1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Working on 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,400 Speaker 1: our episode on eponymous foods a few months back with 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,440 Speaker 1: so much fun that I wanted to do another installment, 6 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: and this one ended up because they got to be 7 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: rather large stories to have just two foods. First is 8 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: a salad that, much like other eponymous foods we have 9 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: talked about, came together improvisationally and out of necessity. And 10 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: a second a cracker made to aligne with specific dietary 11 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 1: guidelines with a namesake who would, without a doubt be 12 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:51,239 Speaker 1: horrified at how that item has evolved. So today we 13 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 1: are going to talk about the Caesar salad and the 14 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: Graham cracker. So a mainstay on restaurant menus is, of 15 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: course the Caesar salad. The Caesar salad is not named 16 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: after Julius Caesar as you might have thought, or at 17 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 1: least it probably was not, and it's also a much 18 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: newer invention that you might have thought. It was made 19 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: in the twentieth century. But this is also one of 20 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: those items that has some conflict and its origin story yes. So. 21 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: The main story, and the one that is most widely repeated, 22 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: is about a man named Caesar Cardini who was born 23 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: Abullardo Caesari Cardini in the Novara region of Italy on 24 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: the western shore of Lago Majore in e six. He 25 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: had five siblings, Risino, Nareo, Carlata, Gaudenzio, and the youngest Alessandro. 26 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:41,399 Speaker 1: And though although he was born, of course, with the 27 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: Italian spelling of his name, which ended in an E, 28 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: Cardini used the spelling that we would normally associate with 29 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: Julius Caesar Uh, including on the signs for his restaurants. 30 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: So professionally he went by Caesar with kind of the 31 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: anglicized spelling, and we're going to get to those restaurants momentarily. 32 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: Caesar moved to the United States after having worked for 33 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: a number of summers in Canada. First he moved to 34 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: San Francisco and worked as a waiter at the Palace Hotel. 35 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: Then he moved to Sacramento, California, and opened a restaurant 36 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: called Browns with his business partner, William Brown. But then 37 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,919 Speaker 1: in late nineteen nineteen, a lot of people were avoiding 38 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,399 Speaker 1: public places because of the influenza pandemic, so the restaurant 39 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: was closed. Caesar went back to Italy for a time 40 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: and then back to the North America, first in Montreal 41 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: and then eventually San Diego, where his brother Alex joined him. 42 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: In nineteen and because of prohibition, the Cardinis operated a 43 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: restaurant across the US Mexican border in Tijuana, where they 44 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: could serve drinks to their patrons along with their food. 45 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 1: They also did kind of a nightclub scene, and it 46 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: was very common for residents of the US to cross 47 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: the border to frequent establishments in Mexico for this reason, 48 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,919 Speaker 1: and the Cardines restaurant, which was called Caesar's Place uh 49 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: and which had opened in nineteen twenty three, was very popular. 50 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: According to Cardini himself, here's the origin of the salad. 51 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 1: This is usually dated to nine although there are also 52 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: different years sided depending on the source material. Quote. It 53 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 1: was a fourth of July weekend, over thirty five years ago. 54 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: I had my restaurant in Tijuana. Then we were out 55 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: of food and the suppliers were closed. I went back 56 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: to the kitchen and took inventory. There were a few 57 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: crates of romaine lettuce, half a creative eggs, a bin 58 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: of stale bread and a wheel of romanello cheats. That 59 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: was all with all those people out front that wanted 60 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: to eat. So I rolled up my sleeves, I rubbed 61 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: a bowl with garlic, broke up the romaine, and coddled 62 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: the eggs. I had my cooks cut up the stale 63 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 1: bread and soak it an olive oil, then put it 64 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: in the oven to toast. I mixed the eggs and 65 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: lettuce with pear vinegar and green olive oil, added the 66 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: grated cheese and toasted croutons. That was it. As for 67 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: the tradition of mixing the salad table side, that also 68 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: at Cardini came from the scarcity of options in the kitchen. 69 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: If customers only had one choice of dish on the menu, 70 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: Cardini figured his servers could at least make a show 71 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: of serving it. But Caesar is not the only person 72 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,040 Speaker 1: who claimed to have invented this salad. Another man named 73 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: Paul Maggiora, who was Cardinis business partner, said it was 74 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: him who threw the salad together, and that because he 75 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: had made it for airmen from the United States, he 76 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: called it aviators salad. Yeah, that name will come up, 77 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: and yet another version But before we get to that, 78 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: there is another man, Livio Santini, who was eighteen when 79 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,039 Speaker 1: he worked for the Cardinis in their tu on a restaurant. 80 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: He claimed that the salad was when his mother had 81 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: made back in Italy, and then he made it in 82 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:47,919 Speaker 1: the restaurant kitchen, only to have it taken over and 83 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: claimed by Caesar. Even Cardini's brother Alex, said that he 84 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: was the real inventor, a story that has been debated 85 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: in the family for years. According to the version, Alex 86 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: told he may a salad for a bunch of Air 87 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: Force pilots from rockwell Field who had fallen asleep in 88 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 1: the restaurant after partying all night. The Cardinis let them doze, 89 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: and when they woke up, Alex made them the aviators 90 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: salad for breakfast. Alex's version may have been a variation 91 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: on the original variation that included Anchovi's that's something that 92 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: Caesar was apparently against. Yeah, we're gonna have a quote 93 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 1: about that later. Uh. There are even though a couple 94 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:32,799 Speaker 1: of variations within this version. One is that though Alex 95 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: Cardini invented the dish, the salad came to have Caesar's 96 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: names simply because it was his name on the restaurant. 97 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: Another version that sometimes pops up is that Alex invented 98 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,479 Speaker 1: the salad when the two were running their first restaurant together, 99 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,039 Speaker 1: and that he named it for his brother, But that 100 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,600 Speaker 1: is a little unclear. In the restaurant that he mentioned, 101 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: which is called Alex and Caesar's, there's not really evidence 102 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:00,360 Speaker 1: that that really existed or if he was misremembering, because 103 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: it appears that there was a time when Alex had 104 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: his own restaurant called Alex's Place. That is based on 105 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: advertisements in papers that that's confirmed, and it's possible that 106 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: he considered that a joint venture. But in any case, 107 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: Alex Cardini eventually moved to Mexico City and opened several 108 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: restaurants of his own, and on the menus there it 109 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 1: was called the Alex Cardini Caesar Salad. In recent years, 110 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: Alex's granddaughter Carla Cardini, has shared Alex's version with foodie groups, 111 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: including the tip that it should include lime juice, not 112 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:36,120 Speaker 1: lemon juice, which is often attributed to a mistranslation. But wait, 113 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: we're not done yet. There is yet another claim to 114 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,840 Speaker 1: the salad's invention. This one does not originate in Cardini's 115 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: restaurant at all, and it predates the Tiawaa creation by decades. 116 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: This version places the salad's inception in Chicago, totally different place, 117 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: at a restaurant called the New York Cafe, and the 118 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: year nineteen o three and the spersion. It's another Italian 119 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: who gets the credit, Jacomo ja who was a cook 120 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,159 Speaker 1: at the cafe, and he is said to have named 121 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: the recipe after Julius Caesar. But this version has appeared 122 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: in print a number of times. The first example of it, though, 123 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: seems to be in a book titled Bull Cook and 124 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices, which was self published in 125 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty by a man named George Leonard Herder, and 126 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: Herder was quite a character in a variety of ways, 127 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: but the lack of sourcing for most of his history 128 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: details means this version has a whole lot of question 129 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:39,120 Speaker 1: marks around it. It is entirely possible that Jacomo Jr. 130 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: Is a fictional character that herd Or dreamed up. Herd 131 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 1: Er claimed that this person, Jacomo Jr. Had made the 132 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: salad dressing out of ingredients that he had on hand 133 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: because he was trying to make mayonnaise, but never pulled 134 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: it off, and that he had then just made it 135 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: into addressing and added croutons to please his French customers 136 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: and bacon to police his German patrons. Herder also claimed 137 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: that this was the only version worth making, and that 138 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: any other version of a caesar salad was quote fouled up. 139 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: One of the elements of a Caesar salad that comes 140 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 1: up from time to time, and it's really not clear 141 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: in which of these many iterations that originated, is that 142 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:21,239 Speaker 1: you're supposed to eat it with your hands. The romane 143 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: lettuce isn't supposed to be chopped. The leaves are left intact, 144 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: so each leaf can be picked up by the rigid 145 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: base and then eaten without any utensils. Serving it this 146 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: way means that the preparation has to be done to 147 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: really exacting standards, with the leaves rolled in the dressing 148 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: instead of tossed the way one would toss a chopped salad, 149 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: to ensure that the leaves are coated evenly. Because the 150 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: ends need to be left clean, you to grab them 151 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: with your hands. I kind of love this, I kind 152 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: of want to try it. Um. I know I have 153 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: seen plates of caesar salad plated that way. It never 154 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:58,440 Speaker 1: occurred to me you were supposed to pick it up 155 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: with your hand. I always just cut, cut, cut, But 156 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: now I will know. So coming up, we're going to 157 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: talk about how the caesar salad spread in popularity, which 158 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: probably contributed to this ongoing conflict over who got credit. 159 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: But first we are going to pause for a sponsor break. 160 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: Regardless of who initially thought up this salad, it quickly 161 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: gained a following. One of Cardini's most famous customers was U. S. 162 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: Army General Billy Mitchell, who was considered the father of 163 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,680 Speaker 1: the U. S. Air Force and whose outspoken criticism of 164 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:41,440 Speaker 1: military leadership led to a widely publicized court martial in 165 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: but in the early nineteen twenties. Mitchell was stationed at 166 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: San Diego and was a regular at Cardinis. To you 167 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,559 Speaker 1: on a restaurant, and the general fell so in love 168 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: with caesar salad that when he traveled he would show 169 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: chefs at the restaurants he visited how it was made, 170 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:01,560 Speaker 1: and that helped spread the dishes popularity. Cardini later said, 171 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: quote when he had his big court martial, his wife 172 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 1: told me he used to come home from the hearings 173 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 1: and mix a caesar salad for dinner. Julia Child wrote 174 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: about experiencing the caesar salad at Caesar's place as a 175 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 1: child in her book From Julia Child's Kitchen quote, My parents, 176 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:21,160 Speaker 1: of course ordered the salad. Caesar himself rolled the big 177 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: card up to the table, toss the remain in a 178 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: great wooden bowl. And I wish I could say I 179 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 1: remembered his every move, but I don't. The only thing 180 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: I see again clearly is the eggs. I can see 181 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:35,959 Speaker 1: him break two eggs over that romain and roll them 182 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: in the greens, going all creamy as the eggs float 183 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: over them. Two eggs in a salad to one minute 184 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:47,160 Speaker 1: coddled eggs and garlic flavored croutons and grated parmesan cheese. 185 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:50,560 Speaker 1: It was a sensation of a salad from coast to coast. 186 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,680 Speaker 1: In seven, journalist and gossip columnist Earl Wilson wrote a 187 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 1: piece about the popularity of the caesar salad in Hollywood 188 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,080 Speaker 1: that was for a syndicate new column which appeared in 189 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,400 Speaker 1: papers across the US, and he opened it with quote, 190 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:08,679 Speaker 1: I've long noticed that such Hollywood glamor pusses as Joan Crawford, 191 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:13,080 Speaker 1: Dorothy Lemore, Lana Turner, and Betty Hutton smells strongly and 192 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 1: strangely of and here your columnist blushes furiously of garlic. 193 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: Wilson eventually discovered that the source of that garlic smell 194 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:25,280 Speaker 1: was the movie stars fondness for Caesar salad. But the 195 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: truly interesting part of this right up is a paragraph 196 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 1: in which Wilson gives the reader of today some clues 197 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 1: about how the dish was spread around the country and 198 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: how it became so popular. Note in the quote, though 199 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: he got Cardini's name wrong, he writes, quote, I found 200 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: it was invented by an Italian named Caesar Gardini in 201 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: his Tioana restaurant. Edmund Low tasted it there and brought 202 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: it to Hollywood. Caesar's ex partner, Peter Fregario, is now 203 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 1: a captain at On Reeves here, where, of course you 204 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 1: can get a wonderful Caesar salad. That column all so 205 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: evidence is how garlic was at this point not the 206 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 1: dietary staple for the US that it is today. And 207 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 1: I think we've all been on social media and seen 208 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,560 Speaker 1: people make the joke like when the recipe calls for 209 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: two clothes of garlic, I put in six or whatever 210 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: other number not the case at his point in time. 211 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 1: Wilson goes on to tell the reader how to make 212 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,200 Speaker 1: a Caesar salad, although he does this in a very 213 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: jokey way. There's a whole side story about how his 214 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,400 Speaker 1: kids tennis ball got in it um and then he says, quote, 215 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,439 Speaker 1: try it. What can you lose but your stomach. Some 216 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:33,840 Speaker 1: people out here say you can eat all that garlic 217 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 1: and because of the climate, absorb and never smell up 218 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:41,080 Speaker 1: the joint with it. That's what they say. I love garlic. 219 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 1: You've probably heard at some point that a true Caesar 220 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: salad has anchovies, or that it originally had them, And 221 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 1: we mentioned that Alex's version had them, and they come 222 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: up in an interview that Caesar card and he gave 223 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 1: in that article, which likens Cardini's influence on food in 224 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:05,720 Speaker 1: the US to that of Buddy Bolden's on jazz quotes 225 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: and is saying, quote, it's a wonder my salad has 226 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:11,560 Speaker 1: survived at all what some chefs have done to it. 227 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:16,720 Speaker 1: They had anchovy's tomatoes, minced ham, even asparagus. Why do 228 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:20,560 Speaker 1: they want to spoil it? Going about the rift between 229 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,559 Speaker 1: Alex and Caesar and Alex's inclusion of anchovy pace. This 230 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: seems like a dig on Caesar's part against his sibling. 231 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 1: Very publicly. In nineteen fifty three, the International Society of Epicures, 232 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 1: which was based in Paris, named the Caesar salad quote 233 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 1: the best original dish to come out of the United 234 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:46,640 Speaker 1: States in the past fifty years. Since Caesar Cardini became 235 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:49,440 Speaker 1: famous as a salad expert. After being lauded by that 236 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:53,199 Speaker 1: international society, he was often asked for tips on making 237 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: great salads in the press, and one that showed up 238 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: repeatedly in newspapers in nineteen fifty six was that quote, 239 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:02,200 Speaker 1: horse radish should be added to the dressing for every 240 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: green salad to really tease the palette, use one half 241 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,560 Speaker 1: level teaspoon for every four servings, and be sure to 242 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: add a pinch of cinnamon. I'm okay with this horse 243 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:16,720 Speaker 1: radish suggestion, but then you add cinnamon to it, and 244 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 1: I'm like, what I literally when I read it made 245 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: the scooby doo confused noise. I was like, but now 246 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:26,960 Speaker 1: I want to try it and see, because maybe he 247 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 1: knew maybe I have both those things in the fridge. 248 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: We'll see. So by that time Caesar Cardinny had relocated 249 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 1: to Los Angeles. He had been selling his dressing by 250 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 1: the bottle, initially from his small gourmet grocery store, which 251 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: was Caesar Cardini Foods, and then by a wider distribution 252 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: That dressing was trademarked in and he had left two 253 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: restaurants behind in Tijuana. They continued to operate under his name, 254 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:59,120 Speaker 1: but they had new owners. On November three, Cardini had 255 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: a stroke and he was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery. 256 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,600 Speaker 1: His brother Alex offered a reward after his brother's death 257 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: to anyone who could prove him wrong that the salad 258 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:13,160 Speaker 1: was his invention and not Caesar's. And while this stoked 259 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: an ongoing family feud, and both sides feel that they 260 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 1: know the real truth, it doesn't seem that this matter 261 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 1: was ever definitively settled. After Caesar's death, his daughter Rosa 262 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 1: ran the family business until it was eventually sold. It 263 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 1: continues today. You can still buy Cardie news dressing at 264 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: grocery stores across the country and also from online retailers, 265 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:37,440 Speaker 1: and I did while I was researching this delicious. As 266 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 1: for the restaurants Caesar's place, it still exists it's in 267 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:43,560 Speaker 1: what was the second location where it moved to in 268 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:47,920 Speaker 1: uh there in Tijuana. Although it's life of service has 269 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: not been continuous for a while. It had over the 270 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 1: years become quite run down, and in two thousand nine 271 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,080 Speaker 1: it actually closed. But now it is run by the 272 00:15:56,080 --> 00:16:00,400 Speaker 1: Placentia Group which acquired it in and they re modeled 273 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: it and dressed it up and made it beautiful, and 274 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: now it's a very um like high end experience, and 275 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 1: if you order a Caesar salad there, you will get 276 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 1: the entire table side show of careful preparation. And while 277 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: the restaurant still touts itself as the home of the 278 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 1: original Caesar salad, it now credits Caesar Alex and Livio 279 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 1: Santini with its invention. And July four is now National 280 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,400 Speaker 1: Caesar Salad Day in the United States. I feel like 281 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 1: now I will always have a Caesar salad on that day. 282 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: Not a difficult ask in my book. Um are now 283 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 1: moving on to our second story, which is Graham crackers, 284 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: which are today a sweet standard in many cupboards. It's 285 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: the base on which we build s'mores. It's a snack 286 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:48,479 Speaker 1: for toddlers. It is the star ingredient in some dessert crusts. 287 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 1: But the origin of the Graham Cracker was all about 288 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 1: clean living, and to get into that, we have to 289 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: talk about Sylvester Graham. Sylvester Graham was born July five 290 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:06,679 Speaker 1: in West Suffield, Connecticut. He had sixteen siblings sixteen. His father, 291 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 1: he was seventy when his youngest child was born, died 292 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:14,040 Speaker 1: when Sylvester was only two. His mother was left destitute, 293 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:16,399 Speaker 1: with many of these children still young enough to be 294 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:20,600 Speaker 1: living at home. The pressure of this whole situation caused 295 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 1: his mother to really have a breakdown. The courts determined 296 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:28,119 Speaker 1: her to have quote a deranged state of mind. So 297 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:30,640 Speaker 1: a year after his father's death, Sylvester, who was still 298 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: a toddler, started down a long series of foster living situations, 299 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: sometimes with older siblings. And after working a number of 300 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,520 Speaker 1: jobs as a young man, Graham, who is described as 301 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:43,719 Speaker 1: having been sort of odd and also you'll see him 302 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:47,639 Speaker 1: described as weak bodied in his youth, started college, but 303 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:50,280 Speaker 1: not until the age of twenty nine, but that did 304 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: not last. He too had some sort of mental breakdown 305 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:58,080 Speaker 1: one semester into his education at Amherst, and that led 306 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: to two significant events. One and he decided to leave 307 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: college and instead become a Presbyterian minister, and two he 308 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: got married to one of the nurses who took care 309 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 1: of him. That was a woman named Sarah Earle. Graham 310 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:14,400 Speaker 1: preached about nutrition and health in tandem with any discussion 311 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,840 Speaker 1: of religious matters, because he really believed they were all connected. 312 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,240 Speaker 1: And this was not entirely unusual for the time, but 313 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:26,920 Speaker 1: Graham was definitely an extreme example. Although he was technically 314 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 1: a minister, he did not have a congregation. He was 315 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:32,920 Speaker 1: really good at public speaking, so he gave lectures first 316 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:36,240 Speaker 1: on temperance, which was a cause he had long supported, 317 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,639 Speaker 1: and then on wider health topics. He would use the 318 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:43,399 Speaker 1: idea of moral debasement as an example of how damaging 319 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:47,680 Speaker 1: behaviors like drinking and eating rich food could be, always 320 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:51,040 Speaker 1: with plenty of anecdotal stories of people who had fallen 321 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 1: from grace through indulgence. Graham published a book in eighteen 322 00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:59,040 Speaker 1: thirty seven titled A Treatise on Bread and Breadmaking, and 323 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,560 Speaker 1: it jumps right into the heart of the matter regarding 324 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: the reverence beliefs in the opening lines, which read quote, 325 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:09,200 Speaker 1: there are probably few people in civilized life who were 326 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:12,159 Speaker 1: the question put to them directly, would not say that 327 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: they consider bread one of the most, if not the 328 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: most important article of diet which enters into the food 329 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 1: of man. And yet there is in reality almost a 330 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:26,399 Speaker 1: total and universal carelessness about the character of bread. Thousands 331 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: in civic life will, for years and perhaps as long 332 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 1: as they live, eat the most miserable trash that can 333 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: be imagined in the form of bread, and never seem 334 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: to think that they can possibly have anything better, nor 335 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: even that it is an evil to eat such vile 336 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 1: stuff as they do. He was also a proponent of 337 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:48,280 Speaker 1: what we would call a raw food diet today. Graham 338 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 1: felt that food in general should be eaten in its 339 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,679 Speaker 1: natural state, as provided by God to achieve the best health. 340 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:58,240 Speaker 1: He wrote quote, if man were to subsist wholly on 341 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: uncooked food, he would never suffer from the improper temperature 342 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,920 Speaker 1: if his ailment. Hot substances taken into the mouth serve 343 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: more directly and powerfully to destroy the teeth than any 344 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: other cause which acts immediately upon them, And hot food 345 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: and drink received into the stomach always in some degree 346 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:20,919 Speaker 1: debilitate that organ, and through it every other organ in 347 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,679 Speaker 1: portion of the whole system, diminishing. As an ultimate result, 348 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:29,280 Speaker 1: the vital power of every part, impairing every function and 349 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:32,959 Speaker 1: increasing the susceptibility of the whole body to the action 350 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: of disturbing causes and predisposing it to disease. Again, if 351 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 1: man were to subsist entirely on food in a natural state, 352 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:47,200 Speaker 1: he would never suffer from concentrated ailment. Again not a doctor. 353 00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: But as we mentioned just before quoting these passages, all 354 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 1: of these thoughts about food and eating raw were tied 355 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,640 Speaker 1: up with morality, not in the sense of today's very 356 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: problematic associations of assigning food's moral values usually associated with 357 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: how it could impact your weight, which is its own 358 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 1: whole problematic thing. But this was a different connection between 359 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:14,160 Speaker 1: food and morality. Specifically, Sylvester Graham thought that people were 360 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 1: just too full of lust and sinful sexual urges, and 361 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:21,840 Speaker 1: he thought that their diets were causing that problem. Graham's 362 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:26,160 Speaker 1: entire approach to eating and health and morality weighed everything 363 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: on a scale where things he perceived a sinful were 364 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: and he believed going to negatively harm a person's physical 365 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:35,960 Speaker 1: well being just as much as their soul. And he 366 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,359 Speaker 1: thought that the fatty and meat heavy food that was 367 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:42,199 Speaker 1: so common in US homes was over stimulating people in 368 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,879 Speaker 1: a way that manifested as sexual urges. He had a 369 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 1: whole odd logic where he thought that meat raised a 370 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 1: person's body temperature in such a way that it made 371 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 1: them lustful. Reminds me of John Harvey Kellogg. Yeah, I 372 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:02,480 Speaker 1: wrote a note in this outline that just bless his heart. 373 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:05,120 Speaker 1: Coming up, we are going to talk about what came 374 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,680 Speaker 1: to be known as the Graham diet. Those were Graham's 375 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,760 Speaker 1: guidelines for eating and good health, and they got to 376 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 1: be surprisingly popular. But before we get to that, we 377 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:15,439 Speaker 1: are going to take a moment to hear from the sponsors. 378 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 1: They keep stuff you missed in history class. Going to 379 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:31,399 Speaker 1: achieve health of body and soul. Graham outlined the ideal diet, 380 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: and while it's definitely got some merit nutritionally at its roots. 381 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,320 Speaker 1: For example, he was very big on a plant based diet, 382 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:41,560 Speaker 1: but his system also does not sound very enjoyable because 383 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:45,159 Speaker 1: in addition to eating simple food with little preparation, you 384 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:49,919 Speaker 1: really were not allowed to season anything. Definitely no salt, 385 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:54,359 Speaker 1: definitely no pepper. Meat obviously was out, as was alcohol, 386 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: and of course no smoking. But do you like coffee 387 00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 1: or tea? Too? Bad? Water? Only there's no there's no 388 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: delightful beverages. Um. He would allow eggs, which is a 389 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:06,440 Speaker 1: whole weird thing. I'm not sure what his logic was there. 390 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: But in addition to that strictness of what you could eat, 391 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:13,280 Speaker 1: he also had steep limits on how much of it 392 00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:16,360 Speaker 1: you could eat, which was not very much. He prescribed 393 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 1: two meals a day, and they should be on the 394 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 1: small side. His inspiration for this diet wasn't eating the 395 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: same way that he believed Adam and Eve would have eaten. 396 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,679 Speaker 1: He preached the civilization had gotten humans away from the 397 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:33,399 Speaker 1: perfect nutrition of the garden of Eden. He wrote, quote, 398 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,400 Speaker 1: we are informed also that the Romans more than two 399 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: thousand years ago had four or five different kinds of bread. 400 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,400 Speaker 1: But at whatever period in the history of the race, 401 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 1: this artificial process was commenced, certain it is that indirect 402 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 1: violation of the laws of constitution and relation which the 403 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,359 Speaker 1: Creator has established in the nature of man. This process 404 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 1: of mechanical analysis is, at the present day carried to 405 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: the full extent of possibility. He wanted people, ideally to 406 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:05,360 Speaker 1: grow their own wheats, or, barring that, to find sources 407 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 1: of quote the best new wheat that can be produced 408 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:11,560 Speaker 1: by proper tillage in a good soil, and here they 409 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,919 Speaker 1: could wash and grind the wheat for their bread themselves. 410 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,119 Speaker 1: He believed this was a lot healthier than anything you 411 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:21,919 Speaker 1: could purchase. The coarse wheat flour he encouraged people to 412 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:26,719 Speaker 1: make themselves became known as Graham flower. So In that 413 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 1: same book about bread, Graham also managed to pick a 414 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: fight with professional bakers, writing quote, in cities and large towns, 415 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: most people depend on public bakers for their bread. And 416 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,119 Speaker 1: I have no doubt that public bakers as a body 417 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:42,360 Speaker 1: are as honest and worthy a class of men as 418 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,760 Speaker 1: any in society. I have no wish to speak evil 419 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:48,639 Speaker 1: of anyone, and it is always painful to me to 420 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:52,920 Speaker 1: find myself compelled infidelity to the common cause of humanity, 421 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 1: to expose the faults of any particular class of men, 422 00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 1: when probably every other class in society is as deeply 423 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:02,880 Speaker 1: involved in errors, which, in the sight of God events 424 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:07,200 Speaker 1: at least an equal degree of moral turpitude. But public bakers, 425 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: like other men who serve the public more for the 426 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,680 Speaker 1: sake of securing their own emolument than for the public good, 427 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: have always had recourse to various expedients in order to 428 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:21,159 Speaker 1: increase the lucrativeness of their business. Graham then goes on 429 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,560 Speaker 1: to explain how bakers have started to use additives in 430 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: their flower to make bread, and some of them are dangerous. 431 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: He also says that even bakers who don't stretch their 432 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 1: supplies with additional materials are still using mediocre flower. He 433 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:39,479 Speaker 1: talked about this in speeches and sermons as well as 434 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:43,040 Speaker 1: in print. Do you can imagine how much bakers liked this? 435 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:47,200 Speaker 1: That was not at all? The baking profession got so 436 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:50,439 Speaker 1: tired of being bad mouthed by Sylvester Graham that in 437 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,880 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty seven a group of bakers in Boston protested 438 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:58,360 Speaker 1: his lectures, causing one venue to shut down. The replacement 439 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:01,159 Speaker 1: venue had to be boarded up to keep the mob out. 440 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: His lectures regarding Butcher's were similarly damning, and on two 441 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: occasions Butcher's showed up to protest Graham's talks. The year 442 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,920 Speaker 1: after a treatise on Bread and bread Making, Graham released 443 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 1: a lecture to young men on Chastity, which offers very 444 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,440 Speaker 1: detailed information on how the minister believed that a poor 445 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: diet would lead to sinful behavior. It is already pretty 446 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,120 Speaker 1: clear that Sylvester Graham was not what you might call 447 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: sex positive, but he makes that so abundantly clear in 448 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 1: the preface of this book, writing that quote he who, 449 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:37,359 Speaker 1: in any manner endeavors to excite the sensual appetites and 450 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:40,480 Speaker 1: arouse the unchased passions of youth, is one of the 451 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: most heinous offenders against the welfare of mankind. He also 452 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: speaks out in this published lecture against basically any sexual 453 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,480 Speaker 1: activity that's not conducted in an effort to produce offspring, 454 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:57,080 Speaker 1: even masturbation, which he refers to as self pollution and 455 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:01,120 Speaker 1: asserts is a quote very great and rapidly increasing evil 456 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:05,399 Speaker 1: in our country. Even married couples should be careful because 457 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,639 Speaker 1: quote sexual excess within the pale of wedlock is really 458 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:15,399 Speaker 1: a very considerable and an increasing evil. Basically any sex 459 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:19,120 Speaker 1: as evil, which is not a great attitude. In addition 460 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: to eating a very rigid diet, Graham also believed that 461 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 1: salvation and longevity required that people forego a lot of 462 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,840 Speaker 1: creature comforts. He preached that people should bathe frequently, which 463 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:32,920 Speaker 1: is great, of course for hygiene, but he also taught 464 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: his followers that they should do that bathing only with 465 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: cold water. It should never be warmed up, because again, 466 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:41,199 Speaker 1: remember if you get warm, you'll have bad thoughts. Mattris is, 467 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:45,440 Speaker 1: according to Sylvester Graham, should not be soft and cozy. Uh. 468 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,680 Speaker 1: There were more appealing aspects to his guidelines for healthy living, 469 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:50,800 Speaker 1: including that he did want people to get fresh air 470 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:53,359 Speaker 1: and move their bodies, and also he was a big 471 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:57,880 Speaker 1: fan of wearing comfortable clothes. Despite those more pleasant aspects, 472 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: a lot of this sounds extreme and even bizar to 473 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:02,960 Speaker 1: the modern ear, but in the nineteenth century a lot 474 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:06,040 Speaker 1: of people really liked what Graham was saying. For one, 475 00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:09,720 Speaker 1: the temperance movement was well under way by the eighteen thirties. 476 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,960 Speaker 1: There were an estimated six thousand local temperance societies in 477 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:17,760 Speaker 1: the US. By eighteen thirty three, Graham was affiliated for 478 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:20,920 Speaker 1: a time with the Pennsylvania Society for Discouraging the Use 479 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:25,120 Speaker 1: of Ardent Spirits. Historian Adam D. Spritzen makes the case 480 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 1: in his book The Vegetarian Crusade that social movements like abolition, 481 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,879 Speaker 1: which encouraged people to avoid foods that were connected to slavery, 482 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:35,639 Speaker 1: had set the stage for people to think about food 483 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: from a moral perspective. Additionally, cholera had claimed the lives 484 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 1: of thousands of people in North America, leading people to 485 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,320 Speaker 1: fear anything that might spread disease, including the food and 486 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 1: drink that they consumed. Eventually, Graham had amassed such a 487 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 1: following that Graham might boarding houses were established so that 488 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:57,640 Speaker 1: his followers could adhere to the principles of his teaching 489 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 1: in sort of an easy, organized way. Graham didn't really 490 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: profit from any of these they seemed to be run, 491 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:07,160 Speaker 1: for the most part by people who believed in his message. 492 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,840 Speaker 1: Sylvester Graham did continue to tour giving lectures and even 493 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,280 Speaker 1: started publishing his own periodical, briefly, which was the Graham 494 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:17,960 Speaker 1: Journal for Health and Longevity. Graham had emerged as an 495 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:21,560 Speaker 1: early dietary reformer, one of the first people to create 496 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:26,000 Speaker 1: a model of health lifestyle that his followers embraced. Just 497 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,960 Speaker 1: as the concept of a meat abstaining lifestyle was really 498 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,520 Speaker 1: gaining traction in the US and the world, the word 499 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 1: vegetarianism had started to become more common. Sylvester Graham died 500 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,480 Speaker 1: on September fifty one at the age of fifty seven. 501 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,080 Speaker 1: Death notices of his passing in the press were pretty minimal, 502 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:48,400 Speaker 1: in part because his relatively early death invited criticism of 503 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: the very lifestyle he had helped to establish. Your food 504 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 1: was so great, why you die so young? Would be 505 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 1: critical just the same. The death did cause all manner 506 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 1: of controversy, even though they tried to keep it low key, 507 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:05,160 Speaker 1: and accounts began to spring up in papers about the 508 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:08,320 Speaker 1: last days of Graham's life. He had been sort of 509 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:10,720 Speaker 1: frail his whole life, from the time he was a child, 510 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,920 Speaker 1: when he was being sent from one foster situation to another. 511 00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:18,560 Speaker 1: Physician Russell Thatcher Trall, who had known Graham, pointed out 512 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,320 Speaker 1: in one article that Graham had only become a vegetarian 513 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:23,440 Speaker 1: at the age of forty, so he could not have 514 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,520 Speaker 1: gained all the possible benefits from it that someone who 515 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,480 Speaker 1: gave up meat earlier in their life might have. Trall 516 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:33,479 Speaker 1: also disclosed to readers that Graham's doctor had insisted at 517 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: the end of the man's life that he eats some 518 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 1: amount of meat to improve his circulation, or that he 519 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: would no longer treat him, and according to Trale's accounts, 520 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: Sylvester Graham acquiesced, but immediately regretted having done so. We 521 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: do not know if any of this account is true, 522 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:51,480 Speaker 1: and despite the controversy. Graham ms continued to follow his 523 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,280 Speaker 1: teachings well after his death, and it's in the second 524 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:57,720 Speaker 1: half of the nineteenth century that the Graham cracker emerged 525 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:00,800 Speaker 1: as a commercial product. The specific the origin of the 526 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 1: Graham cracker is a little bit unclear. Sometimes you will 527 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: see Sylvester Graham himself credited with inventing it. I actually 528 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 1: saw several articles say that it was invented in e 529 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,520 Speaker 1: nine in bound Brook, New Jersey, by him, but there's 530 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 1: not a lot in the way of substantiation for that 531 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: specific date. The phrase Graham cracker does appear in various 532 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: things starting in the eight thirties um, but it's always 533 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:29,160 Speaker 1: unclear what exactly it means. It is also entirely possible, though, 534 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 1: that this evolved as a food created by Graham Mites 535 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 1: an attempt at making some sort of cracker with Graham 536 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:38,640 Speaker 1: flower to just sort of fill that need in their diets. 537 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:42,920 Speaker 1: Most accounts you will see kind of couch the Graham 538 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:47,320 Speaker 1: crackers having been inspired by Sylvester Graham and his food reforms, 539 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 1: rather than invented by him. But we do know that 540 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:54,200 Speaker 1: it originated either with the man himself or with his followers. 541 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:56,960 Speaker 1: But that form of a baked good would have been 542 00:31:57,160 --> 00:31:59,920 Speaker 1: very different from the food that we call a graham 543 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:03,960 Speaker 1: cracker today. For one, it would not have been sweet. 544 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:08,080 Speaker 1: According to article in the Washington Post quote, the real 545 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:11,720 Speaker 1: graham cracker was closer to a brand salteine without the salt. 546 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 1: That weighed a ton and missed out on taste. Probably 547 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,160 Speaker 1: not a thing you would want to use to sandwich 548 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:23,760 Speaker 1: a big chunk of chocolate and some toasted marshmallow. In 549 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 1: the late eighteen nineties, the National Biscuit Company, which would 550 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:31,320 Speaker 1: eventually become Nabisco, started mass producing graham crackers. They weren't 551 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:32,640 Speaker 1: the first to do it, but they were the first 552 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:35,880 Speaker 1: to release successfully launch it as a product. Then in 553 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:40,320 Speaker 1: their honeymade graham crackers were introduced, and at that point 554 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: anything truly tying them to Sylvester's ideals was completely gone. 555 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:47,160 Speaker 1: Not only were they mass produced at that point, but 556 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:49,400 Speaker 1: they were sweetened with molasses. That was something he would 557 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:51,960 Speaker 1: have abhorred. It is the safe bet he would think 558 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:58,640 Speaker 1: smores are fully demonic. I just can't imagine him not 559 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:03,360 Speaker 1: being really, really ho afied by them. Yeah, well, if 560 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:05,920 Speaker 1: it makes them feel any better from beyond the grave. 561 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: When I was a child my mom who had a 562 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:15,240 Speaker 1: lot of very strong opinions about the the types and 563 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: quality of food that her children should eat. Graham crackers 564 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 1: were one of the acceptable things in our household where 565 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:26,560 Speaker 1: we did not have a lot of refined sugar. So 566 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:30,120 Speaker 1: there's that. I mean, they're still better than a lot 567 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:32,680 Speaker 1: of sweet things you could give a kid in terms 568 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:36,120 Speaker 1: of sugar content. Now I kind of want to look 569 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:39,160 Speaker 1: up and see if there are any like old school 570 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:41,520 Speaker 1: Graham cracker wricipies that I could try making and just 571 00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:44,960 Speaker 1: see what sort of horrors emerge from my oven um. 572 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 1: In the meantime, we're gonna have a more fun listener 573 00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:52,120 Speaker 1: mail about John Henry Pepper and his legacy. This is 574 00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:54,400 Speaker 1: from our listener Alex, who writes, Hey, Holly and Tracy, 575 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 1: I just listened to your episode on John Henry Pepper 576 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,480 Speaker 1: and his Ghost, and your descriptions of his demon strations 577 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:03,959 Speaker 1: at the Royal Polytechnic Institution reminded me strongly of a 578 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:06,440 Speaker 1: similar series of lectures I went to as a kid. 579 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:09,040 Speaker 1: I grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, where there's a large 580 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:12,719 Speaker 1: university and Professor Bassam Shaka Shari used to put on 581 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:17,239 Speaker 1: public chemistry demonstrations for audiences of all ages. My first 582 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:19,200 Speaker 1: grade teacher took me to see one of his Christmas 583 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,399 Speaker 1: lectures one time, and it was a formative experience for me. 584 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:25,360 Speaker 1: Pepper sounds like he had a similar approach to science 585 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,040 Speaker 1: education as Professor Shaka Shari. I ended up working in 586 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:31,840 Speaker 1: science education for many years as a biologist at the 587 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:35,240 Speaker 1: Exploratory Um, a science museum in San Francisco that sounded 588 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:38,040 Speaker 1: like a more modern version of Pepper's installation at the Theater. 589 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:40,800 Speaker 1: I highly recommend a visit if you're ever in the area. 590 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 1: Alex also suggests a topic that is I don't know 591 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,879 Speaker 1: if it will happen or not for various reasons. It's 592 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:50,680 Speaker 1: kind of a tricky subject, but I really appreciate both 593 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:54,520 Speaker 1: the suggestion and this wonderful uh. Missive also thank you 594 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:57,759 Speaker 1: for being an educator Alex and a scientist. UH. 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