The History Press

From colorful characters like Cato Alexander, New York’s first celebrity bartender, to sad and disturbing stories about Jack Daniel’s heirs, Makers & Shakers has a little bit of everything for everyone. 

Join Washington, D.C.–based author and producer of ardent spirits Troy Hughes on a historical romp through booze-infused tales about Black Americans. Discover the stories of pioneering Montana moonshiner Bertie Brown and the ill-fated partnership of Diddy and Diageo. Find out about Ripple, the national drink of Watts, and learn how cognac became the unofficial drink of Black America.

From colorful characters like Cato Alexander, New York’s first celebrity bartender, to sad and disturbing stories about Jack Daniel’s heirs, Makers & Shakers has a little bit of everything for everyone. 

Join Washington, D.C.–based author and producer of ardent spirits Troy Hughes on a historical romp through booze-infused tales about Black Americans. Discover the stories of pioneering Montana moonshiner Bertie Brown and the ill-fated partnership of Diddy and Diageo. Find out about Ripple, the national drink of Watts, and learn how cognac became the unofficial drink of Black America.

Recipes that Have Survived Generations 

Pensacola was one of the first European settlements in the United States. The city’s culinary history encompasses a range of diverse cultures and peoples, forming a contemporary melting pot. Weave your way through each era and learn how to create dishes that have been consumed in Pensacola throughout its entire history. Historic Native American, Spanish, French, British, Creole, early American and twentieth-century recipes are all represented on the pages within. Explore dishes like early Native American stews and corn cakes, Spanish pork and wine cuisine and British oyster pye and mushroom catsup, as well as modern fine dining treats like grouper picata and the ubiquitous fried mullet. Join author and chef Duel Christian as he takes you on a culinary journey through the history of the City of Five Flags.

How the Golden State’s favorite fruit conquered the world.

When avocados first arrived from Mexico in the early 1800s, few Americans knew what to make of them. Intrepid settlers in California were among the first to embrace the savory green fruit, sparking a century-long love affair that transformed the state into “Avocado Land.” From battling over the best avocado varieties to coaxing the public into trying the fruit by devising delicious recipes, Golden State growers created a global phenomenon.

Author Rob Crisell explores how California’s favorite fruit became one of the most famous and iconic foods of the twenty-first century.

Dig into the long history of cider in Virginia—the Old Dominion’s original craft beverage.

When the adventurers aboard the Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed stepped foot on Virginian soil they brought with them the traditional English love of cider. Required by statute to plant orchards, the apple played a central part in the development of the colony as its juice became the favored libation of every class of society. From the modest laborer to the table of Thomas Jefferson, cider was Virginia’s tipple of choice. More than 400 years later, the libation is enjoying a renaissance. Read about a new generation of makers re-introducing Virginians to their original craft beverage.

Local author Alistair Reece tells the story of cider in the Old Dominion, aided by the stunning photography of J. Mark Stewart.

The One Time Lima Bean Capitol of the World.

For over a century, Ventura County was famous for growing lima beans. The conditions were perfect: foggy coast, rich soil, and low overhead. As the seeds improved and farming technology advanced, many profited from the crop. The beans kept pace with other produce for decades before falling to the high producing cash crops like lemons, strawberries and the inevitable urban sprawl. While no longer a top crop in the county, California is the number one producer of dry lima beans in the nation and the Oxnard Plain still grows the best tasting beans.

Join author and historian Jeffrey Wayne Maulhardt as he unearths the homegrown history of Ventura County’s celebrated lima beans. 

Martha’s Vineyard is known as a popular vacation destination with high profile visitors. Below the surface, however, bubbles a culinary melting pot. 

Native Americans, Blacks, European settlers and Azoreans all contributed to the island’s diverse culinary history. The Scottish Society still celebrates Robert Burns annually with a feast. Two towns have streets called Chicken Alley for the Portuguese families who raised chickens there, while native beach plums are used to create a delicious jelly that can be found across the island. Restaurants like Giordano’s and the ArtCliff Diner have been in business for more than fifty years and are still putting out great dishes. Learn the back-story of the island’s first—and only—commercial vineyard. 

From codfish souffle to espirito santo soup, local authors Tom and Joyce Dresser share the ingredients, recipes and images of this flavorful island.  

Explore the history of Ohio’s one-bite wonder!  

From humble origins, the buckeye has become Ohio’s namesake candy. Though a classic combination of chocolate and peanut butter, each producer’s offering is as bespoke as the buckeye is beloved. Taste tradition in Amish country at Coblentz Chocolate Company or sample capital city Columbus’ original stuffed offering from The Buckeye Lady. Visit legendary family businesses like fifth-generation Anthony Thomas, Wittich’s, the nation’s oldest candy shop and Winans, a carriage house chocolatier turned coffee roaster, serving up deliciousness at the seat of the state’s Buckeye Candy Trail. Traverse towns to try long-standing favorites from Esther Price, Marie’s Candies and Marsha’s Homemade Buckeyes alongside artistic interpretations from newcomers The Buckeye Co, Tana’s Tasty Treats and Lohcally Artisan Chocolates./

Join Renee Casteel Cook, author of Ohio Ice Cream/ and coauthor of The Columbus Food Truck Cookbook/, as she unfolds how this bite-sized confection has become Ohio’s sweetest symbol.

Discover the fascinating stories of Knoxville's eateries as author and historian Paula Johnson dives back in time through the stories of the city's great restaurants.

Over the past 225 years, Knoxville dining has come full circle - from early taverns and saloons to upscale continental cuisine and back to the roots of local eating experiences. Greek immigrants Frank and George Regas founded the legendary Regas Restaurant, which operated for 90 years, spreading culinary influence throughout the entire city. Early country music stars frequented Harold's Deli while visiting the city to perform on Tennessee's first live radio shows. Guests from around the world sat 266 feet in the air at the Sunsphere Restaurant, a fine dining establishment run by the Hardee's Corporation during Knoxville's World's Fair.

Remember the favorites from Youngstown, Ohio in classic restaurants such as the MVR and the Boulevard, and other eateries that reflect a diverse and entrepreneurial history.

In Youngstown, Ohio take a tour of restaurants like the MVR and the Boulevard, which continue to reflect Youngstown's ethnic diversity and tenacious entrepreneurial spirit, as well as establishments like Overture, which offer a promise of urban renewal from a refurbished downtown. And raise your glass to the best-laid tables of a bygone era, from the Mural Room to the 20th Century.

Food is at the heart of Atlanta, and here discover iconic dishes, notorious restaurants, and the rich culinary history of this Southern city.

Atlanta’s cuisine has always been an integral part of its identity. From its Native American agricultural roots to the South’s first international culinary scene, food has shaped this city, often in unexpected ways. Trace the evolution of iconic dishes like Brunswick stew, hoecakes and peach pie while celebrating Atlanta’s noted foodies, including Henry Grady, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nathalie Dupree. Be transported to the beginnings of notable restaurants and markets, including Durand’s at the Union Depot, Busy Bee Café, Mary Mac’s Tearoom, the Municipal Market and the Buford Highway Farmers Market. With fourteen historic recipes, culinary historian Akila Sankar McConnell proves that food will always be at the heart of Atlanta’s story.

Baltimore's unforgettable dining scene of the past is re-visited here in thirty-five now shuttered restaurants that made their mark on this city.

Haussner’s artwork. Coffey salad at the Pimlico Hotel. Finger bowls at Hutzler’s Colonial Tea Room. The bell outside the door at Martick’s Restaurant Francais. Details like these made Baltimore’s dining scene so unforgettable. Explore the stories behind thirty-five shuttered restaurants that Baltimoreans once loved and remember the meals, the crowds, the owners and the spaces that made these places hot spots. Suzanne Loudermilk and Kit Waskom Pollard share behind-the-scenes tales of what made them tick, why they closed their doors and how they helped make Baltimore a culinary destination.

In a town famous for its politics, one local favorite moves unchallenged across party lines. Sample secret recipes while delving in to the history of the Horseshoe Sandwich.

Open-faced, piled high with fries and slathered in cheese sauce, the Horseshoe Sandwich has represented Springfield cuisine since 1928. Tour the restaurants that have kept the tradition alive for almost a century, including bygone eateries like The Mill and contemporary stalwarts like Darcy’s Pint. From the “Clydesdale Challenge” to the biggest and strangest incarnations of the ’shoe, Carolyn Harmon and Tony Leone provide a comprehensive history of this delicious dish.

Northwest Arkansas' High South cuisine is replete with nostalgia, fresh ingredients, tall tales and rural roots. Discover Ozark traditions in the realms of forest, farm and table.

In the 1890s, Ozark apples fed the nation. Welch's Concord grapes grew in Arkansas vineyards. Local poultry king, Tyson, still satisfies America's chicken craving. Local chef turned author Erin Rowe recounts her culinary adventures stomping grapes, canning hominy, picking Muscadines, gathering wild watercress and tracking honeybees. Featuring fifty heirloom recipes dating as far back as the early 1800s, this delectable narrative is sure to whet your curiosity and appetite. An Ozark Culinary History celebrates it all, from chow-chow to moonshine.

Cincinnati is the home to food inventions, rivalries and restaurants that stand the test of time.

The Queen City boasts the invention of both Cincinnati chili and goetta. Mecklenburg Gardens, Arnold's, Izzy's and Scotti's have all operated for over a century. The French restaurant Maisonette was the epitome of fine dining, and Wong Yie's Famous Restaurant took Chinese cuisine from street fare to an exotic experience. Busken Bakery and Frisch's vied for Cincinnati pumpkin pie supremacy by taking digs at each other through billboards and redecorating a Big Boy statue in Busken attire. Author Dann Woellert explores the most iconic eateries, the German influence on Queen City food and what makes dining so unique in Cincinnati.

Through stories and recipes nearly lost to time, author Paul Vachon explores the history of the Motor City's fine dining, ethnic eateries and everything in between. Grab a cup of coffee - he's got stories to share.

While some restaurants come and go with little fanfare, others are dearly missed and never forgotten. In 1962, patrons of the Caucus Club were among the first to hear the voice of an eighteen-year-old Barbra Streisand. Before Stouffer's launched a frozen food empire, it was better known for its restaurants with two popular locations in Detroit. The Machus Red Fox was the last place former Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa was seen alive.

Honeybees have been a part of Virginia's history since they arrived with the first European colonists.

They were Jamestown's valuable addition, a Civil War soldier's sweet if painful temptation, and served as home front heroes when the world wars caused sugar shortages. In recent years mead has seen a resurgence along with beekeeping, and has claimed a place as a craft beverage in the Old Dominion.

Join author Virginia Johnson to hunt escaped swarms flying wild in the forests, visit modern-day observation hives and follow the mead path across the Commonwealth for a taste of history.

With roots in Native American, African and European cooking traditions, Brunswick stew developed in colonial- and Federal-era Virginia, when squirrel was a necessary ingredient.

By the nineteenth century, the mouthwatering delicacy had become an important part of politicking, celebrating and family gatherings. At the same time, it spread beyond Virginia, following barbecue culture into the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky. Drawing on historical and contemporary sources, author, award-winning barbecue cook and Brunswick stew expert Joe Haynes entertains with barbecue stew history, legend and lore, complete with authentic recipes.

Join author Amy Strauss as she traces the sizzling history and culture of a beloved and sustaining Pennsylvania Dutch iconic dish, scrapple.

The name may remind you of a certain word-based board game, but scrapple has been an essential food in Mid-Atlantic kitchens for hundreds of years, the often-overlooked king of breakfast meats. Developed by German settlers of Pennsylvania, scrapple was made from the scraps of meat cut from the day's butchering to avoid waste. Pork trimmings were stewed until tender, ground like sausage, and blended with broth, cornmeal, and buckwheat flour. Crispy slabs of scrapple sustained the Pennsylvanians through the frigid winter months and brutal harvest months, providing them with a high-energy and tasty breakfast meal that people enjoy even today.

Recipes born in the city of stars

Los Angeles is a city where film mingles with food. From healthful salads to sweet treats inspired by California's agricultural bounty, the innovative fare mirrors the rise from a sleepy, western outpost to celluloid dream, where food has always played an award-winning role. The minds behind these delicious treasures include a pauper who reinvented himself as a prince, a penniless single mom who perfected a treasured recipe to create an empire, and a guru who provided good vibes and scandal alongside cold-pressed juices. Bake up the Cocoanut Grove's Coconut Strawberry Cream Tarts and sip a Zombie from the first-ever Tiki bar to create a little Hollywood magic in your own kitchen.

Amy Bizzarri rolls out the red carpet in celebration of Tinseltown's iconic cuisine.

Frozen custard is more than a dessert in Milwaukee. It's a culture, a lifestyle and a passion. Find the stories behind your favorite flavor at local festivals and homegrown neighborhood stands.

From the stand that inspired television's Happy Days to the big three - Gilles, Leon's and Kopp's - take a tour through the history of this guilty pleasure. Learn about its humble origins as an unexpected rival to ice cream and its phenomenal success as a concession at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933 that made the snack famous. Milwaukee authors and editors Kathleen McCann and Robert Tanzilo launch a celebration of custard lore, featuring a stand guide and much more. Dig into what makes Milwaukee the Frozen Custard Capital of the World.

The food that fuels hardworking Chicagoans needs to be hearty, portable and inexpensive. Featuring select stories and recipes, author Amy Bizzarri surveys the delectable landscape of Chicago's homegrown culinary hits.

Enterprising locals transform standard fare into Chicago classics, including Spinning Salad, Flaming Saganaki, Jumpballs, Jim Shoes, Pizza Puffs and Pullman Bread. The restaurants, bakeries, taverns and pushcarts cherished from one generation to the next offer satisfying warmth in winter and sweet refreshment in summer. This timeless balancing act produced icons like the Cape Cod Room's Bookbinder Soup and the Original Rainbow Cone, as well as Andersonville Coffee Cake and Taylor Street's Italian Lemonade.

Once a sleepy city of taverns and coffeehouses, Charleston’s reputation as a culinary powerhouse is rooted in its rich history.

The origins of she-crab soup trace back through Everett’s Restaurant. The fine dining of Henry’s evolved from a Prohibition-era speakeasy. Desserts were flambéed from the pulpit of a deconsecrated church at Chapel Market Place, and Robert’s hosted Charleston’s famous singing chef. Diners became regulars at Kitty’s Fine Foods or Brooks Restaurant on their first visit, while the rise of French cuisine from the Wine Cellar, Marianne and Philippe Million helped elevate the dining scene. From blind tigers to James Beard Awards, author and local tour guide Jessica Surface explores the stories and history of Charleston’s love of food.

Culinary Memories from Philadelphia's Past...Beyond the Cheesesteak

Long before Philadelphia’s food scene was splashed on covers of Bon Appetit and local establishments garnered accolades like “America’s best restaurant,” culinary pioneers set the city’s restaurant industry ablaze. Frenchman Georges Perrier brought the city the highest, most-respected opulence, Le Bec-Fin, for 40 years running. The ultimate seafood institute, Old Original Bookbinder’s, held the title of the world’s largest lobster tank and prepared impeccable oyster Rockefeller. Steve Poses changed the culinary game with the Frog that captivated palates with the infusion of international flavors. The nation’s very first automat, Horn & Hardart’s, consistently delivered near-perfect comfort food classics via vending machine.

Amy Strauss revisits celebrated spaces, unforgettable personalities and must-have recipes that made Philadelphia’s historic restaurants remembered for their delicious moments in time.

Compiling more than 100 family recipes, founder of the Akron Recipe Project Judy Orr James serves up a history of home cooking in the Rubber City.

From the city's founding in 1825 through the years following World War II, numerous ethnic and cultural groups made Akron home. With each new arrival, the city's food changed and deepened to delicious effect. Polish immigrants brought pierogi to the area, and Jews introduced Old World favorites like kugel and hamantaschen. African Americans seeking a better life in the North enriched the Akron palate with the unique and southern-inspired dishes of their ancestors. Last but not least, there is the sauerkraut ball, Akron's official food and favorite snack served at local restaurants, cocktail parties, holiday celebrations, and game day gatherings.

The food scene in Hamilton County, Indiana sprang from humble roots and evolved into a dynamic culinary community.

Early restaurateurs made modest livings at mom-and-pop joints like Aunt Bea's Chicken in Noblesville and Brown's Drugstore in Carmel. Teen romances bloomed at the Blue Ribbon Dairy Drive-In and Burger Chef. Then Chef Dieter Puska's elegant eatery the Glass Chimney took dining to a whole new level. Local chefs carry on his legacy with new farm-to-table restaurants featuring ingredients from a multitude of growers and farmers' markets. The craft beer scene is booming, too, with exceptional breweries like Four Day Ray, Mashcraft, Books and Brews and Barley Island. Take a trip down memory lane and embark on a modern-day culinary adventure with local food writer Karen Kennedy as she presents the hardworking restaurant owners and culinary superstars who built and continue to grow Hamilton County's vibrant food culture.

High country cooking fit to grace any table.

Southern Appalachia has a rich culinary tradition. Generations of passed down recipes offer glimpses into a culture that has long been defined, in considerable measure, by its food. Take a journey of pure delight through this highland homeland with stories of celebrations, Sunday dinners and ordinary suppers. The narrative material and scores of recipes offered here share a deep love of place and a devotion to this distinctive cuisine. The end result is a tempting invitation, in the vernacular of the region, to “pull up a chair and take nourishment.”

Authors Jim Casada and Tipper Pressley, both natives of the region, are seasoned veterans in sharing the culinary delights of the southern highlands.

Despite a brewing pedigree richer than that of Milwaukee or St. Louis, Cincinnati’s role in American beer history is quite often underappreciated.

Drawing on years of research, Michael D. Morgan, author of the award-winning Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King, tackles this subject with a fresh perspective. Complete with new findings, the true story of the city’s first brewer comes to light, as do the oft-heralded deeds - and overlooked misdeeds - of the beer barons who built empires their progeny drove to ruins. From the story of the Scottish brewery that made Cincy famous for English ales, through forgotten Prohibition political scandals, to the birth and rise of the modern craft beer movement, Cincinnati Beer explores previously untold stories of our beer-soaked past.

Montgomery County's Agricultural Reserve, created in 1980, was a history-making decision that is a model for land preservation.

Montgomery County's earliest residents, Native Americans, developed agricultural communities and used the shores of the Potomac as a trading spot. European settlers farmed tobacco, eventually collapsing the County's economy until the Quaker community returned fertility to the land. The C&O Canal was the nation's first significant infrastructure project and helped create links to national and international markets. In the 20th century, the Marriott chain developed contemporary, industrialized food that signaled a changing world. The Agricultural Reserve was intended to preserve the county's rural past in the face of rapid change. Along with farming, it also preserved history and foodways.

Claudia Kousoulas and Ellen Letourneau tell this agricultural history through food and recipes.

Florida native Zora Neale Hurston's early twentieth-century ethnographic research and writing emphasizes the essentials of food in Florida through simple dishes and recipes.

It considers foods prepared for everyday meals as well as special occasions and looks at what shaped people's eating traditions in early twentieth-century Florida. Hurston did for Florida what William Faulkner did for Mississippi - provided insight into a state's history and culture through various styles of writing. Her collected food stories, folklore and remedies, and the related recipes food professor Fred Opie pairs with them, are essential reading for those who love to cook and eat.

A Delicious Pacific Northwest Legacy.

Fisher Scones, a Pacific Northwest tradition, were introduced at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. This sweet treat, slathered with butter and raspberry jam, has outlived the very brand it served to promote. Founded in Seattle, Washington during the early 20th century, Fisher Flouring Mills grew into a family empire encompassing real estate, radio, and television. Now a part of Conifer Specialties, memories of that flourishing flour legacy may have faded, but more than a century later their tasty biscuit remains an icon. At fairs, festivals, and special events, the enticing scent of baking scones still draws crowds eager for a taste.

Jim Erickson, author, educator and scone baker, delves into the history of Washington’s most beloved baked good. Bon Appetit!

Taste the history of South Carolina's Barbeque in this delectable history from the 1500s to the present day.

South Carolina has been home to good, old-fashioned barbeque for quite a long time. Hundreds of restaurants, stands and food trucks sell tons of the southern staple every day. But the history of Palmetto State barbeque goes deeper than many might believe--it predates the rest of America. Native Americans barbequed pork on makeshift grills as far back as the 1500s after the Spanish introduced the pig into the Americas. Since the early 1920s, South Carolinians have been perfecting the craft and producing some of the best-tastin' 'que in the country. Join author and president of the South Carolina Barbeque Association Lake E. High Jr. as he traces the delectable history from its pre-colonial roots to a thriving modern-day tradition that fuels an endless debate over where to find the best plate.

No trip to the Jersey Shore would be complete without indulging in the cuisine that helps make it famous.

These foods we enjoy today are part of a long tradition beginning in the Victorian era, when big oceanfront hotels served elaborate meals. Diverse dishes and restaurants emerged during prohibition and the Great Depression, when fast food appeared and iconic boardwalk treats developed. Predating the farm to table movement, fancy and fast eateries have been supplied by local fishermen and farmers for decades. So whether you indulge in a tomato pie, pork roll or salt water taffy, take a mouthwatering historical tour and discover timeless treats from Sandy Hook to Cape May.

Inspired by Florida's famed Mai-Kai restaurant, Bill Sapp and Lee Henry opened the Kahiki Supper Club in 1961. Patrons lined up for hours to see the celebrities who dined there--everyone from Betty White to Raymond Burr.

Sapp and Henry set out simply to build a nice Polynesian restaurant and ended up establishing the most magnificent one of them all. Outside, two giant Easter Island heads with flames spouting from their topknots stood guard while customers dined in a faux tribal village with thatched huts, palm trees and a towering fireplace moai. One wall featured aquariums of exotic fish and another had windows overlooking a tropical rainforest with periodic thunderstorms. For nearly forty years, the Kahiki was the undisputed center of tiki culture.

Florida cuisine: twelve thousand years in the making, discover the the state's unusual and distinctive food influences and dishes.

From the very first prickly pears harvested by Paleo-Indians more than twelve thousand years ago to the Seminole tribe's staple dish of sofkee, Florida's culinary history is as diverse as its geography. Influences as diverse as French, Creole, Spanish, Cuban, Greek, Mexican, Caribbean, and more season Florida's eclectic flavors. Learn how Florida orange juice changed the look of the American breakfast table and discover the state's festival-worthy swamp cabbage. Through syllabubs, perloos, frog legs and Tupelo honey, author Joy Sheffield Harris serves up a delectable helping of five hundred years of Florida cuisine--all with a side of key lime pie, of course.

Cincinnati chili is its own special creation with a unique flavor and style. Uncover the essential parlors originating and serving this unique Cincinnati specialty in this thorough history of its roots and restaurants.

Cincinnati is certainly judged by its chili. Some claim it's not even chili, but those are just fighting words to natives who have developed the crave. Cincinnati is a long way from El Paso, and our chili is not Tex-Mex style. It is a unique blend typically served as a three-way: over spaghetti and covered in shredded cheddar cheese. From its 1922 roots with the Slavic-Macedonian immigrant brothers Kiradjieff in a burlesque theater, Cincinnati chili has become a million-dollar industry supporting 250 chili parlors. Many chili parlors have come and gone, but a few familiar names remain: Dixie, Camp Washington, Gold Star, Price Hill and Skyline. This is their amazing chili story.

Over-the-Rhine is a place where a building owner can stumble upon huge caverns underneath a basement floor or find long-forgotten tunnels that travel far below city streets.

ts present mysteries are attributable to a past that transcends the common story of how cities change over time: it is the story of how a clash between immigrants and real Americans helped rob Cincinnati of its image, its soul and its economy. In the 1870s, OTR was comparable to the cultural hearts of Paris and Vienna. By the turn of the last century, the neighborhood was home to roughly three hundred saloons and had over a dozen breweries within or adjacent to its borders. It was beloved by countless citizens and travelers for the exact reasons that others successfully sought to destroy it. This is the story of how the heart of the Paris of America became a time capsule.