| OCR Text |
Show THE HISTORY BLAZER A'EM'S OF UTAH'S PAST FROM THE Utah State Historical Society 300 Rio Grailde Salt Lake City. lTT 84101 ( 801) 533- 3500 . FAX ( 801) 533- 3503 A Young Woman's View of Community Dining in Orderville IN 1878 CHARLES N. CARROIL MOVED HIS FAMILY to Ofderville in present Kane County and joined the United Order. His daughter Emma, who grew up there, felt that ' the United Order left a wholesome influence" on her life. As an adult she wanted to preserve the history of Orderville and set about collecting information from former residents and original records of the United Order. These, plus her own vivid recollections, she wove into a delightful memoir published in 1939. Her description, excerpted below, of community dining- has a special charm. Perhaps the most unique thing among us was community eating. It excited more curiosity, incited more ridicule and brought more aspersions upon us than any other one thing and much more than was warranted. The dining hall was in the center of the enclosed square, with the kitchen to the north and bakery in the basement immediately under it. About three hundred pounds of flour was made into bread each day, mixed in a large wooden mixer seven feet long by two and one- half feet wide. Occasionally a few children lingered to watch the bread mixing process which was usually left until the last thing before closing up at night. Vegetables such as potatoes, squash, etc., were baked in large quantities, as well as meats and occasionally pies, cookies, and puddings; these were a real treat, however, as they did not come often. The kitchen was a large room the west side of which was partitioned off for the furnaces. There were three standing side by side, made of brick, on which were three immense boilers. A good sized log of wood was none too much for each furnace. How would you like to see three bushels of potatoes cooked in a great boiler and a corresponding quantity of meat and vegetables in another and a third full of gravy- water gravy? It required one whole boiler of hulled corn or hominy for supper. There were six women cooks who changed off each week till all had had a turn. But there were several weeks between turns so that the work was not over burdensome. The intervening weeks gave the ladies time for home duties and other lines of community work. There was an invariable air of cheerfulness in the kitchen. In cases of illness or disability, food was sent to the home. My father joined the Order in May of 1878. My mother was very much disinclined to eat at the ' Big Table" so we children carried her meals to her. Later they came to sit in family groups at the table. My mother consented then to go. Three rows of tables extended the length of the long dining hall. Six waiters were employed at a time; three senior and three junior girls. Each set of waiters served, as did the cooks, a week at a time. Their duties were to set and to wait on the tables, set the food on the tables as it was passed to them through the slide, clear the dishes when the meal was done and pass them back to the cooks to be washed. On busy days the senior girls helped with the dishes. There were no tablecloths so the ( more) tables were thoroughly washed after each meal; the benches were washed as often as needed, and the great dining room floor was scrubbed twice a week. At the age of about eleven or twelve, a girl was eligible to appointment as a junior waiter; thus privileged she had- reached the acme of her desires. The thrill of partnership with a senior waiter, aroused emotions almost bewildering. It was a supreme moment; a real affection grew up between senior and junior girls. As a junior waiter I was placed with Lucy Spencer, pretty, jolly, and very kind to me. We had the center row of tables as our charge. I have heard my sister Kezia say that she with the other senior girls would often in summer time arise early, before the time for duty at the dining room and gather the wild roses from the creek bank, placing a twig with a single rose bud under each plate. It required several hundred. The fragrance of the flowers was noticeable on entering the room. In the beginning the adults ate first, then the children were called to a second table; but hter it was arranged for f d e s to sit together. Tables had to be set twice to accommodate all. Many grotesque mental pictures have been drawn of this phase of our community life. One report was that food was run into troughs from the table of the adults to the children who eagerly ate up whatever might be left! I suppose there was a humorous side to those looking on; so many people living differently from those about them, and indeed we found humorous situations ourselves. As a group of people working together and becoming so well acquainted a little practical joking was irresistible. Brother Kingsbury, widower, a tall soldierly looking man, was always early to the table. The waitresses noticed that he always seated himself where there was a large plate. For a time they set a certain large plate in the same place until he became accustomed to seating himself in that precise place; then one day the plate was moved to the end of the table. He sat down as usual but noticing the small plate, quickly cast his eyes about, spied the larger plate and in haste moved thither while the seat was still unoccupied. Then a day came when a carving knife and fork, a preserving spoon and the largest plate that could be found in the kitchen was drawn into service, and without giving particular attention he sat down as usual, the plate being turned over the knife and fork as was the practice then. The ends however, protruded from either side of the plate; as he glanced down and discovered the trick- well the storm broke. The girls got their reprimand, but had had their fun! One of the girl waitresses confided this: On a special occasion there was rather a sumptuous repast; fiied fresh pork, mashed potatoes, vegetables, pickled beets and two molasses cookies each. She spotted a most delicious piece of meat on the platter nearest her; her fork was ready as soon as the ' Amen" to the blessing was said, she reached out and the coveted piece of meat was hers! After the discontinuance of community eating, garden products were apportioned to families according to numbers; there was not always enough of a kind to furnish the amount a family would use if it were available. I remember a day each individual received as his portion two green gage plums. I have mentioned this on different occasions and people have laughed, and yet we do the same thing in our individual families today if the supply of a given thing is not large. It is just the difference of dividing between a half dozen people and a whole community. Source: Emma Carroll Seegmiller, " Personal Memories of the United Order of Orderville, Utah," Utuh Historical Quarterly 7 ( 1939). THE HISTORY BLAZER is produced by the Utah State Historical Society and funded in part by a grant from the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission. For more information about the Historical Society telephone 533- 3500. 951208 ( MBM) |
