Category:
Pickles

Kicking the pickle

1949: Ruth Brand "kicked off" National Pickle Week. And apparently that's a genuine giant pickle in the photos, not a fake one.

"Harry Conley of the Green Bay Food company, who is president of the National Pickle Packers association, officiates in Chicago at the 'kickoff' of the national pickle week campaign. Pickle week will be held May 20 to 28. Kicking the world's largest pickle is Ruth Brand, Chicago."



Lancaster Intelligencer Journal - Feb 11, 1949



But what is this about Amerigo Vespucci being a pickle dealer? I'd never heard this before.

Some research reveals that the claim traces back to a remark made by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his book English Traits:

Strange, that the New World should have no better luck,— that broad America must wear the name of a thief. Amerigo Vespucci, the pickle-dealer at Seville, who went out, in 1499, a subaltern with Hojeda, and whose highest naval rank was boatswain's mate in an expedition that never sailed, managed in this lying world to supplant Columbus, and baptize half the earth with his own dishonest name.


Smithsonian magazine investigated the claim and doesn't think it's very likely. Vespucci did work for a while as a ship chandler, and in this capacity it's possible he may have supplied some ships with pickled foods. But to go from this to calling him a pickle dealer is a bit of a stretch.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jan 29, 2023 - Comments (6)
Category: Food, Pickles, 1940s

The Pickle Brothers

Their Wikipedia page.





Posted By: Paul - Sat Aug 27, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Television, Pickles, 1960s, Comedians

Pickle Peace Plan

The Pickle Peace Plan was championed by the Picklers Planetary Unity Party which, in turn, was a creation of the Pickle Packers International, an industry association. It had two main planks:

  1. Instead of a red telephone or bomb button, heads of governments should have a jar of pickles handy. At the first sign of hostility, they would send pickles to each other instead of missiles.
  2. If war did break out, all politicians would be required to don uniforms and do the fighting while everyone else watched it on television.

William R. Moore, executive vice president of the Pickle Packers International, noted, "We picklers think that with such a peace plan, both sides would either come to a quick armistice or talk themselves to death. Either way, we the public would benefit by such action."

Desert Sun - Feb 2, 1979



Fort Worth Star Telegram - Nov 6, 1976



Oil City Derrick - Nov 6, 1976

Posted By: Alex - Wed Dec 30, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Food, Pickles, War, 1970s

Pickle Split

The specialty of Pine Mountain Country Coffee House in Festus, Missouri. Apparently it's become quite popular.

They should serve it with a side of cheese slaw.



Posted By: Alex - Fri May 10, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: Food, Pickles

The Pickle Wizard

The Pickle Wizard promises that if you pay him $5.99, he'll send a slice of pickle to a person of your choosing. He writes:

What could be more satisfying than the confusion of a friend or foe when they receive a pickle in the mail with a mysterious note? The answer you ask? Nothing. So get on it, and send those expecto patronads a damn pickle!

Here on WU, we've previously posted about Feces by Mail and Mail-a-Spud, so the Pickle Wizard is the latest variation on that theme of Mail-a-Prank. The Pickle Wizard claims that, to date, he has mailed 520 pickles.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Sep 02, 2015 - Comments (4)
Category: Pickles, Pranks, Postal Services

Miss Pickle of 2014

Here is a new post that joins two previous ones: my post with the video about the PICKLE INDUSTRY, and Alex's post about MISS KANGAROO.

It appears that at least since 1964, the union known as the Pickle Packers International has been choosing a woman to be "Miss Pickle."

The first foto below comes from THE DAILY EGYPTIAN for October 30, 1964. The second foto comes from the BUFFALO COURIER-EXPRESS for June 24, 1967, while the article comes from the TUSCALOOSA NEWS for May 7, 1967.

image

image

image

[Click text to enlarge]

Finally, we come to Miss Pickle of 2014, who seems more like a cartoon company mascot than a beauty-queen.



image

Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 27, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Celebrities, Food, Pickles, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, 1960s

The Popular Pickle



There is so much to love about this video, from the whimsical music which makes it seem as if the cucumbers are just going on holiday, instead of being wrenched from their happy fields and families, then sliced and seasoned for consumption by monstrous hairless apes, to the very phrase "pickle packer." The one omission, understandable in light of 1950s' reticence, is no mention of the cucumber as sex toy.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 10, 2015 - Comments (4)
Category: Regionalism, Advertising, Industry, Factories and Manufacturing, Farming, Vegetables, Pickles, 1950s





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Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

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Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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