Old-Fashioned Raisin Meringue Pie Recipe (Funeral Pie Recipe)

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Wednesday, November 19, 1913: Ditto

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Huh???? The previous day Grandma wrote “nothing much,” so I guess that it was another slow day from Grandma’s perspective; but two days prior to this entry Grandma’s maternal grandfather, John Derr, died in the nearby town of Turbotville.

I hope no one’s upset, but I broke a rule I have and peaked ahead in the diary–Rules are made to be broken, aren’t they?—so I know that Grandma will attend his funeral on November 21.

Perhaps Grandma wasn’t doing much, but I bet that friends and neighbors were preparing food to serve for the traditional family gathering after the funeral.

Were they making funeral pies? In the old days in Pennsylvania, raisin pies were often served at funerals and they were called funeral pie.

I’ve seen other blogs that give recipes for a funeral pie that is basically just a two-crust raisin pie. But my memory is that old-fashioned raisin pies in central Pennsylvania generally were raisin custard pies with a meringue topping, so I’ll give you that recipe.

Old Raisin Meringue Pie (Funeral Pie) Recipe

1 cup raisins

water

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon corn starch

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup milk

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 egg whites

1 9-inch pie shell, baked

Put raisins in small sauce pan, and just barely cover with water. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and cool. Drain the cooled raisins. Stir the flour, corn starch, and sugar into the raisins; then add the milk and egg yolks. Stir and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens (comes to a boil). Pour into a pie shell which was previously baked.

In a separate bowl make the meringue. Place egg whites in the bowl, and beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Then spoon on top of the pie. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until the meringue is lightly browned.

This pie is different from the typical modern pie, but I really like it. I want to say that this pie will appeal to sophisticated palates—but somehow that doesn’t quite seem right when I’m talking about an old-fashioned food from rural Pennsylvania.

The delicate custard filling has a subtle and nuanced raisin flavor. And, the juicy plumped raisins provide a nice texture contrast to the smooth custard and the airy meringue.

I’m definitely going to make this pie again—and I don’t plan to wait until a funeral to serve it.

Old Undertaker Advertisement

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Tuesday, November 18, 1913: Nothing much.

Source: Watsontown Star and Record and Star (April 3, 1914)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Nothing much???? The previous day Grandma’s maternal grandfather died. What was Grandma thinking? Was her mother involved in the funeral preparations?

I found an advertisement by an undertaker in the nearby town of Watsontown. Her grandfather lived in another nearby town—Turbotville—so this probably was not the undertaker that the family used.

But, I don’t understand the ad. What does “a share of patronage is solicited” mean?

Grandpap Died

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Monday, November 17, 1913: Mother went to Turbotville this morning. I kept house while she was gone. She returned with sad news. Grandpap died this morning.

Grandma’s Grandfather: John Derr (Photo taken: circa 1900)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma—

It’s hard to lose a grandparent.

Was your grandfather ill for a long time or was the death sudden? According to family records, he was born on July 16, 1823, so he was 90 years old.

You’re occasionally mentioned making trips to Turbotville to visit relatives, but never specifically mentioned your grandfather.

My thoughts are with you and your mother.

Take care.

Was It More Likely to Rain on Sundays?

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Sunday, November 16, 1913: So disappointing, I wanted to wear my new hat to church this afternoon, but it was raining, and so I wore my old faithful brown hat that the water can’t hurt. I have a cold now for a change. I cough, sneeze, and pinch my nose.

Data source: Climate Zone

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma—

It’s too bad that you couldn’t wear your new black velvet hat that was trimmed with a rose ribbon and pink velvet flowers.

—-

It seems like there have been a lot of diary entries where Grandma wrote that it rained on a Sunday. Was it more likely to rain on Sundays than on other days of the week?

Grandma’s wrote that it rained on Sunday, September 21, 1913 and Sunday, October 19, 1913. So it rained about one Sunday a month during Fall, 1913. In other words, it rained one Sunday out of every four or five.

I then found some current climate data for the nearby town on Williamsport PA on the Climate Zone website—and was surprised to discover that in a typical year that there is 0.01 inch or more of precipitation on 10 days in September, 10 days in October, and 12 days in November.

(It really doesn’t seem like it rains on 1 out of every 3 days when I’m in Pennsylvania, but maybe I’d barely notice the rain on days when there was just a little bit and it fell in the middle of the night.)

Conclusion—Assuming the number of days with precipitation has been about the same across the last hundred years and that Grandma mentioned every Sunday when it rained, it looks like it was less likely to rain on Sundays than on other days of the week during Fall, 1913.

Hundred-year-old Velvet Hats

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Saturday, November 15, 1913: My love of a sister and I went to Milton this morning on a shopping tour. I got the daintiest hat I’ve ever had for a while. It is black velvet, trimmed with old rose ribbon and pink velvet flowers.

1912 velvet hat — Source: Ladies Home Journal (October, 1912)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Wow. . . black velvet, rose ribbon, and pink velvet flowers. The hat sounds incredible. I wish we could see it.

I couldn’t find any old pictures of black velvet hats, but I found several other lovely velvet hats.

Source: Ladies Home Journal (November, 1912)

1912 velvet hat with ostrich feather — Source: Ladies Home Journal (November, 1912)

1913 orange velvet hat — Source: Ladies Home Journal (May, 1913)

—-

‘My love of a sister’ is an unusual way for Grandma to refer to her sister Ruth. Did she mean it. . . or was she upset with her sister for some reason and being sarcastic?

Old Cartoon About Piano Playing

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Friday, November 14, 1913: My music teacher didn’t think, or I mean she did think, that I hadn’t practiced my lesson any too much. It didn’t surprise me any for I didn’t put much work on it.

1914 piano cartoon — Source: Watsontown Record and Star (May 1, 1914)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

I wonder if this old cartoon would have resonated with Grandma . . . or with her parents.

How to Make Four Basting Stitches

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Monday, November 13, 1913: Am trying to fix one of my winter <missing word>. Wonder how it will turn out. I am good at doing awful sewing.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma—

I understand. I’m also good at doing awful sewing.

I’m not a good seamstress because I’m not a careful sewer and tend to take shortcuts. Were you the same? Did you skip steps like basting?

—

Here’s basting directions from a hundred-year-old book:

Bastings are temporary stitches used to hold two or more pieces of material together while putting in the permanent stitches. Careful basting is essential to successful sewing.

There are four kinds of bastings.

Even Bastings start with a knot of the right side so that they may be easily removed. Pass the needle over and through the material making the stitches and spaces the same length. To fasten the thread, take two stitches over the last one made. (Fig. 1)

Uneven Bastings are made by the method just described for even bastings, except that the stitches and spaces are of unequal length. The stiches taken upon the needle are about a third shorter than the space covered by the thread. (Fig. 2)

Combination Bastings are used on seams where extra firmness is desired for close fitting. They are made by taking, alternately, one long stitch and two short stitches. (Fig. 3)

Diagonal Bastings are slanting and used in dressmaking to secure the outside material to its lining, particularly where the lining is eased on to the material, as is often the case in waist-making. The method is shown in Fig. 4.

The Dressmaker (The Butterick Publishing Company, 1911)