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The Food Network
joins with the Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum (above the coin-op Laundromat on Dickinson Boulevard) to celebrate Dickinson's influence on food and popular cuisine! |
The Top 50 American FoodsIt came as no surprise to us at the Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum (above the coin-op Laundromat on Dickinson Boulevard) that THREE of the culinary delights concocted by Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) appear in the TOP TEN items listed on CNN's "Top 50 American Foods" (click on the article at the right to enlarge):
1. Candy Corn 6. Cajun Nachos 10. Corn Chowder |
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Candy Corn
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Pictured above: Emmett Lee Dickinson's most famous culinary delight, candy corn; Campbell's Candy Corn Chowder; candy corn pizza; candy corn pancake.
Chowder
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More Chowders
November 3
In the early 1960s, Campbell's Soup Company bought the recipes for the complete line of Dickinson's Chowders from the Dickinson Soup Company in Washerst. Below are some of the most popular of Dickinson's chowders.
Pictured below, left to right: Oh My Cod Chowder (makes a great lunch after church); Talcum Chowder (a great soup to follow Heat Radish Soup); Prairie Homestyle Usonian Chowder (Frank Lloyd Wright's favorite; just add one can of Fallingwater); Calm Chowder (there is no Manhattan style of this soup).
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Pictured below: More of the chowders invented by Emmett Lee Dickinson: (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request): Happy As A Clam Chowder; Children of the Corn Chowder; Popcorn Chowder (Dickinson developed this soup with the Redenbacher brothers, Orville & Wilbur); Unicorn Soup (the most magical of Dickinson's chowders).
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Pictured below: More of Dickinson's chowders: Clam I Am Chowder (Dickinson developed this soup with Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel); Bunion and Corn Chowder; and Tropic of Capricorn Chowder
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Corndogs
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Pictured at the right: Abraham Lincoln, a good friend of Emmett Lee Dickinson. It was Lincoln's dilly-dallying at bars to finish hotdogs that inspired Dickinson to invent the corndog. Later in life, Lincoln was frequently inspired by Dickinson's poetry and wit. In one of his most famous speeches, Lincoln drew from a line Dickinson often repeated in bars after frequent rejections of his pick-up attempts: "Four beers and several scores ago...." |
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Cajun Nachos
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After sampling Cajun nachos for the first time, Emily Dickinson grabbed the plate from the table and refused to share them with brother Austin and sister Lavinia. That night, she wrote the following poem:
Mine - by the Right of the White Election! Mine - by the Royal Seal! Mine - by the sign in the Scarlet prison - Bars - cannot conceal! Mine - here - in Vision - and in Veto! Mine - by the Grave's Repeal - Titled - Confirmed - Delirious Charter! Mine - long as Ages steal! |
Pictured below: An excerpt from a letter from Emily Dickinson to school-mate Orpha Oakshott Bennett where she mentioned Cajun nachos:
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Candy Corn Cookies -- & Other Cookies Too!
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Pictured at the right: The Girl Scouts sell cookies invented by Emmett Lee Dickinson. Note that the box includes the information, "Made from the original recipe of Emmett Lee Dickinson" (click the image to enlarge). |
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Cookie Poetry
November 7
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Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) was not only an inventor and lover of cookies. At time he was also a poet of cookies:
Lightly crept to cookie jar To its lofty place – Loosed the lid – ceramic hat To reach its inner space Late of night I ruefully ate Devoured the Vessel’s Fill – Tomorrow, I swore to Heaven I’ll consume a diet pill. |
Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen the poem below:
Lightly stepped a yellow star To its lofty place – Loosed the Moon her silver hat From her lustral Face – All of Evening softly lit As an Astral Hall – Father, I observed to Heaven, You are punctual. |
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Swedish Meatballs On A Stick
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Pictured at the right: Emily and Emmett Lee Dickinson's great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather Edvin Gunnbjörg Dikeanssöhn. Pictured at the far right: A great-great-great-great-great-great granddaughter of Edvin Gunnbjörg Dikeanssöhn and a contemporary of Emily Dickinson was Sweden's preeminent poet, Uhmilli Dikeanssöhn. |
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President Calvin Coolidge was a great fan of Dickinson's Swedish meatballs on a stick. In the photograph at the left, President Coolidge takes a break to enjoy a stick of meatballs.
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Corn Chew, Chewing Gum & Bubble Gum
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The Emmett Lee Dickinson poem on the comic at the left was the poem that inspired third cousin Emily to write the following: Sweet hours have perished here; This is a mighty room; Within its precincts hopes have played -- Now shadows in the tomb. |
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The Emmett Lee Dickinson poem on the comic at the right was the poem that inspired third cousin Emily to write the following: When memory is full Put on the perfect Lid -- This Morning's finest syllable Presumptuous Evening said -- Other examples of Bazooka Joe comics devoted to Emmett Lee Dickinson are HERE. |
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Moon Pies
November 10
A favorite children's treat invented by Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) is the Moon Pie.
Pictured below, left to right: Moon Pies; an advertisement for Purple Cow Moon Pies in Washerst; the Purple Cow Moon Pies Factory in Washerst.
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Cow Tales
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Milky Way & More!
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Pictured above: Vintage Milky Way ads that mention Dickinson and Washerst (click to enlarge).
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Pictured at the left: Part of a box from "m & m's," originally called "em & em's" for third cousins Emmett Lee Dickinson and Emily Dickinson. |
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Popcorn
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Pictured above: Today, just one Camp Wattchulukinat remains open, and it is in Washerst, PA.
Pictured at the right: Orville Redenbacher at the Camp Wattchulukinat in Fort Crook, NE. |
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Ben & Jerry's
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Pictured at the right: School pictures from the Emmett Lee Dickinson School for Boys of Benjamin "Ben" Wooster and Jerald "Jerry" Wooster.
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Pictured above: Dickinson 100 Proof Corn Whiskey.
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Corn Whiskey
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Pictured above left: Qwerty Dickinson's children's book of Abraham Lincoln's introduction to Mary Todd.
Pictured above right: Doctor Murdstone A. Whittle, Chief Tactical Mixology Strategist for the Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum (above the coin-op Laundromat on Dickinson Boulevard) with Emmett Lee Dickinson's first still.
Pictured above right: Doctor Murdstone A. Whittle, Chief Tactical Mixology Strategist for the Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum (above the coin-op Laundromat on Dickinson Boulevard) with Emmett Lee Dickinson's first still.
Easter Grass
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Pictured above: Dickinson's Easter Grass
Pictured at the left: The Dickinson Easter Grass Factory in Washerst |
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Pictured below: The Product Branding and Quality Assurance Team from the Dickinson Easter Grass Factory conducts field research for Easter grass production.
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Pictured below: The Rhymin' Rascals -- the comedy troupe that inspired Hal Roach to create "Our Gang" -- advertised Dickinson Easter Grass in the 1930s. For more information on the Rhymin' Rascals, click HERE.
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TV Dinners & TV Tray-Tables
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Second, Dickinson invented the metal tray used in frozen TV dinners.
Dickinson's father, Emery Dickinson, was an ice delivery man, and like Jed Clampett, he could barely keep his family fed. He tried to save on the expenses associated with having a large family, so he would often provide left-over chipped ice from his work as the family’s mid-day meal. Since Emmett Lee Dickinson was the smallest child in the family, he sat at the end of the dining table and always got “what was left of what was left.” More often than not, though, the ice chips would melt before reaching young Emmett Lee, so his meal was frequently just a cold beverage. As a result, Emmett Lee Dickinson invented metal trays to keep food and beverages frozen, and they evolved into the trays used for today's frozen TV dinners. |
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Wild Rice
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Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen the following poem:
Wild nights - Wild nights! Were I with thee Wild nights should be Our luxury! Futile - the winds - To a Heart in port - Done with the Compass - Done with the Chart! Rowing in Eden - Ah - the Sea! Might I but moor - tonight - In thee! |
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Sliced Bread
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Pictured below, left to right: The original bread slicing machine invented by Emmett Lee Dickinson; Cecily Murtagh Downer, a Lead Loaf Slicing Implementation Specialist, demonstrates a modern version of Dickinson's slicing machine for Worthington Leap, the Global Slicing Functionality Engineer for the Dickinson Bread Slicing Company; the Dickinson Bread Slicing Company in Washerst, PA. The motto for the company is "Sliced Bread: The Greatest Thing Since Emmett Lee Dickinson."
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For more information on the inventions of Emmett Lee Dickinson, click HERE.
Novelty Coffee Mugs
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Cafeterias & Lunch Ladies
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Left: A training chart from the
National Public School Cafeteria Lunch Processing Plant. Above: Giant free-range organic chicken nuggets. |
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Cooking with Corn
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Pictured above: Emmett Lee Dickinson's Cooking with Corn.
Pictured at the left: Cooking with Corn is the third highest best selling book of all time! |
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Television Cooking Shows
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Pictured at the left: Betty Croaker was the host of The Little Tippler, a cooking show that focused on
cooking with alcohol. The show aired for seven seasons on WWAS. Pictured at the right: WWAS Television Studio in Washerst
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Pictured at the left: WELD Television Studio in Washerst Pictured at the right: Julia Kidd, host of "Because I Could Not Stop To Cook," a cooking show that focused on quick and easy recipes. The show aired for eleven seasons on WELD. |
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Two of the highest-rated TV shows in history were episodes of the Dickinson-related cooking shows: # 6 was the "Cajun Nachos" episode from "Because I Could Not Stop To Cook" # 8 was the "Vodka Omlettes" installment of "The Little Tippler" |
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Popcorn Balls And New Year's Eve
November 24
On New Year's Eve, thousands of people jam Times Square to see the ball drop from the One Times Square Building at midnight. But how did the tradition begin?
The tradition dates back to the mid-1800s when Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) used to climb to the top of the steeple of the Washerst Unitarian Church at midnight on New Year's Eve to throw lard balls covered with corn to onlookers below. The first corn-lard-ball toss occurred as the result of a lost bet, but the affair was such a crowd pleaser that Dickinson continued the practice until the ritual became a Washerst end-of-year tradition.
The tradition dates back to the mid-1800s when Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) used to climb to the top of the steeple of the Washerst Unitarian Church at midnight on New Year's Eve to throw lard balls covered with corn to onlookers below. The first corn-lard-ball toss occurred as the result of a lost bet, but the affair was such a crowd pleaser that Dickinson continued the practice until the ritual became a Washerst end-of-year tradition.
Word traveled quickly about the revelry in Washerst, and soon other towns and cities picked up the practice -- some of them tossing corn-lard-balls, and others dropping other objects on New Year's Eve. In Pittsburgh, people threw nails from their rooftops; in Baltimore, merrymakers dropped chickens from the Bromo-Seltzer Tower; and in Boston, revelers released the cut-off heads and tails of North Atlantic cod. New York City soon followed suit, creating an over-sized ball made to look like Dickinson's original corn-lard-ball.
Corn Clumps and Cobs
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Pictured above: The Dickinson Corn Cobbing Plant. 72% of the world's corn is cobbed at this plant in Washerst.
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Pictured above: Early work at the Dickinson Corn Cobbing Plant. Dickinson altered the "cob" in later years to a smaller version of his original design.
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Pictured above: Native Americans introduced European settlers to corn clumps. Centuries later, Emmett Lee Dickinson engineered the "corn cob."
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The Restaurant Booth
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Pictured right: The modern Perish & Begone Funeral Parlor & Diner opened in Washerst in 1963. Pictured far right: The Funeral Booth Set -- based on the funeral parlor/diner booth invented by Emmett Lee Dickinson was the hottest holiday toy from 1974 to 1987. |
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Pictured far left: The booths inside the modern-day Perish & Begone Funeral Parlor & Diner are made from the church pews of the original Perish & Begone Funeral Parlor (pictured at the left) owned by brothers Eberhard and Egan Perish and Caldwell Begone. The Dickinson family lived in the basement apartment of the original Perish & Begone. |
Candy Corn Stuffing
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Thanksgiving Haiku
November 28
Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) wrote a number of now-classic Thanksgiving haikus. A number of examples are shown below -- including images from a journal of Dickinson's poetry that he called "Thanksgiving Tur-Ku."
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Top left: At this time of year We bond with the Turkey As we "gobble, gobble." Bottom left: Stores open Thursday? Black Friday a day early? Thrifty shades of gray. Right: Eat until you hurt. After dinner family brawl. Thanksgiving customs. |
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Left: Thanksgiving only Gets in the way of Christmas Black Friday beckons. Top right: The most important need For Thanksgiving dinner: A pair of stretch pants! Bottom right: Left-overs are great. The ones from Thanksgiving -- Not from Black Friday. |
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Left top and bottom: Sweet potatoes. Check. A green bean casserole. Check. Corn bread stuffing. Check. Two pumpkin pies. Check. Stuck in highway traffic. Check. Yep. It's Thanksgiving. Right: Counting calories I'm going for a record. On your mark...get set... |
Pictured at the right: Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience" paid tribute to Dickinson -- and his Gastro-Ocular Correlation Modulator (click to enlarge).
For more information on other inventions of Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request), click HERE. Pictured below left: The Emmett Lee Dickinson Center for the Study of Gastro-Ocular Correlation -- where the first Gastro-Ocular Correlation Modulator is on display (pictured below right).
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Gastro-Ocular Correlation Modulator
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The Corn Boil
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All things Emmett Lee Dickinson (poetry, museum stuff, Washerst facts and figures, etc.) © 2013 & 2014 by Jim Asher
