New Books From Reedy Press: Black Missourians, Eckert Summer Cookbook, Do Before You Die, St. Lou-isms

I’ve received a number of books recently, this post is about four from St. Louis-based publisher Reedy Press.

#1

The first fills in a gap in my knowledge about some names I’ve heard in my nearly 23 years as a resident of St. Louis.

Extraordinary Black Missourians: Pioneers, Leaders, Performers, Athletes, and Other Notables Who’ve Made History by John A. Wright Sr. and Sylvia A. Wright, $19.95.  ISBN: 9781935806479

African Americans have been a part of Missouri from its territorial days to the present, and Extraordinary Black Missourians describes more than 100 pioneers, educators, civil rights activists, scientists, entertainers, athletes, journalists, authors, soldiers, and attorneys who have lived in the state for part or all of their lives. Josephine Baker, Lloyd Gaines, Langston Hughes, Annie Malone, Dred Scott, Roy Wilkins, and others featured in the book are representative of individuals who have contributed to the African American legacy of Missouri. They set records, made discoveries, received international acclaim and awards, as well as led in the civil rights movement by breaking down racial barriers. These accomplishments, and others, have played a major role in shaping the history and culture of the state and nation. Extraordinary Black Missourians attempts to put a face on these individuals and tells of their joys, failures, hardships, and triumphs over sometimes insurmountable odds.

With a look at blacks from all over the state, there are names in the contents I’ve never heard before. Glad to have this indexed book for future reference.

 #2

Everyone that has lived in St. Louis knows the name Eckert. Last year I posted about The Eckert Family Fall Cookbook and now they’re out with a summer volume:

The Eckert Family Summer Cookbook: Peach, Tomato, Blackberry Recipes and More compiled by Jill Eckert-Tantillo and Angie Eckert, $12.00. ISBN: 9781935806462

The second installment of the Eckert Family Cookbook Series features delectable, time-tested recipes from their famous summer harvest. From roasted tomato gratin to peach cobbler, The Eckert Family Summer Cookbook covers every category from soups and salads through desserts. Recipes emphasize ingredients pulled straight from the fields during summer months, when tender fruits flourish alongside root vegetables, sturdy greens, and woody herbs. Highlights include corn saute, peach tomato mozzarella salad, pork tenderloin with balsamic peaches, and fresh blackberry tart, among other delights. Tips and techniques for preparation and storage also fill The Eckert Family Summer Cookbook-the latest example that eating locally grown foods is a family tradition for the Eckerts! Jill Eckert-Tantillo is vice president of Marketing and Food Services for Eckert’s. Angie Eckert is vice president of Retail Operations for both the Country Store and the Garden Center for Eckert’s. Both Jill and Angie love to prepare meals for family and friends using the freshest ingredients of the season. They believe the best family memories are made around the dinner table.

#3

Bored? Here’s a book with 100 suggestions on things to do here in St. Louis. Scanning the list I’d say I’ve only done about 20-25 of them, so I’d better get busy.

100 Things to Do in St. Louis Before You Die by Amanda E. Doyle, $15.00. ISBN: 9781935806509

Let’s face it: St. Louis is a big city, and life is short. Whether it’s moving some musts to the “done” column of your bucket list or finding fresh ways to spend your summer in the city, this handy compendium will make the most of your minutes. Bike the Riverfront Trail to the Chain of Rocks Bridge, sip a chocolate malt at Crown Candy Kitchen, hold your breath during the high-wire act at Circus Flora, or admire the architectural and design splendor of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ebsworth Park home: you just gotta do it! One hundred ways to connect with your town await. Special features include insider tips on getting the most from your stops and themed itineraries for the truly adventurous. As the associate editor of Where Magazine for the past 13 years, and as mom to a curious preschooler, Amanda E. Doyle enjoys seeking out the city’s singular charms, including those documented in her two previous books, Finally! A Locally Produced Guidebook to St. Louis, By and For St. Louisans, Neighborhood by Neighborhood and To the Top! A Gateway Arch Story.

#4

Every region has lingo that is unfamiliar to newcomers, St. Louis is no exception.

St. Lou-isms: Lingo, Lore, and the Lighter Side of Life in the Gateway City by John L. Oldani, PhD, $19.95. ISBN: 9781935806448

Do you warsh your dishes and rinsh them in the zink? Do you eat mustgo for dinner? Heard about zombies in Wildwood or St. Louis Hills? Ghostly hitchhikers in Florissant? What or who is a St. Louis Hoosier? In St. Lou-isms, John “Dr. Jack” Oldani documents wholly new St. Louis folklore related to senior citizens, baby boomers, lawyers, nurses, new St. Louis vocabulary, Irish and Bosnian folklore, and even urban belief tales. Dogtown, St. Louis Hills, Valley Park, Wildwood, Ellisville, and other communities are connected through jokes, beliefs, tales, speech, lingo, graffiti, games, and other lore. St. Lou-isms decodes the lingo and traces the stories, shared by all St. Louisans. This book will keep you from being St. Louis “stupid,” or a few clowns short of a circus! You can live, laugh, and learn to leave a legacy! For more than 30 years, Dr. John L. Oldani, a St. Louis native, has been a professor of American Studies and folklore at American and international universities. From his fieldwork, he has collected more than 150,000 folklore texts from the St. Louis area. He is the author of four other books on American folklore, one highlighting the American quilter.

Look for these at local bookstores like Left Bank, AIA, Missouri Botanical Garden, etc., or click the title link to order direct from the publisher.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: What are your top three (3) brew pubs in the St. Louis region?

In a previous poll I asked about favorite brewery, but excluded brew pubs.  This week I want to find out the brew pubs favored by readers. This time I think I have all listed, but if not you can add an answer when taking the poll.

The poll is in the right sidebar until May 26th, results presented May 29th.

— Steve Patterson

Five Years Since Pyramid Properties Ceased Operations

Five years ago today major St. Louis developer Pyramid Properties, led by John Steffens, collapsed, leaving a long trail of unfinished properties.  From May 2010:

City leaders and Pyramid’s former partners say the transfer of properties is remarkable given the size and scope of the properties involved and the timing of the deals in the midst of the Great Recession.

“It has worked out far better than I expected,” said Jeff Rainford, Mayor Francis Slay’s chief of staff. “The fact that people were willing to not race to the courthouse steps is the only reason this didn’t end up a total disaster.”

Instead of filing lawsuits or filing for foreclosure, many of Steffen’s lenders, investors and former partners suspended disbelief and instead participated in a workout process that began days after Pyramid closed its doors. (St. Louis Business Journal)

With the properties untangled many have since been completed by others, including, but not limited to:

The above properties show that even in a down economy projects can happen. Still, the future of a few other former Pyramid projects remains unclear or just getting started:

Considering how much property Pyramid had tied up in complicated financial transactions it’s remarkable what has been accomplished in the last five years. Hopefully the  remaining projects will be completed in the new few years.

— Steve Patterson

Readers Favorite St. Louis Brewery: Schlafly

The three breweries came out ahead of Anheuser-Busch InBev together received nearly 80% of the votes in the poll last week:

Here’s the detailed results of the non-scientific poll:

Q: What is your favorite St. Louis brewery?

1. Saint Louis Brewery (aka Schlafly) 51 [31.1%]
2. Urban Chestnut Brewing Company 47 [28.66%]
3. 4 Hands Brewing Company 32 [19.51%]
4. Anheuser-Busch 24 [14.63%]
5. Unsure/No Answer 5 [3.05%]
6. O’Fallon Brewery 3 [1.83%]
7. Exit 6 Brewery 2 [1.22%]

Remarkable given the short history of smaller brewers in the US.

The battle between craft breweries and big beer stretches back to the 1990s, when the idea of buying a beer brewed by a small, independent brewery first took off. In 1991, annual volume growth of microbrewing was 35 percent. Four years later, it had leapt to nearly 60, according to the Brewers Association. (US News — Hopslam: How Big Beer Is Trying to Stop a Craft Beer Revolution) 

Indeed, Tom Schlafly later recalled the start of Schlafly beer after the son of a former law partner convinced him a market existed:

It was Dan who finally convinced me that a microbrewery would be viable in St. Louis. For a number of reasons, we concluded that the best plan would be to start with a brewpub.

In 1990, the Missouri General Assembly passed a law that allowed microbreweries (defined as breweries that produced no more than 2,500 barrels per year) to hold retail liquor licenses for the brewery premises. They were not allowed to sell beer anywhere else. In 1991, we were issued the first microbrewery license in the state of Missouri and opened The Schlafly Tap Room on December 26 of that year.

Soon thereafter, owners of other bars and restaurants began asking us how they could offer Schlafly Beer and were amazed to be told that the Missouri General Assembly wouldn’t allow us to sell to them. Responding to these requests, in 1993, I successfully lobbied the General Assembly to amend the Missouri microbrewery law to allow us to brew up to 10,000 barrels per year and to sell our beer to licensed wholesalers. In August of that year, several bars and restaurants in St. Louis began serving Schlafly.

In 2003, we opened Schlafly Bottleworks where we now brew most of our beer including almost all of our packaged beer. In 2008, we brewed approximately 25,000 barrels of beer and owned two restaurants, The Schlafly Tap Room and Schlafly Bottleworks. In 2009, we brewed over 30,000 barrels. We reached this point without amending the law that restricted microbreweries to 10,000 barrels of annual production. How did we do this? Easy. We’re now licensed as a winery. That’s right. In the eyes of the law, Schlafly Brewery is a winery.

Like microbreweries, Missouri wineries are allowed to hold retail liquor licenses on their premises. Unlike microbreweries, however, wineries are not subject to an annual production limit. Because we make cider, we can qualify as a winery (cider being considered wine because it’s made from fruit juice). As bizarre as it might seem that a brewery could be licensed as a winery, it’s even more bizarre that Schlafly is now the largest American-owned brewery in St. Louis (Anheuser-Busch is now owned by a Brazilian-Belgian conglomerate) (CraftBeer.com)

Dan Kopman became Tom Schlafly’s partner in St. Louis Brewery. Recently they sold a majority stake (60%) in the company to a group of local investors, Kopman still runs the operation. Interesting they started with a Brewpub, the Tap Room.

Many comments on the original post focused on the fact I only included breweries as listed by stlhops.com so brewpubs like Civil Life and Perennial were not choices. I did this to avoid controversy….

I’ve learned there as many terms in the beer business: microbrewery, brewpub, craft brewery, etc…

That last one is defined as:

An American craft brewer is small, independent and traditional.

Small: Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less. Beer production is attributed to a brewer according to the rules of alternating proprietorships. Flavored malt beverages are not considered beer for purposes of this definition.

Independent: Less than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is not themselves a craft brewer.

Traditional: A brewer who has either an all malt flagship (the beer which represents the greatest volume among that brewers brands) or has at least 50% of its volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor. (Brewers Association)

And craft beer sales continue to climb, taking away sales from the big guys:

Note how the Craft Brewers Association distinguishes between:

• Regional craft brewers
• Contract brewing companies
• Microbreweries
• Brewpubs

I still have a lot to learn.

A close second on the list was the 2-year old Urban Chestnut Brewery which just announced a second location that will be larger than the Schlafly Bottleworks:

Once the new brewery is open, Urban Chestnut initially will be able to boost its annual production by about 15,000 barrels of beer. The new facility will eventually have capacity for 100,000 barrels a year. (One barrel equals 31 gallons, or about 330 regular-size bottles.) (stltoday) 

Another brewer not on the list was William K. Busch Brewing Co.:

Brentwood-based William K. Busch Brewing Co., founded by Billy Busch, a son of former Anheuser-Busch leader August A. “Gussie” Busch, introduced Kräftig lager and Kräftig light in November 2011.

“We did the first year without TV, and we want to take the company to the next level,” Busch said.(stltoday)

Currently Busch’s new company is smaller than Schlafly, but it wants to brew a couple million barrels a year, still a small sum compared to the brewery founded by his ancestors.

— Steve Patterson

Wayfinding In St. Louis

The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission has been rolling out a new wayfinding system in the region for a couple of years now. From a January 2011 Post-Dispatch editorial:

The St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission has launched a $2.9 million initiative to design, build and install an attractive and comprehensive system of street, road and highway signs. The idea is to direct tourists and residents to a rich array of sites and attractions in the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County.

The project has been in the works since 2008. So far, about 300 signs — highway, street-level and pedestrian — have been installed or are slated for installation. The signs aren’t cheap: Fabricating and installing a large highway “guide” sign costs more than $20,000. (stltoday.com)

For example:

Lately these have begun to turn up downtown.

Until the other day all the signs I’d seen have been like the ones shown above, or larger highway exit signs. Them I finally spotted, at Citygarden, a sign to help pedestrians downtown.

But it was placed in the middle of a planter bed so I wasn’t able to get close enough to evaluate its effectiveness. Great planning!

I get asked directions often and I enjoy helping others. Two common requests are for places very close to my loft: the Social Security office at  717 N 16th St and City Museum across the street at 701 N 15th St. The other day at 10th & Washington a woman asked where to find the “landmark Arch.” I pointed east on Washington Ave.  When she asked if she should then turn right I told her she’d see it.

The following describes the process that took place to establish the system:

The Missouri Department of Transportation, along with the CVC, St. Louis City, Laumier Place, Grand Center and Forest Park funded the research needed to implement the program. Three “attraction corridors” were created in determining the locations of the signs. The first corridor is Broadway, second is Grand, and third is Kingshighway, with all three connecting major attractions and districts in the city. The entire program, including the research to implement the program cost 1.5 million dollars. CVC did apply for grants but was not successful in receiving any funding. The CVC worked with MODOT to identify those organizations that would provide funding for the wayfinding program. An important goal of the program for MODOT was to reduce sign clutter on the interstates in order to comply with Federal Highway standards. (continue at Cherokee Street News)

Hopefully I’ll be able to locate another pedestrian-oriented wayfinding map to evaluate. I don’t have a clear picture of the overall system and the CVC website wasn’t helpful.

Have you seen any of these new wayfinding signs? If so, what do you think?

— Steve Patterson