John,  Your pound ain't nothin'.  I got about 50 lbs sitting in the pantry
right now.  Ma used to make lots of pickles.  I woulda made pickles this
past summer but the squash bugs got my cucumber plants and I wasn't quick
enough to dust 'em.  Maybe next year.  Ruth





At 2:52 PM -0500 11/10/03, John Leeke, Preservation Consultant wrote:
>> Who the blazes are the Saltenstals? I've known Peter Saltensatal & his
>> family since I was in grade school and I have no idea why people fuss
>> over them.
>> Seriously... who the heck are they?
>
>I dunno. The only thing I know is some of them were at that dinner party.
>Also, one of my long-time (since 1971) customers Buck Robinson married a
>Saltenstal (!!!!!!!). Well to him it was a big deal, after all he was in
>love with her. (I know because they have had two of the nicest kids.) See,
>what I think is, way back when salt was a big deal (and I know you have some
>personal experience with salt and know how big a deal it can be), there was
>this family that got out of the horse trade by trading all their horses for
>salt. Now, you know, a horse is worth a way lot more than salt, so they
>got loads of salt for them horses. They were in the salt trade in a big way.
>(Even more than J. Sterling Morton, who had quite a bit of salt that he
>scraped up off the Nebraska plains, out where I grew up. Old JS Morton was
>my hero, sure he had salt, but he also started Arbor Day. But even JS Morton
>didn't have nearly as much salt as the Saltenstals. In fact, I think maybe
>Morton was just one of the Saltenstals' suppliers.) Anyway, the only place
>to
>store all their salt was in the empty horse barns. When everybody who was
>anybody wanted a little salt they first they had to cozy up with the
>Saltenstals, who were in direct charge of the "salt in the stalls." Get it?
>Well, that's all I can figure. The most salt I ever had was a little pinch.
>Then once I came across a whole pound of salt. I haven't worried about the
>Saltenstals ever since that. If you ever can't get salt and can't get in
>with the
>Saltenstals, just let me know and I'll send you some of mine. Just a little
>though. I gotta save some of that salt for my old age ya know.
>
>John
>by hammer and hand great works do stand
>by pen and thought best words are wrought
>
>--
>To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
>uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
><http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>

--
Ruth Barton
[log in to unmask]
Dummerston, VT

--
To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>