VTT - Cranberries (and How to Cook Them)

This turkey isn't dumb. He knows what cranberries mean. If he escapes to the "tall timbers," he won't be caught and eaten for Thanksgiving.

Cranberries are a native American plant that grow in bogs and marches. They were included in the first Thanksgiving meal by the Pilgrims and are traditionally associated with Thanksgiving. Massachusetts is the largest producer of cranberries, followed by Wisconsin.

This Cranberries and how to cook them booklet is a 1950s promotion for Eatmor brand cranberries. It has 40 pages and has general information about cranberries in addition to many recipes. The recipes are divined into six sections: Sauces and Relishes, Hot Breads, Entrees, Salads, Pies, and Desserts. Shown below are the cover and several of the pages.

The complete Cranberries and how to cook them booklet is shown on the site of the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center in the Wetherby Cranberry Library Digital Collections. Many other cranberry publications are shown there also.

Vintage Thingies Thursdays

PFF - South Dakota Pheasant Hunting

This postcard was mailed from Canistota, S.D. with a 2¢ Jefferson stamp. The postmark doesn't have a year date, but the postcard can be dated between 1954 (when the stamp was issued) and 1958 (when postcard postage increased to 3¢). The message mentions being in Canistota for treatment at the Ortman Clinic, a somewhat famous and unique chiropractic clinic that is still in business. A sentence added by the writer along the top edge of the back says "I chased this hen to S.D."

The description on the back of the card is as follows:

A HAPPY COMBINATION. South Dakotans are happy that their state is known as "The Pheasant Capital of the World." Good hunting abounds in many parts of the countryside. This comely young woman is shown holding a live pheasant.

The "Greetings from South Dakota" postcard also has pheasant hunting as a theme. It is an example of a name band postcard, a type that was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and was published by Curteich in 1960.

VTT - Bountiful Fruits and Vegies

This is one of the plaques in my pyrography (burnt wood) collection. It is made by the Flemish Art Company and is larger than most burnt wood plaques--21" in diameter. When I bought this, it was unfinished. The main design in the center was already burned, but I burned most of the border myself with a modern electric wood burning tool.

The objects made for wood burning had printed designs that the hobbyist could trace over with the wood burning tool. Sometimes they were designed so that the background could be carved for greater relief, and glass "jewels" could be glued on for additional decoration. That is what is shown in the details below--instructions showing the areas to carve and/or add "jewelry." Relatively few pyrographic objects actually have carving or jewels.

Vintage Thingies Thursdays

WW - Witch You Were Here

This is a handmade Halloween postcard I designed and printed with a linoleum block, circa 1988.

PFF - Halloween Jack-O'-Lanterns

This is a modern Halloween postcard from my collection. I used to buy modern holiday greeting postcards. I haven't seen any for quite a while, however, except for an occasional Christmas postcard.

Jack-o'-lanterns originally were an Irish tradition. The name came from a tale about a man named Jack who played tricks on the devil. When Jack died, the devil barred him from hell but gave him a burning coal from hell to light his way. Jack made a lantern by placing this coal in a large carved turnip. In Ireland Jack-'o-lanterns were made from turnips or potatoes. Irish immigrants in the United States began using pumpkins for jack-o'-lanterns, and the Irish custom was adopted by other Americans.

VTT - Chocolate Candy Bars & Cookies

The first picture may look like one of large and miniature Hershey's chocolate bars, but the large "bars" are actually postcards. I bought these postcards from Hershey's in 1980. The miniatures are from the bag of Halloween candy I bought this week. The three cards on the left are 3-1/2" X 6"; the three on the right are 3" X 6".

There have been some changes in Hershey's products and packaging since these postcards were made. The Krackel brand is only available now as one of the four varieties in the Miniatures assortment--it is no longer available as a regular size bar. Some of the brands that are labeled "milk chocolate" on the postcards can now only be labeled "chocolate" instead of milk chocolate because cocoa butter was replaced in the formula with cheaper substitutes.

From about 1909 to 1918, during the years of the postcard craze, Hershey's made at least 88 different specially sized postcards that were included in Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar packages. The postcards included images of the chocolate factory, dairy farms, and town attractions. These are described on a Hershey blog post "Wish You Were Here. . ." Additional images of Hershey's postcards are on Flickr.

The Baby Ruth ad is from a 1952 American Family magazine. According to the ad, there was a cookie recipe on every wrapper. There are a number of sources for the Baby Ruth Cookie recipe on the Internet. Apparently they are quite messy to make. If I were going to make them, I would take the extra precautions of chilling the dough and preventing sticking such as those in the slightly modified Baby Ruth Cookie recipe from the Baltimore Sun at Bakespace.

Hershey's chocolate bars can also be used in cookies. I found the following recipe for Chocolate Bar Surprise Cookies on the Trick or Treats section of the Hershey's website.

Chocolate Bar Surprise Cookies

Ingredients

• Any combination chopped HERSHEY'S and REESE'S candy bars to make 2 cups
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup chopped nuts(optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Remove wrappers from candies. Cut each candy into 1/2-inch pieces; set aside.

2. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add eggs; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in candy pieces and nuts, if desired. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 5 dozen cookies.

Vintage Thingies Thursdays

PFF - Circleville Pumpkin Show

The 103rd annual Circleville Pumpkin Show is being held October 21-24, 2009. This is the oldest and largest food festival in Ohio. There are seven parades, pumpkin displays, and many pumpkin events. Crowds are estimated at 100,000 per day.

The first postcard shows the 1960 Miss Pumpkin Show Queen, Peggy Clark. (If you look closely, a John F. Kennedy campaign poster is visible in the top right corner). The Pumpkin Show website has pictures of Past Miss Pumpkin Show Queens, dating back to 1933.

The second postcard shows "The World's Largest Pumpkin Pie" which is baked annually for the show by Lindsey's Bake Shop.

The back of this postcard gives the following recipe:

80-lb. cooked pumpkin
36-lb. sugar
3-lb. corn starch
13-gal. milk
1-lb. pumpkin spice
1-lb. salt
12-doz. eggs
30-lb. pie dough

Bake 6 Hrs. Cool 6 Hrs. and Serve.