can be better imagined than described, when he saw his long yellow roots melting rapidly away before his eyes. His patient was disappointed in her promised decoction, and the doctor became a wiser, if not a better, man.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, Dec. 6, 1861, p. 2. c. 1

Castor Oil--How Made.

The following communication to the Houston Telegraph, from Mr. E. T. Duffau, of Austin, will be read with interest:
... The following is the process for preparing it on a large scale: The seeds having been cleansed from dust and fragments of capsules, are conveyed into a shallow iron reservoir, where they are submitted to a gentle heat, insufficient to scorch them, and not greater than can be borne by the hand; the object of this step is to render the oil sufficiently liquid for easy expression; the seeds are then introduced into a powerful screw press. One bushel of good seed will yield about six quarts of the best oil.
The yield of the seed is from 40 to 60 bushels to the acre, or say 75 gallons of oil, which, at the low price of $1 per gallon, is $75 to the acre.
The mode of cultivation is to plant and attend to the crop the same as corn, thinning out to two stalks in a hill, and leaving a space between the rows of four feet.
The oil will give about 10 or 12 per cent. more light than lard oil, and can be used in the same lamps.
The plant may be found growing in Texas almost anywhere. There are stalks of it in the streets of Austin, and on my visit to your city I found it all along the roads.
From the statement I make, you will at once see that it will pay better than any crop which can be planted in Texas.

BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, December 11, 1861, p. 1, c. 5
To Harden Tallow, Suet or Lard for Candles.—To half a lb. each of alum and saltpetre, pulverised coarsely, pour on it a quart of boiling water—take from 12 to 20 lbs. of tallow, according to its firmness, the former quantity for the oily tallow we get from a fat beef in summer, or for lard, and the latter for tallow that will stand in a cake; put it in an iron vessel near the fire, and when melted, stir in the dissolved alum and saltpetre and boil until the water is all expelled from the tallow. Have the wicks smaller and of finer thread than is usual for home-made candles—dip them in a strong solution of saltpetre, and when perfectly dry mould the candle in the usual way. If any one, after giving this receipt a trial, goes in darkness, it is because their deeds are evil.

AUGUSTA [GA] DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, December 12, 1861, p. 3, c. 1
Candle Manufactory.--The necessity of something to give us light in place of the oils and fluids we have been in the habit of using, is becoming every day more pressing. The consumers of kerosene fluid, the article being so dear and inferior in quality, will be glad to resort to tallow candles for light. A candle manufactory in this city, on a scale commensurate with the demands of the community, is therefore a desideratum. Mr. J. V. Clark, of Hamburg, has given his attention to this business of late, and has now, as he believes, gotten up an article of candle which will fully meet the wants and wishes of the people. A few days since he gave us some specimens of his make, and we have given them a fair and most satisfactory trial. They give a pure, steady light, do not smoke, and will burn much longer than the "star" candle. If all Mr. Clark's manufacture are as good as those he gave us, his success is certain.
Mr. C. encourages us to hope that he will start a candle manufactory in this city; and as he intimates that his terms will be reasonable, we hope he will set about it with the least possible delay. The people, although not in mental darkness, are almost physically so, and are getting clamorous for "more light."

ALBANY [GA] PATRIOT, December 19, 1861, p. 2, c. 3
The following receipts have been furnished us for publication by Mrs. Gen. Hansell of Marietta--a lady whose elegant accomplishments, and skill in all the departments of housewifery, will entitle her experience to the highest consideration. They have come in a good time, and will be properly appreciated by the country at large:

For Making Tallow Candles.

For every 10 pounds of tallow, have 4 pounds of alum; dissolve the alum in 2 gallons of hot water; boil the tallow first in clear water 2 hours. After it is perfectly cold, cut the tallow out, scrape off all the sediment from the bottom of the tallow, and boil it in the alum water 2 or 3 hours, skimming it well. After it becomes cold, again scrape off all the sediment, which adheres to the bottom of the tallow; and simmer until all the water is out of the tallow, which may be known by any one accustomed to boiling lard or tallow. After every drop of water is out, it is then ready to mould. To make the tallow still more firm, though not so white, add 3 pounds of beeswax to every 10 pounds of tallow, and boil it with the tallow in the alum water. As the common candle wick is too large, split the wick and put it in the moulds.

ATLANTA SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, December 21, 1861, p. 2, c. 2

Valuable Recipes.

The following recipes are furnished by one of the most experienced house-wives in our State, and we can assure our readers that they are good.
These recipes have been going the rounds of the press with a very material error in one of them, which we now correct--our attention being called to the mistake by the excellent lady who furnished them.

How to Make Tallow Candles.

For every ten pounds of tallow, have one pound of alum; dissolve the alum in two gallons of hot water; boil the tallow first in clear water two hours. After it is perfectly cold, cut the tallow out, scrape off all the sediment from the bottom of the tallow, and boil it in the alum water two hours, skimming it well. After it becomes cold, again scrape off all the sediment which adheres to the bottom of the tallow; and simmer until all the water is out of the tallow, which may be known by any one accustomed to boiling lard or tallow. After every drop of water is out, it is then ready to mould. To make the tallow still more firm, through not so white, add three pounds of beeswax to every ten pounds of tallow, and boil it with the tallow in the alum water. As the common candle wick is too large, split the wick and put it in the moulds.

TEXAS STATE GAZETTE [AUSTIN, TX], December 28, 1861, p. 3, c. 2

Economy.

The Vicksburg Whig notices a favor sent to the office by a lady as follows:
A great curiosity was sent us by Mrs. Blanchard. It is a "model economical candle," sixty yards long and it is said will burn six hours each night for six months, and all that light at a cost of about fifty cents. It is made by taking one pound of beeswax and three-fourths of a pound of rosin, and melting them together; then take about four threads of slack twisted cotton for a wick, and draw it about three times through the melted wax and rosin and wind it in a ball; put the end up above the ball and light it, and you have a very good candle. Ours is very fancifully wound on a corn cob, and makes a pretty ornament.--The curious can see it at our office.
These lights have been used in Texas for many years, and a good joke is gold of a certain "root-doctor" who, once upon a time, visited the house of a very economical lady, and mistook a roll of these "wax tapers" for a bundle of Sasparilla roots--Thinking here was a good chance to enlarge his stock of roots, the doctor incontinently pocketed the bundle and went home. He did not discover the mistake until he had placed them into a pot of boiling water, for the purpose of making a decoction of Sarsaparilla. His consternation can be better imagined than described, when he saw his long yellow roots melting rapidly away before his eyes. His patient was disappointed in her promised decoction, and the doctor became a wiser, if not a better man.--Dallas Herald.

ATLANTA SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, January 11, 1862, p. 2, c. 4
How to Make Candles.--Mr. N. A. Isom has discovered a new and valuable process for making good candles from tallow, equal to the star. It is this: To a quart of tallow add two or three leaves of the prickly pear, and boil out all the water that may gather. When of the right consistency, mould in the usual way. We are of the opinion that a little alum would improve the candles. Try it, everybody. The prickly pear grows abundantly in this neighborhood.--[Oxford Intelligencer.

SAVANNAH REPUBLICAN, January 16, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
Pea Nut Oil.—Messrs. Grant & Tennant have commenced the manufacture of oil in this city from the pea nut. We are in receipt of a specimen, which we expect to try on our power press in a day or two. Oil made from the pea nut, near Wilmington, N. C., has been successfully used down there, both for illuminating and lubricating purposes. The specimen now before us has a clear, handsome appearance, resembling sperm. It is an enterprise that must pay the energetic manufactures handsomely for their trouble and outlay. Whale oils have almost entirely disappeared, and but few will use lard oil, if that of the pea nut is accessible.

WEEKLY COLUMBUS [GA] ENQUIRER, January 21, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
How to Make Candles.—Mr. N. A. Isom has discovered a new and valuable process for making good candles from tallow, equal to the star. It is this: To a quart of tallow add two or three leaves of the prickly pear, and boil out all the water that may gather. When of the right consistency, mould in the usual way. We are of the opinion that a little alum would improve the candles. Try it, everybody. The prickly pear grows abundantly in the neighborhood.—Oxford Intell.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, March 10, 1862, p. 1, c. 3
Richmond, March 6.
. . . We had gas last night in the streets, for a rarity. Beef is selling at 25 cents a pound. More rain is promised by the weather. Hermes.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, April 4, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
Light! Light!! Light!!! Blockade or No Blockade! The greatest invention of the age. Confederate Illuminating Oil, for burning in Coal Oil Lamps. The greatest illuminator in the Southern Confederacy!
It can be burned in all kinds of Coal Oil Lamps by a simple patent attachment applied to the wick tube, at the trifling expense of fifty cents, which can be attached or removed at pleasure. The Oil can be used with perfect safety, as it cannot be exploded, and produces as brilliant, soft and beautiful light as the best article of Coal Oil. One gallon of it will afford as much light as one gallon and a half of the best Coal Oil, or four gallons of Cotton Seed Oil, or 18 pounds of Sperm Candles.
J. S. Murphy & Co., New Orleans, are the manufacturers of the Oil, and proprietors of the patent attachment for burning it in Coal Oil Lamps. Agents wanted in all the principal cities of the Southern Confederacy.
An unlimited supply of Oil and Lamps for sale at the Drug Store of W. H. Fox, Main street, Natchez, Miss.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, April 4, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Improvement in Candles. Steep the cotton wick in water in which has been dissolved a considerable quantity of nitrate of potassa--chlorate of potassa, answers still better, but it is too expensive for common practice--by this means a purer flame and a superior light are secured, a more perfect combustion is insured, and snuffing is rendered nearly as superfluous as in wax candles. The wicks must be thoroughly dried before the tallow is put to them.

TEXAS STATE GAZETTE [AUSTIN, TX], April 19, 1862, p. 3, c. 2
HOW TO MAKE CANDLES.--Mr. N. A. Isom has discovered a new and valuable process for making good candles from tallow equal to Star. It is this. To a quart of tallow add 2 or 3 leaves of pricly [sic] pear, and boil out all the water that may gather. When of the right consistency, mould in the usual way. We are of the opinion that a little alum would improve the candles. Try it, everybody. The prickly pear grows abundantly in the neighborhood.

AUGUSTA [GA] DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, May 2, 1862, c. 3, c. 1
Soap and Candle Manufactory.--Two most essential articles, for which we have heretofore depended on the North, are soap and candles. They are indispensable in all well regulated households. Mr. J. V. Clark, whose advertisement appears in another column, is engaged in the manufacture of a superior article of candles, of various grades and prices, and suited to the season. We have tried some of his candles, and found them to be excellent, as we noticed in our columns sometime since. He is also making good hard and soft soap. At a considerable outlay, he has embarked in this enterprise, and he should be encouraged and patronized. Having cut loose from the North and its manufactured wares, let us stimulate home industry by all available means.
Mr. Clark's establishment is near the corner of Broad street and Bridge Row.

AUGUSTA [GA] DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, May 6, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Terebene Oil.--This is certainly the most economical light now to be obtained, as we can testify from experience. It does not give as good a light as Kerosene, and the lamps require more care and attention. But the light is much more brilliant than that of a candle, and not one-fifth the cost. Kerosene lamps can be altered to burn Terebene oil at a trifling expense, and families who are not within reach of gas facilities will find their interest to give it a trial. Chichester & Co., have the oil for sale, and the lamps can be altered at Buckmaster's.

AUGUSTA [GA] DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, May 22, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
Matches.--Imported matches are now about used up in this community, and it is absolutely necessary that their domestic manufacture should be encouraged. Mr. A. J. Pelletier has shown us some very good samples of matches which he is having made at Hamburg, S. C. He turns out a large quantity daily. The attention of the trade is directed to his advertisement, in another column.

ATHENS [GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, August 6, 1862, p. 4, c. 4

The Cheapest Light in the World!
A New Southern Discovery!
Terebene Oil!!

It can be used in Kerosene Oil Lamps with a slight alteration. Lamps altered and oil sold at R. M. Smith's Drugstore.
June 4.

SAVANNAH REPUBLICAN, June 7, 1862, p. 2, c. 6

The Cheapest Light in
the World!
New Southern Discovery
Terebene Oil

It can be used in Kerosene Oil lamps, with a slight alteration, and retails at $1.60 per gallon. For sale by
John B. Moore, Druggist
Gibbons' Range.

AUGUSTA [GA] DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL, June 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 4
Cheap Light. Lamp Oil, for the ordinary oil lamp, giving a good and cheap light. For sale by Plumb & Leitner, Druggists, Augusta, Ga. je6-tf

CHARLESTON MERCURY, June 19, 1862, p. 1, c. 2
Light.--Spirits of turpentine, burnt in a lamp, invented about two years since, costing about $3, makes a beautiful gas light. This light is very brilliant, perfectly safe, and costs about three cents per night. By distilling, you get clear of the particles of rosin, which makes it a more cleanly, but not a more brilliant light.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, July 22, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
A New Oil.--Mr. B. Schur announces that he has succeeded in the production of an oil, to which he has given the name of "Palmetto Oil," and which for softness and brilliancy, is said to equal the Kerosene Oil, at a cost of only a quarter of a cent per hour. See his advertisement in another column.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [GRENADA, MS], July 24, 1862, p. 1, c. 7
To make hard tallow candles.--Wm. Summer, of Pomaria, S. C., furnishes the following to the Charleston Courier:
To one pound of tallow take five or six leaves of the prickly pear, (cactus opuntia,) split them and boil in the tallow, without water, for half an hour of more; strain and mould the candles. The wicks should have previously dipped in spirits of turpentine and dried.
If the tallow at first is boiled in water, and the water changed four or five times, it will be bleached and rendered free from impurities. Then prepare, by frying with prickly pears, to harden it.
In this way we have made tallow candles nearly equal to the best adamantine.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, July 25, 1862, p. 1, c. 2
About Friction Matches.--The value of the friction or lucifer match will never be realized by the coming generation, for they will know nothing of the difficulties of obtaining and preserving fire previous to their invention. So rapidly do we move on, that persons that remember the tinder-box are getting old. Then matches made by hand were valuable and carefully preserved; now they are as abundant as dew-drops of an autumn morning, and almost as cheap. An English writer says that one firm, Messrs.. Dixon, of London, constantly employ four hundred workmen in making matches, and make twenty-two hundred millions in a year. The average consumption in England is two hundred and fifty millions a day, or eight to each individual in the Kingdom. It is as large or larger in the United States. There are two manufactories in Austria and Bohemia that turn out forty-five thousand million in a year. The friction match is therefore one of the institutions of modern times, and one that, having once known and employed, we could no more do without and move on at the rapid rate we are doing, than we could live without air or water.

SAN ANTONIO HERALD, September 13, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
Match Manufactory.--Our neighbors, opposite the Herald Office, are manufacturing friction matches, of a very superior quality, and selling them at one dollar a thousand, or 50 cents for five hundred. A cheaper or better article could not be desired.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [GRENADA, MS], September 22, 1862, p. 2, c. 8

Southern Match Works.

We are prepared to fill orders for a superior article of Friction Matches, Equal to any of Eastern make. They will be sold very low to the trade. Send cash orders immediately, before it is too late to A. Eyrich, & Co. Columbus, Miss.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [GRENADA, MS], September 23, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Another Enterprise.--Mr. Wm. Magoffin, of Carrolton, Miss., has forwarded us a specimen of matches of home manufacture, which will answer the purpose as well as the best Yankee productions. We need be no longer dependent upon our enemies for lucifers.

MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, October 11, 1862, p. 1, c. 4

[For the Evening News]
Tallow Candles Equal to Star.

Messrs. Editors: It may be of interest to your numerous readers to know that, with not a cent of additional expense, tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of merit to the common star candle.
To two pounds of tallow add one teacupful of good strong ley from wood ashes, and simmer over a slow fire—when a greasy scum will float on top; skim this off for making soap, (it is very near soap already) as long as it continues to rise. Then mould your candles as usual, making the wicks a little smaller—and you have a pure, hard tallow candle, worth knowing how to make—and one that burns as long and gives a light equal to sperm. The chemistry demonstrates itself. An ounce or two of beeswax will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks in spirits turpentine will make it burn some brighter. I write with one before me. Yours, W.
West Point, Miss., Oct. 5th, 1862.

SAVANNAH REPUBLICAN, October 16, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
The Wood Gas.—The supply of coal being exhausted, we commenced last night the use of wood gas. The effect of the change was very perceptible, especially in the streets, where many of the burners had not been attended to, to suit the new state of things. The new or altered burners seemed to emit a sufficiency of light, but we observed that all of them gave forth a forked instead of a solid flame, owing, probably, to the roughness of the tube. This defect remedied they may be made to answer a good purpose. The old burners afforded a light about equal to a sperm candle, and we care not how soon they are got rid of. In our office the light was very fair, though the first night can hardly be regarded as a test, there being considerable quantity of coal gas still in the pipes.

ATLANTA SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, October 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 1

Tallow Candles Equal to Star.

Messrs. Editors Mobile Register & Advertiser:
It may be of interest to your numerous readers to know that, with not a cent of additional expense, tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of merit to the common star candle.
To two pounds of tallow add one teacupful of good strong 'ley' [lye] from wood ashes, and simmer over a slow fire--when a greasy scum will float on top; skim this off for making soap, (it is very near soap already) as long as it continues to rise. Then mould your candles as usual, making the wicks a little smaller--and you have a pure, hard tallow candle, worth knowing how to make--and one that burns as long and gives a light equal to sperm. The chemistry demonstrates itself.--An ounce or two of beeswax will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks in spirits turpentine will make it burn some brighter. I write with one before me.
Yours, W.
West Point, Miss., Oct. 5th, 1862.

SAVANNAH REPUBLICAN, October 18, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
The Gas.—Our lights from the new gas continue intolerable. It is clear to our mind that the difficulty rests at the gas works, and consists of a lack of the proper amount of pressure. We tried a still larger burner last night, but with little effect.

WEEKLY COLUMBUS [GA] ENQUIRER, October 21, 1862, p. 2, c. 5

Tallow Candles Equal to Star.

West Point, Miss., Oct. 5, 1862.
Editors Mobile Register & Advertiser:
It may be of interest to your numerous readers to know that, with not a cent of additional expense, tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of merit to the common star candle.
To two pounds of tallow add one teacupful of good strong ley from wood ashes, and simmer over a slow fire, when a greasy scum will float on top; skim this off for making soap, (it is very near soap already), as long as it continues to rise. Then mould your candles as usual, making the wicks a little smaller—and you have a pure, hard tallow candle, worth knowing how to make, and one that burns as long and gives a light equal to sperm. The chemistry demonstrates itself. An ounce or two of beeswax will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks in spirits turpentine will make it burn some brighter. I write with one before me. Yours, W.

WEEKLY COLUMBUS [GA] ENQUIRER, October 21, 1862, p. 2, c. 5
How to Make Chimnies [sic] for Kerosene or Palmetto Oil Lamps.—Take a common sweet oil bottle, cut off the bottom, by burning a string wet with turpentine, around the bottle. Then make a bottom of tin to fit the lamp, and fasten it to the bottle with plaster of Paris, and you have as good a chimney as you can buy. This is something worth knowing at the present time. When one chimney breaks, the same tin bottom will do for another. Please let this be known for the public benefit. D. B. Haselton.
We have received from our ingenious friend, Haselton, a bottle prepared as above directed, and a mate to one he has used successfully. It may be seen at the Courier office.—Charleston Courier, 14th.

ATHENS [GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, October 22, 1862, p. 4, c. 2

How to Make Chimnies for Kerosene or Palmetto Oil Lamps.

Take a common sweet oil bottle cut off the bottom, by burning a string wet with turpentine, around the bottle, then make a bottom of tin to fit the lamp, and fasten it to the bottle with plaster of paris and you have as good a chimney as you can buy. This is something worth knowing at the present time. When one chimney breaks the same tin bottom will do for another. Please let this be known for the public benefit.
D. B. Haselton.
We have received from our ingenious friend, Haselton, a bottle prepared as above directed, and a mate to one he has used successfully. It may be seen at the Courier office.
Charleston Courier, Oct. 14.

SAVANNAH REPUBLICAN, October 27, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Homemade Candles.—Mr. L. N. Felitgant [sp?] has presented us with a sample of his Forest City Adamantine Candles, manufactured by himself. They are well made, very firm, emit a good light and require no snuffing. They also consume all the tallow, thus wasting nothing by running. It is the best candle we have seen of home manufacture, and Mr. F. will doubtless find a ready sale for all he can make. Though the light is very fair, we would suggest that it may be improved by saturating the wick in a weak solution of saltpetre.

SAVANNAH REPUBLICAN, November 4, 1862, p. 1, c. 3

Practical Hints for Hard Times.
"What man has done, man may do."

No.II—LIGHTS.

Our fathers used little artificial light. They preferred the cheap light of day. For this reason they went early to bed and were all the more healthy and wealthy for their practice. The chief light of their houses, like that of the nobility of England a few centuries back, was a ruddy glare from the hearthstone.
1. PRIMITIVE LIGHTS.—The earliest artificial illuminators of which we have any record, were lamps. These at first, consisted of nothing more than a cup of oil or grease, with a wick lying against its side. Its shape was soon improved in convenience and elegance.
2. A HASTILY EXTEMPORIZED LIGHT.—The writer was one of a family party who were belated in the mountains of Georgia and compelled to seek shelter with a family who owned neither lamp or candle. Our ingenious hostess, however devised a light for the table. It was made by means of a slice of fat bacon, (do not laugh, reader, I tell the simple truth.) This slice was spread in the bottom of a saucer, and on this was laid some candle wick, the burning end of which was kept elevated by being passed through a tailor's thimble.
3. RUSH LIGHTS.—Among the poor of Europe, a very cheap and easily made light is constructed of the ordinary bulrush stripped of its skin, except enough to hold the internal pitch together, and saturated with suit [sic] or wax.
4. CONFEDERATE CANDLE.—This rivals the rush light in simplicity, and far exceeds it in serviceableness. To make it, melt together a pound of beeswax and a quarter of a pound of rosin, or of rosin fresh from the tree. Prepare a wick 30 or 40 yards long, made up of three threads of loosely spun cotton. Saturate this well with the mixture, and draw it through your fingers to press all closely together, and to keep the size even. Repeat the process until the candle attains the size of a straw or quill; then wrap around a bottle, or into a ball with a flat bottom. Six inches of this candle elevated above the rest will burn for fifteen or twenty minutes, and give a very pretty light, and forty yards have sufficed a small family a summer for all the usual purposes of the bed-chamber.
5. LARD TAPER.—Equal to our mountain friends bacon light in cheapness, and yet more pleasantly available for the necessities of the sick room, is a light made up of a saucer half full of lard and a little wisp of spongy paper. The paper twisted so as to form a short pointed wick with a broad base—say two thirds of an inch high and an inch broad—is set in the midst of the lard, and by the heat it generates, aided by the shelving sides of the saucer keeps itself supplied with fuel until the lard is all consumed. The papers can be shaped on the point of one's finger, and the burning and twisted quite small. It should rest on the bottom, and the vessel should be shallow—a saucer, not a cup.
6. LARD LAMPS.—At the present prices of illuminating material, the most economical by far for those who live in the interior and afar is lard. This requires a lamp whose wick tubes are of thick metal for the purposes of conveying the heat of the flame into the midst of the lard, and keeping it melted around the wick. The lard must be melted when the lamp is lighted or it will not burn well. The wick should be several thicknesses of spongy cloth.
7. LARD OIL.—When combined with one fifth spirits of turpentine, will burn in an ordinary lamp and afford a beautiful light. To obtain the oil, enclose lard in a strong, close canvas bag, and subject to gradually increased pressure. The indurated mass left in the bag is not required for culinary purposes.
8. CANDLES OF TALLOW AND PRICKLY PEAR.—Whoever can command tallow for candles, will greatly improve them in firmness and in illuminating power, combining with a few leaves of the prickly pear, in the proportion of about one part by weight of the last, to four or five of the first. The leaves should be kept in the heated tallow until all commotion ceases, and until the tallow itself reaches the boiling point. Of course, the heated mixture will need straining. It is said by those who profess to know, that the longer tallow is boiled, the whiter it becomes in case it is not burned. The vessel containing the tallow should be heated in a sand bath (another vessel partly filled with sand) and not set immediately on the fire.
9. WAX CANDLES.—Beeswax gives a light almost equal to sperm. It may be moulded like the tallow candles; or it may be rolled by enveloping the wick in a thin stratum of wax spread on a board, and afterwards smoothed evenly by rolling between two boards. The combination of wax and tallow need not be suggested.
10. Wax and rosin, mixed in equal proportions, afford an excellent light though liable to smoke unless supplied with a suitable sized wick.
11. Myrtle Wax is obtained by boiling the berries of the swamp myrtle, on which it is to be seen as a greenish white cover. The myrtle is found abundantly in all our seaboard counties, and has been seen by the writer as far inland as Macon and Forsyth. Its favorite locality is a swampy though not wet ground. The berries should be boiled in a bag, and the clarified wax, which is of a pretty green color, mixed more or less largely with tallow.
12. The value of our ordinary pine tree as an illuminator remains yet to be developed. Camphene is nothing more than the highly volatile spirits of turpentine—it is that part of the spirit which first rises from the still after heating the virgin gum. That which comes after is more or less mixed with the heavier rosin. Burning Fluid is made by mixing camphine [sic] (or even the purer varieties of spirits of turpentine) with four or more times its bulk of alcohol. The high price of alcohol has arrested the manufacture of burning fluid; but the camphene remains as abundant as ever in the pine forests of the whole South, and awaits only the magic touch of some who will devise a plan for rendering it inexplosive, to furnish the country with one of the best and cheapest lights. WILL NOT SOMEBODY TRY? Rosin is the inspissated juice of the gum remaining in the still after the volatile part, or spirit, has been separated by heat. It has resisted all efforts hitherto made to mould it into candles or to use it in lamps, being too hard for the one and too soft for the other; and, moreover, it burns with a dense and unpleasant smoke. But the smoke may be consumed by attaching a glass chimney with a strong draught, when a flame is produced almost as brilliant as that of Kerosene, and, no doubt, a suitable lamp for it can be constructed. I venture the prediction that it is yet to be used as an illuminator in other ways than at the gas works.
Marooners, Sr.
Any person having valuable hints, of a practical character, on the subjects already discussed, or on those of clothing, food, &c., to communicate, are invited to publish them, or to address "Box 154, Macon, Georgia," not 54," as published in No. 1.

ATHENS [GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, November 5, 1862, p. 4, c. 1

Tallow Candles Equal to Star

Messrs. Editors:--It may be of some interest to y our numerous readers to know that, with not a cent of additional expense, tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of merit to the common star candle.
To two pounds tallow add one teacupful of good ley from wood ashes, and simmer over a slow fire, when greasy scum will float on top; skim this off for soap, (it is very soap already,) as long as it continues to rise. Then mould your candles as usual making the wicks a little smaller, and you have a pure hard tallow candle, worth knowing how to make, and one that burns as long, and gives a light equal to sperm. The chemistry demonstrates itself.--An ounce or two of beeswax will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks in spirits turpentine will make it burn some brighter. I write with one before me.--Mobile News.

ATLANTA SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, November 7, 1862, p. 2, c. 3

Practical Hints for Hard Times.
"What man has done, man may do."
No.II—LIGHTS.

Our fathers used little artificial light. They preferred the cheap light of day. For this reason they went early to bed and were all the more healthy and wealthy for their practice. The chief light of their houses, like that of the nobility of England a few centuries back, was a ruddy glare from the hearthstone.
1. PRIMITIVE LIGHTS.—The earliest artificial illuminators of which we have any record, were lamps. These at first, consisted of nothing more than a cup of oil or grease, with a wick lying against its side. Its shape was soon improved in convenience and elegance.
2. A HASTILY EXTEMPORIZED LIGHT.—The writer was one of a family party who were belated in the mountains of Georgia and compelled to seek shelter with a family who owned neither lamp or candle. Our ingenious hostess, however devised a light for the table. It was made by means of a slice of fat bacon, (do not laugh, reader, I tell the simple truth.) This slice was spread in the bottom of a saucer, and on this was laid some candle wick, the burning end of which was kept elevated by being passed through a tailor's thimble.
3. RUSH LIGHTS.—Among the poor of Europe, a very cheap and easily made light is constructed of the ordinary bulrush stripped of its skin, except enough to hold the internal pitch together, and saturated with suit [sic] or wax.
4. CONFEDERATE CANDLE.—This rivals the rush light in simplicity, and far exceeds it in serviceableness. To make it, melt together a pound of beeswax and a quarter of a pound of rosin, or of rosin fresh from the tree. Prepare a wick 30 or 40 yards long, made up of three threads of loosely spun cotton. Saturate this well with the mixture, and draw it through your fingers to press all closely together, and to keep the size even. Repeat the process until the candle attains the size of a straw or quill; then wrap around a bottle, or into a ball with a flat bottom. Six inches of this candle elevated above the rest will burn for fifteen or twenty minutes, and give a very pretty light, and forty yards have sufficed a small family a summer for all the usual purposes of the bed-chamber.
5. LARD TAPER.—Equal to our mountain friends bacon light in cheapness, and yet more pleasantly available for the necessities of the sick room, is a light made up of a saucer half full of lard and a little wisp of spongy paper. The paper twisted so as to form a short pointed wick with a broad base—say two thirds of an inch high and an inch broad—is set in the midst of the lard, and by the heat it generates, aided by the shelving sides of the saucer keeps itself supplied with fuel until the lard is all consumed. The papers can be shaped on the point of one's finger, and the burning and twisted quite small. It should rest on the bottom, and the vessel should be shallow—a saucer, not a cup.
6. LARD LAMPS.—At the present prices of illuminating material, the most economical by far for those who live in the interior and afar is lard. This requires a lamp whose wick tubes are of thick metal for the purposes of conveying the heat of the flame into the midst of the lard, and keeping it melted around the wick. The lard must be melted when the lamp is lighted or it will not burn well. The wick should be several thicknesses of spongy cloth.
7. LARD OIL.—When combined with one fifth spirits of turpentine, will burn in an ordinary lamp and afford a beautiful light. To obtain the oil, enclose lard in a strong, close canvas bag, and subject to gradually increased pressure. The indurated mass left in the bag is not required for culinary purposes.
8. CANDLES OF TALLOW AND PRICKLY PEAR.—Whoever can command tallow for candles, will greatly improve them in firmness and in illuminating power, combining with a few leaves of the prickly pear, in the proportion of about one part by weight of the last, to four or five of the first. The leaves should be kept in the heated tallow until all commotion ceases, and until the tallow itself reaches the boiling point. Of course, the heated mixture will need straining. It is said by those who profess to know, that the longer tallow is boiled, the whiter it becomes in case it is not burned. The vessel containing the tallow should be heated in a sand bath (another vessel partly filled with sand) and not set immediately on the fire.
9. WAX CANDLES.—Beeswax gives a light almost equal to sperm. It may be moulded like the tallow candles; or it may be rolled by enveloping the wick in a thin stratum of wax spread on a board, and afterwards smoothed evenly by rolling between two boards. The combination of wax and tallow need not be suggested.
10. Wax and rosin, mixed in equal proportions, afford an excellent light though liable to smoke unless supplied with a suitable sized wick.
11. Myrtle Wax is obtained by boiling the berries of the swamp myrtle, on which it is to be seen as a greenish white cover. The myrtle is found abundantly in all our seaboard counties, and has been seen by the writer as far inland as Macon and Forsyth. Its favorite locality is a swampy though not wet ground. The berries should be boiled in a bag, and the clarified wax, which is of a pretty green color, mixed more or less largely with tallow.
12. The value of our ordinary pine tree as an illuminator remains yet to be developed. Camphene is nothing more than the highly volatile spirits of turpentine—it is that part of the spirit which first rises from the still after heating the virgin gum. That which comes after is more or less mixed with the heavier rosin. Burning Fluid is made by mixing camphine [sic] (or even the purer varieties of spirits of turpentine) with four or more times its bulk of alcohol. The high price of alcohol has arrested the manufacture of burning fluid; but the camphene remains as abundant as ever in the pine forests of the whole South, and awaits only the magic touch of some who will devise a plan for rendering it inexplosive, to furnish the country with one of the best and cheapest lights. WILL NOT SOMEBODY TRY? Rosin is the inspissated juice of the gum remaining in the still after the volatile part, or spirit, has been separated by heat. It has resisted all efforts hitherto made to mould it into candles or to use it in lamps, being too hard for the one and too soft for the other; and, moreover, it burns with a dense and unpleasant smoke. But the smoke may be consumed by attaching a glass chimney with a strong draught, when a flame is produced almost as brilliant as that of Kerosene, and, no doubt, a suitable lamp for it can be constructed. I venture the prediction that it is yet to be used as an illuminator in other ways than at the gas works.
Marooners, Sr.
Any person having valuable hints, of a practical character, on the subjects already discussed, or on those of clothing, food, &c., to communicate, are invited to publish them, or to address "Box 154, Macon, Georgia," not 54," as published in No. 1.

ATLANTA SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, November 7, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
Lamp Wicks.--A correspondent gives the Columbia Guardian the following useful bit of information:
"It might interest some of your readers to know this when it is so difficult to get lamp-wicks that the tops of old home-knit socks cut into strips of the proper width, make as good ones as the best that ever came from Yankeedom."

WEEKLY COLUMBUS [GA] ENQUIRER, November 11, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
Lamp Wicks.—A correspondent gives the Columbia Guardian the following useful bit of information:
It might interest some of your readers to know at this time when it is so difficult to get lamp-wicks that the tops of old home-knit cotton socks cut into strips of the proper width make as good ones as the best that ever came from Yankeedom.

SAVANNAH REPUBLICAN, November 13, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Matches.—Our thanks are due Mr. Wm. H. Farrell, for a liberal supply of Matches, from the Confederate Match Company's establishment, Macon, Georgia. They are a very good article, and we take pleasure in recommending them to the public. The establishment has cost the Messrs. Farrell & Co., near $20,000, and is now in successful operation, giving employment to some thirty families. While it is a money-making enterprise to the proprietors, it is doing a service in assisting others.

SAVANNAH REPUBLICAN, November 14, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
A Cheap Light.—"Take a saucer and cover the bottom of it with lard, a quarter of an inch. Then cut a piece of newspaper in the shape and size of a silver dollar. Pinch up the centre about a quarter of an inch in height, so as to form a slight protuberance. Saturate the paper thoroughly with the lard, before lighting. Set fire to the little pinched up knot, and you will have a light about one-fourth the intensity of a candle. The lard in the saucer will last a week, 2 hours a night. The paper must be replaced once or twice a week." The foregoing is from the Educational Journal.

SAN ANTONIO HERALD, November 15, 1862, p. 2, c.3
Tallow Candles Equal to Star.--Messrs. Editors: It may be of some interest to your readers to know that without a cent of additional cost, tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of merit to the common star candle.
To two pounds tallow add one teacupful of good strong ley from wood ashes, and simmer over a slow fire, when a greasy scum will float on the top skim this off for making soap (it is very near soap already,) as long as it continues to rise. Then mould your candles as usual, making the wicks a little smaller, and you have a pure, hard tallow candle, worth knowing how to make, and one that burns as long and gives a light equal to sperm. The chemistry demonstrates itself. An ounce of two of beeswax will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks in spirits turpentine will make them burn some brighter. I write with one before me.--Mobile News.

DALLAS HERALD, November 15, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
Tallow Candles Equal to Star.—Messrs. Editors:--It may be of interest to your numerous readers to know that, with not a cent of additional cost, tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of merit to the common star candle.
To two pounds of tallow add one tea-cup full of strong ley, from wood ashes, and simmer over a slow fire, when the greasy scum will float over the top; skim this off for making soap, (it is very near soap already,) as long as it continues to rise.—Then mould your candles as usual, making the wicks a little smaller, and you have a pure, hard tallow candle, worth knowing how to make, and one that burns as long and gives a light equal to sperm. The chemistry demonstrates itself. An ounce or two of beeswax will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks in spirits turpentine will make it burn some brighter.--—write with one before me.—Mobile News.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, November 19, 1862, p. 1, c. 2
Confederate Candle.--This rivals the rush in simplicity, and far exceeds it in serviceableness. To make it, melt together a pound of beeswax and a quarter of a pound of rosin, or turpentine fresh from the tree. Prepare a wick thirty or forty yards long, made up of three threads of loosely spun cotton. Saturate this well with the mixture, and draw it through your fingers to press all closely together, and to keep the size even. Repeat the process until the candle attains the size of a large straw or quill; then wrap it around a bottle, or into a ball with a flat bottom. Six inches of this candle elevated above the rest will burn for fifteen minutes, and give a pretty light, and forty yards have sufficed a small family a summer for all the usual purposes of the bed chamber.

WEEKLY COLUMBUS [GA] ENQUIRER, November 25, 1862, p. 2, c. 7
Confederate Candle.—This rivals the rush in simplicity, and far exceeds it in serviceableness. To make it, melt together a pound of beeswax and a quarter of a pound of rosin, or turpentine fresh from the tree. Prepare a wick thirty or forty yards long, made up of three threads of loosely spun cotton. Saturate this well with the mixture, and draw it through your fingers to press all closely together, and to keep the size even. Repeat the process until the candle attains the size of a large straw or quill; then wrap it around a bottle, or into a ball with a flat bottom. Six inches of this candle elevated above the rest will burn for fifteen minutes, and give a pretty light, and forty yards have sufficed a small family a summer for all the usual purposes of the bed chamber.

BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, December 6, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
Tallow Candles Equal to Star.—Messrs. Editors: It may be of some interest to your numerous readers to know that with not a cent of additional expense, tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of merit to the common star candle.
To two pounds of tallow add one teacupful of good strong ley, from wood ashes, and simmer over a slow fire, when a greasy scum will float on top; skim this off for making soap, (it is very near soap already,) as long as it continues to rise. Then mould your candles as usual, making the wicks a little smaller, and you have a pure, hard tallow candle, worth knowing how to make, and one that burns as long and gives a light equal to sperm. The chemistry demonstrates itself. An ounce or two of beeswax will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks in spirits turpentine will make it burn some brighter. I write with one before me.—Mobile News.

MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, April 4, 1863, p. 1, c. 6
How to Make Lard Candles.—To every eight pounds of lard add one ounce of nitric acid; and the way of making is as follows: Having carefully weighed your lard, place it over a slow fire, or at least merely melt it; then add the acid, and mould the same as tallow, and you have a clear, beautiful candle. In order to make them resemble sperm candles, you have only to add a small portion of white bees wax.

BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, May 9, 1863, p. 1, c. 4
Candles.—Eight pounds of lard one ounce of nitric acid; melt the lard and let it cool down so as to be merely in a liquid state, then add the acid, and mould the same as tallow, and you have a beautiful clear candle. Add a small portion of white beeswax and they will resemble sperm.

WEEKLY COLUMBUS [GA] ENQUIRER, July 7, 1863, p. 1, c. 3

From the Richmond Christian Advocate.
A Cheap Light.

As times are very hard, or rather as it is quite difficult to get some articles of domestic use in these days of home-spun and Southern Rights, I send you two receipes [sic] that may be of some value to some of your subscribers.
For Making Copperas.—Take a stone jar, fill it with pieces of rusty scraps of iron, fill the jar with very strong vinegar, cover it, and let it stand for two weeks. One quart is equal to a pound of copperas.
To Make a Good Light at a Light Expense.—Take a cup of grease of any kind (lard or tallow) and into it put a sycamore ball, saturate it in the same, and then light it—you will have a light superior to two candles. One ball will last three or four nights.
The expense will be about three cents a night, till usual bedtime—not more, even at the present prices of tallow.
You can publish these or not, just as you choose; they have been fully tested.
Your brother,
Geo. C. Vanderslice.

ATHENS [GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, July 13, 1863, p. 4, c. 3

From the Richmond Christian Advocate.
A Cheap Light.

As times are very hard, or rather as it is quite difficult to get some articles of domestic use in these days of homespun and Southern Rights, I send you two recipes that may be of some value to some of your subscribers.
For Making Copperas.--Take a stone jar, fill it with pieces of rusty scraps of iron, fill the jar with very strong vinegar, cover it, and let it stand for two weeks. One quart is equal to a pound of copperas.
To Make a Good Light at a Light Expense.--Take a cup of grease of any kind (lard or tallow) and into it put a sycamore ball, saturate in the same, and then light it--you will have a light superior to two candles. One ball will last three or four nights.
The expense will be about three cents a night, till usual bedtime--not more, even at the present prices of tallow.
You can publish these or not, just as you choose; they have been fully tested.
Your brother,
Geo. C. Vanderslice.

GALVESTON WEEKLY NEWS, July 22, 1863, p. 1, c, 3
Tallow Candles.—It may be of some interest to our numerous readers to know that, with not a cent of additional expense, tallow candles can be made fully equal in point of merit to the common star candle:
To two pounds of tallow add one tea-cup full of good ley from good ashes, and simmer over a slow fire, when a greasy scum will float on top; skim this off for soap, (it is almost soap already) as long as it continues to rise. Then mould your candles as usual, making the wicks a little smaller, and you have a pure hard tallow candle, worth knowing how to make, and one that burns as long and gives light equal to sperm. The chemistry demonstrates itself. An ounce or two of beeswax will make the candle some harder, and steeping the wicks in spirits of turpentine will make it burn some brighter. I write with one before me.—Mobile News.

SAN ANTONIO HERALD, August 15, 1863, p. 2, c. 3
To Make White, Clear, Hard, Tallow Candles.--For 40 pounds of unrendered tallow take eight or ten prickley-pear leaves, of ordinary size, burn off the prickles, slice up the leaves into small strips and cook them with the tallow. After it is strained put in about two pints of strong ashes-lye, and boil until the lye is all out, skimming off that which rises to the surface, which may be used in making soap. The tallow will then be very clear, and will make a very superior candle; which will give a good light, and be in all respects equal to the star candle. We have seen and used candles made by this process, and we know it will work as stated above. For a less or greater quantity of tallow the other ingredients should be used in proportion.

DALLAS HERALD, September 9, 1863, p. 2, c. 1
To Make White, Clear, Hard, Tallow Candles.—For 40 pounds of unrendered tallow take eight or ten prickley-pear leaves, of ordinary size, burn off the prickles, slice up the leaves into small strips and cook them with the tallow. After it is strained put in about two pints of strong ashes-lye, and boil until the lye is all out, skimming off that which rises to the surface, which may be used in making soap. The tallow will then be very clear, and will make a very superior candle, which will give a good light, and be in all respects equal to the star-candle. We have seen and used candles made by this process, and we know it will work as stated above. For a less or greater quantity of tallow, the other ingredients should be used in proportion.—Telegraph.

ATHENS [GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, September 23, 1863, p. 4, c. 1

Matches! Matches!

Made by the Confederate Match Company in Macon, Ga. A better match has never been offered for sale here.
Sept. 8. I. M. Kenney.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, December 16, 1863, p. 1, c. 2
Blockade Gas.--Nearly all our Southern cities are now supplied with gas manufactured from pine, and it is an undeniable fact that it is equal to that manufactured from stone coal, if it is only manufactured as it ought to be.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 18, 1864, p. 1, c. 1
How to Make Lard Candles.--To every eight pounds of lard add one ounce of nitric acid; and the way of making it is as follows: Having carefully weighed your lard, place it over a slow fire, or at least merely melt it; then add the acid, and mould the same as tallow, and you have a clear, beautiful candle. In order to make them resemble sperm candles, you have only to add a small portion of white bees wax.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, February 3, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
A City Without Gas.--Charleston has passed a dismal night. The streets were dark, and no light was to be seen anywhere, save the occasional flicker of a tallow dip from the window of some unfortunate, whose work happens to carry him far into the night.
We wonder whether the Gas Company meant to perpetrate a joke on the public by cutting off our gas on Candlemas Day. If so, the day having now duly passed, we trust that the joke may pass with it. Seriously, the cessation of the gas supply is too great an inconvenience to last, and a remedy of some kind ought to be provided without delay.
At any rate, there was a wonderful rush for candles and candlesticks, which of course rose in price with a corresponding "rush." The stock of candles now in town is pretty well exhausted already, and we trust, therefore, that something may be done to-day to return to us our gas.

ATHENS [GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, April 13, 1864, p. 3, c. 3

Important Discovery.

We are informed that a gentleman has recently obtained a patent for the manufacture of Kerosine [sic] oil, which has been thoroughly tested and found to be equal, if not superior to the Yankee article. He has made some from the Alabama coal, which gives a brilliant light. The material is inexhaustible. We expect soon to have some of it, when we shall say more about it. This will prove very pleasant news to those of our readers who are using tallow dips at one dollar each.

ATHENS [GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, July 9, 1864, p. 3, c. 5

To Gas Consumers.

Notice is hereby given that from the 1st of July, instant, I will charge $25 for 1000 feet for gas. According to instructions I have made a close calculation for the cost of producing gas for the last six months, and find it exceeds the income at present prices by several hundred dollars. Those who do not wish to burn it at the above advanced rate, will please notify me, or Mr. Starnes at the Gas works, and it will be cut off from their houses.
July 6. Wm. H. Dorsey.
Agent for W. S. Grady.

ATHENS [GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, October 12, 1864, p. 3, c. 5
More New Goods. Bleached homespun, spool thread, flax thread, fig. blue indigo, madder, copperas, logwood, bluestone, cotton cards, best article, cavalry spurs. Pocket and case knives, tooth brushes, sealing wax, gum camphor, pepper, spice, alum, castor oil, spts. turpentine, pistol caps, tobacco, sperm candles, factory thread, for money or barter.
I. M. Kenney.
Oct. 12.

MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, November 2, 1864, p. 2, c. 5
Matches.—How could we now do without these conveniences? which yet within the memory of us old folks were not even known—that is, in the form which the word "match" at present suggests to the mind. No wonder they were about the first thing we Confederates started to manufacturing. They came to us, until recently, from all quarters, but most of them, we suspect, were forwarded to more distant points, and now we hardly see any at all but Cherry's, whose manufacture, while it is the best extant, (there may be others as good, they cannot be better), is at the same time ample for the demand. He is constantly employing new hands, and advertises this morning for three or four girls.

ALBANY [GA] PATRIOT, November 10, 1864, p. 2, c. 4
More New Goods at Welch's Drug Store, for Family Use. Fine green tea, black pepper, spice, cloves, mace, soda, sperm candles, bar soap, Bro. Windsor soap, toilet soaps, starch, mustard, &c., &c. L. E. Welch. Albany, Nov. 10, 1864.

ATLANTA SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, November 24, 1864, p. 2, c. 4
To Make Good Candles.--A lady correspondent of the Houston "Telegraph" furnishes the following receipe [sic], which, in our present condition, will be found universally useful:
"To Harden Tallow, Suet, or Lard for Candles.--Take a half pound each of Alum and saltpetre, pulverize coarsely, pour on it a quart of boiling water; take from 12 to 20 pounds of tallow, according to its firmness. The former quantity for the oily tallow, we get from a fat beef in summer, or for lard, and the latter for tallow that will stand in a cake; put in an iron vessel near the fire, and when melted, stir in the dissolved alum and saltpeter, and boil until the water is all expelled from the tallow. Have wicks made smaller and of rather smaller and finer thread than is usual for home made candles--dip them in a strong solution of saltpetre, and when perfectly dry, mould the candles in the usual way. If any one, after giving the recipe a trial, goes in darkness, it is because their deeds are evil."

DALLAS HERALD, November 26, 1864, p. 2, c. 4
We were called upon Saturday to witness the operation of a very ingenious machine for braiding or plaiting candle wick, invented and made by Ralph Hooker and Baker Jamison, of this city. It braids three strands with great rapidity and evenness, and is a curiosity worth looking at. The ingenuity of these mechanics is well known to our citizens. This machine will prove one of the most useful of their inventions, furnishing a self-consuming candle wick, hitherto a great disideratum [sic] in domestic candle-making. We believe Frank Fabj, of the Houston Soap and Candle Factory, has secured this machine.—Houston Tel. 14th.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, December 30, 1864, p. 1, c. 3
To Make Hard Tallow Candles.--To one pound of tallow take five or six leaves of the prickly pear, split these and boil in the tallow without water, for half an hour or more; strain and mould the candles. The wicks should have been previously dipped in spirits of turpentine and dried.
If the tallow is at first boiled in water, and the water changed four or five times, it will be bleached and rendered free from impurities. Then prepare by trying with the prickly pears to harden it.
In this way we have made tallow candles nearly equal to the best adamantine.

ATHENS [GA] SOUTHERN BANNER, January 4, 1865, p.1, c. 5
To make hard tallow candles. To one pound of tallow take five or six leaves of the prickly pear, split them and boil in the tallow without water, for h half an hour or more; strain and mould the candles. The wicks should have been previously dipped in spirits of turpentine and dried.
If the tallow at first is boiled in water, and the water changed four or five times, it will be bleached and rendered free f from impurities. Then prepare by frying with the prickly pears, to harden it.
In this way we have made tallow candles nearly equal to the best adamantine.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 13, 1865, p. 1, c. 2
To Candle Makers.--Those who make for use or for sale will find the following suggestions very important in making good candles:--Melt the tallow and strain of all impurities; then get clean, soft wick, make it of moderate size and plait it, be sure to do that and you will never or seldom have use for snuffers. This is our plan and we give it for the benefit of the public. We can't find any candles in market equal to ours.--Register.

[ArtilleryNick]

I personally prefer to take my coffee ration preground, it's easier for me personally since I don't carry a weapon or weapon accessories that could easily be used to crush up the coffee beans. Either way there's nothing quite like a nice cup of coffee early in the morning when it's gotten the strength to strip paint.

[hiplainsyank]

Which begs the question, how did artillery and cav fellows grind their beans? Rocks on bags full of beans? Obviously not bayonet sockets...

[coastaltrash]

I would guess the big thing they had with them that shot fire and bullets from the end. A GUN. or they figured a way out by trial and error

[Charles Heath]

I noticed the lads didn't complain too much about the pine sawdust, horse hair, shop floor sweepings, and other additives used to stretch that gov't coffee at Pittsburg Landing this past weekend. Something hot, black, and slightly bitter was good enough.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

It made for great coffee at Pittsburg Landing, but we're still not too sure about that supposed "stew" on Saturday!

[redleggeddevil]

My contacts in the National Park Service have asked me to suppress any an all discussion of the "stew" served at Shiloh. My understanding is that, due to the heavy rains, there is a good possibility that some of the remnants may have washed into the Tennessee River.

That being the case, all shipping on the river has been suspended indefinitely, and the EPA is scrambling to bring all available staff into the area, making it the largest Superfund site in history. The Governor of Tennessee, speaking off the record, has said that "This spill has the potential to make Chernobyl look like an overturned soft drink."

But the coffee was good.

[Charles Heath]

Stew? What stew? We had stew?

I noticed the slops bucket ended up on the serving line Sunday morning. It had some fish remains, fried onions, kraut, corned beef, beans, cabbage, carrots and whatever else it in. Rumor has four men actually partook of it....

Must have been Norwegians.

Okay, more about that in the appropriate thread. This is supposed to be about coffee, or reasonable facsimiles thereof.

[Amtmann]

Why not leave the beans whole? You can boil them a couple of times and then sell them to unsuspecting civilians (From what rumors I've heard about the Feds doing that down South).

[lthull3rdla]

Hello Gentleman, tis I, Ronnie Hull from Louisiana, who started this recent coffee thread! Well here is what I did this past weekend. I ground some fresh roasted Community beans in a small antique coffee grinder ( made them kinda rough, not too fine), put it in a poke sack and made a pot of very nuclear coffee. Around the campfire saturday night, we couldn't decide if it would put hair on or take hair off. I know it lit my rocket and I stayed awake most of the night listening to the drunk.. er.. I mean soldier, in the next company street, snore to the tune of stars and stripes forever. Man.. that was some coffee.

Sunday morning I added a little water to what was left and reheated it.

I saw the battle of Malvern Hill in living color..

I'm gonna try to make vicksburg in june

Ronnie

[edwardwatson]

Tried calling Mechanical Baking at 309-353-2414 but it is disconnected. Anyone have a good contact number for them?

[ephraim_zook]

I tried to get in touch with them for the last several events I've "commissaried" at, without success. The last contact I had with them was exactly two years ago, for McDowell '05. I suspect they are long gone.

Ron Myzie

[Charles Heath]

For what it is worth, I went ahead and consolidated several of these ISO Mech Baking threads, so the next fellow won't have as much search engine work to do.

What a shame it would be if their dies, presses, and other machinery went to the scrapper without anyone having a chance to bid on it.

[Brigand]

The coffee being too weak is the easy part. Make it stronger than you like and water down to suit your taste. Once it's done, you can weaken it all you want but you can't make it stronger. This also helps prevent you from being accused of being a "coffee cooler".

Robert Hooker

[Charles Heath]

Try some 'taters this year.

We've fed desiccated potatoes at a number of events, and most of the time the boys don't notice the little dried spud cubes are what they are, which is either a sign their taste buds are plum worn out, or they have become familiar with mule feed, moist hardtack, and other delights.

Of the several sources for dehydrated potatoes fitting the description, this product is pretty darn good:

http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/catalog/item/1624867/1065785.htm

Nope, they aren't an approved vendor, but I'm hoping the vendor police will understand not too many folks are hand stitching potatoes these days. One question frequently asked is "jus' how many hongree dawgs doth yonder poke feed?" The 52 oz container yields enough to feed 12-15 lads when combined with cubed ham, beef, or salt pork in the form of a hash, just as mentioned in several period receipts.

One company at the recent SCAR Shiloh NPS LH had this for breakfast Sunday morning, and suffered few, if any, digestion related casualties. When Dave Frohmader says, "Some of the downsides to the event [included] breakfast both mornings," you know the food service situation has arrived. While we don't know on precisely which side of the River Styx it has landed, or if Charon is going to be paid in-kind, the vittles have definitely arrived on or near Hades.

The dehydrated potato product also comes in smaller and larger quantities.

[Charles Heath]

Nobody died, but like the pickled potatoes of yore, they weren't too popular with the officer's mess at the recent SCAR Shiloh NPS LH. Fact is, I'm not sure they were actually touched other than a few scowl inducing samples handed directly to a couple of particpants. :confused_

Next....

[Parault]

Would an Essence of Coffee Label be early war,or late war? or,for that matter period at all. I am looking for this particular label. If anyone knows where I can find this, it would be appreciated.

Thank you

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

I don't know what type of label you are looking for, if a particular type, but Jarnagan's carries a label and tin container , at least as of late April when I bought one from them.

[cprljohnivey]

Here is where I insert the good old "check out the search function of the forum"...

I believe (correct me if I am wrong people) that Essence of Coffee came around in 62 and was pretty much gone from the ranks by 63 as it was not all that popular with the troops. Check out Sullivan Press... I believe they have a good label.

[Parault]

Thank You for the information

[coastaltrash]

Brad,
Actually the stuff had a much earlier patent date to it than 1862. Also in doing research for "Life on the Line" Joe Lietchy of Mess #1 shared some information with me about Essence being issued to troops at Vicksburg. This clearly wasn't a "disappeared from the ranks" type situation as the product was a private purchased item, or in some cases, as explained earlier where it was issued in bulk. From a personal standpoint I prefer it over whole bean coffee in the field. The prep time is minimal and it comes sweetened as did the original stuff.

As far as a label, Sullivan Press offers a CD rom with labels, including Essence of Coffee.

[markj]

Brad,
Actually the stuff had a much earlier patent date to it than 1862. Also in doing research for "Life on the Line" Joe Lietchy of Mess #1 shared some information with me about Essence being issued to troops at Vicksburg. This clearly wasn't a "disappeared from the ranks" type situation as the product was a private purchased item, or in some cases, as explained earlier where it was issued in bulk. From a personal standpoint I prefer it over whole bean coffee in the field. The prep time is minimal and it comes sweetened as did the original stuff.

As far as a label, Sullivan Press offers a CD rom with labels, including Essence of Coffee.

Yup. I've seen ads for Hummel's Essence of Coffee extending back to at least 1853. The stuff was definitely around at least as early as 1852 since it was awarded a trade fair prize in that year. The firm of D. C. Bohler & Co., of Philadelphia, first advertised its "Essence of Coffee" product in the New York Times no later than 11 February 1852.

If anyone is interested, I have the entire Congressional report (dated January 1862) relating to purchases of "extracts of coffee." This is, conveniently, in Adobe pdf, which I pulled off the Lexis Nexis search engine for Congressional proceedings. The only downside is that the file is 2 megs.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[VIrginia Mescher]

From Scientific American, March 1847
"The Essence of Coffee" Among the new inventions and discoveries that are astonishing the world, we have heard of none that promises to be more useful and acceptable, at least to ladies, than "The Essence of Coffee" which is now offered to lovers of that beverage. It is the genuine stuff, put up in bottles, at a low price. You have only to put a
tea-spoon full into a cup of water containing the usual compliment of sugar and milk, and
you have a cup of superior coffee without further trouble."

I also have an original ad for Hummel's Extract of Coffee from 1851. It has a long testimony on one side and a advertising song on the other side sung to the tune of "Yankee Doodle."

From what I can tell, Hummel's was almost like what we would consider a coffee extender or maybe an instant coffee. The instructions, read, "To make a half gallon middling strong coffee, take one tablespoon full of ground coffee and half a tea-spoonful of this Essence, and boil the coffee as desired; more or less quanitity of coffee must be made after this proportion; for very strong coffee take some more of this Essence." Instructions were also in German. It stated that one box would equal 4# of coffee and cost 12 1/2 cents.

There were several types of concentrated coffee besides essence of coffee. Extract of coffee, which was a sweetened concentrated solution of coffee and this was sold commercially and also there were recipes in period magazines, such a Godey's. I have a period bottle for this type of extract of coffee. Borden, of condensed milk fame, also made a product of sweetened consdensed milk and coffee which he supplied to the Federal army. Borden's product was also called "Extract of Coffee."

There were articles in the July, 1994 issue and the Sept.1979 issues of Camp Chase Gazette on essence and extract of coffee and how to make your own.

We have made the a version with the sweetened condensed milk and coffee and there is still a commercial variety of sweetened concentrated coffee with no milk, called, "Camp Coffee" and it is usually available in British goods stores.

[JWNathan]

That "Camp" coffe sounds interestin. I've had the Mocha Java "Ryan's Coffee" which I thought was quite tasty.
-Jesse

[STFeryus]

Hey Everybody,

I tried searching and couldn't find anything so here it goes:
I was reading through the wartime letters of John Garibaldi, he served in Company C of the 27th Virginia. In the letters, he asks his wife to send him "hard" soap. Now I was thinking that all of the soap of the time would have been hard, in bars or blocks. Does anyone know of "soft" soap, would it be comparable to liquid soap of today? Or was John just being descriptive for his wife?

The letters can be found at: http://www.vmi.edu/archives/Manuscripts/ms284.html#fulltext . The letters I'm referring to are Jan. 18, 1863 and Jan. 27, 1863.

Thanks for the help

[Tom Ezell]

How hard the soap is depends on the skill of the soapmaker and the recipe used... A good source is Wiggington's The Foxfire Book, which documents several of the ways that homemade lye soap was produced, at least in the South...

[Hank Trent]

Soft soap was fairly common in the period. It was not quite liquid, more mushy, comparable to lard in texture.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[LindaTrent]

Back when Hank and I made soap for the Bradford Place we kept running across "soft soap" and seeing that it seemed to be quite common, especially in the country. Anyway, the soap we made turned out to be similar in texture to, as Hank said, lard. I made a website with soap receipts from period cookery books ranging from the 1820s through 1865, and soft soap was in all of them. Here are a few examples, the site is at
http://thebradfordplace1863.homestead.com/SoapMaking.html

Employments of Women, p. 390, 1863
That sold in groceries is made mostly in towns or in the country. It is hardened by muriate of soda, and called bar soap. That used by people in the country is generally of their own make, and called soft soap. In New York, we observed in some groceries barrels of soft soap of a very light color, almost white... A machine has been invented for cutting soap into bars, which will doubtless in time do away with the primitive plan of cutting it with wires.

The Ladies' Repository Domestic Economy p. 567, 1860
Soft soap should be kept in a dry place in the cellar, and should not be used till three months old.
Bar soap should be cut into pieces of a convenient size, and laid where it will become dry. It is well to keep it several weeks before using it, as it spends fast when it is new.

The Modern Farmer, John Lauris Blake, 1854
Potash makes soft soap, with grease, and soda forms hard soap.

Oh, one more, in the Virginia Housewife 1860 it gives a receipt for [hard]soap and then says:

Soft soap is made in the same manner, only omitting the salt.

Linda.

[STFeryus]

Thanks for helping clear that up.

[Rob Weaver]

Soap made with tallow (beef fat) will turn out hard, with lard or pig fat (which is soft) it will turn out soft. There isn't much difference to the technique, mostly the fat base makes a big difference. And has been noted, soft isn't liquid but more like a mushy stuff. I told my wife John McElroy's story about stealing soap from a barrel while interned at Andersonville (Short version: he was sitting on a barrel of soft soap and now and then dipped a hand in it and secreted it in his pocket. He retreived about a quart this way. He blistered his thighs, which he attributed to having the sun beat mercilessly down on the soap in his pockets.). My wife's observation? "That soap wasn't cured right. The lye was still in it. That's what burned his legs."

[Hank Trent]

Just a bit more information on the chemical basis of soft soap, from the 1851 US Dispensatory.

Soft soap (Sapo Mollis) is prepared on the same general principles as hard soap; potash being employed as the alkali, and a fatty matter, rich in olein, as the oil. The French soft soap is made with the seed oils, such as rape seed, hemp seed, &c.; the Scotch and Irish, with fish oil and some tallow; and our own with refuse fat and grease. A lye of wood-ashes is the form of potash usually employed. In forming this soap it is necessary that it should continue dissolved in the alkaline solution, instead of being separated from it. Hence soft soap is a soap of potassa, competely dissolved in the solution of its alkali, which is consequently present in excess. A soap of potassa is sometimes made with a view to its conversion into a soda soap. This conversion is effected by the additon of common salt, which, by double decomposition, generates a soap of soda, and chloride of potassium in solution.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[VIrginia Mescher]

That "Camp" coffe sounds interestin. I've had the Mocha Java "Ryan's Coffee" which I thought was quite tasty.
-Jesse

Here is a period recipe for a similar product.

COFFEE SYRUP.—This confection is exceedingly handy to travellers when proceeding on a long journey. Take half a pound of the best roasted ground coffee; boil the same in a saucepan containing three quarts of water until the quantity is reduced to one quart; strain the latter off, and, when fined of all impurities, introduce the liquor into another clean saucepan, and let it boil over again, adding as much Lisbon sugar to it as will constitute a thick syrup, like treacle; remove it from the fire, and, when cold, pour it into bottles, corking the same tight down for use. Two teaspoonfuls of the syrup introduced into a moderate-sized tea-cup, and fill up with boiling water, will be fit for immediate use. If milk is at hand, use it ad libitum.
- Godey's, October, 1862

[Charles Heath]

Virginia,

That receipt works rather well, and with a little care it won't scorch. Several methods exist to skin the proverbial cat.

Just loaded about seven pounds of Essense of Coffee into Old Whitey the Wundertruck, and soon it shall be Mississippi bound. That's a lot of axle grease.

[VIrginia Mescher]

Virginia,

That receipt works rather well, and with a little care it won't scorch. Several methods exist to skin the proverbial cat.

Just loaded about seven pounds of Essense of Coffee into Old Whitey the Wundertruck, and soon it shall be Mississippi bound. That's a lot of axle grease.

Charles,

You will have to share your recipes for axle grease. We've tried several and they turned out pretty good, if you like your coffee strong, sweet and milky.

Have a good trip.

[Rob Weaver]

Soap made with olive oil is "castile soap" and lathers better than either beef fat or pig fat soap. And has a pleasant smell, also. By the way, if you like living on the wild side, and combining dangerous chemicals at high temperature sounds interesting to you, soap-making is for you.

[Becky Morgan]

By the way, if you like living on the wild side, and combining dangerous chemicals at high temperature sounds interesting to you, soap-making is for you.

I highly recommend making soap out in the 90-degree heat with the neighbor's cats jumping around your feet :p I'm always amused by the number of people who are horrified at the idea of handling lye, but think nothing of using drain cleaner. One big caveat for anyone thinking of trying soapmaking: use actual lye or potassium hydroxide, depending on what kind of soap you're making. Don't Use Drano.

[maineman]

By trickling water thru hard wood ashes you can make lye that is mild enough to make soap but not as powerful as sodium hydroxide. I learned this the hard way by emptying my grill by a boxwood under a drip edge and killed the plant by the lye the ashes produced.


"War is like prostitution, sometimes both are performed better by amateurs"

Napoleon

[KathyBradford]

You're right about trickling water through hardwood ashes to make lye. Pictured is a lye trough into which first a layer of straw, and then the ashes are placed. Water is run through as many times as necessary to get lye of the desired strength.

To test, use a feather and an egg. First, insert the feather into the lye water. If it comes out without vanes and looking like a stick, the lye is too strong. Next, an egg is placed in the lye water. If it floats gently, the lye is just the right strength.

In one method, the lye water and tallow are individually heated to a temperature of 120 degrees. They are removed from the heat, and carefully stirred together. In order to avoid dangerous splashing, some people stir in only one direction. Continually stir until a trace line remains in the soap for several seconds. Salt may be added to make the soap harder, but it is unnecessary with beef tallow.

Once the soap reaches the proper consistency, it is poured into a mold. When it sets up enough to hold the line, it is scored into blocks with a knife or a wire.

The saponification process takes at least three weeks. During that time, a chemical reaction occurs to sweeten the lye. If the soap is used too quickly, the unchanged lye will cause skin irritation.

It is a process best done in the cool, dry weather of late fall. Hot, humid weather can delay the process dramatically, but in the right conditions and with small batches, the stirring process can be accomplished in as little as twenty minutes.

[Rob Weaver]

Do you do your mixing in a big pot over a fire? If you do, what temperature do you estimate the soap is mixing at? There is a strong early tradition of only stirring soap in one direction or else it won't work, too.

[KathyBradford]

Rob,

Good questions! I revised the above directions, but a recipe will give you more complete directions and amounts.

The lye and fat are heated separately to 110 -120 degrees. Smaller batches (one pound of fat) require the higher temperature. Once they each reach that temperature, they are carefully combined away from the fire. All stirring is done away from the heat, as well. Cooling is part of the process that changes the mixture from a thin, watery-looking liquid to a creamy consistency.

Stirring in only one direction minimizes the chance of the mixture splashing. Lye is very caustic and can cause chemical burns on the skin. Be especially cautious not to get any of this in eyes.

There are several soap experts on this forum. Please jump in.

[Spinster]

I highly recommend making soap out in the 90-degree heat with the neighbor's cats jumping around your feet :p I'm always amused by the number of people who are horrified at the idea of handling lye, but think nothing of using drain cleaner. One big caveat for anyone thinking of trying soapmaking: use actual lye or potassium hydroxide, depending on what kind of soap you're making. Don't Use Drano.


:p Like so many myths in the hobby, here is another process that requires common sense, and a respect for the chemicals at hand. Like so many things, not a particularly difficult process, but yet another where reading and following directions is fundamental.

For those going into the soap making business, who choose to use manufactured lye as their first step (a fine idea when you are learning to make soap, as oppossed to learning to make lye)----you may need to plan well ahead.

As I discovered when preparing for a big indigo run last year, lye must be ordered in advance, and signed for at my local hardware store. The price has increased considerably, and I must purchase a larger amount than my normal annual needs for dyepots. I haven't checked into the full story to see if this is a Homeland Security thing, or a regional thing---designed to curb methamphetamine production by making the ingredients harder to get.

[Becky Morgan]

Wal-Mart and Kroger still carry Lewis Lye here in the eastern Ohio-northern WV panhandle, but a large purchase would probably require a signature. I tend to make one small (maybe six pounds) batch of soap at a time, so thus far my one-can purchase isn't a concern. Crystal meth makers have ruined a lot of ordinary purchases, from propane to Sudafed to lye and other drain cleaners...and yes, the crooks WILL use Drano, or anything else they can get their hands on. One of my favorite soapmaking stores went out of business for that very reason. Meth labs kept trying to order from them, huge amounts of various chemicals without any of the other stuff you'd think a real soapmaker would want, and they were afraid of liability.

[Rob Weaver]

Rob,

Good questions! I revised the above directions, but a recipe will give you more complete directions and amounts.

The lye and fat are heated separately to 110 -120 degrees. Smaller batches (one pound of fat) require the higher temperature. Once they each reach that temperature, they are carefully combined away from the fire. All stirring is done away from the heat, as well. Cooling is part of the process that changes the mixture from a thin, watery-looking liquid to a creamy consistency.

Stirring in only one direction minimizes the chance of the mixture splashing. Lye is very caustic and can cause chemical burns on the skin. Be especially cautious not to get any of this in eyes.

There are several soap experts on this forum. Please jump in.

Oh, no! Actually my wife is th e soap-maker in our family. She make several varieties and has a lot of fun at it. I'm merely the happy recipient of her efforts, and the earpiece for her frustrations. She likes to do "hot process" and has more success with it than "cold process."

[crabby]

Terre,
We can't obtain lye at any stores locally anymore. Red Devil was the brand most often available, but I believe that company went out of business.

I did find lye at Lehmans Hardware in 1 lb cans or in their soap making dept. in 5 lb containers.

Beth Crabb

[springkeeper]

From Dr.Chase's Recipes, 1867

"Chemical Soft Soap - J.Hamilton, an Englishman, and proprietor of the Eagle Hotel, Aurora, Indiana, makes his soap for house use, as follows:

take grease 8 lbs; caustic soda 8 lbs; sal-soda 1 lb; melt the grease in a kettle, melt the soda in soft water 4 gals., and pour all into barrel holding 40 gals. and fill up with soft water and the labor is done."

There are others recipes... "White Hard Soap," "Varigated Tiolet Soap," "Transparent Soap."

[Pmiller]

-I tried the search area & even looked through 20 pages of old post-

Might someone be able to shed some light on how the occasional food can was properly opened by the campainer. I have not been able to find a pick of any tool/device, or referance to any with my internet searches.

Many thanks

Peter J. Miller

[nick19thind]

With a bayonet.
Many cans have been found opened this way

[Beaner]

May I suggest a period correct original can opener. They are very inexpensive and usually can be found at flea markets. I think I paid a dollar for the one I use. It weighs maybe 5 or 6 ounces and can easily be carried in your haversack. If I remember I'll post a picture for you tomorrow.
Dave Prince
4th Texas Co. E

[theknapsack]

How about a pocket knife?
It's not that complicated.

That being said, period cans have been found opened in a variety of ways, but many cans only needed a lead seal to be broken on the top.

[Rob Weaver]

There's an AC Redwood woodcut from B&L which shows Jackson's men at Manassas Junction opening cans with their bayonets. I never was able to get that to work satisfactorily. I am old enough to remember when oil came in cans, and a bayonet would open them pretty well, but that was the only thing I was able to do with it. Many dug tins show that they were obviously opened with a knife. My gut reaction is that this may have been the response of your average soldier, but it dulls a knife pretty quickly. I wouldn't use the pocket knife that you're going to rely on for all your other cutting needs. The thought hit me several years ago, "I bet Mrs. Civil War Soldier's Wife back home wasn't ruining every knife in her kitchen opening cans. What did she use?" Can openers were invented, logically enough, right on the heels of cans. And there were a plethora of patent designs for them in the second quarter of the 19th century. I'd recommend a few minutes with a text on antique cooking implements and then a day antiquing. Openers are pretty common, and cheap. As already noted, they don't weigh much, certainly not more than that extra knife you'd want to carry anyway!

[NoahBriggs]

Two cans of which I know were opened two different ways -

One, dug from the Steamboat Arabia had the top opened by cutting three sides of a square and peeling it back. The other was opened in a cruciform cut, and the resulting four "triangles" peeled back.

Bill MacIntosh sells old restored can-openers for about ten bucks each.

[27thNCdrummer]

Some of the cans that I've seen dug at Petersburg appear to be cut in a circle with a pocket knife and then peeled back to reveal the contents. I don't think cans would have been carried on campaign too often because of the simple fact that they're to darn heavy, but I'm sure there might have been some brought along. I just recently read that in Feb. of '64 Confederates in and around Petersburg were being issued pickled beef in a can that was produced in London. That would be something to try at an event, ummmmmmmm:confused_.

[Jubilo]

Dear Sir ,
When I was an officer I used my saber ; as a private I use my bayonet. Both are just dandy for opening cans . I also endorse the A.C. Redwood illustration of soldiers using bayonets to open cans. Less is more ; but the Dutchmen favor more.
all for the old flag,
David Corbett

[KCLoewe]

To follow the rest of the replies a bayonet or knife or whatever you can figure out to make work. If memory serves correct actual "can openers" didn't come about until the mid 1870's.

[PieBoy96]

It took a little bit of time and frustration until I figured out the attached method. Go all the way around the can or do half around and bend the lid back on itself. Hold/squeeze the can between the toes of your feet and ease your weight onto the bayonet. BE CAREFUL and do it SLOWLY as you REALLLLLY don't want to slip. Often I hammer the bayonet into the lid a bit just to get a small ding or dent in it to prevent it from slipping out.

[Craig L Barry]

Hmmmm. I would go real slow with that bayonet on the lid between the feet method. Losing a toe is an aspect of period realism you might wish to avoid. Unless you have an original our mild steel repro bayonets are very easily bent, too.

According to Josh Billings in “Hard Tack and Coffee”:

(The recruit could be seen with) “…his quart preserves (tin) can, its improvised wire bail held on the end of a stick, boiling his coffee at the campfire…This was the typical coffee boiler of the common soldier and had the advantage of being easily replaced if lost.”

A couple things are clear there...tin cans went along on campaign. Also this passage suggests they were common if the empties were "easily replaced if lost". Otter Creek Tinware offers a dandy tin can boiler with or without period label.

Can openers were "invented" by the 1860s, but not commonly carried or used by CW soldiers. The ones that were existent were on the order of the can opener attachment on the boy scout folding knife and nothing like a modern thumb crank can opener. Most existing examples of opened Civil War tin cans show a jagged edge representative of cutting open the can with a knife or bayonet. Take care that you don't cut yourself eating or drinking from one opened in period fashion.

One last point, modern "tin cans" are made of sturdier stuff (steel) than tin cans of the 1860s. Period tin cans would have likely been easier to open with a knife as they were of a thickness that gave slightly to pressure. Thicker than a modern aluminum beer can, but less than half as thick as a tin cup.

[Jimmayo]

-I tried the search area

Try searching under "opening cans".

[Pmiller]

Many thanks to all for the great advice & info.

Peter J. Miller

[Duff]

A friend of mine and I made this up at a recent event. Product of bordom and a friend who is a cook. We made it up as we went so some steps can probably be skipped. I am going to say exactly what we did.

Ingredients:
Hardtack Cracker
salt pork (bacon can substitute)
potato (chopped)
onion (chopped)
egg
salt/pepper

Boil potato and onion in a cup. Add salt and pepper if you want. Remove poatoes and onions. KEEP THE WATER. Fry potatoes and onions with salt/pepper in a skillet. Place them to the side when they are done. Boil the hardtack in the potato/onion water. Remove the hardtack from the water when its soft and chop it up. (You could do this before you boil if you have spfter hardtack. Mine was really hard). Put it back on the fire, but out of direct heat to evaporate the water. During this time, dice the salt pork and fry it.. The hardtack will have formed a thick mush if you did it right. Add the onions, potatoes, salt/pepper and the salt pork. Crack an egg and add that in. Stir it up and fry it in patties. Its good, but it is a little time consuming.

The name comes from when we were frying it and the grease sort of...cought on fire. I was frying it at the time, so the name was tacked on to me. Other names are "New Jersey Omlett" after our home state and "Shitensburg" after the name of the town the event was in.

Special thanks to my friend, Matt Kraybill, whos cooking expertise helped out alot. He pretty much made it.

I would like to know if there is an original recipe that is similer to this. 3 million men were in the field with the same foods, it hard to think they didn't think of it.

[NoahBriggs]

Certainly there might be variations on a theme as far as playing with your food to come up with something different. Perhaps this was in fact done at one point, but nobody bothered to record it. (And if they did, it's now in public domain, so Emeril can't copyright it. :tounge_sm)

The word "egg" set off my authenticity sensors. Meaning, I could see this as a garrison or winter quarters "wooodstove snack". (Making this on the woodstove/fire in your hut using goodies snarked from the sutler.) Eggs on campaign? Well, if you got documentation the fellas had access to eggs at that particular point, sure!

[lhsnj]

In Rebel Private: Front and Rear, the author tells about a time he went foraging with one of the other members of his company. They went to a henhouse and were able to get the birds out without waking the others in the roost or the owners. Something about how they snapped them down off the roost. (Page 74-77)

But if they were able to get the hens, can we infere they might have been able to get the eggs?

I am at work, but will check the book tonight to find that part of the story.

[Hank Trent]

Sounds like a close cousin to "balls" (usually modified with another word, like pork balls, beef balls, force-meat balls, etc.) or, alternatively, hash made by frying at the end. The basic idea was to take meat and potatoes or breadcrumbs, with seasoning, shape them into balls or cakes, sometimes with added egg to help hold them together, and fry them.

A lot of hash was served without frying, but here's one recipe fried in cakes at the end:

Pork Hash.--Boil tender salt pork; when cold chop it fine, and mix one part of the chopped pork with five parts of the potatoes; season to suit; grease the spider with a bit of the pork, and fry brown. (Haskell's Housekeeper's Encyclopedia, 1861)

Different name, same idea, with the egg too:

Pork and Potato Balls. Take one-third chopped salt pork or ham, either raw or cooked, and two-thirds of cold cooked potatoes chopped fine. Mix them up with egg, a little salt and pepper, and then make into balls and fry, or merely cook in a skillet. (Miss Beecher's Domestic Receipt Book, 1850)

One sees more examples of bread-like thickening (breadcrumbs or in this case hard-tack) and onions in beef balls, rather than pork balls, with the potatoes omitted. Beef balls were also sometimes called cecils. For example:

Beef Balls. Mince very finely a piece of tender beef, fat and lean: mince an onion, with some boiled parsley; add grated bread crumbs, and season with pepper, salt, grated nutmeg, and lemon-peel; mix all together, and moisten it with a beaten egg; roll it into falls; flour and fry them in boiling fresh dripping. Serve them with fried bread crumbs or with a thickened brown gravy. (The Practice of Cookery 1830)

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Duff]

Thanks. When I made it, it seemed like someone must have thought of it before. It did not really involve much thinking. We thought of it as we made it.

[John Peterson]

I'm not aware of any can openers being available before the late 1860s - have looked for evidence but have found none. If anyone has good evidence of a commercially produced opener from before 1865 I would love to see it. (And just because something is patented, does not mean it was ever made or put into production.)

One of the earliest openers I have seen (sadly not dated) was clearly manufactured and looks like a pair of tinsnips/scissors with a triangle/wedge at one end of a handle to force through the top to start the hole. It was in the collection of Old Sturbridge Village. If the opener needs to be pried against the edge of the can like a church-key or rotary opener it definitely is not a period opener as the style of end fastening that provides a good ridge that the opener is braced against post dates "our period" by many years.

Any early dug can or un-dug opened can that I have seen or own looks to me as if it has been opened with a knife (not a bayonet - I have not seen evidence of a bayonet being used for opening a can - it would leave a distintive tear with a "V" configuration. Typically (as mentioned) the cans were opened leaving an attached portion where the now-mangled center of the lid was peeled back. WARNING! This is a really good formula for sliced fingers!:cry_smile

[Bummer]

I was in a junk antique store years ago and saw what I took to be a surgical instrument--it had the exact same black 'rubber' checkered handle scales as commonly seen on period surgical stuff...so I paid the whopping fifty cents for it; especially when I saw what appeared to be a date on it 1858 (unfortunately a big scratch accross it so I might be wrong).
Anyway, it didn't take me long to realize it was indeed a primative can opener. It does not 'hook' along the rim of the can but rather opens wherever you aim it...and it tears the opening UP unlike pushing a knife etc. into the can. It works pretty good but leaves some nasty jagged edges and you end up with just a hole in the top rather than opened around the edges. I have seen period dug cans opened this way, but not necessarily in a military context.
For whatever it's worth.....

[Union Navy]

An earlier post mentioned lead seals - many early cans were soldered with lead at the joints. This may have led :eek: to the failure of the Franklin Expedition to find the Northwest Passage in the mid 1800s. Long storage, incomplete processing and acidic food caused the lead to leach out into the contents, causing botulism, lead poisoning and possible accompanying insanity.

http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Nunavut/franklin_expedition.htm

It would have been better if they had left those cans closed.

[Charles Heath]

The other was opened in a cruciform cut, and the resulting four "triangles" peeled back.

Yup.

Cut an "X."

Peel back the corners with fingers (be careful) or knife.

Shake out the contents.

Jam can sharp edges down into the soil.

Enjoy.

Relic hunters used to mention the cans being cut from the bottom end rather than the top (vented), but I don't know if that was more of a joke or reality. Perhaps Jim Mayo can shed some light on this. As to the zillions of cans we used to find in old CCC/WPA camps, well, they were opened via can opener, so no luck there.

[Joe Walker]

Of the two dug cans I have, one was opened by cutting about 3/4 of the way around leaving about 1-1/2" which was folded back- the other one was cut about 1/2" from the edge all the way around. Both were cut with a sharp object, perhaps a knife and not a bayonet. This is not to counter what has been posted regarding bayonets, just one observation. The first was found in Ky and the later in Miss. Both assumed to be Federal issue.

Joe Walker

[Amtmann]

I'm not aware of any can openers being available before the late 1860s - have looked for evidence but have found none. If anyone has good evidence of a commercially produced opener from before 1865 I would love to see it. (And just because something is patented, does not mean it was ever made or put into production.)

Will this do? 1865 Hardware catalogue.

Considering it was in a catalogue for sale, I would say they existed and weren't just patent drawings. Since it's in an 1865 catalogue, it probably existed the year before.

Since this is an AMERICAN catalogue, we don't know what the British may have been producing at the time.

[Amtmann]

Stupid computer... here it is.

[Jimmayo]

Yup.


Relic hunters used to mention the cans being cut from the bottom end rather than the top (vented), but I don't know if that was more of a joke or reality. Perhaps Jim Mayo can shed some light on this. .

The bottom does not have the problem of the solder and top (middle picture). Sometimes a ring of rusty soldier is all that is left of a ration can when dug and would be almost impossible to cut through. As I understand it, the top was soldiered on after the contents were added. The can was heated and a drop of soldier put on the little vent hole in the top thus sealing the can. If you open the top, you have to cut around the entire top close to the edges to keep from running into the soldier joint. (see picture of opened cans) The bottom is thin and more easily cut open.

[Jimmayo]

Forgot to post a picture of this can previously. It has been opened on the bottom. The soldered top can be seen on the right picture.

[Bill]

Jim,

I'm missing something here. Period solder is soft, roughly half lead and half tin. Why not just put a knife point under the edge of the filler disk and pop it off?

[Charles Heath]

Bill,

Having tried that a few times with that style of can, it is easier said than done.

[27thNCdrummer]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't some original cans sealed with wax around the edges?

[Charles Heath]

We thought of it as we made it.

Part of the "fun" element in the hobby is making do, improvising, and coming up with something enjoyable from what one has on hand, or one can acquire through a bit of trading. I suspect some of the items "foraged" on Main Street at that event made for some interesting culinary combinations, but it would be hard to beat the surprise we had on Henry House Hill last year learning dried peaches and tomatoes make a nice stew.

[PanzerJager]

The Horse Soldier currently has the following sardine cans for sale that both show evidence of being cut open. The first can with the 69 painted on it was found on Culp’s Hill the description on the website states “Very solid can with about 75% of the lid cut entirely off with a remaining bent back, curled edge. Cut roughly not to the top of the edge of the can.” The Second sardine tin also shows signs of being cut with something sharp.

http://www.horsesoldier.com/catalog/R13813A.JPEG

http://www.horsesoldier.com/catalog/r13801a.JPEG

Regards,

[Bill]

I know this is mighty poor documentation, but if you look on page 329 of "Si Klegg and his Pard" you will see a drawing of Si and his Pard eating out of cans that look like they were opened by bending back the filler disk. These drawings were made in the mid 1880's for the book.

[Jimmayo]

I know this is mighty poor documentation, but if you look on page 329 of "Si Klegg and his Pard" you will see a drawing of Si and his Pard eating out of cans that look like they were opened by bending back the filler disk. These drawings were made in the mid 1880's for the book.

Bill: It may have been done but those disk are not very big. Hardley enough room to get a decent size spoon through to eat what is in the can. I guess a fork would work for solid food. Here is a dug disk (one of the smaller ones) for size reference but it shows no signs of being pried off. Some of the larger cans had larger disks and perhaps it would work on them. I can't ever remember digging a can that the disk was pried off. The condensed milk cans simply had two bayonet holes punched in the top. As for cutting through the solder, don't forget it is two layers of tin stuck together with solder. They are very hard. I have dug many of these rings and never thought I would ever want one for anything. I was going to provide a picture but I never saved any.

I have never seen any reference to wax for sealing cans as mentioned in another post.

[Bill]

JIm,

How big were the condensed milk cans, compared to the modern version? Funny, I've opened milk cans the exact same way, 130 years later.

[John Peterson]

Will this do? 1865 Hardware catalogue.

Considering it was in a catalogue for sale, I would say they existed and weren't just patent drawings. Since it's in an 1865 catalogue, it probably existed the year before.

Since this is an AMERICAN catalogue, we don't know what the British may have been producing at the time.

I would love to get a copy of that whole catalog - that certainly is evidence that there were can openers around in 1865!

Still, I would wonder how common they would have been in general use - let alone military use. Evidence of can openers is firm by the 1870s but JUST starting to show up in the 2nd half of the 60s. I would like to know more about how common they were. Widespread use of canned food during the war led to increased civilian demand after the war which would have brought with it demand for accessories such as can openers. I can almost picture repro can openers suddenly become the latest hot-selling gadget on sutler row. Will there be a corresponding increase in Dinty Moore Beef Stew sales?;)

I will add that image and info to my files. Thanks Rick!

[NoahBriggs]

Shamelessly lifted from my blog, http://acwotaku.blogspot.com/ . The original after-action report has photos of the canning process, and it's listed under "Okay, Back to After Action Reviews" in March.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, up in Roeder's Confectionery, Scott Dever, John Rudy and myself were discussing the rise of industry in America. Specifically, the upsides and downsides of canning.

picture here

Scott Dever, amateur tinsmith. The average tinsmith could crank out sixty cans in ten hours, or one can in ten minutes, using a precut pattern, between 1800 - 1849. Dever cheerfully admitted as an apprentice he'd be tossed out of a job on the first day back then; it took him an average of forty-five minutes per can to make them. Personally, I shoot for quality versus quantity. You want it done fast, or done right?

picture here

Dever Explaining cans 101. The tops have a large hole, which will be covered by a convex cap once filled.

picture here

Sealed tin. That's not rust, it's rosin, which is used to make the solder flow easier into the seams. Dever used an accurate 50-50 mix of lead and tin solder, which means the green beans inside are technically not edible.

picture here


The tins are now being sterilized in hot water. Steam and hot water leaked out of the hole on top, just as it was supposed to. At the height of the steam one last solder on the center hole sealed the tin, and once it cooled it created a vacuum inside, preserving the food. The steam, incidentally, killed off whatever bacteria would make the food go bad. The Original Cast did not know this, only that steaming and canning kept food (reasonably) fresh until needed.

Picture here

Back to the discussion at hand, the openers I saw at Mac's sutlery were similar in configuration to the sardine opener which was pictured earlier.

[Johnny Lloyd]

To all:

I am still looking for period labels for boxes, bottles, etc. to give my impression a more period-correct look... can anyone help here with a few websites and/or attached thumbnails?

Thanks! -Johnny

[Rob Walker]

Sullivan Press sells CD-roms withe labels on them and they are available through Chris Daley. I purchaed a couple of the CDs a few months ago and had the opportunity to use some of the labels a couple of weeks ago and it worked out great. I believe he has four different CDs to choose from. Good luck.

[Charles Heath]

Talk about a topic that has been beaten to death a few times too many, and this is one of them. The AC Forum search engine is a terrible thing to waste.

[H. L. Hanger]

From Confederate Veteran, W. J. McMurray, a member of Company "B", Twentieth Tennessee, Bate's Brigade, Stewart's Division, Buckner's Corps, gives a brief account of his Saturday morning breakfast at Chickamauga:

"At daylight we waded the (Chickamauga) river, I think at Tedford Ford, and went over to see if Brother Yank had anything for breakfast, for some of us Johnnies were feeling quite empty. The rations I had for breakfast, and expected to make my dinner on, if alive, were sorghum stalks cut up about six inches long and put in my haversack."

Confederate Veteran, Vol. II, No. 11, p. 329.

J

[toptimlrd]

Oh dear, I hope the rations we have at the LH later this year are a bit more substantial.

[LWhite64]

The Army was being issued precooked cornbread and boiled beef at the time.

[HighPrvt]

Ummm, sounds yummy. I can't wait.

[mrgrzeskowiak]

I have found many recepies for hardtack, none which I can seem to make edible. I usually eat Bent hardtack, but at near 15 bucks a box, its getting a little pricey.. Anyone have a good recepie for 'edible' hardtack? Maybe somthing that tastes like Bents?

[Charles Heath]

Mike,

1. I highly recommend purchasing a copy of the Columbia Rifles Research Compendium (2nd Edition) through The Watchdog. This reasonably priced work should answer many basic questions, such as this one.

2. Unlike many CW forums, this one has an excellent search engine. A simple search on "hardtack" yields not 180 hits, but 180 individual threads. Granted, they do not all apply in this instance.

3. Also unlike most other CW reenacting forums, the AC has a collection of articles well worth reading. Some of these articles stretch back a decade and a half, while others are more contemporary. This is an incredibly underutilized member benefit.

Happy hunting!

[WestTN_reb]

Mike,

It's not a matter of the recipe being bad. They're all pretty much the same. You know the old saying, "it's not what you put in the pot, but how you stir it that counts." It applies to hardtack too. Personally, I've found that blasting powder makes hardtack a little easier to eat.:teeth_smi

[dwinch]

I find that using a glass "casserole" dish gets close to the coloring of Bent's. I would concur with Mr. Heath on the CRRC2 idea. I actually contacted Kevin O'Bierne and he sent me a copy of "Campaign Cuisine", which has the hardtack receipt with it. I would try contacting him and see if he can help you out.

As for Bent's, I feel that it too is the best Hardtack to have and find it more palatable than the masonry slabs that many people eat. I hope this helps.

Dale Winch

[Silas]

The farther you get from civilization and regular food sources, the better hardtack tastes. That can be said for many things in my haversack which I wouldn't eat at home, but am thankful to have when campaigning.

[Silas]

Under the topic entitled, "Good Hardtack Recipe," I found this gem which contains a reply from Kevin himself who included his recipe (http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6516) :

This has been posted before, but for any who haven't seen it:


HARDTACK


Ingredients:
• 4 cups of flour in a large bowl*
• Optional: 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar. (This adds some “air” to the finished crackers and makes them a bit “less dense”. It does not create big air pockets and the crackers will still turn out quite hard. This ingredient can be omitted.)** Mix with the flour in the bowl.
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda**
• 1½ teaspoons of salt
• 1 cup of water

Dissolve the salt and soda (if used) in the cup of water.

Mix all ingredients well. Roll out dough ½-inch to 3/8-inch thick with a rolling pin. Because original, issued hardtack was uniform, by far the best results are obtained with a hardtack cutter. If a hardtack cutter is unavailable, cut the dough into squares approximately 3 inches by 3 inches. Use a 1/8-inch diameter dowel to create sixteen holes in each cracker in a 4 by 4 pattern. A hardtack cutter is optimal.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 450 degrees. When done, let air-dry for minimum of twenty-four hours, preferably more, before the crackers are placed into a bag or sealed container. Yield: 9 to 11 crackers.

* Period hardtack contractors used a flour known as “cracker flour”, which can be simulated by mixing one part pastry flour with three parts ordinary, unbleached flour.

** This ingredient is a popular “reenactor addition” to the recipe that was not present in Civil War hardtack. This ingredient will help make your crackers slightly more palatable but, for increased authenticity, omit this ingredient.
__________________
Regards,

Kevin O'Beirne
kobeirne@roadrunner.com
I located this thread by looking at the similar threads box found at the bottom of the present discussion. It's surprising how often a link appears in the similar threads box which answers the question posted in a new thread.

[Hank Trent]

It's not a matter of the recipe being bad. They're all pretty much the same. You know the old saying, "it's not what you put in the pot, but how you stir it that counts." It applies to hardtack too. Personally, I've found that blasting powder makes hardtack a little easier to eat.:teeth_smi

Seriously, I think it's worth considering whether the problem is with the hardtack or the "making edible" side of the equation. Almost any hardtack can be made edible with some combination of soaking, heating and pounding, not necessarily in that order.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[BrianHicks]

I located this thread by looking at the similar threads box found at the bottom of the present discussion. It's surprising how often a link appears in the similar threads box which answers the question posted in a new thread.


similar threads box?!?!?!

I have to admit... until just a moment ago, I had never realized that such an item existed at the very, very bottom of these discussion pages. I'd always looked down to the bottom post, and seen the Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: box, and never scrolled any lower.

Wow... learn something new on these forums every day! :D

[Mcguire]

Best hardtack I've ever sampled was at BGR. My info was that Cody Mobley supplied the aforementioned crackers. Perhaps Mr. Mobley could supply the recipe that he used. I for one would appreciate it as I would like to make some without having to try different recipes until I found one that was edible.
As mentioned in another post a search yields quite a bit of info on this topic, to include a recipe submitted by Mr. O'Bierne (I hope this spelling is correct) tro name but a few.

[mrgrzeskowiak]

I did not realize that at the bottom of the page, there were similar threads.. I never scrolled down that far.. Thanks to everyone!

[nick19thind]

Here's my recipe for edible hardtack.
Grind your cracker to powder with your bayonet while boiling water in your mucket or modified tin can. Add the ground up hardtack and stir it about.
I must warn you it's risky to eat hardtack dry. I did once and it took out one of my fillings.

[IowaYank]

While I know Bents still uses the same mold as it did during the war, I still have one major problem with them. In my opinion they have had to have changed the recipe since the war. I believe Bents hardtack is too edible. What I mean is how many times have you put Bents in your haversack and had it just crumble to pieces?? Why would you hear soldiers calling it toothdullers and other such names if it was the same consistancy as Bents??? To me hardtack should be simply that, hard.

[WestTN_reb]

While I know Bents still uses the same mold as it did during the war, I still have one major problem with them. In my opinion they have had to have changed the recipe since the war. I believe Bents hardtack is too edible. What I mean is how many times have you put Bents in your haversack and had it just crumble to pieces?? Why would you hear soldiers calling it toothdullers and other such names if it was the same consistancy as Bents??? To me hardtack should be simply that, hard.

Maybe Bents just simply had the best darn hardtack available then. That might explain why they're still in business today.;)

[Becky Morgan]

Also bear in mind modern health department shipping and handling requirements. If you set your crate of fresh Bent's out on a railroad station platform in the summer heat for a few days, or in a hot warehouse in dry weather, it might take on that period texture of floor tile.

The idea was to produce a nutritious form of bread that could survive such handling and arrive in the hands of the soldier nontoxic, wihout a whole lot of regard for palatability. By those standards, hardtack is a success.

[stx]

Question. When you put the water w/ salt and soda onto the flour w/ tartar is it supposed to fizz up? Also I was only able to get 4 1/2 pieces of 1/2 inch thick squares of 3 by 3. What did I do wrong?

[Charles Heath]

Tim, if you are only going to make four pieces of hardtack at a time, is there much of a point in warming up the kitchen with the oven? Set up and crank out a few hundred pieces, and make an evening of it. Best when done with a pizza oven. Yes, that is a hint.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

I believe Bents hardtack is too edible. What I mean is how many times have you put Bents in your haversack and had it just crumble to pieces?? Why would you hear soldiers calling it toothdullers and other such names if it was the same consistancy as Bents??? To me hardtack should be simply that, hard.

So, you doubt the first-person accounts of soldiers who wrote that their crackers busted up in THEIR haversacks? Whab about the copious first-person accounts of soldiers eating "sandwiches" of hardtack with salt pork in between? (surely those weren't eaten with "tooth duller" variety).

Not all crackers of the day were akin to sheet-iron.

Finally, soldiers liked to bitch and complain, like all soldiers and--frankly put--reenactors, not to mention humans in general. They complained about rock-hard crackers and immortalized it. That does not, however, mean that all crackers were the type that Si Klegg drempt about using to line his vest before a battle.

[roundshot]

In support of what Kevin has stated, check out this pile of busted up hardtack (likely from a rifled haversack) next to the dead of some of Starke's Louisianians at Antietam. From the famous Hagerstown Pike series in the LOC collection.

[IowaYank]

Kevin and Bob, points well taken. Bob, that is some great detail in the image that I have never seen before. Nice!!

[MuddyWaterMess]

Neat pic i really like it, i agree with Dan with the issue of detail in that picture thanks

BEN

[AZReenactor]

Now to take this thread down another route, Id like to pose the question "who makes the best hardtack cutter?" This is a modern tool used to make an authentic item and can't rightly be compared to an original so it seems fitting to ask for opinions here.

Some of the one's I've found online are
Alex Johnson's hardtack cutter kit (http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=herr-siegrist)
Village Tinsmith (http://www.csa-dixie.com/villagetinsmith/c.html)
Richmonville Tinworks (www.richmonville.com/hardtack_cutters.html)

No doubt there are others out there as well and some of you have probably made your own. Any reviews on the quality and usefulness of the hardtack cutters out there. If you made your own what was the design and how well does it work?

I find myself needing to make a bit more hardtack than a pizza cutter, framing square, and ruler are useful for.

[Charles Heath]

Troy, considering we may need 4,192 somewhat intact hardcrackers for a certain event next year, would you mind purchasing all three, and picking up a commercial pizza oven on the way out to my place? I'll get Harry Canoli to wire up the underground garage, and we can bake 100 crackers at a time for a side by side comparison.

To add a fourth cutter to the mix, I believe Landrum-of-temperature-extremes fame used a custom made cutter based on some CS hardtack measurements. Perhaps he will chime in.

I do know the VT cutter's flimsy metal handle tends to cave in with repeated use in stiff dough.

[AZReenactor]

LOL! Sure why not. Only about 4,200 you say. are you sure that is an adequate amount to make a good comparison? Just 8 or so crates seems hardly significant. What is that just 3 days rations for a mere 140 men? ;-)

[Charles Heath]

Troy,

Scant rations puts the number within the range of possibilities, as the by the book estimate of 5,240 crackers is just way too scary. Sparky is going to cry when he finds out how many boxes we need, and it appears Doug's hickory sapling woodlot may get a visit or two. Who else has Tremont on speed dial?

Every wonder about the scientific connection between lined boxes and mold? Unlined boxes just don't seem to produce moldy crackers as fast as lining the hardcracker boxes with paper.

[Becky Morgan]

Unlined boxes just don't seem to produce moldy crackers as fast as lining the hardcracker boxes with paper.


Ummmmmm...do you WANT them moldy by way of authenticity? Has anyone documented the relative moldiness of hardtack at that battle? If only part of the rations were known to be in disgusting condition, will that part be distributed at random, or will fate cards determine who gets extra protein and a penicillin boost?:D

(removing tongue from cheek)
In all seriousness, mass baking isn't as hard as it might sound and you don't need to buy a pizza oven. If you explain yourself to the right pizzeria owner, you can probably use the oven during an off hour or two. Most shops have to warm up the oven before they actually start baking pizza. If you rent a half-hour or so, you could do very well.

As for a mass cutter, it should be not only possible but relatively easy to build such a thing. Once upon a time before child-rearing, I used to make mass quantities of cookies for several charities (routinely about 3600 at Christmastime.) I found a 24-cookie cutter at a yard sale. It didn't work well, mostly because cookie dough is softer even when refrigerated than any authentic hardtack recipe has been for me. What did work about it was the even thickness of the dough, the convenience of one roll-out producing two dozen cookies (which stretched out of shape and often stuck, for the above reason) and the ease of handling. A good tinsmith surely should be able to make a grid of 3x3 squares in half-inch thickness so that you would only need to get the thickness relatively close, slap down the cutter and roll it with a heavy pin. The holes should be easier to punch and could easily be stamped separately if need be.

Another thing you might want to consider for mass baking: a marble slab is far easier to use than a lot of waxed paper. Keep it cold and floured, and the job will go smoothly even if you use a single cutter. Once again, if you do rent a pizza place in the pre-lunch hours, the commercial kitchen would offer more floor space, easier cleanup and possibly a good price break on supplies. Some areas have started to erect commercial kitchens for rent to local organizations to can apple butter, make large cookie runs, etc. It's worth looking into.

[Spinster]

Question. When you put the water w/ salt and soda onto the flour w/ tartar is it supposed to fizz up?

Yes. Both the creme of tartar (period preferred) and the soda serve to add air to make the crackers rise a bit--and thus make them a bit less like ceramic tile.


Also I was only able to get 4 1/2 pieces of 1/2 inch thick squares of 3 by 3. What did I do wrong?

Measure twice, cut once applies to both woodworking and cooking.:D From your results, its likely you lost count around cup # 2 of flour, or like me, can no longer see the markings on the side of the measureing device.

Could be though that you just didn't roll the material out enough to actually make 9 to 11 crackers. Realize that you are rolling a bit thinner than your finished product--these will rise a bit.

[Bob 125th NYSVI]

Well I just use staright flour and water for mine but you didn't rool out the dough thin enough.

I usually get 18 crackers (with some dough left over) out of 6 cups of flour.

Try rolling it down to somewhere around 1/4 inch (pre-baked).

[BigRonFH]

Though this isn't exactly on the subject, I don't know where else to post it. I'm looking for a decent recipe for dessicated potatoes. Anybody have any ideas?

Ron Hopkins
Co. D, 13th US Inf

[James Brenner]

Coincidentally, I came across this description of making hard tack in, J.J. Scroggs' Diary and Letters, 1852-1865. Larry Leigh, compiler. (privately published, Thomaston, GA: 1995). Scroggs served with Company C, 104th OVI and while convalescing in Cincinnati wrote this account on April 22, 1863. "How few there are of Uncle Sam's boys who ever think or imagine while masticating "hard tack" what an amount of machinery is brought into requisition before the flour is manufactured into crackers. Curiosity led me to visit a factory. The flour is emptied into a huge tray, capable of holding five barrels full. The mixer throws in a quantity of water, properly salted, at one end, then going into it up to the elbows, he works it until he has it ready for the first machine, which is a spiral concern revolving horizontally at the end of the tray, which kneads the dough in the same manner a mortar machine in a brickyard does its work. The dough dropping from this machine in large rolls, resembling an animal performance on a large scale, very little akin to bread mking, falls into an inclined trough, and slides down into the basement. Here are three machines of different capacity, though constructed on the same principle, which rolls the dough into webs. Machine No. 1 brings it to a thickness of about two inches, No. 2 to one inch and a half, No. 3 to an inch. Now the webs go to a finishing machine, which reduces it to the proper thickness, one half inch, cuts it into squares of exactly the same size, punches twenty-four holes in each square, with complete regularity, and then shoves them out on a moving canvas belt, from whence they are taken and placed into ovens. There are six ovens, which bake a thousand crackers each at a time, keeping two men busily employed, putting in and taking out. When the crackers are baked, they are thrown into a box from which they are carried by elevators up to the same floor on which operations commenced. Here women and girls pack them in boxes, the boxes are nailed up, and piled on the sidewalk for the army."

[hoppes9]

Kneading dough is an art form all of its own - Jacques Pepin spends entire chapters on it in some of his books. What you are trying to do here is to create lots and lots of layers. This way the gluten doesn't form an amorphous mass with a brick like texture. Instead, think Croissant - only without the requisite stick of butter. What you do is to squash the dough from the middle outwards with the heel of your clean (!!) palm - until it is about 1 - 2 inches thick, then turn it one quarter of a turn, fold in half and repeat. If the dough is sticky, you added too much water - so sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of flour at a time to get it to quit gluing itself to the counter.

Do that a total of 8 times, creating 256 layers (it's binary math, 2 raised to the 8th equals 256) - let the dough rest for 5 minutes half way through - the going gets tougher as the gluten forms. Don't be gentle with it otherwise - it's a bit of a workout.

The last time, roll the dough out until it's just about 1/4" thick. I know most recipes say 1/2", but 1/4" dries better in the oven.

Cut the dough using a cutter you can make yourself, and bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. When the baking is done, turn off the oven and leave the crackers in there overnight - it dries them out very nicely.

If you want something a bit more toothsome, then leave the hardtack out on the counter for a week. The flour will absorb some of the ambient humidity and the gluten chains will reform. Toasting tough hardtack disrupts the bonds in the gluten and it won't be so tough.

Finally - I made the cutter from a scrap piece of 1" pine, a bit of aluminum flashing, 16 drywall screws and a staple gun.

Cut a 3" square piece of wood (or 2-7/8" by 3-1/8"), drill 16 holes that are just smaller than the drywall screws in a 4 X 4 arrangement. Drive the screws all the way through. Cut the flashing so that it wraps around the block of wood, and so that it is as wide as the screws are long. Staple the flashing to the wood. This should take no more than 1/2 hour - scrounge time included.

[Charles Heath]

Though this isn't exactly on the subject, I don't know where else to post it. I'm looking for a decent recipe for dessicated potatoes.


Pick up a copy of CWH, Volume 3, Issue 1.

You can make your own desiccated potatoes on a home food dehydrator. Just cube into 1/4 pieces (an old Ronco Veg-A-Matic is perfect for this, but a kitchen knife works well), and dry. The low cost of purchasing commercially available dried potatoes is worth avoiding a day in the kitchen making virtually the same product. Abby's Best, Harmony House, and other food service suppliers are good sources. Harmony House gets my nod for best price, service, and product. Neither of these are approved vendors, but I suspect one of our more enterprising small item vendors will one day repackage these products and sell them to reenactors. Here is the link for Harmony House's dried 'taters:

http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/dicedpotato.html

If you can boil water, then you can use desiccated potatoes. They are lightweight, take up little precious cargo volume, and are tasty. I find them to be most useful in Sunday morning hash, but are good for stews, and anything else where finely cubed potatoes would work well. The desiccated potatoes appear to be rather popular with the intended recipients, as demonstrated most recently at the McDowell 2005 battle reenactment, the 2nd Bull Run NPS LH 2006, the Shiloh NPS LH 2007, and the Vicksburg NPS LH 2007.

[roundshot]

That's a good site, Charles. Thanks for sharing.

[BigRonFH]

Pick up a copy of CWH, Volume 3, Issue 1.

You can make your own desiccated potatoes on a home food dehydrator. Just cube into 1/4 pieces (an old Ronco Veg-A-Matic is perfect for this, but a kitchen knife works well), and dry. The low cost of purchasing commercially available dried potatoes is worth avoiding a day in the kitchen making virtually the same product. Abby's Best, Harmony House, and other food service suppliers are good sources. Harmony House gets my nod for best price, service, and product. Neither of these are approved vendors, but I suspect one of our more enterprising small item vendors will one day repackage these products and sell them to reenactors. Here is the link for Harmony House's dried 'taters:

http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/dicedpotato.html

If you can boil water, then you can use desiccated potatoes. They are lightweight, take up little precious cargo volume, and are tasty. I find them to be most useful in Sunday morning hash, but are good for stews, and anything else where finely cubed potatoes would work well. The desiccated potatoes appear to be rather popular with the intended recipients, as demonstrated most recently at the McDowell 2005 battle reenactment, the 2nd Bull Run NPS LH 2006, the Shiloh NPS LH 2007, and the Vicksburg NPS LH 2007.

Thank you Charles. I'll give it a try. Now, maybe a stupid question but I'll ask anyway since I'm new. What's the best (meaning most authentic) way of packaging them? In a tin? I don't want my taters being labeled farby.


< - - - full name goes here. It's best to set up an auto-signature. Hey, are you any relation to Erasmus Hopkins? - Charles Heath, one of those pesky mods.

[Charles Heath]

What's the best (meaning most authentic) way of packaging them? In a tin?

Ron,

I don't have the least bit of a clue.

The short answer for an individual ration is a poke bag or scrap of cloth, and by the time rations are broken down to the company level, expect to see food in all manner of bags, wooden boxes, and scrap tins. Think of those stray containers back then as being the proverbial utilitarian "banana box" for grocers today.

I have seen references to desiccated potatoes and desiccated vegetables packaged in tins, but the simple answer is I don't know precisely how desiccated potatoes were packaged and labeled. I would love to find an intact container in a public or private collection, and that goes for the desiccated veggies, too. For the potatoes to make the journey from Paris to New York required a sealed container of a sturdy nature and then the transportation from the agent in NYC to the armies in the field required another arduous trip.

From period descriptions, we know at least two types of desiccated potatoes existed during 1861-1865, and the best description of the container that I have seen is "a tin." That doesn't help us much. We do know Chollet's packaged their desiccated veggies in tins, and a pair of those were included in a wooden box. The dimensions are known for two versions of desiccated veggies, a portion of a tin and a label still exists We could assume a similar packaging arrangement for the potatoes, but we know what happens when we assume. By the way, Jeff Henion covers some of this in his article in the CRRC2.

What does this mean for us? The good news is we normally don't need food in lots of 1,000 rations. In fact, we rarely need more than 200 daily rations per side for our so-called "HO Scale" Fri-Sun events, but let's look at what the army did back then. From the US Army rations table published in Kautz for transportation purposes, we know for 1000 rations:

Desiccated Potatoes:

Net wt. 93.75 lbs. (1500 ounces or 1.5 oz. per man) Matches table on page 162.

Gross wt. 116.75 lbs.

Packaging 23 lbs.

Approx. 4 lbs. of product for every 1 pound of packaging, so this is more packaging than the veggies.

Volume approx. 4.8 cu. ft. which is a little over 3/4 of a barrel.

Desiccated Veggies:

Net wt. 62.5 lbs. (1000 oz. or 1 oz. per man) Matches table on page 162.

Gross wt. 75.5 lbs.

Packaging 13 lbs.

Approx. 5 lbs. of product for every 1 pound of packaging, so this is less packaging than the potatoes.

Volume approx 2.71 cu. ft. which is less than half of a barrel.

What the heck is a "barrel?" To get even more confusing, for purposes of comparison, the army stated 6.25 cu. ft. is a barrel. A barrel really doesn't work well for us moderns, but that's the standard unit of measurement they used for volume.

Dry measure = 40.16 gallons (rounded)

Wet measure = 46.75 gallons (rounded)

As a size comparison, the typical used white oak whiskey barrel used at a heck of a lot of events for watering purposes is 53 gallons.

For 3 ounces of desiccated potatoes, a poke bag is just fine. Most of the time I have issued them pre-cooked in the form of hot rations, and rations carry well in the stomach. Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but one of these days I'll find both desiccated veggie and potato containers in some collection, and I suspect a sample of both vittles is out there somewhere waiting to have an image struck for posterity.

Speaking of fun things for feeding the army, the other day I ran across an 1860 reference to 17,000 pounds of powdered milk, and an 1863 reference to 25,000 cabbage plants, and 25,000 tomato plants....

[BigRonFH]

Not sure about Erasmus, but I am related to both the Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower and the Stephen Hopkins of the Declaration of Independence. Thanks for the information on the 'taters.

Ron Hopkins
Co. D, 13th US Infantry

[unclefrank]

Well I'm inspired! I have a dozen spuds that have started to go a little soft, so they are now in the dehydrator! They will come in handy at Mill Springs.

[AZReenactor]

I recently came across the reference below to dried apples being sent to Fort Bowie. I know that dried apples were frequently issued as an anti-scorbutic during the war. (One Surgeons recommendation in the ORs suggests they be issued three times a week.) I have dried peeled and cored apple slices on a string before as well as made shrunken apple heads for Halloween. However I don't see these small scale efforts supplying the needs of an army.

I am looking for information on the period practices of making dried apples on a commercial scale during our time period so that we might produce apples for a ration issue at Fort Bowie. What varieties of apples are most correct? What methods can be used for drying them today? What size and type of barrel or other container would dried apples be shipped and stored in by the army? Any authenticity minded organizations prepared and issued dried apples back East in years past? Any information would be appreciated.

HEADQUARTERS COLUMN FROM CALIFORNIA,
Ojo de la Yaca, Ariz. Ter., August 3, 1862.
Maj. DAVID FERGUSSON,
First Cavalry California Vols., Comdg. at Tucson, Ariz. Ter.:
MAJOR:
I approve of the release of John Bart on his parole of honor, he having given bonds of $5,000, to be forthcoming when called for. Your circular in relation to reports of persons in charge of vedette stations is approved. The detachment from Captain McCleave's company sent to the San Pedro to re-enforce Lieutenant Guirado will be sent to join that company as soon as the cattle have been driven from that point by the contractor toward the Rio Grande. The contract between Capt. N. S. Davis, acting assistant quartermaster, and King S. Woolsey, for hay and mesquite beans, seems to be fair and just, and is approved. Your letter to Lieut. R. S. Barrett, of July 20, is received. The sentence, ''Salvation of the troops in this Territory," seems to be uncommonly forcible. Your Special Orders, No.2, July 26, are approved. Send by the first opportunity 1,500 pounds of pemmican, which Captain Willis left at the San Pedro on the 26th of July, to Fort Bowie, Apache Pass, Chiricahua Mountains. I inclose a copy of General Orders, No. 12, establishing that post.* Its garrison will not vary much from 120 aggregate. You will cause it to be supplied with subsistence stores and such other necessary articles as may be required by the commanding officer of that post which you can spare from the depot at Tucson, or procure from Fort Yuma or San Francisco. Fort Bowie is included within the District of Eastern Arizona, and will doubtless be occupied by troops for many years, as it is one of the most important points for a military post in this Territory. Of course, during the present troubles no expenses can be incurred in building this post, except in the payment of the few extra-duty men whom the commanding officer of Fort Bowie may be obliged to employ. Major Coult will for the present protect himself by a field-work, but the troops there will be obliged to live under canvas for some time to come. I inclose for your information a letter I from Lieutenant Barrett, dated July 21, 1862. Send a good share of the dried apples named therein to Fort Bowie; also 100 of the bedsacks. I have to-day written to Colonel Bowie and requested him to order Captain Thayer's company, of the Fifth Infantry California Volunteers, to report to you at Tucson. During the time which elapses until its arrival at your headquarters I desire that Captain Davis, acting assistant quartermaster, get ready as many of the unserviceable wagons as possible, after having sent Allen's supply train to Fort Yuma, and working in these wagons the 200 poor and weak mules which I spoke of sending to San Pedro, Cal. I wish the captain to come on with this train to Mesilla, bringing with him as much subsistence stores as the mules can well haul. You will order Greene's company to escort this train through. From what I learn of the means of transportation in New Mexico these mules and harness will be greatly needed there. Send to Lieutenant Hammond, regimental quartermaster First Infantry California Volunteers, the proportion of all clothing now at Tucson, or which may arrive there before Captain Davis leaves, with this train for Mesilla, which the troops in advance should have, when you consider their numbers with reference to the numbers of those who remain behind. It was supposed that to an experienced soldier like yourself paragraph 5 of General Orders, No. 10, was sufficiently clear; that you would send on such of the articles named as you might have on hand and such of the articles not named as are in customary use and which in your judgment would be necessary, provided you had them in store. I inclose herewith a tn-monthly statement of subsistence stores at Fort Yuma and at the mouth of the Colorado River and to arrive at the mouth of the river. It is dated July 20, 1862. Please send forward at the earliest practicable moment a good supply of bacon, hams, coffee, sugar (brown), sugar (crushed), lime juice, sperm candles, whisky, tea, molasses, dried apples, desiccated vegetables, compressed potatoes, and pickles, at least the proportion due the troops in advance, having reference to their strength. If, hereafter, Lieutenant Barrett should make these reports to you, send me authenticated copies of them. I regret that your duties are so onerous. I will relieve you from them as soon as possible.
I am, major, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAMES II. CARLETON,
Brigadier- General, U. S. Army.

NOTE.—I herewith inclose, approved, your contract with Mr. Ammi M. White, dated July 24, 1862.

[AZReenactor]

I recieved this source that gives an indication of the quantity issued per 100 men.

Chambersburg, PA
Semi-Weekly Dispatch
May 28, 1861, p. 4, c. 1

Soldiers' Rations.

There has been much said about what constitutes the daily rations of the soldier and the cost of the same, and yet the mass of the people know very little on the subject. We therefore gather some interesting items in relation to army subsistence from the official Regulations of the Army of the United States, and publish them, that the men may know what they are entitled to, in case grasping contractors should attempt to practice impositions:

One hundred complete rations consist of--

32 rations fresh beef is 40 lbs, or 1 1/4 lbs per man.
68 " pork, is 51 lbs, " 3/4 lb "
100 " flour, is 11 lbs, " 18 oz. "
100 " beans, is 8 qts.
Or,
100 " rice, is 10 lbs.
100 " coffee, is 6 lbs.
100 " sugar, is 12 lbs.
100 " vinegar, is 4 qts.
100 " candles, is 1 1/2 lbs.
100 " soap, is 4 lbs.
100 " salt, is 2 qts.

When the officers of the Medical Department find anti-scorbutics necessary for the health of the troops, the commanding officer may order issues of fresh vegetables, pickled onions, sour krout, or molasses, with an extra quantity of rice and vinegar. (Potatoes are usually issued at the rate of one pound per ration, and onions at the rate of three bushels in lieu of one of beans.) Occasional issues (extra) of molasses are made--two quarts of one hundred rations--and of dried apples of from one to one and a half bushels to one hundred rations.

[Ridge Runner]

This article talks about an apple slicer being introduced in 1853. So I would put money on the government having some sort of mechanical process for processing apples.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3983/is_200612/ai_n17196345

As for varities, I'm not sure what you have available. The government would have been getting many different varieties. Unlike today where and handful of varieties control the market, each farm would have been producing three or four different varieties a year. With heirloom fruits it's really hit or miss, unless you are going to produce them yourself. If all you are going to do is slice them and dry them, I don't know why a good Granny Smith won't do.

Roman Fox
I Love My Apples To The Core Mess

[ephraim_zook]

Hank Trent generally has a good handle on appropriate period varieties. I shouldn't think the government would be in the apple-drying business, though. That would have been (1) contracted out to the lowest bidder or (2) purchased off the local economy.

Ron Myzie

[Jim of The SRR]

The book "Life of Billy Yank" talks about dried apples. The writer mentions that it appeared they were just "dried cores and peels". Thus contracted quality probably varied.

Jim Butler

[Charles Heath]

I am looking for information on the period practices of making dried apples on a commercial scale during our time period so that we might produce apples for a ration issue at Fort Bowie.

Troy,

I'll toss in a couple of quotes from the Iron Brigade rations article buried somewhere in the articles section. The first one gives you an indication of quantity of apples by weight for a brigade in 1863:

11. Apples, Dried: The ration tables tell us, “dried apples, peaches, pickles, &c., when on hand may be issued in lieu of any component part of the ration, of equal money value.” Dried apples are estimated at 24 pounds per bushel. In the absence of any specific rate of issue, but borrowing from the allowance of 30 pounds per 100 rations for fresh vegetables, the rate of issue would be 3.84 ounces of dried apples, which seems reasonable. So, 16,420 pounds of dried apples converts to 68,416 rations, which translate into approximately 1 ration of dried apples every 10 days. While the estimation may not be precise, the quantity of dried apples certainly suggests the average fellow had fruit as a minimum at least a couple of times each month. The question remains as to how the apples were issued, since the availability of wheat flour and sugar lend themselves well to pies, cobblers, and even fried pies, in addition to simply handing the individual a few ounces of dried fruit. The dried apples may have been added to improve certain stews, especially those including cabbage. Of this, we can only speculate.

You didn't ask for peaches, but while I was there:

12. Peaches, Dried: As was the case with the dried apples in #11 above, the ration tables tell us, “dried apples, peaches, pickles, &c., when on hand may be issued in lieu of any component part of the ration, of equal money value.” Dried peaches are estimated at 32 pounds per bushel. In the absence of any specific rate of issue, but borrowing from the allowance of 30 pounds per 100 rations for fresh vegetables, and in keeping with the same way we estimated the dried apples above, the rate of issue would be 5.12 ounces of dried peaches. This is also a reasonable amount, especially considering peaches weigh slightly more per volume when dried than apples. The Iron Brigade only received 884 pounds of dried peaches in 1863, so this must have been a treat. This was sufficient for 2,763 rations, which means less than twice each year; however, like the apples in #11 above, we do not know exactly how the dried peaches were issued.

No real significance, other than that info was easiest to reach in and grab. Being in the Far West, take some time to take note of mentions of other fruit, especially those items not all that common 3,000 miles eastward.

What varieties of apples are most correct? What methods can be used for drying them today?

Older CES pamphlets tell us the following apples are good for drying, and you should be able to find the ones listed in boldface at least at produce speciality markets. The apples listed with an "X" are those I've fooled with over the years either in my own orchards or in orchard restorations:

X Grimes Golden
X Maiden's Blush
Red Horse
X Sheepnose
X Summer Rambo
X Winesap
X Wolf River

The listing for "Winesap" probably means what we call "Old Virginia Winesap" today, and not the more common "Stayman Winesap." In a fit of laziness, I'm not going to look up the 19th century acceptability dates for the above, but will let you do that. Of the ones listed above, I still have Summer Rambo and Winesap in production. As a modern rule of thumb, apples that are good canners are also good dryers. I'd recommend an interlibrary loan of a couple of good 19th century fruit production books, and at least one early 20th century version of the same. Typically the later books either confirm/deny what was proposed 50 to 75 years earlier. This next big thing was not always the next big thing when a few decades of hindsight is applied.

In this region, we have extant 19th century fruit drying houses. Generally, these are 12' x 12' or 12' x 24' sheds that have trays like print drawers, except with slats (think latttice) for airflow. As you can imagine, humidity played a big role in how well fruit dried, and while I've never seen a local dryer with provisions for fire (think flue cured tobacco), I have read accounts about using heat to speed the process. My guess is you won't be rushing into your backyard to build one of these anytime soon, even if your climate is ideal. On a small scale, a commercial food dehydrator will work up a tasty and satisfying issue for a mess, and lacking that a good knife and a string is just fine, as the directions for drying a handful of apples are easy enough to find.

Your homemade dried apples may look a bit dark compared to commercially available dried apples. That reason is you didn't spray them with sulfites, which is the norm in the industry. If you shop at Trader Joe's or some other organic food store, you'll notice their dried apples are also tend to be dark for the same reason.

What size and type of barrel or other container would dried apples be shipped and stored in by the army?

See if Jeff Henion covers this in his article about period containers in the CRRC2. When in doubt, use a barrel, for even hardcrackers came in barrels from time to time; however, if you are only issuing dried fruit to a dozen or so men (approximately 4 ounces per man), finding something small enough to hold 48 ounces of dried fruit isn't too difficult. What did they use? Wood boxes of all shapes and sizes at the ration break down points were the corrugated "banana boxes" of today. I'm not so sure the cute little pre-stenciled ration bags aren't overdone, but that's just speculation.

Any authenticity minded organizations prepared and issued dried apples back East in years past?

Yes, and yes. If you want to issue small quantities, then making the apple rings, seeds, core, and all works well. If you are going to issue to a large number of troops, you may wish to go to a commercial source. Like making chicory coffee substitute from scratch, it's good to go through the process one time just to realize what a huge savings it is to buy it off the shelf. You have options.

Child Labor/Family Activity Note: While only you can determine whether the wee bitty labor force 'round the table is ready for sharp instruments, consider stringing apple slices on a string as full employment for the crumb crunchers. You can find a lot of good foodways information aimed at living history sites, and this is just one of the many food related activities that crop up on their schedules.

Keep this up, and you'll encourage me to write another how-to article. Bad, Troy, bad. :p

[AZReenactor]

Thank you for the responses. They gave me some good leads and sugestions of directions for further research.

I'm looking at making them up for a couple dozen fellows at a regarisoning living history at Fort Bowie and will probably make them ourselves just for the experience this time.

Charles, if you'd already written that article I would have probably found it using the search engine and wouldn't have had to post my query in the first place. ;-)

[Fatback and Beans]

Troy,

There's a bit on this page about the origins of some varieties of apples. There are a number that have fairly old origins.

http://www.innvista.com/HEALTH/foods/fruits/applevar.htm

I would like to specifically draw your attention to the Gravenstein:Gravenstein< originated in northern Germany or Denmark before 1800 and taken to California around 1820 where it soon became a popular variety for cooking. It is also popular with those who like to eat tart apples raw. It is a large, yellow apple with bright red and orange strips. It is roundish but slightly lopsided.I have also heard that the Arkansas Black was a popular variety for those in wagon trains because of their long storage life due to them being a very hard apple. I understand it dates to about 5 years post war though.

Good luck to you, and I look forward to hearing how your project turns out.

[VIrginia Mescher]

I have a book in my collection titled _Fruit and Fruit Trees of America_ by A. J. Dowing (1860). It was originally published in 1857. The chapter on apples was almost 200 pages and included the available culture, propogation, insects, varieties and their appropriate regions for growth.

The author stated that there were over 900 varieties of apples worldwide. Rather than describe each one covered in the book, I'll list the ones for listed for middle and southern states.


"Select List of Apples, ripening in succession, to suit the Middle and Southern portions of the Eastern States.

Early Harvest
Red Ashtrachan
Early Strawberry
Summer Rose
William's Favorite
Primate
American Summer Permain
Garden Royal
Jefferis
Porter
Jersey Sweet
Large Yellow Bough
Gravenstein
Maiden's Blush
Autumn Sweet Bough
Fall Pippin
Mother
Smokehouse
Rambo
Esopus Spitzenburgh
Vandevere of NY
Jonathan
Melon
Yellow Bellflower
Domine
American Golden Russet
Cogswell
Peck's Pleasant
Wagener
Rhode Island Greening
King of Tompkins Co.
Swaar
Baldwin
Lady Apple
Ladies' Sweet
Red Canada
Newtown Pippin
Boston Russet
Northern Spy
Wine Sap."

[AZReenactor]

Thank you so much for the suggestion Ms. Mescher. I was able to find the 1900 edition of the book in Google books (http://books.google.com/books?id=OhcDAAAAYAAJ&dq=Fruit+and+Fruit+Trees+of+America&pg=PA1&ots=qRlKQyJlcf&sig=yfwjQGeXRHv7remmWAsMdoHDmN8&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fq%3DFruit%2Band%2BFruit%2BTrees%2Bof%2BAm erica%26ie%3Dutf-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26aq%3Dt%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26client%3Dfirefox-a&sa=X&oi=print&ct=result&cd=1) and it had a note on the Fruits of California (http://books.google.com/books?id=OhcDAAAAYAAJ&dq=Fruit+and+Fruit+Trees+of+America&pg=PA1&ots=qRlKQyJlcf&sig=yfwjQGeXRHv7remmWAsMdoHDmN8&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fq%3DFruit%2Band%2BFruit%2BTrees%2Bof%2BAm erica%26ie%3Dutf-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26aq%3Dt%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26client%3Dfirefox-a&sa=X&oi=print&ct=result&cd=1) as well.

Most profitable in the far west seems to have been:
Williams' Favorite
Early Strawberry
Red Astrachan
Early Harvest
Winesap
Rawles' Janet
Newtown Pippin (regarded as best and most profitable in CA)
White Winter Pearmain
Smith's Cider
Yellow Belflower

I have a book in my collection titled _Fruit and Fruit Trees of America_ by A. J. Dowing (1860). It was originally published in 1857. The chapter on apples was almost 200 pages and included the available culture, propogation, insects, varieties and their appropriate regions for growth...

[JustinPrince]

Hi all,

I'm going to my first event next friday, and I'm trying to figure out what all I need to bring. The stuff beyond the uniform/equipment/musket, etc. I'm opting in to the company mess, but I was wondering what some relatively inexpensive authentic food ideas would be to have in my haversack, just so I could have a little snack here and there.

So far all my thinking has netted me (beyond the hardtack I'm being issued) is cheese in wax butcher paper. Maybe some fresh fruit or something, but I'm not sure how common something like that would be in Indian Territory (my first event will be the Battle of Cabin Creek with the 2nd Colorado Volunteer Inf.). I'm still new at all the researching and such, and hope to learn a lot at this first event so I'll have some semblance of what I'm doing (beyond the manual of arms) at the next one.

Thanks!

Justin Prince

[WestTN_reb]

I'm usually the last one to fuss at somebody for asking a question, but I may as well be the first to tell you, "use the search function." By typing "food" and "rations", I pulled up several pages of stuff.

Now that that is out of the way, check the Research Articles. Scroll down to Articles on Cooking and Rations. There is a treasure trove of good stuff waiting to be discovered.

[Pvt Schnapps]

I can't vouch for what would be authentic for the time, place, and unit you will represent, but I have some ideas I think you could work with.

Dried apple slices, prunes, or apricots. I just read an account the other day of an ascent of Mt. Blanc during the '50s in which the author praised dried prunes as an antidote to thirst (something like a pebble in the mouth, I guess). Apricots are a decent source of potassium.

While you were at the sutler paying an exhorbitant amount for your cheese, you might also have picked up some crackers, ginger snaps, or sugar candy.

Here are a few passages from G. A. Sala's diary relating to a visit to the Army of the Potomac at Brandy Station in the winter of 1864 (I'll let you decide whether any of this is relevant to your impression for next weekend):

"The soldiers are also to be found in throngs round the sutlers’ stores, spending their abundant greenbacks – for each private musketeer seems to have a hundredweight of greenbacks at the very least – in candy, in hardbake, in toffee, in barley-sugar, in cocoa-nut, in fig and gum drops, in cranberry pies, in dough nuts, in jam-puffs – huge triangular cocked hats of pastry, such as you might think were worn by the courtiers of the King of Alicampane... gingerbread nuts, treacle-puffs, apple-pasties, hundreds of huge trays of which delicacies are made fresh every day... cheese, crackers, sardines, potted meats, tooth-powder, pomatum, antibilious pills, and indiarubber goloshes. Let bitters also not be forgotten."

If you avoid dining on the pomatum and "goloshes", you can probably dispense with the bitters. :)

[Cfarrell]

Play around with the search function. Really, what you are looking for is there plus a lot lot lot more! Promise!:D I often find myself just typing something in to pass the time at work if I have nothing better to do. You can spend hours reading over the material that’s there. (Ah,...I love my new job.:p) But again, the search function is probably the best helper on the forums. You could never get as good of an answer in this one thread...as you can in the ones that reside in the archives.

Regards,

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Dried Apples:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12872&highlight=food

Sausage Revisited

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8357&highlight=western+food

These are by no means conclusive...but should get you started...I ran a search on food and western food...

Paul

[Pvt Schnapps]

Two other items I just remembered: Sala also mentions soldiers "sucking any quantity of lollipops", and Ambrose Bierce ("What I Saw of Shiloh") notes among the wreckage of battle "the omnipresent sardine-box."

Neither are part of the ration, and they are not recommended in combination. Interestingly enough, Bierce became friends with Sala during his sojourn in London after the war. I don't have at hand a record of one of their dinners, but the acquaintance resulted in an early publication of Bierce's poems entitled "Cobwebs From an Empty Skull" -- which sounds not nearly as appetizing as the later "Black Beetles in Amber."

[Charles Heath]

Perhaps the first question would be to determine whether this is the 1st or 2nd Battle of Cabin Creek, thus fixing the time of year for any foraged items, as well as who gets the lovely goodies in the wagon train after all is said and done.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Check out the "Research Articles" (subfolder of this very folder on this here forum) and read the articles therein on the topic of grub. If I'm not mistaken, I think the one I wrote for the CRRC is even in there--it's an 8,000-word reply so I won't attempt to reiterate it here.

[JimConley]

Hello Justin, and welcome.

I'm certainly no expert when it comes to period foods, but there are some general things to keep in mind when picking up some haversack items.

1) Unless you can find an account(s) of food during the time frame portrayed at an event, I like to keep it basic as possible. I take into account the region and time of year that said historical occurrence was set. This can greatly limit you to what kinds of foods, particularly fruits and vegetables would have been available to a soldier at that particular instance.

2) If you really want to keep it authentic, I know that myself and some others will shop for organic foods to avoid foods that are processed with preservatives and additives. Luckily, finding salt cured pork (for example) is still not too hard and is of period practice.

3) When bringing your own hardtack, the cheapest and best way is to make your own. Hardtack cutters can be bought from a string of Jo Blow sutlers and finding a recipe of pretty easy. It's really just trial and error. The search function turned up this thread: http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10280&highlight=hardtack+recipes

Mr. Schaffner,
I have heard some arguments against apricots before, but until you brought it up, I had never given it much thought. But, a quick google search brought up some information that really made me think that apricots would have very seldom (if ever) made it far enough East to have found their way into the haversacks of ACW troops. Realize that I'm not picking on you at all, just that I find this topic somewhat interesting because so many guys do like to stuff dried fruit into their weekend event diets.

http://www.apricotproducers.com/html/consumhis.htm

http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/encyclopaedia!openframeset&frame=Right&Src=/edible.nsf/pages/apricots!opendocument

http://www.peterwolfe.com/history1.htm

According to these sites, the apricot was introduced to California by the Spanish in the 18th century. And, by the end of that century, records of apricot production were found. However, even today's apricot industry uses careful picking and shipping processes because the fruit is so delicate. From the second site linked above: "Apricots do not travel well -- less than one-quarter of Apricots are even shipped fresh to our grocery stores. Apricots are picked when they have good colour and come off the tree without tearing, but before they are fully ripened." Anybody that has ever bought fruit from the store knows that if you buy unripened fruit, it will take a few days to be at the point where it can be most enjoyed, then it quickly goes bad if left alone. Point being, if apricots were picked in California in the 1860s then sent East, by the time they reached a region where any Civil War soldier was laying his head, they'd be fouled. And just to further that, the last website linked said this, "The 1910 U.S. census recorded reported that 96.4% of all apricots grown in the United States were produced in California," thus there would have been very very small amounts of apricot production (if any) close enough geographically to be edible to an ACW soldier. Now, I realize you are speaking of dried apricots, which presents the idea of longer lasting fruit. But, if all, or the majority of, apricots being grown in the 1860s were in California, what's the likelihood of them making their way to soldiers East of the Mississippi or even in the Trans Mississippi regions? And if it did happen to occur, chances are that it would have been an isolated incident.

I would be very interested to see what accounts people might have come across about dried fruits, and particularly apricots. I'm not claiming to be right, but from what I found quickly through google, I'm very open to someone showing me evidence to the contrary.

Apricots...a re-enactorism?

[Johnny Lloyd]

Hello-

I'd echo what Charles Heath says in respect to thoroughly researching the deeper factors of supply/availability. As a former supply officer in the Iraq War, I look upon everything by nature as supply and demand (just like supply officers of that period did -a la Caleb Huse of the McRae Papers-lol)

Here's where you might start your research... I think of these things when I do mine:

a)What time of year an event was to have taken place?
Were the items you want to carry in-season then? Would they have been able to
be transported over long distances without spoilage due to heat/cold conditions?

b)What year the event was to have taken place?
Was it a "bad year" for a particular crop where it was grown? Early frost on
historical record that made a certain produce hard-to-get? Can you prove it with
your research? You can research known weather history to an area in this
respect if you want to get thatdeep.
It's up to you on that one there. :wink_smil

c)What crops were to have historically been grown there to the time of the
battle?
Example: Apples don't grow very well in Lowcountry South Carolina/
Georgia, soil going toward the coastline... if your impression comes from there,
peaches are more accurate. Neither does wheat grow well in that area-go for grits
or cornbread. Also, certain crops, like soybeans, weren't cultivated in the South
until after the War, though there are plenty of them now there. (Not like
you'd eat soybeans in your haversack, though...:rolleyes:)

d)How was the supply situation in the area at the time of the battle?
According to your research, do you have documentation supporting what you
have chosen to carry in your haversack based-upon what was able to be brought-
into the area by a sutler or peddler of some sort. You might be suprised to find
period evidence for that sugar candy, cheese, licorice or sugared plums being
there at the around time when the battle happened in the hands of the soldiers
that fought there!

This is how I do my research for what I bring with me to an event. The material culture of the period is most fascinating as a research item for me when it comes to events.

Still haven't found that supporting evidence for champagne being drank by Confederates at First Manassas... Hmmmm... ;)

Thanks- Johnny Lloyd

[Pvt Schnapps]

That's a good point about apricots, but it hadn't occurred to me to think of anything other than the dried product. In that line, Turkish apricots are as ancient an export as Smyrna figs, probably much more likely to be found here than those of California, but not necessarily less common than such imports as coffee, tea, madeira, hock, champagne, ginger, black pepper, the fixin's for pineapple cider, and, for all I know, lemons.

I'll have to look at the matter a little more closely after I go through my current stash, but I'm slightly comforted by an article in the May, 1869 Atlantic Monthly by John Burroughs called "Spring in Washington." He came here in 1863, he says, and likes the mild winter and virtually year-round wildflowers. In describing spring he writes "Apricot-trees are usually in bloom on All-Fools-day, and the apple-trees on May-day."

That's not commercial production, of course; just a little something close to home.

Thanks for raising this, though. I may yet have to switch to cherries. :)

[Pvt Schnapps]

Well, I learned something today, and not just about apricots. I like apricots enough that I freely confess to the crime of conducting research solely to justify one aspect of my impression. At least in this instance, it seems to have warranted the effort.

First, about 20 minutes online led to a number of sources, given below, that substantiate apricot cultivation in -- besides the District of Columbia -- civil war era Missouri and colonial Virginia (including not only Jamestown, but Stratford Hall and Arlington House).

But after fooling around online I remembered that I actually had some books on the subject. Looking at Eating in America, by Waverly Root & Robert de Rochemont, I found on pp. 65-66 the following:

“European fruits were not simply accepted by the Indians, they were pounced upon…. Apricots were less widely favored [than peaches], but the Cherokees grew enough of them so that by the eighteenth century they were running wild, dotting the countryside with what were called ‘field apricots.’”

With apricots appearing not only in California (and Mexico) and available as imports, and grown in places as distant as Missouri, Virginia, and the lands formerly occupied by the Cherokees, I don't have a problem putting them in my haversack. I feel fairly confident that I've seen them referred to in different journals, but now I think I'll collect the citations for future reference.

In the meantime, thanks for raising the question -- every bit of doubt cast on something often taken for granted makes for more research, which is never a bad thing.


http://www.lyndonirwin.com/cwstchar.htm


St. Charles County Agriculture in 1865

The population in 1865 was about 16,000. The land was laid out in a format used by the French Government. The measurement of the land was one arpen wide and forty arpens long. An arpen or arpent was equal to .85 of an acre. The only condition of these lands was that they were to be worked and the amount of land given to the farmer depended on his ability to work, number of family members, and other circumstances that surrounded him. Many farms that lay next to each other were fenced together forming “common fields”. The “common fields” were named after the closest French village and these fields would sometimes contain as many as forty or more individual farms.

Many crops were grown in this county such as corn, oats, Irish and sweet potatoes, tobacco, and grapes. The most profitable were wheat (50bu/ac), corn (40bu/ac), oats (35bu/ac), and hay (timothy and clover).
Livestock in the county was in abundance as well. The slaughter weight on hogs was about two hundred pounds and about twenty thousand head were exported or driven to market. The twenty thousand cattle were mainly mixed breeds made by a cross of Durham or some other imported breed. Dairies were obsolete in this county, but a lot of butter is made in the city and that is where it was sold. The price of a workhorse was about one hundred ten dollars and a good horse sold for about two hundred dollars. The colts were of Morgan and English gray stock and brought about seventy dollars from birth to breaking age. Mules were raised, but mainly for use and prices were low. Sheep raising was profitable in this county, but too many dogs were being raised to please the sheep farmers. The fruit raised in the county included apples, pears, and peaches. The county has portable cider mills, in which a large quantity of apples ended as cider. Other fruits were grown as well-cherries, plums, apricots, and blackberries.


http://www.nps.gov/archive/colo/Jamestwn/loopdrive_REV_CMS.htm

Agricultural Beginnings--(Painting) It took 12 years for the colonists to become self-sufficient. The forests gave way to fields of native squash, pumpkin, beans, peas, and most importantly, "Indian corn" or maize. some European crops adapted well: apples, apricots, and oats. Other imports were failures: bananas, pineapples, and olives. To continue the tour proceed across the wooden bridge and stop at the next large pull off on your right.

http://www.stratfordhall.org/plantation.html

Shops of many kinds were kept busy. Indentured craftsmen trained slaves in smithing, carpentry, coopering, tanning, and shoemaking. Brick was fired in kilns dug in the ground, and a wheelwright made and repaired the wheels broken so easily on the rough Virginia roads. Ships were built, liquor distilled, furniture made and iron forged for simple tools, nails and hinges. The women carded, spun, wove and sewed year round for the plantation's population. Stratford's fields grew wheat, barley, oats, flax and corn. From its kitchen gardens came vegetables and "sallet greens," and orchards provided grapes, apples, pears, peaches, apricots, cherries, figs, and even pomegranates.

http://www.nps.gov/archive/arho/tour/spectacle/spectacle_2005-05.pdf

recipe for sweet-meat pudding with apricots

[flattop32355]

Mike,
Without questioning the veracity of a wide variety of fruits, etc. being grown in the eastern part of the country, is there any information on how that translates into amounts available to supply large numbers of soldiers, rather than growing just enough (or a small surplus) to support a given plantation's population needs?

In other words, were these products adequate for local needs only, or grown in quantity as cash crops?

[Pvt Schnapps]

It's funny -- all this started as just some suggestions to a gentleman on what he could munch on besides snickers, granola bars, and gorp. :)

But I think your question misses the point, Bernie. I have only found mention of dried apples as part of the regular issue, which would be the best reflection of what was available through bulk production, but that regular issue also omits lollipops, canned peaches, pie, ginger snaps, cheese, and innumerable other foodstuffs soldiers were known to relish, whether available from sutlers, packages from home, or by purchase from the local economy.

The army Surgeon's Manual and the Steward's Manual both mention dried fruits in several places as the sort of item to be purchased through the Hospital Fund, but alas they do not specify type. But that's not really surprising, because I suspect that the "PEC" concept may be out of place when we try to apply it to food available to households in the 19th century -- the sheer variety of fruit, vegetables, domestic meat, and wild game that one could obtain is staggering -- well beyond what you can get in the typical supermarket today. Anyone for quinces and terrapin soup?

The sheer number of items available argues against industrial scale production of all of them, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be widely available.

And the apricot appears to have been common to ubiquitous. The Brooklyn Eagle (another online source) has several score references between 1841 and 1866, many in advertisements for homes with gardens.

But here are a couple of other "off line" references I came across this morning while cooling down after a short run:

Economic History of Virginia, Philip Alexander Bruce, NY, 1935, Vol. I, p. 331, “In the immediate vicinity of his house at Green Spring, Governor Berkeley had fifteen hundred apple, peach, apricot, quince, and other fruit trees.”

Beadle’s Dime Cook Book, by “Mrs. Victor”, 1863, p. 62, recipes for preserving apricots, both green (“the size of a nutmeg”) and whole.

The Beadle reference seems particularly apt because it's contemporary and clearly meant for a broad audience.

So now we have a fruit grown on farms in Missouri, plantations in Virginia, and backyard gardens in Brooklyn, with instructions on how to preserve it in at least two ways available in a popular volume printed during the war. Based on the references that I've come across in the last 24 hours -- including some volumes I just happened to have on my shelves at home -- I have no doubt that I've just scratched the surface.

As to evidence of the quantity produced, I suspect there's information out there in Census reports, or papers by agricultural societies, but, as far as this one item in my haversack, I'm satisfied without spending additional hours digging up those sources.

I'm just very grateful to Sala for specifically documenting ginger snaps and barley sugar, at least for late-war AOP impressions...

[Hank Trent]

Here's an article I wrote several years ago on apricots, so the research may be a little out-of-date, since a lot more sources are easily available now. Still, it may be of some interest. Hopefully the file will upload properly.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Pvt Schnapps]

Thanks very much for that, Hank. A number of those sources look familiar now, after spending a few hours online -- Google Books has proved pretty rich, along with the MOA. The former has a number of horticultural works on the subject of fruit in America, as well as various cookbooks, mostly English, including one by Alexis Soyer, whose recipes for the field found their way into Scott's Military Dictionary and several war-time manuals.

I suppose the apricot in the soldier's haversack remains problematical, except perhaps as a treat from home or the Sanitary Commission, but I will keep my eyes open for references in soldiers' diaries and journals. These have so many details that it's easy to overlook anything you're not actively searching for, as I discovered once I began revisiting old sources for details about writing and military paperwork. I even found a reference yesterday to "peaches and a fruit like it", which seemed especially tantalizing. :)

[wade03]

Hey,
I'm planning for my next event and was wondering how soldiers were issued hardtack. Was it by pieces or were they packaged in say packs of 10 just like cartridges were? If they were packaged up in small groups, what did the packaging look like?
Thank You

[IowaYank]

Hardtack came in large boxes with I believe approx. 1000 pieces per box. Men were issued as many as needed straight out of the box.

[Missouri Mule]

You might want to check out this thread:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11823&highlight=hardtack

I believe that this should answer your question.

[wade03]

Thank You both for the speedy answering of my question

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Hardtack came in large boxes with I believe approx. 1000 pieces per box. Men were issued as many as needed straight out of the box.

It was closer to 500 per box, equalling about 50 lbs of hard bread. The typical ration per man in the Federal army was 1 lb of hard bread per day, which equated to approximately nine or ten crackers. How it was issued is described in several period books. For an interesting description of how coffee was issued, see John Billings's "Hardtack and Coffee".

[Charles Heath]

Speaking of issuing hardtack, this writer gives a description of greasy meat, and a couple of other clues. While the hardtack mention is light, but worth of a chuckle, the entire letter is worthy of a good read:

FROM OUR COLORED BOYS -- We publish the following from one of the colored men of our borough, who enlisted some time ago, and is now Orderly Sergt. of Co., D, 6th Regt., U.S. Colored Troops. It is dated Yorktown, Va., February 13, inst.

Messrs. Editors -- You have no doubt heard of our "on to Richmond move", and knowing the deep interest you have in the colored soldiers, I will give you a description of our march. I had just woke up from a nice nap on the morning of the 5th, and was strolling around camp, not knowing what to do with myself, the men busy fixing up the camp for Sunday inspection, when the order came -- six days rations in knapsack and seventy rounds of ammunition. I cannot describe the wild enthusiasm of the men on their receipt of the order. There was "mounting in hot haste"; greasy cooks cooking the fattest of bacon; and issuing hardtack sufficient to cause a dentist to shout with joy. We marched to Williamsburg and camped that night on the battlefield rendered famous by the victory over Magruder. The night was intensely cold and fires were prohibited. We left Williamsburg at 11 o'clock a.m., reaching New Kent Courthouse, a distance of 38 miles, at 1:30 a.m. and slept that night without rocking. After a hasty breakfast, we prepared to march, and it would have done you good to have looked down that dark line, and noted the stubborn determination to do or die. We marched within three miles of Bottom's Bridge on the Chickahominy River, where we met our Cavalry returning. Sadly disappointed, I assure you. Our rear guard was attacked by the enemy, but we repulsed them. We captured twenty five or thirty bush whackers and a few horses and carts, are arrived safe at camp on the evening of the 10th, without a straggler.

LEVI R. CHAPLIN
Orderly Sergt., Co. D, 6th U.S.C.T.

Source:

Orderly Sergeant Levi Chaplin, Company D, 6th USCT
Letter to the Huntingdon, PA Journal and American, 13 February 1864
Journal and American (Huntingdon, Pennsylvania), 24 February 1864
Charles Anderson Robinson, E-mail correspondence to the Afrolumens Project, 20 January 2006.

Website:

http://www.afrolumens.org/rising_free/usct/chaplin01.html

[Officer Lightoller]

Hello!
I'm fairly new to reenacting, and I was wondering something. Though I know what rations were given to the troops (Salt Pork, Hardtack, and Coffee), does anybody know what else they'd eat?

Brendan Macie,
a.k.a. 2nd Officer Lightoller
soon to be, 3rd US infantry

[Missouri Mule]

Officer Lightroller,

A quick search of the AC found the following articles dealing with rations:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11823&highlight=rations

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13047&highlight=rations

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=122&highlight=rations

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9575&highlight=rations


And while I haven't read them all myself, I'm sure they'd provide wonderful information. If nothing else, they'd give you other ideas to continue your own search.

Also, you might want to sign your full name to your posts. :)

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Using the Search Function just to the right of the top-center screen, you will find numerous answers to your questions. Part of your question needs to be defined...are you looking for the "Issued Ration" or period foods that may have been sent from home or bought from sutlers?

Here's a few links found by using the search function:

Dried Fruit:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13047&highlight=rations

Sealing Food Containers:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3393&highlight=rations

Commissary

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9575&highlight=issue+rations

Issuing Rations

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5470&highlight=issue+rations

Hope this helps get you started...and do not forget to sign your full name to your post.

Paul

[WoodenNutmeg]

The world of Civil War military (and non-military for that matter) food rations is a glorious mecca of research and interest. As others have mentioned, check the board, but when you're done there, hit the books.

The library is a good place to start.

Pvt. Bryan O'Keefe, Esquire

[Charles Heath]

Brendan,

It depends.

A good way to approach this time honored question is to ask yourself "For which event am I preparing?"

We have had a good time with rations this year, as is the case with most seasons, and the fun research that went into trying to figure out what the boys of '61-'65 were eating at a particular time and location. One of the rules of thumb is to read letters and find out what sort of food the average enlisted fellow was complaining about, and sometimes he'll even lay out what he wasn't getting in terms of foodstuffs.

So, you may end up with pemmican, turkey nuts, wild onions, stinky cheese balls, peaches, sardines, rats, warm white bread, venison, beef, pork brains, apples, parsnips, canned beef, rice, unbolted cornmeal, pea bread, field peas, salt herring, salt cod, cherries, powdered lemonade, and oysters, just to name a few things, but not all at the same time at the same event at the same meal.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

In addition to the resources and links already cited, the "old standby" books commonly read by reenactors are also great introductory resources, including:

Hardtack and Coffee, by John Billings

The Life of Johnny Reb and The Life of Billy Yank, by Bell I. Willey.

The Civil War Infantryman, by James Coco.

...and numerous, well-read and oft-cited soldier memoirs, diaries, and letter-collections.

[BenjaminLDavis]

In addition to the resources and links already cited, the "old standby" books commonly read by reenactors are also great introductory resources, including:

Hardtack and Coffee, by John Billings

The Life of Johnny Reb and The Life of Billy Yank, by Bell I. Willey.

The Civil War Infantryman, by James Coco.

...and numerous, well-read and oft-cited soldier memoirs, diaries, and letter-collections.

You took the words right out of my mouth, Kevin - I would add here
"A Taste for War: The Culinary History of the Blue and Gray,"
by William C. Davis.
I would also concur that the Billings and the two by Willey are essential
to the library of anyone starting out in this hobby. Not only about food,
but all aspects of the life of the common soldier.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Very true about Billings and Wiley's books. I think a lot of reenactors read them when they first get into reenacting and then forget a lot of what those books say, and neglect to return to them in subsequent years for re-readings. I've read Hardtack and Coffee a couple times, but years ago; when I got involved with the "Winter 1864" event, for example, I rediscovered that Billings devotes an entire chapter to the topic of life in winter quarters--something I'd quite forgotten was in that book. I suspect that a number of reenactors are in the same boat, and sometimes neglect to return to the old standbys now and then to brush up their impression and knowledge.

[fedhead]

I sometimes revisit this question from time to time and it's a hard one to answer.

What was is season in what state at what time in the Civil War . I know this is a big question i am hoping someone knows the answer to some part of the question and so on.

As living historians we take in all time periods and some of us portray both sides during the civil war , therefore as the armies moved through different states and so foraged different food items they would have had access to a changing array of foodstuffs . This would have also been influenced by the time of year and period of the war and location. I believe this is a very interesting and varied topic.

It's very easy to say use the items that were in season but the answer is far more complicated .

HELP?

[13thnhv]

Martyn, Certainly, I'm not intending to sound disrespectful or flip, but I am convinced that whatever was edible at the time, in whatever season or means was available, was a clear target for foraging, ie eggs, nuts, corn, cherries, pies, chickens, cattle, pigs, etc. The Civil War was no different than any other war prior to its time. You scrounged if necessary to quiet the growling tummy. The governments of both armies provided what they provided. The rest was easy, or less so. Find it, prepare it, eat it and do it again. Perhaps I am missing the intent of your question, but I seriously am struggling to fathom a deeper meaning to your query.

[Becky Morgan]

Ummm...do you mean, for instance, when are blackberries ripe in Gettysburg, or apples in Virginia? (Or, given apparent climate change, when *were* blackberries ripe, because it may have been earlier or later.)

If so, one good source is the county extension agent for the locale you're interested in. That'll give you a starting point, at least. Soldiers' letters and diaries are very handy, because like soldiers since time immemorial, Billy and Johnny thought about food a lot. Over and over we read that the presence of something out of season, or the absence or scarcity of something that should have been in, is enough to write home about.

Also, it doesn't hurt to ask around. Right now, near the fortieth parallel in eastern Ohio in a rare dry year, most full-season varieties of apples are ripe, but small. I saw very few summer apples this year. There didn't seem to be a good peach crop this year; what we got came from out of state and wouldn't have been available in CW times unless someone went to great trouble. Hard squash are plentiful. Pumpkins are ripe and the vines are beginning to dry up. Cattails are turning brown already even though there has been no frost. We had a few raspberries in the usual third week of June, some tame red raspberries in the third week of September, a modest blackberry crop in late July and what was supposed to be a very good elderberry crop between August and September (I didn't pick any.) The third cutting of hay will probably be poor, but there was enough late growth for the third cut after all. Sumac has made large heavy berry cones. There is a decent but not unusual crop of black walnuts and acorns coming down as we speak. Tomatoes are slacking off and the vines are looking tired. Late-planted peas are starting to come in and some people are still picking green beans. Potatoes are ready to dig if they haven't been dug.

Is that what you had in mind?

[Silas]

Here's a link which could help : http://www.geocities.com/Texasgroundhornets/FoodinSeason.htm

[fedhead]

Ummm...do you mean, for instance, when are blackberries ripe in Gettysburg, or apples in Virginia? (Or, given apparent climate change, when *were* blackberries ripe, because it may have been earlier or later.)

That's the information i am getting at .

Thanks for the link, i must of missed it i visit the groundhornets site from time to time .

[Poor Private]

Everyone looks at what crops or fruit that are available at the time. Lets not forget game.
Such as deer, pheasant, possum, squirrel, or any other edible furry or feathered creature. If they saw it they shot it, or snared it.

[Becky Morgan]

The issue of what game was where may be a real eye-opener. In our area, turkeys have been reintroduced and have prospered. However, I assumed they died out with heavy farming in the late 19th century. Try 1803! The wolves were exterminated about that time, too. I'm 49 and can recall when a hunter getting a deer, or even seeing one, was worthy of a newspaper article. Now we're lucky not to hit one on the way to work.

From what I can find, rabbits and groundhogs were plentiful in CW days, although they would all but disappear during the Great Depression. Both taste pretty darned good. Possum is more a desperation meat since they're anything but clean feeders. We were very short on squirrels for a few years, but they've come back to what are supposed to be reasonable levels for our area. Not many local histories, diaries or letters seem to mention when game disappeared; it's as if everyone were too busy to notice. I know the Farm Bureau probably has a record of when bounties were lifted. etc., which might be a good way to judge.

[Old Reb]

Captain Elija Perry of the 17th Texas mentions in letters home of seeing folks eat poor pig in Arkansas. Poor pig was slang for dog. Yummy!:)

[Annette Bethke]

This site lists current crop seasons for each state. It might help.

http://www.pickyourown.org/cropavail.htm

[Stu_Sac]

While if we are taking Virginia, I've found the following site to work as a starting point, for this question. http://www.pickyourown.org/VAcalendar.htm Now, this is a modern reference tool, directed at the modern consumer. So there are a couple of follow-up questions that have to be answered, was a particular item common in the planting selection in the 1860's. Then, was a given item in the common diet? As I was discussing with someone else earlier this year, just because Jefferson planted a one, doesn't mean that it was a common planting in Virginia.

Have a good afternoon,

Stu Howe

[Annette Bethke]

Oops, sorry. Click on "Find a Farm Near You", locate your state and then scroll down to crop availability/harvest schedule.

[ephraim_zook]

Everyone looks at what crops or fruit that are available at the time. Lets not forget game.
Such as deer, pheasant, possum, squirrel, or any other edible furry or feathered creature. If they saw it they shot it, or snared it.

I think you'd have to take some guidance from Ms Morgan's post. Also, if you think about it, as soon as any semblance of an army (or any other crowd, for that matter) arrives in an area, nearly all the indigenous wildlife would book out toward the next county. They wouldn't hang around, grazing on the edge of camp. Suburban wildlife today has become (1) very numerous and (2) very tame. Deer in my backyard ignore my dogs unless the dogs get rambunctious. Not so 145 years ago.

I agree that if the opportunity presented itself, soldiers would avail themselves of it. But we can't think of wild game as a staple of army food supply.

Ron Myzie

[Annette Bethke]

was a particular item common in the planting selection in the 1860's. Then, was a given item in the common diet? As I was discussing with someone else earlier this year, just because Jefferson planted a one, doesn't mean that it was a common planting in Virginia.

Stu Howe

Very true. This is where serious reading of diaries and letters come in. The site works well if you already know what crops you're looking for. Affleck's Almanac is a great resource for 1860s plantings, but I not sure he goes that far north.

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

I think you'd have to take some guidance from Ms Morgan's post. Also, if you think about it, as soon as any semblance of an army (or any other crowd, for that matter) arrives in an area, nearly all the indigenous wildlife would book out toward the next county. They wouldn't hang around, grazing on the edge of camp. Suburban wildlife today has become (1) very numerous and (2) very tame. Deer in my backyard ignore my dogs unless the dogs get rambunctious. Not so 145 years ago.

I agree that if the opportunity presented itself, soldiers would avail themselves of it. But we can't think of wild game as a staple of army food supply.

Ron Myzie

Sir,

While I believe we are in agreement that wild game cannot/should not generally be considered as a staple of army food; numerous accounts support the practice of catching/killing wild game, especially of the smaller variety...robins, rabbits etc...in an effort to supplement the army ration. The bigger issue, would be researching the wild game caught being appropriate for the time and place of the event being portrayed.

While it may be true that in some areas of the country wild animals are more tame than their predescors...it still would not prevent the curious nature of these animals from entering camps in search of food or being in the viscinity of soldiers. Lets not forget that at one time there was an over-abundance of wild animals in the Eastern States, and the siting of these animals would have been farely common outside of cities/metropolises.

Many discussions have been on the AC, as an example of a previous AC discussion on wild game, we may refer to the following;

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1968&highlight=rabbit

Paul

[markj]

Some might be intrigued and edified by this:

Ingredients of a Family Fortune
The hot story of Tabasco sauce.

BY MARK ROBICHAUX
Wall Street Journal Online, Wednesday, October 10, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT

From the time I tapped the first few drops of Tabasco onto the boiled crawfish I caught as a boy in south Louisiana's bayous, it was love at first bite. I can remember the slender bottle with its red cap and diamond-shaped label standing in quiet superiority alongside the salt and pepper shakers on the kitchen table. Tabasco was a staple of my Cajun home, and I have cooked faithfully with it ever since. Millions of Americans--most of them, it is safe to say, without a Cajun background--seem to share my enthusiasm. How did Tabasco become, so to speak, so hot?

As the legend goes, a Louisiana banker named Edmund McIlhenny--his family's Avery Island plantation in ruins after the Civil War--took the seeds of a Mexican pepper given to him by a Confederate soldier and began a condiment business in 1869, the forerunner of today's company and the origins of a brand name now recognized throughout the world.

In "McIlhenny's Gold," Jeffrey Rothfeder, a former BusinessWeek editor, sets himself the ambitious goal of testing the truth of this founding legend and of drawing a historical profile of one of the oldest--and most profitable--family businesses in U.S. history. He does an impressive job of assembling historical documents, ancient newspaper clippings and interviews with former factory workers, competitors and family members--though no McIlhennys actively involved in the business on Avery Island would cooperate. He admits that sometimes "people's inherited recollections of decades- or centuries-old incidents were all I had to work with." But the result is valuable as a general corrective to a record overloaded with secondhand tales.

Today, Mr. Rothfeder reports, McIlhenny Co. is a business with $250 million in annual revenue, still closely held despite buyout offers of $1 billion. The company produces as many as 600,000 two-ounce bottles of its signature product a day, selling it in more than 100 countries, with profit margins, according to the author, of 25% or more. And yet for all the product's familiarity, the family behind the sauce remains something of a mystery, still operating from remote Avery Island, part of southern Louisiana's Acadian Gothic landscape of high canopies and moss-hung cypress trees.


The story actually begins in the pre-Civil War era with a New Orleans plantation owner named Maunsel White, who was famous for the food served at his sumptuous dinner parties. Mr. White's table no doubt groaned with the region's varied fare--drawing inspiration from European, Caribbean and Cajun sources--but one of his favorite sauces was of his own devising, made from a pepper named for its origins in the Mexican state of Tabasco. White added the sauce to various dishes and bottled it for his guests.
"Although the McIlhennys have tried to dismiss the possibility," Mr. Rothfeder writes, "it seems clear now that in 1849, a full two decades before Edmund McIlhenny professed to discover the Tabasco pepper, White was already growing Tabasco chilies on his plantation." The author's evidence: a letter to the News Orleans Daily Delta newspaper attesting that the "Tobasco" is "a new species of red pepper, which Colonel White has introduced into this country." If nothing else, Mr. Rothfeder concludes, the McIlhenny sauce was inspired by White's recipe.

It is certainly true that Edmund McIlhenny began bottling and selling E. McIlhenny Tabasco Pepper Sauce in the late 1860s. Some of the first bottles he sold were bought by Union soldiers still billeted in the South and enamored of the sauce that lent a dash of spice to bland Army rations. The product soon spread far and wide--and fast, thanks in part to a deal with a big national distributor. Mr. Rothfeder quotes a letter from a British soldier in India to his mother in 1888: "I want to call your attention to a sauce. It's called 'Tabasco Pepper Sauce' and seemingly emanates from a man, E. McIlhenny, New Iberia, Louisiana. A drop or two in soup, stew or mixed around with mashed potatoes gives one a great appetite."

The concoction was made in a factory town built on a remote island in Louisiana's bayous that is seemingly designed for hot-sauce production: Avery Island is actually a salt dome with vast supplies of one of Tabasco sauce's essential ingredients. But a great part of the sauce's early success was owed to the McIlhenny family's business acumen.

Given Tabasco's three simple ingredients--vinegar, pepper mash and salt--competitors who had been using the Tabasco pepper in their own sauces were stunned in 1906 when the McIlhennys were awarded a trademark for the word "Tabasco." It was as if someone had claimed the word "mustard." The head of the company, Edmund McIlhenny's eldest son, John, was a former Rough Rider and a close friend of President Theodore Roosevelt's; rival companies suspected that the friendship influenced the government's decision, Mr. Rothfeder says, but they couldn't prove it. The trademark was later successfully defended in court and today stands as an American business rarity: a trademark that is also the name of a generic ingredient. The McIlhennys have vigilantly enforced their rights ever since.

But the primary reason that Tabasco has dominated the hot-sauce category is the consistency of its flavor and spiciness. When I talked with Louisiana's celebrated chef Paul Prudhomme for an article I wrote about McIlhenny Co. in this newspaper several years ago, he told me that other sauces could be unpredictably too hot--or too tart or too salty. "I may use 10 drops of Tabasco, but I can trust that 10 drops," Mr. Prudhomme said. Edmund McIlhenny, with help from a small group of ex-slaves and close friends, had relied on intuition, not laboratory tests, to mix his recipe--with remarkable results. "That Edmund McIlhenny instinctually navigated a near flawless balance between heat and flavor when he invented Tabasco sauce is either dumb luck or yet another indication of his commercial genius," Mr. Rothfeder writes.

Though the company now offers several flavors of Tabasco, including a Sweet & Spicy variety, not much has changed about making the classic sauce over the past 138 years: hand-picked peppers a particular shade of red, mixed with salt and vinegar, and aged three years in wooden barrels that formerly held Jack Daniels whiskey. The McIlhenny process actually dampens the Scoville units, or heat level, in the Tabasco pepper, which would be intolerable to eat raw.

"McIlhenny's Gold" offers plenty of family-business lessons, particularly on succession planning. Every McIlhenny chief executive has been a direct descendant of the company founder, except for a brief turbulent time in the late 1990s, and each has been as colorful as the last. In addition to John McIlhenny the Rough Rider, the list includes Edward "Mr. Ned" Avery McIlhenny, a bon vivant and naturalist; Walter Stauffer "Tabasco Mac" McIlhenny, a World War II sharpshooter; and the current chief executive, Paul McIlhenny, a man who once offered "the world's largest bloody Mary" to French Quarter revelers. Not all of these company leaders had the founder's astute business sense, but each managed to keep the company profitable.

Certainly running McIlhenny Co. today is infinitely more complicated than in Edmund's time, and Mr. Rothfeder outlines the challenges the McIlhennys have faced: In the 1970s, confronted with a shortage of pepper mash, the company had to move its pepper cultivation to Latin America. By the 1980s, the rising popularity of salsa, Buffalo wings and other hot, spicy foods began to threaten Tabasco's dominance as a one-stop heat source. And today, the swelling number of shareholding McIlhenny heirs--more than 200 of them--has made managing the company's fortunes far more complex than before.

Mr. Rothfeder offers a glum assessment of McIlhenny Co.'s current state: "By apparently neglecting the company's challenges, Paul McIlhenny has further tempted the ire of the younger shareholders, who are increasingly impatient with the business's torpid pace of growth and the lack of imagination in the executive suite." The author suggests that "the unthinkable" could happen: a shareholder revolt and the sale of the company.
Sections of "McIlhenny's Gold" are evocative and gracefully written. (When John McIlhenny hosted a memorable debutante ball deep in the company's salt mine in 1903, "lacy coruscating light glinted off French candelabras onto the crystalline walls, ceilings and floors.") But other sections lapse into boilerplate. For example, the first chapter concludes: "Edmund took with him hard-earned and invaluable lessons about creating, promoting and managing a decidedly competitive business, which he would use again to his advantage." But even if Mr. Rothfeder's style is not as consistently flavorful as the sauce he's describing, the McIlhenny story itself is pure gold.

Mr. Robichaux is the editor of Broadcasting & Cable magazine. You can by "McIlhenny's Gold" from the OpinionJournal bookstore.

*************

Yours, &c.,

Mark Jaeger

[Johnny Lloyd]

Hi-
The only reason why MRE's taste decent, at best, in the US Army, is the little bottle of Tabasco Sauce in them... even today what the British soldier said to his mother in 1888 holds true.
Tabasco sauce from a mess hall downrange makes Iraqi goat/lamb kebabs taste "palatable" too, but strangely the Iraqis didn't like it- trust me on this one- it kinda peeves them off when their mouth is on-fire and there is no cold water nearby to cool it off. Remember: You don't wanna tick off the guy with a loaded AK-47 unless your weapon is loaded too. Sounds funny, but I'm not joking.

Our theory that Tabasco kills germs in food was disproven... unfortunately it doesn't kill off dysentery or salmonella- I found out firsthand...:rolleyes:

Good article. Was McIlhenny a Confederate soldier?
- Johnny "Texas Pete" Lloyd

[Charles Heath]

One word: Nutria. That's the dark side of the story.

[markj]

Secret of the pros: one of the best ways to cut down on the "burn" of hot peppers (especially habaneros) is the Mexican Solution: chomp down on tortillas (or presumably, in the case of the Middle East, flat bread) and salt.

Trying to quench the "burn" with liquid (e.g., H2O) can be akin to spraying water on a gas fire: just spreads the capsacin oil around in your oral cavity. However, milk and yoghurt also reportedly work well. I also use yoghurt to remedy "tobacco bite" on my tongue after smoking a cigar or pipe--it really cools things down.

Does anyone have other remedies for the "heartbreak of habaneros?":eek:

Yours, &c.,

Mark Jaeger

[Slouch]

sour cream will sooth the burn as well

[Johnny Lloyd]

Wish we had all of the above remedies in Iraq for those PO-ed Iraqis... the hobuz (flat bread) and jibbon (nasty cream cheese from Syria) we had for the Iraqi soldier's rations just didn't seem to cut-it... stuff tasted nasty too- LOL :p

-Johnny

PS- I heard nutria are good eatin' in Louisiana. :confused_

[D Harrelson]

Somewhere recently I read a recipe for a kind of hard cornbread which could be carried for a few days without crumbling. I believe it also included a hit of blackstrap molasses in the recipe. Any out there who can guide me to the source or share a recipe that might fit the bill?

D Harrelson

[Hank Trent]

Somewhere recently I read a recipe for a kind of hard cornbread which could be carried for a few days without crumbling. I believe it also included a hit of blackstrap molasses in the recipe. Any out there who can guide me to the source or share a recipe that might fit the bill?

Well, if I've got indian meal to deal with and need to make something that will last, I usually bake or fry it into corn cakes. Did that last event, and they stood up to be shaken around in a haversack all day, with only maybe half a cup of crumbs at the bottom, which were still good to eat of course.

If all you have is the meal and some lard or grease, you can make them just from water and meal. Mix the meal with water like you're making sandcastles, knead it up as best you can, press them small and thin. I usually have a frying pan for cooking. Depending how much grease you have, you can either sort of bake them in the frying pan or drop them into hot grease, and bake/fry them until one side is brown, then flip and do the other side.

If you have some lard to put in them, they'll hold together much better. That's what I made at the last event. Same thing, only with a small handful of lard for every two or three large handfuls of cornmeal.

If you have molasses or sugar, or salt, you can add that too. Or wheat flour or rye flour. Or boiled potato or sweet potato or pumpkin. Or eggs or milk. They're kind of a repository for anything soft you can't carry with you otherwise. Making them thin and getting a good hard crust on both sides is what makes them hold together best.

For documentation, there are several similar variations in the Kentucky Housewife, 1839, p. 314-315, including Pumpkin Hoe Cakes, Indian Hoe Cakes, Indian Water Cakes (which recipe begins with the encouraging remark, "Indian water cakes, when made of stiff dough, and baked with a hard crust, of all cakes are the most disgusting..." :) , and Johnny Cakes.

The New England Farmer, September 1868, talks about "the hoe cakes of our Southern States, and our Yankee fire-cakes and johnny-cakes; which are made of scalded Indian meal, sometimes of Indian and rye, or of wheat-meal or flour--with occasionally a little saleratus as a slight leavening power, and, for a change, a small quantity of shortening--cream or lard,--and as a luxury a spoonful or two of molasses, when a sweet cake is desired. These are baked--the hoe cakes upon the metal of a clean hoe, in front of blazing pine logs; the johnny cakes before a clear fire, on a piece of board or the gingerbread-tin of the farmer's wife; the fire cakes in the old-fashioned Dutch oven... so that both sides of the cake are baked at once; a great improvement this upon the turning and slipping of hoe and johnny cakes to finish the work."

Much later, the Picayune Creale Cookbook, 1922, at http://books.google.com/books?id=pxYEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA352 reminisces about the various corn cakes made by the "darkies" with recipes for Corn Dodgers, Ash Cake, Fried Corn Cakes, Hoecake, etc., all variations on the theme.

In Recollections of Slavery Times by Frank Alexander Montgomery, 1895, he describes a similar process: "The cooking utensils were few and all of the simplest kind. A long handled shallow iron skillet with long legs did duty as a spider in which to fry our salt pork, bacon and other meat, whenever we could get it. It was also sometimes used to bake “hoe cake” in. These hoe cakes, which formed a large part of the slave's bill of fare, were made of Indian meal, and water with a little salt and sometimes a quantity of pork fat was added. When the skillet was not at hand or was wanted for some other purpose, a “nigger hoe,” that is a hoe used by the slave in the field, was placed handle down upon the floor, so that the under side of the hoe would be next to the fire. The angle that the iron part of the hoe made with the handle was such that when the handle was placed upon the floor the iron part would slant back from the fire, thereby making a resting place for the cake. When one side of the cake was baked the other side was turned to the fire."

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[hernicus]

If you have access to a quality library (usually a University NOT a local public), then you can always research the Farmers' Almanac for your year. The FA has been in print since Ben Franklin! Finding regional timelines is more difficult, but I have used this source for preparing Subsistence Department Ration issues and has been one of the helpful sources I have found.

Hope that helps!

[Charles Heath]

Martyn,

It's a great question, but it may be way too broad to adequately address. Instead of working from the big end of the funnel, look at the small end.

Which event(s) are you considering? Hit the books from there. We had a lot of fun this year with the Shiloh and Vicksburg NPS living histories with three of the four subsistence categories, and that would be issued rations, sutler items, and foraged goods. Although, when it comes to victuals, I do believe the rebs had more fun at Vicksburg this summer than we did.

[orngblsm]

Gents,

Sullivan press has apparently fell off the face of the earth. I've tried for nearly a year now to get some of his document cds from him, but the man won't even send me an email back or answer his phone. So my question: Does anyone have the "Household Products and Patent Medicine Labels" cd and/or the "Union and Confederate Stationery" cd? I'm in great need of producing labels and period envelopes in bulk and could really use these cds. Let me know

Thanks,

[Dignann]

Ryan,

Here's somone who had the stationary CD for sale: http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13509

Eric

[Watchdog]

Sullivan Press was at September Storm. My wife also has had difficulty getting Bob to fill her orders for books in a timely manner. Mr. Sullivan has offered no real explanation and one can only surmise that he has the "slows" more often than not. He does attend Rev War events.

[crabby]

Ryan,

Welcome to the world of Sullivan Press.

I am still waiting on a bulk order from him for the last 6 months.:baring_te

Crabby

[uhlan53]

While we're at it, I ordered a dime novel over a month ago, got an e-mail receipt from Paypal that Sullivan was paid, and to date, no merchandise.

I e-mailed twice and left a phone message, and there has been no answer.

Maybe he'll be at Fort #4 tonight, LOL!

Gordon Markiewicz

[Parault]

While his items are very good quality,his timely shipments to customers are in need of improvement.

[dave81276]

I have used both his Federal and Confederate documents cd-roms, and both are well-nigh useless, unless you happen to portray the individual to whom the document was issued at the time it was issued. They are almost impossible to edit, and that makes them inapplicable to just about every event.

[fedhead]

i too have not received a order placed in June .

[KathyBradford]

Ryan,

Michael Schaffner has written and compiled a great amount of research in his "School of the Clerk". It's an amazing amount of knowledge about paperwork and clerking responsibilities in one place. He's also put together some documents that you can access from this link. It's not the labels or stationery, but I hope this helps. Look for an email, too.

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9874

[22ndVolunteersBugler]

I finally just recieved an order from him that I placed in July....After my Mother filled a complaint to the Better Business Bureau.

[ephraim_zook]

I have used both his Federal and Confederate documents cd-roms, and both are well-nigh useless, unless you happen to portray the individual to whom the document was issued at the time it was issued. They are almost impossible to edit, and that makes them inapplicable to just about every event.
Hello, Dave,

I'm not trying to start something here, but since I've been using Sullivan's union document CD for quite a while, I'm not sure what you mean by your statement above. Not one form on the cd is specific to an individual -- they are all blanks that you print out and then write on. Can you give me some idea? Maybe I have a different edition of the disk?

thanks
Ron Myzie

[uhlan53]

An electronic receipt from Paypal, two e-mails, two phone messages, and a month and a half wait. Still no merchandise or the courtesy of a reply!

Gordon Markiewicz

[TraciAnn]

I'm not sure if anyone has come across this new article... but I thought it was interesting. It's not really anything we haven't heard or thought of before, but it is always good to see the Civil War get this sort of publicity.

Found this on CNN's homepage.

How a coffee played a role in Civil War (http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/wayoflife/10/29/mf.coffee.confederacy/index.html)
Story Highlights
Coffee was a hot commodity in the Civil War

Union troops had it for breakfast, lunch, dinner

Suppliers sometime ground dirt into beans

Blockade kept coffee had to get for Confederate troops

By David A. Norris
(Mental Floss) -- Even in the midst of the Civil War, there was still one thing the North and South shared -- a serious addiction to caffeine.

In that respect, the Union clearly had an advantage. Not only did the North have more than two-thirds of the population and control most of the heavy industry, railroads, and financial reserves in the country, it hoarded supplies of the highly addictive little bean, leaving the Confederacy to wage its own war against java deprivation.

Coffee: It's what's for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Throughout the Civil War, coffee was as prevalent on the battlefields as it is in offices today. In fact, the Union army was fueled by the stuff to the point that, if there was no time to boil water, the Boys in Blue would chew on whole beans as they marched. And at night, Union campsites were dotted with tiny fires, each boiling a pot of coffee like a million miniature Starbucks.

Beyond caffeine cravings, Union troops loved their coffee because it was, literally, the best thing on the menu.

Before the advent of helpful (and tasty!) artificial preservatives, a marching soldier's rations were neither varied nor particularly appetizing. Typically, they consisted of salted meat, unleavened bread (accurately christened "hardtack"), and a little sugar and salt.

It didn't help that Union supply chains were riddled with corrupt food contractors who charged the government top dollar for rotten, stale, and insect-ridden foodstuffs.

Coffee, however, was almost always fresh because it was delivered in whole-bean form -- making it difficult for even the most dishonest supplier to skimp on quality. Not that they didn't try, of course. In fact, officials began requesting coffee as whole beans after some crooked contractors tried to up their per-pound profits by slipping sand and dirt into packages of ground coffee.

In 1861, hoping to cut down on the time soldiers spent roasting and grinding beans, the army switched to a concentrated proto-instant coffee. The new concoction, called "essence of coffee," was made by boiling prepared coffee, milk, and sugar into a thick gloop, which soldiers then reconstituted by mixing it with water.

The product reportedly tasted every bit as bad as you'd imagine, and thanks to the corrupt dairymen who sold the army spoiled milk, it also tended to cause diarrhea. Needless to say, the Union army was soon back on the bean.

Southern discomfort

Noxious as essence of coffee was, Confederate soldiers would have gladly downed a cup or two. But, because of a Union naval blockade, coffee (along with weapons, machinery, medicine, and other vital materials) was in short supply in the South.

Before the war, a pound of beans would have set you back around 20 cents in Yankee dough. Once pre-war stockpiles ran out, however, the same amount was running as high as $60 in Confederate money. (Despite the undervalued currency, that was still a lot.)

There was some coffee that made it into the Confederacy -- usually carried by steam-powered blockade-runner ships.

But, for the most part, Southerners had to rely on coffee substitutes, including various forms of roasted corn, rye, okra seeds, sweet potatoes, acorns, and peanuts. Unfortunately, all these imitations lacked potency, tasted awful, and upset the bowels.

The only slightly better alternative was tea made from the leaves of the native yaupon shrub. The good news was that it contained caffeine; the bad news was that it was incredibly difficult to digest.

Luckily, there was one surefire way for Southern folk to get their coffee -- by making peace with the Union. Soldiers on the front lines often called informal truces so Rebels could swap tobacco for Yankee coffee and then dash back to their camps before they were reported missing.

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[DaveGink]

Hello,

Does anyone have, or know where I can find photos of a genuine Union Mechanical Hardtack crate lid? Besides the one I posted below? I'd like to see the full thing, and to know what the portion hidden behind the soldiers leg looks like.

If any one has links or images they can post or send me, I would be most grateful. I can not find anything anywhere.

Thanks!!
Dave

[C.R. Henderson]

That is the best and only image that I have been able to find, myself. I'd love to know where another is- or a modern photo of an original box that survived.

[DaveGink]

Hello,

Does anyone have, or know where I can find photos of a genuine Union Mechanical Hardtack crate lid? Besides the one I posted below? I'd like to see the full thing, and to know what the portion hidden behind the soldiers leg looks like.

If any one has links or images they can post or send me, I would be most grateful. I can not find anything anywhere.

Thanks!!
Dave

I wanted to bump this so it wouldn't be lost. I started it as a new thread and it got moved to this thread. Thanks!!

[Danny]

Hello,

Does anyone have, or know where I can find photos of a genuine Union Mechanical Hardtack crate lid? Besides the one I posted below? I'd like to see the full thing, and to know what the portion hidden behind the soldiers leg looks like.

If any one has links or images they can post or send me, I would be most grateful. I can not find anything anywhere.

Thanks!!
Dave

Dave -

I hear ya. Attached is a pdf that, if you can print it at size (even if you have to tape several letter-size pages together to do it) is a stencil of that Army Bread lid from your photo. If you have an artsy kid handy with small scissors (or an adult with an x-Acto knife held up to a picture window) have them cut out the letters* so you can stiff-brush ("stipple") through the letters onto your box lid. Use thick paint and squish out most of it off the brush before you use it. No swiping motion, just stabbing with that stiff brush through the letters.**

Yes, I had to guess on what showed behind the leg but based on the way I've seen such words used in period it can't be too far off. Estimating the guy's hand measurement across the knuckles to be about 3-3/4 inches gave me the size for the stencil, on a page 23 x 18 inches (the size of the box top if the knuckle estimate is valid).

- Dan Wykes

* you may have to varnish the paper to stiffen it if you don't have stiff paper to begin with, or spray glue several layers of the same print together to make a stiff stencil.

**You could cheat and use spray-paint, but I didn't say that.

[DaveGink]

Dave -

I hear ya. Attached is a pdf that, if you can print it at size (even if you have to tape several letter-size pages together to do it) is a stencil of that Army Bread lid from your photo. If you have an artsy kid handy with small scissors (or an adult with an x-Acto knife held up to a picture window) have them cut out the letters* so you can stiff-brush ("stipple") through the letters onto your box lid. Use thick paint and squish out most of it off the brush before you use it. No swiping motion, just stabbing with that stiff brush through the letters.**

Yes, I had to guess on what showed behind the leg but based on the way I've seen such words used in period it can't be too far off. Estimating the guy's hand measurement across the knuckles to be about 3-3/4 inches gave me the size for the stencil, on a page 23 x 18 inches (the size of the box top if the knuckle estimate is valid).

- Dan Wykes

* you may have to varnish the paper to stiffen it if you don't have stiff paper to begin with, or spray glue several layers of the same print together to make a stiff stencil.

**You could cheat and use spray-paint, but I didn't say that.

Hello Dan,
Thank you very much!!

Your template looks to be the closest to the photo that I have seen of any created by the box makers out there. Nice work! It would still be nice to know what other text was behind that leg. ;)

Thanks again!
Dave

[grant]

I have done tons of searching on the net and in the library and i cant find any info on what they put in the sugar to keep it fresh during the 19th century i have had some at events from people and im tired on having no sugar at events for my coffee, does anyone know how to make it? I recently bought a mold for the cone that they used to put the sugar mixture in so id like to start reproducing it if i can only get the recipe. If anyone has any info that would be great, thanks everyone.
-Grant