1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. This is a time 4 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,440 Speaker 1: of year when it's popular for people to argue about food, 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: one of my least favorite activities. I'm laughing. I'm laughing 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: because it's always time to argue about food, but they're 7 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: specific foods this time of year that are the subject 8 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: of arguments. Yeah, I hate it. We can talk about 9 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: that behind the scenes on Friday, but I sure hate 10 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,879 Speaker 1: the food arguments anyway. A lot of the talk that 11 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: pops up around the holidays is about what kind of 12 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: cranberry sauce people have at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and 13 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 1: other holiday feasts. If you have them, we'll talk about why. 14 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: I hate that entire argument. But it reminded me that 15 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: I actually put Cranberry's on my list a while back, 16 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: and then I kind of spaced out about them. They 17 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: got on my list because one of my BFFs is 18 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: a cranberry girl. I call her Cranberry Queen. She may 19 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: or may not have cranberry tattoos, and I love her, 20 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: and so I feel like a jerk for sitting on 21 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: this topic for so long after I put it on 22 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: my list. But we're going to talk about cranberries today 23 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: in their history. This is a largely North American episode. 24 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 1: Heads up, because cranberries are native to North America, the 25 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: cranberries we eat there are other cranberries not as popular 26 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: for eating, So, as Holly just said, the cranberries we 27 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 1: typically eat today are native to North America grown in 28 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: other places. Today, an estimated ninety eight percent of all 29 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: the cranberries are grown in the US and Canada, with 30 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 1: the US producing about four hundred thousand tons of the fruit. 31 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: Canada comes in at a little less than half of that. 32 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: Those statistics make this kind of obvious, but there's a 33 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: very clear belt across the northern United States and into 34 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: Canada that has the best conditions for growing cranberry's. Wisconsin 35 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: produces more than half of the cranberry is grown in 36 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 1: the US, which, as a Massachusetts resident, surprised me a bit. 37 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: Massachusetts actually comes in second. Both of those states claim 38 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: the cranberry as their state fruit or berry. I can 39 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: explain why that happens. Yeah, Massachusetts is a lot smaller. 40 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: I think if you did a density of cranberry production, 41 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: Massachusetts would probably be the number one, And I would 42 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: say that there is a lot of cranberry marketing in 43 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: New England Wisconsin also, Actually I could not say about 44 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:38,359 Speaker 1: Wisconsin because I've only visited there a couple times that 45 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,079 Speaker 1: it was years ago. Yeah, super popular in both places, 46 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: but I think it really just comes down to the 47 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: fact that Massachusetts is a much smaller state. Cranberries, you 48 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:50,839 Speaker 1: may or may not know, actually grow on vines. Those 49 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 1: vines can grow as long as six feet and they 50 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: have kind of these stolens that grow up from the 51 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: vine that carry the flowers and ultimately the berries. So 52 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: the vine crawls along then and then there are these 53 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: kind of pieces that grow up from the ground into 54 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: the air, and that's where all of the action happens. 55 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: These vines are classified as perennial shrubs, and it actually 56 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: takes several years for a vine to mature to the 57 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: point that it bears fruit. If you're used to other 58 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: kinds of vining plants like squashes, this may be surprising 59 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: because they have like one season, But these guys are 60 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: long lived because once a vine does start to bear fruit, 61 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: it will bear fruit for years. Well cared for vines 62 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: last more than one hundred years. There are a number 63 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: of cranberry producers that say that they have vines that 64 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: are one hundred and fifty years old or more. And 65 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: then cranberries, once the fruit is ready in the autumn, 66 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: are harvested in two different ways. They can be picked 67 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: off the vine dry, but the much more common method 68 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: uses bog flooding. This has actually led to some confusion 69 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: as I was doing research. Every time I went to 70 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: like a cranberry producer's website, they were like, no, cranberries 71 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: don't grow underwater. So clearly a lot of people think this. 72 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 1: Cranberries do not grow in the water. They just do not. 73 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: So if you thought that, it's because you see the 74 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: bogs filled with water. And that's because in bog flooding, 75 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:19,159 Speaker 1: the night before the harvest, growers pump in big farms 76 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: about a foot and a half of water into their 77 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 1: bogs and let it set overnight. Smaller producers may put 78 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: less water in, but the air pockets that are inside 79 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: cranberries cause some of the right berries to just pop 80 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:32,359 Speaker 1: right off the vine and float to the surface on 81 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: their own. But then the next day after they've sat overnight. 82 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,159 Speaker 1: The farmer takes a machine that's called a beater out 83 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: into the bog. It has this cylindrical wheel across the 84 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:43,720 Speaker 1: front that beats the water and it combs through the 85 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: vines to pull the remaining berries off. Once all of 86 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 1: the berries have been floated, they are then corralled. They're 87 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 1: usually like these big straps that go around them to 88 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 1: keep them all together, and then they are shoveled onto 89 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,279 Speaker 1: belts or lifts that carry them upward and then dump 90 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 1: them into a truck so that they can be carried 91 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 1: to a processing plant. There they will be washed and 92 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: prepped for the consumer market or food service supply, or 93 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 1: they then go to an additional processing center or even 94 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: within that same center to be canned or used for juice. 95 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: The wet method is faster and it costs less. It 96 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:23,039 Speaker 1: requires about a quarter the number of people, and a 97 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,040 Speaker 1: whole bog can be harvested in less than a day, 98 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: and that's why it's the most popular way to harvest them. 99 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: But because it takes the whole crop of the area 100 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: at once, it's likely that there are different levels of 101 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: ripeness across all those berries. With dry harvesting, it is 102 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: possible to pick individual berries, all of them at their 103 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: peak of ripeness, although that's obviously not especially efficient. Cranberries 104 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:52,719 Speaker 1: are normally harvested from mid September to mid November, so 105 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: as fresh fruit, they have a small window for consumers. Yeah, 106 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:00,080 Speaker 1: they do keep for quite a while, but in in 107 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: terms of like peak of freshness, it's not that long. 108 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 1: But the actual story of cranberries goes back way beyond 109 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: recorded history. So the movements of glaciers are credited with 110 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: carving out these sort of perfect areas that have a 111 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: mix of sand and clay with peat and additional soil 112 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: and rock debris. And this substrate, along with highly acidic 113 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:27,239 Speaker 1: soil and a high water table, creates the perfect environment 114 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: for cranberry vines to thrive. Cranberry use goes back thousands 115 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: of years, at least twelve thousand years that we know of. 116 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: The Wampanog people reportedly started picking them that far back, 117 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 1: both to eat and to treat ailments. And these wild cranberries, 118 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:47,039 Speaker 1: which the Wampanog called sesamunyish, were ground into a grit 119 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: style food sometimes other times they were combined with dried 120 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: meat and fat to make Pemmican, and that deep red 121 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:56,799 Speaker 1: color of the berries was also used by these people 122 00:06:56,839 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: for dying cloth. So the cranberry is, to be clear, 123 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,839 Speaker 1: called other things in other areas by different Native American tribes. 124 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: The Peacock called them a bimi, for example, but they 125 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: were using them in very similar ways to what we 126 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 1: described the Wampanog doing. There are also some cranberry varieties 127 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: that are native to Europe, especially to around Britain and 128 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: the Netherlands. So when colonists from Europe moved to North America, 129 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: they were already familiar with these fruit, although they had 130 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: not seen them prepared in the same way that the 131 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:33,040 Speaker 1: indigenous peoples of North America did. The colonists learned these 132 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: other prep methods and also started using cranberries for juice. 133 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: It's often reported that Europeans referred to the berry as 134 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: a crane berry, because the flowers of the plant have 135 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: a similar profile to a sandhill crane. From there, that 136 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: word was eventually shortened to cranberry. Yeah, and I should 137 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: say that is the story that is given for it, 138 00:07:56,040 --> 00:08:00,440 Speaker 1: but maybe we don't have that well documented, and there 139 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 1: are some arguments that it's a little bit different. In 140 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: the etymology might be slightly different. The North American varieties 141 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 1: of cranberries were already well known to European colonists and 142 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: visitors to North America by the sixteen seventies. In the 143 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 1: book New England's Rarities Discovered in Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents 144 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: and Plants of that Country, which was published in sixteen 145 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 1: seventy two and then republished in the nineteenth century, writer 146 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 1: John Jocelyn included an entry on cranberry's which read quote 147 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 1: cranberry or bearberry, because bears use much to feed upon them. 148 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: Is a small trailing plant that grows in the salt 149 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 1: marshes that are overgrown with moss. The tender branches, which 150 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 1: are reddish, run out in great length, lying flat on 151 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:48,319 Speaker 1: the ground, where at distances they take root, overspreading sometimes 152 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 1: half a score about twenty acres, sometimes in small patches 153 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: of about a rude a root is roughly a quarter 154 00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: of an acre or the like. The leaves are like 155 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: box he's referring to uxis, but greener, thick, and glistening. 156 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:06,439 Speaker 1: The blossoms are very like the flowers of our English 157 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 1: night shade, after which succeed the berries. Hanging by long 158 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: small footstalks, no bigger than a hair. At first, they 159 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: are of a plain yellow color, afterwards red and as 160 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: big as a cherry. Some are perfectly round, others oval, 161 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,960 Speaker 1: all of them hollow, of a sour astringent taste. They 162 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: are ripe in August and September. And his account also 163 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: mentions that cranberries are good for scurvy and for curing fevers, 164 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: and he mentioned something that sounds a lot like the 165 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: cranberry sauce lots of people make today, noting that the 166 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: indigenous people of the area quote use them much, boiling 167 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:45,679 Speaker 1: them with sugar for sauce to eat with their meat, 168 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 1: and it is a delicate sauce, especially for roasted mutton. 169 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 1: Some make tarts with them, as with gooseberries. Coming up, 170 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about an English naturalist and his 171 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: experience with cranberries, but first we'll have a sponsor brain. So, 172 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: as we said, this episode is largely about the life 173 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,200 Speaker 1: of the cranberry in the US, but it did also 174 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:19,640 Speaker 1: have developments in Europe. In seventeen sixty nine, English naturalist 175 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: Sir Joseph Banks made a note in his travel diary, 176 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 1: which was published posthumously as Journal of the right Honorable 177 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: Sir Joseph Banks Bart KBPRS during Captain Cook's first voyage 178 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: in HMS Endeavor in seventeen sixty eight seventy one to 179 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 1: Terra del Fuego. That is a misspelling the Odahiti, New Zealand, Australia, 180 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: the Dutch East Indies, et cetera. And he writes of them, quote, 181 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: here are also great plenty of cranberries, both white and 182 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:53,360 Speaker 1: red arbutus rigida. The specific location that he saw these 183 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: berries is actually a little unclear, because he references in 184 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: this particular piece of writing that they are just outside 185 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,440 Speaker 1: of Cape Saint Vincent, that's in Portugal. But this chapter 186 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 1: of his diary covers the time that the group was 187 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,080 Speaker 1: traveling from Rio de Genero to Tierra del Fuego. So 188 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: it seems like he gets a little bit loosey goosey 189 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: with the names of other places and bodies of water, 190 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,559 Speaker 1: because there are places in his journal where he qualifies 191 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: things by saying he thinks the name he mentions is 192 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 1: the correct one. So I believe he saw these cranberries 193 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,920 Speaker 1: in South America, not off the coast of Europe. In 194 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:34,200 Speaker 1: any case, these berries made an impression because over the 195 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 1: next couple of decades, Banks actually had some cranberry seeds 196 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: brought to Britain so that he could grow them himself, 197 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: and while these were cultivated there, they were not ever 198 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: intended for sale. This is because he was a botanist 199 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: and naturalist, but it also might have been a little 200 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 1: bit because while you can grow cranberries from seed, it 201 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,679 Speaker 1: is not the preferred method. It's very difficult to ensure 202 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: their outcome because they have to be pollinated by local 203 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:02,440 Speaker 1: bees and their pollen is too heavy to be carried 204 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,959 Speaker 1: by the wind. And it is also unrealistic for someone 205 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:09,679 Speaker 1: to manually pollinate an entire vines worth of berries. So 206 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: because bees are doing the work and it's local bees, 207 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: this means it is very easy for cross pollination to happen, 208 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,240 Speaker 1: and that means it can lead to very different berries 209 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 1: then the seed plant may have produced. So if you 210 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 1: have a great cranberry vine and you're like, I'm going 211 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:27,679 Speaker 1: to take the seeds from this, don't count on having 212 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:30,880 Speaker 1: the same berries at the end of that process. Propagating 213 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:35,719 Speaker 1: through cuttings from established vines is usually the preferred method. Yeah, 214 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:38,960 Speaker 1: there are some plants that people manually pollinate today, but 215 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,040 Speaker 1: like not with the number of flowers you would need 216 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: to pollinate as like a not at scale. Right, you 217 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 1: could do that at your house for fun, but even 218 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: then getting enough that you could make anything worthwhile might 219 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: be some effort. Yeah. Even as Banks was on his 220 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:59,679 Speaker 1: voyage with cook cranberries were already popular enough in England 221 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:04,560 Speaker 1: to occasionally appear in cookbooks. In seventeen sixty nine, The 222 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: Experienced English Housekeeper was written by Elizabeth Raffld, and she 223 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:13,640 Speaker 1: included information about putting up cranberries for later use. Sometimes 224 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,240 Speaker 1: this is described as preserving them, but you'll see there 225 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: wasn't really anything in the way of preserving the berries 226 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,559 Speaker 1: other than just storing them properly. Quote, get your cranberries 227 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 1: when they are quite dry, put them into dry clear bottles, 228 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 1: cork them up close, and set them in a cool, 229 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:34,320 Speaker 1: dry place. These are generally used as a garnish, and 230 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:37,199 Speaker 1: cranberries are mentioned in other cookbooks of the era, also 231 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: for that purpose. North American cookbooks also included cranberry recipes 232 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:46,760 Speaker 1: in the late eighteenth century, mostly for cranberry tarts. Yeah, 233 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:50,680 Speaker 1: their tarts were also being made in England in the 234 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:54,440 Speaker 1: nineteenth century. Queen Victoria became quite fond of cranberry tarts. 235 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:58,800 Speaker 1: Apparently about a decade after Sir Joseph Banks was working 236 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:02,320 Speaker 1: on growing cranberry in the eighteen teens, in the US, 237 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: North America got its first cultivated cranberry bed versus wildly growing. 238 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 1: This is credited to Captain Henry Hall. Hall had land 239 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the town of Dennis, and 240 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: one day he noticed that he had wild cranberry vines 241 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 1: growing there. That winter of eighteen twelve, in anticipation of 242 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: particularly brutal low temperatures that had been predicted, Hall cut 243 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 1: down a lot of trees from his land that had 244 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: been growing in between his natural cranberry bog and the shoreline. 245 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: Without the natural windbreak of those trees. Over the winter, 246 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: sand from the shore got blown all over his cranberry bog, 247 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:47,040 Speaker 1: and Hall's initial assessment was that this had probably ruined 248 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,360 Speaker 1: his cranberries. But then the vines came back a few 249 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: months later and they were more vigorous than ever, and 250 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:57,440 Speaker 1: these renewed vines were also naturally more resistant to pests. 251 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,640 Speaker 1: Hall came to the conclusion that the addition of the 252 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: extra sand had actually been good for the plants, and 253 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:08,120 Speaker 1: ongoing experiments proved that out. He was starting to cultivate 254 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: cranberries with the intent that they could bring in money, 255 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 1: something that had not really been done before, and soon 256 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: other people in Dennis started doing the same, as cape 257 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,680 Speaker 1: Cod has exceptionally good conditions for the crop. As the 258 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: strongest and most productive plants were selected by Hall and 259 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 1: others for transplanting to controlled bogs, and they continued to 260 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: be tended and harvested. The prosperous plants started to set 261 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:37,080 Speaker 1: the standard for North American cranberry vines. The Vaccinium macrocarbon, 262 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: a native North American variety, has become the most common 263 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: and the one that's normally grown as a crop. The 264 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 1: cranberry industry grew quickly and there was an interesting cycle 265 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 1: to its cultivation in New England coastal areas. So we 266 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier that other people hundreds of years prior to 267 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:59,000 Speaker 1: this were noting that these were good for scurvy. It 268 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: became common knowledge that cranberry's, which are rich and vitamin C, 269 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: were very good for long voyages because they stored very 270 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:10,520 Speaker 1: easily and they could prevent scurvy. So as sailors retired 271 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: from their maritime work, some of them went into the 272 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: cranberry business to sell berries to the next generation of sailors, 273 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: and these new commercial bogs were often financed the same 274 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: way ships were, so people could purchase an interest in them, 275 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,160 Speaker 1: so the entrepreneur behind them could pay to get it 276 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:30,560 Speaker 1: up and running. This was how some ships worked in 277 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 1: the Golden Age. Another aspect of cranberry industry that's also 278 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 1: tied to the ocean started during this time shipments of 279 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: cranberries being sent to Europe for sale. As Christmas trees 280 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: became more and more common in the United States and Europe, 281 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:49,920 Speaker 1: it makes sense that cranberries became part of the decor 282 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: for them. Cranberries could keep for weeks or sometimes even months, 283 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: and they had this shiny red exterior, so that made 284 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,600 Speaker 1: them a natural match for the holiday season. So did 285 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:04,680 Speaker 1: the timing of the cranberry harvest. Yeah. I read one 286 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:09,000 Speaker 1: source that stated that this started in the eighteen forties, 287 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:13,439 Speaker 1: but I couldn't find any definitive information about that. It's 288 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:15,680 Speaker 1: not the kind of thing that probably got written down 289 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,560 Speaker 1: a lot like today we start using cranberries on our trees. 290 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: I think it just happened, and maybe in somebody's journals 291 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 1: or letters or something like the children strong cranberries to 292 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: decorate the tree today. Yeah, I think the definitive part 293 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:32,399 Speaker 1: is them going this is a novel idea which I 294 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: never found. Cranberry scoops, which are box like structures that 295 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,639 Speaker 1: had times on one side so a person could scoop 296 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 1: through a bunch of cranberry greenery and come up with 297 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 1: just berries in the box, were invented starting in the 298 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:49,400 Speaker 1: mid nineteenth century, and around this same time there were 299 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,879 Speaker 1: experiments with water harvesting, but those did not go well, 300 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 1: and water harvesting was actually abandoned until the nineteen sixties. 301 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:01,199 Speaker 1: Over the years when dry harvesting was the only method, 302 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,680 Speaker 1: many different types of cranberry scoops were patented, a lot 303 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:08,640 Speaker 1: of them with various improvements on previous versions, and one 304 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 1: man who held several patents was William T. Makepiece and 305 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:14,680 Speaker 1: remember that name because it is going to come up again. 306 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: In eighteen fifty nine, a book with a somewhat confusing 307 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:23,159 Speaker 1: title situation was published about cranberry's by author B. Eastwood. 308 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 1: The confusion lies in the fact that this book has 309 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,640 Speaker 1: two title pages and they have different titles, so it's 310 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,680 Speaker 1: sometimes cataloged by one name and sometimes by the other. 311 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 1: The first is the Cranberry and its Culture, and the 312 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,679 Speaker 1: second is complete Manual for the cultivation of the cranberry 313 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 1: with a description of the best varieties. This book was 314 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:48,560 Speaker 1: intended to educate interested readers on everything about raising cranberries, 315 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:52,639 Speaker 1: but it was not intended for the home gardener, although 316 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 1: a home gardener could certainly benefit from the contents. As 317 00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 1: Eastwood made clear and the introduction, though this book was 318 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: about business. He wrote, quote, everyone connected with agricultural pursuits 319 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,240 Speaker 1: in this country must be aware that there exists at 320 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:13,119 Speaker 1: present considerable anxiety respecting the best modes of cultivating the cranberry. 321 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:16,679 Speaker 1: Having been attracted to this subject, that I paid particular 322 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: attention to it, with special reference to raising the berry 323 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:25,199 Speaker 1: as an article of commerce. The book contains chapters that 324 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:29,359 Speaker 1: walk the would be cranberry producer through everything from setting 325 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:33,960 Speaker 1: up a bog, to selecting plants, to troubleshooting issues to harvest, 326 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: and it concludes with an entire chapter about cranberry markets 327 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: in the United States and how to sell at each one. 328 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:44,959 Speaker 1: He even lays out the overhead costs that are associated 329 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:48,640 Speaker 1: with cultivation and how to price berries, buy the bushel 330 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 1: to make a profit. Yeah, I mean like it has 331 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:54,240 Speaker 1: hard numbers in it of like this is what I 332 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 1: paid this year to do this, So to me, I 333 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: have to charge this one like it's so completely di 334 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: and thorough. The Colombian Exposition of eighteen ninety three, which 335 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 1: is something of a recurring character on the podcast at 336 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 1: this point, featured an impressive exhibit that was mounted by 337 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:14,879 Speaker 1: the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association. The group's members built 338 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,199 Speaker 1: a miniature cranberry bog there on the expo floor to 339 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 1: show visitors to the expo how the berries were grown 340 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: and harvested. In eighteen ninety nine, the US adopted a 341 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 1: standard for cranberry's stating that each barrel was to be 342 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,480 Speaker 1: one hundred pounds. That really didn't change things a whole lot. 343 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:36,160 Speaker 1: Most growers were already loading barrels at one hundred pound mark, 344 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:39,399 Speaker 1: but it did codify the practice. All Right, it is 345 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,640 Speaker 1: just about time to talk about canned cranberry sauce. Right 346 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 1: after this sponsor break, we will hear about the man 347 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,359 Speaker 1: who impacted the cranberry industry probably more than anyone else 348 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:52,159 Speaker 1: in history, and how he gets credit for canned cranberry sauce. 349 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,760 Speaker 1: If you've ever wondered who gets the credit for canned 350 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 1: cranberry sauce, that honor, depending on your point of view, 351 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,160 Speaker 1: goes to Marcus L. Uran. We don't know if that's 352 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:17,120 Speaker 1: the correct pronunciation, but other variations sound unsavory. Uh, So 353 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: we're going with this one in my apologies if that 354 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 1: is your last name. Uh but I know that in 355 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:26,160 Speaker 1: a situation where we're going to say it a lot, 356 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:30,400 Speaker 1: I don't trust myself for sure to not accidentally say 357 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:34,439 Speaker 1: it the wrong way. Uh Uran was born in Sullivan, Maine, 358 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: on October second, eighteen seventy three, and after his early 359 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,280 Speaker 1: education in the public schools of Sullivan, he attended the 360 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,399 Speaker 1: University of Maine to get his bachelor's degree and then 361 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: went on to Boston University Law School. Uran passed the 362 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,000 Speaker 1: bar and started his law career. But then in nineteen 363 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: oh six, on what almost seems like a whim, he 364 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 1: decided to ditch his law practice and buy a cranberry bog. 365 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: That's kind of funny to me, honestly. This was the 366 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,879 Speaker 1: start of a lifelong dedication to the growing of cranberries 367 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:10,080 Speaker 1: and the stewardship of all cranberry production. In the United States. 368 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 1: In terms of modern influence, Uron probably has had more 369 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:19,160 Speaker 1: impact than anyone on the US cranberry industry, and part 370 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,640 Speaker 1: of that was because he was very good at organizing 371 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: and working with other growers. Uron went on to organize 372 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:29,200 Speaker 1: the American Cranberry Exchange to market fresh cranberries, the first 373 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:33,000 Speaker 1: of many organizations he founded for the crop. But though 374 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,639 Speaker 1: he got into the cranberry business to sell them as 375 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,720 Speaker 1: fresh produce, Uran also, as we mentioned, is credited with 376 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: inventing canned cranberry sauce. Before any listeners turn him into 377 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:46,040 Speaker 1: the villain of the piece, please know that that original 378 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 1: canned sauce was a lot more like the homemade sauces 379 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:53,080 Speaker 1: of today. The story goes that when fresh cranberries are 380 00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:56,360 Speaker 1: packaged in barrels, the ones on the bottom always sustained 381 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 1: some damage from the weight of the berries that are 382 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,639 Speaker 1: piled on top of them. They end up crushed and 383 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:06,040 Speaker 1: unsuitable for sale on the produce aisle. Throwing out those 384 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: crushed berries bothered Uron. It felt wasteful and like he 385 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: was losing out on some of the potential sales after 386 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,639 Speaker 1: all of the effort that growing the cranberries required. Then 387 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: he had a brainstorm, what if he cooked those berries 388 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,840 Speaker 1: down and made a sauce that could be canned. So 389 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,960 Speaker 1: that is what he did. That is the way the 390 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,119 Speaker 1: story is often relayed. It comes up in his obituaries, 391 00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: and crushed berries might have been part of the inspiration 392 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,880 Speaker 1: for canned cranberry sauce. But the other thing to consider 393 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:40,720 Speaker 1: was the short cranberry season. As we've mentioned, cranberries are 394 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 1: usually harvested mid September to mid November, so as a 395 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,760 Speaker 1: fresh fruit, the window is kind of small for consumers. 396 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:50,120 Speaker 1: But Yuran knew that if he could find a way 397 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:53,160 Speaker 1: to can them, he could make them a year round business. 398 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 1: In nineteen thirty, he founded the National Cranberry Association, which 399 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:01,720 Speaker 1: was a co op of growers. The NCAA eventually reorganized 400 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:04,880 Speaker 1: as Cranberry Canners. Twenty seven years later, it would change 401 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:09,480 Speaker 1: to a different familiar name, Ocean Spray. Uron teamed up 402 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,359 Speaker 1: with two partners in this move, John C. Makepiece and 403 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Lee. To be clear, Uron was not the first 404 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: person to organize a cranberry co op. The year he 405 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,320 Speaker 1: bought his first bog nineteen oh six, the Wisconsin Cranberry 406 00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 1: Sales Company was formed. It also operated as a co op. 407 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 1: The Makepiece family was the largest cranberry producer in the 408 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:34,160 Speaker 1: country at the time. Remember those patents for scoops, Those 409 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:38,399 Speaker 1: were issued to another Makepiece from Barnstable, Massachusetts, where John C. 410 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:43,119 Speaker 1: Makepiece was from. So presumably they were related, although Holly 411 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:46,800 Speaker 1: struggled to find information that would really pinpoint exactly how 412 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,880 Speaker 1: they were related. Yeah. I combed through some rabbit hole 413 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 1: genealogy situations and I was finally like, okay, but what 414 00:24:55,119 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 1: are the odds that two make Pieces from Barnstable. What 415 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 1: We're both involved in the cranberry industry at this level 416 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:08,640 Speaker 1: and entirely unrelated to one another by any means, Right, right, 417 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure they are connected. Under Uran's leadership, Ocean 418 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:18,159 Speaker 1: Spray started testing a variety of different products. Cranberry Juice cocktail, 419 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: which adds sugar and sometimes other juices to cranberry juice, 420 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:24,919 Speaker 1: was introduced by the company in nineteen thirty three, and it, 421 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 1: of course continues to be a flagship product today. And 422 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,160 Speaker 1: as the nineteen thirties came to a close, Uran developed 423 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:35,400 Speaker 1: a cranberry syrup to use in cocktails and sodas, and yes, 424 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 1: jellied cranberry sauce was introduced by the company. It made 425 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,399 Speaker 1: its debut in nineteen forty one. Uran's partner in the 426 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: co op, Elizabeth Lee, was making cranberry sauce for sale 427 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 1: well before she teamed up with Uran. In nineteen seventeen, 428 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:55,200 Speaker 1: she started selling a homemade sauce called bog Sweet Cranberry Sauce, 429 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:57,919 Speaker 1: and it was very popular, so when she joined the 430 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:00,920 Speaker 1: co op, she brought an expertise to the table. She's 431 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,919 Speaker 1: said to have had a significant hand in the development 432 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:09,359 Speaker 1: of jellied cranberry sauce. Co Ops that essentially controlled the 433 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: market at the level that Urans did would normally run 434 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:16,399 Speaker 1: up against antitrust laws, but his lawyer was able to 435 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:19,440 Speaker 1: identify a loophole in that law that was an exemption 436 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:24,360 Speaker 1: for agricultural cooperatives that had been established in nineteen twenty two, 437 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,480 Speaker 1: so Uran and his partners, who had been his competitors 438 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,960 Speaker 1: before they all banded together, were protected in this setup. 439 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: Uron felt very strongly about co ops being the best 440 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:39,800 Speaker 1: way for any agricultural product to thrive. He routinely toured 441 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 1: and gave talks about it, noting that quote no individual 442 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:48,840 Speaker 1: can materially improve his own position independent of others. Marcus 443 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,679 Speaker 1: Huron believed in cooperation over competition, and he thought that 444 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 1: if people could put aside their concerns about trying to 445 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:59,680 Speaker 1: succeed in a way that hoarded marketshare, almost any industry, 446 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 1: but as especially agriculture, could really thrive. He proselytized that 447 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,280 Speaker 1: co ops led to greater control for growers, enabling them 448 00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 1: to essentially dictate the market. When he was in his eighties, 449 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: Muran was technically retired, but he was still really busy 450 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,560 Speaker 1: in the cranberry industry as an advisor, a mentor, and 451 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:22,640 Speaker 1: an organizational leader, and he was asked why he had 452 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:26,119 Speaker 1: dedicated his life to Cranberry's. He said, quote, I felt 453 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: I could do something for New England. You know, everything 454 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,680 Speaker 1: in life is what you do for others. In addition 455 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:36,200 Speaker 1: to Cranberry's, Muron also offered the leadership to other enterprises 456 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 1: that tied back to the Cranberry business. He was the 457 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: director of the Springfield Bank of Cooperatives, offering loans and 458 00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:47,080 Speaker 1: financing to co op members. That bank eventually merged with 459 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: Cobank in the nineteen nineties. He also served as the 460 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:56,240 Speaker 1: head of the National Canners Association and the Massachusetts Canners Association, 461 00:27:56,359 --> 00:28:00,080 Speaker 1: as well as the Boston Chamber of Commerce also so 462 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:04,359 Speaker 1: established a scholarship which continues today. The recipient quote must 463 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:06,919 Speaker 1: be a child of a cranberry bog owner or a 464 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:11,520 Speaker 1: cranberry bog employee residing in Massachusetts who plans to pursue 465 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 1: an education beyond the secondary school level. In the late 466 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:19,520 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, government reports were published just a couple weeks 467 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 1: before Thanksgiving that deeply hurt the cranberry industry. An investigation 468 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,199 Speaker 1: had found that some of the weed killer that was 469 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:32,320 Speaker 1: sprayed on cranberry crops was carcinogenic. Marcus Huron gave interviews 470 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,640 Speaker 1: during this scare and noted, quote, the industry won't get 471 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:39,280 Speaker 1: over this for years. People are timid about these things, 472 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:43,400 Speaker 1: especially when cancer is mentioned. You can't blame the government 473 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:46,000 Speaker 1: for being careful. And if there is any danger, we 474 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:48,680 Speaker 1: certainly want to know about it. We want to do 475 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,720 Speaker 1: what is right. But although Uran seemed very understanding of 476 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: the government's report, he also told reporters that he thought 477 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 1: the whole thing had been mishandled. He noted that only 478 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: fifty thousand barrels out of one point two million were affected. 479 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:06,640 Speaker 1: That's still a huge number, but it's only about four 480 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 1: percent of the total crop. It seems like identifying the 481 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 1: singular source of contamination would have been a more prudent 482 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:16,640 Speaker 1: move for the industry in his opinion. And as I said, 483 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,480 Speaker 1: this report came out right before Thanksgiving, which meant that 484 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 1: a lot of farmers were going to have a catastrophic 485 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: year because the entire industry was going to have to 486 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 1: dump their supply for the year and start from scratch 487 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,280 Speaker 1: for the next year. One of the ways the government 488 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:34,040 Speaker 1: tried to mitigate the fallout from the scare was to 489 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:37,720 Speaker 1: start a labeling program so customers would know if they 490 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,600 Speaker 1: were buying berries that had been inspected and cleared. But 491 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 1: as Yuran noted, for the nineteen fifty nine crop, it 492 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: was just too late. Later examination of the case did 493 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: back up uron position that while the information was important, 494 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 1: the way that it had been shared was a little 495 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:58,680 Speaker 1: too alarmist, which reminds me of so many things that 496 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: still happened today. Yes, the amount of cranberries that a 497 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:06,040 Speaker 1: person would have to eat to actually experience the negative 498 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:10,120 Speaker 1: effects that had scared consumers was more than any reasonable 499 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:12,560 Speaker 1: person could actually consume, Like they would have to eat 500 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:17,200 Speaker 1: thousands of pounds of cranberries. Listen, I love a cranberry, 501 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 1: and I can't imagine eating one thousand pounds of it. 502 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: So uh. Perhaps because of that nineteen fifty nine scare, 503 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,720 Speaker 1: US cranberry growers were the first in the agricultural community 504 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: to stop using the insecticide known as DDT as soon 505 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:36,760 Speaker 1: as reports emerged about its potential toxological effects. This was 506 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:40,760 Speaker 1: an action that these growers took before any regulation banning 507 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:45,600 Speaker 1: DDT existed. Today, only about five percent of the US 508 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: cranberry crop is sold as fresh fruit. The rest is juices, preserves, 509 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: and cranberry sauce. By the twenty teens, more than five 510 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 1: million gallons of jellied cranberry sauce was being consumed in 511 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:01,840 Speaker 1: the US annually. But there is a push to move 512 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:05,200 Speaker 1: fresh cranberries into a more prominent position as a food 513 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:07,880 Speaker 1: that people can just snack on, as well as something 514 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,280 Speaker 1: that can be used in recipes without the need for 515 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:14,600 Speaker 1: as much sugar. Cranberries are generally pretty tart, so they're 516 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:16,520 Speaker 1: not the kind of thing that most people want to 517 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 1: just pop in their mouth and eat raw, but new 518 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:23,120 Speaker 1: strains are being developed to make milder naturally sweeter berries. 519 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,000 Speaker 1: And this is work that started decades ago, but it 520 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 1: does take time to shift the flavor profile of a 521 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:31,440 Speaker 1: fruit that has often grown on the same vines year 522 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:34,840 Speaker 1: after year for a century or more. One of the 523 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:39,960 Speaker 1: other things that's impacting cranberry production is climate change. Cranberries 524 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,440 Speaker 1: require a very specific climate in addition to a unique 525 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:46,920 Speaker 1: substrate mix. The plants need a specific amount of time 526 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 1: in cold weather to be dormant in order to flourish 527 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:52,880 Speaker 1: again when the weather warms up. And as the globe 528 00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 1: experience is extremes in weather, the consistency this crop craves 529 00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:01,480 Speaker 1: and needs is dissipating. Something that's concerning cranberry growers around 530 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:07,120 Speaker 1: the world. It's not a secret that the climate in Massachusetts, 531 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 1: for example, is warmer than it used to be. Uh yeah, 532 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:12,960 Speaker 1: so that's cranberry's We love them. I will talk about 533 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,400 Speaker 1: the milana behind the scenes. I have a very special 534 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:19,320 Speaker 1: listener mail. It's from our listener, Holly Fry. Really, it's 535 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:23,960 Speaker 1: from other has come up in some other emails, and 536 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:28,480 Speaker 1: I wanted to make sure people knew it relates back 537 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:33,600 Speaker 1: to our episode on patterns. Sewing patterns. Uh huh, because 538 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: at the end of that we didn't know what was 539 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:40,960 Speaker 1: happening with the future of commercial sewing patterns, right, and 540 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:42,960 Speaker 1: then there was an event and I meant to talk 541 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:44,920 Speaker 1: about it sooner, but here we are. I'm a couple 542 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:48,959 Speaker 1: months late. So where we left off in that episode, 543 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:54,760 Speaker 1: Simplicity Patterns, which at that point had taken ownership over 544 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 1: Vogue Patterns, McCalls, and Butterick. The Big four is what 545 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:03,920 Speaker 1: they're called in sewing Circles, had been sold to a 546 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: company that was essentially going to liquidate them. However, there 547 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 1: was a very cool development late in the game, which 548 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:13,640 Speaker 1: is that in very late October, it was announced that 549 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:18,720 Speaker 1: it was going to relaunch as an independent employee led 550 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:22,760 Speaker 1: brand Abby Small. This is just in case anybody didn't 551 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:27,080 Speaker 1: know Abby Small working with a company called Ruberlman Capital 552 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:29,800 Speaker 1: took control of the company. She had been with the 553 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:33,080 Speaker 1: company for a very long time, so she knows the 554 00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:36,600 Speaker 1: industry very very well, and this way they were going 555 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,160 Speaker 1: to be able to launch. They had this period where 556 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: they were putting out messaging that was like, hey, please 557 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:47,200 Speaker 1: hang tight, we're trying to basically start a small business 558 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:49,280 Speaker 1: out of a business that's been around for a long time. 559 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,240 Speaker 1: Like they had to get everything under their feet, but 560 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:57,120 Speaker 1: they did relaunch, so just FYI, they have relaunched in 561 00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,000 Speaker 1: time for holiday season if you want to buy some 562 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 1: of the pattern. But I wanted to mention this because 563 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:05,200 Speaker 1: for the stitchers in our listening audience, I know there 564 00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:09,680 Speaker 1: was some consternation. I mentioned that independent brands are great, 565 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:12,360 Speaker 1: but I also know that for some people, these are 566 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,080 Speaker 1: the patterns they have grown up with and they like 567 00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:16,480 Speaker 1: to work with, and they were going to miss them. 568 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:18,920 Speaker 1: So they are back around and they are launched now. 569 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,560 Speaker 1: So I would say if you want to make sure 570 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:23,560 Speaker 1: they stay around, now is a great time to buy 571 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:26,440 Speaker 1: a pattern, just to make sure they have that initial 572 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:30,319 Speaker 1: surge and that they have support from their community that 573 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:34,479 Speaker 1: wants them. Theoretically, I'm super excited actually for it, because 574 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:37,439 Speaker 1: I think making this a company that's run by people 575 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:39,439 Speaker 1: who know this business and they've worked in it for 576 00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:42,920 Speaker 1: literal decades. Yeah, is probably the best thing that could 577 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:46,040 Speaker 1: have happened. Yeah. That's kind of really my PSA and 578 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:49,960 Speaker 1: not a listener mail today, but especially because I don't 579 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:55,680 Speaker 1: know about anybody else, but my high productivity sewing time 580 00:34:55,920 --> 00:35:01,480 Speaker 1: is the holidays because it's a little quieter home. Yeah, 581 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:04,359 Speaker 1: work hours or tend to be a little shorter because 582 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:06,680 Speaker 1: you have days off and depending on where things land, 583 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,359 Speaker 1: they're like sometimes extra days in the calendar where you're 584 00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:12,680 Speaker 1: not working. And what a great time to support the 585 00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:16,359 Speaker 1: brands that have been around for hundreds of years and 586 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,239 Speaker 1: are now you know, the flags being carried by people 587 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 1: who love those brands, so I want them to succeed. 588 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:24,640 Speaker 1: It's very selfish on my part because I want them 589 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:30,279 Speaker 1: to stick around. It's my update. I promise we'll do 590 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,120 Speaker 1: a regular listener mail next time. If you want to 591 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:36,160 Speaker 1: write to us to talk about sewing, I'll always talk 592 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:38,759 Speaker 1: about sewing. I have. One of my favorite things is 593 00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:40,799 Speaker 1: that my friends will occasionally text me and be like, 594 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:43,840 Speaker 1: can I bug you with a sewing question? And I'm like, 595 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:45,239 Speaker 1: why do you think this would bug me? This is 596 00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:49,640 Speaker 1: a delight for me. Let's talk about sewing. If you 597 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:52,719 Speaker 1: want to email us about sewing, about cranberries, listen. I 598 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:55,319 Speaker 1: know people have strong feelings. Listen to Friday I have 599 00:35:55,400 --> 00:36:00,480 Speaker 1: Thoughts or anything else. You can do so at History 600 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:04,440 Speaker 1: podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also subscribe to 601 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:07,360 Speaker 1: the show on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen 602 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:15,240 Speaker 1: to your favorite podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class 603 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:19,319 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 604 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:23,080 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 605 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:24,120 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.