Whilst on the subject of candy…here are a couple videos by Rescue & Restore showing the restoration (re-imagining might be a better word) of several old candy machines.
An 1871 Candy Drop Roller
A Northwestern Model 60 Vending Machine
Hooked on Ribbon Candy
Webster was hooked on Steve Papapanu’s ribbon candy. His chocolate Easter eggs, homemade ice cream, and taffy were popular items too.
From 1908 until 1973, the Papapanu family ran the popular Candy Kitchen in the village of Webster, serving sandwiches, plates, sundaes, and a diverse selection of handmade chocolates and candies.
Steve Papapanu came to the United States from Greece when he was 12 years old, and began running the Candy Kitchen following his military service during World War I. His daughter, Mary grew up in the apartment above the Candy Kitchen and eventually took ownership of the business with her husband Chris Pantas.
Following a devastating fire that closed the Candy Kitchen, the family continued to make specialty candy products from their home and sold them through Utz’s Bakery until about 1979.
Another Greek family with a long history in the candy business continues to make ribbon candy by hand. The Andrianos family runs Hercules Candies in Syracuse, NY and has a number of popular videos online demonstrating how small batch candy is made.
Mary Pantas from a 2019 “History and a Cup”, sharing stories of her family and the family candy business. Mary talks about her dad’s ribbon candy around the 27 minute mark.
The crew at Hercules Candy of Syracuse, NY, making a batch of Chocolate Filled Ribbon Candy.
Hercules Candies of Syracuse, NY: www.herculescandy.com
The Original Candy Kitchen of Williamson, NY: www.originalcandykitchen.com
Romance, 14580
Passion and romance. Words you wouldn’t be surprised to see together in a sentence. The passion I speak of though is the passion to write!
Despite the naysayers, the rejection letters, and the slim compensation, there are some amongst us that simply can’t imagine their lives without the creative outlet of pen to paper, or fingertip to key.
Back in the 1970’s and 1980’s a group of successfully published authors met regularly at the Greece Public Library for mutual support and to share their latest chapters. Two of the group’s authors, Audrey Pike Johnson and Virginia Kester Smiley, were both Webster residents. Virginia lived on Webster Road not far from Mill Creek Run. She was an avid collector with many hobbies, who had close to 30 of her works published. Audrey was a widow who lived on Fuller Avenue in the village and had at least 6 published books. Both were passionate writers most of their lives, but it was as grandmothers they found their greatest professional success.
While their passion for writing drove them, the subjects they wrote about were driven more by pragmatism. Authors may dream of writing the “Great American Novel”, but practicality often leads them to more accessible markets like “genre” romance novels. Gothic romance and nurse romance were both popular genres at the time.
In recognition of Women’s History Month, we currently have a selection of books written by Webster women on display at the museum. When not on display, they can be found on the shelves of the museum library.
Virginia Kester Smiley: Good Reads
Audrey Pike Johnson: Good Reads
Portmanteaus
Just how did a 19th century French suitcase come to represent a unique category of words?
The Other Webster
Believe it or not, even within the borders of our fair town, there are those that associate the name “Webster” with the author of one of our country’s earliest dictionaries…Noah Webster.
182 years ago, when our town founders were carefully considering which name should appear on the side of future water towers, they likely had never heard of Noah Webster’s dictionary. After spending 26 years writing his tome, only 2,500 copies of the two volume book were printed in 1828 and at a cost of $20 for the pair (that’s more than $500 in today’s dollars). Mr. Webster still had copies available for purchase in 1836. (Volume I | Volume II)
On the off chance, Byron Woodhull and the other town fathers had procured a copy of Webster’s dictionary, as largely conservative “Whigs”, the book’s vast lexicon would have likely been considered too radical, if not vulgar.
Webster was a staunch nationalist. Believing the United States was superior to Europe because its values were superior. With that in mind, Webster felt the United States needed its own fresh interpretation of the English language. Using uncommon alternative spellings as a guide, Webster set about to change how numerous words were spelled.
The most striking and frequently cited example of Webster’s tweaking of our written word is the removal of the “u” from the word colour. Similarly, “flavour” became “flavor” and “harbour” became “harbor”. “Defence” became “defense”, “modernise” became “modernize, and “theatre” became “theater.
Most ironic of all alterations, “anglicise” became “anglicize”.
Despite these successes, many of Webster’s alterations were rejected by the general public. “Soup” did not become “Soop”, “believe” did not become “beleev”, and thankfully “daughter” did not become “dawter”.
A few of Webster’s less successful alternatives:
Ake -> Ache
Beleev -> Believe
Bilt -> Built
Cloke -> Cloak
Dawter -> Daughter
Determin -> Determine
Giv -> Give
Greef -> Grief
Gillotin -> Guillotine
Grotesk -> Grotesque
Hainous -> Heinous
Iland -> Island
Korus -> Chorus
Masheen -> Machine
Neer -> Near
Nightmar -> Nightmare
Porpess -> Porpoise
Sley -> Sleigh
Soop -> Soup
Spunge -> Sponge
Steddy -> Steady
Stile -> Style
Thum -> Thumb
Tung -> Tongue
Turnep -> Turnip
Wimmin -> Women
Wendell Castle
A wonderful interview with Wendell Castle. Hard to believe its been 4 years since he left us.
Ironrite
Surprisingly, Mary Jones doesn’t run the film’s narrator through the Ironrite.
Cosmic Conversations
Cosmic Conversations with R.L. Thomas graduate and Asteroid Institute Executive Director Dr. Ed Lu with Ryan Wyatt, Senior Director of the Morrison Planetarium.
A Taste of History
Stay tuned! Chef Walter Staib and the crew of the PBS television program “A Taste of History” were recently filming at Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown, NY. The episode is expected to air in the spring of 2022 as part of the program’s 12th season.
Chef Staib demonstrates how food was prepared during the 18th century and has filmed episodes at a number of historical sites around the world.
Seasons 1-11 are available on the PBS website and are also available on Amazon Prime.
Alexander Courage
“Galaxymphony” performed by The Danish National Symphony Orchestra in June of 2017.
Composer Alexander (“Sandy”) Courage describes how he came to write the theme song for the TV series “Star Trek” and reveals how he created the “swoosh” sound effect for the Enterprise!
There are more than a few Rochester connections to the Star Trek television series, but the first can be traced to the television show’s original theme song. The composer and conductor of the music for the first season of the original Star Trek series was Alexander “Sandy” Courage, who was a 1941 graduate of the Eastman School of Music.
One might wonder if during his studies in Rochester, did he ever venture down to the shores of Lake Ontario and take in the view of the stars at night.
Over the years, Courage worked on many movie and television productions including Papillion, Superman, and Indiana Jones. He often worked with his good friends and fellow composers, Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams.
Courage’s body of work is today part of the Eastman School of Music’s Sibley Music Library.
