The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-06-02

u.s. ttlaL the COTnDTeaQ I0At goes DY
that name in Pennsylvania is made Of
coarse yellow cornmea1, and that white
cornmeal In the same State is usually
d dSsIp and L. employed only as
New York and the other Northern
States. The Northern johnnycake is a
thick cake similar to what Is called
eggbread' In some parts Of Georgia,
to the average Southern palate be-
cause II is made of the sweeter and
more delicate white cornmeaL The
preference Of Northerners for yellow
tude toward superior white oornmeal
as good only for chicken feed are as
incomprehensible to the average South
erner as the preference Of the EsQui-
While It is possible that each dis
putant spoke from observation, we In
sist that that is not the question at
issue. What is johnnycakes? is the
question. and not what somebody
thinks or has heard that 1t is. That
doesn't settle anything. As for the
statement that the people in some seq
tions used yellow cornmeai-that is
probably correct. though we never saw
any really good bread made out of that
meal and we have seen much of it in
our time. Prefering It to white meal
Is mere matter of taste or environ
ment.
But let us make room for another
bumptious contemporary; one that has
knack at handing out decisions. We
Of course refer TO The Houston Post.
which gives us this:
The Observer is both right and
wrong. II Is true the Johnnycake,
wnich, by the way, Is a native of North
Carolina, was originally made of wheat
nour, but 1t was also made of corn
meal by people who were not able to
lans and North Carolina Immigrants in
a number of Southern States. 1t is
also true that 1t was originally known
as the journeycake. but not because
journey, as stated by The Charlotte
Observer and Abbott.
In the eighteenth century, about the
middle middle We think; there was a prolific
North Carolina by the name of Jour-
ney. In It's best days 1t produced great
preachers, soldiers. school teachers
ers Of public ONCE generally. It may
be that there are remnants OF the
Journey. family stil living. Editor
Caldwell ought to know.
The original house OF Journey con-
tanned son by the name of Johnny,
and when the mother of the family
had filled the spider with buttermilk
remnant of the dough. sprinkle little
maple sugar on it. fiatten 1t upon an
oaken barrel stave. and bake 1t In the
proximity Of live Goals; This cake was
pasts. This being a daily custom in
the Journey household. the cake was
called Johnnyis cake and finally john
nycake by the nsighbors who followed
Mrs. Journeys custom OF baking a spe-
cial cake for their children. Travellers
stopping at Mrs. journeys for food
might be told, We have nothing ex-
come 't to maj When they save how
quickly 1t was prepared, they got to
making 1t as they went along, and ma
turally some of these travellers would
call it Journeycake. others 1ohnnycake.
There's opinions for you. handed out
at wholesale rates. Whether anybody
will be convinced by them is different
Whether 1t is true that there was a
family named Journey in North Caro-
lima. and whether they had a son nam
cd Johnny. we do not know; nor do
we know II this can be taken as any
sort Of explanation of the vexed ques-
ton. We suspect that it was all
Matched in the prolific Imagination of
Editor Bailey. OF The Post But we
must make room for at least one more
deliverance. The st. Louis Post-Dis-
patch quotes The New York Tribune's
decision in favor OF eornmeal and
then explains as follows:
The Tribune unquestionabIy has the
correct theory Of the johnny cake But
like all our literary theories II is OF
New England origin and sprang from
ancient New England conditions When
the Pilgrim went on a journey he took
cornmeal with him because II was ham
dier or cheaper and so the faith grew
up that journeycake or johnnycake
could be made only Of corn or Indian
meal. This being the New England
practice the theory was born to sup
airy constitution and Conscience of the
universe because in Colonial days ev-
| erything literary grew up In New Eng
| land only. Hence the literary johnny
/ cake made of Indian meal: anv ono
who questions this gospel let him be
anathema.
But The Post Dispatch has an in
tuition that The Charlotte Observer is
correct. antiquarianally speak ing.
What was johnnycake in Old England?
People went on Journeys there now and
then. and why shouldn't they make a
Journey cake? They could not have
used Indian meal because that cereal
did not grow In England. Wheat was
staple. the conclusion Is obvious and
when the colonists made the cakO.
either OF Indian meal or OF wheaten
-four. they called It by its old English
name.
At the risk OF anathema The Post
Dispatch offersithls as an hypothesis.
II any reader has information 1t win
be welcome. The questions are; Before
the planting Of the English colonies in
America did the English make journey
cake? and Of what was It composed
and did they call II johnnycake7
We have quoted at some length from
the Houston and St. Louis brethren
but the latter goes rather too fal