Monday Munch inspires pretzel historical reflections

In the paper of “all the news that’s fit to print,” we read that two pretzels unearthed during a dig on the banks of the Danube in Regensburg could be more than 300 years old. They are quite similar to the food we eat today.

Dorothee Ott, spokeswoman for the Bavarian Office for Historical Conservation, said the pretzel fragments went on display at the Regensburg Historical Museum.

The pretzels were badly burned, which, the archaeologists say, is why they survived all this time. The archaeologists believe the burned pretzels were discarded from a bakery. ”Archaeologists find 300-year-old pretzels (No sign of the beer),” New York Times, March 12, 2015.

Not to worry: While celebrating Octoberfest at the Charlotte Senior Center, the pretzels you’ll eat will neither be burned nor bakery discards. However, being pretzels, they do have interesting stories to tell.

It’s odd to think of an item like the pretzel having great religious symbolism, but Wikipedia provides a very interesting history of the pretzel, including religious iconography.

Periodically, from 1896 onwards, a group from The Women’s Christian Tolerance Union stated their opposition to “the insidious inroads of root beer into Christian families.” They regarded this apparently harmless beverage as “the devil’s plan to induce people into alcoholic drink without knowing it.”

In 1901, an Ithica blacksmith, fumbling in the dark for a bottle of root beer, drank a bottle of iodine instead. After rescuers managed to save his life, he said, “It tasted like root beer.”

Root beer is the only soft drink that people still brew at home. On Christmas Eve, 1988, the New York Times published Russell Baker’s “What is Christmas without homemade root beer?” Baker describes how, having loved this root beer holiday tradition so much as a child, he decided one Christmas he must make it for his own children. The story ends with the sound of those home-brewed root beer bottles exploding.

As the story goes, Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires first tasted root beer, a traditional American beverage dating back to the colonial era, while on his honeymoon in 1875. He developed his own recipe and at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876, hoping to build a customer base, he gave away free glasses, which he claimed purified the blood and made rosy cheeks.

Hires was a teetotaler, and he wanted to call the beverage “root tea.” However, because he wanted to market the product to Pennsylvania coal miners, he called it “root beer” instead.

That Philadelphia Centennial Exhibit, officially the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and Products of the Soil and Mine, really was something. Lasting from May 10 to Nov. 10, 1876, it was the first world’s fair held in the United States.

Officially the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and Products of the Soil and Mine, it featured Thomas Edison’s automatic telegraph system and introduced these consumer products:

• Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone

• The Sholes and Glidden typewriter (also known as the Remington No. 1)

• Heinz Ketchup

• Wallace-Farmer Electric Dynamo, precursor to electric light

• Kudzu erosion-control plant species

• Hires Root Beer.

The right arm and torch of the Statue of Liberty were showcased at the exposition. For a fee of 50 cents, visitors could climb the ladder to the balcony. The money raised was used to fund the pedestal for the statue.

Memorial Hall at the Exhibition became the prototype for other museums such as the Art Institute of Chicago (1892-1893), the Milwaukee Public Museum (1893-1897), the Brooklyn Museum (1893-1924) and the Detroit Institute of Art (1920-1927). Libraries such as the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library and the Free Library of Philadelphia also emulated its form. It was also the architectural inspiration for the German capitol, the Reichstag building in Berlin.

All are welcome to enjoy Monday Munch at the Charlotte Senior Center on Ferry Road. No reservations are needed. There is no charge, but a $5 donation is appreciated.

Monday Munch, Oct. 7, Octoberfest
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
The menu is bratwurst with sauerkraut, German potato salad, soft pretzel bites with beer cheese, apple crisp with ice cream and root beer.

Monday Munch, Oct. 14
11:30 am-12:30 p.m.
Fall harvest soup (vegetarian), salad, bread and beverage.