Tuesday Tidbits: POPSICLE: AN ICY BEGINNING

Have you ever had an Epsicle?

 

You probably have and didn’t know it.

 

In 1905, eleven-year-old Frank Epperson, of Oakland, California, showed his friends a powder soda mix that could be whipped up with water into a flavorful drink. Getting distracted, as an eleven-year-old has a tendency to do, he forgot it outside overnight. The temperatures dropped, and in the morning, his drink had frozen solid with his stir stick still in it. He ran the glass under hot water to free the solid drink. Using the stick as a handle, he gave it a lick and loved it.

 

Making more, he shared his treat with his friends. He called his frozen confection Epsicle, a combination of his last name and icicle. He continued to create these for the neighborhood kids. Then as an adult, he made them for his own children, who called them Pop’s Sicle.

 

A man in Central Park tasting his daughter's popsicle, 1942

In 1923, when he sought a patent, his children persuaded him to use their name for them, Popsicle. These were popular at baseball games, amusement parks, and other events, advertised as “a drink on a stick.”

 

With the crash of the stock market, Epperson found himself “flat and had to liquidate my assets.” He sold his invention to the Joe Lowe Co., who catapulted it to national success. Epperson said he was never the same after selling.

 

The Joe Lowe Co. added a second stick to create the twin pop, which sold for a nickel. This was a money stretcher during the Depression where two hungry children could pool their pennies and split one.

 

Good Humor (who sold chocolate covered ice cream on a stick) took the Joe Lowe Co. to court several times for copyright infringement. The court compromised and ruled that Joe Lowe Co. had rights to water based frozen confections and Good Humor had rights to ice cream based ones. Neither side was completely happy. The angst continued between these rivals until Unilever bought the Joe Lowe Co. then later acquired Good Humor.

 

In 1986, the twin pop was discontinued by the Unilever Co. as they were deemed too messy by moms. However, other companies still make some. Cherry, grape, and orange are the favorite flavors with cherry being number one.

 

What was your favorite flavor as a kid? And as an adult?

 

Mine were lime and root beer until I discovered missile bars. They were a cherry/mango swirl of deliciousness. I still eat them today under the name of Monster Cherry-Mango Pops.

 

 

THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTERS SERIES 

COURTING HER AMISH HEART (Book 1) ~ A doctor or an Amish wife? Kathleen Yoder can choose to be only one… Practicing medicine means sacrifice—no Amish man wants a doctor for a wife.

COURTING HER SECRET HEART (Book 2) ~ Caught between two worlds… Deborah Miller lives a double life as an Amish woman—and a fashion model! Soon she must choose between the Englischer world of modeling and the Amish man she’s come to love.

COURTING HER PRODIGAL HEART (Book 3) ~ Mother-to-Be’s Amish Homecoming. Pregnant and alone, Dori Bontrager is sure her Amish kin won’t welcome her back into the community—or the child she’s carrying.

https://books2read.com/marydavisbooks

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a SELAH Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT, THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection, Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in Colorado with Carolina Dog named Shelby. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at: Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub

SOURCES:

The American Century Cookbook: The Most Popular Recipes of the 20th Century by Jean Anderson, 1997, p410

https://www.shared.com/these-facts-about-popsicles-may-surprise-you/

https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-popsicle-4070016

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-brief-history-of-popsicles-92923396/

https://www.history.com/news/frozen-history-the-story-of-the-popsicle

https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/a3406/history-of-popsicles-0610/

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/07/22/425294957/how-an-11-year-old-boy-invented-the-popsicle

https://www.popsicle.com/us/en/our-story.html

Tuesday Tidbits: THE $2 BILL

Series 1976

Do you have one of these oddities tucked away in a drawer or box somewhere?

 

I remember when they came out in 1976. Or rather they were reissued in 1976.

 

Yes, REissued.

 

I thought they were a new thing back then, but the $2 bill has a long history. A lot of people—myself included—believed these were for our country’s bicentennial. In actuality, it was to commemorate Thomas Jefferson’s birthday. Since it was the US Bicentennial, they put the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the reverse so it could serve two purposes.

 

Let’s roll back the clock nearly 250 years to the beginning of this misunderstood slip of paper.

 

When the Colonies were battling for independence in 1775, the Continental Congress issued $2 “bills of credit” to help finance the defense of what would become the United States. On May 10, 1775 these were released, making them older than our country.

 

1775

They quickly lost their value due to the lack of solid backing and counterfeiting.

 

The next—and first official $2 bill—was printed in 1862. It was a legal tender note of a larger size (7.375” by 3.125”) than we currently have today. This bill featured Alexander Hamilton on the front and beautiful scrollwork on the reverse with the numeral 2. Because the backs of these were green, they came to be known as “greenbacks.”

 

Series 1862

The $2 bill remained this larger size until the smaller note (6.14” by 2.61”) was adopted for all US currency bills in 1928.

 

Timeline

The $2 bill received various facelifts and renditions over the years.

 

Series 1886

The series 1886 depicts Winfield Scott Hancock, a US Army officer and 1880 presidential nominee.

 

Series 1890

The series 1890 depicts James McPherson, a US Army officer who served with Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War at the Battle of Shiloh.

 

Series 1891

The series 1891 depicts William Windom, US Secretary of the Treasury.

 

Series 1896

The series 1896 (the “Educational series”) depicts a teacher and children on the front and on the reverse side Robert Fulton and Samuel Morse.

 

Series 1899

The series 1899 depicts George Washington, first US president.

 

Series 1928

The series 1928 depicts Thomas Jefferson on the front and Jefferson’s home, Monticello, on the reverse.

 

This little bill stayed in print until 1966 when it was discontinued. Then in 1976, it was brought back and is still a current denomination.

 

Series 1976-Author Image

The series 1976 depicts Thomas Jefferson on the front, as before, for his birthday on April 13^th—the bill’s release day—and, the signing of the Declaration of Independence replaced Monticello on the reverse.

 

Though still in print today and legal tender, people believe them to be rare—me included—because they are seldom seen. Others think they are counterfeit. In 2005, a man tried to pay for his purchase with some $2 bills. The store and local police believed that they were counterfeit, and the man was hauled off to jail. In another instance, occurring in 2016, a 13-year-old girl tried to buy her school lunch with one. The school thought it wasn’t real because it was an older bill (series 1953) before the counterfeit markers would work on it, and she was detained by the police. Both matters were quickly cleared up.

 

Most people don’t use them, and cash drawers don’t have a slot for them. So why does the government keep printing them? And they are still printing them every couple of years. One reason is because they want people to use this cheaper to print bill. If people would use one two instead of two ones, it would cost the government almost half as much to print them for the same purchasing power.

 

If you want to learn more about the $2 bill, here is a documentary about it. (Running time—1:40:53)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b3TczZpC_Y

 

I just picked up a handful of crisp, brand new $2 bills at the bank to give my grandkids at Christmas. The teller smiled when I asked for them.

 

Do you have any of these tucked away in your house or wallet?

 

THE QUILTING CIRCLE SERIES Box Set

Historical Romance Series

By Mary Davis

THE WIDOW’S PLIGHT (Book1) – Will a secret clouding a single mother’s past cost Lily her loved ones?

THE DAUGHTER’S PREDICAMENT (Book2) *SELAH & WRMA Finalist* – As Isabelle’s romance prospects turn in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams.

THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (Book3) *SELAH Winner* – Nicole heads down the mountain to fetch herself a husband. Can she learn to be enough of a lady to snag the handsome rancher?

THE DÉBUTANTE’S SECRET (Book4) – Complications arise when a fancy French lady steps off the train and into Deputy Montana’s arms.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNZPRRS2/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3NJNTQ5SD1WGB&keywords=the+quilting+circle+by+mary+davis&qid=1700957455&s=digital-text&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C155&sr=1-7

 

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a SELAH Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT, THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection, Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in Colorado with Carolina Dog named Shelby. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at: Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub

SOURCES

https://www.uscurrency.gov/denominations/2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_two-dollar_bill

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/17/business/2-dollar-bill-history/index.html

https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/two-dollar-bill-worth-4776868

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b3TczZpC_Y

Tuesday Tidbits: THANK YOU, ELMER DOOLIN!!!

Charles Elmer Doolin (1903-1959) worked in his father’s car repair garage/tire shop as well as the family’s Highland Park Confectionary in San Antonio, Texas. Not content to continue with only sugary treats, he was eager to add a salty snack to the line-up of sweets. He found that tortilla chips staled too quickly and wanted something salted with crunch-staying power.

 

Keeping his eyes open, he spotted Gustavo Olguin’s ad in the San Antonio Express. Homesick Olguin needed money to return to Mexico, so he offered his original fried corn chip recipe for sale along with a modified potato ricer and nineteen retail accounts, all for the bargain price of $100. With one taste, Doolin knew he had found what he was looking for. However, this was 1932 with the Great Depression in full swing. As with most people, that was more money than Doolin had. Even so, he believed in the tasty chips and his mother believed in him, so she pawned her wedding ring to raise the funds.

 

Elmer started manufacturing Fritos with the help of his mother, father, and brother in his mother’s kitchen. They created the Frito Corporation to keep this separate from the other businesses, and sales began out of their garage. They produced roughly ten pounds of chips a day, grossing $8-$10 a day, and after expenses, a net profit of $2 a day. By the next year, sales—and profits—had increased tenfold. Not bad during the Great Depression.

 

Quickly outgrowing the garage arrangement, they purchased the house next door to expand the operation. In 1933-34, they opened plants in Dallas and Tulsa.

The Texas Centennial Exposition displayed Fritos in 1936. By 1947, the company had expanded with plants in Los Angeles and Denver and had franchises across the country. H. W. Lay and Company had an exclusive franchise license to make and sell Fritos all across the Southeastern United States. The Frito Company expanded their line-up by creating other snacks, including Cheetos in 1948.

 

Doolin developed his own hybrid corn and contracted Texas farmers to exclusively grow his special variety. His corn was his secret ingredient.

 

By 1955, the Frito Corporation owned over fifty manufacturing plants and was one of the early Disneyland investors. They had a Casa de Frito Restaurant in Disneyland a month after the park opened.

Inside this Disneyland restaurant stood a large, animatronic Frito the Kid mascot vending machine. Put in a nickel, and Frito the Kid, surrounded by mountains, would come to life, moving his eyes and tongue from side to side. He would call to his partner inside the “Frito mine” mountain, and a bag of delicious, crunchy chips slid down the chute to the customer. This feature remained in Disneyland for ten years. Several other mascots followed from 1967 on, including the Frito Bandito, the Muncha Bunch Gang, and W.C. Fritos.

 

The Frito Company merged with H. W. Lay and Company to form Frito-Lay in 1961, and then Pepsi-Cola Company merged with them in 1965 to become PepsiCo.

A popular recipe using Fritos is Frito Pie, which has apparently been around since almost the beginning. However, this Northwestern gal had never heard of it until my critique partner mentioned it a year ago. Frito pie (a.k.a. a walking taco or Frito boat) consists of three basic ingredients, Fritos, chili, and cheese. Then one can add additional ingredients to taste, like onions, jalapeños, sour cream, tomatoes, or whatever else one fancies. Historically, it was served right from the Fritos bag. Open it up and spoon in the desired ingredients. Though I hadn’t heard this term before, I do love to scoop up my turkey chili with Fritos—a variation on the Frito Pie.

I found conflicting accounts of who created the Frito Pie recipe. Some credited it to Doolin’s wife, Katherine. Other sources say Doolin’s mother, Daisy, came up with it, or Mary Livingston, Doolin’s executive secretary, or Nell Morris who helped develop the official Frito-Lay’s cookbook. Whoever dreamed it up, Frito Pie and various other recipes were printed on the back of the bags, though none were as long lasting as Frito Pie.

Interestingly, Doolin, being highly health conscience by avoiding meat and salt, didn’t consume his own product. On the rare occasion he did fancy to munch a bunch, he took them right off the factory conveyor belt before they were salted.

 

The original Frito’s ingredients were corn, corn oil, and salt. Thankfully, the recipe hasn’t changed. I love Fritos! They are a perfect balance of oil and salt. Mmm, mmm good!!!

 

Here’s a fun vintage commercial with Frito the Kid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdmrYwW_36E

THE QUILTING CIRCLE SERIES Box Set

Historical Romance Series

By Mary Davis

THE WIDOW’S PLIGHT (Book1) – Will a secret clouding a single mother’s past cost Lily her loved ones?

THE DAUGHTER’S PREDICAMENT (Book2) *SELAH & WRMA Finalist* – As Isabelle’s romance prospects turn in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams.

THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (Book3) *SELAH Winner* – Nicole heads down the mountain to fetch herself a husband. Can she learn to be enough of a lady to snag the handsome rancher?

THE DÉBUTANTE’S SECRET (Book4) – Complications arise when a fancy French lady steps off the train and into Deputy Montana’s arms.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNZPRRS2/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3NJNTQ5SD1WGB&keywords=the+quilting+circle+by+mary+davis&qid=1700957455&s=digital-text&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C155&sr=1-7

 

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a SELAH Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT, THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection, Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Rocky Mountains with her Carolina dog, Shelby. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at: Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub
 

SOURCES

https://www.npr.org/2007/10/18/15377830/the-birth-of-the-frito

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritos

https://texashillcountry.com/fritos-corn-chips-history/

https://www.snackhistory.com/fritos/

https://atomicredhead.com/2019/08/28/the-forgotten-frito-kid-of-frontierland/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frito_pie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdmrYwW_36E

Tuesday Tidbits: I’LL TAKE MY MARGARINE PINK!

The War on Margarine

As I was researching my topic for my February post, CRISCO, I looked into the fascinating history of margarine. It is older than I realized.

When making a shopping list, my mom would write down oleo. “Huh? What’s that, Mom?” “Margarine.” Why didn’t she just write margarine? I suppose it was shorter, and it was her list, and she knew what it meant. But I digress.

Back in the 1860’s—yes, margarine dates back that far—France had a butter shortage. Emperor Napoleon III offered a prize for the creation of a substitute for butter. He wanted something cheaper for his soldiers and the poor.

French scientist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès took up the challenge and experimented with animal fats. This came on the heels of his success with making bread ingredients yield 14% more. In 1869, he received a patent in France for his oleomargarine making process, which combined beef tallow and skimmed milk. Patents from several other countries followed that same year and years after. His creation was called oleomargarine: “oleo” from the Latin “oleum” (olive oil) and the Greek “margarite” (pearl-indicating luster). So that’s where my mom got oleo from.

I’m not going to get into the science of how it was made, the variations of ingredients from beef to vegetable oil, hydrogenation, and such. Just know there was a lot of science-y stuff in the making and reformulating of it. More interesting is the trouble margarine caused.

Oleomargarine, which was shortened to margarine, became popular in Europe. It didn’t take long for it to spread to the United States where dairy farmers felt their livelihood threatened. Various attempts to crush the spread of margarine ranged from heavy taxes to outright bans to strange colors and absolute lies.

Margarine producers popped up all across the country. Everyone wanted in on this new profitable market. With the invasion of margarine, the dairy industry declared war on the new competition. The battle was fought in the local courts, federal legislation, and on the streets, where margarine was deemed an unhealthy fraud, trying to pass itself off as butter.

Wild accusations claimed that it threatened family farms, the American way of life, and the moral order. Political cartoonists even went so far as to depict margarine factories putting everything from paint and arsenic to soap, rubber boots, and stray cats into the mix. Drummed up scientific reports hinted that margarine might cause cancer and insanity. Some compared it to the witches’ brew in Macbeth.

This led to the 1886 Margarine Act that imposed strict tariffs and fees on margarine producers. The first of many anti-margarine laws, but they didn’t all stick. However, the damage to the burgeoning margarine market had been done. Some states, including Michigan, Maine, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and, of course, Wisconsin, put outright bans on margarine.

New Hampshire and other states had mandates, for a while, that margarine must be tinted pink. These were called the “pink laws”. Violators selling non-pink margarine could be fined $100 or sixty days in jail. The whole idea of pink margarine was to make it unsalable, and they were right. However, the Supreme Court struck down that law in 1898, stating that margarine wasn’t naturally pink. Other “tasty” shades of margarine were red and brown.

No state fought harder against margarine than Minnesota, creating law after law to make it nearly impossible to sell it in their state—a dairy state. However, most of their laws got shot down in court as unconstitutional.

The dairy industry managed to get a law passed where margarine—which is naturally white-ish—could not be colored yellow in an attempt to fool consumers. To get around this, margarine producers packaged it in plastic bags with a tab that could be broken to release yellow dye. Then the bag would have to be kneaded for about twenty minutes to mix in the food coloring to make the margarine yellow.

Both World Wars helped increase margarine sales when butter was too expensive and scarce. The health benefits of margarine over butter went up and down. One minute it was superior to butter, and the next it was detrimental to one’s health.

Until the 1950s and 60s, some states still had laws on the books pertaining to the color of margarine. Minnesota didn’t relinquish their laws on yellow margarine until 1963 but still taxed margarine, along with North Dakota, until 1975.

I never realized there was so much angst over margarine.

Have you ever heard of pink margarine or remember mixing yellow dye into a pouch of margarine?

THE QUILTING CIRCLE SERIES Box Set

Historical Romance Series

By Mary Davis

THE WIDOW’S PLIGHT (Book1) – Will a secret clouding a single mother’s past cost Lily her loved ones?

THE DAUGHTER’S PREDICAMENT (Book2) *SELAH & WRMA Finalist* – As Isabelle’s romance prospects turn in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams.

THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (Book3) *SELAH Winner* – Nicole heads down the mountain to fetch herself a husband. Can she learn to be enough of a lady to snag the handsome rancher?

THE DÉBUTANTE’S SECRET (Book4) – Complications arise when a fancy French lady steps off the train and into Deputy Montana’s arms.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNZPRRS2/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3NJNTQ5SD1WGB&keywords=the+quilting+circle+by+mary+davis&qid=1700957455&s=digital-text&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C155&sr=1-7

 

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a SELAH Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT, THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection, Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Rocky Mountains with her Carolina dog, Shelby. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at: Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub

SOURCES:
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2021/08/30/dont-spread-it-around-the-strange-story-of-pink-margarine/
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/i-cant-believe-its-pink-margarine/
https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/15032395622
https://www.mnopedia.org/minnesota-s-margarine-battles-1885-1975
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1870s-dairy-lobby-turned-margarine-pink-so-people-would-buy-butter-180963328/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippolyte_M%C3%A8ge-Mouri%C3%A8s