The Afro-American covered every detail of Thomas R. Smith’s 1938 funeral. Five women wept. “Two were relatives.” United States Senator George Radcliffe spoke at the service, which was held on the lawn of Smith’s home at 6621 Reisterstown Road. Inside the house, Tom’s body was dressed in striped trousers; a satin, striped black ascot; and a black coat with a gardenia in the buttonhole. In his closet, he left sixteen pairs of white shoes, silk shirts and boxers, and “innumerable suits of all kinds, colors and materials.”
On the lawn of Smith’s home, across from where Reisterstown Plaza now sits, mourners interacted with his herd of goats, who demanded to have their heads scratched. One goat chewed on a political poster announcing a candidate for governor.
This post is not about Tom Smith; not really. But I can’t write about John Weaver, who tended bar at Smith’s Hotel for twenty-six years and called his boss “Chief,” without writing about Smith himself.
How could I not include the fact that Smith, according to the Afro-American “maintained his dominion by aid of an elaborate set-up which prevented any illegal business being conducted without his knowledge or consent,” or that he influenced Baltimore’s Black citizens to vote Democrat in a time when that was unheard of?
The twenty-five recipes for Milk Punch in my database all contain similar ingredients: milk, rum or brandy, nutmeg, sugar.
For years now I’ve been intending to make one of these recipes for eggnog’s cousin (or rival, depending on who you ask).
It was only this year that I noticed that these punch recipes, with their similar ingredients, fall into two different camps, with wildly different results.
The recipe I chose is one of several that involve the addition of citrus juice and peel. The milk curdles and is strained off, leaving a clarified product. The result is not so much eggnog’s cousin as a distant DNA relative.
I just couldn’t resist the appeal of a process to turn a cloudy mixture of milk, lemons, and liquor into a clear beverage with a long shelf life.
Clarified Milk Punch dates to the 17th century, and appears in some of Maryland’s oldest cookbooks. The two recipes in Mrs. B.C. Howard’s 1873 cookbook “Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen” are both entitled “India Milk Punch.” Both end not by boasting about the flavor, but the fact that the punch “will keep for a year or more.”
Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen, 1873
A book of recipes donated by Dr. George Dobbin Brown to the Maryland Center of History and Culture dates to around the same time. It’s Milk Punch recipe is very similar, with the addition of nutmeg. This is the recipe that I followed.
“A lady whose husband had a severe cold recomended flaxseed lemonade. ‘Huh!’ he said, irascibly, ‘a man can’t have a cold without everybody suggesting some fool remedy. I’ll send for a doctor.’ So the doctor came, charged the sick man $2 for his visit and advised flaxseed lemonade.” – New York Sun, 1887
The earliest recorded evidence of lemonade comes from Egypt, where in the year 1000 AD, peasants made a drink of lemons, dates, and honey. The poet Nasir-i-Khusraw wrote of a bottled beverage made from sugar and lemon juice, known as qatarmizat, being traded and exported.
In 17th century France, a honey-sweetened version of lemonade was sold by street vendors known as ‘limonadiers’.
Meanwhile, in Britain, they had been enjoying various forms of a drink called a “posset,” made variously with milk wine, spices, herbs, or/and sometimes egg. Lemon and orange juice inevitably made their way into these beverages. And so, “egg lemonade” became a logical form of refreshment.
“The Up-To-Date Bartender’s Guide,” Harry Montague, 1913
“Christmas passed over much as the day usually does. There was a glorious destruction of egg-nog, apple toddy, whiskey punch… turkeys, geese, ducks… mince pies, apple pies, pumpkin pies… dough nut, short cake, long cake, pound cake, ginger cake… Pleasure was the order of the day… There were a few rows, which was quite natural; not more, however, than was required to fill up the scene to the life.” – The Baltimore Sun, December 1838
In 1863, one frequent advertiser in the Sun specifically linked their December merchandise with two holiday beverages. “EGG-NOG AND APPLE TODDY”, read an ad advertising fine brandies, wines, “and a small quantity of the ‘Nations Pride,’ Monongahela Rye Whisky.” The availability of figs, nuts, canned fruits and the like is tacked on to the advertisement as an afterthought.
During the holiday season, apple toddy was most often mentioned alongside eggnog, enjoyed at the festivities of the social clubs, a requisite part of Christmas reverie (and sometimes mayhem.)
As the temperance movement gained traction, traditions began to change.
According to Wikipedia, the word for punch comes from the sanskrit word for “five.” The drink was once made up of five components: water, citrus, alcohol, sugar, and “spice”. According to punch historian David Wondrich, the spice in question could be anything from “nutmeg or tea to ambergris.” (Hey that rhymes!)
The flavors of this traditional punch became a favorite of sailors and traders of the East India Company in the early 1600s. In 1655, the English captured Jamaica from the Spanish. Jamaican Rum became the next spoil of colonialism to make its way into punch.
Bomberger got the recipe from Otho Holland Williams Hunter, the great-great nephew of Otho Holland Williams.
Williams had served in the Continental Army during the Revolution, in command of the 6th Maryland Regiment of the “Maryland Line” from which our state nickname derives. After the war, he lived in a large estate in Williamsport (“Williams’ Port”), Springfield Farm.
The Springfield Farm property contained several outbuildings, including a spring house said to be built by Thomas Cresap, and a ‘still house’ where rye whiskey was aged. According to “Williamsport,” by Mary H. Rubin, that rye was a major source of income for the county.
Williams made efforts to convince his friend George Washington to locate the capital of our young nation in Williamsport, Maryland – and Washington strongly considered it. Washington was championing a canal to connect the Chesapeake Bay and Ohio Rivers, to better commence trade along the Potomac River through the mountains. It wasn’t until 1835 that the C & O Canal that Washington had envisioned made its way to Williamsport, and town became the second-largest town in Washington County.
Otho Holland Williams died in 1794, leaving the Springfield Farm estate to his brother before it then passed on to Otho’s own son Edward Greene Williams around 1810. Edward was the party guy so I like to think this punch is associated with him. He was known for his lavish entertainment at Springfield Farm, and frequently hosted the well-to-do from Washington. Betsy Patterson Bonaparte is said to have made a visit. MAYBE SHE DRANK THIS PUNCH.
At any rate, the recipe came into the hands of Otho Holland Williams Hunter. For all we know, he got it from one of his coworkers at C & P Telephone. Maybe he got it from his wife, Bettie Barber Bruin Hunter, daughter of a banker who raised money to preserve the Washington Monument. No, not that one…. Not that one either. The Washington Monument of Boonesboro – the first *completed* Washington Monument.
Whatever its origin, this is a punch fit for the holidays. I wasn’t aware of the rye made at the still house until after I had already made the recipe and so I had used Irish Whiskey, which is commonly called for in tea punch recipes. I also cut the sugar in half because… yikes. Many recipes call for crushed ice but since this one specified an ice block I took the opportunity to make this molded ice block that came out looking like some kind of shrimp aspic. Fashionable Betsy Patterson Bonaparte would not be impressed.
Recipe:
3 Pints whiskey
1 Pint rum
1 teacup green tea
24 lemons
4 Lbs sugar
2 Quarts water
oranges, pineapples, maraschino cherries, Curaçao
Three pints of whisky, 1 pint of rum, 1 large tea cupful of green tea, 2 dozen lemons, 4 pounds sugar, 2 quarts of boiling water. Pour water on tea and let it steep for a short time. Squeeze lemons over the sugar. Peel very thinly 18 lemons and pour the boiling hot tea over the peels. Let it stand 5 minutes, then strain and pour tea over sugar and lemon juice. When sugar is entirely dissolved add whisky and rum and strain again. When ready to use add oranges, pineapples (cut in dice shape), Maraschino cherries, or any other fruit you may like. Some persons like curocoa in it also. Put this punch mixture in the punch bowl with a large lump of ice. This quantity will serve twenty-five people.
