Hoosier Cookbook...

Reminds me of a certain Twilight Zone episode!

Sports - Defeat and Victory

One week into the NFL season and some of us already can sympathize with the sentiment of this 1941 beer ad. I don't know if defeat actually is sweeter with a beer, but I'd agree that the edge is taken off.

I believe the odd phrasing, a kindly glass of beer or ale, can be attributed to two things: the relatively recent repeal of prohibition and the rise of fascism in Europe. American brewers probably weren't too eager to tread on the smoldering coals of the temperance movement. Doubtless they feared doing so might reignite the passionate fire that drove alcohol underground.  Also, since many of America’s brewers came from Germany, they surely were aware of the frightening prospect of being linked with un-American values and goose-stepping goons. Better to cleave close to mom, apple pie, and the good ‘ol American way of life than take any chances.

In truth the United Brewers Industrial Foundation had been in existence since 1862 and like most trade organizations its chief interest was lobbying for favorable legislation and tax breaks for its members. The organization did some good, supporting the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, but its failure to recognize that the Prohibition Movement and Anti-Saloon League presented a serious threat to the sale of alcoholic beverages proved flawed and from 1920 through 1933 the sale, production, and transport of alcohol became against the law in the United States.

As a little aside, in 1941, when this ad ran, the president of the United Brewers Industrial Foundation was none other than Rudy Schaefer, the owner of Schaefer Beer.

A Date with a Rocket 88

This ad with its great ride-the-rocket graphic and “Make a date with a Rocket 8” tag-line comes from the May 1950 issue of Life Magazine, making it for Oldsmobile’s first generation Rocket. The 88 was introduced by Olds just one year before this ad ran and it featured the straight-8 engine made famous by the 1988 Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise move, Rain Man. The 88 became a staple of NASCAR for its power to weight ratio.

Happy Oktoberfest!

A Reassembled Oktoberfest Snapshot from the September 1955 issue of Time Magazine

Happy Oktoberfest! Well, at least here in the Midwest.

Traditionally Oktoberfest (or Wiesn as it’s known in Germany) is held in Munich and runs from late September to the first weekend in October. At its heart, Oktoberfest is a fair but it started its long history as a wedding reception for Prince Ludwig and his bride Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. On that auspicious day in 1810, the citizens of Munich were invited to attend a celebration in the fields outside the Munich city gates. There was drinking, food, and horse racing and over the centuries Oktoberfest grew to become the celebration it is today.

So raise a stein of extra-strong beer and strike up the band, there’s a polka to dance and sausages with sauerkraut to eat tonight!

Rinso-White!

Rinso, Lever Brothers' laundry detergent owned the soap powder market for years until Tide came along. I did a little digging looking for the O'Rourke twins without any success but seeing Mary Ellen (or is it Joan) singing "Rin-So White" brought to mind a little Spike Jones ditty.

Spudnuts!

In these days of cronuts, I wanted to introduce you to the first alternative dough - the potato. Spudnuts are exactly what they sound like – spud-based doughnuts. As usual once I stopped laughing, I started researching and found that the doughnut made from potatoes has more than a little history. 

In typical American fashion, Al and Bob Pelton built a business on reinventing something that already existed. They had encountered potato-based doughnuts while in Germany and came home to America with the idea of making the odd little cakes marketable (and themselves rich).  They ran through several formulations before finally coming up with a dry potato mix that let them franchise the Spudnut concept and they went into business in 1940. By 1946 Spudnuts had gone nationwide and by 1952 the Peltons were featured on the cover of the now defunct Mechanix Illustrated.

The Pelton brothers eventually retired, selling Spudnut Industries Inc. and it was eventually bought by Dakota Bake-N-Serv. Within a year of the purchase even the potato mascot of the old Spudnut days had retired but the company seemed to have a bright future – that is until the new ownership wasted the company's funds on shaky land deals and drove it into the ground.

Unlike so many brands of the past, though, Spudnuts persist. According to Google Maps you can satisfy your spud craving at the Spudnut Shop in Richland, WA. If you happen to stop in, please let me know about the experience. I'm intrigued, but about two thousand miles too far away to make the trip!

By the way, if you're interested in making your own Spudnuts, the three recipes below come from The Book of a Thousand Recipes (1912). Supposedly the Peltons revised the recipe quite a bit in their quest for a marketable Spudnut, but they were after a dry mix that could be used to easily and quickly supply a doughnut shop. These more traditional versions lack the detail we've come to expect from our modern cookbooks, but they should put you on the path to glazed bliss.

Sports - NFL Predictions

For those of us who are fans of American football, something like a holiday is about to happen. Preseason has concluded, the bugs supposedly have been worked out and strategies have been established, and now the real thing can begin. The game can really begin, there will be winners and losers, drama and foregone conclusions, and the so-called experts will opinionate and in the end be wrong.

Take heart fans of teams that aren't located on a coast or in a pre-approved championship city. I did a quick search of Super Bowl predictions, and sites as diverse as ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and About.com failed to make a single accurate pick of the Super Bowl champion. 

Year	Predicted	Actual	Result
2003	New York Giants Over Kansas City Chiefs	Tampa Bay Buccaneers Over Oakland Raiders	WRONG
2004	Seattle Seahawks Over Indianapolis Colts	New England Patriots Over Carolina Panthers	WRONG
2005	Pittsburgh Steelers Over Seattle Seahawks	New England Patriots Over Philadelphia Eagles	WRONG
2006	Indianapolis Colts Over Seattle Seahawks	Pittsburgh Steelers Over Seattle Seahawks	WRONG
2007	New England Patriots Over New Orleans Saints	Indianapolis Colts Over Chicago Bears	WRONG
2008	Philadelphia Eagles Over San Diego Chargers	New York Giants Over New England Patriots	WRONG
2009	Pittsburgh Steelers Over Philadelphia Eagles	Pittsburgh Steelers Over Arizona Cardinals	WRONG
2010	New England Patriots Over New Orleans Saints	New Orleans Saints Over Indianapolis Colts	WRONG
2011	Atlanta Falcons Over San Diego Chargers	Green Bay Packers Over Pittsburgh Steelers	WRONG
2012	Green Bay Packers Over Denver Broncos	New York Giants Over New England Patriots	WRONG

So, regardless of who proclaims themselves an expert and how “complex” their prediction model, in the end it’s all just a guess and one that’s more often informed by fandom than facts.