Pumpkin Pie Spice

by Anita Boetsma | Oct 15, 2025 | General History

It’s that time of year again. From Pumpkin Spice Lattes to sweet potato pie, everything is flavored with the iconic Pumpkin Pie Spice blend. Mixing up to nine spices, most blends contain nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and cloves.

The Spice Trade

By the 1300s, traders traveled to the Banda Islands—which were among the so-called “Spice Islands”—because they were the only place nutmeg was known to grow. “At one point in the 1300s, when tariffs were at their highest, a pound of nutmeg in Europe cost seven fattened oxen and was a more valuable commodity than gold,” wrote the late John Munro, an economics professor emeritus at the University of Toronto.

A desire for spice is part of what drove European seafaring and eventual contact with the Americas. In fact, the Dutch were so hungry for nutmeg that in the late 1600s they traded their colony of New Amsterdam to Britain in exchange for Pulau Run, a nutmeg-producing Banda Island over which Britain claimed control. The British renamed the colony “New York.” Pulau Run remained part of the Netherlands’ colonies until the mid-20th century, when it became part of the new, independent nation of Indonesia.

Where Did Pumpkin Spice Originate?

In 18th century America, spices were available and being used in cooking and baking. A newspaper recipe for “soft cakes” from 1825 New York confirms that spices (nutmeg and cinnamon in this case) were used in early American baking. But when did this traditional spice combination become known as “pumpkin spice”?

In 1930, a spice company called Thompson & Taylor (T&T) from Chicago introduced what they called “Pumpkin Pie Spice,” which combined all the spices a home baker needed to make pumpkin pie. Now, as the ads claimed, making pumpkin pies at home was more convenient and the pies themselves would be more consistent in flavor.

1933 ad for T&T Pumpkin Pie Spice (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 10.20.1933)

Pre-Mixed Spices

The idea of selling a pre-mixed pie spice caught on, and over the next few years more and more companies introduced their own pumpkin pie spices. The mix best-known today, by McCormick, went on the market in 1934.

With pre-mixed pie spices now readily available and convenient, it was easy for creative home cooks in the 1930s and beyond to add it to other foods, from soufflés to cookies to gingerbread. McCormick even briefly marketed a “Pumpkin Pie & Ginger Bread Spice” in the mid-1930s.

Around this same time, “pumpkin spice” began appearing in the names of recipes published in newspapers. For instance, based on the papers currently on Newspapers.com, recipes for “Pumpkin Spice Cake” began showing up in newspapers around 1935. From this time on, ads and recipes for “pumpkin spice” flavored foods appeared with increasing frequency in newspapers, and it became well-established as its own flavor in the decades that followed.

Modern Use

But, of course, despite pumpkin spice’s long history, the current flood of pumpkin-spice products can largely be traced back to Starbucks, which first introduced its popular Pumpkin Spice Latte in 2003. Spiced coffee has its own extensive history, but Starbucks’ branding of its new beverage as “pumpkin spice” kicked off a trend that seems to have taken over the autumn season. Whether you like it or not.

This holiday season, we are grateful for another busy year at the Museum serving our community. We hear the words “Pumpkin Pie Spice”, and it brings memories of home and family gatherings (and great pies!) At the Museum, we strive to create an experience of place and belonging for our residents and visitors alike with stories about our ancestors and a way of life in a special place.

The First Soccer Game in Marshall County

by Anita Boetsma | Sep 24, 2025 | Argos, Culver, Sports

During October, thousands of students will be playing on soccer fields around Indiana, looking to capture a sectional title. Parents and grandparents will bring folding chairs, classmates will fill the stands and everyone will cheer for their favorite team.

62 years ago, the Dragons traveled 9.6 miles down State Road 10 to play CMA in the first high school match in Indiana.

Introducing Soccer to Indiana

In 1963, Argos athletic director/basketball coach Ralph Powell was looking for a fall sport to use as conditioning for his team. He had visited Culver Military Academy earlier to watch its intramural soccer program.

“Not only is soccer a good conditioner for basketball because of its bursts of speed and stop-and-go motions, but many of the defensive moves are the same in both sports,” Powell told the Culver Alumnus magazine. “I’m willing to give up an hour and 15 minutes of basketball practice in October in order to play soccer. After 5 p.m., we play basketball.”

That led Powell and CMA athletic director Chester Marshall, who was also the basketball coach, to agree to a five-game series in September and October. Those became the first interscholastic soccer matches in state history.

Local Media Coverage

In building up to the historic event, the September 18 issue of the Argos Reflector ran a team photo and an article giving a brief description of soccer for the uninitiated:

“Soccer, the most widely played of all international team sports, is a game in which the ball is moved up and down a field and scoring is accomplished by manipulating the ball with the feet. Use of hands is prohibited except for the goalkeeper. Soccer is a prominent sport in many parts of the United States. However, it has never been promoted in Indiana.”

Some familiar last names pop out of the caption that accompanies the photo: Hagan, Rice, Snyder, Hand, Umbaugh, VanDerWeele, Nifong, Weidner and Kline – to name a few.

Playing the Game

To help grow the game, Powell and Marshall also conducted a joint meeting at Argos to talk with other high school officials who might be interested in playing soccer. When Argos and CMA squared off in the last game of the season two days later, The Vedette (CMA’s student newspaper) said three area coaches were present to watch. CMA won, 1-0, in what CMA coach Eric Anderson called “the best of all year.”

The series ended with CMA winning four and one game finishing in a draw. CMA did have the upper hand, having offered an intramural program since 1927, thanks to its international student population. The team that played Argos was comprised of all-stars from that program. And, according to an autumn 1963 article in the Culver Alumnus, since many of the CMA players were from Mexico or Latin America, they shouted instructions to each other in Spanish to confuse the Argos players.

The Impact of Soccer

As more schools added soccer to their fall sports list, Argos and CMA continued to play a home-and-home series. They were also founding members of the Northern Indiana Soccer Conference. And the CMA vs. Argos game still gets circled on everyone’s calendar. The rivalry is still that intense 60 years later. This year’s game is September 28 at Argos.

Now, there is a three-class IHSAA soccer tournament with more than 318 boys teams and 280 girls teams participating each season.

And, to think, it all started with a short bus ride down State Road 10 in 1963.

Jan Garrison has covered his fair share of Argos-CMA soccer matches while at The Pilot-News from 1977-1987 and as Culver Academies assistant director of publications from 2000-2021. A big research assist was offered by Jeff Kenney, the director of the Culver Academies Museum & Gift Shop.

The Town of Bourbon: 1911

by Anita Boetsma | Sep 18, 2025 | Bourbon, Business & Industry, General History

This article about the Town of Bourbon appeared in the Weekly Republican on November 30, 1911.

Weekly Republican, 30 Nov 1911, pg 28 cols 3 & 4

Farm and Industry

Bourbon is one of the larger towns in Marshall County, its population according to the last census is 1,163. It is the center of what is considered the best farming lands in the county. While there are good lands all over the county, the Government geological survey shows that the best of them lie in the eastern third of the county.

Surrounded by such rich farming lands, Bourbon is a very prosperous town. Here the E. E. Delp Grain Co., does an elevator business of from $30,000 to $40,000 monthly. There are extensive coal and lumber yards, sawmill, cooperative creamery, two banks, many stores, three churches, Presbyterian, U. B. and Methodist, fraternal societies of Masons, I. O. O. F., Red Men and Knights of Pythias. A good newspaper, the News-Mirror, upholds the best in and for the community.

Some of the best of the Bourbon institutions are represented in this edition, which shows how enterprising and up-to-date they are. The Bourbon Fair, held every fall, is one of the greatest attractions of northern Indiana. On the biggest days the attendance usually reaches eight or ten thousand. Fruit growing, which is given much attention in this vicinity, is always well represented at these fairs.

The Heinz company has a salting station here also and many pickles are grown. Four of the chief growers are Otto Ames, who from a half-acre cleaned up $94.87; Conrad Hand, who made $136.82 on one acre; Jos. Hurford, who had out 1 1-2 acre and got $149.76 from it; and Fred Lemler, who took in $227.89 from two acres.

That Bourbon is a good center for farming and livestock raising, is evident from the large number of farmers in the district who feed and ship their own cattle and hogs. It is a fact that more livestock is shipped by rail out of Bourbon than is the case at any point between Ft. Wayne and Chicago.

The following figures showing the number of cars of livestock that have left Bourbon during the past eight years will be of interest: 1903: 105 Cars; 1904: 122 cars; 1905: 135 cars; 1906: 194 cars; 1907: 192 cars; 1908: 243 cars; 1909: 182 cars; 1910: 126 cars.

The figures for this year are, of course, incomplete, but the railway officials at Bourbon expect them to equal those of 1909.

Onion Growing in Bourbon

The onion crop in the vicinity of Bourbon is cultivated to a considerable extent, and with a success which is surprising especially to the layman. The industry has grown amazingly in this part of Marshall County and provides something more than a good living to those in the business. The soil in these parts is peculiarly adapted to the successful raising of this onions.

Over 200 acres around Bourbon, are yearly planted out, and usually the yield is good and pays the farmer well. This year, however, it was only 60 per cent of the normal yield.

It is five years since the industry was started around Bourbon, and, during that time it has assumed large proportions. A considerable number of men are employed, especially in the weeding season. The onions from Bourbon are shipped to all parts of the country, Boston taking large quantities for export purposes. Quantities are also sent to New Orleans for export to Panama. Most of the crop, however, is sent to the south and southwest. F. F. Fribley, who is one of the pioneers in the business, and who has made a success of it from the very start, owns two large storage houses in Bourbon, from which he ships.

In conversation with a representative of the Republican he instanced the case of George Gouchenour who owns five acres of onion soil, and who, this year, made a net profit of $1000. Another man cleaned up $125 on one acre this year, while still another, Emanuel Coon, with 12 acres, had a net profit of $1920.

As showing how the value of onion lands has increased, it may be mentioned that a very few years ago, they were considered almost worthless, and went begging at from $5 to $10 per acre. Today these same lands are held firmly at from $100 to $125 an acre with improvements. Mr. F. F. Fribley is an enthusiast of onion raising and has done well in the business. He is of the opinion that the industry will soon develop into one of the most important and remunerative in the county.

Entertainment in the Good Old Days

by Anita Boetsma | Aug 28, 2025 | General History, Pastimes, Visitor Stories & Oral Histories

Long before the entertainment overload of today, Marshall County youth had some interesting ways of creating their own fun. They did have theaters, but much of the time, they relied on simple things dictated by what was at hand, our location and the weather. The following collection is from oral histories in our archives.

Performing Arts

“The Orpheum Theater cost a nickel. It was on, oh, just a little way north of Washington Street on Michigan, where the old Orpheum was. They’d have Saturday afternoon matinees for a nickel. And there were shows, there were some outside shows, tent shows, down on, in the area where the fire station parking lot is now, on the corner of LaPorte and Center Street, just a block south of the library.” Stanley Brown

Large group of children posing for image on snowy day

The Orpheum Theatre in Plymouth, Indiana.

“About playing piano for the silent movies in Plymouth – When I played, I played for the big sum of $3.00 a week, and six nights a week, 7:00 to 10:00 on the weekdays. On Saturday nights it was seven ‘til 11:00, and it was nickel shows, you know, every night, and we had songs. They used to have sing-a-song, you know, and the words, and the little ball would bounce up. And I’d play for that, and that song came along with the film. We had a girl or boy, a singer, and that was all they done, was sing that song at every show.” Etta Steiner

“We had travelling stage shows quite often. They would come and book a week’s time at the opera house.” Beatrice Pickerl

Seasonal Fun

“We had sleigh ride parties and bobsled parties. And on the bobsled parties whenever you went under a streetlight, you got to kiss the girl that you were with. There were not very many streetlights in those days.” Morris Cressner

Sleighing party for city kids, 1916.

“You’d listen the first morning of cold weather, the first snowy, icy morning, see if you could hear Uncle J. T.’s sleigh bells. Uncle J. lived north of town (Argos), probably a mile and a half, might be two miles. And Uncle J. always had his sleigh out first, and he was the only person that the children of the town, that I knew best, could go riding with without running home and asking their parents. But if Uncle J. had his sleigh, we would go with him, and he’d take us a very nice fast ride down to the Nickel Plate Railroad.” Beatrice Pickerl

The Joy In the Everyday

“Used to be a train come in and my brother and different ones would walk over to Tyner to see it come in, and I believe every Friday or Saturday night from South Bend. That was a big thing. It was called the Cannonball. It would come in at 10:00. And the depot was right below our house here. That was their entertainment, was to come and watch the Cannonball.” Ray Jacobson

“They had the old [gas] street lights in Plymouth, and a man had to go around with a long pole and pull them down and light them by hand. He’d put a match to them and put them back up. Kids at night, after they got that light lit – one of our forms of fun was catching bats. There used to be a lot of bats around. They’d fly around those lights. We’d throw our caps up and every once in a while, we’d get a bat in them.” Stanley Brown

Black and white image of street corner with three story building and a few people walking by. In the forefront, there is a gas lamp hanging from a wire.

Bourbon street scene with gas street light.

Social Get-Togethers

“What progressed into hockey we called shinny. We used sticks and tin cans.” Homer Riddle

“We used to have spelling bees at the school house. And we’d spell, and the old people as well as the young would be in that, don’t you know. They’d all stand up and then when you missed a word, you sit down, and then the last one that stayed up got a prize.” Alta Listenberger

“We used to have box socials. The girls would take a box of food and then they’d auction it off and the boy that bought it, he wouldn’t know whose he’s buying, don’t you know, because they’d decorate these boxes up beautiful. And then the boy that bought them would eat with the girl. He wouldn’t know ‘til he got the box unless she’d tell him or, you know, the girl he liked would tell him which was her box. But otherwise they kept that a secret. Sometimes you’d eat with an old man. I’ve ate with old men, you know, some old farmer, instead of eating with the boy I wanted to eat with because he paid the most for the box.” Alta Listenberger

Learn more about everyday life in Marshall County by visiting our Museum!

Prohibition and Marshall County

by Anita Boetsma | Aug 28, 2025 | Crime, Fame & Infamy, Plymouth

Years before the enactment of the 18th Amendment, many locals were involved in the temperance movement. The temperance movement promoted the ban of alcoholic beverages. There were even organizations dedicated to the cause, such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Members would ask individuals to pledge to vote for anti-saloon politicians. They also called on ‘druggists’ to dole out alcohol by prescription only, visited saloon keepers to ask them to stop selling alcohol and prayed outside saloons.

Feelings were intense on both sides of the debate. On Thursday evening, August 27, 1891, a dynamite cartridge was exploded in the United Brethren Church in Bourbon. Straightaway, the Bourbon Mirror called for a temperance meeting to be held the next day. A large number assembled for the meeting, undeterred.

Tough On Alcohol

Eventually, in 1909, Marshall County voted to go dry, well before Indiana did. When the Wright “Bone Dry” Law in Indiana was passed in 1925, it became one of the toughest prohibition laws in the nation. During Prohibition, the United States Treasury Department authorized physicians to write prescriptions for medicinal alcohol. The “Bone Dry” Law outlawed the possession of all liquor – even by prescription for medicinal purposes, which was allowed under federal law.

Illicit Activity During Prohibition

Even with the strict laws, Marshall County had its own speakeasy. A speakeasy was a secret establishment that sold alcohol illegally during Prohibition. The most notorious use of the Hoham-Klinghammer-Weckerle property in Plymouth occurred during Prohibition. In the 1920s the property was a roadhouse called the Pine Tree Inn. In 1928 officers led what was considered the county’s greatest raid on the roadhouse. Evidence was found that beer was being sold there. Two officers and three deputies went in just before midnight and took patrons by surprise. Officers found “Monte Carlo style gambling and free flowing liquor.” No one attempted to flee, and 35 violators were taken into custody, some from as far away as Ohio. Officers seized 38 cases of beer and found two slot machines.

Large headlines in the Plymouth Daily Pilot on July 30, 1928, read, “14 ARRESTED IN RAID ON LOCAL GAMBLING HOUSE,” with subtitles like “OFFICERS STAGE CLEANUP – MINORS BROUGHT TO COURT.” In large print the newspaper called the event the “COUNTY’S GREATEST RAID.”

One article stated that practically all of the boys and men arrested had brought girl friends with them to spend the evening. Many of the men involved were “prominent in their communities.” The house was leased by Bertha Bozarth from W.J. Hayes of Chicago. Hayes pled innocent of any knowledge of the use of the property. Bozarth was assisted by Robert Wolcotte; both were arrested and charged with operating gaming devices and the possession of intoxicating liquors.

An underground brick vault used to ferment beer

One of two brick vaults at the house constructed underground and used to ferment beer.

The End of The Speakeasy

The paper reported that the business had grown until it became more publicly known, at which time the county prosecutor took steps to investigate. This would assume that the public knew of the illegal activites. Judge Albert B. Chipman of Marshall County then ordered the establishment padlocked for one year. The Plymouth Daily Pilot ran front-page headlines such as “PADLOCKS PINE TREE INN FOR ONE YEAR” and “CHIPMAN ENDS CAREER OF PRETTY LAKE ROADHOUSE.” They stated that the “Pine Tree Inn has come to the end of its short but hectic career.” The padlocking of the establishment included the “brick house and garage, all out buildings, the tunnels (vaults) and the frame house to the west of the brick (house).” A bond was placed on the property for $1,000 stating that only the owner, W. J. Hayes of Chicago, could use the property else.

Bozarth claimed under oath that she paid “protection” money to Justice of the Peace Walter A. Zeroll. After the raid Zeroll left the city in the middle of the night and a warrant was issued for his arrest. A month later Bozarth was found guilty. She was fined $150 and sentenced to 60 days at the Indiana Women’s Reformatory. That was the end of the speakeasy.

The Marshall County Historical Society Museum has an interesting display on Prohibition. Check out our west window on Garro Street to learn more!

« Older Entries

Next Entries »