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.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear me, has it really been two months since the last post? I hope this post finds you well this chilly Thanksgiving week, and without snow in your forecast! In honor of all of those travelers who will hit the road today and tomorrow in search of some turkey, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie, I thought the following postcard might be appropriate:

This 1940s postcard certainly doesn’t give much detail to its location. I’m sure the bridge has been long-ago replaced by now, but judging on the backdrop, I would speculate that this was located near present-day SR 169. Does anybody happen to know?

While the scene depicted conveys an idyllic image of a less-crowded Renton (The population was 4,488 in 1940!), perhaps the real charm of this particular postcard is the message scrawled on the back by an unknown sender (perhaps by a person named Coffee?)

Tues Dec 16 Dear B.E.’s Merry Christmas. I’m on my second cup wonderin’ and wonderin’ in the heart of Renton (your corner) at the “Sweet Center.” Bye for now, be careful of the Mistletoe–it os Powerful!! –Coffee–

In other news, I just recently found that the site of Little Lake Ranch was purchased by King County Parks. Perhaps it will become open to the public in years to come!

Safe travels and best wishes to all of you on this Thanksgiving Eve!

 

Everybody’s Favorite

My, how the time flies! With a week til Christmas and a mere 3 days until the start of winter, many around the state may be wondering when The Summit and Alpental will finally open for skiers. While we wait for the snow to deepen, check out this snow-studded postcard of Smitty’s Pancake House!

Perfect for hungry skiers!

There is little to be found about the origin of Smitty’s Pancake House. The first location was in Seattle, at Aurora and North 125th Street, by the Flamingo Motel. Founded by John William “Smitty” Smith, it had expanded to 32 locations in nine states and Canada by 1958. Some locations were called “Original Pancake House” or “Perkins’ Pancake House.”

SMITTY’S PANCAKE HOUSE Restaurant. Top of Snoqualmie Pass. Telephone (206) 434-6631. For fine family dining in the Cascade Mountains, come to Smitty’s Pancake House for seafood, steaks, chicken and sandwiches as well as Smitty’s famous Pancakes and Waffles–Pancakes and waffles served on hot plates with hot syrup–You’ll Love ’em! They’re “everybody’s favorite”!!

Although there are still a few independent restaurants bearing its name (such as the Wenatchee location) , Smitty’s as a chain now exists solely in Canada. The site of the Original Smitty’s in Seattle is still a restaurant, although the building is hardly recognizable. Take a look below:

Modern view of first Smitty’s Pancake House, courtesy of Google Maps

“Everybody’s Favorite” appears to have been their trademark, or slogan. Does anybody remember Smitty’s, and was it worthy of its title?

Pathway to Recreation

Happy spring! I can’t believe it has been almost four months since the last post! I apologize if I left anybody hanging, and hope to get back to regular updates.

For many living north of Seattle, Highway 2 is the main pathway to summer recreation at places like Leavenworth, Chelan, and Spokane. During the winter, it can also serve as the pathway to skiing at Stevens Pass.

Check out this 1950s postcard of the Skykomish River and Cascade Mountains, taken from the side of Highway 2.

The roads had potholes back then, too

Originating in Everett, Washington, Highway 2 stretches from Puget Sound to Lake Huron to a total of 2,571 miles. In Washington State, it spans Everett to Spokane.

Like many Washington highways, Highway 2 followed the path of old wagon roads, which eventually became the earliest highways. In 1909, the state began maintaining the section of road from Peshastin to Spokane, calling it State Road 7. Eight years later, this section of road was renamed State Road 2. Stevens Pass Highway, connecting Everett to Leavenworth, opened in 1925 and was named State Road 15 six years later.

A section of US Highway 2 spanning from Idaho to Michigan with a few Washington stretches existed as early as 1926, when the United States Highway System was adopted. The route from Peshastin to Spokane was renamed US 10, and the route from Spokane to Newport was named US 195.

Skykomish River and Cascade Mountains, Washington. The Skykomish River winds down the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains into the Snohomish River, through a fertile valley of farms and dairies. U.S. Highway #2

In 1937,  Washington Primary and Secondary State Highway System was adopted, causing State Road 15, US 10, and US 195 to be rechristened as Primary State Highways (PSH). PSH 15 connected Everett to Peshastin, PSH 2 from Peshastin to Spokane, and PSH 6 from Spokane to the Washington-Idaho state line. In January 1946, the American Association of State Highway Officials vetoed a proposition to extend US 2 from Idaho to Everett. The proposition resurfaced at a meeting in December of the same year and was approved.

Starting in January 1963, the Washington State Highway System began renumbering all state highways. The names Interstate, US Route, and State Route replaced all Primary and Secondary Highways.

Highway 2 as we know it today was a result of decades of re-routing starting in the in hopes of easing traffic, beginning in the late 1960s. Within the past decade, the highway has made plans to reshape and widen the route in hopes of making it safer.

It’s Winter!

I can’t believe how quickly the time has flown since the last post! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Exactly one week ago, the seasons officially changed over to winter and the weather has definitely been living up to the season! With the recent snow, winter weather warnings, and plain coldness, who else is ready for summer?

Only six months to go!

In just a matter of months, we’ll once again be able to don our t-shirts and wander through places like Riverside State Park, shown here in this early 1960s postcard.

The Bowl and Pitcher are basalt formations rising from the Spokane River. Located in Spokane’s Riverside State Park, the hike to see them is a mere 2.1 miles roundtrip. The area surrounding the bowl and pitcher was given to the state in 1933 for use as a park. The park was developed from 1933-1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Also included in the park is a one of Spokane County’s oldest cabins, built in 1810.

BOWL AND PITCHER–RIVERSIDE STATE PARK–SPOKANE One of the unusual geological formations of the State of Washington, these two rocks which bear a remarkable resemblance to a bowl and pitcher, attract thousands of visitors each year. In addition to the scenic beauty, the Spokane River and park provide ideal playgrounds for young and old alike. For additional information, write Department of Commerce and Economic Development, Olympia, Washington. Albert D. Rosellini, Governor

Back in the 1960s, somebody used this card as scratch paper for University Realty. Anybody know what area the SK prefix (752) came from and what it stood for?

Welcome Summer!

Maybe I should have titled this post “Hurry Summer.”

Although people living in the Pacific Northwest may feel like we skipped over spring this year, today is the official first day of summer! I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with an early 50s postcard of a southern Washington beach!

Check out that woody!

This picture appears to be taken someplace south of the city of Long Beach, maybe at the beach located at the end of Jetty Road, near Peacock Spit. As the caption states, it shows the estuary at the end of the Columbia River from the Washington side.

Peacock Spit was named after the USS Peacock, which crashed there during a storm in 1841 while trying to enter the Columbia River.

Here’s to a summer we can spend out on the beach with our woodies, horses, and picnic baskets!

Yet Another Opening Day!

Today is Opening Day! With a noon cannon blast and the raising of the Montlake Bridge, boating season in Seattle will officially begin.

While Seattle has a long history of special maritime celebrations, it is believed that the first Opening Day Parade took place May 3, 1913. Seven years later, the parade and regatta moved to their present location at the Montlake Cut when their sponsor, The Seattle Yacht Club, moved to Portage Bay. It has been an annual event ever since, even during World War II.

The boating parade attracts thousands of visitors. While exact attendance numbers are unknown, it is estimated that as few as 4,500 and as many as 250,000 have lined the shores to eat picnics and watch the passing boats.

Originally, anybody who wanted to participate in the parade was welcome, but when numbers of entrants reached 1,000 in the mid-1970s, the Coast Guard intervened. Ever since, participants have been required to register, keeping the number of boats in the parade closer to 200.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON; BOATING CAPITOL OF THE WORLD. With numberless fine inland waterways and beautiful Puget Sound, boating is the most popular recreation of Seattle residents. Boat Season Opening Day is a huge civic event.

In 1959, the theme “Hell’s a Poppin'” was selected, and the parade has been themed ever since. Other themes have included “The Ancient Mariner” and “Out of This World,” as well as this year’s theme, “Emerald City Aahs.”

Since 1986, rowing crews from the nearby University of Washington have participated in Windemere Cup races prior to the parade.

Please enjoy this 1960s-era postcard, and get out there to see those boats!

A Northwest Valentine

In the early 1950s, Vera Dyar and her husband moved from British Columbia to a 160-acre plot of land just outside of Enumclaw, Washington. Over the next several years, the Dyars built up their ranch and turned the pond into a lake. After Mr. Dyar’s death, Vera found that things were just too quiet around the ranch and began using it as a site for friends’ weddings, complete with honeymoons in her two-room guest house.

In the late 60s or very early 70s, Vera (better known as Lady Dyar) began advertising her homestead as a wedding spot named Little Lake Ranch, and business boomed.

Ring bearers?

In 1972, Lady Dyar invited a reporter from the Associated Press to attend a wedding. The short article produced appeared in newspapers from Georgia to Iowa to Texas throughout the spring and summer of that year. The article described Lady Dyar as “a woman who ‘just liked seeing people get married’.”

“‘I’m not really Lady Vera or Lady Dyar,'” she told the reporter. “‘I’m not a lady, just Mrs., but people have always called me Lady and I’m used to it. But isn’t this marvelous?'”

The price of a wedding was  $60 (about $344 today) and up, depending on the size and type of wedding. Couples were responsible for providing their own minister. What kinds of amenities did Little Lake Ranch have to offer? According to the article, the ranch offered a view of Mount Rainier, a dreamlike setting, and animal witnesses, namely geese, peacocks, swans, ducks, and cows.

About four years and 500 weddings later, the ranch was once again the subject of a short Associated Press article, appearing in newspapers around the state. By this time, Lady Dyar had married Gale Zerba, a man who had worked as a groundskeeper for the Dyars when Mr. Dyar was still alive.

Now dubbed Wedding Wonderland, the ranch provided much more than just a location for the wedding party. Lady Dyar also arranged the flowers, colors, food, entertainment, and contracted a photographer and minister. Prices were also raised, ranging from $100 to $1,000 (about $420 to $4,200 today).

“‘I like the excitement, the loveliness of the bride,'” Vera told the reporter. “‘I get caught up in the emotions of the parents and brides and often feel tears in my eyes.'”

Wedding Wonderland was still advertised as a venue for unique weddings. A couple could get married by the lake and waterfall, in a canoe, side-by-side on horseback, in a horse-drawn buggy, in the barn, while wearing turn-of-the century garb, or in next to nothing.

WEDDINGS AT LITTLE LAKE RANCH. LADY DYAR. TA 5-3879. 5 miles east of Enumclaw, Wash. Have your outdoor wedding held in a jewel-like setting amidst tall firs, strutting peacocks, magnificent floral baskets. All this and more beside a shimmering 14-acre lake. Every Bride’s Dream. Indoor weddings and catering also available. Very Reasonable rates. Where Mom got married to Mike.

So, where exactly was Little Lake Ranch? The 1972 Associated Press article begins with an interesting set of directions:

“…Drive past the city dump, the pickle factory, and Pete’s swimming pool and then up a dirt road and straight into the forest to a secluded wedding haven called Little Lake Ranch.”

But not necessarily in that order. At least not in 2017. The roads may have been changed in the last 45 years, but if you approach via Highway 410, you would pass the pool, the abandoned factory, and then the dump before driving off into what was once a wooded wedding wonderland.

Overhead view via Google Maps with labels

Besides the treasure hunt it led me on during my research, what is perhaps the most wonderful thing about this set of directions is the inclusion of local landmarks that are now simply memories.

First opened in 1935, Pete’s Pool was an enlarged pond complete with a fountain and grand log lodge. Now the Enumclaw Expo Center Field House, the pool has been paved over and sports fields have been built. Ironically, the lodge is now a popular wedding venue.

Established in 1944, Farman’s Pickles was located on the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and Pickle Factory Road (Now Farman Road). Known for their consistent quality and “King Pickle” character, Farman’s sold to Nalley’s Fine Foods in 1987 and production was moved to Tacoma.

The last mention of Little Lake Ranch I was able to find in a news article was in a Seattle Times piece from 1993. Lady Dyar estimated that more than 5,000 weddings had been held at her ranch over the past 20 years.

While it does not appear that Little Lake Ranch is still in business as a wedding site, a quick drive on Google Maps revealed this gem at the entrance to the property:

“Little Lake Ranch, 440 SE, Around Corner”

Shopping City

Happy November! Now that October and Halloween have passed us by, some of the biggest shopping days of the year are yet to come. In the spirit of holiday shopping, take a look at this lovely late-60s postcard, featuring  Southcenter Mall!

Shopping in Style

While the mall’s opening day was July 31, 1968, its roots date back to 1956 when three officials from Seattle’s Northgate Mall (which opened in 1950) formed the Southcenter Corporation with the vice president of Allied Stores (a Department store chain). The four men planned to build a new mall south of Seattle that would match the success of Northgate. They began searching for a site that was at least 100 acres.

Their search led them to the 800-acre Andover Tract. Previously farmland, the Andover Tract was purchased by the Port of Seattle for use as an industrial park. In November 1957, the city of Tukwila annexed the tract. The same year, Southcenter Corporation purchased 160 acres of the tract that were strategically located near the intersection of two planned freeways: I-5 and I-405. The start of construction was to depend on the construction of these roads.

The first part of I-405, connecting Tukwila to Renton, opened to traffic in August 1965. In 1960, he first segment of I-5 opened through Tacoma and by January 1967, the road ran continually from Tacoma to Everett. Southcenter Mall broke ground in early 1967.

The architect for the mall was the Seattle-based John Graham & Company, the firm responsible for both Northgate and Tacoma malls. A total of 75 contractors worked on the project, and despite four worker strikes, the majority of construction was complete by May 1968. Interior work continued until the day before the mall’s grand opening.

When Governor Dan Evans dedicated the mall at 11 AM on July 31, he was dedicating the largest mall in the Pacific Northwest. The 1,400,000 square foot mall featured the largest expanse of terrazzo floors in the area (84,000 square feet). Southcenter boasted four anchor stores, 88 other shops, and employed 3,600 people.

Southcenter Shopping Center, the northwest’s largest air-conditioned shopping city, features a terrazzo surface and lush tropical planters in the 40 foot wide mall walkway between the 110 stores. One of the highlights of the center is the specially designed mobile chandelier which hangs above the main mall intersection. Many of the stores take advantage of the completely heated and air-conditioned interior by having wide open entrances with no standard doorways. Southcenter is one of the few shopping centers to have four major department stores; the BON MARCHE, FREDERICK AND NELSON, J.C. PENNY, AND NORDSTROM-BEST. Southcenter is 8 minutes south of Seattle at Tukwila and the junction of Interstates 5 & 405.

In 2002, Southcenter Mall was purchased by the Westfield Group and renamed “Westfield Shoppingtown Southcenter.” Four years later, the mall underwent a $240 million expansion, adding 400,000 square feet of space.

Some of the stores featured on this postcard include Zale’s Jewelry, Bernie’s Menswear, The Coat Closet, and Hazel’s Candies. Zale’s is still in operation, as are three of the original anchor stores: J.C. Penney, Nordstoms, and  Macy’s (formerly Bon Marche).

Despite the stores and the decor and the clothing, perhaps what really dates this card is the last sentence on the back: “Southcenter is 8 minutes south of Seattle…” Today, the commute is about 16 minutes via I-5.

Summer Motel Guide Part VI

While the recent weather seems to say that the days of sunny, 80-degree weather have come to a close, summer isn’t officially over until September 22. Know what that means? One last installment in the Summer Motel Series!

Today, I present you with a mid-century look at the Coulee Dam Motel!

Fall asleep to the sounds of the Grand Coulee Dam!

Despite my research, I couldn’t find anything about this motel other than the information on the back of the postcard. A cruise around Coulee Dam on Google Maps suggests that this current motel is no longer standing. However, it appears that it may have been replaced with the Columbia River Inn.

The Columbia River Inn, courtesy of Google Maps

The Columbia River Inn was built in 1972 and offers 35 rooms at what claims to be some of the lowest rates in town. Located at 10 Lincoln Avenue in Coulee Dam, WA, it sits right across the road from the Grand Coulee Dam Visitor’s Center and has views of the dam itself. The laser light show, which debuted in 1989, is just a short walk away June through October.

Since the dam’s construction, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation was aware of public interest in its history and planned and built a variety of tourist attractions. To encourage visitors to stay the night in local motels, the bureau introduced the first light show in 1957.

COULEE DAM MOTEL Coulee Dam, Washington. Phone–90. “Just Below the Falls” Offering a fascinating and ever-changing view of the falls of the mighty Grand Coulee Dam and the spectacular colored lighting thereon at night. 44 Rooms.

While the motel pictured in the postcard is no longer standing, there are several old motels located around Coulee Dam, and the laser show runs through the end of the month. The summer weather may have vanished, but we still have 5 days of summer left.

There’s still time to take a quick trip.