October 19, 1986
George Dunshee and myself took off at 2 p.m. in my car to go to Derby on the Cinder Path. Charles Prior was not along as he took a group of his own. Different day for George. Last Sunday he was in Colorado and they had five inches of snow. We didn’t see as many cars on the path as usual. Perhaps they were earlier. The only birds we saw were grebes, lots of red-tailed hawks and killdeer. I never travel the path without imagining I can see Thomas McAloon, my favorite steam locomotive engineer, leaning out the cab window, making a run for the hill into the Chariton yards. Went towards Colyn area across country on old roads. Had to turn around twice because of mud holes. Saw nothing at Colyn although the water and weeds were just right for great blue herons. Came back at 5 p.m. because of dinner at the church. On the trip we discussed the use of the word vicarious.
More about our early bakery days -
In the depression we roasted turkeys for people at Christmas and Thanksgiving. It was a three-ring circus. Usually about forty turkeys to be roasted. That brought forty hungry people to the bakery to pick up their birds. All came early, hoping the turkey or goose would be done a little early. My brother Dayton was in charge of all this. We made money on the whole deal, but it was something to try the patience of a saint. The turkeys were in our pans and covered with rye dough, each labeled with the owner’s name. Invariably the people who were anxious to get them early learned theirs was back a ways from the fire box and took a little longer. At the end the turkey had to be brought forward, rye cover knocked off so the turkey would brown.
My brother was a baker and cook for the officers’ mess at Great Lakes Training Station. This rye dough trick he picked up from a Turkish baker who was visiting the station. We used to carry those rye dough shells down to Mallory’s pond and float them. They would last in the water for weeks. Some lay behind the bakery until the next spring and then had to be hauled away. I remember one big mix-up on the turkeys. Dayton gave a lady another’s turkey, as she was there and the other lady was not. All went well until the last lady cut into her turkey and discovered it had corn dressing. She knew it wasn’t hers. Dayton laid the whole story before her and as people who knew him would bet, he came out fine. This was one of his great qualities.
About this time we had built a heavy pan about six feet long, six inches deep, and two feet wide with six handles for six to carry. This was used to roast whole pigs for people. This also had a rye dough covering, which was removed at the end so the pig could brown. These bigger rye dough shells almost made a boat on the Mallory pond. A small flag was stuck in the top of the pig’s head and a red apple in the mouth. It was covered with a clean cloth and delivered by four men in a T Model Ford truck. It was carved right in the pan. Jake Yengel, my brother Dayton, Frank Munch, George Steinbach or Scott of Lucas were carvers at different times. I forgot to mention there was a rock in the bottom of the pan to keep the pig up out of the grease. A delicious dressing was made and cooked in the pig. Dewey Layton was not a baker, but he worked for us and always helped on these pig roasts.
Dewey Layton, Jr. is owner of the Layton Pipe Organ Company. He not only plays the organ, but designs and builds them. Some of the largest in California are of his design. He has also tuned the organ in the Mormon Tabernacle. A huge one was installed recently in a Methodist Church in Denver.
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