Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1891-08-07

flcult JOB III controlling prices ana
the farmer this year, as
they generally succeed in doing very
easily.
The Downfall Of the Gum Drop.
Time was when gumdrops, those elias
tic confections which have attained a
extending from the Pacific
slope to Boston Harbor, were not the
despiscd filling for cheap mixtures and
the butt of witticisms which they have
become to-day. They used to be
highly-prized and most toothsome pro-
duct of the confectioner's skill.
When tastes were easier to crafty
and before glucose was recognized as a
commercial possibility, gumdrops were
gumdrops. They occupied promi-
nent place in the category of sweet |
meats, and were received with open |
mouths everywhere. But, alas, How |
are the mighty fallen; for now there
are none SO poor as to do them rever- |
ence, They are cheap, transparent,
tasteless, sticky, irIcgular-shaped ar
ticle of universal neglect and distaste.
Why is this so, do you ask ?
The reason is very simple and mo-
raj can be drawn from it. The very
excellence of the forcfathers of the
present gumdrop was the cause of their
downfall and ruin. Originally they
were composed of II union OF ingredi-
ents which made them costly. They
were also treated to Il process OF man
ufacture which added to their value
from Il commercial sense and also gave
them delicious and tempting appear
ance i'll the showcase. Few people
know that the good old-fashioned gum
drop was not only wholesome to eat,
but possessed valuable medicinal prop
! ~
be made for the present article.
The formula for their manufacture
was II simple one, the principal ele-
ments being gum arabic, water and
sugar. These articles were dumped
into kettle, i'll certain proportions,
and boiled until they assumed about
the consistency of mucilage. The
thick mass was then poured into
moulds of starch, the size and shape OF
the completed gumdrop. These
moulds were made after this fashion
A tray an inch deep, sixteen inches
wide and twenty-four inches long
would be filled with finely pulverized
starch. A dextrous candy-maker
would then cover the surface of the
starch, after it had been smoothed of
even with the top OF the tray, with the
gumdrop indentations or holes in the
surface. After filling these holes with
the soft preparation, the tray would be
set in drying-room and allowed to
stand until the heat had dried up the
candy sufficiently. Then the gum
drops were subjected to process knowr
r to candy-makers as crystalizatiOn
, This was simple prcess but somewha
, expensive. After the starch was all re
moved from the drops by a blower,
| a pound or two would be placed in
, tin receptacle about the size of bu
:. deeper than an ordinary square pie tin
and then covered with a thin syrup Q
sugar and water boiled to a certain con
sistencywhich is ascertained by sacl
rometer. After standing for one da
IN this sweet bath the syrup was draine
-, off and the gumdrops returned to tn
dry-room, from which they emerge
o covered with glistening crystals ofpur
sugar.
That is the way that gumdrops wei
:, made years ago. Bnt they commando
-, a high price in the market and coul
/, not be made cheeper. One unhapp
day an exploiting confectioner made
discovery which has wrought all IL
disaster to the original gumdrop famil
;, He discovered that by boiling glucos
- corn starch and water together a resu
was obtained not unlike that of Il
:. other formula. This discovery was
confectioners for a time what the CO
ton-gin was to the South. For if the
l., are cheap articles used by candy-ma
- ers, corn starch, glucose and water a
the cheapest of ALL
N But the disgrace to the original q
ticle did not stop with their being ma,
of glucose, corn starch and as little S
gar as the conscience of the manufa
turer could stand. They could not
crystalized. The crystal would II
. stick to so unworthy an imposter.
-. they were given a ducking in til
=, syrup, rolled in coarse granulated viii
- sugar, dried, and as much of the sug
No rolled off in sitter as possible.
:, Just how much the latter gumdro
-. are sold for, no one knows, but they c
be closed out at five cents pound Al
.. good profit. 1t may be stated in &C
- clusion that the genuine gumdrc
:, worth from twenty-five to forty cer
- ~ pound, has little chance against
~ cheap q counterfeit as its glucC
q brother.
ser To remove rust from plows, sti
their noses deep in the soil. 1t i
he good deal like holding your nose t,
wn grindstone.