This season of spice, I’ve turned my history curiosity towards learning more about my favourite local produce, pumpkin. Any of my late nights recently have been due to me reading something intriguing about what people have been up to with pumpkins in the late 1800’s & early 1900’s. Rolling over and excitedly sharing random pumpkin facts with a very sleepy JC has become more common than he’d probably like. I thought I’d share a couple of interesting ones with you, and bonus: you don’t have to wait until 11 pm to learn about them (unless it’s 11 pm right now as you’re reading this, no judgment, lol. I’m probably awake reading too). Let’s dig in!
With Thanksgiving recently under our loosened belts, you might have enjoyed a slice of homemade pumpkin pie or felt like ‘some pumpkins’ yourself as you topped morning waffles with pumpkin butter and syrup. If you were sitting down to enjoy some dessert in 1877, your first bite of pie might have a rich floral flavour to it. Rose water in this recipe is similar to the way we now use vanilla in North American cooking. Combine that with wine, mace, and a large number of eggs, and your plate will be very rich and aromatic.
As for the pumpkin butter, I felt like ‘some pumpkins’ knowing that making pumpkin treats beyond pie was trendy even back in 1874. Plus, the spice mix is almost identical to what makes my lattes taste so good this time of year. I’m also a molasses in my coffee kind of person, so seeing that in the old recipe got me thinking! If you mix a spoonful of modern pumpkin butter into your coffee with a splash of milk, you’ve got yourself a quick pumpkin spice coffee or a latte if you want to get fancy with the milk. I can imagine at least one tired mom in 1874 who mistakenly used the pumpkin butter spoon to stir her coffee & enjoyed history’s very first sip of the best seasonal drink known to millennials.
Important note: It’s not recommended to try these 1800’s recipes. Kitchens & safety standards have changed significantly since then.
Unfortunately, I’m not a recipe blogger, and I don’t really cook or bake, so I don’t have a modern recipe to share for pumpkin pie or pumpkin butter. If you’re looking to make pumpkin pie or pumpkin butter, a quick search will give you tons of different options 🙂
Now that it’s halfway to Halloween or All Hallow Eve you might already have some spooky or merry party plans for the occasion. In Renforth, they threw what you’d call ‘some pumpkins of a party’ back in 1906. Misses Mae and Lottie Hornbrook planned a rocking good time with live music, punch served out of a hallowed pumpkin, and midnight snacks to keep the festivities going into the morning hours. The next time I host any Halloween or fall-related gathering, I’m take inspiration from their creative food and drink setup. I’ll definitely be serving something out of a pumpkin (with a bowl resting inside).
Article from old newspaper image made in Canva accented with flourishes vintage images from thegraphicsfairy.com with AI-generated old wallpaper background image.
It’s the season to embrace all things pumpkin and spice! It’s cool to know that pumpkin spice has been considered pretty nice for centuries. I hope this gave you some seasonal inspiration! There are so many more interesting pumpkin-y things I could share, but I’ll save those for another year. If you stumble upon any fun pumpkin history curiosities, I’d love to hear about them! If you are looking for a pumpkin u-pick, I love going to The Bates Family Orchard is just 40 minutes outside Saint John, NB, read all about it in my; A Fun Fall Experience Apple Picking Outside Saint John post.
Psss… Wondering what’s going on with ‘some pumpkins’ and what it means?
I’m giving a little nod to an old expression I kept reading in newspapers from the late 1800s (“The Canadian element is getting to be some pumpkins”) and early 1900s (“I used to think I was some pumpkins”). Back then, it meant something (or someone) important or impressive. I loved it, got a bit obsessed and thought, how fun would it be to bring it back? You could say I thought it was ‘some pumpkins’ of a phrase.
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References
pumpkin pie
Religious Intelligencer (Saint John, New Brunswick: 1853) 24, no. 46, November 16, 1877: [4]. New Brunswick Historical Newspapers Project, https://newspapers.lib.unb.ca/serials/307/issues/31099/pages/223056.
Kitchens & safety standards have changed significantly since then.
Pumpkin preservation safety tips, Stephanie Ostrenga, Michigan State University Extension – September 25, 2017
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/pumpkin_preservation_safety_tips#:~:text=Pumpkins%20are%20a%20low%20acid,within%20three%20to%20four%20days
pumpkin butter
Religious Intelligencer (Saint John, New Brunswick: 1853) 21, no. 2, January 09, 1874: [4]. New Brunswick Historical Newspapers Project, https://newspapers.lib.unb.ca/serials/307/issues/30950/pages/222461.
Misses Mae and Lottie Hornbrook
Evening Times 3, no. 5, October 05, 1906: [5]. New Brunswick Historical Newspapers Project, https://newspapers.lib.unb.ca/serials/62/issues/15498/pages/117368
‘some pumpkins’
Wordsmith Talk, some pumpkins discussion by Whitman O’Neill, referencing The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800’s by Marc McCutcheon
https://wordsmith.org/board/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=79662
Some Pumpkins – definition
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “pumpkin (n.), sense 2.b,” June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/8011167989
newspapers from the late 1800s (“The Canadian element is getting to be some pumpkins”)
Progress (Saint John, New Brunswick: 1888) 6, no. 268, June 17, 1893: [9]. New Brunswick Historical Newspapers Project, https://newspapers.lib.unb.ca/serials/155/issues/22741/pages/165786.
early 1900s (“I used to think I was some pumpkins”)
Progress (Saint John, New Brunswick: 1888) 13, no. 679, January 25, 1902: [4]. New Brunswick Historical Newspapers Project, https://newspapers.lib.unb.ca/serials/155/issues/23183/pages/172653.
