While much has been made of the multiple mutton appearances on the Borden table, Uncle John Morse commented on the bananas at breakfast. I presume that "tropical" bananas would be considered a luxury item. Can anyone verify this?
Also, with Andrew's New England frugality, has anyone speculated that the reason Lizzie and Emma stopped eating with the folks was because Lizzie's pets ended up as Pigeon Pie? I understand that this was an extremely popular dish in the 19th century and was ultimately responsible for the extinction of the passenger pigeon.
Borden Foodstuffs
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nbcatlover
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nbcatlover
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Susan
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Hi Cynthia. From what I could find, by the 1890s, bananas were pretty much common place fruits and not a luxury item anymore.
By 1872 bananas began to appear in retail networks, in green grocer shops, and on pushcarts. Bananas were available at a speciality green grocer in Philadelphia in 1876 at ten cents apiece. By the mid-1880s, bananas became more familiar, less expensive, and more widely available. In an article in Scientific America in 1905 they wrote that bananas had become so cheap they were referred to "a the poor man's fruit."
When bananas lost their elite luxury status and disappeared from the dinner table of the wealthy, they transformed through low prices, year-round availability and abundance, into comfort food for children and the elderly. Bananas were introduced into the United States at roughly the same time as discoveries were being made concerning calories, germs, and vitamins. The banana was a popular food for combating malnutrition since it was cheap, filling, and needed no preparation. By the 1890s bananas began to appear more frequently as ingredients in cookbook recipes.
From this site:
http://hometown.aol.com/_ht_a/bookviewz ... ue184.html
"In The Notions of a Travelling Bachelor, James Fenimore Cooper listed bananas among tropical fruits as common as need be' in New York markets during the 1830s. But the great popularity of the fruit in the United States had to wait until the improvement of refrigeration and transportation facilities, a generation or so after Captain Lorenzo Baker of Wellfleet in 1870 brought the first ship loaded exclusively with bananas into Boston harbor. Breads, pies, and cakes made with bananas--and cookies, too--were soon thereafter being turned out by innovative American cooks."
---American Food: The Gastronomic Story, Evan Jones, 2nd edition [Vintage Boks:New York] 1981(p. 473)
"When bananas were broadly introduced in the 1880s, tableware designers and glass manufacturers quickly responded by producing special footed serving bowls, called banana bowls or banana boats..."
---Savory Suppers and Fashionable Feasts: Dining in Victorian America, Susan Williams [Pantheon:New York] 1985 (p. 108)
Banana recipes began showing up in popular American Cookbooks in the 1880s. It is apparent that trendy Americans cooks were eager to include this new fruit in their meals. Most of the banana concoctions were simple adaptions of existing recipes. Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book, Sarah Tyson Rorer [1902] contains isntructions for fried bananas, baked bananas, sliced bananas, banana pudding and banana cake in a special section titled "Hawaiian Recipes." Other cookbooks contain recipes for banana ice cream, bananas en surprise (mashed bananas with strawberries), fruit salads with bananas and, of course, Jell-O molds with bananas inside. The banana split was invented in 1904.
From this site:
http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcakes.html
As for the pigeons.....hmmmm.
By 1872 bananas began to appear in retail networks, in green grocer shops, and on pushcarts. Bananas were available at a speciality green grocer in Philadelphia in 1876 at ten cents apiece. By the mid-1880s, bananas became more familiar, less expensive, and more widely available. In an article in Scientific America in 1905 they wrote that bananas had become so cheap they were referred to "a the poor man's fruit."
When bananas lost their elite luxury status and disappeared from the dinner table of the wealthy, they transformed through low prices, year-round availability and abundance, into comfort food for children and the elderly. Bananas were introduced into the United States at roughly the same time as discoveries were being made concerning calories, germs, and vitamins. The banana was a popular food for combating malnutrition since it was cheap, filling, and needed no preparation. By the 1890s bananas began to appear more frequently as ingredients in cookbook recipes.
From this site:
http://hometown.aol.com/_ht_a/bookviewz ... ue184.html
"In The Notions of a Travelling Bachelor, James Fenimore Cooper listed bananas among tropical fruits as common as need be' in New York markets during the 1830s. But the great popularity of the fruit in the United States had to wait until the improvement of refrigeration and transportation facilities, a generation or so after Captain Lorenzo Baker of Wellfleet in 1870 brought the first ship loaded exclusively with bananas into Boston harbor. Breads, pies, and cakes made with bananas--and cookies, too--were soon thereafter being turned out by innovative American cooks."
---American Food: The Gastronomic Story, Evan Jones, 2nd edition [Vintage Boks:New York] 1981(p. 473)
"When bananas were broadly introduced in the 1880s, tableware designers and glass manufacturers quickly responded by producing special footed serving bowls, called banana bowls or banana boats..."
---Savory Suppers and Fashionable Feasts: Dining in Victorian America, Susan Williams [Pantheon:New York] 1985 (p. 108)
Banana recipes began showing up in popular American Cookbooks in the 1880s. It is apparent that trendy Americans cooks were eager to include this new fruit in their meals. Most of the banana concoctions were simple adaptions of existing recipes. Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book, Sarah Tyson Rorer [1902] contains isntructions for fried bananas, baked bananas, sliced bananas, banana pudding and banana cake in a special section titled "Hawaiian Recipes." Other cookbooks contain recipes for banana ice cream, bananas en surprise (mashed bananas with strawberries), fruit salads with bananas and, of course, Jell-O molds with bananas inside. The banana split was invented in 1904.
From this site:
http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcakes.html
As for the pigeons.....hmmmm.
“Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone else's life forever.”-Margaret Cho comedienne
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Edisto
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Does anybody have a reliable source for the information that the deceased pigeons were Lizzie's pets? Andrew's pets? Abby's pets? Emma's pets? For all I know or have read, they were being raised for the table.
I've posted previously that my father kept pigeons when I was growing up. He had a pigeon loft over our garage, in which he raised racing pigeons. He worked for a railroad, and he and his chums would ship crates of birds via the trains to other cities, where they would be released to race back to the loft. He also would occasionally sell young pigeons (called "squab") for the table. We kids were all great animal lovers, but we never considered those pigeons to be pets. They were like a smaller version of a chicken! It seem unlikely that Lizzie or Emma would have become disconsolate at the sight of a plate of fried chicken and refused thereafter to dine with the family.
Yeah, I know the "Legend" movie made the pigeons Lizzie's pets, but in the "Legend" movie, there was no Uncle John Morse, Andrew did embalming in the basement, and Lizzie seemingly flushed an axe down the toilet.
I've posted previously that my father kept pigeons when I was growing up. He had a pigeon loft over our garage, in which he raised racing pigeons. He worked for a railroad, and he and his chums would ship crates of birds via the trains to other cities, where they would be released to race back to the loft. He also would occasionally sell young pigeons (called "squab") for the table. We kids were all great animal lovers, but we never considered those pigeons to be pets. They were like a smaller version of a chicken! It seem unlikely that Lizzie or Emma would have become disconsolate at the sight of a plate of fried chicken and refused thereafter to dine with the family.
Yeah, I know the "Legend" movie made the pigeons Lizzie's pets, but in the "Legend" movie, there was no Uncle John Morse, Andrew did embalming in the basement, and Lizzie seemingly flushed an axe down the toilet.
"To lose one parent...may be regarded as misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness."
-Oscar Wilde ("The Importance
of Being Earnest," 1895)
-Oscar Wilde ("The Importance
of Being Earnest," 1895)
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Edisto
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Susan's post reminds me of a delightfully goofy salad that women used to make back in the 40s. On a salad plate, one would place a slice of banana (cut lengthwise). Then one would dip a toothpick into molasses or another edible brown substance and draw striations on the banana slice in an effort to make it look like a slice of bacon. Then one would arrange a puddle of heavy cream adjacent to the "bacon" and put a canned peach half (dome side up) in the center of it to imitate an egg "sunny side up." As I recall, this was a favorite at bridge parties and Ladies' Auxiliary meetings ca. 1943.
"To lose one parent...may be regarded as misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness."
-Oscar Wilde ("The Importance
of Being Earnest," 1895)
-Oscar Wilde ("The Importance
of Being Earnest," 1895)
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theebmonique
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I have been skimming through the source documents and Rebello, and all I have found is the testimony about the pigeons being killed, but so far nothing about whether or not they were there as pets or as a source of protein. I will keep looking.
PIGEONS - LIZZIE/INQUEST: pg.82(39)
Q. You are not able to say your father did not own a hatchet?
A. I don't know whether he did or not.
Q. Did you know there was found at the foot of the stairs a hatchet and axe?
A. No sir, I did not.
Q. Assume that is so, can you give me any explanation of how they came there?
A. No sir.
Q. Assume they had blood on them, can you give any occasion for there being blood on them?
A. No sir.
Q. Can you tell of any killing of an animal? or any other operation that would lead to their being cast there, with
blood on them?
A. No sir, he killed some pigeons in the barn last May or June.
Q. What with?
A. I don't know, but I thought he wrung their necks.
Q. What made you think so?
A. I think he said so.
Q. Did anything else make you think so?
A. All but three or four had their heads on, that is what made me think so.
Q. Did all of them come into the house?
A. I think so.
Q. Those that came into the house were all headless?
A. Two or three had them on.
Q. Were any with their heads off?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Cut off or twisted off?
A. I don't know which.
Q. How did they look?
A. I don't know, their heads were gone, that is all.
Q. Did you tell anybody they looked as though they were twisted off?
A. I don't remember whether I did or not. The skin I think was very tender, I said why are these heads off? I
think I remember of telling somebody that he said they twisted off.
Q. Did they look as if they were cut off?
A. I don't know, I did not look at that particularly.
PIGEONS - EMMA/INQUEST pg. 111(18)
Q. You dont know of anything being done with an ax or a hatchet that would cause blood to come on it, do
you?
A. Not unless father killed pigeons with them; I dont know whether he did or not.
Q. You did not see him kill the pigeons?
A. No Sir.
Q. Further than that you have no remembrance of anything that would cause blood?
A. No.
Tracy...
PIGEONS - LIZZIE/INQUEST: pg.82(39)
Q. You are not able to say your father did not own a hatchet?
A. I don't know whether he did or not.
Q. Did you know there was found at the foot of the stairs a hatchet and axe?
A. No sir, I did not.
Q. Assume that is so, can you give me any explanation of how they came there?
A. No sir.
Q. Assume they had blood on them, can you give any occasion for there being blood on them?
A. No sir.
Q. Can you tell of any killing of an animal? or any other operation that would lead to their being cast there, with
blood on them?
A. No sir, he killed some pigeons in the barn last May or June.
Q. What with?
A. I don't know, but I thought he wrung their necks.
Q. What made you think so?
A. I think he said so.
Q. Did anything else make you think so?
A. All but three or four had their heads on, that is what made me think so.
Q. Did all of them come into the house?
A. I think so.
Q. Those that came into the house were all headless?
A. Two or three had them on.
Q. Were any with their heads off?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Cut off or twisted off?
A. I don't know which.
Q. How did they look?
A. I don't know, their heads were gone, that is all.
Q. Did you tell anybody they looked as though they were twisted off?
A. I don't remember whether I did or not. The skin I think was very tender, I said why are these heads off? I
think I remember of telling somebody that he said they twisted off.
Q. Did they look as if they were cut off?
A. I don't know, I did not look at that particularly.
PIGEONS - EMMA/INQUEST pg. 111(18)
Q. You dont know of anything being done with an ax or a hatchet that would cause blood to come on it, do
you?
A. Not unless father killed pigeons with them; I dont know whether he did or not.
Q. You did not see him kill the pigeons?
A. No Sir.
Q. Further than that you have no remembrance of anything that would cause blood?
A. No.
Tracy...
I'm defying gravity and you can't pull me down.
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diana
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Isn't 'the pigeons were Lizzie's pets' simply a myth perpetrated by some of the authors who wrote about the case?
Victoria Lincoln:
"In May, a minor incident took place that must have disturbed Lizzie at a fairly deep level, for she was passionately fond of birds and animals. She kept pigeons in the barn loft, and after the horse was sold boys twice broke into the barn to steal a few. Andrew decided to put temptation out of their way, which he did by decapitating them with a hatchet. Where property or infringement of his rights was concerned, Andrew did not think widely, or think twice.
Strangely enough, I have never seen this mentioned by anyone who has written on the case." (Lincoln, 56)
[One has to wonder, then, where she got her information ....]
But Arnold Brown picks it up and sticks it in his recounting with a slight disclaimer:
"The barn's sole occupants became Lizzie's pigeons. No one ever questioned Lizzie's love of animals, and as far as we know, these pigeons were her pets and the only pets she had, allowed by Andrew for the simple reason that, on occasion, they graced the dinner table. (Eating pets, and pigeons at that, is almost unknown today, but anyone who knew Andrew would understand it fully; his credo was "You do not feed animals who do not feed you.")
After the horse was gone, the barn was broken into on more than one occasion, and pigeons were stolen. In an action totally out of character for Andrew, he killed the remaining birds by chopping off their heads with a hatchet … "(Brown, 43+ emphasis mine)
And Hixson goes so far as to suggest the deaths of the pigeons triggered the selection of the weapon for the Borden murders:
"Although she apparently would have preferred poison, Lizzie may have rationalized the choice of the hatchet by recalling her father’s own willingness to decapitate pigeons that Lizzie had fed and nurtured in their roosts around the house and barn. Andrew had killed the birds, only weeks before his own murder, despite Lizzie’s pleas that they be spared." (Hixson, 56)
Victoria Lincoln:
"In May, a minor incident took place that must have disturbed Lizzie at a fairly deep level, for she was passionately fond of birds and animals. She kept pigeons in the barn loft, and after the horse was sold boys twice broke into the barn to steal a few. Andrew decided to put temptation out of their way, which he did by decapitating them with a hatchet. Where property or infringement of his rights was concerned, Andrew did not think widely, or think twice.
Strangely enough, I have never seen this mentioned by anyone who has written on the case." (Lincoln, 56)
[One has to wonder, then, where she got her information ....]
But Arnold Brown picks it up and sticks it in his recounting with a slight disclaimer:
"The barn's sole occupants became Lizzie's pigeons. No one ever questioned Lizzie's love of animals, and as far as we know, these pigeons were her pets and the only pets she had, allowed by Andrew for the simple reason that, on occasion, they graced the dinner table. (Eating pets, and pigeons at that, is almost unknown today, but anyone who knew Andrew would understand it fully; his credo was "You do not feed animals who do not feed you.")
After the horse was gone, the barn was broken into on more than one occasion, and pigeons were stolen. In an action totally out of character for Andrew, he killed the remaining birds by chopping off their heads with a hatchet … "(Brown, 43+ emphasis mine)
And Hixson goes so far as to suggest the deaths of the pigeons triggered the selection of the weapon for the Borden murders:
"Although she apparently would have preferred poison, Lizzie may have rationalized the choice of the hatchet by recalling her father’s own willingness to decapitate pigeons that Lizzie had fed and nurtured in their roosts around the house and barn. Andrew had killed the birds, only weeks before his own murder, despite Lizzie’s pleas that they be spared." (Hixson, 56)
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Mark A.
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I for one have had pigeon. I know it sounds like a cliche but it actually does taste like chicken. My 5th grade pals Portugese father used to raise pigeons to eat. They were the biggest pigeons that I have ever seen. He used to feed them some special mix of grain or something that made them taste palatable.
Mark A.
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Kat
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Lizzie
Inquest
Q. Did you get your breakfast that morning?
A. I did not eat any breakfast; I did not feel as though I wanted any.
Q. Did you get any breakfast that morning?
59 (16)
A. I don't know whether I ate half a banana; I don't think I did.
Q. You drank no tea or coffee that morning?
A. No sir.
Q. And ate no cookies?
A. I don't know whether I did or not. We had some molasses cookies; I don't know whether I ate any that morning or not.
..........
Prelim
Bridget
Q. Did you have anythingelse for breakfast?
A. Not as I know of.
Q. You had fruit in the house?
A. Not as I know of.
Q. They were in the habit of having fruit?
A. I could not tell whether they had it that morning or not.
Q. They had bananas, did not they?
A. I could not tell.
Q. It was nothing unusual for them to have bananas?
A. Sometimes they did, and sometimes they did not.
Q. Do you know whether there was any bananas on the table that morning?
A. I could not tell you.
Q. It was nothing unusual for them to have fruit in the morning for breakfast?
A. Sometimes; they did not always have them.
Q. You did not have anything to do with the fruit when they had it?
A. I could have it when I wanted it.
(58)
Q. I did not mean they deprived you of eating a banana if you wanted to. It was on the table or on the sideboard in the dining room?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. Do you remember any other kind of fruit they had that week or about that time?
A. No Sir.
Q. Did they have any pears?
A. No Sir.
Q. What?
A. There were pears there, but not on the table.
Page 216 (58)
............
--Didn't Morse talk about bananas at the breakfast? How come I can't find that?
Inquest
Q. Did you get your breakfast that morning?
A. I did not eat any breakfast; I did not feel as though I wanted any.
Q. Did you get any breakfast that morning?
59 (16)
A. I don't know whether I ate half a banana; I don't think I did.
Q. You drank no tea or coffee that morning?
A. No sir.
Q. And ate no cookies?
A. I don't know whether I did or not. We had some molasses cookies; I don't know whether I ate any that morning or not.
..........
Prelim
Bridget
Q. Did you have anythingelse for breakfast?
A. Not as I know of.
Q. You had fruit in the house?
A. Not as I know of.
Q. They were in the habit of having fruit?
A. I could not tell whether they had it that morning or not.
Q. They had bananas, did not they?
A. I could not tell.
Q. It was nothing unusual for them to have bananas?
A. Sometimes they did, and sometimes they did not.
Q. Do you know whether there was any bananas on the table that morning?
A. I could not tell you.
Q. It was nothing unusual for them to have fruit in the morning for breakfast?
A. Sometimes; they did not always have them.
Q. You did not have anything to do with the fruit when they had it?
A. I could have it when I wanted it.
(58)
Q. I did not mean they deprived you of eating a banana if you wanted to. It was on the table or on the sideboard in the dining room?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. Do you remember any other kind of fruit they had that week or about that time?
A. No Sir.
Q. Did they have any pears?
A. No Sir.
Q. What?
A. There were pears there, but not on the table.
Page 216 (58)
............
--Didn't Morse talk about bananas at the breakfast? How come I can't find that?
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diana
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I'm not sure why you can't find it, Kat -- but it's in there.
At the Inquest, Morse seems pretty sure there were bananas that morning.
"Q. Do you remember whether they had some sort of fruit, apples, pears, or bananas?
A. There was bananas on the table." (Morse: Inquest, 101)
But by the Preliminary hearing he only goes so far as to "think" there might have been.
"Q: Do you remember whether there was fruit on the table”
A: I think there was some bananas." (Morse: Prelim., 145)
However by trial time -- he's back on board and seems definite again that the bananas were there.
"Q. Can you tell what there was for breakfast?
A. Well, we had some mutton, has some bread, coffee, cakes, &c
Q. What sort of cakes, what material?
A. Well, made of sugar, sugar cakes.
Q. Do you recall anything else except those articles you have named?
A. Fruit on the table.
Q. What sort of fruit?
A. Bananas. (Trial, 133)
And he reiterates this some pages later.
"Q. As I understand you had for breakfast mutton and bread and coffee and cakes and bananas?
A. Yes." (Morse: Trial,147)
At the Inquest, Morse seems pretty sure there were bananas that morning.
"Q. Do you remember whether they had some sort of fruit, apples, pears, or bananas?
A. There was bananas on the table." (Morse: Inquest, 101)
But by the Preliminary hearing he only goes so far as to "think" there might have been.
"Q: Do you remember whether there was fruit on the table”
A: I think there was some bananas." (Morse: Prelim., 145)
However by trial time -- he's back on board and seems definite again that the bananas were there.
"Q. Can you tell what there was for breakfast?
A. Well, we had some mutton, has some bread, coffee, cakes, &c
Q. What sort of cakes, what material?
A. Well, made of sugar, sugar cakes.
Q. Do you recall anything else except those articles you have named?
A. Fruit on the table.
Q. What sort of fruit?
A. Bananas. (Trial, 133)
And he reiterates this some pages later.
"Q. As I understand you had for breakfast mutton and bread and coffee and cakes and bananas?
A. Yes." (Morse: Trial,147)
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Kat
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Thanks!
I just figured out why.
I was searching "whole words only" and used banana, singular.
I had set it for whole words only because I figured I might as well check for that "hose" while I was at it...
Jeesh!
But thanks again.
And thanks Susan for the info on bananas.
I heard they were an herb, technically, and not a fruit- or at least the plant itself is- because the stalk is hollow.
I just figured out why.
I was searching "whole words only" and used banana, singular.
I had set it for whole words only because I figured I might as well check for that "hose" while I was at it...
Jeesh!
But thanks again.
And thanks Susan for the info on bananas.
I heard they were an herb, technically, and not a fruit- or at least the plant itself is- because the stalk is hollow.
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Edisto
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- Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2005 3:57 pm
- Real Name:
Thanks for the thoughtful posts on Lizzie's "pets."
I don't think we should assume, based on the evidence of Lincoln's and Brown's accounts, that Lizzie was especially upset about the death of the pigeons. Her inquest testimony sounds pretty matter of fact. As to her passion for animals, there's evidence in two directions. After all, there's the apocryphal story about her beheading a cat. I don't think any of us should believe that story based on the evidence we have -- any more than we should consider the pigeons Lizzie's pets based on similarly flimsy evidence. I do recall that Lizzie wrote a note to a neighbor about a "little bird" that was disturbing the peace in her neighborhood. As a result of her note, the neighbor could have been moved to slaughter the bird. If Lizzie was indeed so passionate about animals, her note should probably have mentioned that she didn't intend any harm to come to the bird. There's good evidence that Lizzie had dogs and was fond of them. Beyond that, I'm not sure.
As to pigeons being eaten by the Bordens, that's probably not something we should take for granted either. It's just a possibility. Some cultures enjoy squab; others don't. We know that Fall River had residents from many cultures, so it may be that Andrew was raising a few pigeons to sell. The fact that they were brought into the house after their slaughter sounds as if the Bordens intended to either partake of them themselves or sell (or give) them to someone who enjoyed the meat. (I recall that they are all dark meat, which doesn't appeal to some appetites.)
I live in an area that's home to many cultures, and some of them apparently enjoy goat meat, freshly slaughtered. I recall reading in the newspaper recently that a woman looked out of her window and observed her neighbors having a backyard cookout. Tethered near them was a young goat, which she suspected was on the menu. She raised a stink with the neighbors (stink -- goat; get it?), and they were agreeable enough to turn the goat over to her and let her donate it to a petting zoo. Maybe they weren't all that fond of goat, or maybe she paid them handsomely for the goat. The newspaper wasn't clear on that.
I don't think we should assume, based on the evidence of Lincoln's and Brown's accounts, that Lizzie was especially upset about the death of the pigeons. Her inquest testimony sounds pretty matter of fact. As to her passion for animals, there's evidence in two directions. After all, there's the apocryphal story about her beheading a cat. I don't think any of us should believe that story based on the evidence we have -- any more than we should consider the pigeons Lizzie's pets based on similarly flimsy evidence. I do recall that Lizzie wrote a note to a neighbor about a "little bird" that was disturbing the peace in her neighborhood. As a result of her note, the neighbor could have been moved to slaughter the bird. If Lizzie was indeed so passionate about animals, her note should probably have mentioned that she didn't intend any harm to come to the bird. There's good evidence that Lizzie had dogs and was fond of them. Beyond that, I'm not sure.
As to pigeons being eaten by the Bordens, that's probably not something we should take for granted either. It's just a possibility. Some cultures enjoy squab; others don't. We know that Fall River had residents from many cultures, so it may be that Andrew was raising a few pigeons to sell. The fact that they were brought into the house after their slaughter sounds as if the Bordens intended to either partake of them themselves or sell (or give) them to someone who enjoyed the meat. (I recall that they are all dark meat, which doesn't appeal to some appetites.)
I live in an area that's home to many cultures, and some of them apparently enjoy goat meat, freshly slaughtered. I recall reading in the newspaper recently that a woman looked out of her window and observed her neighbors having a backyard cookout. Tethered near them was a young goat, which she suspected was on the menu. She raised a stink with the neighbors (stink -- goat; get it?), and they were agreeable enough to turn the goat over to her and let her donate it to a petting zoo. Maybe they weren't all that fond of goat, or maybe she paid them handsomely for the goat. The newspaper wasn't clear on that.
"To lose one parent...may be regarded as misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness."
-Oscar Wilde ("The Importance
of Being Earnest," 1895)
-Oscar Wilde ("The Importance
of Being Earnest," 1895)
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Harry
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- Location: South Carolina
Spiering's book has a virtual feast on the table. From his book, page 26:
"At seven a.m. the temperature was already eighty-nine degrees, yet the menu Abby had Bridget prepare was enormous. There were johnny cakes with butter, fresh-baked wheat bread, ginger and oatmeal cookies with raisins and the remainder of the mutton, which included hot mutton soup. This was washed down with coffee and thick cream, complemented by a bowl of fresh oranges, pears, apples and bananas."
Not only does he have the temperature wrong ...
Maybe he was writing about another Borden kitchen in some other city.
"At seven a.m. the temperature was already eighty-nine degrees, yet the menu Abby had Bridget prepare was enormous. There were johnny cakes with butter, fresh-baked wheat bread, ginger and oatmeal cookies with raisins and the remainder of the mutton, which included hot mutton soup. This was washed down with coffee and thick cream, complemented by a bowl of fresh oranges, pears, apples and bananas."
Not only does he have the temperature wrong ...
Maybe he was writing about another Borden kitchen in some other city.
I know I ask perfection of a quite imperfect world
And fool enough to think that's what I'll find
And fool enough to think that's what I'll find
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Elizabeth Ann
- Posts: 81
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- Location: Western Maryland, USA
- Contact:
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nbcatlover
- Posts: 1221
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- Real Name: nbcatlover
- Location: New Bedford, MA
Thanks for all the great information.
All I had found out was that there was trouble building a rail line in Costa Rica to get bananas out of the jungles, and a lot of people don't like United Fruit. As for 10 cents for a banana, what would be the equivalent cost today? I know that in the 1930s, many people in the area thought $10 a week was a good paycheck.
As for the pigeons, so many books about the case seem to have Lizzie gazing wistfully at the empty pigeon coops. Since Lizzie testified about some of them still having their heads on, she certainly saw the aftermath of Andrew's actions. If they did eat them, Bridget was probably the person who got to remove the feathers.
As far as actually eating pigeon, it did not seem to be cultural. Killing and eating passenger pigeons seemed to be a national sport from the 1850s until their extinction in 1914. It seems like a popular dish for the times.
All I had found out was that there was trouble building a rail line in Costa Rica to get bananas out of the jungles, and a lot of people don't like United Fruit. As for 10 cents for a banana, what would be the equivalent cost today? I know that in the 1930s, many people in the area thought $10 a week was a good paycheck.
As for the pigeons, so many books about the case seem to have Lizzie gazing wistfully at the empty pigeon coops. Since Lizzie testified about some of them still having their heads on, she certainly saw the aftermath of Andrew's actions. If they did eat them, Bridget was probably the person who got to remove the feathers.
As far as actually eating pigeon, it did not seem to be cultural. Killing and eating passenger pigeons seemed to be a national sport from the 1850s until their extinction in 1914. It seems like a popular dish for the times.
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FairhavenGuy
- Posts: 1137
- Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2004 8:39 am
- Real Name: Christopher J. Richard
- Location: Fairhaven, MA
- Contact:
One more thought on pigeons: Notice how Lizzie refers to them simply as "some pigeons," not "my pigeons" or with any hint that they may have been pets. Emma similarly refers to them simply as pigeons, "Not unless father killed pigeons with them," and in a manner suggesting their killing was not some sort of extraordinary event.
It seems unlikely to me that anyone would keep pigeons as pets in the 1890s. For racing or food, yes, but not as pets. Song birds would be kept as pets inside the house. Cats or dogs were common "pets" but also generally served more utilitarian duties, too--dogs provided protection and hunting assistance as well as companionship and cats kept rats and mice at bay. People were certainly not as pet-crazy in the 1890s as they are today.
It seems unlikely to me that anyone would keep pigeons as pets in the 1890s. For racing or food, yes, but not as pets. Song birds would be kept as pets inside the house. Cats or dogs were common "pets" but also generally served more utilitarian duties, too--dogs provided protection and hunting assistance as well as companionship and cats kept rats and mice at bay. People were certainly not as pet-crazy in the 1890s as they are today.
I've met Kat and Harry and Stef, oh my!
(And Diana, Richard, nbcatlover, Doug Parkhurst and Marilou, Shelley, "Cemetery" Jeff, Nadzieja, kfactor, Barbara, JoAnne, Michael, Katrina and my 255 character limit is up.)
(And Diana, Richard, nbcatlover, Doug Parkhurst and Marilou, Shelley, "Cemetery" Jeff, Nadzieja, kfactor, Barbara, JoAnne, Michael, Katrina and my 255 character limit is up.)