Our mothers and grandmothers did not have all the kitchen tools we have today. This is how they made Potato Straws. How to Make Potato Straws (Transcribed from Brewton Banner (Brewton, Alabama June 2, 1883) POTATO STRAWS Wash a pint of potatoes, peel them very thin, slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, […]
The Lake Dick Cooperative Association in Arkansas was a New Deal Project. It consisted of the heads of each resident household, with each member holding one share of stock. This Association controlled all commercial and agricultural activities at Lake Dick. As a benevolent cooperative, the Association leased the entire 3,453 acre farm from the […]
This is one of the most misquoted sayings. The word tenterhooks is often stated as tenderhooks. To be on tenterhooks is to be filled with painful or anxious anticipation or suspense, such as when you’re waiting for the result of an important medical test. A tenterhook is a metal hook that holds the cloth in place […]
(Excerpts transcribed from Daily Mountain Eagle, Jasper, Alabama, January 6, 1886) CHICKEN PIE 1886 RECIPE Stew chicken till tender, season with one-quarter of a pound of butter, salt, and pepper; line the sides of a pie-dish with a rich crust, pour in the stewed chicken, and cover loosely with a crust, first cutting a hole […]
CYPRUS 2000 by Dorothy Graham Gast In the fall of 1999, newspapers were full of speculation about Y2K. As the weeks neared January 1, 2000. It was predicted that computers would fail all over the world and everything from the electrical systems to government itself would flounder. People stockpiled foods that could last without refrigeration, […]
Towns were declared unconstitutional Some towns that had their start during the Depression Era were declared socialistic and unconstitutional in the 1940s and 1950s era when the anti-socialists were influencing American politics. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created a program to build new suburban communities as part of his New Deal plans for the country. The overseeing […]
Around 1542, when the phrase first appeared, “to go to pot” was to be cut up like chunks of meat destined for the stew pot. When farm animals outlived their usefulness such as a hen that no longer laid eggs would literally go to pot. It was cooked and eaten. Such a stew was usually […]
(Excerpt transcribed from Daily Mountain Eagle, Jasper, Alabama, January 6, 1886) GREEN CORN FRITTERS 1886 RECIPE Cut through the centre of each row of kernels, then press out the centre pulp with the back of the knife. Beat two eggs thoroughly, and add to them a heaping saltspoonful (teaspoonful?) of salt, a pinch of cayenne, […]
DYK: Did you know? The fashion for wigs began with the Bourbon kings of France. Louis XIII (1601 – 1643) went prematurely bald and took to wearing a wig. By the middle of the century, and especially during the reign of Louis XIV, The Sun King, wigs were virtually obligatory for all European nobility and […]
PLEDGES, PROMISES, AND THE NUMBER 101 by CLIFFORD DOBYNS In 1938 I was 6 years old and learned in the first grade how to say the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag. This activity would be hard to find today. At 7 years old I got a bicycle for Christmas and joined the town’s only […]
