Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1897-10-15
A GREAT PIE FOUNDRY.
coTHAM'S SUBSTITUTE FOR THE
NEW ENGLAND HOUSEWIFE.

Itntion or the Masterpiece TO Re Found
In the Famous "Pie Belt blessings OF
the Giant Size.
In that part of New England which
Is known as the "pie belt, where pies
Of all kinds and fiayors are made even
better than mother used 10 bake, "
the art of producing them is a home
industry. Housekeepers take pride
in their handiwork, and competition
for excellence in pies is as active dur.
ing cattle-show days as for superiority
in patchwork quilts or fat swine But
away from the pie belt the number
of competent pie-bakers is small,
while the appetite for pie seems TO be
AZ pronounced in the large cities Of
the Middle States rs 1t is in the hill
towns of the Berkshires. Hence the
pie bakery or, as ii is sometimes
called, the pie foundry.
These pie bakeries supply bread bak-
ers, restaurants, grocery stores, hotels
and consumers with pies Of all kinds
and of many sizes. There are certain
kinds of pies that may be had all the
Year around. Among these the popu-
lar ones are apple, lemon, cocoanut,
mince and custard. Then there are
pies with fruit and berry "lillings'
which are made only in the fruit and
berry season. There are little penny"
pies which the small boy buys and de-
yours on his way to- school or at re-
cess time; there are pies of the regula-
ton family size of which onc.quartcr
is a correct portion. Then there is the
hotel size, which is much larger than
the family size, and the giant" which
goes to ''beaneries" ani boarding
houses.
These great big pies" said deal
,er, "are blessing To the hash-houses,
and you would he surprised to see the
great number of quarters an expert
pie carver can get out of one. :"
In pie baking, as in all other indus
tries, there are various grades, and
while there are establishments i'll
New York where the surroundings
would naturally prejudice one against
the product, the average pie bakery is
neat, and the product as clean and as
free from Objectionable ingredients ~
the New England article of which it is
n poor imitation.
One Of the oldest pie bakeries in
New York is located in Bleecker street,
and from IT'S doors a score of delivery
wagons take the fresh pies which are
baked in the ten subterranean ovens
every night to all parts of the city.
But before they become merchantable
material. crisp, juicy, toothsome pro-
moters Of indigestion, the pies go
through a series of departments in the
factory, each one OF which is emark-
able for its cleanliness and its whole.
some atmosphere. In one room u
number of men and women ''pick
over" berries which now come to the
baker in crates 10y drayloal lots. At
one end these berries are sugared and
seasoned in great tubs and made
ready to he filed into the pies, Rows
of whi,e-aproned men make and roll
the paste" which forms the crusts,
aud tidy women attend the great cop
per kettles where fruit is cooked.
.'But machinery cannot detect
bad spotin a peach or an apple" said
the veteran pie baker, ''snd for that
reason we must have trustworthy men
aud women on duty
The pie bakery covers three floors
of brick building about $50 feet
square. A tour Of the place from the
top floor down shows the visitor great
troughs of dough, rows Of flour bar
rels, stacks of pie plates secured and
polished until they resemble silver,
large watts Of pie filings of all sorts
aud descriptions, and men and women
at work getting ready for midnight,
when the days product goes into the
ovens, one hundred and fifty pies at
time in each of the ten ovens.
While all are busy, no one Of the
many persons employed there makes
pie, but the component parts are
III, )c and prepared by people who do
onl their particular work, and then
the various parts are brought together
and dispatched on large elevators to
the bakery below the ground floor.
William Thompson, the head Of this
pic baking establishment, in Speaking
of his business, said that pies had al
ways been necessity in New York,
and that away back in 'the forties'
he used to sell pies to the people who
congregated on the spot which is now
Washington square. New York Tri-
bune.