Friday, May 1, 2020

The Film: “How They Welcome Strangers in Chicago” or "How They Rob Men in Chicago." (1900)

This short comedy from the New York Biograph Studio pokes fun at urban crime and manages to make a sly observation about the corruption in Chicago and other large cities as well.

A man dressed as a “swell”[1] walks onto a set representing a city street with stores in the background. He stops and turns to gawk at a beautiful woman who walks by smiling at him, and this allows a nearby thug to approach him from behind the “sap”[2] and hit him in the back of his head with a blackjack. 

Down he goes, and the mugger grabs what he can before running off seeing a policeman approaching. The policeman walks on set, noticing the unconscious man, he leans down, and rather than helping him, he removes another item from the victim and pockets it before leaving.

Chicago and New York, the two of the largest cities in the U.S in 1900, has had a long, friendly rivalry over their relative conditions and safety. At the time this movie was made, Chicago’s police force were untrained patrolmen who had to pay a share of their wages to political bosses. Many of the policemen supplemented their earnings through graft[3] and bribes.

The Biograph Company took advantage of the known situation in their rival city and produced this film. 

I admit the policeman’s actions made me laugh.

[runtime: 30 seconds]


[1] SWELL - a man who is concerned with his clothes and appearance in an affected and excessive way. Also known as a "Fop," a "Dandy."

[2] SAP - a foolish gullible person.

[3] GRAFT - The acquisition of gain (such as money) in dishonest or questionable ways.

Remembering Eddie Doucette's Pancake Plantation Restaurants in Chicago, Illinois, and their Fabulous French Pancake Recipe.

Eddie Doucette's Pancake Plantation had two locations in Chicago around the 1950s and '60s. The first one was on Chicago's Far North Side at 2601 West Touhy Avenue on the southwest corner of Rockwell. 

The second location was on Chicago's South East Side at 2015 East 71st Street, at Chappel Avenue.
20 Varieties of Taste Tempting Pancakes.
8 Exotic Syrups to Choose From.
Light, Golden Brown Waffles.
Ham Sausage and Bacon.
Country Fresh Eggs.
Private room for small parties and business meetings.
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Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.


Eddie Doucette's Fabulous French Pancake Recipe

This is as close to the original New France (Canada), 18th Century recipe that Eddie Doucette based his restaurants' pancakes on. American colonists called them Peter Cook's Pancakes. I don't know the original French recipe name or how Eddie tweaked it to make it truly his.

This is the batter for their "Apple Yummy" and "Dutch Nannies" pancakes. Their "French Fried" pancakes are the same recipe but cooked on a griddle.

You'll be pleasantly surprised at just how good these pancakes are! Be sure to follow this recipe to the "T" the first time.


INGREDIENTS (applicable to the 1700s time period)
  • 1/4 cup butter OR 1/2 stick of Butter
  • 1/2 cup Whole Milk (fresh milk; non-pasteurized & non-homogenized)[1]
  • 2 large Eggs, refrigerated (fresh eggs at room temperature)
  • 1/2 cup all­ purpose Flour (extra fine stone­ground wheat flour)
  • 1 Pinch of Nutmeg[2]
  • 2 tbsp Powdered Sugar (sifted sugar)[3]
  • Juice of 1 Lemon
MODERN-DAY DIRECTIONS
  • Preheat oven to 425° F. 
  • Mix flour, milk, eggs, and nutmeg together in a mixing bowl. 
  • Melt butter in a shallow 9-inch pyrex baking dish. 
  • When butter is boiling and sizzling, pour batter into a buttered dish and put it immediately in the oven. 
  • Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned and very puffy. 
  • Sprinkle with powdered sugar and lemon juice.
NOTE: If a double recipe is required, bake the 2 pancakes in separate baking dishes. Do not combine in one baking dish because it will not rise properly.



[1] MILK was not a commonly consumed beverage until the 19th century. Even then, it was risky drinking it before pasteurization (heating it to kill bacteria) and homogenization (mixing large quantities together to dilute potential illnesses caused by the cow ingesting poisonous plants; i.e. White Snakeroot [Ageratina altissima] or Milkweed plants). People who drank milk did so as soon as it left the cow or shortly thereafter; they didn't store it as they had no means to inexpensively do so.

[2] NUTMEG - Although today we’re primarily familiar with nutmeg as a powder that comes in little plastic bottles, it’s actually the pit of the fruit of a tree native to the Banda Islands of Indonesia. Throughout the 18th century, the Dutch controlled the Banda Islands, keeping nutmeg scarce and in high demand in international markets. In America, where nutmeg was a popular flavor in 18th and early 19th-century cooking, the spice was costly, so unscrupulous vendors allegedly tried replicating nutmeg with wood.

[3] POWDERED SUGARFrom the 16th century to the 18th century, consumers got their sugar in varying degrees of refinement. Sugar was sold in the form of loaves or cones, and pieces were cut from them using a tool called a sugar cutter.  As a result, recipes from this period often included directions for clarifying (of sugar cane juices extracted from sugar canes) and sifted (through a sieve) sugar. 
An 18th Century Sugar Cutter.
The earliest form of powdered sugar was sugar that had been grated from a loave or cone. The grated sugar could then be sifted numerous times. This sifted sugar was the first form of powdered sugar. With sifting, the finer sugar granules would be separated from the larger ones. 

NOTE: The number followed by an "X" on the package of powdered sugar refers to the number of times it was sifted.