Civil War wood chimney using a barrel

John Davis Billings (1842-1933) from Massachusetts, was a soldier during the Civil War. Later he wrote a book about Army life, first published in 1887.

For another Veteran's Day. Thank you all who served or are serving. My father fought all the way up Italy in the mountains against fascists, so that is why I try to compile a post for Memorial Day and Veteran's Day.


Food History talks and conferences, 25, below. Hardtack and Coffee or The Unwritten Story of Army Life:

"The chimney was built outside, after the southern fashion. It stood sometimes at the end and sometimes in the middle of one side of the stockade. It started from a fire-place which was fashioned with more or less skill, according to the taste or mechanical genius of the workman, or the tools and materials used, or both.

In my own company there were two masons who had opportunities, whenever a winter camp was pitched, to practice their trade far more than they were inclined to do. The fire-places were built of brick, of stone, or of wood. If there was a deserted house in the neighborhood of the camp which boasted brick chimneys, they were sure to be brought low to serve the Union cause in the manner indicated, unless the house was used by some general officer as headquarters.

When built of wood, the chimneys were lined with a very thick coating of mud. They were generally continued above the fireplace with split wood built cob-fashion, which was filled between and lined with the red clayey soil of Virginia, but stones were used when abundant.

A CHIMNEY ON FIRE
Very frequently pork and beef barrels were secured to serve this purpose, being put one above another; and now and then a lively hurrah would run through the camp when one of these was discovered on fire. It is hardly necessary to remark that not all these chimneys were monuments of success. Too often the draught was down instead of up, and the inside of some stockades resembled smoke-houses. Still, it was “all in the three years,” as the boys used to say. It was all the same to the average soldier, who rarely saw fit to tear down and build anew more scientifically.

Billings, John Davis. Hardtack and Coffee or The Unwritten Story of Army Life. Boston: G. M. Smith & Co., 1887.

Thanksgiving post by Hagley - includes mills (even a tidal mill to grind flour and spices) and a patent model stove - A Seasoning for the Holiday Season: A Heaping Helping of Thanksgiving Patent History. Hagley Museum and Library. HERE

UPCOMING TALKS

Nov 3 Mon 7 Sourdough Cooking Demonstration. Sarah Owens. author Sourdough, 10th Anniversary Edition: Recipes for Rustic Fermented Breads, Sweets, Savories, and More. Hudson Library HERE

Nov 4 Tue 12:30 5:30UK Breaking bad habits: temperance spaces and the battle against alcohol in Britain. David Beckingham. Institute of Historical Research. IHR HERE

Nov 4 Tue 1 Eat and Celebrate. Investigate works of art across Asia to discover how people past and present celebrated through food and rituals. Smithsonian HERE

Nov 5 Wed 8 Oakford Pecans – a story of discovery, Linda Eilks. Pumpkin/Squash update, Catherine Lambrecht. Chicago Foodways Roundtable HERE TAPE may be HERE

Nov 6 Thu 12:30 Lentils, Lineage, and the Language of Myth: A Semiotic Inquiry into Kayastha Culinary Culture in Lucknow. Sunny Kumar. & "Promoting Smell, Taste, and Wellness: A Study of Commercial Asafoetida in Early Twentieth-Century Tamil Print Advertisements". Anannya Bohidar. Institute of Historical Research HERE TAPE maybe HERE

Nov 6-8 Th-Sat Colonial Williamsburg Eat, Drink, Revolution: Our Friend the Tavern Fourteen speakers. In person is sold out, virtual $100 HERE

Nov 8 Sat 10:30 Carrot Puffs. History in the Kitchen. George Mason’s Gunston Hall HERE TAPE maybe HERE

Nov 9 Sun 2 Protest Baking: The Role of Cakes, Pies, and Other Baked Goods in American Political History. Dr. KC Hysmith. CHOW DC HERE

Nov 11 Tue 6 Guiding the Bay: A Pilot’s View of Maryland’s Maritime History. Brian Hope, Pete Lesher. Maryland Center for History and Culture. HERE. TAPE maybe HERE or HERE

Nov 11 Tue 8 Retro Food Fads. “food innovations and marketing approaches that transformed American food from the 1940s through the 1960s.” Dr. Leslie Goddard. Wheaton Public Library. HybridHERE

Nov 12 Wed 6:30 Creating Shapes: 40 Years of Design, Modelmaking, and Moldmaking for Dinnerware and More by Daniel Mehlman. HERE TAPE may be HERE

Nov 13 Thur ?2:30 [7:30pm UK] Wind and watermills in medieval and post-medieval Wales. Gerallt Nash. Abbey Cwmhir Heritage Trust. Talk info and past TAPE HERE

Nv 14 Fri 4 AM [9amGMT] Feasts and tournaments at the royal court of Edward III. Euan Roger. The National Archives UK £0 – £15 HERE

Nov 15 Sat 5:30AM-12:30 [10:30AM- UK] Food Glorious Food. LAMAS 59th Local History Conference. London and Middlesex Archaeological Society £15.00 for a wide variety of talks HERE

Nov 16 Sun 11AM-8 Virtual West Coast Culinary Symposium. SCA Kingdom of the West. Facebook HERE

Nov 16 Sun 4-5:30 A History of Cider. Patrick McCauley. Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor HERE TAPE may be HERE

Nov 18 Tue 10:30 Lost Farms and Estates of Washington, D.C. Kim Williams. Washington Metro Oasis. $12 HERE

Nov 19 Wed 1 Facing War: Life on the Home Front During World War I. AARP HERE

Nov 19 Wed 7 The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook: Holiday Stories, Treats and History of America’s Golden Era. Becky Libourel Diamond. Somerset County Library System NJ. Link here HERE

Nv 20 Thur 6 What You Didn't Know About Chocolate: Fun Hidden Facts & Stories Behind Your Favorite Food. Mary Griffith. AARP HERE

Nov 20 Thur 12:30 “I’m speaking for the battery hen”: ‘Chickens’ Lib’, and the protest against battery cage eggs in Britain, 1971-1988. Joel Mead. Institute of Historical Research. IHR HERE. TAPE maybe HERE

Nov 24 Mon 7 Discussing "The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook" with Author Becky Libourel Diamond. Ashland Public Library. HERE

Nov 25 Tue 12:30 The business of grain milling in England, c. 1540-1800. Mike Braddick. Institute of Historical Research. IHR HERE. TAPE maybe HERE

Nov 28 Fri 12:30 Low Countries Merchants in and around London c. 1350-1550: Specialising in the Trade of Everyday Goods. Eliot Benbow. . Institute of Historical Research. IHR HERE. TAPE maybe HERE


CALENDAR OF VIRTUAL FOOD HISTORY TALKS HERE

©2025 Patricia Bixler Reber
Researching Food History HOME






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