December 28, 1986
If you are tired of turkey, here is some baloney for a change, a little bit more about old-time businesses in Chariton. I remember well the Steinbach Meat Market on the north side of the square, where Chariton Auto is now. I remember Albert, George and Joe Steinbach. Frank Munch was there, too. Quarters of beef and half-hogs hanging right in full view in the shop and also in the front windows. There was no heat in the shop. Everyone working was dressed for the cold in caps, jackets and boots. Iron pedestal seats were at the counters for customers. Herman, father of the boys, was there but stayed in the background as he never really mastered the English language. He and my father were good friends and had neighboring farms for years. I also remember at Thanksgiving and Christmas time live ducks and geese were in the front windows. One could pick out their own fowl and have it dressed.
Piper’s in those years specialized in smoked and pickled fish, salted herring and five kinds of bulk pickles, all in sixty-gallon barrels. There were dills (regular, hot and spicy) and whole sweet pickles as well as mixed pickles containing onions and cauliflower. Dutch kraut was excellent and had been cured longer, thus making it smoother than common kraut. The fish stocked were several and appealed mainly to the Swedish people. In those days we had three Swedish clerks and one Danish to handle these people. We had four kinds of herring in brine with the heads on and rather an expensive delicacy. Spotted mackerel was less expensive, about ten cents per fish. Still was in demand, but not like the other fish. It was about the size of a half dollar and eight inches long. It was in a coil and once out of the brine it became soft as mush. It was sardine-like as the insides were still there. It was eaten raw and was used as a first course. It was fishy to the nth degree. The dinner plates were then taken away and the persons were furnished a towel and water as the fish was a finger food.
The big selling fish was salted lake herring, commonly known as salt fish. This fish is handled in quantities today. In the days before refrigeration, it was a way to get meat on the table. These fish would keep in their brine in moderate weather when fresh meat would not.
We must not forget stock fish, known today as lutefisk. Stock fish were dried fish about three feet long and about two inches in diameter. They were hard as wood, indestructible and had to be sawed off in chunks. These chunks were put in a pickled vinegar. Once they became soft they were known as lutefisk. Lutefisk can be bought packaged today. We carried the stock fish and piled it out in front of the store. The old story was that even the dogs would not bother it because of the smell. Keeping the stock fish company outside were squirrels and rabbits hanging from hooks waiting to be purchased.
I remember two other stores in town where dry rye creations could be purchased. Some were in wafer or cracker form. To these were added various spices such as cardamom seed, anise, cumin and caraway seed. The popular creation was a disc of rye about the size and thickness of a phonograph record. It was about that sturdy, too. After any of these foods were soaked in coffee or milk they turned into delicious food. Cheese with character was handled too. Not the cheese we know today, but a more robust type. I have an old cheese case that still has a sign inside saying “Cheese, 19 cents per pound.”
Some years ago a lady was pushed into the store in a wheel chair carrying a broomstick. It seems she had purchased a new broom around 1900 to start housekeeping up in Norwood. She said it was in the fall of the year, crops were in and hands were not in much need. Someone came along and said, “Let’s go to Kentucky where it is warmer and work is plentiful.” She had never been back. This broom and merchandise were purchased from my father’s huckster wagon. I offered her a new broom in exchange for the handle, but she said no. She was really a lady hillbilly. Smoked a clay pipe and chewed Granger Twist tobacco. The Granger Twist was only exceeded in strength by Mickey Twist. Jokingly it was said that these two tobaccos were cured in carbide and gasoline.
The only woman here in town to chew Granger Twist was Mrs. George Newman, wife of a black man. George ran a dray service in town for years. He was a very nice man with lots of snow-white hair and a nice mustache. They were a nice couple and lived over in east Chariton for years and years. They were not blessed with children.
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