“The kinkling and the doughnut die,
— Baltimore Sun 1910
The pancake and the waffle cease,
But now doth come the rhubarb pie,
Oh, may I have another piece?”
The Germans who colonized Western Maryland in the 1700s brought with them devout Christianity — primarily Lutheranism and Calvinism. But where one scratches the surface of devout Christianity, one often finds a little bit of Paganism hiding out, and Carnival season might be one of the times when the old ways are less hidden (despite the masks.)
Fat Tuesday aka Fastnacht happens to coincide with a time when a feast may have taken place among Germanic tribes, a celebration to drive away winter and usher in Spring fertility and sunlight.
This became the festivities referenced by Shakespeare in his 1601 play The Merchant of Venice:
“Nor thrust your head into the public street
To gaze on Christian fools with varnish’d faces.”
Although the area along the Monocacy River that Germans settled was a fertile region, it could also be a harsh and isolated one. There weren’t a lot of public streets to thrust one’s head into, and many of the social aspects of Carnival were left to the old world.
But not the sweet treats.
Fastnacht doughnuts famously took on the name “Kinklings” in Western Maryland and became a beloved tradition beyond the German communities where they originated.
An 1889 advertisement in the Frederick News touted “Golden Tinge” flour. “Next week will be fastnacht,” reminded the ad, “so all ye good housekeepers fill up your barrels.”
The same newspaper warned elsewhere that “old wiseacres say if you don’t make kinklins today you will have bed bugs all the year.” Who could risk that?
Eventually, churches and bakers helped people avoid the bedbugs with less hassle by selling fresh kinklings. One baker advertised that he would “have them delivered hot.”
Mrs. Eva Reeder shared her recipe in a cookbook produced in the 1970s by St. Mark Lutheran Church in Adamstown.
Continue reading “Kinklings, Eva Reeder”