Mrs. Hering's Original 1890 Chicken Pot Pie Recipe that Launched Marshall Field's Food Service and the Future Walnut Room Restaurant.

As the real story is told, by 1890, Marshall Fields had established itself as a place where ladies were welcome to congregate. But there was just one thing missing: food. That's when Mrs. Sarah Hering came along. An enterprising clerk in the State Street millinery (hat) department, she had been trained in Field's "give the ladies what she wants" tradition of customer service. When she overheard two customers grumbling that they had nowhere to eat, she thought nothing of offering them the homemade chicken pot pie she had brought for lunch. She set up a table, served up her pie, and, without knowing it, started a restaurant - and a revolution. The ladies were so grateful that they convinced Mrs. Hering to make more pies for the next day, telling her they would bring friends to lunch and view the latest in hats the next day.

These ladies spread the word about the tastiest chicken pot pie they'd ever eaten, and soon, Mrs. Hering was selling her pies at a counter in the millinery department. A young manager named Harry Selfridge (who would go on to found Selfridges Department Store in London, modeling it after Field's) quickly recognized the potential of serving food to hungry guests and thus keeping them in the store for more shopping. So he persuaded Mr. Field to try opening a small tearoom in the building. On April 15, 1890, fifteen tables were set up on the third floor. There were eight waitresses and four cooks.

The four cooks of the "South Tearoom" at the State Street Marshall Field's store.

Each table was set with the finest silver tea service, and every plate was adorned with a red rose. That day, fifty-six women turned up to lunch on corned beef hash, chicken salad, orange punch in an orange shell, and Mrs. Hering's chicken pot pies. Selfridge's hunch paid off. "The South Tearoom," managed by Sarah Hering, became Chicago's first full-service dining establishment within a department store and was a runaway hit. It quickly expanded and, within a year, was serving five hundred guests a day. In the tradition of Mrs. Hering, many of the cooks in those early days prepared their specialties - from codfish cakes to Boston baked beans - in their own home kitchens and brought them in each morning.

In 1893, the South Tearoom was expanded to the entire 4th floor in the building's oldest section (Washington & Wabash) – just in time for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. 

Marshall Field was a major sponsor of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The tearoom then served 1,500 people per day.

The Marshall Field's South Tearoom in 1902. On the 4th floor of the oldest part of the store.

When it moved to its current location on the seventh floor, the tearoom expanded to seventeen thousand square feet. It took its new name from the Circassian walnut imported from Russia to panel the walls. The newly rebuilt south building that houses the Walnut Room today at Washington & State opened in September 1907. 

On the 7th floor, it was first known as the "South Grill Room," then known as the "Walnut Tearoom," next as the "Walnut Grill," and finally as the "Walnut Room" in 1937. Six tea and grill rooms occupied the entire 7th floor.

Marshall Field in 1904. Corner of Washington & State - the old south building. Notice the aging clock. It's not the one we see today.

Marshall Field in 1910. Corner of Washington & State - completed in 1907 - houses the Walnut Room Restaurant on the seventh floor.

Learn about Marshall Field & Company State Street store history of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd corner clocks.

While not the first restaurant in a department store (as the misinformation on the Internet claims), it was the first elegant, full-service dining establishment within a department store, and it's also the longest continuously operating restaurant in the nation. It's been reported that the Walnut Room alone served up an average of 600 pot pies daily. Mrs. Hering's famous Chicken Pot Pie is iconic to the Walnut Room in Chicago.

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Women were denied service in restaurants if they did not have a male escort. Until the 1920s, it was unacceptable for a lady to dine unescorted while out in public. If a woman got a little peckish while shopping, she would need to return home to grab a snack. Before the Civil War, a "Ladies' Ordinary" space was set aside for women in hotels. This, it was often stated, was to protect "respectable" women from being accosted or harassed by men or, even worse, taken for easily available women by male travelers, loungers, and dubious characters. Beginning not long before the Civil War, restaurants started to cater to female shoppers who wanted lunch. Establishments called "Ice Cream Saloons" opened up near dry-goods emporia and the first department stores. They offered ice cream, which was thought to appeal to women, and light meals. A key element of their efforts to attract women was that they did not serve alcohol. By 1900, coffee shops, tea rooms, department store restaurants, and chain restaurants had a predominantly female clientele. Men might eat at bars that offered "free lunch" with the purchase of drinks, at grills, clubs or fancy restaurants. By the 1920s, most restaurants had given up the idea that they were protecting morals.

Originally called the "South Grill Room," seen here in 1909. The bold selection of grilled foods was meant to distinguish the South Grill Room from the daintier tearooms. The restaurants' role was not to make money (they usually operated at a loss) but rather to lure hungry visitors into the store and give those already inside a reason to stay. Their upper-floor location required diners to navigate past enticing impulse goods while going upstairs. Because so many customers spoke of this restaurant by referring to its Circassian walnut paneling, it was later renamed the "Walnut Tearoom," next as the "Walnut Grill," and finally as the "Walnut Room" in 1937.

Another time of the year, Mrs. Hering's Chicken Pot Pie was famous in the Walnut Room at Easter. The fountain is then decorated for Easter. (year unknown)

The Great Depression (August 1929 – March 1933) took its toll on the store's restaurants. By 1941, only four restaurants remained. According to an advertisement, customers could enjoy their North Shore Codfish Cakes, Canadian Cheese Soup, French Bread, and Chicken Pie in either the "Stately Walnut Room, picturesque Narcissus Fountain Room, rose-carpeted English Room, or the serve-yourself Crystal Buffet."

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

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Mrs. Hering's ORIGINAL 1890 chicken pot pie recipe:

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This recipe was recalculated for 6 servings, using modern measurements, and I noted the modern-day substitutions in RED. The original recipe made 50+ servings per batch. For best results ─ do not use substitutes.

FOR THE CHICKEN BROTH
1 (3 1/2 pound) frying chicken
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 small onion, halved
2 teaspoons salt

FOR THE DOUGH
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, diced
1/4 cup chilled lard (or substitute: vegetable shortening)
3 to 4 tablespoons of ice water

FOR THE FILLING
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
3 carrots, sliced thinly on the bias
3 celery stalks, sliced thinly on the bias
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup dry sherry
3/4 cup fresh green peas (or substitute: thawed frozen green peas)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

TO PREPARE THE CHICKEN & BROTH
Combine chicken, carrot, celery, onion, and salt in a large stockpot. Add cold water just to cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and allow to cool. 

Increase the heat to high and boil for 20 minutes to concentrate the broth. Pass the broth through a fine-mesh strainer and discard the vegetables. Pull the chicken meat from the bones and shred it into bite-sized pieces when cool enough to handle. 

TO PREPARE THE DOUGH
Combine flour, salt, and butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse 5 times to combine. Add the shortening and pulse a few more times until the dough resembles coarse cornmeal.

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ORIGINALLY: Combine ingredients using a manual (hand) food mill or use a wooden spoon like in the 1890s.

Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with 2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons of ice-cold water. Stir and press with a wooden spoon until the dough sticks together. A little at a time, add more water if the dough doesn't come together. Shape the dough into a ball and then flatten it into a disk. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 2 days before rolling.

TO PREPARE THE FILLING 
Preheat oven to 400° degrees Fahrenheit. 

Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add butter. When the butter is melted, add the onion, carrots, and celery for filling and cook, occasionally stirring, for 10 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent. 

Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. 

Slowly whisk in the milk and 2 1/2 cups of the chicken broth. Decrease the heat to low and simmer, often stirring for 10 minutes. 

Add the chicken meat, thyme, sherry, peas, parsley, salt, and pepper and stir well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. 

TO MAKE THE PIES
Divide the warm filling among six 10-to-12-ounce pot pie tins or individual ramekins.

Place the dough on a floured surface and roll it to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 6 rounds about 1 inch larger than the dish circumference. Lay a dough round over each pot pie filling. Tuck the overhanging dough back under and flute the edges with a fork. Cut a 1-inch slit at the top of each pie. Brush the tops of the pies with egg wash. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. 

Place pies on the baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling. Serve hot.

Yield: 6 Pies.

MARSHALL FIELD AND COMPANY ARTICLES

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Labor and Industry Museum in Belleville Illinois.

I visited the Belleville, Illinois, Labor & Industry Museum several times. It was an excellent little museum with many Belleville-made stoves, heaters, industrial machines and memorabilia. I was invited to sit with a couple of old guys as they slurped down their coffee and take part in a history lesson about how the Military men that came home from the Black Hawk War of 1832 banded together some years later and headed for California, to find a fortune in gold (Before the official gold rush in 1848). News articles were coming out of California and Oregon, and apparently, after panning for gold, some men returned to Belleville after a couple of years... Filthy Rich... but complaining was the most demanding work they ever did. I sat there, mesmerized. After looking at my watch, I saw that two hours had passed. Here is a little about the Museum and the Beautiful building it is in, the Conrad Bornman House, with my personal photographs.

THE LABOR AND INDUSTRY MUSEUM
The Labor & Industry Museum is the only public institution devoted to the history of the labor and industry of Belleville and southwestern Illinois. Belleville was one of the most important centers for the growth of the Illinois industry, which ranked third in the nation in the late 19th century. The Museum's mission is to chronicle and interpret the area's rich cultural heritage of labor and industry. Belleville contributed significantly to the industrial movement by establishing some of the earliest and largest manufacturing establishments in the burgeoning United States.

The Labor & Industry Museum is based in the Conrad Bornman House on historic Church Street in Belleville. This 1837 building, rescued from the wrecking ball by the Belleville Historic Preservation Commission, witnessed the enormous development of the 19th-century industry. The building, which has undergone extensive renovation, houses permanent and unique exhibition galleries, an educational center, and archives.

THE CONRAD BORNMAN HOUSE
The building which houses the Labor & Industry Museum has four building dates beginning in 1837. Conrad Bornman, believed to be the first German immigrant to Belleville, purchased the lot at the intersection of North Church and East B Streets in 1837.

The Conrad Bornman House.

The 1881 History of St. Clair County relates that Conrad Bornman, a blacksmith and strawberry farmer who became interested in brick making and the art of bricklaying, and a fellow blacksmith named Small, were the first German immigrants to Belleville. They were the vanguard of the largest German migration to the State of Illinois. Their fellow Germans contributed significantly to the 1830s building boom and the foundry/industrial "Gilded Age" of Belleville and the Belleville area.

By 1837, Conrad Bornman was 20 and had lived in the new world for 19 years. That year, he built a house at 123 North Church Street in Belleville - two blocks from the Public Square, and it is now the home of the Labor and Industry Museum.

When it was boarded up and slated for demolition in 1995, the Historic Preservation Commission noted that it was the last remaining German Street House in the original town of Belleville, as platted in 1814. 

Bornman built his 2½-room house in the classical severity of the "Klassizimus" Style popular in Germany in the 1830s and 1840s. The brick street house is 1-½ stories, with gabled side walls and a cornice of brickwork across the front. The original entry was a single door with sidelights and a transom overhead to catch the summer breezes. The windows are evenly spaced, and the wood lintels are original. The house's interior has log lintels with the bark still on them. There is a trap door to the cellar, worn pine thresholds and the original stairway and floors.

Bornman sold his street house to Charles Born in 1840. Born had emigrated from Germany in 1839 and was a shoemaker by trade -- the 1860 Street Directory lists Born Boot & Shoe Dealer in the first block of North High Street. He also served as a city alderman and city marshal.

Like Bornman, Born changed careers and opened a machine shop with two sons, John Charles and William F. They lived and worked at 123 North Church Street, and the original house was expanded twice before they built a new machine shop at 222 East B Street in 1885. John Charles was the patent holder of six inventions of steam pumps, polishing lathes, and grinders. Charles Born died in 1896, and in 1920 J.C. Born Machine Co. was sold to Columbia Manufacturing Co.

In 1913, the Born family sold the North Church Street building to Charles Beck, who expanded it to house his cigar and tobacco manufactory.

Charles Beck (1867-1933) learned cigar making from Louis Kaemper, a cigar maker at 228 East Main Street. By 1901, Beck had a shop at 208-210 West Main Street. According to his grandson, Beck fashioned all the equipment used in making cigars, chewing tobacco and pipe tobacco, including a stripping machine, humidor and oven. The giant zinc-lined oven remains in the basement of the museum. The last cigar was made in the building in 1957.

Beck was active in the Cigar Maker's Union's affairs and was its vice president. He was instrumental in forming the Belleville Trades and Labor Assembly in 1891 and served as that organization's first treasurer.

Beck's son, Sonny, closed the cigar business in 1957, and the building was sold to Everett E. Sakasko, who operated Ed's TV Repair Service. Sakasko's wife, Geraldine, was the proprietor of the "The Lady Orchid" Beauty Salon.

In 1995, the East-West Gateway Coordinating Council purchased the North Church Street building, and the property was to be demolished to provide parking for the St. Clair County Transit District. However, with the cooperation of the City and County Government and the Historic Preservation Commission, the City of Belleville Planning Department was given six months to find a use for the building.

Since Belleville did not have a visitors center then, the city determined that that would be a good use for the building. Funds were garnered from Downtown Development & Redevelopment, Belleville Tourism, and the Historic Preservation Commission to purchase the building from the Transit District. Additionally, funds would be raised from the public and private sectors to restore the building and house a Labor & Industry Museum. The museum would center on Belleville's Gilded Age, 1865 - 1929.

In 1998, an official board was formed to restore the building and develop the museum. The restored building was dedicated in December 2000. Almost 1,400 people attended the Grand Opening on August 10, 2002.

Ideal Stencil Machine Co., 102 Iowa Avenue, Belleville, Illinois (1911-2002). Two of the world's four stencil machine factories were in Belleville, and the others were in St. Louis. The Ideal Stencil Machine Company, perhaps the best equipped, receives its castings from the Excelsior Foundry located in the same block. Its annual production was about $150,000 (Today, $3,866,975.00), employing 24 people.

VIDEO

Ideal № 1 Stencil Cutting Machine (1911) Tutorial.

Auto Stove Works, New Athens:

Auto Stoves and Ranges for 1935-36; Catalog № 17. (pdf)

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Did a Cook County Illinois Sheriff Arrest, Resurrection Mary in Justice, Illinois?

The Legend of Resurrection Mary
A young man went out dancing at the Willowbrook Ballroom in Willow Springs, Illinois and meets a young, attractive polish girl with long flowing blond hair in a beautiful white dress. The man asked her to dance. She wasn't very talkative. He took her hand guiding her to the dance floor, thinking she felt quite cold to the touch but there is something about her that is both exciting and mysterious.

The Main Gate of Resurrection Catholic Cemetery & Mausoleums on Archer Avenue in Justice, Illinois.

Toward the end of the evening, he asks her how he can contact her. She takes a cocktail napkin off the table and writes her address on it. He puts the napkin in his jacket pocket without looking at it. A little while later he offers the young lady a ride home, she accepts. On the way to her house, the girl becomes very anxious and signals to the man to drop her off right as they reach Resurrection cemetery. The guy hesitates because it is late and there doesn't seem to be any residences nearby but because she is so persistent and agitated he reluctantly pulls over. The young lady jumps out of the car and runs toward the locked gates of the cemetery where she seemed to just pass-through the cemetery gates and promptly vanishes into the darkness.

The next day he remembers that he has her address in is pocket. He drives to her house to ensure that his date made it home safely. An older woman answeres the door. he asks for Mary. He is invited in and takes a seat on the sofa. The young man notices photographs on the credenza and immediately recognizes one picture as the woman that he had danced with the night before. The old lady told him that her daughter was killed by a hit-and-run driver coming home from a night of dancing some years ago.

Commentary
The above legend is a conglomerate of stories told about the "vanishing hitchhiker" along Archer Avenue known as "Resurrection Mary."  Some eyewitnesses have reported seeing a young blond girl in a white dress steps out in front of their car only to disappear. Some have seen "Mary" hitchhiking along Archer Avenue near Resurrection Cemetery only to have her disappear on second glance.  Others still have had very vivid recollections of actually dancing with her. Mary has been a rite of passage for youthful drivers on the southwest side of Chicago, especially on Halloween, for many years and one of the most beloved spirits of the Chicagoland area.

The Law Enforcement Officer's Story
A Cook County Sheriff was on patrol in the early 1980s and was across the street from Resurrection Cemetery in Justice, Illinois parked next to and chatting with a Justice police officer. The Justice policeman was keeping an eye on the cemetery entrance that night because it was so close to Halloween, to discourage vandals and curiosity seekers from entering the cemetery after dark, while it was closed.

As they were talking, a car pulled up to them at a high rate of speed and a female jumped from the vehicle. She looked terrified and was screaming that they had just seen "Resurrection Mary!" along Archer Avenue near the Fairmount Cemetery. 

Fairmount Cemetery is within eyeshot of The Willowbrook Ballroom which is one of the locations associated with the legend of "Mary."

Both officers looked at each other and rolled their eyes, but because the woman was so visibly upset and serious, they decided to check things out.

As they passed the Willowbrook Ballroom, they said they actually did see a glowing figure disappear into the woods near the Fairmount Cemetery. He was actually a little bit startled at seeing this and pulled off the road to investigate. 

The Willowbrook Ballroom, formerly the "Oh Henry," where Mary allegedly danced.

He started to walk into the woods with his gun drawn, chuckling, because he didn't know how his gun was going to protect him from a ghost!

He caught another glimpse of the figure in the woods and it was quickly gone again!  He walked in the direction of where he last saw the glowing figure and he couldn't believe that he could see a figure wearing a glowing white dress behind a group of trees!  His voice cracking, he identified himself as a police officer and ordered the figure to come out from behind the trees. The figure moved and started walking toward him. What he saw next was... well shocking! As the figure came closer he could see that it was actually a male figure wearing a white dress and blonde wig. The male subject had covered the dress in the liquid from numerous glow sticks causing it to glow in the dark.

This is the censored version of what the Justice policeman said to this individual. "What the heck do you think you are doing out here!" The individual explained that he had been dressing up like "Resurrection Mary" for the past 10 years in the 1970s-1980s and scaring people along Archer Ave as it got close to Halloween.

He asked him if there was anyone else in the woods and the guy yelled to a number of his friends to come out. They were hiding with video cameras and lights. Of course, now it was funny and other police officers were showing up to get a gander at "Mary" and it started taking on a kind of "circus atmosphere." Some officers had taken Polaroid pictures standing next to and putting their arms around "Mary."

They finished by deciding to extend "Mary" and her friends some grace and let them go with a stern warning to cease their ghostly activities or face prosecution for startling motorists and possibly causing an accident.

The next day it was apparent that "Mary" had not heeded their advice and it was also painfully apparent that the Cook County Sheriff's Police did not find his antics as amusing as the local authorities did. The glowing drag queen, in handcuffs and being "assisted" into a Cook County Cruiser, he thought that this would be a really cool booking photo!graph!

A Visual Aid

By Ray Johnson
Edited by Neil Gale, Ph.D.