Potatoes

1895

If baked potatoes are to be more digestible than those that are boiled, they must be baked in a quick oven where the starch granules are exposed to a greater degree of heat than in boiling, and consequently where a greater chemical change takes place. Baked potatoes retain their salts and potash, that are usually lost by boiling them without their jackets. In taking baked potatoes from the oven pricking or pressing them quickly will allow the steam to escape, and they will not be so apt to grow watery if it is necessary to delay the eating of them. In a similar way boiled potatoes that cannot be eaten at once may be kept more "mealy" if not closely covered, as in case there is no escape for the steam that accumulates on the cover over them it will drip back on to the potatoes. — New York Post.


The Difference

Oldboy — Hello, old man! What's up? You don't look as trim as you used to during the first few months of your honeymoon. Doesn't your wife still brush you up?
Wedly — No. She combs me down. — New York Herald.


Trivia

Hereafter all telegraph and telephone poles which are erected in the streets of Hartford must be of well seasoned chestnut wood, octagonal in shape, to be painted a dark green uniformly, and not over 40 feet in height from the ground

The China or tea wheat is said to have come from a grain found in a chest of tea.

Criticism of American Potatoes

1910

"Perhaps better potatoes will be raised in this country some day," said a man from Europe, seated in the Knickerbocker dining room. "At present many dinner menus are arranged without potatoes, In fact they are not highly prized, and I believe it is because the best kinds are not cultivated here. The soil may have something to do with it, but I tell you there is nothing to compare with the 'blue mouse' and the 'red mouse' raised in the Rhine country. There are many others kinds, with the flavor of nuts, mealy, and — well, I am often homesick for them." — New York Herald.


Easy Money at Great Parisian Banks

If you present a letter of credit at one of the great banks of Paris, like the Credit Lyonnais, an usher in livery receives you in a splendid parlor, like the salon of a palace, and bids you be seated in a sumptuous chair. Presently he brings you a check, made out for the amount you demand, for your signature. A quarter of an hour later he brings you the cash on a silver tray. You do not come in contact with the clerical force, or see the inner workings at all.

What Alaskan Indians Smoke

1910

Seattle, Wash. — How would you enjoy a pipeful of wood shavings saturated with a strong solution of pepper as an after dinner smoke? This is the strange substitute used for tobacco by Indians along the Alaska coast. Their mouths are often made raw by the practice, and the eyesight of many is affected by the strong fumes.

It is no uncommon practice among farmers to smoke the leaves of the tomato and potato plants. While both these plants contain a narcotic poison, the smoking of leaves in moderation is harmless. Excessive use, though, produces a heavy stupor, from which the smoker awakes with a terrific headache and a feeling of utter exhaustion. Insanity and suicide have often been caused by the immoderate use of these two weeds. Rhubarb, beet and even garden sage leaves are all smoked by farmers, and are perhaps the least harmful of substitutes for tobacco.


Turtle Asphyxiates Chicks

South Norwalk, Conn. — Funeral services for 100 chickens and three pigs were conducted behind the barn of Herman Jacobs and a snapping turtle that endeavored to qualify as a gas meter inspector is being fattened for slaughter as the result.

Jacobs caught the turtle some time ago and tied it to a stake in the back yard. The turtle broke loose and made for the gas meter in the barn. In his investigations he bit off the gas pipe close to the meter and the chickens and pigs were asphyxiated. Two farmhands who endeavored to rescue the unfortunates were made ill by the fumes.

Hale, Hearty on 86th Birthday, Pretty Good "For One So Old"

New York, 1911

HALE AND HEARTY ON 86TH BIRTHDAY

Mrs. Elizabeth VanKeuren, of 235 Monhagen avenue this city, recently celebrated her eighty-sixth birthday anniversary. Mrs. VanKeuren's old age does not stop her from being quite active. When the Times-Press representative called upon her she had just finished peeling potatoes for dinner.

"I am in perfectly good health with the exception of an occasional attack of rheumatism," said Mrs. VanKeuren.

Her hearing, for one so old, is excellent, the only sense which seemed to be impaired is her seeing, she being totally blind in one eye.

Mrs. VanKeuren's husband, who died a few years ago, lived to reach the ago of ninety years, and every member of Mrs. VanKeuren's family lived to be older than eighty-four years of age.

—Middletown Daily Times-Press, Middletown, NY, Aug. 5, 1911, p. 5.

How to Make French Fries - From 1918 Mazola Ad

1918

French Fried Potatoes

Pare Potatoes and cut lengthwise into eighths. Soak in cold water 1 or 2 hours. Dry between 2 towels. Fry in Mazola. Drain on brown paper and sprinkle with salt.

—and you don't know how appetizing French Fried Potatoes can be until you have tried this Mazola recipe.

Crisp, golden brown "French Fries" are an adjunct to almost any meal. And since housewives began using Mazola, they are served more than ever.

—Bridgeport Telegram, Bridgeport, CT, Nov. 29, 1918, p. 4.