The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-04-07
The Bread One Eats.


One of the important and growing industries
of the city is that of baking. There are twolarge
wholesale factories for bread and crackers and
sixty nine smaller ones which do business on a
more limited scale. These bakeries give employ
ment TO over five hundred persons in busy times
and they require nearly 500 barrels of -four a
week 1t was not until 1867 that Indianapolis
had a wholesale bakery. 1t was then Nickum &
Parrot established their cracker mandatory on
East Washington street and soon ran their trade
up to ten barrels a day. From this mail begin
ming came one or fhe largest bakeriesin the West,
out In 1885 the firm was changed, the proprie-
oors from that time being Taggart & PARROT jr.
These young men recently took possession of a
large bsilding on the corner of Georgia and
Pennsylvania streets and are now turning out
270 barrels of crackers a day and using therefore
from sixry-ive to seventy-ive barrels OF flour.
Peter Bryce, the other large manufacturer, turns
bis attention mere to bread than crackers and
has baked 9. ZOO loaves in one day. at both es-
Establishments the latest improved machinery has
oeen introduced and the products are becoming
as much sought for as the famous cakes and
crackers of the PittsDurg, Pa, and Cambridge
City, Mass. bakeries which have been In opera
ton forty years or more.
Within the last five years most of the
ers rapidly has been introduced. and with
its introduction the quality OF bread and
crackers has. improved. one or the bakers,
said that the talk that bakers used alum 10 mako
1t light and white was untrue. 1T was used some
IN the East" he remarked. and q good deal in
the old country, hut in the West good flour is so
cheap that bakers can afford TO use the best
Hour, and do away with INGREDIENTS Like alum to
make good, light, white bread. In the old
country and the East 1t Is not used to the extent
represented, as an ounce OF alum win make the
bread from q whole barrel OF flour as white as
snow and as light as desirable"
One OF the oldest bakers here said, yesterday,
that the winter of 1889 has been the dullest for
the trade In the last twenty years, one reason
being that as the winter was so mild, fewer
" the demand for crackers. BE had always
noticed when there was O large fruit crop, as last
year, and potatoes and eggs were cheap as they
have been this winter, the bakers suffered more
I'm their business than any one else. as the people
who use . good deal of bread often substitute
canned goods, potatoes, eggs. etc, for 1t when
Of e90Ss the ai local BAKERS sss shea attended, aIsi a See convene 1%e
ton OF bakers doing business be
tween Pitrsburg and Omaha, and all complained
OF duh trade during the last four months, all at
fributed II TO the cause mentioned above. While
the growth In the cracker trade has been the
most marked. in the Manufacture OF
me and more common cakes there
rels OF flour now being used where one was for
erch q purpose a few years ago. A baker or
many years experience said. recently, that he
can readily see that the prejudice against using
bakers bread and cakes is rapidly dying out.
and there Is no reason that it should not, as the
larger bakeries are kept as cleanly as possible
and none but the best materials are used IN the
manufacture OF goods, and many OF the smaller
establishments, as well, are turning out cakes
and bread which equal in every respect those
mado ny the best nouse-keepers.
It wss suggestive that In the reporters talk
ing with the dlnerent bakers questions as 20
how they gagged the sxe OF q loaf would always
ho4 0om 70 Sefer 70 some other feature OF the