BBaarrdd CCoolllleeggee BBaarrdd DDiiggiittaall CCoommmmoonnss Senior Projects Spring 2014 Bard Undergraduate Senior Projects Spring 2014 AAss AAmmeerriiccaann aass AAppppllee PPiiee:: TThhee HHiissttoorryy ooff AAmmeerriiccaann AAppppllee PPiiee aanndd IIttss DDeevveellooppmmeenntt iinnttoo aa NNaattiioonnaall SSyymmbbooll Rebecca Claire Bunschoten Bard College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2014 Part of the American Material Culture Commons, and the Other American Studies Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. RReeccoommmmeennddeedd CCiittaattiioonn Bunschoten, Rebecca Claire, "As American as Apple Pie: The History of American Apple Pie and Its Development into a National Symbol" (2014). Senior Projects Spring 2014. 18. https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2014/18 This Open Access work is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been provided to you by Bard College's Stevenson Library with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this work in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. For more information, please contact [email protected]. As American as Apple Pie: The History of American Apple Pie and Its Development into a National Symbol Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College by R. Claire Bunschoten Annandale-on-Hudson, New York May 2014 For my family …and for those who know how to cut fat into flour. Acknowledgements I would first like to acknowledge the fact that this project has made me a total pie snob. I am sorry. It is with immense gratitude that I acknowledge the support and help of Professor Christian Crouch. I’m forever indebted to her for introducing me to the histories of food and material cultures as well as the joys of Bundt cake. I would also like to express deep gratitude to Professor Mark Lytle who has been absolutely instrumental to this project. Without his patience and gentle counsel, this project probably would not exist. Furthermore, I appreciate the guidance and teachings of both Dr. Jessica Young and Richard Mertz without which I would not be the same person, student, or historian. I would like to acknowledge Michigan State University’s “Feeding America: The Historic Cookbook Project” as it has been my bread and butter for months. I am grateful to all involved faculty and staff as well as their facilities. The Bard Library, too, has been incredibly accommodating this year. I would like to thank Jeremy Hall who helped me start researching as well as Betsy Cawley, one of the kindest and most helpful humans I have ever met. Thanks to everyone who works to process ConnectNY books as well as the many institutions who make their resources available for borrowing. I would also like to thank Professor Rob Cioffi for indulging my pie talk and Professor Alex Benson for attending the Historical Studies Midway Conference. Of course, big ups to Josh Kopin, my joint major mentor, reader, and friend. If I were to design a coat of arms for our country, a pie would be the main symbol. It would appear with a background of wild berry bushes, —and orchards. For pie is part of our history and tradition. By right of inheritance, adoption, and improvement, pies have become distinctively American. Every American home has its favorite pie. —Betty Crocker Table of Contents Introduction ……………………………………………………………….1 Chapter 1 - Roots: The Earliest American Apple ………………………...9 Chapter 2 - Will it Crumble? …………………………………………….29 Chapter 3 – Made with Love …..…………………………………………51 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………..73 Appendix A ……………………………………………………………….77 Appendix B ………………………………………………………………..81 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………83