The Peppermint Pig™ Christmas Tradition

The Peppermint Pig™ Christmas Tradition

The Christmas tradition of the Peppermint Pig™ originated in the 1880's when Jim Mangay, a candy maker in Saratoga Springs, New York cast candy pigs from hardened peppermint. It's thought that European chefs who worked at Saratoga Springs' hotels influenced him. They originally wanted him to make pigs from marzipan, but since that particular candy was not easy to obtain, he improvised.

A fun and affirming tradition evolved. After Christmas dinner, the head of a household would place a Peppermint Pig™ in a velveteen bag and break it with a small hammer. the Peppermint Pig™ would then be passed around the family table so that each person gathered could give it a tap. When it was your turn, you had to recount something good that happened that year. The diners would then eat the pieces while hoping for prosperity.

Why a pig, though? Wouldn't a reindeer be better? Turns out that in Victorian times, the pig symbolized good health, happiness, and prosperity. This may have evolved from earlier peasant cultures.

Sugar rationing during World War II ended the making of the pigs, and then the older candy makers began to die off. Forty years went by. The tradition of the Peppermint Pig™ almost died out. But then another Saratoga Springs candy maker brought them back. Older residents of the town urged Mike Fitzgerald to make the pigs again shortly after he opened his candy shop, Saratoga Sweets. He obtained an original mold, and in 1988 made his first batch of 60 or 70 pigs.

They sold out.

Today the Peppermint Pig™ is sold online, as well as through catalogs, museum shops, and retail stores. Orders come in for several thousands of the candy pigs, and Saratoga Sweets usually runs out of them. Batches are made in small quantities to ensure quality control, and the candy is made with the same ingredients that were used over a century ago, and the molds used are replicas of the originals.

As Mike Fitzgerald observed in a post for All Points North, "It turns into a really positive family tradition. It provides closure to the year...I think these guys back 120-years-ago had a pretty good idea."

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All I Want for Christmas by Janalyn Voigt

Hailey may just give up on men entirely. When Corey broke her heart, her best friend Matt helped pick up the pieces. Matt made his interest in her no secret when they first met, but seemed happy to accept a friendship, at least until now. With Corey looking her way again, Matt has started acting funny.

If Matt wasn’t a cubicle worker who moonlights as a Seattle street musician, this could have been easy. Hailey can’t afford a drag on her ambitions. She needs to climb the career ladder to keep her childhood home, all she has left of her parents.

After Amy ditched him for a man with more money, Matt isn’t about to tell Hailey that the ‘fiddle’ he carries is a Stradivarius or that he owns a tuxedo. Let her love him for himself or not at all.

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt's unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and whimsy creates breathtaking fictional worlds for readers. Look for her upcoming western historical fiction. She also writes fantasy. Beginning with DawnSinger, Janalyn's epic fantasy series, Tales of Faeraven, carries readers into a land only imagined in dreams.

Bohemian by ethnicity and mindset, Janalyn is an eclectic artist who creates in multiple disciplines. (she also draws, sings, writes poetry, and toys with a camera.)

Janalyn is represented by Wordserve Literary Agency. Her memberships include ACFW and NCWA. When she's not writing, she loves to discover worlds of adventure in the great outdoors with her family.

Visit Janalyn Voigt's website.

Sources

http://www.saratogasweets.com/peppermint-pig/

http://www.saratoga.com/holiday/peppermint-pig.cfm

http://apnmag.com/winter_2006/peppermintpig.php 

Cowboy Candy & 5 Chapters Giveaway

Old-fashioned peppermint candy

Peppermints seemed to be a favorite cowboy candy in the Old West, when available. They were tasty, portable, and at least the cowboys thought they covered up the smell of other vices. And they provided other uses too.

Medicinal Uses of Peppermint

While the origin of peppermint candy is unclear, historical accounts reveal peppermint oils have been used since ancient times to calm the stomach and for other remedies. Farmers in Europe began commercially growing the plant, which is a natural cross between watermint and spearmint, in the late 1700s.

Oil of peppermint contains menthol that is an antiseptic and anesthetic. Chewing a few peppermint leaves is thought to relieve a toothache. Indigestion, cold and flu sufferers can find some relief by drinking peppermint tea. However, peppermint tea can cause insomnia and it is therefore best avoided at night.

Peppermint oil is useful in combating flatulence and mild indigestion. Many over-the-counter stomach aids contain peppermint to both enhance the taste as well as the effectiveness of the medicine. However, in a strange bit of irony, peppermint is something of a trigger food for many suffering from acid reflux and may cause their symptoms to worsen.

History of Peppermint in the United States

When European settlers came to America they found that the American

Modern Wrapped Peppermints

Indians were already aware of the importance of mint, though they were growing different species of mint, native to North America. The settlers brought peppermint and other non-native mints with them and they quickly became naturalized and spread.

Some sources state commercial peppermint history in the United States is believed to have begun in Wayne County, New York in the early part of the 1800s. Others mention the first commercial growing of peppermint in the U.S. began in 1790 in the state of Massachusetts. 

Smith Kendon developed Altoids® in 1780 to relieve intestinal discomfort.

Homemade Peppermint Pillows

A recipe for straight peppermint candy sticks, white with colored stripes, was published in 1844. The first historical reference to the candy cane being in America goes back to 1847, when a German immigrant called August Imgard decorated the Christmas tree in his Wooster, Ohio home with candy canes.

The growing popularity of mint flavored toothpaste, gum, and candy at the turn-of-the twentieth century created a domestic market for high quality peppermint and spearmint oil.

In 1912, Clarence Crane of Cleveland, Ohio invented a mint flavored hard candy that had a strong resemblance to a lifesaving ring that you throw out to someone in distress in the water. In the 1930s, LifeSavers® salesmen made their rounds in distinctive cars shaped like a roll of LifeSavers® candy. They experimented with a variety of flavors, but Pep-O-Mint, flavored with mint, was always one of their most popular flavors.

Peppermint in the Bible

Mint was so valued in Egypt that it was used as a form of currency. In the Bible (Luke 11:39) Jesus tells the Pharisees: But woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Other cowboy candy:

In 1847 Oliver Chase invented a machine for cutting lozenges and the fabled Necco Wafer® was born.

In the 1880s Wunderle Candy Company created candy corn.

In 1890 The Piedmont Candy Company manufactured Red Bird Peppermint Puffs in Lexington, North Carolina

In 1891 Claus Doscher opened Doscher Brothers Confections and a few years later introduced taffy after first tasting it in France

In 1893 William Wrigley, Jr. introduced Juicy Fruit® Chewing Gum and Wrigley's Spearmint® Chewing Gum

In 1893 Thomas Richardson introduced Pastel Mints at a department store in Philadelphia, PA

In 1896 Leo Hirshfield, a New York confectioner, introduced Tootsie Rolls®, named after his daughter's nickname, "Tootsie."

In 1890, legend claims an unnamed Southern lady made taffy but added the wrong ingredient resulting in the first batch of peanut brittle

Cowboy Candy Jalapenos

Modern versions of cowboy candy include Pickled Jalapenos and Candied Jalapenos, a combination of maraschino cherries and jalapeno peppers in sweet pickle brine. You can eat this treat with cream cheese on crackers or on a juicy hamburger. 

Find recipes here: 

http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2011/09/candied-jalapenos-cowboy-candy/

or here:

http://www.food.com/recipe/candied-jalapeno-or-cowboy-candy-453141

Or there’s cowboy coffee stirred with a peppermint stick.

Favorite cowboy desserts in the Old West days on the trail were Hounds Ears,

Cowboy Candy with
cream cheese & cracker

Whirlups & Pooch. Find bonafide recipes for these delights on my website: http://www.blybooks.com/2010/01/cowboy-dessert/

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Janet Chester Bly

About Author & Free 5 Chapters Giveaway Offer…

Janet Chester Bly has written and co-written 32 books with her late husband, award-winning western author Stephen Bly. She and her three sons completed Stephen’s last historical novel for him, Stuart Brannon’s Final Shot. Read about the story here: http://www.blybooks.com/category/finishing-dads-novel/.

New release Wind in the Wires, Book 1, Trails of Reba Cahill, is her

Wind in the Wires

first solo adult novel. It’s a contemporary western mystery. It’s a road adventure with a touch of romance. She calls it CowgirlLit. 

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