Epilogue: Food Fair

While the Food Fair series officially wrapped up last week, there is still much more that could be explored and mentioned. In my countless hours of researching everything related to food at the ’62 World’s Fair, there were some items that, although technically relevant, did not really fit into the series’ formula. I would like to share some of them with you now.

First off is an incredibly interesting magazine I acquired for many times the original sales price of fifty cents. The May 19, 1962 edition of “Amusement Business” featured a two-page spread on the food served at the fair. This was a niche magazine for those in the entertainment business (we’re talking carnival owners and hot dog peddlers, here.) In amongst features of the latest rides installed at America’s amusement parks and a feature on vending machines at Miami Sequarium are ads for things like plush poodles, beer can hats, and tilt-a-whirls. This issue’s opinion piece asks, “Should Acts Use Safety Nets,” and help wanted ads abound for the likes of “arcade mechanic” and merry-go-round operators (“must be sober.”)

Included within this fascinating read are multiple mentions of the fair, but its crowning jewel is a three-page spread on the food one could purchase there. I was excited to see photos of Stewart’s In-Fra-Red Toasted Sandwiches, Hazel’s Candies, and Little Luigi’s Spaghetti, alongside many other vendors that were mentioned in official fair publications but not featured during the series. You can view the entire feature below.

When I was planning out this series, I kept thinking it would be so much easier if there was a Seattle World’s Fair cookbook. The 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair had a cookbook, as did the famous 1939 World’s Fair in New York. There was even a World’s Fair cookbook published in 1893! With the smorgasbord of unique foods available at the ’62 fair, how could it be that there was never a cookbook? Resigned to this reality, I discovered about midway through the series that there was indeed a Seattle World’s Fair cookbook–

It’s just exceedingly rare!

It’s so rare, in fact, that I can only prove its existence with the information available online through the University of Michigan, which supposedly has one. I am only a little bit desperate to see it, and should I ever succeed, you can bet there will be a post!

This cookbook (or rather, cookbooklet) is 19 pages long and was published in 1962. The title is “Seattle Worlds’ Fair Cook Book: International Recipes of the World’s Fair,” and it was prepared by Chef Gino, who I can find absolutely no information about. Supposedly the U of M digitized it, and you can bet I’ve been researching how to view the digitized version.

If you know anything about Chef Gino, this elusive book, or if you happen to have a copy, please reach out! It is such a curiosity, and I would love to know more.

Enjoy the article above, and please, if you have any World’s Fair food memories, share them in the comments!

Food Fair Recipe: Fruitcake

Well, folks, we made it! 60 years ago today (October 21, 1962) was the last day of the Seattle World’s Fair. Today will be the last post in the Food Fair series, but there is no way it can end without acknowledging what was undoubtedly the largest food at the fair:

“A Sight and Taste to Remember:” Check that Triple XXX Root Beer Keg to the right

In the Food Circus, near the Darigold booth, across from Fisher Scones, and kitty-corner from Triple XXX Root Beer, stood a 23-foot-tall fruitcake. According to the postcard above, it was the world’s largest birthday cake, celebrating the 128th birthday of Paul Bunyan.

The cake was covered in icing and decorated with truly American symbols. Tier one featured the Seattle skyline. The seals of all 50 states adorned the second tier (the first time all 50 seals were displayed together, according to an advertising pamphlet). Tier three depicted scenes from Bunyan’s adventures, and tier four displayed symbols representing religion, government, trades, industry, agriculture, and progress. On the very top stood Mount Rainier (done in sugar, of course) and the birthday boy himself. 128 specially-made candles (each three feet high) were strategically placed on tier one.

Although Bunyan had been a folk legend in the US and Canada for decades, the first written stories did not appear until the early 1900s. I’m not sure how his age was determined, but this cake was clearly more of an advertising vehicle than an actual birthday cake.

While the cake was sponsored by Clark’s Restaurants, you can bet there were other companies involved. This postcard mentions Van de Kamp Bakery and C&H Sugar, but at least eight others, including Carnation Milk and Fisher Flour, were implicated in an advertising pamphlet you can view in full here.

Souvenir pieces of the cake could be purchased both at the fair and Clark’s restaurants. They could be mailed anywhere in the world and ranged in price from $0.15 to $2.00. For a while, I doubted that these souvenirs were pieces of the actual cake, but after reading the advertising pamphlet, it seems that they could have been. Supposedly, the wives of 60 Seattle Jaycee Club members packaged around 300,000 portions of the cake.

An amateur slide online showed a staircase leading up to the rear of the cake and what appeared to be a door, so I suppose the core of the cake could have been turned into souvenirs!

While fruitcake does seem to be rather polarizing now (any other Sims players here?), it was much more popular in the past, including during the midcentury decades. I suspect fruitcake was selected for this marvel due to its durability and long shelf life. I have read stories of people who still have their souvenir fruitcake, unopened, today!

While the postcard and the pamphlet both tempt you to scale down the recipe with their massive ingredients lists, it is in no way a comprehensive list. I was able to locate a photo of a souvenir box, and the ingredients were as follows: raisins, glace fruit mix, flour, fresh eggs, cane sugar, pecans, shortening, whole milk powder, salt, lemon flavoring, mace, rum oil. Sodium propionate added to retard spoilage.

So, what did I do for the recipe? Originally, I planned to scale down the listed ingredient quantities and find a recipe that was similar, but that proved to be next to impossible. Since I do not possess the baking prowess of Ann Reardon, I selected a recipe that was similar and made a few tweaks:

Old-Fashioned Light Fruitcake
Adapted from a Food.com recipe submitted by Chef Mariajane

1/2 cup butter
1 1/8 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon extract
1/2 tablespoon rum extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups chopped pecans
2 cups mixed candied fruit and peel
7.5 ounces raisins

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after additions; stir in brandy flavoring. Combine dry ingredients, pecans, candied fruit, and raisins; mix well. Add fruit to creamed mixture, blending well.
2. Spoon batter into a well-greased loaf pan. Bake at 275F for 2 1/2 – 3 hours. Remove from oven when cake tests done; when completely cool, wrap cake tightly, or store in an airtight container.

I had never had fruitcake before and didn’t know what I’d think of it, so I cut the original recipe in half. I also used both lemon and rum extracts, and regular raisins rather than golden. All of these adjustments are reflected in the recipe above.

In the spirit of souvenir fruitcakes, I made four small loaves rather than one big one. I also covered the tops (or in the case of one, everything but the bottom) in royal icing.

The finished product was delicious! While I’m not sure how much it tasted like the original, I would definitely make it again. The icing is definitely not required, but I think it added a nice touch.

Thank you for venturing along with me through the last six months of World’s Fair food! I hope you enjoyed reading this series as much as I enjoyed putting it together. It will be back to the usual content here, and I fully intend to post again before 2024…

Until then, enjoy this picture of the Paul Bunyan birthday cake in the Food Circus before the rest of the booths were fully installed.

Food Fair Spotlight: Carnation Milk

Next week Friday will mark 60 years since closing day of the Seattle World’s Fair! When I look at all of the foods that haven’t been featured here, I find it hard to believe that this is the last product spotlight in the series! While we looked at dairy products before with Darigold, today’s milk manufacturer was once at the height of food research and had its start in Washington State.

If you have been following this series, you may recall the part of the Ore-Ida story where one manufacturer’s decline (Bridgford Company) became an enduring brand’s (Ore-Ida’s and the tater tot’s) start. The history of Carnation Milk began in a very similar fashion.

In 1880s Switzerland, Johann Baptist Meyenberg worked at a condensed milk company. At the time, the accepted method for preserving milk was by adding sugar and making sweetened condensed milk. Meyenberg discovered a method for sterilizing and condensing milk without also sweetening it, but his employer was not interested in this idea.

Meyenberg (eventually known as “Cheese John”) immigrated to the United States and ended up in Washington, where he teamed up with Tom Yerxa and grocer E.A. Stuart to form the Pacific Coast Condensed Milk Company.

In 1898, the Washington Condensed Milk Company established a milk condensing plant in Kent, Washington, but it went bankrupt within 18 months. The plant and machinery were purchased by the Pacific Coast Condensed Milk Company, who rolled the first cases of Meyenberg’s invention, then called Carnation Sterilized Cream, off the production line on September 6, 1899. Those 55 cases, made from 5,800 pounds of milk, were the first cases of Carnation evaporated milk.

Meyenberg taught local farmers that high quality evaporated milk could only be made from high quality milk. What was the key to high-quality milk? Happy, or in this case contended, cows.

In 1908, only 5 years after the Pacific Coast Condensed Milk Company. first turned a profit, Stuart purchased 360 acres of farmland in the Snoqualmie Valley and populated it with Holstein cows. With the goal of increasing milk production, Stuart began a selective breeding program, and established a strict standard of care for his herd. In the main barn hung a sign reading:

“The RULE to be observed in this stable at all times, toward the cattle, young and old, is that of patience and kindness….

Remember that this is the home of mothers. Treat each cow as a mother should be treated. The giving of milk is a function of motherhood; rough treatment lessens the flow. That injures me as well as the cow. Always keep these ideas in mind in dealing with my cattle.”

Treating the cows as mothers also meant that people were not permitted to swear in their presence.

Stuart believed that for maximum milk production, the cows needed to be paired with the finest workers. That winning combination was found in 1921 when milker Carl Gockerell was paired with a cow called Possum Sweetheart. While the average cow produced around 1,500 -1,900 pounds of milk per year in the early 1900s, Gockerell and Possum once produced 37,000! When Possum Sweetheart died, Stuart and Gockerell were both devastated and dedicated a Holstein statue in her honor.

Carnation cows were prized wordwide, and many cows today are their descendants. In the late 1920s, the Carnation farm began experimenting in animal feed. These experiments would eventually contribute to a number of commercial animal foods, including the Friskies brand.

Other products, including ice cream and baby formula, soon joined Carnation’s portfolio. In the 1960s and 70s, Carnation added fat free and 2% evaporated milk to their product line. Carnation brand sweetened condensed milk was added in the 80s.

Carnation remained in the Stuart family until 1985, when the brand was sold to Nestle. In 2008, the original Carnation farm (located in the aptly-named Carnation, Washington) was sold to a nonprofit. Eight years later, the Stuart family started a new nonprofit on the site: Carnation Farms. You can buy produce and other goodies at the farm’s stand. Occasional tours are offered, where visitors can see the barn sign, the Possum Sweetheart statue, and much more.

Carnation ice cream was the “Chosen official ice cream” of the ’62 World’s Fair. Carnation was also an exhibitor in the Hall of Commerce and Industry. You can view a Carnation Milk souvenir from the fair here.

See you next week for the final recipe, and final installment, in the Food Fair series!

Food Fair Recipe: Guacamole

October already, and only three weeks remaining in the Food Fair series! Once again, it’s time for a food fair recipe, and we’re heading south of the border with some guacamole.

While 1962 was also the year Washington state got its very first Taco Time, Mexican restaurants were far less commonplace then than they are today. While enchiladas, salsa, and tamales may feel familiar to today’s American, the various Mexican food establishments at the fair certainly seemed exotic to many fairgoers in ’62.

La Fiesta, located at the corner of Boulevard West and Freedom Way, was a restaurant and cocktail lounge serving “prime roast beef dishes” and “Mexican specialties.” Also offering Mexican foods were Uso’s Place and Gordo’s.

As has been far too common during this series, I have been unsuccessful in finding which exact “Mexican specialties,” were served to hungry fairgoers. However, with the popularity of finger foods at fairs, and the relative exotic status of the avocado back in the early 60s, I figured guacamole was a good guess for a Mexican food that may have appeared at the Century 21 Expo.

Guacamole dates back to the Aztecs, but it was the 16th century Spanish explorers who spread it to other parts of the world. It’s likely that what the Aztecs ate was simply mashed avocado, while the dish we enjoy today originated in Central America with the aid of European and Middle Eastern influences.

Today’s recipe yet again comes from Pan American’s Complete Round-the-World Cookbook by Myra Waldo (1959 edition):

Avocado Mix (Guacamole)
1 small onion
1 tomato, peeled
2 avocados
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vinegar

Chop the onion and tomato very fine. Mash the avocados with a wooden spoon, and add to the onion-tomato mixture. Add the chili powder, salt, and vinegar. Mix lightly until well-blended. Serve on lettuce leaves as a salad. Guacamole may also be served in a bowl, with crackers, potato chips, or tortillas, as a cocktail dip.

I will say, I was skeptical of a guacamole that didn’t contain lime juice or cilantro, but this recipe was actually really good (albeit a bit salty). It goes together quickly, but be warned that it does taste best fresh: the onion taste becomes a bit overwhelming if refrigerated for later.

Enjoy making this for yourself, and I’ll see you next week for the series’ final product spotlight!

Food Fair Spotlight: Triple XXX Root Beer

Yes, I know that Triple XXX has a not-nice meaning in today’s world, but there was a time when it was a very popular brand of root beer. Think of those “little brown jugs” thoroughly enjoyed by happy-drunk mountain men in the old cartoons: they all have three big XXX’s on them. I believe that was the idea behind the brand’s name.

Reportedly, the X’s were indicative of an old rating system used for a variety of goods, with each X signifying an extra layer of excellence. Think of it as an outdated way to say that the root beer was rated 3/3 stars, and was therefore of the highest quality.

Triple XXX had a presence at the World’s Fair selling “soft drinks.” One can only surmise that they sold root beer, and possibly only root beer.

The origins of Triple XXX date back to Galveston, Texas, circa 1908. Its popularity spread in the following decade, and by the 1920s, Triple XXX root beer stands were popping up nationwide. The first drive-in restaurant in Washington State, offering hamburgers and sodas, was a Triple XXX location that opened in Renton in 1930.  Several more followed suite, including locations in Seattle, Issaquah, and Tacoma. 

Chiang’s Gourmet on Lake City Way in Seattle is a former Triple XXX (Rutherford’s Triple XXX). See the rooftop barrel?

Over time, the drive-ins closed, and so did the Galveston Brewing Company (now called the Triple XXX Corporation).  However, there are two independently owned Triple XXX locations still thriving: a location dating to 1929 in West Lafayette, Indiana, and a 1968 incarnation in Issaquah, Washington.

Issaquah Triple XXX Restaurant, and only other Triple XXX building left in Washington. Big Daddy’s Drive-in (Auburn) was demolished c. 2016

The Indiana location bought the Triple XXX name, rights, and recipe when the Triple XXX Corporation went under in 1985, and continues to produce the soda in Chicago. Although not the original recipe, it is the Triple XXX Corporation’s last incarnation of the recipe, reformulated in the 80s to remove the sassafras.

A former Triple XXX in Auburn, as seen in 2012 (RIP). A statue called “Crow with Fries” sits here now.

About 10 years ago, Triple XXX could be found in many grocery stores in the “nostalgic sodas” section. It’s not nearly as easy to find now, but can still be purchased from the West Lafayette location or online (I bought mine here). Be prepared to empty your wallet for shipping costs, though…

Catch you next week!

Food Fair Recipe: Tarte Au Citron

Welcome back! Today is the first day of autumn, and week 23 of the Food Fair series! The number of weeks left could be counted on one hand, but there are still plenty of cuisine types and brands that have not been covered.

Today’s recipe hails from Europe, more specifically, France. Multiple vendors at the fair featured French foods. La Balcone, a restaurant located on the balcony of the Food Circus building, served French and Creole cuisine (including frog’s legs!) Located on the fair’s Boulevard West was French café, Amar. On the same walkway was Madame Carsignol-Perves (called The French Corner in some sources), selling French food and “merchandise.” One location that shows up in many fair photos and even in “It Happened at the World’s Fair” is Paris Bagatelle, a festive storefront serving French foods and pastries.

While I could find a menu for La Balcone, its dessert menu didn’t seem particularly French (apple pie with cheddar or mint-chocolate chip ice cream, anyone?) With no menus to be found for any of the other French restaurants, I decided to turn to my vintage French cookbooks and decided upon Tartes au Citron, or lemon tarts.

The recipe I used came from a very cool publication put out by Habitat (the once-thriving British home goods store) in the late 1960s. Called “Paris a la Carte,” it features a selection of menus and recipes from many of France’s famous restaurants. The tarte aux citron recipe came from La Coupole, a 1920s brasserie that continues to operate today.

Tarte au Citron
La Coupole, Paris (via Paris a la Carte)
Makes 10-12 little tartlets

Make a pate brisée with 1lb sieved flour, 8 oz of butter, 1 1/2 oz sugar, a teaspoon of salt, and a little cold water to work the dough–about 8 tablespoons. Make the pastry the day before, cover or wrap, and leave in a cool place.

For the filling: the juice of 6 lemons, the zest of one lemon, 1lb of caster sugar, 6 eggs, and 4 1/2 oz of melted butter. It is rather liquid and should be cooked very slowly at the same time as the pastry. Roll out the pate brisée and press into little tart tins. Fill with mixture and cook for about 40 minutes in a slow oven (about 325 F).

This recipe is both easy and delicious! It takes a little time to line all of the tart tins and juice the lemons, but the finished product tastes like a delicious lemon curd on a buttery shortbread. I took some to work, where they were a big hit with colleagues.

I can’t find proof that lemon tartes were served at the fair, but with the multitude of pastry shops located around the fair grounds, I think it’s safe to say that they may have been (along with, we can assume, croissants).

Catch you next week for a product spotlight that has been a long time in the making!

Food Fair Spotlight: Aplets & Cotlets

Welcome back for another food fair spotlight! Today, we’re going to look at a Washington invention that recently celebrated it’s 100th birthday.

In the early 1900s, two Armenians met in Seattle. Armen Tertsagian had immigrated through Ellis Island, and Mark Balaban was visiting from England. The two became fast friends and decided to go into business together, opening an Armenian Restaurant and a yogurt factory. Both enterprises were a bit ahead of their time and were not very successful. To add to these failed businesses, the young Armenians found Seattle’s weather much too gloomy for their taste. They soon set off across the mountains to Cashmere, purchasing an orchard they named Liberty Orchards.

During World War I, times were tough for everybody, especially orchardists. Looking for a unique way to use up surplus fruit, Tertsagian and Balaban began producing dried fruit and Applum, a apple-plum jelly. They soon added a cannery, Wenatchee Valley Foods, to their portfolio.

While the cannery was hugely successful, the friends brainstormed other ways to use excess fruit and thought of Rahat Locoum, a candy they had loved as children. After much experimentation at the stove, an apple and walnut variety was developed, and Aplets were born! The candy was an instant success, and Tertsagian traveled around the Pacific Northwest, selling this new product. A few years later, Cotlets were added to their product line.

Before long, a popular Aplets & Cotlets mail-order program was established, allowing residents of the Pacific Northwest to send the candies to friends from far and wide.

During the sugar rationing of World War II, Liberty Orchards focused on its canned food business. Aplets and Cotlets were only produced on occasion. After the war ended, the cannery was sold and production efforts focused on the popular candy.

Tertsagian passed away in 1952, and Balaban passed in 1956. Balaban’s nephew, John, and Tertsagian’s son-in-law, Dick (both longtime Liberty Orchard employees), assumed leadership of the company. Liberty Orchards continued to grow under their lead.

Their booth at the 1962 World’s Fair introduced Aplets and Cotlets to a global audience, causing sales to soar. Washington’s next World’s Fair, Expo ’74 featured a new product, the Grapelet, which was named “the official candy of Expo ’74.”

Liberty Orchards continued to promote its products at fairs and with parade floats. When John and Dick were reaching retirement age, they brought one of Tertsagian’s grandsons, Greg, on board to take over the company.

After serving as Liberty Orchard’s president for over 30 years, Greg announced his plans to retire. Younger generations of the family were not interested in taking over the company, and a buyer was sought. With no deal in place, Liberty Orchards announced that it would close in June 2021.

In the nick of time, a deal was reached with KDV USA, which kept production, and over 100 local jobs, in Cashmere. It also saved the “Confection of the Fairies,” which has been enjoyed for 101 years.

Catch you next week for another recipe!

Food Fair Recipe: Spaghetti

It’s officially September, and the State Fair (or the Puyallup Fair as I still call it) is in full swing. That means that now through the 25th, you have the opportunity to enjoy a slice of 1962 World’s Fair history firsthand:

The 76 Skyride from the World’s Fair has been at the Puyallup Fair since 1980, and it offers a great view of the grounds. Since the skyride turned 60 this year, I had to ride it for myself. A round-trip ride will set you back $9.60 and is slightly scary at first, but it really is a fun and retro experience. Just be warned that the 60-year-old windows don’t make for clear aerial photographs, especially at night.

Now on to this week’s recipe! Located in the Food Circus was a place called Luigi’s, which served up ravioli, meatballs, and spaghetti. The fair’s official press book called the restaurant Little Luigi’s and stated that it specialized in $1.50 spaghetti dinners (nearly $15 in today’s dollars). Whatever the name of the restaurant, there was indeed spaghetti at the fair, which is what we will look at today.

While it has long been associated with Italy, the origins of spaghetti, especially pasta, are unclear. Pasta was likely invented in the Middle East thousands of years ago. The first version of spaghetti likely emerged in the 1150s, the same century in which pasta production is believed to have begun in Sicily. A recipe for pasta with tomato juice first appeared in the 1870s.

Today’s recipe comes from Pan American’s Complete Round-the-World Cookbook from 1959.

Tomato Sauce for Spaghetti (Salsa di Pomodoro)
1/4 c olive oil
3 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 No. 2 1/2 cans Italian-style tomatoes
3 tablespoons white wine
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup chopped spinach (optional)
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onions and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the parsley, tomatoes, wine, salt, pepper, and oregano. Stir well. Cover and cook over low heat for 2 hours. Add the spinach and mushrooms. Cover and cook over low heat for 2 hours. Force the mixture through a sieve. Correct seasoning. Serve over spaghetti or other Italian macaroni. A glass of Chianti, Barbera, or Bardolino wine is excellent with this sauce.

Note: The sauce improves with flavor as it cooks. If possible, make the sauce the day before it is used, and reheat before serving.

This sauce was pretty easy to make (once the onions were chopped!) A no. 2 1/2 can translates to approximately a 27-29 oz can today. I used Private Selection canned tomatoes that included basil. While I agree that the sauce tastes better the next day, it was too acidic for my taste. I’m not sure that I’d make it again. Perhaps my biggest tip is to skip the sieve: use a food processor or blender instead.

I should hate to end this post without acknowledging today’s sad news: the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. She was truly one of a kind, and will be remembered for her grace, dignity, service, and strong faith. The Queen actually visited Seattle with Prince Philip in 1983 (and even rode the Monorail!). King 5 News released an article about her visit that you can read here.

See you next week!

Food Fair Spotlight: Ore-Ida Potatoes

“Those wonderful French fries you enjoy at the Seattle World’s Fair are a tasty treat from the fabulous land of Ore-Ida.” So reads a full-page advertisement in the fair’s Official Guidebook. Much like Bar-S was featured as the supplier of the fair’s meats, Ore-Ida provided vendors with French fries.

Like many of the foods served at Century 21, Ore-Ida was a product of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1952, Ore-Ida’s roots stretch back to the Great Depression and two determined brothers.

F. Nephi and Golden Grigg were born and raised in Idaho, and came of age in the midst of the Depression. Like most people in their hometown, they became corn farmers and sold their produce door-to-door. Looking to improve the quality of their product, the industrious Griggs went to work, finding that midnight harvests meant peak freshness and better-tasting corn. This discovery led to a surge in their corn’s popularity, and soon demand has surpassed what they alone could grow.

By the 1940s, the brothers had relocated to Ontario, Oregon, where the Bridgford Company of California would soon build a flash-freezing plant. While their business was booming, the Bridgford Company was discovering that their new plant was not built with the local climate in mind. After only five years in operation, the plant closed, and Bridgford Company ended up in bankruptcy court. Believing that the future was in frozen foods, the Griggs mortgaged their farms (and homes!) and bought the flash-freezing plant, which was located on the border between Oregon and Idaho. The location prompted the Grigg brothers to rename their company Ore-Ida.

In 1946, another Idaho native, J.R. Simplot, had discovered how to freeze French fries without them turning black. While the Grigg brothers were already finding success with frozen corn, they wanted in on the frozen French fry market as well. They bought a French fry cutter, but there was a problem: potatoes were not rectangular, and little pieces of potato were always wasted during the manufacturing process.

Originally the pieces were gathered up and fed to livestock owned by the Grigg family. This was a good solution for a while, but soon the excess was in excess and Nephi was frustrated to waste so much clean, peeled potato on cattle. After seeing a prune sorter demonstration, Nephi and his plant superintendent set out to redesign the prune sorter, seeing if it could form the leftover bits of potato into something useable.

The tater tot was born.

The tater tot debuted at the 1954 National Potato Convention, where it was an instant success. Anticipating that copycats would soon arrive on the scene, the Griggs trademarked the name “Tater Tot,” bought new machinery, and began producing the salty morsels in mass that same year. Ore-Ida held one quarter of the frozen potato market in the 1950s.

The company opened a second plant in 1960 and went public the following year. Business was booming, with an annual profit of $31 million in 1964 alone. However, with rumors of nepotism running rampant at the company, the Griggs sold Ore-Ida to Heinz in 1965 for a cool $30 million.

In an interesting twist of events, Heinz announced in March of this year that they would sell the Ore-Ida plant that started it all to J.R. Simplot Co. Ore-Ida products will continue to be manufactured there in a special contract with Simplot.

With the arrival of September, there are only 7 weeks remaining in this series! I hope you have enjoyed what I have covered so far. Catch you next week for another recipe!

Food Fair Recipe: Blackberry Pie

Tucked away in the Food Circus was a vendor relatively unknown outside of northern Snohomish County. Thanks to the World’s Fair, popularity for the Village Café, which served pie and beverages, would grow.

Marysville’s Village Café opened on Highway 99 in 1937 as a simple pie café. Eventually, an array of popular American foods were added to the menu, including breakfast and steaks. For decades, the Village Café was a hit with locals and visitors alike until June 2017 when it burned down in an early morning two-alarm fire. Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the blaze, and the local landmark reopened as the Village Taphouse & Grill later that year.

Despite changing to a full-service restaurant, Village Café has long been famous for its pies. Since pie was also the food Village Café featured at the fair, it is the one I made. Glancing through reviews, the blackberry pie seemed to be a Village Café favorite. Even with blackberry season a bit late this year, there were plenty of berries around the neighborhood, waiting to be picked…

While today’s recipe is not an official Village Café one, it’s both vintage and tasty.

Blackberry Pie
from Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook (1957 edition)

Crust (for 9″ pie):
2 cups sifted Gold Medal flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup lard (or 2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp. hydrogenated shortening)
1/4 cup water

1. Measure flour into mixing bowl and mix salt through it. With pastry blender, cut in shortening until shortening particles are the size of giant peas
2. Sprinkle with water, a tbsp. at a time… mixing lightly with a fork until all the flour is moistened
3. Gather dough together with fingers so it cleans the bowl
4. Press firmly into a ball. Then roll out, or keep in waxed paper in refrigerator

Filling:
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup Gold Medal flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 cups fresh berries
1 1/2 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients. Add berries and mix lightly. Pour into a pastry-lined pie pan and dot with butter. Cover with top crust which has slits cut in it. Bake until crust is lightly browned and juice begins to bubble through slits, about 35-45 minutes. Serve slightly warm, not hot.

I did make a few adjustments to the recipe, in hopes of making it seem a bit more like a restaurant pie. In the crust, I used half butter and half shortening (about 6 tbsp butter and a little over 1/3 cup shortening). I used close to 6 cups of berries, only 1 cup of sugar, and a bit of extra flour. I also brushed the top of the pie with egg white and sprinkled it with sugar.

The result was delicious! The crust was a bit hard to handle, however. If you use shortening, I recommend chilling it first.

Now get out and pick some berries (if there are any left!) and I’ll catch you next Thursday for another product spotlight.