The Journal of Arkansas Foodways Issue 3, 2013

Clyde and Minnie Clarke, center, enjoy a picnic with their family and friends, near Jonesboro, Craighead County, Arkansas, ca. 1915. Courtesy Clyde Nuell Clarke Papers (MC 792), Special Collections, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. 2 Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013

Issue 3, 2013

Arkansauce: The Journal Postmaster: of Arkansas Foodways is Send address changes Welcome to Arkansauce! published by the Special to University of Arkansas Tim Nutt Collections Department of Libraries, Special Collections the University of Arkansas Department, 365 N. McIlroy From Arkansas’s Farms and Forests Libraries. Avenue, Fayetteville, Arkan- Tom and Mary Dillard sas 72701. The mission of the Special Chicken Every Sunday Collections Department is Journal Staff: Marcia Camp to collect, organize, preserve, Tom W. Dillard, guest editor, and provide access to research History of Prehistoric Arkansas Cuisine was Special Collections de- materials documenting the Ann Early state of Arkansas and its role partment head from 2004– in regional, national, and 2012. Now retired, Tom is Salt Was Important international communities. pursuing his many interests, Tom Dillard Other publications may including Arkansas history reprint from this journal and gardening. He cofound- Wes Hall’s Minute Man without express permission, ed both this journal and the Monica Mylonas Encyclopedia of Arkansas provided correct attribution Gastronomic Home is given to the author, article History and Culture. Stephanie Harp title, issue number, date, Mary Dillard, guest editor, is page number, and to Deer Hunting a retired political consultant. Arkansauce: The Journal Larry Frost of Arkansas Foodways. She is an enthusiastic foodie, Reprinted articles may not an outstanding cook, and a Venison Cooking be edited without permis- nature lover. One of her hob- Larry Frost sion. Tearsheets must be bies is tending her backyard mailed to the editor within chickens. Recreating Fern Newcomb’s Cake two weeks of reprinting. Mary Dillard Diane F. Worrell is managing Neither the University Squirrel for Breakfast of Arkansas nor the editors editor and special projects Martha Estes assumes any responsibility librarian, Special Collections Department, University of for statements, whether of Rose Inn Restaurant Arkansas Libraries, e-mail: fact or opinion, made by the Jimmy Jeffress contributors. [email protected]. Correspondence should Arkansas Food Quiz be sent to Diane F. Worrell, Timothy G. Nutt is head managing editor, at the pub- of the Special Collections lication office: University of Department and manuscripts Featured Cookbook Arkansas Libraries, Special and rare books librarian, Collections Department, University of Arkansas Libraries, e-mail: Featured Menu 365 N. McIlroy Avenue, from Ulysses S. Grant dinner Fayetteville, Arkansas [email protected]. 72701, phone: 479-575- 5577, e-mail: dfworrel@uark. Design: edu, Web site: http://libinfo. Joy Aprile Caffrey, design uark.edu/SpecialCollections/ and production default.asp. Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 3

Welcome to Arkansauce 2013! By Timothy G. Nutt Special Collections Department Head

The third issue of journal going and free to subscribers. Any donation Arkansauce has just come to Special Collections to offset the design, printing, out of the publishing oven, and mailing costs are welcome. and I am pleased to serve it to you. We have com- We are also interested in submissions for the missioned a number of next volume of Arkansauce. Yes, even before this issue articles that hopefully will was put to bed we were already scouting for the next both entertain and inform guest editor and possible articles so keep those sug- you. I know you will enjoy gestions coming. It is gratifying to know that people learning about prehistoric look forward to each issue and to have folks contact peoples in Arkansas and me with article and photograph suggestions for their diet and many of future issues. I hope Arkansauce brings you as much you will identify with the pleasure as it does to us in Special Collections. articles on deer and squir- Timothy G. Nutt, photograph by We’ll see you at the supper table. rel hunting. Growing up, Russell Cothren. deer season was not only a social event (camaraderie on a deer stand), but also gave us three days out of school. What kid wouldn’t like that? I am also certain that some of you will remember Arkansas-based Minute Man restaurants. I remember my first visit to a Minute Man and how —Tim Nutt good the burgers tasted. As I read Monica Mylonas’s article on the chain, I lamented the fact that only one of the restaurants still exists. Those are just the tip of the culinary iceberg; there is much more packed into this issue. Call for Menu Donations I am enthusiastic that Tom and Mary Dillard As a part of its foodways initiative, Special Collections is agreed to guest edit this issue of Arkansauce. Tom was seeking to build a collection of Arkansas menus. While one of the founders of the journal and with his guid- we are especially seeking older menus, recent ones are welcome too. We are looking for: ance, Special Collections was able to produce two savory issues, so it seems appropriate that he take on • Restaurant menus this role after his retirement. Having been the guest • Menus for special events at many meals at the Dillard home, I can attest that • Menus for family meals, such as descriptions Mary is an extraordinarily good cook, but she is also of meals in handwritten letters a good writer. Under their leadership, another fine is- If you wish to donate a menu, please mail it to or sue of Arkansauce was published. As always, we could contact Timothy G. Nutt, Department Head and not have produced this edition without the work of Manuscripts Librarian, University of Arkansas Libraries, Managing Editor Diane Worrell and the rest of the Special Collections Department, 365 N. McIlroy Avenue, employees in Special Collections and the University Fayetteville, AR 72701, phone: 479-575-8443, e-mail: [email protected]. of Arkansas Libraries. The popularity of Arkansauce continues to sky- rocket, and we receive requests to be added to the mailing list on a daily basis. The Oxford American, led by Warwick Sabin, is just one of our enthusiastic sup- porters, but we need even more support to keep this 4 Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 From Arkansas’s Farms and Forests: Foodways in the Natural State By Tom and Mary Dillard

ocumenting Former State Senator the history of Jimmy Jeffress submit- food and food- ted a wonderfully evoc- ways is neither ative story on the “Rose simpleD nor easy. We all grow Inn Restaurant” in his up eating food—and some hometown of Crossett. of our strongest childhood Mr. Jeffress was re- memories revolve around cently the Democratic certain beloved, or hated, Party candidate for the foods. But, how often do we fourth district Congres- record information on our sional seat. Despite the favorite foods? It does not popularity of restau- help that food preparation rants such as the Rose has traditionally been the Inn, most Arkansans domain of women—and the made do eating at home. lives of women are not well But, one home meal was documented. How many special—“Sunday din- women in, say 1900 Arkan- ner.” For generations, sas, had the time to keep a southern women began journal? Before the modern their Sunday mornings era, cookbooks were few Mary Dillard and Tom Dillard in their Farmington kitchen. by killing and dressing and far between, especially a chicken—to be fried references to foods actually domes- upon returning from church, es- For generations, ticated in Arkansas. Monica Madey pecially if the preacher was in tow. Mylonas, an archivist at the Univer- Little Rock freelance writer Marcia southern women began sity of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Cen- Camp recalls those chicken din- their Sunday mornings ter for Arkansas History and Cul- ners in her essay “Chicken Every ture, contributed a most interesting Sunday.” Remembered meals from by killing and dressing piece on Wes Hall of Little Rock, the an early childhood in Arkansas in- a chicken—to be fried founder of Minute Man and the man fluenced Maine-resident Stephanie who brought the microwave oven to Harp to contribute a remembrance upon returning from Arkansas. of her “gastronomic home.” church, especially if the Wild foods, both plants and ani- Mary Dillard engaged in a little mals, still play a role in Arkansas “remembering” as she wrote an es- preacher was in tow. food culture. Our good friend and say on her efforts to recreate a des- writer Martha Estes, of Fayetteville, sert from her childhood, an “Apple in rural areas. Your editors hope this contributed a brief remembrance of Stack Cake.” It took three tries before issue of Arkansauce will do its part to her single mother killing and cook- the cake was just right, but Tom Dil- make our Arkansas food history and ing squirrels for her young family. lard enjoyed each effort. foodways better documented and Larry Don Frost, the brother of edi- We urge you to go put on the cof- shared with a broader audience. tor Mary Dillard and an avid hunter, fee pot and prepare to settle down We have recruited several writ- contributed two essays on hunting with this edition of Arkansauce. A ers to delve into the history and deer and cooking venison. As our nice slice of apple stack cake would prehistory of Arkansas food. State featured cookbook, we selected a be good, too. Archeologist Ann M. Early has con- volume on wild plant foods of Ar- tributed an essay on prehistoric Ar- kansas, Billy Joe Tatum’s Wild Food Tom Dillard kansas foods, including interesting Cookbook & Field Guide. Mary Dillard Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 5 Chicken Every Sunday By Marcia Camp

he first harbinger of spring was the arrival of certain birds—chick- ens. Or so it was when I wasT growing up. They came by train, those small mail-order chicks, eight to ten weeks before warm weather. Families from miles around found their way to the de- pot where baggage carts were piled high with shallow cardboard boxes with tiny beaks darting out quar- ter-size portholes. We took home the promise of summer’s fryers and eggs. The new chicks were placed on the dining room table, warmed by a light bulb hanging beneath a broad Postcard showing a breed of chicken developed in Arkansas, porcelain shade, where the butter- ca. 1900. Courtesy of Tom W. Dillard. colored dollops of down soon grew wing feathers. After a short stay on to wring its neck. With a mixture As a young girl, I believed that the back porch, and access to the of horror and fascination, I watched high-noon hunger had the power to chicken yard when weather permit- the wind-up, the quick jerk, then save souls. It was partly the effects ted, they gradually grew into gawky the release that sent the chicken of the preacher’s tears shed into young chickens. They became part flailing its life away, but I accepted a handkerchief the size of a linen of the microcosm of society where this as necessary. napkin, reinforced by the repeated emotions too grandiose for small There was something sort of el- chorus of “Just as I Am,” but mostly feathered bodies were displayed. egant about my mother, so daddy it was the desire for release to get From the rooster’s first strut- always cleaned and dressed the home to fried chicken. ting crow, as if he commanded the chicken (when I married, her only Today when we think of chicken, dawn, to the banty’s last fight at advice was, “never learn to cut up we think Tyson, and that’s sad. Gone night, it seemed an exaggerated a chicken”). Then he placed the are those delightful by-products— slice of life. There were tempera- dinner-to-be in a pan of sweet milk feed sack dresses and feather beds— mental setting hens and protective to “take the wild taste out.” It lan- and schoolboys no longer chase girls biddies instructing their chicks guished in the icebox until noon. with a chicken’s foot grasping from with ragged clucks that sounded as Church and chicken dinner the tug of a tendon. The majestic if they’d come through their craw. were synonymous with Sunday. eagle may be our national symbol, And always there was the legend- They were such a shared experience but it’s the chicken that has found its ary pecking order. that our senses agreed with “the way into our hearts. Every Sunday morning, my fa- Sunday smell of someone’s frying ther would decide which chicken’s chicken” from Kris Kristofferson’s Marcia Camp is a freelance writer number was up, and he’d proceed “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” living in Little Rock. 6 Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 A Short History of Prehistoric Arkansas Cuisine By Ann M. Early

he first people to develop water-filled skins heated by dropping Arkansas’s Ice an Arkansas cuisine ar- them in hot rocks. In some seasons, rived here at least 13,000 food could be dried to extend shelf Age climate was years ago during the lin- life and create a form of Paleo jerky moderating even geringT centuries of the last Ice Age. or trail mix. Inheritors of a hunting lifestyle that Hunting people must be mobile as the first people stretched back 25,000 years in Europe in order to take maximum advantage arrived. By 10,000 and Asia, these Paleo-Indians were of the wild foods scattered across well versed in making a living from the landscape, so food storage was years ago, changes in whatever plants and animals were largely impractical. Although heavy temperature and rain- available across the largely untamed on animal protein, the menu featured landscape. fresh foods and varied from day to fall encouraged the No Paleo-Indian campsites have day, season to season, and location to spread of hardwood yet been studied in Arkansas, but location, as luck, skill, and seasonal hundreds of Ice Age Indian camps abundance provided. and pine forests, and workplaces found across North Arkansas’s Ice Age climate was warmed the streams, America give us a good idea of what moderating even as the first people was on the Paleo-Indian menu. We arrived. By 10,000 years ago, changes and supported an ex- also have examples of pre-industrial in temperature and rainfall encour- plosion in animal and hunting people across the world to aged the spread of hardwood and show us how hunters made a living. pine forests, warmed the streams, plant populations in Meat was surely common fare. and supported an explosion in ani- new habitats. Some doubtless came from formi- mal and plant populations in new dable prey like now-extinct species of habitats. Mastodon, ground sloth, bison, bear, and even mastodons, one and several other species faded from as well as meat. In the forest, hicko- of several species of Ice Age elephant the scene. Forests and streams of- ries, black walnuts, and oaks were an known to have lived in this part of fered an array of new foods that were important and reliable source of nuts. the South. Other animals still with us more reliable and less mobile than Fruits, berries, tubers, and greens today like opossum, rabbit, raccoon, many previously important animal were used in season. and deer would have been on the species. In response, Indians devel- Social groups moved from place menu. Hardwood forests and warm, oped a broad spectrum lifestyle that to place on a seasonal round to hunt- sluggish streams were not prevalent was linked to the seasonal rhythms ing and collecting stations. Some in the Ice Age Arkansas landscape, of abundance and decline of the ani- camps may have been used for weeks so turtles and other amphibians, fish mals and plants within well-defined or months at a time if a harvest was and shellfish, and perhaps migra- hunting and foraging territories. extended and nearby. Extended resi- tory birds would have been less com- This Archaic lifestyle, as archeolo- dence meant dwellings of substance mon and unavailable in some places. gists call it, continued, with adjust- where food could be stored. Indians Nuts, fruits, bulbs, and other edible ments to some cyclical climate oscil- in Northwest Arkansas also took ad- plants like greens would have been lations, for more than 9,000 years. vantage of rock shelters for natural variable in their geographic and sea- People ate a wide variety of foods. storehouses, especially for nuts and sonal availability. Deer, elk, bear, small mammals, fish, grains. How does one prepare mast- turtles, shellfish, turkeys, pigeons, Archaic people developed a more odon? Some cuts may have been eaten and waterfowl were all taken with diverse cuisine with an array of menu raw—a mastodon tartare. Roasting on spears, nets, traps and snares, and items that changed with seasons and skewers or buried in coals would be by hand. Deer were the meat staple. localities. Venison, nuts—especially fast and easy cooking methods. Meats Bear would have been one source of hickories in the early centuries, with and plants may have been boiled in nutritionally important and tasty oil, acorns increasing in popularity later— Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 7

moving animals close to home, while men ranged more widely in search of mobile and distant resources. With an abundance of seeds literally on the doorstep, and a tendency for the plants to reappear each year in the same nutrient rich garbage heaps, when traveling bands returned to regularly used campsites, these wild crops became regular items on the Archaic menu. Nearly 5,000 years ago, people were cultivating plots to en- courage their appearance. Harvested seeds were stored in sacks along with nuts and other plants in rock shelters and in grass lined storage pits. Over the millennia some of these plants crossed the biological boundary be- tween cultivation and domestication. The Ozark uplands may be one of the birthing places. Arkansas rock shel- ters still hold plants that document this transformation. In addition to the edible annuals, Archaic people harvested gourds for use as containers and for edible seeds and meats. Sunflowers were added to the gardens, first wild and then do- mesticated, and local wild beans, dis- Woven bag with chenopod fruits or seeds from an Ozark rock shelter (now submerged), approxi- mately 2,000 years old. Photograph courtesy of University of Arkansas Museum Collections. tant cousins to the domesticated va- rieties grown by historic era Indians, and shellfish were staples. Meals were vegetation much loved by deer. This became part of the menu. Wild po- roasted in fireplaces, on beds of hot favored some kinds of sun loving tato and other roots and greens, and a rocks, or in hot ashes. Hot rock cook- plants and animals over others. variety of fruits and berries were also ing in skins was likely practiced. Meat, Long residence campsites—where on the menu. nuts, and grains could be pounded leftover animal bones, grease, and About 2,500 years ago, the chal- into powder and used to thicken liq- other food residue, human waste, lenge of cooking with seeds, grains, uids and add flavor to the meal. Dried abandoned food storage pits, and dis- and other foods not easily roasted meat, dried grains, and fruits could be turbed soil accumulated—attracted on a stick or toasted over a fire, was pounded into meal, and bound with opportunistic pioneer plants in den- resolved with the introduction of pot- grease or cooked in ashes to make sities greater than their native stands tery. Fire hardened containers could cakes. Indians continued to make per- along forest edges and streams. be used repeatedly for soups, stews, simmon cakes and similar items into These “camp followers” were starchy and other “one pot” meals, even the historic period. and oily seed producing annuals though the vessels were made rap- Archaic Arkansans, most likely such as sumpweed, maygrass, cheno- idly with local clays and little tech- women, may have been among the pod, erect knotweed, and amaranth. nological expertise. Broken or worn great cultural innovators of their Collectively, they are referred to as out, they could be quickly replaced. day in eastern North America. Al- the Eastern Agricultural Complex, A new cuisine, and with it changes though they were using only Stone native North American plants man- in menu, followed. Some recipes still Age technology, Archaic people had aged, and in part domesticated, by called for roasting, toasting, drying a significant impact on the landscape. Indians long before the appearance of and other preparations, and meat and They opened the forest canopy by corn and beans. other animal products continued to taking timber for fuel, tools, dugout Among most foraging people, be essential foods, but more plants canoes, and house building—and by women were frequently tasked with were added to the menu. The Ameri- using fire to encourage tender new gathering plants and capturing slow continued on page 8 8 Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 continued from page 7 can lotus was cultivated for pended in part on what was its seeds and roots in this pe- available in the fields, in the riod, and pokeweed seeds and storerooms, and in the neigh- greens were added to the mix. boring forests and streams. This pottery-making and sim- People lived for all or most of ple gardening and foraging the year within an easy walk lifestyle is called the Wood- to their fields, and often in land tradition. large organized communi- A thousand years after the ties. Harvest surplus could be appearance of pottery, a revo- stored at home or in commu- lutionary new food that first nity storehouses. Mealtime changed American Indian was no longer simply about economies—and later hun- feeding the family. Social dreds of societies across the events, religious rituals, and globe, including our own—be- other community gatherings gan to show up among Arkan- were punctuated by special sas Indians. Corn, referred to meals and community feasts. as maize through much of the Oversized pottery–suited for world, appears as a food crop, cooking for and serving to Prehistoric pictograph of a fiddlehead fern in an Ozark Mountain rock domesticated more than 7,000 shelter. Photograph courtesy of Arkansas Archeological Survey. crowds–indicate that some of years ago in Mesoamerica. It these menu items were one- spread to North and South America of squashes and melons grown for pot dishes, while others were fresh, as one society after another took up their edible flesh as well as for their roasted, baked, and dried foods. One gardening in earnest, even though use as containers. By AD 1,300 or so, popular event in historic times was the first primitive cobs were barely the “three sisters” of corn, beans, and the Green Corn ceremony, celebrat- the size of a human finger. With the squash, so familiar in historic Indian ing the first maturing corn crop and intervention of Mother Nature and societies, were the foundations for featuring fresh corn dishes like roast- humans tinkering in the corn patch, Native Arkansas cuisine. Archeolo- ed ears and a version of succotash. many races emerged with vari- gists refer to this general lifestyle as Similar events tied to the agricultural able cob sizes, kernel characteris- Mississippian. cycle probably took place in earlier tics, growing regimes, and drought Wild foods and some of the older times as well. characteristics, among other genetic cultivars were still important, even As anyone who’s eaten unsea- traits. American Indians eventually vital, ingredients in the cooking pot soned cornmeal, oatmeal, or an- grew not one but an array of corn and roasting pit. Deer, elk, bear, rac- other carbohydrate staple knows, an varieties that were suited for many coon, turtles, turkeys and other birds, unrelieved diet of bland offerings different recipes prepared over the fish from several different habitats, is not appetizing and probably not course of a year. amphibians, reptiles, other small healthy in the long run. When they The first Arkansas corn appears mammals, and shellfish were all became corn farmers, Mississippian in tiny amounts, as scattered kernels eaten. Deer were favored game, but people also began making salt to in Woodland camp middens, about fish, turtles, and other animals were enliven recipes. Inadvertently, they 1,400 years ago. Perhaps only a few regular menu items. Shortly before were also boosting sodium levels in sacks of kernels arrived from farmers Europeans appeared on the scene, a diet where the natural nutrients in in the southwest, an exotic treat that bison began moving into Arkansas wild foods were reduced by a heavy would not make a full meal in itself from the southern plains and gave reliance on corn and the other gar- but might produce a few new plants these Native Arkansans a chance for den produce. It’s something to think in the camp garden. It took another big game hunting that their distant about the next time you sprinkle three or four hundred years before ancestors enjoyed thousands of years salt on that hot, buttery, roasted ear corn agriculture was the foundation earlier. Nuts, fruits, berries, seeds, pulled fresh from the campfire. for Arkansas Indian societies. roots, and greens were still on the After AD 1,000, all Arkansas In- Mississippian menu. Sunflowers and Ann M. Early is the Arkansas State dians were dedicated to some degree some of the weedy annual cultivars Archeologist. Her duties are diverse, to corn farming. Beans arrived from like little barley and maygrass were including all aspects of public archeol- the south or west a couple of cen- still garden crops. ogy—site reporting, dealing with public turies later and were added to the Mississippian cuisine was var- agencies, and providing educational op- garden, along with several varieties ied, and recipes would have de- portunities. Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 9 Salt Was Important From Early Arkansas Times By Tom Dillard, Guest Editor alt is so taken for granted bushel of salt. The larger salt works One resident of these days that we forget were often run with enslaved labor. how important it is to A kettle from the salt works at Arka- Arkansas Territory the human diet. Until the delphia can be seen on the grounds complained in 1826 that, modernS era salt production was an of the Clark County Courthouse. important industry, and one of the One resident of Arkansas Terri- “Salt is a necessary of important resources of frontier Ar- tory complained in 1826 that, “Salt is life which comes higher kansas was its salt producing springs. a necessary of life which comes high- Salt production was certainly im- er to the people of this country, than to the people of this portant to Native American popula- any other article.” Since salt was country, than any other tions in prehistoric Arkansas. The such a necessity, and since its weight first recorded European to visit Ar- and bulk made it expensive to ship, article.” Since salt was kansas, Hernando de Soto in 1541, its production was often lucrative. such a necessity, and was welcomed by Indians bearing Indeed, salt was such an impor- salt as a gift of welcome. Later a group tant commodity that the Federal since its weight and bulk of Indian salt traders were caught up government reserved ownership of made it expensive to in one of the Spaniard’s dragnets for all salt springs, and surveyors were slaves. Among the historic tribes that required to note them on their maps. ship, its production was manufactured salt were the Tunicas, Seventeen salt springs were known often lucrative. Koroas, and Caddos. to exist in eleven areas located in The Arkansas Archeological Sur- Johnson, Franklin, Cleburne, Pope, vey published a technical report on Hot Spring, Little River, Clark, and Salt production declined as an one of the late prehistoric salt works, Sevier counties. economic activity after 1840. The the Hardman site. Located on the Salt was usually sold on the fron- Civil War brought a renewed inter- edge of Saline Bayou close to the tier by the bushel. In 1828 Arkansas est in salt production, with Ezekiel Ouachita River near modern Arka- salt makers usually sold their prod- Kinsworthy operating a salt works delphia, this site produced salt for uct at about one dollar per bushel in Sevier County. Commenting on generations of Caddo Indians—and at the salt house. Arkansas settlers the capture of New Orleans by Union later, for white settlers. were fortunate to have local salt, for forces in 1862 and its impact on food Early French accounts tell of en- the national production came from prices, one Ouachita County resident countering Caddo traders who were far away Ohio. Domestic salt was noted that “more is said about salt marketing two of their specialties also protected by a high tariff from than any other [needed] article, they to the Quapaws, loaves of salt and 1812 to 1845, making the commodity have some in Camden $15 the sack.” lengths of “bois d’arc” wood to be even more expensive. The post war years brought new used in making bows. Pioneers not only needed salt for technology, and the discovery of vast The European settlers, like the cooking but also for curing meats. underground salt deposits in coastal Indians, usually followed the same Draft animals also had to be sup- Louisiana made the old boiling tech- procedure in manufacturing salt. It plied with salt. Early Arkansas wives nique obsolete. Arkansas remains a involved boiling salty water, known usually kept a dish of salt—a “salt cel- major producer of brine, a naturally as brine, until it became granular. lar”—readily available in the kitchen. occurring salty solution which has a The brine was usually boiled in large The widespread availability of number of industrial and chemical kettles, with ten or twelve of them steamboat shipping in post-1830 Ar- uses. set in a close row atop a furnace. kansas meant that large amounts of Sometimes two rows of kettles were salt could be transported cheaply. Tom Dillard is the retired head of placed in each furnace. Usually the Shippers regularly found that salt, Special Collections at the University of furnaces were covered with a shed sugar, flour, and dry goods were the Arkansas Libraries and co-founder of so work could continue during bad main articles shipped by steamboat Arkansauce. He is an enthusiastic his- weather. About fifty-five gallons of to Arkansas wharfs. torian and gardener. brine were required to produce one 10 Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 Wes Hall’s Minute Man: An Education By Monica Madey Mylonas

am threading the audio reel onto the digitization ma- chine, and I am nervous. The tape is impossibly thin and delicate,I and my unaccustomed fin- gers struggle to guide it over and un- der the various spools and spindles of the reel-to-reel, a clunky anachro- nism-turned-peripheral. My supervi- sor assures me that if the tape snaps, we can splice it back together. But I know that is not an ideal situation. I get there in the end and wait, head- phones secured, breath bated, for signs of life. For several seconds, there is only a soft crackle. I begin to con- sider the prospect that the only audi- ble record we possess of this historic fast food chain is the rustle of a potato Original Minute Man restaurant at 407 Broadway in Little Rock, 1956. Courtesy of the chip bag. Then I jump as a brass band UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture. soundly proves me wrong. Like any 1960s theme song worth its salt, the I soon learned that Minute Man halls for the Quartermaster Corps at jingle threatens to remain with me all of America, Inc., was a pioneering Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, and Camp week as I instantly, if involuntarily, fast-food chain that was based in Crowder, Missouri. He also worked commit the lyrics to memory: Little Rock. At the height of its opera- for Lido Enterprises, a cafeteria and tion during the 1960s and 1970s, Min- restaurant business, until 1951. Share a minute with a friend at the Minute Man ute Man had 57 locations in Arkansas Hall opened the first Minute Man and seven surrounding states. The restaurant at 407 Broadway in Little And you’ll be back for seconds at the only Minute Man location currently Rock on May 26, 1948, along with part- Minute Man! in operation is in El Dorado, Arkan- ners Oliver Harper, Walter Oathout, There’s no bigger, better burger sas. Utterly ignorant of the brand but and Alton Barnett. The original Min- than the Minute Man! vastly intrigued, I delved into the life ute Man was a coffee shop with 24- Share a minute at the Minute Man and times of Minute Man founder hour service. In 1956 Hall bought out and you’ll be back for seconds! Wesley T. Hall. his partners and converted the flag- I admit with some embarrass- Wes Hall was born in Little Rock ship store into a fast-food establish- ment that I had never heard of Minute on April 15, 1915, and graduated from ment. A historical marker was later Man before a researcher requested Little Rock High School. He got to placed at the site. digital copies of the audiovisual ma- know the ins and outs of the food in- According to Hall, Minute Man terials in the Wes Hall Papers. But dustry when he worked at the Food was a forerunner in a number of fast with my background in food anthro- Palace, Little Rock’s first supermarket, food concepts. In 1948 the Raytheon pology, the task fell to me, and I hap- from 1933 to 1936. During this time Company placed three experimen- pily accepted. The collection, housed he also attended Draughon’s Business tal “RadaRange” microwave ovens at the UALR Center for Arkansas His- College, studying accounting part in locations across the United States; tory and Culture, contains a wealth time. Then, from 1936 until 1942, Hall Hall and partners received one of the of correspondence, business materi- worked for Kraft Food Company. He three. They pioneered the use of mi- als, printed materials, news clippings, went on to serve in the U.S. Army crowave ovens in the restaurant busi- memorabilia, photographs, and even infantry and spent seven months in ness. The most popular and publi- employee training films. And of the Pacific theater during World War cized offering born out of these ovens course, audio tapes of every iteration II. Hall was recalled to active duty in was surely the Radar Deep Dish Pie, a of the Minute Man jingle. 1951, at which time he operated mess sweet treat that many Arkansans re- Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 11

Wes Hall with free Minute Man glasses, 1976. Menu from North Little Rock location, ca. 1974. Courtesy of the UALR Courtesy of the UALR Center for Arkansas History Center for Arkansas History and Culture. and Culture. member for its tendency to burn the mick, dated March 11, 1967, reveals Service Corporation of Retired Execu- roof of one’s mouth. Minute Man also that the Minute Man in Arkadelphia tives (SCORE) until his death in 2002. sold “real charcoal-broiled hamburg- had become a social hub for young- Hall’s business record is eclectic, ers,” and offered a gourmet burger sters of all ages—a fact for which he to say the least. But he will be re- with a double full-sized meat patty was effusively grateful: membered in this state, and perhaps a with extras, called the “Big M,” a full “In reply to your inquiry about few others, for his knack for knowing year before McDonald’s debuted the the acceptability of the recreation fa- what people want and how to deliver Big Mac. cilities in conjunction with the Min- it. Minute Man represented not only Hall’s marketing strategies were ute Man operation in Arkadelphia, I a quick meal at a reasonable price, just as groundbreaking. Minute Man am happy to say that they have been but a place to “share a minute with a was the first fast food restaurant to satisfactory in every way. A large friend.” give a free drinking glass to custom- number of our students—both boys The Wes Hall Papers (UALR. ers, as part of a Coca-Cola promo- and girls—frequent the place, and we MS.0100) are housed at the UALR tion in the early 1970s. Additionally, have never heard anything but praise Center for Arkansas History and Minute Man was the first to offer a for it. From the school’s standpoint, Culture and may be consulted in the specialty meal for children, called the we have had absolutely no problems. Arkansas Studies Institute reading Magic Meal. Burger King bought the As a parent, I have also been pleased. room in downtown Little Rock. An rights to use the Magic Meal concept I have a teenaged son and daughter online guide to the collection may be and name in 1982-1983. Minute Man’s who go here frequently with their found at http://arstudies.contentdm. rights to the slogan “old-fashioned friends, and I am glad they do. It is a oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/ hamburgers” were later sold to Wen- clean, wholesome place, and I know findingaids/id/868. dy’s. where to find them if I want them. Like these titans of the fast food —Ralph A. Phelps, Jr., President” Monica Madey Mylonas, a native of industry, Hall understood that it was In addition to Minute Man of Little Rock, is an assistant archivist at the important to frame his restaurants America, Inc., Hall operated Dixie UALR Center for Arkansas History and as gathering places for family and Equipment Company, Food Service Culture. She holds a master’s degree in the friends. Food may be a basic bio- Supply, and Razorback Sign Compa- Anthropology of Food from the School of logical need, but the eating of it is so- ny. After selling his controlling inter- Oriental and African Studies, University cial. Restaurants designed for speed ests in these businesses in 1981, Hall of London, as well as bachelor’s degrees in thus spend their advertising dollars formed Corporate Finance Associates, Anthropology and English from the Uni- slowing down the experience of con- a merger and finance company. Then versity of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Her in- sumption. A letter from the presi- in 1985, he founded Wes Hall, Inc., a terests lie in the study and preservation of dent of Ouachita Baptist University real estate company, before retiring in endemic foodways. to Minute Man associate Al McCor- 1991. Hall served as an adviser to the 12 Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 A Gastronomic Home By Stephanie Harp

hen I stepped off the plane in Little Rock—on that de- cade-ago trip that combinedW history research with my first visit to extended family in fourteen years—I was famished. Before going to see my great aunt, before finding my way to UALR’s Ottenheimer Library, before almost anything else, I pulled my rental car into what was then the Black-Eyed Pea, near my aunt’s retirement home on West Markham. Thank goodness my cousin had recommended the place, with its chicken-fried chick- Postcard showing different exterior and interior views of Franke’s Restaurant, ca. 1930. en, black-eyed peas with ham and Courtesy of Timothy G. Nutt. lots of pepper, cornbread, and a gi- ant glass of iced tea. After a dehy- Eyed Pea, The Dixie Café and, of In Pennsylvania, I drating day on airplanes, I drank it course, Franke’s Cafeteria. in about thirty seconds. My dad’s sister and her husband could eat Southern food “A bit thirsty, are you, ma’am?” picked me up at my hotel on their only when my mother the waiter said, as he refilled. way home from church that Sunday, and they took me to the lunch I’d re- cooked it at home. Loving The love of local food quested. Franke’s didn’t feel familiar fried okra and cornbread surely must be a measure until we got inside. Then I remem- bered being a child of five or six, dressing set me apart of home, no matter how waiting in that long line to watch from my suburban Phila- long you’ve been away. my plate served with eggplant cas- serole, rolls, and pecan pie, the only delphia, first- and sec- dishes I recalled and on which I fix- ond-generation friends The love of local food surely ated this time. I added more iced tea, must be a measure of home, no mat- a salad, and turnip greens, which who ate Italian, Chinese, ter how long you’ve been away. Af- made me laugh at myself. Enticing Indian, and Irish food... ter they married, my parents left me to eat turnip greens had been a Little Rock for St. Louis, where I was constant challenge for my mother fried pies she used to have waiting born. Growing up, I lived in Pitts- during my Pennsylvania childhood. for my cousins when they got home burgh, Philadelphia, and Charlot- I had intended to pay for all our from school. The waiter turned to tesville, Virginia, with only a brief meals, but my uncle beat me to it. me: “Those would have been good.” stop back in Little Rock when I was When I tried to insist, he said, “You Lucky cousins. in kindergarten and first grade. No haven’t eaten it yet.” As though I’d And lucky them, too, for grow- matter where we lived, we trekked have any regrets. ing up with this sort of food acces- home every couple of years to visit, While we ate, we talked about sible at every turn. In Pennsylvania, and to eat Southern food in settings the food. My aunt said the pie I could eat Southern food only when much more appropriate to the cui- wasn’t as good as hers (whose rec- my mother cooked it at home. Lov- sine than were the kitchen tables in ipe I have and use myself) but they ing fried okra and cornbread dress- our various Northern houses. From deemed it acceptable enough that ing set me apart from my suburban my own first independent trip to my uncle was eating a slice, too. A Philadelphia, first- and second- Little Rock, I remember where I ate waiter refilling our tea paused to generation friends—who ate Italian, as much as anything else: the Black- listen as my aunt told me about the Chinese, Indian, and Irish food— Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 13

and now from my New England neighbors who know how to boil live lobsters and can make virtually anything out of potatoes. On another day in Little Rock I met—in person for the first time —the late historian Richard Dixon, with whom I’d been correspond- ing for several years since the death of my grandmother. She’d been a non-traditional student of his back when UALR was Little Rock Univer- sity. He was dressed in a light blue suit and white shirt and carried a cane, when I picked him up from the frame house at Ringo and Cross streets where he’d grown up. He directed me to The Dixie Café, his choice, which was crowded enough at noon that we had to give our names and wait for a table. After we sat down, the waitress put before us the largest glasses of iced tea I’d ever seen, larger, even, than at the Black-Eyed Pea. After my animalistic consumption of that first night’s supper, the Cajun-grilled catfish with vegetables sounded too heavy, but I couldn’t pass up the op- portunity. This excellent choice was as delicious as any fish I’d had— light white meat covered with cay- enne and spices. More good choices included the corn bread muffins and rolls, and the sides of black-eyed pea salad and turnip greens (again, hear that, Mother?). I let the friendly waitress talk me into ice cream atop my black- berry cobbler. Advertisement for Franke’s Cafeteria, 1956. From the Little Rock-North Little Rock City Directory. “No,” I’d tried to say. “I don’t think I’ll have any.” “Oh, come on! If you’re gonna “How awful!” she exclaimed. If food equaled home, I was have it, you might as well have the “They must be Yankees.” right where I belonged. whole thing. Hot cobbler, cold ice I smiled to her and laughed to cream?” myself. They were. And I must have “OK. You talked me into it. You been doing a pretty good job hiding Stephanie Harp is a historian liv- know,” I continued, “I’ve been some the fact that I’d lived away from Ar- ing in Maine. She is currently working places where they serve pie cold, and kansas so much longer than I’d lived on the history of a 1927 Little Rock race then try to put ice cream on top.” in it. riot and lynching. 14 Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 Deer Hunting By Larry Don Frost

hose beautiful, delicate creatures happily munching away on your hostas, azaleas, and landscape shrubs—or darting across the highway when you are steering with one Thand and talking on your phone to your stylist with your other hand—were once, as hard as it is to believe today, rare sights, even in rural states like Arkansas. After the Great Depression of the 1930s, when hun- gry people hunted wild game year round, day and night, local papers would report the sighting of a set of deer tracks as a news item. Mr. and Mrs. Wilhite and Mr. Christian with deer, Mena, Polk County, Ark., ca. 1930. Courtesy L. Oscar Plaster Photographs (MC 813) Box 2, File 10, Image The old joke was that rabbits grew so scarce that 13, Special Collections, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. whenever a trapper took one in a “rabbit gum” (trap), he would milk it and turn it loose for later. State wildlife agencies used game refuges, hunting clothing in scent-free detergent and seals it in plastic bags restrictions, trapping, and transporting to bring the deer until ready for use. By contrast, Grandpa’s hunting over- herd back. Today over one million of Bambi’s kin live in alls and flannel shirts STANK to both man and beast. Arkansas, even though hunters thin their rosters by over In the 1950s when a hunter got cold, he might build a 100,000 each year. smoky fire and stand over it to get warm. Today’s hunter The biggest explosion of deer has occurred in south- dresses in Gore-Tex and clutches pocket hand-warmers ern Arkansas, in the gulf coastal plain, where timber without stirring up scents that alarm every deer in the companies routinely clearcut hundreds of thousands of woods. acres of mature timber to replant in pine. Thick vegeta- One atavistic aspect of hunting still presents prob- tion springs up in the cutovers, providing food and cover lems. Primitive man fought tribal wars over hunting ter- for deer for the next ten years. ritories. Today, hunting clubs lease large blocks of land These companies also lease hunting rights to clubs, from timber companies and private landowners. They which in turn post the land and plant food plots to im- put up “leased to” signs and often use anti-trespassing prove the size and quality of the deer herd. The Arkansas laws or outright intimidation against anyone who sneaks Game and Fish Commission enrolls tens of thousands of onto the property to hunt. acres in its leased land program and sells hunting per- In a way that is an improvement over the 1950s’ way mits for forty dollars per year. of claiming territory. Clubs, often of multiple families, When I was a teenager in the 1950s, I often heard men would pitch camp on timber company land or in a na- say, “I’ve hunted twenty years and never killed a deer.” tional forest and declare that a section or two was theirs Back then the only way that most people hunted to hunt. Anyone else who showed up was ordered to was with hounds. Handlers would release the dogs to leave. Many fights ensued. start “drives” while others lined roads, even state high- When venison was scarce, campers would divvy up ways, hoping for a shot when a fleeing deer crossed the the meat at the end of the season, but some would quarrel gravel or pavement. I remember driving State Highway over the hams and tenderloins. 35 from Benton to Sheridan and seeing boys as young as If one club’s dogs ran a deer into another club’s range ten standing on the shoulders with shotguns and “thuty- and the deer was shot, each club was entitled to half the thuty” rifles. No one wore blaze orange “five-mile cloth” meat. If a stranger shot a deer on a club’s territory, he then either. might be ordered to depart, leaving the deer for the club. Today’s regulations have gotten armed boys off the In the 1950s, deer season lasted only twelve days. highways, and all hunters go bedecked in blaze orange With such a huge deer herd today, archery season runs or blaze green. Ironically, most wear full camouflage be- October through February. Gun season lasts over one neath the highly visible vests and caps. month in southern Arkansas, where the yearly limit is six Deer are much more plentiful today than in the 1950s, deer, all six of which can be does. and today’s hunters are better skilled and more efficient When deer hunters reminisce about the good old than their grandfathers were. Today’s hunter washes his days, the good old days are now. Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 15 Cooking Venison By Larry Don Frost

ou want recipes?” The old mossback deer mercial bread crumbs and mix until the loaf holds to- hunter looked at me as if I were an idiot. gether. Form two loaves into 13” x 9” x 2” pans and bake “ “You put it in the pan and COOK IT!” In uncovered at 350°F for one hour. Spoon off the sausage lard. For a long time. I knew then why grease. Mix a topping of 1/4 cup catsup, 3 tablespoons of manyY people say they do not like venison. But there are brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1 teaspoon dried many more ways—and far better ways—to “cook it.” mustard. Apply to loaves and bake another ten minutes. Venison is a lean meat free of antibiotics, pesticides, You will never taste a better meatloaf. and growth hormones. Trim the fat, and it is almost cho- STEAKS lesterol free. Treat it right, and it makes delicious steaks, Like any tenderloin, venison “back strap” is one long roasts, and stews. Properly wrapped, it lasts for months, muscle easily sliced into steaks. All other steaks come even years, in the freezer. off the deer’s hind quarters or “ham,” and they require It is easily acquired. The legal limit in Arkansas more effort. is six deer per year, and many successful hunters will A deer ham consists of a tight bundle of five or six give friends and neighbors extra venison if only asked. overlapping muscle groups. Sliced in the traditional “re- Besides, shouldn’t you get some return for all the hos- tail” way, large deer steaks break apart into a stack of tas, azaleas, and decorative shrubbery that you have fed crescent-shaped smaller steaks that cook unevenly. them? If you get a whole ham, use your fingers to separate Myths surround the care and cooking of venison. the muscle groups; then cut each one off the bone at each First, the carcass does NOT need to be hung for a week end. Then you can slice each of these against the grain to tenderize it. If hung unskinned, the fat under the hide and make small steaks or “chops.” If the steaks come to goes rancid and spoils the taste. you retail cut, separate the sections into “chops” before Contrary to folk wisdom, the meat does not need to cooking. be pre-soaked in vinegar, buttermilk, salty water, or any- Using steaks from the back strap or the ham, pound thing to remove “that gamey taste.” Properly cared for, them with a tenderizer. Marinate them in zesty Italian venison has a mild taste without suffering from any of dressing for a few hours. Dredge each oily steak in salted these abuses. and peppered flour, and brown them in canola or pea- Venison does not need to be cooked a long time to nut oil for no more than two minutes per side. Serve as be palatable. It actually cooks quickly and can easily steaks or on sandwich buns. These are great! become overdone. Without the marbled fat of beef, how- ever, it benefits from moist cooking techniques. ROAST Whether you are a KIY hunter or acquire your pro- Phyllis Speer, on AETN’s Arkansas Outdoors, prepared tein source from someone who is, the meat comes to the this wonderful dish. Use a whole deer shoulder or a two- kitchen in four forms: stew meat, hamburger (ground), pound rump roast or tenderloin. Stick holes in the meat steaks, and roasts. Here are four really good, easy reci- and insert six whole garlic cloves. Pour the following pes, one for each form. marinade over the meat and chill overnight: 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 finely chopped onion, 2/3 cup soy STEW sauce, 1/3 cup canola oil, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 1 tea- Start with any cut of meat. Cube it, boil it twenty spoon of curry powder, 1 teaspoon chili powder, and 2 minutes, drain it, and rinse it. Boil it in new water anoth- teaspoons of ginger. er fifteen minutes with a can of beef broth or three beef Bake in the marinade at 225°F for three or four hours. bouillon cubes for flavor. Add a sliced yellow onion and Add 8 ounces of fresh mushrooms for the last hour. several cut-up carrots. Boil fifteen minutes longer; then Shred with a fork. This is great with rice or creamed toss in cut-up potatoes and boil another fifteen minutes. potatoes. Season with Mrs. Dash original blend and salt and pep- per to taste. A can of drained whole kernel corn sweet- AND MORE ens the stew, and a can of diced tomatoes adds color. You can find many more wonderful recipes for wild game and fish at www.aetn.org/programs/arkansasout- TWIN MEAT LOAVES doors/phyllisrecipes Hand mix a pound of ground venison, a pound of pork sausage, 2 beaten eggs, 3/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup Larry Don Frost is a retired English professor and long- chopped onion, and 1/4 cup chopped celery. Add com- time hunter. 16 Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 Recreating Fern Newcomb’s Apple Stack Cake By Mary Dillard, Guest Editor

ny summer when the Buckalews—neighbors who owned a tourist court near my child- hoodA home in Benton—had a good apple crop, they would share with my family. My mother then made green apple pie, my favorite childhood des- sert. Another apple dessert I remem- ber fondly, and one which I’ve long wanted to replicate, was Fern New- comb’s apple stack cake. The Newcomb family lived across the street from mine in Benton and their daughter, Jimmie Fern, named after parents Jim and Fern, was the Finished apple stack cake same age as my sister Judy. In the summers, my sisters and other neigh- height of her cake—a higher cake de- County, a gift from Tom’s sister. borhood kids played card games, of- noted more friends. Some say the Cake number two included both ten at the Newcomb’s house. On a footed cake stand became popular for sorghum molasses and ginger in the few rare occasions, Mrs. Newcomb this reason. The bride’s mother fur- cake batter as well as more spice in made an apple stack cake which we nished applesauce to go between the the applesauce. This cake was my got to sample. The cake consisted of layers. Stack layers are similar to a contribution to Thanksgiving, and thin cake layers with a spicy apple rich cookie dough.” both my sisters agreed that the cake filling; it wasn’t a beautiful cake but it It was time to see if I could repli- layers, although good, tasted too was a delicious one. cate the cake I remembered so fondly much like ginger bread to match Fern I wanted to make the cake myself from my childhood. I first made the Newcomb’s cake. It also was eight and finally found a recipe in a No- cake from the magazine recipe. It layers high which made it unwieldy; vember 1995 issue of Gourmet maga- was very good but not as spicy as I re- so six layers became my standard. At zine. Later Michael Dougan sent a membered. The filling also called for this point I was feeling like a cook at recipe that a woman had modified two cups of sugar which I felt over- Cook’s Illustrated working to perfect a from an internet search to more close- whelmed the apple flavor and made recipe. I had found recipes for cake ly align with her mother’s memory the whole cake too sweet. layers ranging from six to nine inches of the cake. Her mother’s memory The internet is a great resource round and finally settled on 8 inches included mixing the cake batter by for recipes so I began researching and since I could fit two layers on one bak- hand and leaving it overnight in the found that many traditional recipes ing sheet and cut my cooking time in cellar. Heavy duty mixers and mod- used sorghum molasses to sweeten half. Jimmie Fern Newcomb recalled ern refrigeration make that process the cake batter. Sorghum would have that her mother cooked the dough unnecessary, thank goodness. been a readily available sweetener in on a griddle and then used a plate The Arkansas Classic Country Cook- many parts of Arkansas. According to trim each layer to uniform size. I book by Ruth Malone and Bess Lank- to my historian husband, generations didn’t have a griddle, so I stuck with a ford includes a recipe for Pioneer of Arkansans considered molasses standard baking sheet. Wedding Stack Cake described as “a one of the three primary foods—meat, So, it was on to cake three which favorite wedding cake in the early meal (corn meal), and molasses. So I basically used the applesauce mix days when sugar was not plentiful. found a recipe and baked my second from the second cake and the cake Wedding guests brought a thin layer version of the cake with sorghum itself from my first effort. This one of sorghum cake to add to the bride’s produced by volunteers at the Heri- nearly matched my memory and got cake. A bride took great pride in the tage House Museum in Montgomery better each day for several days as the Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 17

Right: The steps taken in recreating a childhood favorite resulted in a delicious product. Photo- graphs by Mary Dillard. cake absorbed some of the essence of the apple mixture. Every recipe I found called for dried apples, and the two sources I used created a different result. The dried apple rings from the natural foods store worked much better than the dried slices from the local grocery that never seemed to break up and had less apple flavor, as well as an un- natural green color. Old-Fashioned Apple Stack Cake Apples were once a major crop in For filling: Northwest Arkansas from the 1890s For cake layers: 12-14 ounces dried apple slices until after the Great Depression in ½ cup buttermilk 5 cups water the 1930s. Dried apples were a staple 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup brown sugar in early Arkansas, and the methods I 1 teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt found for home-drying ranged from 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon cinnamon drying in a slow oven to placing the 1 teaspoon salt ½-1 teaspoon ground ginger apple slices on trays, covering them 1 cup vegetable shortening ¼ teaspoon ground cloves (optional) with cheesecloth and leaving them 2 ½ cups sugar ½ teaspoon ground allspice in the hot summer sun. One refer- 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla ence described placing apple rings 1 teaspoon vanilla on a string and hanging them to dry. Make filling: Since insects were attracted to the In a large bowl combine apples and water. Chill covered overnight. drying apples, they were sometimes Transfer apples and water to a large heavy saucepan and add sugar, salt, finished off in a hot oven to kill any and spices. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring, and cook at a low simmer, insect eggs or other contaminants. stirring frequently, until softened, 30 to 40 minutes. Add extra water if it Dried apples were also available becomes too dry. Stir in vanilla and cool completely. Pulse apple mixture commercially. Thomas Rothrock de- in a food processor until coarsely chopped and transfer to a large bowl. scribed his family’s apple operation (Filling may be made a day ahead and chilled, covered.) in the winter 1974 issue of the Ar- kansas Historical Quarterly and wrote, Make cake layers: “Apple driers were numerous. Along Preheat oven to 400°. In a small bowl stir together buttermilk, baking a three-fourths mile stretch of road soda, and baking powder and set aside. In a large bowl sift together 4 bordering the west portion of our cups flour and salt. farm, there were three of them. The Beat shortening with sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a apples were peeled and sliced, then time, beating well after each addition, and then beat in vanilla. Add but- dried by a night crew over wood termilk mixture and beat until combined well. Gradually add flour mix- stoves. Sulphur was thrown on the ture, beating until well combined. Add enough of the remaining 2 cups fires, the resulting vapors prevent- flour, ¼ cup at a time, to form a soft but not sticky dough. ing the apple slices from turning too Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 pieces. brown. When ready to market, the Working on a lightly floured sheet of wax paper, shape each piece into dried apples were sprinkled with a disk and roll into an 8 or 9 inch round. Arrange rounds on parchment soda water and then packed in wood- paper and gently prick dough all over with a fork. Bake layers on a baking en or paste-board boxes.” sheet in the middle of the oven until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool layers The “very nearly like Fern New- completely on racks and carefully remove parchment. comb’s stack cake” recipe follows. The process could be shortened by Assemble the cake: omitting the overnight soak of the Spread 1 cup filling on one cake layer and top with another cake layer. dried apples and cooking them a Continue layering filling and cake layers in the same manner, ending with little longer. But letting the cake sit a cake layer. Chill cake, covered, overnight and bring to room tempera- overnight in the refrigerator is a good ture before serving. Dust with confectioner’s sugar. idea, and enjoying it over several days an even better one. 18 Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 Squirrel for Breakfast By Martha Estes

[NOTE: Martha Hogan Estes has a vivid recol- lection of growing up with an extraordinary mother and an absentee father in eastern Washington County and later Fayetteville, after World War II. Martha’s mother, Phydella Hogan, managed to keep her family together, give them a good education, and demonstrate how to transform a little pluck into a dandy breakfast. Her children, in order of birth, included Bill (Billy), Martha (also called Markie or Mark), Joe, and Jerry.]

n the fall of 1949, my older brother Bill got his first rifle (not counting the Daisy BB gun we all shared when we were little); he was just shy of his thirteenth birthday.I It was a little single-shot, bolt-action Winchester .22 with a walnut stock. Daddy brought it when he came to see us at Goshen, just before we moved to Fayetteville. Bill already knew how to hunt and was a fair shot. Joe and I practiced shooting at bulls- eyes we drew on newspapers and tacked on the south side of the barn. Joe was coming along pretty good. I missed the whole target. Bill swore I didn’t even hit the broad side of the barn. Well, that didn’t last long because Mom put a stop to wasting the box of .22 longs Daddy left. “You might need ‘em later,” she said. “Save ‘em for hunting.” Mom admired the rifle, rubbing the smooth, dark stock and sliding the bolt back and forth as she reminded us that she once had one of her own. I reckon Daddy took that rifle when he left; Mom hadn’t hunted since. When I woke one frosty Saturday morning, Mom and Granddad were sitting at the kitchen table, steaming coffee cups in front of them, watching the squirrels play in the trees outside the back door. Mom held a Lucky Strike ciga- Photograph from a 1927 article about squirrel shooting. Courtesy Otto Earnest Rayburn rette in her hand, and Granddad poured creamy Encyclopedia, Squirrel Folder, Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries. coffee into a saucer, then lit his Prince Albert “roll- your-own.” A cloud of cigarette smoke drifted gingerly stepped out, closing the door softly behind her. I around the table and blended with the smell of coffee ran to wake my brothers. and wood smoke from the old cook stove. “We’re gonna have squirrel and gravy for breakfast,” I “A mess of squirrel and gravy would sure be good whispered. Joe muttered something; baby Jerry didn’t re- this morning,” Mom said, as she raised a finger to her spond at all. Bill rolled out of his warm bed and followed lips to hush my usual chatter. “You stay here and be me to the kitchen as he pulled on his jeans. quiet. I’m going to try out Billy’s rifle.” She picked We heard one sharp crack from the gun. Mom, stand- up the gun, slid a cartridge in and closed the bolt, ing at the edge of the woods, slowly reloaded; we peeked dropping three more shells in her jeans pocket as she out the door and waited. Another shot rang out and we saw Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 19

her reload quickly and then get off another shot. rel and licked the grease off our fingers. We talked and Soon she stepped into clear view holding two nice laughed as we slathered butter on the biscuits and spread fat squirrels by the tails. homemade blackberry jam on them, too. Even Jerry wanted “We’ll skin ‘em,” Bill said, grabbing his pocket seconds when we passed the bowl of gravy around the table knife, which he kept sharp enough to shave his again. skinny little arms. “Come on, Mark. You can hold “Biscuit, please, Mama,” he said, grinning and wiping ‘em.” gravy off his face with the back of his hand. As Mom came in, we ran out to the porch where Bill lifted a squirrel, made a precise cut at Fried Squirrel the base of its tail and began to pull the furry skin 2 young squirrels (dressed) from the flesh. I just held on tight. Soon we were ½ cup flour back in the cozy kitchen where Joe sat in a cane bot- 1 teaspoon salt tom chair, yawning. Jerry, with his blanket draped Pepper (to taste) around him, was snuggled in Granddad’s arms. ¼ cup lard, bacon grease, or shortening Since it was a weekend, we didn’t have to catch Cut squirrel into serving pieces. Rinse in cold water, the school bus after quickly downing our usual drain. Put flour, salt and pepper in a paper bag. Heat grease biscuit and a glass of milk. We were having squir- in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until hot; do not rel and gravy for breakfast. No one was in a hurry. allow it to smoke. Shake 4 or 5 pieces of meat in the flour mix And no one had to be urged to eat breakfast. at a time; place in skillet with hot grease; continue until all Mom already had the milk gravy simmering meat is in the frying pan. Fry both sides turning occasionally on the back of the wood stove and a bowl of flour until all are pieces are browned lightly. Reduce heat or move for biscuits sitting on the table. She washed the pan to edge of heated surface and simmer until tender when meat, cut it into small pieces; shook it in a paper pierced with a fork. sack filled with flour, and transferred it to the big black frying pan. She poured milk and grease in Milk Gravy the mixing bowl, stirred it with a wooden spoon, ¼ cup lard, bacon grease, or oil and rolled the biscuit dough into little balls. An es- ¼ cup flour pecially tiny one was made for Jerry, who would 1 cup water eat only bread and gravy from his perch on Grand- 1 cup milk dad’s lap. “I wish I could go hunting,” Joe said. In heavy skillet, melt grease; stir in flour. Stir constantly “You’re learning,” Bill said. “We’ll go next with a wooden spoon until flour begins to darken slightly. week. But Mom, I forgot you used to hunt.” Add water and stir quickly to prevent lumping; add milk and “I’ve missed it, too,” Mom responded, stirring bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat; add salt and the gravy. “That’s sure a nice gun, son.” pepper and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened. “We watched you, Mama,” I said. “I thought you had three squirrels.” 1-2-3 Biscuits “I guess she missed one,” Bill said. Sift together in large bowl: “No, I hit him, but I didn’t kill him—had to put 2 cups flour him out of his misery. I always swore I’d quit when 1 teaspoon salt I couldn’t get one with the first shot. I just maimed 3 teaspoon baking powder the second one.” Add: 1 cup milk, stir well “Ain’t nobody can hit ‘em all ever’ time,” Bill Heat: ¼ cup lard or oil in 8 X 8 biscuit pan in oven. said. Pour most of the grease into the biscuit dough and mix “No, I guess not, but I sure hate that,” she said, well. Pinch dough into approximately 9 balls or drop by ta- shaking her head as she peeked in the oven at the blespoon in hot oil being sure to turn them once. Bake in a browning biscuits. hot oven (450°) until brown and crusty. “I reckon Joe’ll just have to take my place. Well, breakfast is about ready. Markie, set the table.” Oh, the aroma was heavenly. Nothing could Martha Hogan Estes is a Fayetteville writer. She and her sib- possibly smell as good as fried squirrel, wood lings were raised by their mother, who was as good with a squirrel smoke, and coffee on a cold morning. We ate squir- rifle as with a banjo. 20 Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 Rose Inn Restaurant in Crossett Offered Fare with Flair By Jimmy Jeffress

rossett is situated at the western end of Ashley County and has billed itself for decades as the “ForestryC Capital of the South.” Jan- ice Clark (now deceased and at one time a free-lance writer for the Ashley News Observer in Crossett), wrote in an April 1973 News Observer article that the town had its genesis in 1899, soon after three businessmen of Davenport, Iowa (E. S. Crossett, Dr. J. W. Watzek, and C. W. Gates) founded the Cros- sett Lumber Company. They hired Gates’ nephew, Edgar W. “Cap” Gates, Rose Inn, ca. 1950. Courtesy of Ray Hanley. to manage the mill operations and to oversee the camp and the town which cattle farm from the forest a few miles basement furnace through the three would grow up around it. from Crossett and stocked it with a floors overheated.” In her article, Clark wrote that herd of black Angus cattle. Before the ashes had cooled, “Cap” “Cap” Gates dreamed of founding a In 1912, Gates built a 45-room inn Gates announced that “a new inn will “different” sort of sawmill town. He in the community and named it after be started immediately and completed did not want Crossett to become a ste- his wife Rose. He was determined that in three months if possible.” Gates, a reotypical mill town of the time with the Rose Inn would “symbolize a com- man for whom nothing was seem- “brawling drunks on Saturday nights, munity of gentle people with gracious ingly impossible, saw that the build- slatternly camp followers, unkempt manners.” He imported a profession- ing was finished on schedule in early children, or any of the legendary pro- al chef and black waiters from Little 1914. It was built by the original plans totypes of ‘cut-and-get-out’ sawmill Rock for a year while, “they taught a and it “immediately became a favorite towns.” local staff to cook, wait tables, and per- oasis for businessmen who traveled Gates refined a more personal form other services for the inn.” more than fifty miles over rutted for- vision for the town as time went by. The Rose Inn was a stunningly est roads to do business in the thriving Most folk believed that all of the area’s beautiful building with a wide porch mill town. timber would be cut and everyone spanning the front. The building was For many years the inn was host would be gone in twenty to twenty- “separated from the unpaved street by to the directors of the Crossett Lumber five years. However, Gates built a per- a wrought iron fence to keep out the Company who would come for annual manent town that was vastly different cattle and hogs that wandered at will meetings to review the business and from those that usually surrounded over the town until a stock law was to plan its future course. The directors the tawdry lumber camps in the south passed in the late 1940s.” Ceiling fans came from such places as Davenport, at the start of the twentieth century. cooled the big lobby and dining room, Iowa, Chicago, and cities in California By 1910, as Gates oversaw the and were also placed in the bedrooms and Oregon, and each came to expect progress of the Crossett Lumber Com- upstairs. the same fine service at Crossett’s Rose pany and the beginnings of Crossett, Built of the finest pine lumber the Inn as could be found in any major he began to plan for the future liveli- Crossett Lumber Company produced, city of the U.S. at the time. hood of the people in his town. He the building “burned to the ground on The inn developed a reputation formed the Crossett Hampshire Club the night of November 9, 1913,” a little for good food and good service. A and began to promote the growth of more than a year after it was opened. Christmas dinner menu from 1914 purebred Hampshire hogs and cattle The fire was thought to have started read as follows: “Giblet Soup Anglais, in Ashley County. He carved out a when a “vent pipe leading from the Olives, Sweet Pickles, Escalloped Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 21

The Rose Inn was a stunningly beautiful building with a wide porch spanning the front. The building was “sepa- rated from the unpaved street by a wrought iron fence to keep out the cattle and hogs that wandered at will over the town until a stock law was passed in the late 1940s.”

Postcard showing exterior and interior views of the Rose Inn, ca. 1930. Courtesy of Ray Hanley.

Oysters, Roast Young Turkey with shields to deflect and soften the light. on May 5, 1973, was that of the Cros- Sage Stuffing, Baked Yams, Mashed Black waiters in starched white jackets sett Book Club, the oldest organization White Potatoes, Spinach with Egg, served the food on white damask cov- in town, formed in 1937. The last party Cranberry Jelly, Christmas Salad, Fro- ered tables, where Vienna-made cane held there was the junior-senior prom zen Grape Juice Punch, English Plum bottomed bentwood chairs lent light for Huttig High School whose stu- Pudding with Hard Sauce, Nuts and grace to the room. Promptly at 6:00 dents traveled approximately 35 miles Raisins, Oranges and Apples, White each evening the double doors of the for their event. Huttig no longer has a and Dark Fruit Cake, Cheese and dining room would be opened by a high school. Crackers, Coffee. Dinner 50 cents.” waiter announcing with quiet dignity, As a historical note, the contents A 1920 dinner for the Crossett ‘Dinner is served.’” of the Rose Inn were placed on public Hampshire Club’s Second Annual “Testimony to the continued ex- auction on June 8-9, 1973. The proceeds Sale at the Rose Inn featured the fol- cellence of the food served at the Rose were given to the Crossett Jaycees to be lowing menu: “Oyster Soup, Celery Inn,” is the national attention it re- used to help retire the debt of the Car- Hearts, Ashley County New Rad- ceived when the November 1961 Ford ousel School, a local entity dedicated ishes, Ashley County Roast Wild Times, published by the Ford Motor to serving severely developmentally Turkey, Oyster Dressing/Cranberry Company, featured the Rose Inn in the challenged children in the community. Sauce, Ashley County Quail on Toast, “Favorite Recipes of Famous Taverns” The inn was dismantled and the site Rasher of Hampshire Bacon, Roast section. “A water color painting of the cleared shortly thereafter. The block on Arkansas Young Venison, Red Cur- Rose Inn appeared opposite the com- Crossett’s Main Street where the Rose rant Jelly, Arkansas Asparagus/Vinni- ment, ‘A forty-year reputation for fine Inn was located is now a park that was grette, Ashley County World’s Cham- food and hospitality is maintained at dedicated during Crossett’s Centennial pion Candied Yams, Chicken Salad, the Rose Inn in Crossett.’ In the late Celebration. It contains flowers, walk- Arkansas Green Apple Pie, Stuttgart 1940s Duncan Hines gave the Rose ing paths, memorials, and a covered Cheese, Arkansas Sweet Potato Pie, Inn his seal of special approval for its pavilion that is used for weddings, Ashley Mixed Nuts, Coffee, Cigars. quality food.” family gatherings, and other such ac- To be served only to guests of Cros- Time has a way of changing things. tivities. sett Hampshire Club on the evening The Crossett Lumber Company was On a personal note, my mother of- of Nov. 20, 1920. C. J. Boardman, Prop. bought by the Georgia-Pacific Corpo- ten told me (and I have no reason to Rose Inn, Crossett, Arkansas.” ration in 1962, and in 1973 announced doubt her veracity) that she and Dad- Clark wrote in her 1973 article that, that the Rose Inn would be closed. “It dy spent their honeymoon night in “This sumptuous meal, as well as the could no longer make adjustments to the Rose Inn, and that I was conceived less elaborate but equally good regu- modern demands for central air con- there. lar weekday food, was served in a big ditioning, sound-proof walls, color TV, dining room beneath clusters of elec- and baths in every room.” Jimmy Jeffress is a retired public school tric lights which hung in bell-shaped It was fitting that the last luncheon teacher, a former member of the Arkansas globes of frosted glass with milk glass for a community group, held at the inn Senate and House of Representatives. 22 Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013

Arkansas Food Quiz

1. What Arkansas city holds an old well-known 7. The Pelfrey family of Rogers, Arkansas watermelon festival each year including a “seed- developed a business selling: spitting contest” and has featured some of the a. Raspberries world’s largest watermelons? b. Peaches a. Hermitage c. Rabbits b. Bald Knob d. Venison c. Hope 8. The famous gathering place and bar for d. Clarksville politicians in Little Rock’s historic Marion 2. Dry prehistoric bluff shelters in the Ozarks have Hotel was: yielded food such as: a. The Gar Hole a. River mussels b. The Flaming Arrow b. Acorns c. The Coachman c. Corn d. The Leather Bottle d. All of the above 9. A long-time and well-known Jewish ethnic 3. Which of the following tomato varieties was restaurant in Hot Springs was: developed in Arkansas? a. Esther’s a. Early girl b. West Mountain Diner b. Brandywine c. Mollie’s c. Mortgage Lifter d. Sam’s Delicatessen d. Traveler 10. Even though Cotham’s is a popular 4. Which of the following is not an Arkansas winery? restaurant in Little Rock, the original a. Kessler Mountain Cotham’s is in: b. Mt. Bethel a. Scott c. Wiederkehr b. Keo d. Post Familie c. England 5. Edamame is the name for an Arkansas product d. Cabot made from: a. Corn b. Soybeans c. Wheat d. Grain sorghum 6. What was the name of the prominent bakery that Did You Enjoy This Publication? recently closed in Fordyce? a. Kohlers Subscribe Now! b. Karcher-Schmand At No Cost c. Klines If you wish to continue receiving d. Klappenbachs Arkansauce: The Journal of Arkansas Foodways

Please Contact: Diane F. Worrell Email: [email protected] Telephone: 479-575-5577 Special Collections Department University of Arkansas Libraries 365 N. McIlroy Ave.

Fayetteville, AR 72701

1. C; 2. D; 3. D; 4. A; 5. B; 6. D; 7. C; 8. A; 9. C; 10. A 10. C; 9. A; 8. C; 7. D; 6. B; 5. A; 4. D; 3. D; 2. C; 1. Answers: Answers: Arkansauce Issue 3, 2013 23 Featured Cookbook From Our Collection

By Mary Dillard, Guest Editor

Billy Joe Tatum became a national- was featured in a 1979 issue of People ly recognized authority on wild foods Magazine. Included among the guests after moving to Melbourne in 1958 were then-Governor Bill Clinton and with her country-doctor husband, first lady Hillary Clinton. Watercress Harold. As she accompanied her hus- soup, pheasant liver patè, hickory-nut- band on house calls, she learned about stuffed eggs, and venison Wellington medicinal herbs from his patients were on the dinner menu. Dessert was and how to cook the game and wild “wild strawberry cloud.” foods that “Doc” Tatum sometimes Part One of Tatum’s book is a field received in payment. She wrote col- guide to edible wild plants, and Part umns for The Ozarks Mountaineer for Two includes recipes for wild foods. several decades but became a celebrity She describes what plants can be found nationally after the publication of her in each of the four seasons and then wild food guide and cookbook in 1976. provides detailed descriptions of each She appeared on The Dinah Shore Show wild food beginning with acorns (used and The Tonight Show with Johnny Car- after leaching and roasting as a nut or son promoting her book; she proved a ground into flour or meal) and ending Cover of Billy Joe Tatum’s cookbook. popular guest due to her intelligence, with yucca, whose flower petals and wit, and knowledge of all things wild seeds are edible. She provides both and edible. She was well-educated common and botanical names for the cattail pollen pancakes, pawpaw cus- and colorful. She wore a feather in her plants, where to find them, the parts tard, wild ginger tea, dandelion flower long hair, often went barefoot, played used, and how they are used. She be- soup, and sassafras brittle. the dulcimer, and smoked a corn- gins each of the forager’s seasons sec- Billy Joe Tatum died on March 26, cob pipe packed with dried apples or tions with a quote. For spring it’s from 2012, at the age of 80. In a December herbs. She lectured at the Smithsonian Milton: “In those vernal seasons of the 1986 article in The Ozark Mountaineer, Institution and was the “herb doctor” year, when the air is calm and pleas- Billy Joe wrote, “I’m not one of those at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain ant, it were an injury and sullenness who chose to live in the Ozarks, I chose View. against nature not to go out and see to live with someone who chose to live In addition to Billy Joe Tatum’s Wild her riches, and partake in her rejoicing here.” Billy Joe Tatum found that the Food Cookbook & Field Guide, she and her with heaven and earth.” Ozarks offered “a lot to see, to hear sister, Ann Taylor Packer, produced a Edible mushrooms are described in and to learn,” and she shared what she book in 1987, The Ozarks Collection: The detail in the book with drawings and a learned in her columns, books, and a Best Recipes From the Heritage and Tradi- caution to be sure mushrooms are cor- well-lived life. tions of a Storied Region. Her cookbook rectly identified before eating. Those Tatum’s book is available in the and guide was reprinted in 1985 in a varieties are the chanterelle, Judas’s ear, reading room in the University of Ar- smaller format to be more easily used meadow, morel, oyster, puffball, shag- kansas Libraries Special Collections, for identifying plants in the field. gy mane, and sulphur shelf. One story some local libraries, and used book Tatum was known to host numer- about Billy Joe was that she refused an stores. I bought my copy from the Trol- ous parties at the large A-frame home interview with Charles Kuralt for his ley Line Bookstore in Rogers owned by she called “Wildflower” between On the Road television program because my friend Myra Moran. Melbourne and Possum Trot. One she was too busy hunting morels. of her parties, purchased by Win- Among the 350 recipes are some Mary Dillard is a retired political con- throp Paul Rockefeller at an auction, irresistibly interesting ones such as sultant, a nature lover, and a fabulous cook. Special Collections Department University of Arkansas Libraries 365 North McIlroy Avenue Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701-4002

Featured Menu

Banquet menu from President Ulysses S. Grant’s visit to Arkansas, 1880. Courtesy UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture.