Wilson & Company at the 1933/34 Chicago's Century of Progress World's Fair.

The Wilson & Company Certified Bacon Slicing Exhibit continuously sliced and packed 8,000 pounds of Bacon daily from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm in this beautiful modern exhibit at the 1933/34 Chicago Century of Progress World's Fair.

The 1933-34 Chicago Worlds Fair Wilson Exhibit Building.

Wilson & Co. extends a cordial invitation to all its customers and friends to see the Wilson  & Co. Exhibit Building on Northerly Island, in the heart of the Midway at A Century of Progress.

The Wilson & Co. Certified Bacon Slicing Exhibit is slicing and packing continuously from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm in this beautiful modern exhibit at the 1933/34 Chicago World's Fair, A Century of Progress.

Unique in the history of the Meat Packing Industry, a complete Bacon Slicing Room is in continuous operation in this beautifully designed building. Lovely girls in trim uniforms slice and pack 8,000 pounds of Certified Bacon daily under the same sanitary conditions found in all Wilson & Co. plants. During the 329 days the fair was open in 1933/34, 2,632,000 pounds of Bacon was sliced.

The picture above represents the Wilson deluxe Certified Sliced Bacon room in full operation on the first floor of our Exhibit Building. The giant slicer cuts 400 slices each and every minute. Girls are packing these slices of Certified Bacon with chrome tongs. No human hand touches Certified Bacon until it reaches the homes of consumers.

This room is glass enclosed and kept at a uniform temperature of 55° F. The same degree of efficiency and cleanliness is maintained in this Certified Bacon Slicing Room as is in effect in every one of Wilson & Co. plants in the United States. Wilson's Certified Sliced Bacon is Wilson Selected, Government Inspected, and Quality Controlled. It is the finest Bacon that science can produce. Millions of housewives take great pride in serving Wilson's Certified Bacon at their tables, and dealers everywhere are as proud to handle a product of exceptional quality and goodness.

Arranged around the Certified Bacon Slicing Room corridors are the interesting and instructive exhibits of all Wilson & Co. by-products, from soap to sporting goods and hair insulation.

The Wilson Terrace Restaurant and Roof Garden Restaurant are found on the second and third floors, where wholesome, satisfying plate lunches or steaks can be had at moderate prices.

The Wilson Terrace and Roof Garden Restaurants, Partial Menu.
$1.25 in 1933 Equals $29.00 in 2023.

Wilson & Co. had 10 Food Stands and the Wilson & Co. Stables at the World's Fair.

True lovers of horses will delight in the beauty of this prize-winning six-horse Clydesdale team. They participate in the "Wings of a Century" Pageant daily and are also on exhibition in their own Wilson & Co. stables on the fairgrounds.

 

History of Wilson & Company, 4100 South Ashland Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.

Wilson & Co. evolved over the years to adapt to a changing market and changing leadership. The business began in 1916 when founder Thomas Edward Wilson took control of the Chicago meat packinghouse Sulzberger & Sons Co. and rebranded it as Wilson & Company. 

By 1917, the Company ranked as one of the 50 largest industrial corporations in the United States and continued to employ thousands of workers at its plant in Chicago until the 1950s.

From its inception, Wilson & Co. has been noted for its progressive policies and efficient methods of operation. It has built an enviable reputation for efficiency of service, integrity, and high business ideals, and the same cardinal company characteristics have been instilled into all of its thousands of employees. 

Wilson & Co. held several subsidiaries that utilized animal by-products to manufacture sporting goods, pharmaceuticals, and industrial chemicals. Ashland Manufacturing ─ a subsidiary of Sulzberger & Sons Co. established in 1913 ─ manufactured athletic gear under the Thomas E. Wilson brand and became Wilson Sporting Goods in 1931.

The Company's headquarters are in Chicago, with other plants and branch houses throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. In 1916, Mr. Wilson founded the Company, heading it until 1934, when his son, Edward F. Wilson, succeeded him. The elder, Mr. Wilson, was then elected chairman of the Board.

Wilson & Co. full-page advertisement for "Wilson's Certified Brand Catsup and Chili Sauce," 1918.

Wilson's meat-packing plants are located in Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, New York City, Albert Lea, Minnesota, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Nebraska City, Nebraska. Wilson & Co.'s Butter and Cheese factories are located at Abilene, Lubbock and Amarillo, Texas; Wichita, Kansas, Altus, Oklahoma City, Blackwell and McAlester, Oklahoma; Ottumwa, Cedar Rapids, Eagle Grove and Reinbeck, Iowa; Dixon and Lanark, Illinois.

The Company has upwards of 90 branch houses in the United States, in addition to the plants as mentioned above, and has branches, subsidiaries and agents in the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, as well as at other points in Continental Europe, Mediterranean Countries, South America, Central America, the West Indies, Mexico, Canada and Newfoundland, China, the Canary Islands, Singapore, Bangkok, Siam, Manila, and Batavia. There are approximately 25,000 persons employed by the Company, of which upwards of 1,000 are salesmen.

Mr. Thomas E. Wilson is a notably outstanding figure in the meat packing industry. In addition to making many valuable and constructive contributions to the industry, he was the founder of the Institute of American Meat Packers and its first president.

Timeline of Wilson & Company

March 22, 1916 - Thomas Edward Wilson is named President of the Chicago meatpacking firm Sulzberger & Sons Co. after banks force a change of management. Sulzberger & Sons had been accused of German sympathies when a shipment of meat was intercepted by a British blockade.

July 21, 1916 - Sulzberger & Sons Co. is renamed Wilson & Co.

Ashland Manufacturing – a subsidiary manufacturing athletic gear – is renamed Thomas E. Wilson & Co.

1917 - Wilson & Co. ranked as one of the 50 largest industrial corporations in the United States.

1927 - Thomas E. Wilson’s son, Edward Foss Wilson, enters the family business, starting in the stockyards.

1931 - Edward Foss Wilson named Vice President of Wilson & Co.

Subsidiary Thomas E. Wilson & Co. is renamed Wilson Sporting Goods.

1933/34 Wilson & Co. shows at the Chicago Century of Progress World's Fair. 

February 27, 1934 - Edward Foss Wilson is named President of Wilson & Co., and Thomas E. Wilson becomes Chairman of the Board.

1953 - Edward Foss Wilson becomes Chairman of the Board of Wilson & Co.

January 5, 1967 - Wilson & Co. is acquired by Ling-Temco-Vought, Inc., and its headquarters are transferred from Chicago, Illinois, to Dallas, Texas.

Ling-Temco-Vought reorganizes the company into three publicly-traded divisions: Wilson & Co. Inc. (meat), Wilson Sporting Goods Co., and Wilson Pharmaceutical & Chemical Corp.

1969 - Wilson Pharmaceutical & Chemical sold to American Can.

1970 - Wilson Sporting Goods is acquired by PepsiCo.

1976 - Wilson & Co. is renamed Wilson Foods Corporation.

1981 - LTV Corporation (Ling-Temco-Vought) divests itself of Wilson Foods.

1988 - Wilson Foods is acquired by Doskocil Companies, Inc.

1989 - Amer Group of Finland (later Amer Sports Oyi) acquires Wilson Sporting Goods.

1990 - Doskocil files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sells off Wilson Brands division.

1995 - Doskocil changes its name to Foodbrands America, Inc.

1997 - IBP, Inc. acquires Foodbrands America, Inc. (including Wilson Foods).

2001 - Tyson Foods acquires IBP, Inc. (along with remaining Wilson meat brands).

2018 - A Chinese investor group led by Anta Sports Products acquires a majority stake in Amer Sports Oyj.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Chicago's Founding Hot Dog Co's.: David Berg & Co. (1860); Oscar F. Mayer & Bro. (1883); Vienna Beef (1893).

David Berg & Company — 1860

David Berg & Company had developed a following of customers fond of their signature, "Kosher Style" hot dogs, beginning in 1860. David Berg hot dogs were sold at the 3-day 1860 Republican National Convention held at the Wigwam in Chicago.

Abraham Lincoln was nominated as the Republican Presidential Candidate, although Lincoln, following tradition, did not attend the Convention, staying in Springfield when he got the news he won. 

 

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Abraham Lincoln ate mechanically, never having a thought about what he was eating. At the Lincoln's table discusses his excessively low caloric intake, how he ate anything set before him, and made no complaints or comments of any kind about the food or meal. Mary never got accustomed to that.

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The presumption was that ketchup/catsup would be hard to find in the 1860 National Convention, the origin of Chicagoland's ritual of, "No Ketchup on a Chicago Hot Dogs."

Chicago-Style Hot Dogs include ALL of these ingrediants: mustard, sweet relish, diced onion, tomato thin-wedges/slices, a pickle spear or two, sport peppers (no other pepper substitutions) and a sprinkle of celery salt on a poppy seed bun.

 

This medley creates a less sweet version of ketchup flavors: sweet, tangy, savory and a kiss of heat, making ketchup redundant. It's been claimed that substituting any other type of pepper, and nobody's judging you, clouds one's taste buds from the true flavor experience of a Chicago dog.

David Berg was the pioneer who introduced Hot Dogs at baseball stadiums. Hot Dogs were served at the 1901 home of the Chicago White Sox at the "American Grant Park Baseball Stadium."

In 1978, David Berg made a six-foot, 681-pound premium beef hot dog in a 100-pound poppy seed bun covered with two gallons of mustard.

David Berg filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in November 1992.

Oscar F. Mayer and Bro. — 1883

Oscar F. Mayer and Brother (Gottfreid), the second highly successful Chicago sausage company, was established in 1883. They were sponsors of the German building at Chicago's 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.

Oscar Mayer moved to Chicago in 1876 when he was 17 to work for Kohlhammer's Market. He then worked six years for the Philip Armour & Company meatpackers at the Chicago Union Stock Yards, and Mayer had saved enough money to lease a failing Kolling Meat Market business.

In 1906, they became one of the first companies to volunteer to participate in a new Federal Meat Inspection program to certify the purity and quality of products. Cleanliness was scored so issues could be addressed in person and improvements could be measured for the next inspection. 

Vienna Beef — 1893

A late-comer to the Hot Dog game in Chicago. When Vienna Beef set up shop at the 1893 World's Fair, they quickly became the Chicago hot dog king. 

Courtesy of Foŭ TosHopṕe, Sycuan Reservation, California, USA

In 1992, almost a hundred years later, David Berg joined the Vienna Beef Products family. Vienna produced the David Berg line of products for some time, using the original recipes.

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While it's impossible to be exact, a very high percentage of Chicagoland hot dog places likely use Vienna Beef. A safe 2023 estimate would be somewhere around 80-90%, but even that could be conservative.

Chicago's Biggest Hot Dog Makers Start a Wiener War.

This is a dog fight Chicago will relish.

Vienna Beef, one of the world's most famous hot dog makers, is suing the owner of a rival hot dog company, accusing him of either stealing Vienna's 118-year-old recipe or lying to customers by claiming that he's using it.

The rival is none other than a grandson of one of the two men who founded the company after their hot dogs became a hit at the 1893 World's Fair.

In this wiener war, one of the only things the owners of Vienna Beef and Red Hot Chicago (1986-2012), are likely to agree on is that you don't put ketchup on a Chicago-style hot dog.

They also might agree that Chicago's dog — with its mustard, bright green relish, tomato slices, pickle spear, chopped onion and more — is far superior to New York's grilled or boiled dog, which by Chicago standards is practically naked with only sauerkraut and mustard.

The lawsuit accuses Red Hot Chicago of false advertising, unfair competition and trademark infringement. But it also offers a reminder that hot dogs are no joking matter in Chicago, where the "meal on a bun" is part of local history and where loyalty to one of the region's 2,000 hot dog stands is passed down from generation to generation.

"This is Chicago, and we take hot dogs seriously," said Tanya Russell, a mail carrier who stopped at Fast Track, a downtown stand, to deliver some letters and grab a Vienna hot dog before finishing her route.

The fight could be a long one, in large part because of the legacy at stake.

Scott Ladany's grandfather arrived as an immigrant from Austria-Hungary and set up a hot-dog consession at the World's Fair. At the time, he "started with little more than hopes, dreams and his sausage-making skills," attorney Jami Gekas wrote.

The grandfather, Samuel Ladany, eventually helped found the business that is now Vienna Beef. Fast forward to the early 1980s, when Scott Ladany was leaving the company. He sold his 10 percent stake and agreed not to "use or divulge" any of Vienna's recipes and, according to the lawsuit, promised not to compete with Vienna for at least 2½ years.

In 1986, after that condition expired, he founded Red Hot Chicago.

Ladany has declined to comment, but in court documents he insists he did not steal anything and that Red Hot's recipe is its own. At the same time, he always made it clear that his family history — complete with the World's Fair photographs and pictures of his grandfather that Vienna had showcased — were going to take center stage at Red Hot Chicago, too.

So, not only did he settle on "A Family Tradition Since 1893" as his company motto, but he also included Vienna Beef's name right in his advertising literature.

And the reason, Gekas, told the judge, is simple: It's all true.

Vienna Beef CEO Jim Bodman says he worries that the messages will confuse customers.

"He was dancing right up to the line by saying it's a family tradition," Bodman said.

"They want to ride Vienna's coattails ... and sell their product using Vienna's brand recognition," Vienna's attorney, Phillip Reed, said recently at a court hearing.

Even the judge handling the case wondered if all the talk about history might mislead customers.

"Isn't there an implication ... that this is one big hot dog family?" asked U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman.

It isn't.

Bodman said he's been aggravated for years by Red Hot's advertising. Then, a few months ago, Red Hot began advertising that it was using a "time-honored family recipe" that's more than a century old — a claim that appeared in print in a food industry magazine.

"That goes over the line," he said, explaining the lawsuit filed this month.

The way hot dog makers see it, recipes are the key to success, just like the formula for Coca-Cola and the secret spices that go into KFC chicken.

Alex Lazarevski of Express Grill in Chicago said that while he has someone else make his sausages, he hires that person to do so with the seasonings that the hot dog stand owner gives him, already mixed.

"I don't want anybody else to get a hold of it," said Lazarevski, who says the recipe is patented.

Vienna's 118-year-old recipes are so important to the company that for years they were kept in a vault. And even today, outside vendors who mix the spices and oils "only handle a portion of the blending process."

That way, "neither vendor knows the entire process, blend and formulation of the Vienna Recipes," according to the lawsuit.

At a recent hearing, Gekas acknowledged that it was a "mistake" for Red Hot to suggest at one point that it had a recipe dating back to the 1800s. But she said the mistake was made by a "marketing person" and it was made only once.

Vienna's Reed has acknowledged a mistake of his own.

In a court document filed Friday, he backed away from one of the complaint's most explosive allegations: That Ladany or his representatives either lied to hot dog vendors, saying that their hot dogs used Vienna's recipe, or asked them to buy the cheaper dogs and pass them off as Vienna products to their customers.

Gekas, who disputed that contention in court, would not comment on Vienna's latest document. But at the hearing, she kept returning to the same point: Ladany is not trying to trick anybody when it comes to his background or his company's history.

"What he is doing is sending a different message: 'I know what I'm doing. I grew up in the business,'" she said. Ladany, she wrote in one document, "represents true Chicago hot dog tradition." 

(AP) June 22, 2011 

Lawsuit Dismissal Order —  Signed by the Honorable Sharon Johnson Coleman on 2/16/2012. Civil case terminated.

October 17, 2017 — I did get into an expensive lawsuit with Vienna. As part of resolving the legal dispute, I agreed to merge Red Hot Chicago with Vienna Beef in 2012 and accept an executive position with my old family business, says Scott Ladany.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

At The Lincoln's Table.

Perhaps the greatest American of the Civil War period was Abraham Lincoln, but how did he appear to the people who ate with him and cooked for him? Well, it was easy to prepare meals for Lincoln because he never complained about the fare. But, on the other hand, he never praised a dish either.

Mrs. Thomas Lincoln, Abraham's stepmother, declared that "Abe was a moderate eater ... he sat down and ate what was set before him, making no complaint; he seemed careless about this." Isaac N. Arnold, a close friend in Illinois, later learned from Lincoln that he had eaten very plain food in childhood. On the frontier, he was fed cakes made from coarse corn meal and are called "corn dodgers." Wild game supplied the necessary protein in his diet. 

In 1831 Lincoln moved to New Salem, a small community on the Sangamon River. During part of his stay at this village, he boarded at the Rutledge Tavern, where the beautiful Ann Rutledge worked as a waitress. The meals were plain, and Lincoln was served the usual fare: cornbread, bacon and eggs. At times the Railsplitter took his meals with other families in the neighborhood. Mrs. Jack Armstrong said that he ate mush, cornbread and milk in her home, and if Lincoln had a delicacy that he enjoyed then, it was honey. N.W. Brandon of Petersburg recalled that he "was very fond" of sweet honey. Lincoln's favorite dessert was Mary's Gingerbread with Apple and Brown Sugar topping.

As soon as Lincoln was admitted to the bar, he went to Springfield, where he became the partner of John Todd Stuart. But much of his law practice was on the Eighth Judicial Circuit. For many weeks each year, he rode hundreds of miles and lived where the food was poor, and the accommodations were primitive. A fellow lawyer on these trips, Leonard Swett, observed that Lincoln was very temperate in his eating habits. "He ate," said Swett, "simply because it was necessary and not for enjoyment. Indeed, it might almost be doubted whether eating furnished him enjoyment or that he knew the difference between what was good and what was not. ... I never, in the ten years of circuit life I knew him, heard him complain of a hard bed or a bad meal of victuals. We would go out, for instance, at Mrs. Scott's, at Danville, and be sumptuously entertained, and nobody would enjoy it more than he. but I never heard him say the food we got was any better than that which was furnished at the tavern." 

William H. Herndon, Lincoln's last law partner, remembered that what he ate made no difference to Lincoln. At mealtime, he took his place at the table involuntarily, said nothing, neither abused the food nor praised it, and asked no questions. No complaints ever passed his lips while on the circuit. Herndon also stated that Lincoln "had a good appetite and good digestion, ate mechanically, never asking why such a thing was not on the table nor why it was on it, if so; he filled up, and that is all."

If he had a favorite light meal, it was "apples & fruits generally," but sometimes he would come down to the Lincoln & Herndon law office in the morning and have breakfast of cheese, bologna sausage and crackers.

C.C. Brown, a young law student in Springfield, was examined for admission to the bar by Lincoln and Herndon. After a silly and routine question, Brown "passed the bar" and took his examiners to Charles Chatterton's Restaurant on the west side of the public square for a treat. It is not known who picked the menu, but Lincoln partook of it: fried oysters and pickled pig's feet! Evidently, it was a happy occasion for Lincoln because Brown recalled that he ate very heartily and told stories, some of which "would scarcely do for a Sunday paper." 

On November 4, 1842, Lincoln married the lovely and talented Mary Todd of Lexington, Kentucky. She had been raised in the beautiful Blue Grass region, where gracious living and savory cooking were famous. It is said that Mary was a good cook; her parties were known for their variety of fine foods. Isaac N. Arnold wrote that "her table was famed for the excellence of its rare Kentucky dishes, and in season was loaded with venison, wild turkeys, prairie chicken, quails, and other game, which in those early days was abundant." However, Billy Herndon disagreed with Arnold. He stoutly declared, after reading Arnold's book, that Mrs. Lincoln "kept or set a poor table" for the daily meals and only splurged when guests were present. If this statement is true, Mary was either saving money for other household expenses or had learned the folly of spending long hours in the kitchen when her husband never praised her Kentucky recipes.

Mrs. Lincoln surprised Abe with a home remodeling project, adding a second story in 1856, while Abraham was out of town on the Eighth Judicial Circuit for nearly six months.

It must have been exasperating to cook for Lincoln. His sister-in-law, Mrs. Ninian Wirt Edwards, recounted that he "ate mechanically. I have seen him sit down at the table, and never unless recalled to his senses would he think of food." But at times, Lincoln did express a preference: he loved a "good hot cup of black coffee." And he liked meat as well as vegetables. Although the tall Sangamon lawyer was absent-minded while eating, he certainly kept his thoughts on food when he himself visited the market. His neighbors often saw him buying beefsteak downtown. For 10¢, Lincoln could purchase enough steak for a meal, and he carried the brown-paper package home himself instead of having it delivered. These episodes prove that Lincoln enjoyed the usual choice of a Midwestern man—beefsteak.

At times, perhaps, Lincoln did pay attention to fancy dishes, but he rarely commented upon them. Once, when speaking at Springfield, Illinois, on July 17, 1858, he hinted that he had once tasted some excellent French cuisine. While making fun of Douglas's pet theory of Popular Sovereignty, Lincoln declared that "it is to be dished up in as many varieties as a French cook can produce soups from potatoes." Perhaps the former Railsplitter recalled a meal that he had eaten in his favorite Chicago hotel, the Tremont Hotel III. 

Tremont House at the S.E. corner of Lake and Dearborn Streets, Chicago. c.1865

When Lincoln was elected President of the United States, he journeyed to Washington, D. C. to assume the most difficult task of his life. With weighty problems of state on his mind, the tired President neglected his meals even more than he had in Springfield. Dr. Henry Whitney Bellows of the Sanitary Commission remarked to Lincoln one day: "Mr. President, I am here at almost every hour of the day or night, and I never saw you at the table; do you ever eat?" "I try to," replied Lincoln. "I manage to browse about pretty much as I can get it." One day, while F. B. Carpenter was living with the Lincolns at the White House and painting "The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation before the Cabinet," the clock struck 12 noon. Lincoln listened to the chiming and exclaimed, "I believe, by the by, that I have not yet had my breakfast ─ this business has been so absorbing that it has crowded everything else out of my mind." 

Noah Brooks, an old friend from Illinois and a Sacramento (California) Daily Union correspondent, testified that Lincoln was "never very attentive to the demands or the attractions of the table." "When Mrs. Lincoln, whom he always addressed by the old-fashioned title of 'Mother,' was absent from the home," Brooks revealed, "the President would appear to forget that food and drink were needful for his existence, unless he were persistently followed up by some of the servants, or were finally reminded of his needs by the actual pangs of hunger. On one such occasion, I remember, he asked me to come in and take breakfast with him, as he had some questions to ask. He was evidently eating without noting what he ate, and when I remarked that he was different from most Western men in his preference for milk at breakfast, he said, eyeing his glass of milk with surprise, as if he had not before noticed what he was drinking, 'Well, I do prefer black coffee in the morning, but they don't seem to have sent me any.'"

Yes, early in the morning, Lincoln wanted a cup of coffee. After this steaming aromatic beverage, the President might not find time for breakfast until 9 or 10 a.m. One of Lincoln's private secretaries, John Hay, often ate with the President. He remarked that Lincoln ate a frugal breakfast, "an egg, a piece of toast, coffee, etc." Sometimes the two men consumed a single egg apiece and plodded off to work. At noon Lincoln "took a little lunch—a biscuit, a glass of milk in winter, some fruit or grapes in summer." He "ate less than anyone I know," declared Hay. Carpenter, too, often witnessed Lincoln eating a "solitary lunch" when his family was gone. "It was often a matter of surprise to me," wrote Carpenter, "how the President sustained life; for it seemed, some weeks, as though he neither ate nor slept." When the hour for lunch arrived, a servant generally carried "a simple meal upon a tray" to Lincoln's second-floor office. Sometimes the Chief Executive would not examine the contents of the tray for several hours. Then, he would sample them in a "most unceremonious manner."

If the Commander-in-Chief ever had time for a full and pleasant meal, it was generally in the evening when dinner was served at the White House. At this hour, guests were often present, and Lincoln made a formal appearance to welcome them. On such occasions, Mrs. Lincoln had the food prepared in the White House kitchen or served it by a caterer. If Lincoln were hungry, he certainly could eat his fill of excellent food at this time.

There has been much debate about whether or not Lincoln ever drank liquor. Billy Herndon admitted that he "drank when he thought it would do him good." Leonard Swett remembered that Lincoln did drink wine upon occasion and that in the White House, "he used to drink a glass of champagne with his dinner, but I believe that was prescribed for him." Perhaps his physicians decided that the hard-working President sometimes needed a sleep aid. William Howard Russell of the London (England) Times ate with the Lincolns on March 28, 1861, and noted in his diary that wine was served at the dinner. But certainly, it was a rare occasion when Lincoln tasted alcohol. He had once joined a temperance society, although his account at the Corneau & Diller Drug Store in Springfield shows a few purchases of brandy by the bottle. Yet there is no positive proof that it was Lincoln who consumed this brandy. It is safe to say that Lincoln was temperate in his drinking. And the word temperance means "moderation or self-restraint in action, statement, etc."

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Frontier Corn Dodgers Recipe.

Corn dodgers were famous during pioneer life because they were very versatile and easy to carry around. You can eat them as a side to your meals or munch on them as a snack when you get hungry.

They’re relatively small, so pioneers would keep these in their pockets.

INGREDIENTS

2 Cups (coarse) yellow cornmeal

2 Tablespoons butter [or margarine]

1/2 Teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Cups whole milk

1 Teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 400° F.
• Cook cornmeal in a saucepan with butter, salt, sugar and milk until the mixture boils.
• Turn off the heat, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes. 
• Add baking powder and stir.
• Spoon the mix onto the Baking Pan in heaping tablespoon-size balls, then bake for 10 to 15 minutes. 
• They are done when slightly brown around the edges.

Cast Iron Corn Dodger Shaped Baking Pan.

President Lincoln's Paltry Eating Habits.

The President rose early; his sleep was light and capricious. In the summer, when he lived at the Soldiers' Home[1], he would take his frugal breakfast and ride into town in time to be at his desk at 8 o'clock, writes Colonel John Hay. 

He began to receive visits nominally at 10 o'clock. Long before that hour struck, the doors were besieged by anxious crowds, through whom the people of importance, senators and members of Congress, elbowed their way after the fashion which still survives. On days when the cabinet met, Tuesdays and Fridays, the hour of noon closed the morning interviews. On other days it was the President's custom at about that hour to order the doors to be opened and all who were waiting to be admitted.

At lunchtime, he had to run the gantlet through the crowds who filled the corridors between his office and the rooms at the west end of the house occupied by the Lincoln family. The afternoon wore away in much the same manner as the morning; late in the day, he usually drove out for an hour's airing; at 6 o'clock, he dined.

Recreated Kitchen in Lincoln's House on Eighth & Jackson Streets, Springfield, Illinois.

He was one of the most abstemious (non-self-indulgent) of men; the pleasures of the table had few attractions for him. His breakfast was an egg and a cup of coffee; at lunch, he rarely took more than a biscuit and a glass of milk and a plate of seasonal fruit; at dinner, he ate sparingly of one or two courses. 

Every so often, especially on special occasions or when having dinner company, Mary Lincoln would make Abraham's Favorite Gingerbread and Topping for dessert. Authentic Recipe. 

Lincoln drank little or no wine, not that he always remained on principle a total abstiner, as he was a part of his early life in the fervor of the "Washingtonian" movement. Lincoln didn't care for any wine or liquor and never used tobacco.

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The Washingtonian Movement (Washingtonians, Washingtonian Temperance Society or Washingtonian Total Abstinence Society) was a 19th-century temperance fellowship founded on April 2, 1840, by six alcoholics (William Mitchell, David Hoss, Charles Anderson, George Steer, Bill M'Curdy, and Tom Campbell) at Chase's Tavern on Liberty Street in Baltimore, Maryland. The idea was that by relying on each other, sharing their alcoholic experiences, and creating an atmosphere of conviviality, they could keep each other sober. Total abstinence from alcohol (teetotalism) was their goal. 

Abraham Lincoln was no foodie. He was almost entirely indifferent to food except for liking apples and hot black coffee. An often-cited quote has also been attributed to him: "If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee."

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Prices, at the time of Lincoln's assassination in 1865, were considered outrageously high. Bulk butter was sold for 30¢ a pound, and coffee, when found, was 21¢ ($3.88 today) a pound.  Ham was unusually high, 28¢ a pound, and turkey sold for 30¢. Salt was sold by the bushel at 50¢. A barrel of crackers, priced at $6.50 ($120.00 today), was expected to last an entire season.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

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[1] Today, the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, D.C., 340 Rock Creek Church Road N.W., Washington, D.C., USA

Chuck Wagon Diner with a Kentucky Fried Chicken, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.

The Chuck Wagon was in Champaign from 1956 to 1976, when it was sold and moved to Villa Grove. The diner was moved to downtown Urbana in 1983, where it operated as the Elite Diner from 1983 to 2002. The diner then went to Homer and eventually to Michigan.

In 1956 Mountain View Diners of Singac, New Jersey, delivered the new Chuck Wagon to Bob and Nixie Dye in Champaign, Illinois. It was one of the last diners manufactured by Mountain View Diners.

The Dyes operated the Chuck Wagon Diner and also offered Kentucky Fried Chicken. The Chuck Wagon Diner was the 14th Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in America.

In 1976, the diner and its contents were sold at auction. Then it became the Elite Diner for many years. Eventually, it was moved to Michigan. It was rescued from a lot in Detroit, where it had been sitting idle since 2002. It was in poor condition. The diner arrived in Princeton in December of 2007. An extra dining room, a kitchen, restrooms, and a full basement were added. Then the Ketchums found the original sign and the foyer in Illinois. From Rhode Island came the 1950s pie case and ice cream parlor.

The 1953 Happy Days Jukebox came from Michigan, and the counter mounts for the Jukebox also came from Michigan. The counter mounts for the Juke Box were installed, as well as a heated wheelchair ramp, sidewalk, and steps. After many months of repairing, scrubbing, polishing, and building to restore the vintage 1950s diner to its original condition, the Chuck Wagon Diner opened in April of 2010 on Ketchum's property in Princetown, NY.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

"Iconic Chuck Wagon diner relocated, rejuvenated in New York."

The old Chuck Wagon diner in Champaign has found new life in New York.

The diner, which once graced the corner of Neil and Springfield in Champaign and later became home to the Elite Diner in Urbana, had its grand opening this month in Princetown, New York.

The original owner of the stainless steel diner, Bob Dye of Champaign, was on hand for the event.

"It looked just like it came out of the factory when I bought it in 1956," said Dye.

New owners Tom and Sally Ketchum located the old diner in Detroit and arranged to have it hauled to New York. They reunited it with the original Chuck Wagon sign, which had been stored in Chicago for three decades.

Dye traveled to New York for the grand opening and, while there, ate many of his meals at the diner.

"It was a packed house, and people were standing in line all day," he said. His meals included beef and noodles, bacon and eggs, pot roast, cereal, and pancakes.

Sally Ketchum said she and her husband opened the Chuck Wagon in late April but delayed the grand opening until May.

"We had to have Bob Dye up here to cut the ribbon," she said. "Bob's quite a guy."

She said that the restored diner is equipped with a jukebox and counter mounts so diners can select records from their booths. An extra dining room was built, and a heated wheelchair ramp was added.

The Ketchums located the diner's original foyer in southern Illinois and moved it to New York.

"It's the first time the foyer, the diner and the sign have been together since 1976 when they auctioned it off," she said.

By Don Dodson.

The News-Gazette, June 25, 2019

Riggen's Frostop Root Beer Stand, Chrisman, Illinois.

The Frostop in Chrisman, Illinois, was built in 1954 by E.O. Tate. Rena Riggen started working for Mr. Tate in 1955. In 1956, Rena and her husband, Robert (Bob) Riggen, began leasing the Frostop from Mr. Tate. They leased the restaurant for three years, but in 1959, Mr. Tate sold the Frostop to Luther Vandevander. Rena stayed on and worked for him. Two years later, Rena and Bob bought the Frostop. Since 1961, the Frostop in Chrisman has been run by the Riggen family.

In the early 1990s, Rena & Bob's children took over the restaurant. Their children, Sue & Dave, now run the restaurant.

Riggen's Frostop still uses car hops and does not have indoor seating.

The restaurant offers service to cars, picnic tables, and to-go orders. The menu consists of hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ sandwiches, catfish dinners, Italian beef dinners, pizza, ice cream, and of course, the famous root beer in a frosty mug.

The Frostop is seasonal and is open from mid-March until mid-October due to the cold Midwestern winters. The Riggen's Frostop has been Chrisman's local landmark and hangout since it was built.

Frostop in Chrisman, Illinois.

Frostop is a name that, at its zenith, was most familiar to millions of thirsty Americans. In 1926, Mr. L. S. Harvey opened his first Frostop Root Beer stand in Springfield, Ohio. It was so successful that word quickly spread about his operation and its delicious, creamy root beer.

Soon, Frostop stands spread throughout the nation until the onset of World War II. During the war, expansion was curtailed due to shortages of building materials and equipment, as well as the flavors and sweetening agents so necessary in the manufacture of Frostop Root Beer.

After the war, Mr. Harvey, who was convinced that Frostop was the finest root beer ever made, resumed the expansion of the chain. Under new aggressive ownership in the 1950s, Frostop experienced tremendous growth during the post-war boom years of the drive-in era. The signature brown and yellow, neon-lit stands, with their gigantic, revolving root beer mug on top, dotted the countryside and became a favorite place to rest and enjoy an icy cold frosted mug of Frostop.

Frostop Neon Sign Rotating

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Dandy Inn Irish Pub & Restaurant, O'Fallon, Illinois. (1850-2017)

Dandy Inn, built initially as Becherer's Tavern in 1850, has been a general store, a tavern, a dance hall, and always as it still is today, a popular gathering place. It has been said that Abraham Lincoln was one of the early visitors.

Beginning as a one-room log cabin located on U.S. 50 (the Vincennes Trail), the tavern offered travelers food, water, and supplies. The well, located in the front, fed a horse trough and provided a water supply for the business. Initially, the building was primarily a one-story structure. The business grew, and additions encompassed the original one-room tavern.

Near the turn of the century, Henry Becherer's son, Adam, took over the tavern. During that time, a building was constructed on the highway's edge and used as a dance hall.

The early 1900s boasted an expanding clientele when coal mining became a big business in the area. The miners enjoyed congregating at the tavern when work was finished. The prospering mines created a rail industry to carry the ore to distribution points. The railroad workers, needing a place to quench their thirst and get a sandwich, frequented Becherer's tavern.

Workers, deciding that the area would be an excellent place to build a house and raise a family, created a community with life interwoven at Becherer's Tavern. Visitors kept increasing. The railway had a streetcar that carried people from Lebanon, Illinois, to East St. Louis, and the Crossroads Station was on Old Collinsville Road. More and more people were traveling by automobiles, and Becherer's had one of the first gas pumps in the area.

Dances were held in the pasture – admission 10¢. Some guys would jump over the fence to avoid paying the cover charge. This was bootleg time – so root beer was the main fare. But remember, anything was available at Becherer's. If you wanted bootleg whiskey, you simply told Adam. The place had a somewhat protected status. Near the end of prohibition in 1932, when Roosevelt indicated a repeal of prohibition if elected, Adam began building a new building to accommodate the future beer drinkers. The farmers liked coming to Becherer's.

The present two-story tavern structure was built in 1933 and opened on New Year's Day, 1934, and beer was legal. It was a magnificent building with few like it outside the cities. It provided the owner's family a store, tavern, and living quarters, and the business prospered. 

Adam Jr., Orville and Kate Roach, and Adam's children began running the place when their father entered the service in 1941.

By 1960, the clientele had changed again. It wasn't a community center anymore, and the dances long since had ceased. The towns had grown, and people were more interested in O'Fallon or Fairview Heights social gatherings. By then, Becherer's was a neighborhood tavern and store.

It was an excellent spot for the residents of the surrounding subdivisions to stop on their way home from work or to visit for a late-evening beer. Those were the folks most affected when they decided to close. Until they decided to retire on New Year's Eve 1976, the place had changed little. The beer was cold, and the sandwiches were made fresh at the grocery counter in the next room. The customers, a blend of newcomers and crusty old-timers, made a visit an exciting experience. The neighbors waited four months before the Daniels bought the corner and opened their place.

On April Fool's Day, 1977, Dave and Phyllis Daniels officially opened the Dandy Inn. Two of their children, Mark and Ann, were put to work and are still connected to the place today. Phyllis is now retired but loves to come in for lunch with friends. Mark is in from early morning to late night most days of the week, usually fixing something or chatting with customers. Ann has since retired from the restaurant business. She stays busy raising her kids and running The Scrapbook Factory down the street. 

Every year on St. Patrick's Day, Ann is pulled from retirement to help at the Dandy Inn during one of the busiest times of the year. Dandy Inn Irish Pub boiled their own beef briskets, making the best corned beef in Southern Illinois.

Continuing the family business, Mark's son, Casey, works in the kitchen after school. Most people think he also has the restaurant business in his blood, but who knows what the future will bring. After over three decades in business, the Dandy Inn has seen many changes but still has something for everyone; a great gathering place for families, a well-worn bar for an after-work beer, and always delicious, home-style family recipes.

My personal favorite restaurant in St. Clair County for fresh hand-breaded cod or perch (both on the menu) and a mound of freshly cut fries. The outdoor covered seating was comfortable too.

Dandy Inn permanently closed its doors on Sunday, January 15, 2017.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Mineola Hotel, 91 North Cora Avenue, Fox Lake, Lake County, Illinois.

Thomas Parker purchased a tract of land along Fox Lake on behalf of the Union League Club of Chicago. The club intended to develop the property as a recreational retreat for its members and built a small clubhouse on the site. 

The Chain O'Lakes had a booming resort industry due mainly to increased access to the area in 1882 when the Wisconsin Central (later Soo Line) Railroad opened.

Postcard depicting the original Mineola clubhouse, as constructed in 1884, before renovation in 1901–1903 by Edson and Emma.

The Mineola was built in 1884 (or 1889) by the Mineola Club of Chicago (some have credited it to members of the Chicago Board of Trade).

The 100-room hotel boasted hot and cold running water, a beautiful natural setting, and boating, fishing and hunting opportunities starting at $2 per day. It is believed, but not confirmed, that the hotel's veranda was designed by Alphonse Howe & Charles Caskey, the architects of the famed Grand Hotel on Michigan's Mackinac Island. The hotel was built as a private clubhouse for Chicago's elite. By 1891 it had been sold to Edson C. Howard, who remodeled it into a public hotel to accommodate the growing number of tourists to the Fox Lake in the Chain O'Lakes area during its Gilded Age heyday. 

Edison Howard bought the hotel, opened it to the public, and built its southern half in 1903.

As early as the 1910s, Fox Lake was known for its drinking and gambling establishments. The Chicago Tribune reported it was "…worse than in the levee districts of the city." The situation in Fox Lake was partly due to Chicago's efforts to "clean up" its own vice districts, which caused those districts to re-settle in the suburbs. The newspaper article added, "Probably the most vicious resort is the Mineola Hotel, and all of the hotels are supplied with slot machines."

During Prohibition (1920-1933), the lakes region became a notorious hangout for Chicago mobsters. The Mineola was reportedly a hideaway for Al Capone and his gang, who could freely gamble and drink the nights away.

In 1943, the Mineola was purchased by the Jakstas Family, who has owned it ever since. The family has fended off demolition many times through the decades. One scare came in 1953 when a hotel guest set a fire on the third floor, which luckily was contained.

A decline in tourism in the early 1960s made it difficult to keep the business going, and by 1969, the Jakstas' were prepared to raze the hotel, going so far as to sell off the original furniture. Mrs. Emma Jakstas was quoted by the Chicago Tribune on February 23, 1969: "We regret tearing down the hotel, but it is a real tinder box... It would be too expensive to remodel this mammoth place."

Dining Room

Peter and Emma Jakstas's son, Peter, was convinced the family should keep the building. They closed the hotel portion to the public but kept the first-floor restaurant, bar, and second-floor banquet facility open until 2012, when the village closed it due to safety concerns.

The Mineola is 225 feet long, four stories high, and considered the largest wooden structure in Illinois. 

The National Park Service listed the hotel on the National Register of Historic Places on July 29, 1979. The Register is the nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation and is administered by the National Park Service.

Though it's been the dream of the Jakstas family to fully restore the building, those efforts have been met with mixed success and much difficulty. After 68 years in the family's ownership, Pete Jakstas is considering retirement and the sale of the hotel, marina and surrounding 17 acres.

On Saturday, the day before closing, the Mineola held an 'Eat and Drink the Mineola Dry Party.' The Hotel closed indefinitely on Sunday, May 21, 2012.

Landmarks Illinois named the hotel one of Illinois's ten most endangered historic places in 2013.

As of May 2022, the Jakstas property was under contract for purchase by developers. The historic Mineola Hotel will be razed, and a new boutique hotel complex will be built "with aesthetic features from the original hotel" incorporated into the new building. 

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.