Reader Dee Dee Bergstrom brought in a stack of old newspapers, thinking they might contain some interesting tidbits for this column. She was right.

From the April 17, 1956 Austin Daily Herald Centennial Issue, a story about George Hormel by Gertrude Ellis Skinner:

“The first time I ever saw George A. Hormel was on Evergreen Farm when I was a young girl. It was a spring morning. In those days farmers got up with the sun. The hired men and my father were in the barn and mother was preparing breakfast…

Hearing the rattle of a wagon passing our window, we lifted the shade to see who had come so early to the farm. We saw a shabby light wagon, drawn by a white horse or mule and the driver, in work clothes, was George A. Hormel. We did not know we had seen a great man whose name would later be nation wide. He had come to buy chickens or a pig, for his meat market in Austin. Having corralled the livestock and finished his business transaction with my father he said, “I’ll say hello to Mrs. Ellis.”

“You’ll find her in the kitchen getting breakfast,” said my father.

After greeting mother, she said: “Have you had breakfast, George?”

“Mercy, no,” was the reply. “I don’t think there was a soul out of bed in Austin when I left.”

“Why not have breakfast here?…You’ve come just in time to lift the heavy lid of the ice-box so I can get the cream and butter.”

It was an old-fashioned ice-box, home made, zinc lined and with a lid so heavy, that no kid would ever think of riffling the ice-box, for he couldn’t lift the lid. It contained a block of ice, weighing about 100 pounds, from the ice house, where it had been cut from the river, and stored for summer use. It contained a large can of cream, another of milk and a jar of butter. Mother filled a pitcher with cream for the coffee and a bowl of cream for the gravy…

Mr. Hormel in after years used to describe that breakfast at little gatherings of friends.

“Do you want to know the best breakfast I ever ate? It was at Evergreen Farm when I first came to Austin. There were big baked potatoes, just ready to pop out of their skins, a platter of salt pork cooked to a turn—crisp on the outside and tender on the in and the best gravy I ever tasted, coffee and then Mrs. Ellis began bringing on relays of hot soda biscuits and big bowls of strawberry jam. I’d hate to say how many biscuits I ate or how many cups of coffee I drank, but I have eaten in some of the finest restaurants in the country, but I never had a breakfast that tasted as good as that.”

 

Monday: Board of Directors meeting, 8:30 a.m.

Tuesday: Social Concerns: New Jobs in Austin by John Garry of the DCA at 10 a.m. Register at 433-4243 by Monday; Board of Trustees, 4 p.m.

 

Coming soon to the HHH

Foodie Throwdown (new): Cuisines of the World from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, March 10. Come sample food from around the world and vote for your favorite team.

Featuring: South of the Border by Jane Arhart and Kathy Fritz; The Mediterranean and Europe by Chef Howie Crawford; Asian Fusion by Dr. Gareth Hataye & family of Innovision; Taste of Italy by Chefs Kristine Merten and Barbara Dudley of Hy-Vee; The Middle East by Diane Sherman and Ilene Carroll. $30 ticket through the HHH. Only 200 tickets available. Details at www.hormelhistorichome.org.