I think this one should be filed under "similarity".
Karla blogged about a southern treat called Moon Pies on her blog, so I asked her what they were. She described them, and I thought, "gee, those sound a lot like Wagon Wheels." It turns out they are... here's a BBC article with a bit of history on moon pies, and how they were copied and sold under other names, like wagon wheels. Neat!
Wagon wheels bring up two memories for me.
The first is a trip to a candy making plant in Winnipeg. My grade 6 class went there on a field trip. It was fascinating! We got to see the assembly lines (are they called that for candies and cookies?), and saw how gummies were tumbled in a big barrel (cement style) to apply wax to make them shiny. Have you eaten blue gummi whales? I've seen them made! Well, at the end of the tour, they gave each student a box of goodies. One of the treats inside was a wagon wheel. That was one of my favourite school field trips. I'm sure the teachers weren't too thrilled with our sugar high, though. ;) (In addition to giving us take-home boxes, they also gave us samples along the tour.)
The second memory is of a fairly unique feature of Winnipeg.
Most cities have problems with their (original) main streets being too narrow. Winnipeg doesn't. We've got nice, wide, six lane plus boulevard and sidewalks streets. It's not because someone thought about massive increases in traffic way back then. It's because of the Red River oxcart.
A Red River oxcart is a two wheeled cart that is pulled by a single ox. From the cart, there extends two rigid poles, and the ox is tethered between these poles. If you ever complain about the turning radius of your car, try an oxcart. You will never complain again. The main streets in Winnipeg were planned so that an oxcart would have enough room to make a u-turn.
Now don't you wish your early settlers had oxcarts? ;)
I tried to find a picture of an oxcart for you, but my dial-up connection today seems as slow as molasses in January... in Winnipeg, not Chapel Hill. ;)
2 comments:
Hey, Andrea! Thank you for that link about Wagon Wheels! How interesting that the Moonpie has made it around the world. :) I loved reading about your Wagon Wheels.
I also hope that you've received our Southern US Moonpie. Does it compare to your Wagon Wheels? Is it exactly the same or are there any differences?
Enjoy it!
Thanks. ;)
I haven't gotten your package yet... unless it's the one I have to pick up at the post office today. There's a package there that I need to sign for, and I can pick it up after 9 today. I'll be heading over there later this morning.
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