The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-14
THE GREAT AMERICAN PIE.
ITS POPULARITY GREATER NOW
THAN EYER BEFORE.

untd to- he an 1dHa1 Decentralization OF the
Pubiic's Tasie In Pie In the Lead.
Do you cat piei Your ancestors probably did,
n you arc OF the down East American stock. II
you arc a German-Amcrican, your parents or
grandparents undoubtedly sold or bought pies
over tho counter Of the corner grocery, and IL
you are an Irish.American, your descendants
will be pic eaters. In fact, no matter what kind
of American you arc, your family, past and to
come, Is moro or less concerned with the great
American dessert. Moreover, thore are several
hundred thousand persons all about you In
Greater New York who devour pics as q regular
thing-some Of them at breakfast time. Al did
Ralph Waldo Emerson. and withous seing
ashamed TO say so; more Of them at dinner. and
almost all Of them on Sundays. Once a year at
least the local pio-eating community mounts up
into the millions. and that is on THANKSGIVING
Day. For the proper celebration Of that day pie
20 far moro essential than the Presidents proc
lamntion.
Society has, to a great extent. pronounced q
ban against pie, and this perhaps explains the
reason for the popular superstition that pic 10
waning in favor. 1t Is q mistake. One concern
which was visited by q Sun reporter recently
turns out q 5000 pies a day. There arc n score
Of similar firms in the city which make nothing
but pies. and arc kept busy all tho time supply
ing the Great American Appetite. The bakery
which the reporter visited 10 over on the west
side, pretty well downtown. and back of tho
Wholesale dry goods district. Entrance 10
had through a small shop, presided over
By q comfortable-looking German woman.
and displaying on its ono counter spcci-
mems OF the wares. Behind this opens out
the bakery, or, rather, the factory. for the
construction OF pie in largo quantities il an
Intricate matter requiring the services Of skilled
labor. In tho main room OF the factory the re-
porter found William Thompson, President of
the company, who is probably tho Oldest and
most experienced man in his art. az no Is 20
years old, and has been in the business most of
his life.
Piles \" said Mr.. Thompson. "You want to
know about pies7 Here's the whole thing right
around you, from the raw material to the
finished product. Come up to the top floor and
we'll consider the pie from its inception. Sup
pose we take the apple pie, which Is most in de-
niand. and trace that through its various stages
Stepping on an elevator tho visitor was car
Fied to the top floor, where a dozen men and
women were preparing the interior parts Of the
various kinds OF pie, in a spotlessly clean room.
In fact the whole of the establishment Is con-
stantly scrubbed and swept. Two workers were
busy with wonderful littlo applepecling ma
chimes. Taking an apple from n barrel the
worker fixed 1t on q revolving pin, turned a
crank two or three times, and the fruit was all
nkS ohu 'oitb, u = VIZ tohihb obouI
one second. Twenty barrels Of apples for zach
machine.worker supply n days work. As long
as greetings can be procured they are used, as
the fruit is firm, comparatively free from i'm.
porfectlons. and of excellent flavor. Slicing has
to be done by hand, because no machine that has
yet been invented can remove the bruises and
bad spots. The slicer, who wears leather guards
on the thumb and forefinger of the left hand,
chine, turns 1t around to get q comprehensive
look at it, hicks out with inimitable dizziness
dozen swift s!ashes OF the knife has 1t all sliced.
Seven or eight slicers are required to keep pace
with the two machines.
Next the slices are taken to n barrel and pro-
pared with sugar and spice for filling in. On
other Darts OF this floor he reporter saw work
ers preparing, mince meat. others busted with
pumpkins and sGuashcs, still Others liking up
the milk pies. such as custard and .ocoanuG.
From the various savOry vessels there arose
spicy and fruity odors. which combined formed
a most delicious If rather strong perfume. In
and washing tubs and pic tins.
DO your tins come pack to you T. asked tho
reporter Of President Thompson. Doesn't the
They're supposed to como back. replied tho
ing 9 Sc on earth Of such wandering habits as u
PIE tin. wish he adacd. tho1ghtfnlly that
trusnt pie tins, People have. no conscience
ebout them 81 all. Now we'll take u look at tho
Leading tho way to another floor he showed
the reporter two huge bins in which men were
kneadlng dough. On Along table several skilled
- ''N>s stS vi A. o" oh
the tins. two or three firm prcssures and skilful
pats serving for each specimen. In the milk
Grnat is trimmed up TO form q basin. About
1900 quarts OF milk n day arc used for this kind
scoops from one of the. big cans near by
Snonsh OF the prepared interior 10 I'LL the
man. who has been rolling an upper
crust. This he perforates after II fashion or his
i nth s'i Il down 4 %sn% on the @I pio. wh ihsiFi Is th" 0e oo1ne
plete and ready for baking. These marks are
not Ior ornainent only, put are distinctive. ana
sides by his wares. can distinguish between the
various species at q glance. a feat almost equal
o that OF the lady In the poem:
There was n youn ! lady OF Working.
Who had q mad passion for cooking;
Which were all OF a size,
And could tell which was which without looking.
Tho final process is the baking, w7ich is done
In large brick ovens, built to $50
pies each. The fires arc on either sido below ths
level OF the ovens. and draughts carry the hot
air through. About lftecn minutes sufhceS to
bake a pie. Baking begins about midnight. At
<o'clock in the morning the first delivery goes
to hotels. restaurants, and private houses.
Now you've seen the whole process for one
with his ton foot lsdle skilIuiiy scooped three
Pies out OF the oven; and all other kinds pass
through pretty much the same process"
What are your most popular pics T. asked
and minco. have the call. About Thanksgiving
Time there's a tremendous rush ior pumpkin;
GUNNER brings q demand for hucklebcrry and
blackberry. Our list, taking in all times Of he
year. is apple, mince, peach. plum. lemon, cram
berry, pumpkin. custard. cocoanut. rhubarb.
hucklebcrry. blackberry. and cherry. Some cost
more than others TO make, but all 30 out Of hero
smaller margin of profit than the rest. and
Socoanut is expensive. This year apples are 80
high that there isn't much profit ON that va
riety. Pumpkin, cranberry. and custard don't
vary much in the cost OF making from year to
year. We make two sizes of pies, the little pie
which retails for o cents and the big enc which
same quality. The small ones are mostly sold
in corner shops and lunch rooms TO factory girls
eral trade"
Is it true that pic eating is decreasing"
Don't you. lot anycody mako you believe
that. Al kinds Of people eat pic nowadays. It's
ONE of The cheapest and most healthful k, nds OF
food. But the demand for IT has changed in its
nature. In the old times pie was n sort o; out
; ot-door gaia:occasion delicacy. Along back In
the forties | used to sell my pies to the crowds
that came to see the big military drills at what
Is now Washington Square. There used to be-
hIn mi ... tho atNa ~ lNn.Aa- .-l a